Wheaton Team shines!
It has been another rough couple of weeks. Outside of cycling, daily stresses have been at a defcon level of 5. (I think that is the highest, right?.) Plus last week I came down with the flu the day before the state road race. Funny though, after I puked my guts out at 3 pm on Friday, I started to feel better and wondered if I could still show up at the Saturday race. Heck, we didn’t go off until 2 PM.
But, as usual when I get sick like this, my lower back tightens up and makes it hard to even get out of bed. Saturday morning it took me 30 minutes to go from my bed to the kitchen, part of it was on all fours. Oreo, my dog, thought I was playing around and was jumping all over me. Once she realized I wasn’t, she just started to lick my face which took me a while to get her to stop since I was laughing so hard.
Well today, my back isn’t perfect, but I know I can ride with it the way it is. I did the Doc ride Wednesday, and felt good in the saddle; as long as there are no long climbs I will be good.
The Grafton course is relatively flat with a couple bump rises. On paper it looks very technical with 6 turns in a .8 mile stretch; with one turn more than a 90 degree angle. However, the course in reality is not technical, as the streets are wide and you can sweep in at a pretty good speed. This is a course where you don’t want to be at the back, because you will be hit hard by the accordion affect for sure. The weather is hot, well into the 80’s and our 2 PM start time means it will be a barn burner, and we have only a slight headwind coming into the start/finish stretch. It looks to be a great race.
My warm up goes well, and as we take the line for the start we have 8 Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare guys ready to control the race of about 60 riders. There is Chevy, Engine, Juice, Sap, 13 Pin, Dr B, Huley, and me.
We role out and hit a fast speed from the start. Juice and Chevy are at the front, and doing a lot of work early. My plan was to sit in around 10th spot and save myself for the end. But I can’t let Juice and Chevy get all the glory, plus we need to protect Chevy for the overall points lead. So I go to the front and exchange some pulls with Juice and some other’s including some Crono guys.
I am feeling great, the best so far this season. The only exception is my toes feel like they could cramp up at any time, I wonder if I am hydrated enough. I have been given some advice from some other riders about staying towards the front, and I have set that as a priority.
I don’t stay at the front long, and move back to recover. I am somewhere in the top 20, and find a couple spots on the course where I can pick up a few spots easily when I need too. I find the turns, the stretch leading up to the sharp turn, and the straight away are good spots top pick up several places.
About halfway into the 50 minute race, into turn two, I feel Dr B’s handle bars on my backend, and hear a few yells from riders behind. I adjust my line and move slightly out. No problem. I am becoming more comfortable with some of the bumping that goes on in the pack so thoughts of panic never enter my mind. Later on during the lap I apologize to Dr B for squeezing him in.
With 5 laps to go, I pull out the H2O and give myself a squirt on the back, emptying about a third of the bottle. Man that feels good and it gives me a boost. I want to try and stay towards the front for the final lap. Wheaton has done a lot of work, especially Juice. Engine and Sap have also worked the front nicely. Six of our jerseys can consistently be seen in the top 15 for the entire race.
Three laps to go and everyone starts to pick it up and jockey for position. I am determined to hold my spot, but it is difficult as 30 other riders have the same thought. An Atkins guy has done a lot of work too, and seems to be having a great day. As we come around the tight turn towards the start finish with one lap to go I am in about 5th spot. The pace lets up a little. I know that if I don’t go to the front I will probably end up in the middle quickly.
I take the lead, and ramp it up to 95%. I take the turns 1, 2 and 3 flying, stringing out the pack. Although I don’t know it, Dr B is on my wheel. I just figure since we have been active for the entire race, we have to have 4 guys upfront in position to win this thing. I continue to hammer and start to wonder how long I can hold it. Then Engine comes around to give me some relief. I try to hold my spot but start to drift back to 15th or so.
We hit the final turn, my pedal scrapes road as we are flying. I hear what sounds like a blown tire and maybe a crash from behind. (I will find out later that Psych was taken out and broke his collar bone for the 3rd time – ouch!) I push as hard as I can down the stretch but am gassed and end up 25th, 2nd in my age group. We averaged around 24.25 mph. I felt awesome the whole time. And feel this was the most fun I had during a race this season. (A far cry from last Sunday after the TT, when I felt like hanging up the season.) We end up with 4 guys in top 11 spots, Chevy – 4th, Sap – 6th, Dr B – 8th, and Engine – 11th. The Atkins guy takes it at the line.
We hang out after reveling in our success. Scoots, Ecky, and Chevy have brought some refreshments which taste awesome.
I want to stick around to watch the pro, but I have already pushed it by watching the Elite 1/2/3’s. My kids are in town and I know they are patiently waiting for me to come home. The Grafton race will be on my list of don’t miss races as long as they put it on.