Finally was able to get down and check this one out. With a course this flat, it’s really impossible to know what to get into, what areas to be aware of, etc. Just kind of a blank slate. I had a feeling it being so flat would make it hard, and I was right.
Bullet recap since landmarks are hard on this kind of course:
- Start is normal, easily find my way to the front. I get stuck on the front, for way too long. But it’s early and it’s serving as a good warm up.
- Hit the first section of gravel first, which I would prefer to do anyway Andy Baker comes around and a couple other guys. No separation.
- A couple people try and stretch some attacks but they all come back in.
- A couple people cross over 178 and have a small gap, which I’m waiting for some people to close. They never do. They dangle maybe 5 seconds, then 10. By the time I try and do something, I don’t have the legs to get across.
- I look back and see if anyone else wants to chase with, but all I see it jerseys of people in the break. L5Flyer and Boyd Cycling guys at the front just watching them sail away.
- The next 10 miles I keep pushing the pace hoping to drop the freewheelers behind me, but it isn’t working. The group is just out of sight now.
- I try to recruit ANYONE to work, but really nothing is happening. It’s just me on the front trying to make this come back together.
- Andy has a flat at mile 20.
- A group of 2-3 is now visible at some point, but we can never reach them.
- At some point I realize this is the race and just sit up and swing off to the side. I congratulate the L5Flyer teammate, Eric, and chat with him. We roll around at a pretty chill pace at times. Almost like a group ride, to me anyway.
- Mile 37 my power meter stops working. I soon realize the battery door is gone. RIP.
- Around mile 40 we hit a section of pavement and our group splinters in to two. The crosswind helped.
- One stronger master guy is leading the pack but misses a turn with another guy, so we kind of wait for him to get back to us. He is thankful.
- Mile 42 or so Andy bridges up to us. Freight train. Everyone hops on and he does a solid pull. We try and work together. This is starting to hurt now.
- The same guy who missed the turn, crashes going into the water feed thing and trying to turn with one hand on the bars, another on the bottle. He gets back up and bridges back.
- Wheels rub in the group of 5-6 that we are and someone almost dies. Frightening. No one hit the deck
- Another guy crashes on the transition to the pavement and we lose a rider. You can’t win a race by bombing a transition, but you can lose it.
- Two stronger guys come up behind us that got lost and tell us that we are close to the front of the race instead of being outside of the top 10. This sparks some fire in the legs.
- One guy of the guys that got lost makes a huge effort and solos out of sight. Me and 4 other guys are together.
- Andy and 2 other dudes get some separation from me, and at mile 55, I’m starting to feel it. I meet Matt, he’s with me. My race. I look to see if he is going to close it, and he doesn’t. So I think it’s just me and him battling out for the top 5 overall. So I try and play my cards to beat him.
- 2 Miles later, he flats and I’m by myself.
- In no mans land, I see a USMES guy closing in on me. Then he disappears. He gets onto my wheel and tells me he has a soft tire and has been refilling it. He’s 40+ so I’m not worried, but a bummer for him. He takes a solid pull on the road for me and I enjoy the free wheel, but eventually he has to stop again.
- I start crawling at this point and just try and survive and hold onto my spot. About a mile to go I see someone closing in, but the pavement downhill towards the finish is too much ground to cover.
- Hang out and a have some food, burger, water, chat a tad. They say I was 5th in Open but pretty sure I’m 4th.
This event felt harder than the other two, mostly because it was full gas the whole time, no real areas to recover. 20mph for 3:23 minutes in a gravel race is just silly. I do wonder if I just sat in the group and didn’t push the pace, how I would have felt towards the end of the race, but I really felt confident our group of 20 or so could work together and catch these dudes. Such is life.
Andy didn’t stick around for the podium. Awkward.
Trying to chase the break.
In no mans land. In the race and physically.
I think the 32mm Roubaix Pros were the perfect tire. 40-43 psi or so. Really never doubted them at all. Couple turns were hairy, but they make up for the lack of cornering with rolling amazing on the road. Really stoked I had them for all the gravel events this go around for 2019.
KingZ for a snack.
A break that did not stick.
David has never been to a Sheetz.
jamespearl 