Friday, Waitsburg Road Race: We rolled through the first lap pretty easy with the exception of several attacks by junior riders from BC which ended about as quick as they began. The field was neutral through the first several miles due to a gnarly crash in the 1/2 field occurring at the start of the race. Not a good way to start the weekend for those fellas.
As we came through town towards the big climb for the 2nd time up, I was riding on the right side of the road. It happened quickly, but I suddenly found myself riding in the gutter as the road narrowed and pedaling between the curb and the rough edge of the pavement. With a riders tight to the left and rear plus a curb on the right I was in a challenging and rather unstable position. I didn't want to stay in a gutter with all the clutter, debris and drains so I tried to lift the front wheel up onto the available 1 inch of free space of road. There simply wasn't any room and my front wheel slipped off along the edge of the rough edge of the pavement and I crashed hard onto my right side. Several riders stacked up from behind and over the top. It looked like I took down 3 to 4 riders and as I got off the ground to survey the damage, there was quite a bit of frustration and panic all around. My right side was all torn up but nothing too bad. My bike was f'd up with a crooked seat and stuck gears but I was able to sort it after a couple minutes. With the exception of one other rider screaming for an allen wrench, everyone else including myself got up and made their charge to catch the group that was now out of sight.
Hammering mile after mile after mile I worked through riders as I realized my goals were likely squashed in the first 45 minutes of the race. I apologized to a couple riders along the way, realizing that their race was screwed because I put myself in the wrong place at the time.
I rode through scattered riders at nearly 95% to get within 2 minutes of the field but as we entered the final climb I simply didn't have the gas to close on the leaders and they opened it up to nearly 4 minutes by the end of the final climb. It was now pissing rain and super cold as my wounds started to ache and stiffen. My entire right side looked like I had been dragged behind a truck with torn up clothing and blood abrasions sticking out. Everything cleaned up well after the race and I was happy to feel well enough to race the 3 races ahead.
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| Why so serious? |
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| Cool Town |
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| Cat 1/2 field coming through |
Saturday TT: Super windy and I'm still working on getting comfortable with the new bike. Came across 17th and about over a minute behind the leader. Not too bad considering the excessive amount of effort I put in just 18 hours earlier.
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| Always keeping thing fun! |
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| Race Support Dog |
Saturday Crit: I rode to the line banged up but ready to roll through this course that sprawled the town of Walla Walla. There was so many corners to this crit, you felt like you were in a constant turn. Cornering has never been my strong point but tackling a course like this was sure to elevate my game. For the first half of the race I rolled through in the back learning the best lines, saving energy and avoiding a crash. It was a fast pace but I felt strong and more confident with each lap. Brian Dagnon and Chris Ellis were both riding well and we all started to move up for the second half. With about 5 to go, I took to the front for a lap which was more to get myself mentally engaged then a positioning move. The 3 of us stayed towards the front as we entered the final lap and I was starting to get really amped for an opportunity to shine down the stretch. As we pounded the last corner I loved my position in about 8th wheel but a hard crash in front split the group and I had to veer inside to avoid getting tangled. A batch of riders on the outside edge charged for the line as Brian and I rolled across in 20th and 24th place. Another disappointing finish but the confidence I built during the race was certainly encouraging.
Sunday's Kellogg RR: I was determined to leave this town with something and despite legs that felt tenderized by a meat cleaver, this would be my final charge. It was a course with a ton of rolling hills and strong winds from nearly every direction. The race for GC was being battled by the Junior team from BC and some other dudes I didn't really pay much attention to. To briefly summarize this race, we rocked nearly every significant climb with huge efforts while thinning the lead group to a dozen or less. However, we'd give it all back on each descent when nobody would work at the front and our huge gaps that strung out the field would come back together as we crawled into the headwind. Through 2 laps we repeated this accordian until we approached the final 5K with 50 riders in the field. This wasn't at all what I hoped for and despite strong riding by both Brian and I throughout the race, I knew we'd have a tough time in a sprint with so many fresh legs around us. It's always better to lose trying to win so I put 100% into an attack and about 2K out without absolutely zero success. This thing was going to come down to a sprint and figuring my last opportunity was to get it going early I jumped with about 350 m to go. I cranked it up as best I could off the front and was able to string it out but as I glanced under my my arm there was a line-up behind me and I was running out of gas. Sure as shit, I got swallowed up with about 50m to go and finished 11th.
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| All done and riding back to the start line |
Overall, nothing to get excited about and pretty disappointing actually but there's a lot of racing ahead. A stop at Minors Burger on the way home was delicious!
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