7/28/2006 by Ben Kuhlman
Friday started out with a 40-mile circuit race on a rolling course with one 3/4 mile gradual climb each lap (20-miles per lap). Steve Drake, Brian Ramsey and I were in the 95+ strong men's category 4 field. Other than Steve being forced off the road into the gravel twice, the race was pretty uneventful - nothing even remotely serious went off the front. Brian and I both took our share of pulls at the front, occasionally covering moves by a rider or two. As we finished each lap, there were six 90-degree turns in the final K, so you really had to be attentive to the massive field to finish well. I was in great position with 2K to go, but right before the first turn, a second of inattention caused me to drop from 3rd wheel to around 50th right after the first turn. From there, I made up a few spots to finish in the field in 46th position with Brian right on my wheel. Steve had some troubled with his front derailleur, and wasn't able to stay on at the very end. The official time for us was 1 hour 35 minutes for 40 miles - BLAZIN! It was a bad result for my expectations, but I felt real good, so I was cautiously optimistic going into Saturday's 20-mile road race. The highlight of the day was definitely meeting and talking to Mike Jones from Team Health-Net pb Maxxis - he's a great guy.
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Saturday's race has a 4 to 6 mile climb in it, depending on when you would say the climb really starts. I did this race last year and only beat 6 guys, so I was hoping for a little redemption. As we lined up for the race, we made sure we were there a little early to get a good spot in the lineup - we did, but the race started 20 minutes late, so we were all super hot before the race even started! It started off at a decent pace - I eventually made it to the front at the base of the climb and really picked up the pace - I got a gap of maybe 50 meters, but was reeled in after a minute or so. Nobody wanted to come around, though, and I could hear everyone gasping as loud as I was, so I went for it again - this time the pack went single-file and the race was on! As the kilometers ticked by, I still felt good - I sat anywhere from 5th to 10th in the front group, thinking this was an awesome day! When we got to the 1K to the KOM line, the pace quickened, but I was able to respond pretty smoothly. I think I was 10th over the top or thereabouts, but relieved that the hill didn't destroy me like last year. In the little false flat and 5K of rollers before the decent, a group of 4 riders got about a 30-second gap on us. At each long straight they were visible, but we didn't have much to chase with - we did have a sizeable gap on the rest of the field, though, so we were content for now. We finally got a chase organized in our pack of 14 riders on the decent, which was incredibly FAST! We didn't gain much time on the leaders, if any, but had fun flying down the hill - especially the tunnel where the whole chase group screamed like little kids - good times! When we finally got back to the gentle rollers, the chase was full-on, but there were only three of us willing to put forth effort. We reeled in all but 4 seconds by the end, and I finished in 13th on the stage - by far my best road result to date! Brian and Steve finished minutes later in great positions as well!
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This morning was the criterium - a 1-mile loop with two s-turns. We awoke to thunderstorms, but they subsided an hour before the start, leaving just a few puddles in the corners. Last year, there was not a SINGLE rider down the entire race - today was the exact opposite. On the second lap, the rider directly in front of me laid his bike down in the fourth corner. I was barely able to avoid him, and he seemed fine, although his race was already over. On the tenth lap or so, there was an eight-rider pileup in the final corner, which luckily had hay bails three-high all the way around. I was stuck in the middle and miraculously was able to stay off the pavement, but did get to hit the barriers! After standing there and letting the race go by, I tried to catch on, hoping the other guys that were forced off the pace by the pileup and I could work well enough together to get back on. We were all pulled in the next five laps, however, so my Tour de Toona ended on a sour note. I stuck around long enough to see that I finished 23rd overall, hopefully I did ADRT proud. :-)
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Thanks for reading,
Ben