Many of you are anxiously awaiting the details of this weekend's State Championship Road Race and I appreciate your patience. Here is my account from the back...
Sunday we awoke to rain and wind here in the Garden City. John, Nadia, Geraldine and I loaded up the now, NRO/5VV team van for our trip to Eden, Montana. I wasn't worried about our weather here as Great Falls is usually sunny, but how would the wind be?
We arrived at 9:30 am with the Men's Cat 1/2/3's slated to go off at 10:30. It was a beautiful, sunny morning with only a slight breeze. We began our pre-race rituals and warmed up some. But by 10:30 am the wind was steadily picking up. It would be a crosswind from the southwest today.
The fields were all scrawny, half the size of Star Meadows. Many riders, such as Bob Presta, Elliot Bassett and Matt Seeley were missing from the roster, so it would be a test. Who could keep it together in the wind and on the hills, over 46 or 75 miles of terrain, t be crowned the best of Montana's road racers for 2008.
Present was Willy Zellmer, the 15 y.o. junior from Missoula, in his Cat3 debut. John Weyrich and I rounded out the team. Again, this was a far cry from our dominant presence up in Whitefish. The Cat 4/5 field held NO Five Valley Velo riders, which I think is a travesty, seeing how we've been leading the MBRA series, both in individual and team standings. You guys really should've been here. You would have SWEPT the field. I know how you guys have been riding!
The women's fields were competitive, but also minuscule. I wouldn't be surprised if there were only a dozen ladies, total, in all of the fields. Northern Rockies took just about all of the placings, but our own Sarah Halverson came and rode hard. Nice to represent, Sarah!
Joel "Cosmo" Kramer took third in the juniors race. Joel has come a long way this year and you should be keeping an eye out for this guy over the next two years. I think he's got the toughness to make this sport a way of life for him!
So back to the Big Boys. John and I talked about each trying to get into a break to see where it might lead us. Without any real team it would be up to ourselves to make something happen. We took a neutral rollout and a slow climb up the first hill and then things began to develop. John went out in the first break, but was reeled in after only 5 minutes or so. Of course, there is a counter and some big names go up the road. This was also at the beginning of the first, big climb of the day. I worked hard to quickly bridge up to them and then began to climb. It was then that they put on the burners and cranked it up the hill. I immediately know that I wasn't going to be hanging with these guys and I eased up.
That was the race!
It was definitely my race, but also the race for everyone else, everyone who wasn't in that group. The pace that they set forced a hard chase from the peloton which quickly began to shatter. It was like a bomb had gone off in the middle of the bunch, halfway up this long, stairstepping hill and into the wind. WOW. I was quickly running out of steam and dropping back in the pack. By the time I crested the hill I was in the last group of two with Tomas Dubrovsky (G.A.S.). John had survived in the chase group, and Willy had made it up with Howard Williams, a solid rider. So at 12 miles or so into a 75 mile road race, I knew I wouldn't be finishing. We were on top of this plateau and the wind was fierce. And it was only Tomas and I. We began to work together, but also started a dialogue about just how far we would ride today. "One lap only" seemed to be the agreement as neither of us wanted to suffer out there for 4 hours.
The state Championship Road Race course was just that, a champion's course. It was 75 miles of rolling hills with two longer climbs and was an out-and-back-and-out-and-back-and-out-and-back course of three laps, measuring ~5400 vertical feet of climbing. And did I mention the wind? It was plenty enough to make a grown man cry.
So the field was split into several, small chase groups that were all probably only 30 seconds apart, so like any self-respecting cyclist we all gave chase. Nothing like continued and sustained pain to take your mind off the hills and the wind. Tomas and I chased. John chased. Howard and Willy chased. Shaun chased. At each turn around we could see that we were all within either seconds or minutes of the leading groups, motivating us to continue. Willy eventually tired and dropped from Howard back to us and finally Tomas dropped the two of us. Before I knew it we were climbing out of Eden (an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned) and beginning our final run to the finish. My legs were totally spent and Will gapped me. Now he should've waited for his (elder) teammate, but he's young and inexperienced so I didn't give him grief. We solo rode the last 15 miles at 45 seconds apart for the final two finishers of the day. A little different ending than I had envisioned.
The lead group of 6 or 7 riders thinned down to the final three: Kiefer Hahn, Josh Tack and junior, Marshall Opel. It came down to a sprint. Kiefer went at 200 mts, too soon. The other two came around to duke it out. Tack took Marshall at the line. John came in a respectable 8th or 9th. Final results should be posted soon.
So this seemed like a true Montana race. There was the battle of the terrain, the elements and the toughest riders this side of the Mississippi River.
~out~
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