Mixed feelings about the day. First, great course. And the drive was a bit easier than expected. And there was still snow on the ground! Very pro, very springn classic. A number of pros, incudling the Eva DeVinci pro team from Quebec, assorted riders from Symmetrics, Jet Fuel, Jelly Belly, Medfast, Colavita, and a typical cast of regional strongmen.
I had been sick during the week and was on the fence about going. Rode on Friday and did a few hard efforts to see where my legs were at. The signs were very good. So I decided to go. then, had trouble sleeping. Bad sign.
When we got up there, I rolled around, and the legs weren't great. I figured I had enough to do ok. Checked out the final mile before the finish. Downhill, over railroad tracks, then 300 meters of flat. It would be hard to get away in the final miles and small breaks could possibly be chased down. Considered bringing the race profile along. Then forgot.
the opening miles were nervous. People fighting for position. Figured I'd try to be patient, and move up when there were openings and as people got dropped. Saw a guy throw a bike chain on the ground. It had popped off someone's bike and hit the guy. He grabbed it before it went in his wheel. Hit that big opening climb. Fine, then ouch. Came off in the final minute or so. Chased back on. Should have made a point to ride in the top 20 to protect against falling off on subsequent climbs. Didn't.
After 48 miles, the field turned a corner, transitioned from pavement to dirt, hit a hill, and accelerated. Felt ok for about 30-40 seconds and then suddenly my legs started feeling empty. No choice but to back off a little, go hard over the top, and then chase. Only the top was followed by a short descent, and a false flat. I was chasing the rest of the way. My group started as 2 and swelled to 20. The problem with chase groups growing is more people sit on. When we had 6 riders, everyone took a pull, after we were over 8, people were skipping.
With seven miles left, on a dirt climb, we were told the field was less than two minutes ahead. Me and the two Quebec riders kept the pace on, but didn't attack, and no one helped us. over the final hill and onto the downhill, I had two or three people pulling with me. At the end, we were 4:27 behind the lead group, which was 22 at the finish line. I was 10th in the sprint for 48th. Time for the winner, 3:15:37, for my group, 3:20:04. BTW, the race flyer said 75mi, the coure profile 78, my cyclometer 73.5. And something like 5,700 ft of climbing
Interesting to think we had been chasing for 17 miles and lost only two minutes. Losing another 2 on the long downhill to the finish makes sense, as very few were making an effort, while the field was probably attacking one another and setting up leadouts and the like. Though if we had held our position at 2 minutes, we still would have only been sprinting for 42nd.
