This is the story of four intrepid mostly-Cat3 racers trying against the odds to hold on to a GC position in race #3 of the Bethel Spring Series: The Tour de Kirche.
After last week's cold & wet conditions, the weather was record warm, dry and sunny. The great weather wasn't enough to persuade a bunch of our teammates to forego a planned pre-ride of the Tour of Battenkill course, so there was just me and Drew to help SDC move up the GC or at least not lose ground. Fortunately, Dennis answered my plea, deciding to give our race a try and provide some much-needed help too.
It was actually a little funny lining up at the start in a sea of Bethel guys (they hold the yellow jersey) and a million other hungry racers. I'm not sure how many IRS/Medic guys there were supporting the #2 GC guy, but I think we were the smallest team there with podium dreams. SDC can hold his own in a sprint, but there has to be a sprint for him to have a chance. I didn't know how we'd fare against such a large field. So we kept our expectations low - if we held our ground against these odds we'd consider the race a success.
SDC saving his matches for end-of-race fireworks (as always, click to enlarge)
The race started out fast with multiple attacks right out of the gate. Even with the hill, the average speed for the 30 laps (1 hour) was between 25 & 26mph and the field was often strung out, either chasing down a split or break or reacting to a few bored eager riders going off the front. The speed is - for me - one of the joys of racing. And racing at such speeds in a close-knit pack is especially great, when it's safe.
Since I've started racing at Bethel, I've been impressed with how safe the racing is - even though it tends to be very fast and competitive. Unfortunately, whether because of the record-size field (80-ish?), a few bad apples, or just the general giddyness of May-like weather in March, this race was - to quote the Swedish Chef: "Squirrely, squirrely, squirrely." There was a lot of bumping, overlapped wheels and general sketchiness. Most laps, going up the hill, riders would blow up and/or sit up inexplicably. You come to expect some of that, especially on the faster laps, since that hill is a real menace after being flat out - it's hard to keep momentum up. But yesterday, instead of ones and twos it was whole large groups of guys slowing WAY down, all across the road. It made for some crazy lines. And once I swear about 20 guys came to an almost complete stop - I thought they'd fall over if they didn't clip out - but they somehow stayed upright.
Another minor miracle: Somebody must've gotten too close and put a pedal in a guy's rear wheel. The machinegun sound and flying spoke accompanied the scene of riders trying to avoid running into each other and keep from crashing. Fortunately, the guy veered off to the side of the road, rear wheel wobbling, his race over.
My closest call came when I got a little too close to the guy I was marking. I'd let my front wheel overlap his for a split-second at just the same time he needed to move right to react to a shift in the field. Our wheels rubbed, I wobbled a bit and folks gave a little extra space, punctuated by their shouts of "whoa!" Considering all the argy bargy, it's amazing that there wasn't a single crash the entire race (which is more than can be said about the Pro1/2/3 races this year, unfortunately).
Given our reduced numbers, marking was just about all we could do - go with whatever split occurs in the field; make sure SDC stays near the yellow jersey and any other GC threats. One good thing about having fewer teammates in a race is that it makes your strategy much more focused - you don't have to discuss much beforehand, and during the race things become automatic a little more easily. One of the coolest things about this race was how the three of us were able to keep our marks in sight, in order to let SDC concentrate on the end of the race. It seemed just as one of us would tire, it "just so happened" that another of us would be there - ready to take up the mark.
I was especially proud of Dennis - that's him up there taking over marking the leader as I fade a bit. He is - by his own admission - more of a road racer than a crit guy and I think he may even be a recently-minted Cat4 (he coordinates our Cat5 team). Point is, he stepped way outside of his comfort zone to help us in the Cat3/4 race. Due to what I later discovered must have been sandbagging (something about not getting enough sleep, etc etc), I didn't have high expectations, figuring if he could at least keep things together early that would be a big help. But he went way above and beyond that, racing as a full partner and teammate during the entire race. Better yet, he's committed to doing the 3/4 race again next week (there, it's in print now so he has to do it!).
I've raced with Drew in all the races so far this season and, despite his claim that his fitness hasn't come around yet, he always seemed to be right where we needed him when we needed him there. It was due to these two guys that the yellow jersey had an EXPO guy on his wheel for most of the race.
The series leader did get away once though, in what I thought was a pretty dangerous move in the latter half of the race. We'd just come up the hill again (that's a typical shot of the climb above) and things got boxed in a bit. By the time we'd rounded corner 1 and started down the hill, there was a split up the road a little bit of about 6 or 7 guys. Next thing I know, I hear someone say "there goes yellow" and sure enough I see the series leader bridge up - and none of our guys were up there.
All I could think was "this is bad, they can't get away" and so I got outside the pack and started sprinting like it was the bell lap. I still don't know quite what I thought I would do if/when I got there. It would have been better to find SDC, get him on my wheel, and try and get him to the split. But in my addled state, I just put my head down and flew by the rest of the pack and latched onto the breakaway as they crested the hill. The rest of the peloton must've wondered whether that was part of EXPO's strategy - I know that was the reaction Mrs. Suitcase had when she saw my big effort. She asked me later - "What did you plan to do when you got there?" And, I'm embarrased to admit I wasn't quite sure. "Sit on the break" didn't make that much sense since there were certainly enough guys in it to do without me. If we had stayed away, there's no way I alone could have kept anyone else from getting to the line first. But - whether due to my kamikaze effort, lack of interest in the break, or (most likely) a motivated pack of chasers - it all came together again. Just the effect I wanted, even if the effect wasn't quite intended.
Intended or not though, the situation at the end gave our guy the best chance. That's him moving up the field toward the end of the race, getting into the best position he can without the benefit of fresh teammates to bring him up. One of the downsides of having only a few guys working for you is that you tend to have to use them up too soon. Guys that have been chasing attacks, bridging to breaks, and marking others all during the race can't (at least I can't) have enough energy at the end to do a solid leadout.
But as you'll see below, sometimes - if you're lucky - you can seize an opportunity and don't need a big leadout train:
I didn't see this happen since I was still coming up the hill. But fortunately, Mrs. Suitcase caught it. Good thing. As I rounded corner 1 after the finish, I saw SDC coming back up the track. I asked him how he did and he just shook his head. I wasn't too surprised - I knew it was a very very tough race and the odds were certainly stacked against us. But I soon learned the truth. SDC took third out of a HUGE, competitive, sketchy field. Being typically hard on himself, he noted that he got beat by the two guys ahead of him on GC. But I was very happy with how we did with what we had.
Sure, it would be nice to win - and if we have anything to do with it, we're going to continue to shred our legs to put ourselves in a position to win - but it's at least as important, and just as much fun, to work together as a team, strategize as a team, think as a team, and race as a team. When that's happening, you can take pride and satisfaction in your teammate's placing knowing that your work contributed to a team result. Knowing that we are each stretching ourselves for the good of our teammates makes the final results in the standings pretty incidental.
Whether you had put it in print or not, I was going to be there with you guys this coming Sunday. I wasn't sand bagging entering last week's race -- I honestly thought a DNF was a likely scenario -- but now that I know that I can hang in there and work for SDC and actually have a blast doing it, you'll be sure to see me lining up with you again.
Posted by: Dennis Desmarais | March 23, 2010 at 07:33 AM
Just teasing you about the sandbagging - Im just psyched that it turned out well enough you wanna join us again! Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!
Posted by: suitcaseofcourage | March 26, 2010 at 02:18 PM
Yep, I knew you were just teasing me, and I too am excited for Sunday!
As it stands right now -- a R&R week combined with the confidence gained from last week's race performance -- I'll have no reason to sand bag and I'll be eager to carry a heavier burden as we work for SDC.
Posted by: Dennis Desmarais | March 26, 2010 at 02:26 PM