Tour de Tuna, Stage 5, Adam Branfman, 7-30
Friends,
Today’s keyword: nose bleed
At home no matter how early we get up the birds are singing as we wake. Here, the birds seem to sleep in. Up this morning at 5:15 to silence in the air. Race start time is 8AM and since the start is only a 10 minute drive from the motel we were able to sleep a little later.Only as we walk out to the car at 6:20 do the birds begin to whistle.
We always get to the start early, Adam is one of the first riders to arrive but there is already alot of commotion and activity. Volunteers are busy scurrying around, setting up the tents, getting out the food and drink for the riders, attaching the loudspeakers and timing clock to the aluminum arch and cranking it up over the start line. The timing company is installing the video cameras that record each rider as they cross the finish and the judges and announcers platform is almost erected. Soon the registrar will set up her table so the riders can check in and certify their identities.
As Adam heads over to the bathroom. I take his bike off the roof, attach the front wheel and check the air pressure. He’s using tubulars today so the pump comes out. Tubular tires are the lightest but they are also the most delicate and thinnest. They loose air quickly and need to be filled daily. 160lbs of pressure for today’s route. Adam doesn’t mind if his bike is a bit dirty but I know that a clean bike is faster (it also looks better) so while he’s away from the car I’m wiping it down. I put on new white handlebar tape before we left for Altoona and it’s gotten a little dirty over the week. if I had another roll I would retape but there’s no time anyway so I clean it off and get it sparkling. Some TriFlow on the chain, and derailleurs, brake check, clip on the computer and the bike is ready.
In the last 20 minutes the parking lot has filled; Jelly Belly, Healthnet Pro Cycling, Priority Health Cycling, Colavita-Sutter Home, Toyota United Pro, Equipe du Quebec, Independent Fabrication, Target Training, Rite Aid, Team Einsteins Cycling, Navigators Insurance, Subaru Cycling, Kenda/Raleigh Racing…........... License plates hail from North Carolina, California, Colorado, Quebec, Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Arizona, Maryland, Connecticut. Missouri…...........All the big teams have at least two team cars or vans (with drivers and helpers); one to follow their riders in the race caravan and one to man the feed zone. Bike racks adorn the roofs, interiors are packed with extra wheels, food, water, and complete tool sets. Blazing logos and graphics disguise the make and model of the car. Some teams also have trailers to transport the bikes complete with workshops. The team soigneurs (staff members) are busy unloading the bikes and arranging chairs in a tight group for the riders to relax in as they prepare for today’s stage and for when they get back after the finish. On each chair sits a radio for the rider to wear so they can keep in contact with their director during the race. For riders to be in contention the radio is as important as their bike. Water bottles are being filled and food is being laid out for each rider. The team directors return to their staging areas with the days commissar (judges) report. Each day following that days race, the head commissar prepares the communique (a document reporting team infractions and fines, riders who did not make the time cut off, dropped out, DNS, DNF, and any last minute changes for the following days race.) This report is then distributed to each team director the morning of race day.
Adam’s team, AxleyUSA has a rented minivan with no bike rack. There isn’t enough room for 5 bikes, the team director and the 5 riders so we have been transporting Adam and his equipment to and from each race. All the better. Though the race is providing neutral mechanical support before, during, and after each race, most every rider brings their own extra wheels, tools, and critical replacement parts. These guys have no tools (not even a Swiss Army knife) and didn’t bring enough water bottles to last the week. Only two of the four Axley riders brought extra wheels. MIke, the team director brought two radios from home and bought 2 more here at Circuit City before the second stage. They didn’t work. We brought 2 pairs of extra wheels, with a replacement cassette, full tool box, 10 tubes, pump, 25 water bottles and an assortment of other things that Adam MIGHT need. Team soigneurs? Are you kidding? Ellen and I manned the feed zones each day. This morning I did a last minute brake adjustment to one of the riders bikes. Mike is a good guy though, very knowledgeable about cycling, and has been a great help to, and supporter of Adam. He gave Adam the opportunity to race here and he has taught Adam alot over the course of the week. His encouragement has been so valuable.
It’s 8AM and the race gets off cleanly. it will be a 22 mile loop through downtown Altoona and the near suburbs, though the start/finish line again and then out into the countryside for the remaining 71 miles of today’s route. 45 minutes after the start a 3 man breakaway hurls themselves through the line. Three minutes later the peleton crosses with Adam solidly in the middle.
Nose Bleed #1:
The race bible (the manual written for each race containing alll the routes, rules, points explanations, and everything the rider needs to know) describes each stage. Today is â........a challenging and hilly course.â Weâve learned that this translated into the language of mortals means â We are now at our crusing altitude of 28,000 feet.Chew gum to relieve the pressure in your ears.â And thatâs the flat sections. The first KOM is at the 52 mile mark. Itâs a 4.5 mile climb to the summit of the highest ski area in Pennsylvania. The peleton began the climb and immediately blew apart with riders being dropped in droves. It is during the decent that the group begins to reform and continues to gather when the terrain flattens. Complete organization took a couple of miles. After the race Adam described the 22% grade half a km from the summit: â I was sitting back in my saddle to get maximum power from my legs but I had to be careful about pulling up on my handlebars in order to keep my front wheel from lifting off the ground.â This is no time for wheelies.
Nose Bleed #2:
The new group of about 20 are cooperating; riding hard but with no intention of dropping any riders. 20 miles later they reach the second KOM. Turning the corner itâs a 3 mile gravel road climb with a 17% final stretch to the top. Again, pressure on the bars are needed to keep the wheel on the ground. Climbing next to Adam was a rider from Team Einsteins Cycling. Adam turned to him and said: âBoy, I could really use a cinammon raisin with cream cheese.â They laughed. Everyone stayed together through the climb and regrouped after the decent toward the feed zone and the third KOM.
There are two feed zones today; one at the 38 mile mark and the second at the 78mile mark. Adam is sure that he won’t need a feed early so after the peleton comes through the start/finish we hop in the car and drive to the second feed zone which is 3 miles from the third of three KOM’s and about 15 miles from the finish. Weâre the first car to arrive at the zone, probably because most cars are going to the first feed zone and then coming here. All the better, we get the best spot; flat road, good visibility, and plenty of shoulder to pull into. Within an hour the team cars have arrived and are jockeying for good positions. 11AM and the sirens are blaring. The same breakaway rolls through at least 30 miles an hour. One rider grabs a musett, another throws a bottle and grabs a new one. Following closely are their team cars. Theyâre gone in a flash.
1 minute….2 minutes…...3 minutes go by and a small chase group comes through. Some feed, some donât bother. Too fast. A few minutes later a larger group enters the zone, slower and thirsty. Water bottles are flying, hands are grabbing, a rider misses his feed, âshitâ he says but he is able to grab a bottle from another teams feeder. There is some cooperation and assistance in the feed zone. A few more minutes and a smaller group comes though sitting up (slow easy riding) and riding slower than the previous one. Two of Adams teammates are in this one. They ride past us signaling âno feed needed.â 5 minutes later another larger group turns the corner and is in sight. Adam is leading the group. As he approaches he grabs water from a friend from the NERAC feeders and then signals to me that he wants a Cytomax bottle. He grabs it cleanly from my hand and he is off looking confident. Yes! only 15 miles to go. Ellen and I gather our chair, water bottles, close up the car and begin the drive back to the start/finish.Then I remember that Adam and the group have to get through the 3rd and final KOM 3 miles from the feed zone. My enthusiasm is dulled.
Nose Bleed #3:
By this time in the race everyone except the lead riders are running on fumes. Get out the nose wipes…...........Immediately out of the feed zone began a long, hard, hot, and lonely gradual 3 mile climb finally ending at the crest of the final KOM. The group was intact as they descended. 6500 feet of climbing is over. It was all down hill to the finish.
By the time Ellen and I got back to the start/finish, the leaders had crossed with the top 5 getting the same time and the 6th only 3 seconds back. Riders seven through fifteen are 46 seconds back. Sixteen through twenty-five are 3:46 back Twenty-six through thirty-five are 4:55 back The next big group comes in 23 minutes behind followed by Adamâs final group at 28 minutes back.Individual riders, and a few smaller groups followed.
Adam finished in 118th position in the stage where 2 riders didnât start, and 22 riders dropped out. The field was now down to 129 from 189. In the GC Adam is now 121 at 57:13 behind the leader. For his efforts today he picked up 13 places.
Tomorrow is the final stage; a 30 mile criterium open only to the top 100 riders. For Adam the race is over. It was an incredible week on and off the bike. Conventional wisdom said with the experience Adam had going in, he would probably finish the first 3 stages but at the very bottom of the GC and maybe start the 4th if he was within the time limit. after all, heâs a new Cat 2. He turned some heads by finishing the 4th well within the limit but the 5th? His team director told him: âDonât push yourself. If you canât finish youâve already accomplished more than anyone could have predicted.’ Today’s 6th stage was Adamâs bicycle racing graduation ceremony. Itâs the start of a new chapter. Mike has invited Adam to continue racing with them. Tomorrow weâll watch the crit together. Next time Ellen and I will watch alone.
See you all soon,
Steven