X-Pot Race Weekend, Men's Collegiate A - 4-25-09
The X-Pot race weekend (the reincarnation of the Beanpot weekend) in Westminster, MA was run in brutal conditions as the mercury hit the 90’s in the mid-afternoon, when the Collegiate Men’s A races were held. Saturday was doubly brutal with a Team Time Trial in the morning and a 63 mile road race including 7 times up a brutal climb in the shadow of Mt. Wachusett that had ramps of up to 15%. Sunday’s race was a crit with a short climb and a fast descent.
The Team Time Trial is a test of both individual strength, team unity, and communication. Being the weakest link on my Team Time Trial squad, things were tense and communication was critical. We decided that I should play it safe and take 5 second pulls at the beginning, because the probability of my cracking was moderately high if I were to ride hard from the get go. Tony Hall (Luzzo’s/Columbia) would be our big gamble. We would have him start us off to bring us up to speed and then skip just one pull before taking 15 second pulls. Alex Bremer (Empire/Columbia), the team’s big motor, would take ~45 second pulls. This strategy was predicated on the idea that playing it too conservatively would lose us significant time in the short 7-mile race. Our gamble almost paid off as we took 3rd about 20 seconds behind first place, but the lack of practice – getting our schedules to fit in TTT practice was quite difficult – meant that we didn’t have the flow of a well-oiled machine required to win.
It’s never a good sign when you arrive at the start line with your jersey unzipped, but that’s what happened at the beginning of each of the road events. With temperatures that rivaled mid-summer, just standing in the sun was enough to force the body to try start with the heat dissipation and water conservation. If that wasn’t enough, I ran into rear derailleur problems and was forced to change my cable right before the race (luckily, I’ve been taught how to do this)! If this weren’t bad enough, Alex Bremer snapped the inner lever off his SRAM shifter and had to borrow a similarly sized bike from a teammate. He spent staging switching over the pedals and was adjusting the saddle height as the race rolled out. The only thing to learn from this is that you can take care of your equipment, but things happen. The only thing you can do is take it in stride. Also, know how to repair your bike. If I hadn’t known how to change my derailleur cable, I would’ve been toast. I’m pretty sure that the only other people who knew how to do it were the other Men’s A riders, and they were warming up out on the road.
We hit the base of the first climb, and I was in perfect position – about 5th wheel in a field of 30. Throughout the climb, I sagged on the steeper sections and held position or moved up in the protection of the peloton on the flatter sections. On the steepest part of the climb, Thom Coupe (Bikereg.com-Cannondale/UNH) accelerated away from the field. The move lacked the violence characteristic of most attacks, but it was no less stunning. With everyone out of the saddle pushing hard on a ramp that touched 15%, he glided away from us pedaling fluidly the entire time. It wasn’t until the gradient let up that Alex Bremer punched it and started to bridge across. With those two up the road, it was up to UVM to chase, but the chase never came.
The pack was disorganized with attacks coming infrequently and different people setting the pace, so I went up to the front during the third lap and rode low tempo, a pace that I knew was significantly slower than Bremer’s endurance wattage. With a break off the front and a teammate of one of the riders in the break riding tempo, the first thing you should think is, “he’s blocking.” Not everyone thinks that, because not everyone realizes that this is a tactic. Always be aware of who’s on the front and why! Also, you have to understand how your team will handle a sprint or a second breakaway. This will determine if you work or not. I led the group up the climb trying to ride at my own pace – always a good idea if you’re a poor climber!!! – and surprisingly gapped everyone. I thought it was going to be my lucky day – i.e. I would get to the top and be able to rest and latch onto the back of the pack, but Chris Hamlin (Bliss Racing/UVM) launched an attack and brought me back. With two riders off the front – one of whom (Chris) was a very strong time triallist – the pack woke up and flew up the remainder of the climb catching me on the last ramp. It was here that Josh Lipka (Bikereg.com-Cannondale/UNH) launched an attack. I was 4th wheel at the time and I decided I would try to give everything and sag through the guys chasing him down. As 8 riders came by, I looked back and realized that there was nobody left in the “peloton.” I chased for 1.5 laps before dropping out of the race. I was dehydrated, overheating, and starting to cramp in spite of drinking a bottle and dumping half a bottle on my head every 9 mile lap. It just didn’t make sense to burn myself out trying to finish the race if it meant that I wouldn’t have legs for the next day’s criterium. Bremer ended up dropping Coupe and riding away with yet another win.
The criterium went better but still not well. I started off in the back and moved up quickly, but the Coupe and Lipka got away just as I got to the front end of the race. Spending all that energy making it to the front, I was unable to respond to the attack. I joined 2 moves that attempted to bridge across but wasn’t lucky enough to be part of the one that made it. With 4 teams represented in the break, including the 2 biggest teams – Army and UVM – the race would be for 7th place. One rider broke away in the final lap to nab 7th. As for me, I stayed near the front going into the final sprint, but the heat and dehydration meant that my legs were dying. I decided to shorten my sprint – especially considering the cross head wind – and began from 150m out rolling in for 10th place overall and 3rd in the field sprint.
I can’t help but wonder if I could’ve gone with the move had I started off the race in a better position. The legs were dead, and I could see the race leaving me as I tried ineffectually to jump out of the saddle and follow Lipka. I moved up a grand total of two spots with that surge, and I tried to recover on the wheel wondering if I had it in me to bridge the gap as it grew and grew. I knew I couldn’t. However, it still hurt to know 100% that the break would stay away and have no strength to do anything about it.