Eastern Conference Championships at Penn State, Men's Collegiate A - 5-3-09
The Eastern Conference Championships were last weekend, and I have to admit that it didn’t go well. I’m on a new medication for my severe asthma, and while it has been very effective it hasn’t completely eliminated my attacks. However, I can’t hide behind the shield of a medical condition. The reality of the situation is that I just didn’t have the legs in the 86 mile road race with two nasty 1-mile climbs and a monster of a 5-mile climb (it flattened out after 3.5 miles but then rolled on upwards after that) each 21.5 mile lab; for those of you counting, that’s a total of 8 small climbs and 4 monster climbs. As a figurative “David” riding against multiple “Goliaths” I had very few choices, and I decided to try playing the game on my own terms, a tactic that is remarkably successful in mismatched conflicts:
No. I didn’t give myself 6 units of packed red blood cells. Instead, I tried to sag climb. Sagging is almost always a good idea with the only worry that you might sag off the back. All the non-climbers out there ought to try this tactic. I was helped by the fact that Nick Bennette (MetLife/Princeton) employed his own atypical strategy. He’s a sprinter and overall strong rider, but he can’t hang on if there are surges on the climbs. As a result, he went straight to the front. He rode steadily and as hard as he could for the duration of the climb. He shredded the field (there were only about 15 riders left the first time over the top of the climb… unfortunately, I was not one of them) and avoided getting dropped that way. With so many strong climbers, this atypical strategy that is proactive instead of reactive (the way most people play the climbs) saved the day for him. I just don’t have the watts to do that, but I have done it before. This is a very important lesson to learn for your own racing. If you set a fairly uncomfortable pace, people will be discouraged from making their own moves (unless they’re climbing monsters… then you’re in a bad situation)!
After getting dropped for good the second time up the climb, I got into a good group that picked up riders to become 9-riders strong. Shockingly, this was the largest group on the road as the front group detonated. I cleaned up the gentleman’s sprint for 21st before getting pulled at the end of the 3rd lap. I want to thank the officials, because I don’t think I could’ve survived a 4th time up a 5-mile climb. Really, I didn’t triumph as an underdog, but I did avoid complete and utter embarrassment. In a way… that’s also a victory.
The criterium wasn’t much better. It was 6 corners in just 1 kilometer forming an L-shape. Two of the corners were rapid fire to form a chicane of death that was made even more dangerous by a light drizzle. In the Men’s A race, there were 3 crashes – one of which I was involved in. After being involved in the major wreck of the day (I think there may have been 5? riders involved), I ran to the pit to get my free lap. After being put back in the race, I was so amped that I immediately moved to 4th wheel. In retrospect, this indiscriminate use of energy was probably a bad idea as I was pretty gassed after the adrenaline wore off. With 11 laps to go, I was dropped, and with 7 to go, I was pulled. In spite of this, I finished 17th. Seventeenth is not a terrible result in a tough race marred by crashes, but I really think I could’ve done better. That’s bike racing, though.
Thanks for reading. Wish me luck at Collegiate Road Nationals this weekend in Fort Collins, CO! For a time, it was unclear if Columbia would qualify a full team, but we ended up 3rd in the “Nationals Rankings” for Division 1!