CCC (3 for 3)
· Aug 1, 03:09 PM
My bike racing season continued (and ended) with the OBRA version of the Cascade Cycling Classic (aka the Cascade Stage Race), which is where you end up if you’re a Cat 4. After my huge successes at High Desert I decided to extend the season for two weeks. That let me get in a sweet “training ride” at Crater Lake and then a little intensity block in the form of 4 stages in three days.
Day 1 was the Bachelor stage, made much easier than the Pro version because we started at Wanoga. I went with a pretty similar strategy to what I employed at High Desert, namely sitting in the pack far away from the wind until we cleared the second feed zone. I actually went off the back a couple of times trying to pee while the pack was going slow. Must be like going while driving, it takes practice and relaxation. I’m not there yet. But that was about the only excitement between Wanoga and Elk Lake. Well, there was the chaos that was the feed zones. Attacks, crashes and an overall demonstration of Cat 4-ness were on full display.
Things finally got interesting at Elk Lake, when the pace picked up, the climbing started and the attacks started to fly. Nobody was willing to push it too hard, which was okay, we still had the climb from Sparks to Bachelor to deal with. We had a few drivers who took us from Devil’s to Sparks at 28-30 miles an hour, and then the group exploded at the base of the climb. I was sitting a little far back, and by the time I wove my way through the field (thank you yellow-line rule), I wasn’t getting across to the lone attacker. I settled into a group of 4 and we were the chasers. (That climb was a lot harder at 12-13 mph than it is at training speed). We finally brought the leader back as we hit Dutchman. All that was left was a sprint in the West Village parking lot (where we were treated to some of the worst pavement in creation), where I didn’t have the legs or tactics for the stage win. Another 3rd, and only bonus seconds down on yellow.
Day 2 started with a TT, which I was looking forward to as the most ski-race like of the stages. In reality the crit is probably more ski-race like if you’re off the front, but I didn’t realize that until we were into the time trial. I started off a little over-geared and my legs never really recovered. It wasn’t a bad effort, but I fought the lactate the whole way. Definitely some suffering. I was lucky to be borrowing Torin’s TT bike, because after the results shook out I was second on the day, but first on GC. All of six seconds clear. Talk about having my work cut out for me.
I didn’t get results from the morning until 10 minutes before the crit start, so I spent the instructions/staging part of the race getting my numbers pinned on my yellow jersey. Then they made the field do a neutral lap and we had a call up. Nothing like the front line start.
On lap two I watched the guy to my left put the guy to his left into the sidewalk on the less-sketchy of the sketchy corners. Not sweet. Going into the race the crit was definitely the scariest thing for me – I really didn’t want to end up on the pavement. So, I waited another lap for a lull in the pace and took off. I got one other guy to go with me and we worked pretty well together. It got tough with 5 laps to go and we were joined by two others with about 3 to go (never a good sign). The rest of the pack was there a lap later, and by the time the sprint rolled around … well, I’d burned a few too many matches to do anything useful.
I went into Sunday with the time gaps to places 2-7 taped to my bars. That was everyone within two minutes – the ones I didn’t really want to see in breaks. On the whole, I think most of the group was feeling a bit of a cumulative race load. I’d had great legs in the crit, but had pushed a bit too hard for them to feel good on the Awbrey look. Luckily for me, nobody else seemed to have good legs. I spent the first two laps marking the guy in third ( 25 secs) and then was preparing for the attacks from Peter ( :06) as we headed up OB Riley on the last lap. It was however, not to be.
Instead of hammering the long flat to Archie Briggs we spent it riding single file behind the pace car waiting to be passed by the 2s. Nothing like spending the key moments of the race neutralized at 16mph. I guess two and a half laps of pushing the hills and coasting the flats and downhills didn’t do much for our overall pace. It was more than embarrassing, but I wasn’t too concerned. After all, my job was not to make the race that day.
We finally got down to business the last time up Archie Briggs, and when the time came I did my best to honor the jersey. I followed the accelerations up the last set of climbs thinking “If this is all you guys have, it’s not going to be enough.” Feeling pretty good about my chances for the overall, I decided to go for beating the group for second (the guy up the road who didn’t get neutralized stayed clear by 15 seconds…). I jumped with 1km to go and was golden. The gap was there and I was resplendent in yellow (apologies to Phil and Paul). I was solid through the final roundabout and then I saw the finish line. It was oh-so far away. Nothing like jumping with a k to go and finding out you have 850 meters in your legs. Oops. I had three guys come over the top, but they weren’t in there for GC, so the win was preserved. Phew.
I came in with three goals, and accomplished them all. That’s pretty good success. I got a yellow jersey (3 in fact, anyone have an idea for what I should do with them), paid for my entry fee and got my upgrade. That’s right, next spring I’m in with the 3s. Almost up to the big boys.
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Congrats, Brayt.
— Will Sweetser Aug 12, 02:03 PM #