I think starting this race report with a quasi-cliche novel opening would be fitting: It was a cold, rainy, and miserable day. Yeah, that about sums up the conditions. According to the weather report, the rain was supposed to cease sometime during the race, but that never happened. The plan du jour was to stay at the head of affairs for the first 2/3 of the race, while keeping the pace high for the field on the difficult sections, which on this course meant driving it up the steep climb about halfway around the loop, and then go for a break when things seemed right towards the end of the race.
From my standpoint, nothing exciting happened in the beginning of the race. Just the usual halfhearted attempts to go way, way too early. The only thing I noticed was that with each successive lap of the course, I got much, much wetter and much, much colder. Seriously, when I’d get out of the saddle it felt like my biceps were going numb. The action picked up a bit the third time up the climb, when I pushed the pace (maybe a little too much at that point in the race) and got a gap on the field. I was joined by a wily little guy who seemed to have good threshold power as we pushed the pace on the flat following the short descent. I wasn’t sure I wanted to fully commit to this move being that it was only about halfway through the race, but I put some work in as we rotated pretty good. After a bit, I looked back and saw the field charging after us. Since the guy seemed strong, I told him to shut it down and that if he wanted to have a serious go at a move like this, to be invisible on the climb the next time and then be ready to go with me on the last lap. He agreed. So I reintegrated and just started biding my time and conserving energy until that last time up the climb. (Though not before being chided by Kyle for showing my hand a little early.)
Fast forward to the approach to the climb on the last lap. I’ve positioned myself perfectly for the pounce about 4 wheels back. We get to the climb and I hit it full gas and didn’t look back (you know, for that psychological effect) so I’m not certain how much I gapped the field with the initial burst. On the descent I pushed the watts before settling into TT mode on the twisty flat that followed. After a few minutes, I shot a glance back and didn’t see anyone. Sweet. It was still a ways to go but I was happy to time trial. I didn’t feel completely supple though probably because of the cold. Anyhow, a little more than 2K from the line, I look back and see a group of 5 charging hard at me. I gave the attempt just a little more to see if I could snap their resolve, but decided to sit up after that didn’t work. I tacked on to the back of that group and hoped that I could find something in the reserves quickly for the impending sprint. No dice. I burned out the turbo boosters with that attack on the climb and finished in 6th place at the back of the group that caught me.
If only the finish was 2K closer. If only the chasing group didn’t have so much firepower. What if I waited to attack on the shorter little rise before the turn to the finishing straight? Ah, whatever. I put in a committed effort at a part of the course that played to my strengths and ended up making the race, which was pretty sweet. And between the awful terrain last weekend at Fawn Grove and the horrible weather at this race, I feel ready for whatever’s thrown at me at Battenkill next weekend.
