The Road Race - Nelson Landing

The Next Day

Saturday, January 29 and it’s time for the 36 mile road race. Normally, 36 miles is a short course. Most road races will be around 60 – 70 miles in length but it is still early in the race season and the 4 to 8% grade will make up for the shorter course.

Esmeralda and I arrive at the site at about 7:30. I’m due to start with the other 20 Masters 45+ racers at 9:15. I do the same routine I used for the TT and get in line with the rest of the “old guys” at around 9:05. I watch the younger racers take off, the pros, the Cat 1 and 2, the 3s, the Cat 4/5 and now it’s our turn. We get our start, and immediately begin to climb a 4% grade. I’m thankful for the easy pace the leaders set for the first couple of miles but I know that we have 9 miles to get to the top of the grade where the steep downhill will start and my 192 lbs of weight will actually be an advantage – but I must stay with the group for this advantage to mean anything. Everyone is talking about how glad they are to have a 26 toothed cog lower gear, I nervously look down at my 23 toothed cog and realize I’m going to have to be very strong to finish this race any where in the hunt. The pace increases and the first break away is attempted. We all jump and increase our cadence and meet the challenge of this first attempt. A few minutes later there is another break, and another…each time I’ve made the grade and stayed with the group. I look back and see 4 riders or so dropping off the back. Another break is made and this time I can’t make it, I drop off the back and realize I’m in “no mans’ land.” I’m between the lead and successful break-away riders, and the group that dropped off before this latest attempt. I actually imagine the scene from “Animal House” where the little devil appears on your left shoulder and a little angel version of yourself appears on your right. The devil on my left shoulder says, “You still have 4 miles of uphill riding to go before you hit the top of the grade, this is real hard, look at your heart rate monitor. Just turn around and go back.” At that moment, some rider in front of me does just that; he turns around and quits the course. I now listen to the angel on my right that says, “You came all this way, you can’t quit now.” I pay attention to the angel and decide to gut it out, and both the devil and the angel leave. I put my head down and drive for the summit, I need to keep that lead group in sight and hope I can catch them on the long 9 mile, 8% down-grade. I try not to think about the fact that I have to turn around and go right back up that 9 mile 8% grade.

I finally crest the pass and scream down the grade at around 50 mph, aware that the road is slick with last night's rain and the drizzle that is still falling every few minutes or so. I watch all the riders that left before our group passing me in the other direction as they wrestle with the uphill version of the hill I’m descending. They don’t look like they’re having a lot of fun as they struggle with the 8% grade. I actually close on my lead group at the turn around. It’s now time to struggle up the 9 miles back to the pass. For some reason I feel stronger, the long down hill at speed has rejuvenated me. I’m actually passing slower riders that are having trouble with the uphill battle - none however, are in my group though. I do catch a couple of stragglers from my group that got away from me on the other side of the pass but realize I’ll never catch the top dozen or so riders from my group – they are just riding up the hill too good. I catch up to a cat 4 rider, who like me is a pilot. We talk about flying airplanes for about 5 minutes and I look at my heart rate monitor and see my pulse has finally lowered to 153 beats, 7 beats below my LT. It’s time to go. I thank the cat 4 rider for the conversation and pick up the pace and leave him behind. I struggle over the pass with the encouragement of a race fan at the side of the road. He screams, “Keep it up, just over that hill, it’s right in front of you.” I crest the hill with another Cat 4 rider and him and me set up a rotating pace line at 31 mph all the way down to the finish. With 200 meters to go I say, “let’s go for it.” But my legs are tired and the cat 4 rider pulls away and crosses the line 10 meters ahead of me. I’ve lost the sprint but “won the race” as the Cat 4 started the race 10 minutes before I did, so I know I have a better time than him.

I finish the 36-mile race in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I’m 13^th overall for the Masters 45+ race. There are only 17 of us so it’s not the greatest finish in the world but I’m not a hill climber and this was a hill climber’s race. Remember Ron Skarin, past member of the ’72 and ’76 Olympics? He finished with the lead group, with a time of 2:03, so I’m not that far from the front. I also look at the Cat 4/5 guys and see that I would have taken 27^th place out of about 50 guys if I would have rode in that category. I leave the course feeling pretty happy. Ron’s 15-year old son competed with the Cat 5 group and took 3^rd place with a great time of 1:56:14! Ron is pretty proud that his young son kicked his butt.

Look for complete race results via Pro Cyclery’s web site.