King's Valley RR: Best Road Result in Two Years!!

Saturday I did something I haven't done in almost two years:  I podium'd at a road race.  The last time I did this was in June 2010 as a Cat 4.

close but couldn't close it
photo courtesy of Leonard Johnson

To be honest, I'm still a little shocked but more than anything I'm disappointed with how it all played out.


Going into this race I liked the looks of the course but knew we had some guys on really good form who could win in any situation.  Again, my job was to cover moves and set up the strong guys to grab the max Oregon Cup points.

From the gun I knew I was in a bad spot, straight to the back of a stacked 70-rider field on a typical OBRA course with narrow roads.  For the next two laps I tried to fight my way up but with the rolling nature of the course as soon as I was in a good position someone got gapped off and I got stuck in the back again.  Yes, this is my fault and I should have been up there in the beginning and fought for position.  Instead I wound up hanging out at the back for almost three laps.  All the while Will, Chris, Adam, Carl, Boone and Robin were on the front covering moves.  There I sat, riding on their efforts, not doing a damn thing to contribute to the team's goals.

Heading into the last lap Will joined up with the rear of the field after flatting and said the team needed me at the front.  I was cranky about this because I was content with the free ride I knew I hadn't done anything and I didn't want a repeat of Independence Valley where I effectively threw a tow rope out and let the field haul me around.  Just after the finishing hill the field moved to the left and I followed a move up the right.  We quickly got our gap but the field brought us back.  I pulled through one final time but the field had already absorbed the break and sat up.  I was left hanging 50ft off the front and it seemed the only was I could get back to the field was by stopping and walking back to them.  I hung there for almost two minutes before I got bored and started to ride away.  There was a single rider maybe a minute up the road but I couldn't tell who it was; the kit design looked similar to ours but I had a hard time making it out.  Within a few minutes a group of three went off the front and came by me.  I hopped on and we were off.

We slowly brought back what turned out to be a Veloce rider up the road and we started working.  Our time gap steadily grew to 1:45 and we began to realize that we were going to stay away.  Then the games started.

I know it's all part of cycling but sometimes I get really tired of everyone looking at each other.  All of a sudden three of the five riders in the break were sitting on.  None of us had any Oregon Cup points but several of us had teammates in the field who did.  I knew if we came back Scott could win a field sprint so part of me was hoping for that but it wasn't to be.  I eventually just played the team card and directed everyone to work.  Somehow that worked.  We went into the final climb with all the room we needed to sit there and stare at each other.

An attack by Scott Powell (Veloce) dislodged Sam Nicoletti (Gentle Lovers) but Rob English and Zac Winter (Guinness Cycling) started the BS games.  I know it was dumb but I just went to the front and rode, not necessarily attacking but just riding tempo.  I knew the absolute worst case was 5th place and frankly I didn't have the confidence to beat those guys in a sprint.  This wasn't a situation I'd been in before so instead  of thinking about how to maximize my (and the team's) return I was more focused on just getting to the finish line.

Scott attacked again and promptly blew.  Leading into the final 300m the lineup was English, Winter and myself.  Even with 300m to go I still wasn't thinking about my strength's and their weaknesses; instead I just hung out and started a Rob's gorgeous custom bike.

Because of the headwind the spring started at 150m.  English went then Winter and I responded.  It looked like someone lit a rocket behind Zac Winter because he'd jumped two bike lengths before either of us could respond.  English faded in the last 50m and I almost caught him but it wasn't to be.  I could make any number of excuses of ask for 'x' amount of extra road but it comes down to tactics and knowing your strengths.  I learned an important lesson Saturday, bike racing isn't always about who's the fastest, the smartest or even who has the best gear.  More often than not the rider who can out smart, rather than out-ride, his opponents typically comes away with the crown.

At the end of the day, I still don't really feel like I earned this one.  Yes, I was in the right place at the right time but I feel like it was another instance of dumb luck.

Ok, lesson learned.  More thinking, less mindless riding.