Master State RR

Road Race
The B's race was 68 miles consisting of 3 full laps + 7 miles (the +7 included the climb) netting a total elevation gain of appx. 4500 ft. If I thought the crit was hot the road race was hotter (85-88 degrees) and featured a lovely headwind on the climb, turning to a cross-wind on the upper-prairie. Maybe I am just a bit too masochistic but even with the wind and heat this was one of the best courses I have ever raced.

The race got off to a shaky start. Just after the first trip up the hill there was a crash that took down about 5 riders. I was just beginning to chase an attack when it happened so I was a rider or two in front of it but once I bridged I told the 3 others what was up and we all slowed the pace-- it was just too early for a bunch of riders day to be over. After a mile or two everyone was back together and the attacks began again. All the early attacks were caught until once again, Andy Luhn attacked with 2+ laps to go. The already small starting field (24 riders I think) was split significantly the second time up the climb and continued to dwindle. It was not too long before there were only about 12 of us + Luhn off the front. I knew from the crit that Luhn was a great descender and I tried my best to organize a chase group several times, but to no avail. I only got mumbles of “there is 35 miles to go, he cannot stay away.“ Ya, right. The one real chance I thought we did have started with 1 ½ laps to go and ended when one of the chasers flatted (Greg Turpen From Chinook Cycling- I think). The more time that went by the less anyone wanted to chase, myself included. After the 3rd time up the climb I was beginning to cramp, but just on the climb.

On the last lap just before the left turn onto the cross-wind prairie section, Max Coleman from L’ Ecole attacked and got a descent gap. We picked up the pace a bit and started coming upon some Masters A riders as well as some 4/5’s and/or Juniors and I thought we had caught Coleman. I later found out we hadn’t. The last time up the climb was brutal. I had to pace myself and try and stay in touch with the main pack which at this point consisted of 5 riders with 4 or so riders totally blowing up on this last trip up. I basically pushed myself to the edge of cramping and lost about 10-15 seconds on the group. At the top of the climb I was able to push it hard and chase up to Keiichi Otani from Hagens who also lost a bit of time to the lead group. Once I caught him I jumped on his wheel for a couple seconds and pulled around him. I was expecting the lead group to see us catching back on and make and aggressive move to try and keep us off the back. I was right but after only one such attempt they slowed and I hollered for Keiichi to take a pull. I don’t remember if he did (all I remember is him letting out a scream of pain), but if he did it was short lived and I worked my living tail off to get us back on. We finally bridged and were all back together (all 7 of us).

The next 5 miles to the finish were pretty darn slow. There were just two real attacks, one at about 2k and the other at about 1k that were both countered as quickly as they happened. So, there it was, a sprint finish for what I thought was 2nd. Greg Turpen, who had chased back on after flatting much earlier in the race made a move at about 250m and I jumped on his wheel. I am not sure but either David or Aliaster was on my right I believe Keiichi was on his wheel. I came around Turpan with about 50m to go and, needing another gear, spun as fast as I could but just got nipped by Keiichi (yah, the guy I pulled back to the group) and I finished 2nd in the sprint.

My initial thought was I go third overall but soon found out we had not caught Coleman so another 4th place finish. No regrets though, I left everything I had on the course. At least Keiichi is a cool guy and was very thankful after the race for getting him back to the group. Keiichi, you owe me :)

Fortunately, concerning the BAAR hunt the 3 riders finishing in front of me were not the same 3 from the crit so I was actually able to make up a small amount of ground for the overall BARR race. The WSBA site is a bit messed up since the don’t have the Circuit race points allotted correctly but with the adjustments I am currently in 3rd 6 points out of 2nd and 58 points out of 1st with the TT, Omnium, TTT and HCTT left.

Blessings, ~Cole