Like most days when we have a local juniors race, we had an early wake up call, however this time it was to get to the airport for our early flight to Louisville, Kentucky. Upon arrival at the airport, the four of us who would be travelling together (me, Peter, and our two guest riders – Daniel Farinha from SJBC and Cody Tapley from Davis Bike Club) checked in our bikes and bags and began the trek though security. With time to kill, we found seats near our terminal and pulled out our various cycling magazines and breakfast foods. We hopped on the plane, found our seats (happily I got an exit row seat without a seat in front of me), and relaxed until we landed in Chicago. After an hour and a half lay over in Chicago, we were on our way to our final destination.
"Howdy y'all" greeted us over the PA system in the Louisville. All the luggage made it with the exception of Cody’s bag of clothes. Picking it up the next day was not a problem as another trip to the airport was required to pick up Daniel Tisdell. Billy and Craig, who supported us on the trip, picked us up and took us to our hotel in Lexington. In an effort to get us accustomed to the time zone, Billy and Craig gave us a strict 6 a.m. wakeup call, and boy was that tough. Little did they know that after a 6:30 breakfast we all went back to sleep for two hours. We spent the next day and a half riding the TT course a couple of times, driving the two road race courses, and taking in all the glory that Kentucky had to offer. Tuesday was our first day of racing, a double day – a 1 mile prologue in the morning and a 100km road race in the afternoon. Cody was first off and his TT bike did not pass the newest UCI rule which had apparently become effective only two days before the race. So he, like many others, were on their road bikes. One by one we went off and came back, none of us knowing exactly what our times were or how we stacked up against the current leader. Finally it was Charlie’s turn. He headed out and came back with the winning time! (at least that is what we gathered from the excitement in the announcer’s voice). Charlie’s time held through the few remaining riders.
Team Specialized was in the yellow jersey and it was time to defend it. As many of us expected, stage two began fairly fast. The riding was sketchy further back in the pack, so the team tried to stay near the front without putting our noses into the wind. After a few weak attacks from the pack, our very own Daniel T was able to get into a small breakaway that stuck for almost the entire race. The other five of us had our own jobs and team goals for the race, but it relieved some pressure by having a teammate in the early break. Going through the feed zone the pace began to pick up and continued hard into and through town to the intermediate sprint point. As we made our way out of town a group of about 12 riders went off the front and got a gap on thepack – but no Specialized riders were in the group. We spent the next portion of the race getting to the front and pulling back as much time on the group as we could. However, with so many teams represented in the break it was hard getting enough riders to work and the group ahead began to gain time. Charlie tried to follow wheels up to the break but was unsuccessful. Daniel F tried the same later in the race but was also unsuccessful. It was a very hot day and we were in desperate need for more water. I made one successful trip back to the team car for water but when I went back again, my bars turned into the car door, I bounced off the car and went flying across and off the road. I stayed upright but every single muscle in my legs cramped. Eventually I got back on my bike and had a mechanic give me a push, but it was too late to catch back on to the pack. I rode the last 15 km with one other rider who was dropped from the group. We finished the day with five of our six in the main group about one minute back from the new leader. And so we began our recovery for the next day.
Wednesday was the longer time trial, a 23 km out and back course with a few big rollers. Both Cody and took it easy today as there was no time cut and neither of us were in contention for the leader's jersey. Once I was done with my recovery ride/TT, the bigger namesstarted their rides. We were unsure how our guys would stack up and it became a waiting game. We waited and waited and were still unsure of the results as we packed up and headed out, but we did know we did not reclaim the leader's jersey.
Thursday was the much anticipated, very hilly, final road race stage of the tour. It was 115 km long with supposedly 8000 feet of climbing. The race started out at the bottom of the Red River Gorge – this was actually the first time that we saw the Red River. The pace was fast from the gun and continued fast over the top of the first climb, but then settled in to an easier pace over the next 20 km of rollers. As we made our first descent Daniel T. had a flat tire and had to drop pretty far back to get a new wheel. Just as he was catching the pack on the same descent there was a big crash, caused by the stupidity of a few riders. Daniel ended up going down, while the rest of us were comfortably ahead of it. A few kilometers after the feed zone we turned up the second of the four major climbs. The most steady of the four, this climb had a tunnel at the top for the riders to negotiate before making a descent into yet another section of rollers. While there was very little separation in the field on the climb, once the group got to the tunnel everything split. Unable to see more than 3 feet in front of ourselves, we were forced to ride at a very slow rate, while the front of the group cruised right through. After making it safely out of the tunnel we began the descent. Trying to chase back to the lead group there were a number of riders who completely missed turns. Watching riders go shooting of the road I began to descend more cautiously. With the help of about 5 other riders we made it back to the group just in time. After making it back up to the front third of the group there was yet another crash at the back of the field. This time it was Peter who had the unfortunate luck to be caught in the crash. A little cut up and completely covered in mud he began his chase, but was unable to catch the group. With about 45 km left we began our ascent up the third climb. At the base of the climb an HPC/Garmin rider attacked and Daniel F attempted to follow. After getting swallowed back up by the group, both he and I started to drift further and further back. Just as Charlie and Billy had predicted, the split was occurring on the third and hardest climb. Cresting the steepest section of the climb Daniel and I formed up with a group that quickly began to grow. As team cars came around our group, I knew that the selection was going to stick, and that Charlie was the only Specialized rider to have made the split. The next hour and a half of racing was quite uneventful in our group. As we came into the finish line Daniel F. was able to get 2nd in our group sprint, finishing around 20th overall on the stage. We later heard that from the lead group of about twenty, five riders broke off, then dropped one, and came to the line together. Both Cody and Peter rolled in more or less by themselves, with Peter coming in just minutes before the time cut. We would be starting the crit the next day with five of our six riders, as Daniel was unable to finish the stage.
Friday night was our final race, a downtown crit in Lexington. A six corner course with strong
winds on both the uphill and flatter sections was going to make for a very hard race. With nothing to lose our plan was to be aggressive and try and get in an early breakaway. When we got the whistle to start the race there seemed to be plenty of guys willing to make it a hard race, which meant it was tough to even get to the front. Both Charlie and I were fairly active for the first half of the race, but were unable to get in a break. With about 30 minutes left in the race a few riders got off and were joined later by another two. That break stuck for the remainder of the race and took the podium. Charlie attempted to take a flyer with two laps to go, but as was the case for the entire race, he was a marked rider and the pack did not let him escape. Riding on the leadout train of Hot Tubes I was able to go into the field sprint with great positioning and finished 5th in the field sprint and 9th overall.
Overall, the race was a great learning experience for everyone. We got in some good hard racing just in time for nationals. It was also a really fun trip and I look forward to returning next year and putting in a strong team performance.
Team Sprint