Chasing youth

At the Little City Stage Race this past weekend the juniors and I were talking about suffering.  It was Saturday night and we had just finished a time trial in the morning and a criterium in the afternoon.  "What race have you suffered the most in?"  Interesting to hear the replies.  Interesting that no single race jumped to my mind.  Interesting that Sunday morning's road race would pop right to the top of my "suffering" list.

I was the M45+ GC leader after the TT (3rd) and Crit (1st), so I was wearing the yellow jersey.  Unfortunately, this race also had elevation (3,000 @ 5,000), heat (90s), a good distance (110km) and really keen competition.  Thankfully I had a teammate in Rob Anderson, but Teammate and Team Specialized promoter Bubba Melcher had to skip the race because he was up to his eyeballs in logistics. 

Six laps of this 18.5km road course.  Lap one is gentle but a lead of three is established.  Lap two see four more go off the front.  Rob, I and others chase but we are not making progress.  Lap three and we are at least four different groups on the road.  Jonathan Laine gets his front wheel taken out and goes down.  I wait for him as the follow vehicle is behind us.  Jon and I ride the remaining three laps as if we are on our own "death ride".  Thankfully I finish 11th and barely hold onto 3rd GC. 

LCSR RR - That was the most I suffered in a single race!

Back to a positive note : Congrats to Cale Reeder for his GC win.  I know I can't beat him in a TT or RR but that will never stop me from trying, including some suffering along the way.

Cheers, Larry Nolan