This would be the biggest stage race I ever competed in with more than 100 riders.
The road race was 72 miles, starting with a descent and ending with a six mile climb. At the start Diego and I bundled up. After the descent I fell off the back of the pack to take mine and Diego's arm warmers, knee warmers, and jackets to the follow car. It was nice to stay warm on the descent without worrying about overheating on the flats.
When we hit the final climb Diego rode near the front and started attacking. The pack immediatly blew up and I paced myself up the climb trying to follow wheels. Coming into the finish I was caught by a large group and finished 49th. Diego charlie horsed with 3k to go and went from being in the front group to having to unclip and losing a minute to the leaders.
In the time trial I set a new PR but still did not finish near the front of the pack. Diego finished 13th with a very fast time. In the Criterium I finished with the same time as the pack, happy that I did not get caught up in one of the crashes. I knew the Circuit race would be the most important stage of the four stages for Diego and I.
The Circuit race was really fun. Diego and I stayed near each other and would help each other out when we could. At one point I was following Diego's wheel up the feed zone hill and when I looked back our small group had gapped the rest of the field. We were brought back but it was a good sign for me because it meant the rest of the field was hurting just as bad as I was. On the last lap I barely suffered over the top of the feedzone hill. I knew if I was going to make it to the finish with the field I would need to start the last hill in the front. We hit the final climb and it was an all out sprint to keep up. I made it over the steep part near the back of the now small field and found myself chasing gaps over the false flat. Eventually the field got away and I chased them to the line to finish about one minute down. I finished mid pack in the GC, much better than last year where I was dropped hard in the road race and circuit race and barely finished top 70.
Diego ended up top 20 in the GC after he attacked on the final climb in the circuit race and got brought back near the finish.
Rapha Stage Race
After Cascade the Lansing family and I headed down to the Northwest Classic Stage Race, sponsored by Rapha and many other generous supporters. The promoters only allowed road bike for the time trial to make it easier for racers travelling long distances. That was okay with Diego and I since we were on the fastest road bikes out there, Specialized road bikes.
Diego won the TT and I took 11th. The field was very competitive and you could tell everybody wanted to win really bad. It was like Nationals with a smaller field of only 35 riders. In the Criterium later in the day everybody attacked us trying to take the yellow jersey from Diego and I. We would not let them take control of the race from us and managed to keep the group together for the most part.
To conserve energy I would do most of my pulls on the technical downhill section. I would bomb the turns and bring my speed into the uphill. Using this technique I was able to use minimal energy while helping the field stay together. The pulls took their toll on me though and in the later part of the race Diego had to do a lot of work to bring back breakaways while I tried to keep up. We definitely gave it our all and walked away from the race still holding onto the jersey...with Diego managing to take 3rd in the criterium at the same time!
The road race was where the competition had the best chance of gaining time on Diego. It was still not a very good chance because Diego was riding like a monster, plus I was dedicated to help Diego win and was ready to give it my all for him. With two laps to go there were two 15-16's with a couple minutes on the field, somehow they got away unnoticed and we only knew there were off when the motorcycle referee notified the field. It was go time.
Diego and I chased hard for a whole lap. Every time I thought I could not keep going I would go harder. Qoutes from Jens Voight were ringing in my head. Near the end of the second lap I had that feeling where your legs are full of lactic acid and you feel like they will not move anymore. "Shut up legs!" I screamed in my head while heading up the base of the final climb. When my legs felt like lead the field came around me and finished off the breakaway, while I floundered off the back.
Despite being by himself the last lap and pulling back a few more breakaway attempts, Diego managed to hang onto the yellow jersey. After a strict diet of pasta, chicken, and other healthy products assigned to us by our professional nutritionist on the trip it was time to celebrate with apple cider and pizza.
Diego and I napped peacefully all the way home while our professional chauffeur drove over the rolling roads of Washington, the long and tiring highways of Oregon and California, and navigated the traffic of L. A, where we finally reached home at the beach house where I would stay thanks to the hospitality of Diego and his parents. Later in the week I would race Brentwood GP, hit up Disney Land, and then fly home to Nor Cal.
Huge thank you to the Lansings for putting up with me for three weeks and for their hospitality, my parents for letting me leave home (and my chores) for three weeks, and Diego for being a great friend.
Thank you for reading,
Jon
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