The biggest race in Durango each year is the Iron Horse. There are events all weekend and many locals come out to watch. The road race is normally 50 miles with 2 mountain passes with a peak elevation of 10,000 feet. This year the passes were snowed out unfortunately and the race was cut in half. I was lucky to have Gage join me this year and we were excited to see what we could do in the pro field. For the first time the race wasn't sanctioned by USAC. There were two options to compete in the road race, the 2,000 people citizen's tour or the 200 person road race. Many people who signed up for the road race didn't necessarily belong in the same field as the fastest riders. For this reason Gage and I were sure to be on the front row of the 200 person field. The pace wasn't very fast throughout the first 10 miles on the flat. However as soon as we hit the climb with 13 miles to go it completely broke apart. Gage and I went up the road with 4 others, including two local legends Todd Wells and Ned Overend. After the first 10 minute climb I started feeling badly. I didn't have the best few days leading up to the race and I ended up throwing up. I dropped back and threw up about 3 more times. It wasn't very fun, as you could guess. Gage was able to stay with the lead group and fight for a very solid 3rd place. I ended up 7th.
I was upset that I felt badly, especially during a local race when I had a chance to stay with the leaders. However having a teammate end up with a great result made the bad day much better. I learned last weekend that road racing truly is a team sport and I was happy to have Gage there. We've had many similar races this year as a team. Sea Otter was a dominate performance for us and everyone helped each other in benefit of the team. I'm glad to be apart of this team and I'm looking forward to more great results.
-Christopher
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