Eugene Celebration

This past weekend I participated in the hardest stage race I have ever done, the Eugene Celebration stage race. This race was done on time so you had to be careful not to get dropped or give people time by letting gaps open up. I have been training so I thought I was halfway ready for it. Heather also raced which was awesome. So here we go. Saturday morning was a 55 mile road race to start the event. We had about 30 guys which around here is pretty good, so off we went. The first real climb was 4.5 miles into the race, it is called "welders hill" because there used to be welding shop at the top of it. Welders is about 2 miles in length and around 7-8% grade. We went up it the first time pretty easy at about 15mph. Ya that is right 15mph, welcome to Eugene. From there it is rolling with nothing to bad till you get to "sprinters hill". Sprinter is about a mile long with around 6-8% grade and about 4 miles from the finish. We had a tail wind at this point so we cruised up it at about 17mph. The first lap was pretty tame so I was getting worried that the second lap would get crazy and it did. As we approached welders the second time the pace was much higher because a couple of guys had got off the front and teams were chasing. We went up welders the second time in our big chain rings at about 20mph and man it hurt, I hit a higher heart rate climbing that, than I did in the sprint. After cresting that climb nobody let up, it was full gas for the rest of the lap. As we approached sprinters we were in the 30+mph range and had brought the gap back to about 45 seconds, I was getting worried about sprinters and how fast these guys would go up it so I got to the front so I could drift back if I need to. I had put myself in a good position because attacks went and I was able to respond. In the sprint it got a little stupid,but don't they all, and I came across the line in 11th shutting it down about 100meters from the line because since it is time, not points, there is no need wasting energy. The guys stayed off the front and had about 40 seconds on the field.