Great finish Sunday

Well the final Banana Belt race happened this past Sunday, and I have to say I was really worried about the distance and the amount of climbing that had to be done. The race was 66 miles or 6 11 mile laps with 700' of climbing a lap. The course has basically 6 climbs a lap, the longest being 1.5 miles and the shortest being about 600 meters. This is the same course I did last time, but I really did not think I described how hard it actually is. The last climb before the finish line was my downfall the first race. This climb is not very long, about 600 meters, but is by far the steepest, 8-10%, on the course and people really hit it hard. This is the the climb I totally locked up on the first race which was only 4 laps, so you can see why I was worried about doing it 6 times. Before the race I had decided to try to do every climb in my small chain ring to save my legs. The first race I climbed in my big chain ring a lot and I think that really hurt me towards the end. It was not always easy to stay in my small chain ring and spin but I think it really helped me in the end.

So off we go, there was only about 35 guys this time which is not good when you plan to hide for a while. We actually started off slow, so slow they told us we had to speed up because the 4's were catching us, so we picked it up a little bit to get them off our back. I did not mind the slow start because I had ridden way to hard on Saturday and my legs were not happy. The race was not very aggressive in the begining laps. I think a lot of guys were worried about the distance. On lap 4 a group of 3 got off the front and put about 35 seconds into the group so the chase was on for lap 5 and 6. This is where the race started getting hard, it is also were we dropped a ton of guys. I remember specifically on lap five towards the top of the longest climb the field split in two. I was not in the split and had to sprint across, I think that is where we lost a lot most of the guys. So I had made the selection and was starting to feel really good. The final selection only had about 20 guys in it and I was still worried about the final climb, but I had made sure that I had ate and drank enough to keep hydrated. I consumed 4 Gu's, 1 Enervit Cheer pack, 1 water bottle, and 2 drink mix bottles. I was ready. Slowly we brought back the group and caught them on the long climb on the back side. This is where is started getting confusing. After we crossed the dam and were headed back towards the start /finish line there was a group of six ahead of use, no one was quit sure if they were from our group or just stragglers from other races. So we chased like hell. As I expected the race really broke apart on that final climb, but I felt awesome and had no signs on cramping so I went for it. I blasted up the hill and stayed with what was left of the group. It is a fast descent to the line and I was in good position. As I started my sprint in the 11, I got pinched and had to hit the brakes and slowed way down. But was able to re-accelerate to get 14th. Without getting pinched I think I could have easily got top ten, but I was just happy with finishing with the main group and knowing that my training is really paying off. I change my training a lot this year and was not sure if it was going to help. My next race is April 11 so time to get back to work.

Funny pics

This is a funny pic Heather took last time we were up on the mountain. Zach is in a hole made frome somebodies foot. But it totally looks like I am puching him into the snow. The snow up there is about 42"-70" deep this time of year.

Zach thought he was so funny putting on my shoes.

First race of the year

Well I had my first race a couple of weeks ago and almost my second race last weekend, but I will get to that in a second. The first races of the year are called the Banana Belt series. It is 3 races up in Gaston which is about 2.5 hours north of Eugene, not a bad drive but I have to get up at 5am to get there in time. Our race was 44 miles with about 700' of climbing and 700 meters of flat a lap. So you were either climbing or descending the whole time. There were 61 guys that started the race and we race in horrible weather conditions, but what do expect it is March in Oregon. But I kind of liked it, 45 and raining, we all looked like we road in a coal mine after the race but it was fun. So the race started out pretty stout, but I found my legs responding well to the climbs and felt comfortable, I even went for the $50 bonus on the start of the 3rd lap, in hindsight that was not a very good idea because the whole 3rd lap I was in the hurt locker, but survived. The start of the 4th lap was attack after attack and I was still feeling pretty good until the middle of the longest climb, about a 1.5miles, when I started to feel the twinges of cramps in my legs. This is never a good sign. It only happened when I stood up so I was hoping I could accelerate fast enough seated to keep up. This was not the case, on the way in there is a long climb, about a mile, with a little decent, then a short steep climb of about 900 meters. That is where I could no longer accelerate fast enough seated and tried to stand up, bad idea, my legs totally locked up. After cresting the top it is all down hill to the finish and I almost got back on the group after motor pacing a following car, but I could never get back on. In the end I finished 42, the last guy in the main group. I did not even realize we had dropped so many guys. Oh I forgot to mention we did the 44 miles in less than 2 hours. All in all I was happy with my performance and looked forward to going back the next weekend. Last weekend I drove back up to the Gaston to find the race course covered in 2" of snow, with more falling. There was a chance of that happening, so I should have just stayed in bed. But I took the chance and lost, but what are you going to do. Racers race and will take the chance to race, if only a small chance.