The Finale

Well my season has officially drawn to a close and I certainly was able to go out with a bang! Elizabeth, Paul and I pulled into the Philippi municipal parking lot at 9:05am this morning and were greeted with an already packed event area. As soon as I glanced around at the faces in the lot I knew today’s race was gonna be fast and I probably had little chance of pulling away on a solo break.

I had underestimated when I said some of the heavy hitters would show up today as nearly ALL of them were in attendance. Today’s race was the final series race for the West Virginia Road Association and would serve as the “Championship” as the points standings following the race would determine the overall Series winners. Plus it was Fourth of July weekend, there was a crit in Morgantown the night before, and a mountain bike points series race on Sunday starting in Philippi. So needless to say this race drew some attention. I was familiar with a number of the riders already starting their warm ups on the downtown streets of Philippi and knew instantly my race strategy needed to change. However, whereas in my first few races I was a bit timid out on the course, this time I knew I could mix it up with these guys and maybe even pull out a win if I kept my head about me. As I had not gotten a chance to pre-ride the course, I listened to snippets of conversation in the pits as I prepped my bike and learned that the initial 2 mile climb out of town was the longest/toughest on the course and that this hill in reverse would be our approach to the sprint finish at the end of the race.

I finished my typical pre-race prep and headed out for my warm up. I followed two Cat 4/5 guys out of town and paced them on the approach to the first climb. We hit the climb and rode it at a 17mph average, which was quick but sustainable for all of us and I heard one of the guys say he was goin to hit the gas on the initial climb to split the pack. That was fine by me, as I had seemingly prepped perfectly for this course with my long sustained climbing intervals followed by time trial efforts over rolling terrain. I turned around and made the descent back into town, downed a water bottle, and lined up with plenty of time to hear the final pointers from the race meeting. The Cat 1/2/3 guys would start first and make two laps of the road course before coming back into town for the sprint. We (Cat 4/5) would make one lap and then finish with a closed course sprint for the line. The final two turns were sharp and treacherous before the long straightaway run for the line, so technical handling skills would come into play and it could get hairy at the end.

The Cat 1/2/3 guys started and we waited our obligatory 5 minutes to give them a gap and then we started our roll out of town. The Cat 4/5 peloton started out with around 30 racers and we clipped out of town at 22mph. As we hit the bottom of the first climb I was sitting in at about midpack and saw the guy I followed on my warm up go around the outside to move to the front. As I had heard his plan to drive the pace early, I made my way through the sea of bikes and bodies and followed closely on his wheel. As he reached the front end of the peloton we were climbing at a pace around 18mph. He and another guy in a yellow jersey started cranking and bumped the pace up to over 20mph on the climb. A group started to unhinge on the back part of the peloton, but the main pack could all hack the pace and we all crested the hill together in a bunch.

Following the first climb, the course was mostly flat and rolling with very good pavement. By this point the race was really “on” and our pace was averaging 24mph even on the periodic small climbs. I was comfortably sitting in positions within the top 10 (our group now was around 20) but was only taking short fast pulls and getting out of the way so others would take their turns. A handful of riders were taking long hard pulls and staying out front for extended periods of time. Every now and then one of them would get a bit restless and jump away on a climb or flat, but they were only allowed to gain a lead of 15-20 seconds before the peloton would methodically reel them back in. With no race radios and a fairly short 33 mile course, no one was willing to let a break get out of sight up the road, thus my strategy was sitting in and biding time.

I did learn something new on this route though…I hate sitting in. Its boring and I hate the bickering at the front of the peloton when everyone knows that the course is suited for a sprint finish. No one wants to take pulls, so there is a lot of jostling around with the peloton being three or four rows wide and the front guys looking at one another expecting the others to pull through and start a paceline. But since everyone knows a break wont last, no one is dumb enough to start a paceline to pull off the front. Its this never ending cycle of expectant looks and quiet cursing and I am just not a fan. I spent most of the day being fed up by this display and so finally took a flyer out of frustration on the final climb before the downhill back into town.

We were still 10 miles out and had just hit the bottom of the final climb. The front of the peloton was again jostling around trying to figure out who was going to take a pull and so I shot out and around them, cranking hard for about half of the climb. I turned around hoping to have seen at least one or two guys who had followed but I was completely alone. I was only about 5 seconds up on the peloton and knew that I would get caught as there was a strong headwind now. I quietly verbalized my disdain for the non-aggressiveness of this race and tapped my brakes so I could get swallowed back up by the charging group. We finished the climb in a bunch once again and began our final descent into Philippi. We were descending at around 44mph when one of the guys to my right tapped a wheel in front of him and went into a skid in the middle of the pack. Thankfully, he was able to control it and stay upright, as a pileup at that speed would have sent a great number of racers to the hospital.

After everything settled down again, I decided that I was going to try getting off the front. No one was pushing hard yet and we were within 2 miles of the finish. I pulled in behind a tall fella in a yellow jersey, clicked up a few gears and then shot out from the side of the group and hammered for a count of ten. When I glanced behind me I realized it was to no avail as the peloton train was hooked right onto my wheel. I quickly pulled to the side and let a group of 10 or so riders pass. Just as I was moving into the paceline, the front of the pack attacked. We were now within city limits and it was a drag race to the line. I managed to stay hooked onto the front of the pack as the remainder of the field was decimated and we motored into the final rise of the course. I moved up to a midpack position as we neared the technical turns prior to the straightaway finish. We flew into the first turn over 40mph and things were starting to get a little sketchy. I was on the inside and gunned it right before my wheels would have touched the curb to move up to 6^th position. As we rounded the second turn, we were leaning into it so hard that my pedal clipped the pavement and threw me upright. I barely noticed how close I had been to mishap though as now it was full bore to the line. Everyone was redlined and it was complete mayhem as our group of 10 screamed into view of the finish. I gave it everything I could muster and managed to nip a guy at the end to finish a solid fifth in the bunch.

I felt amazingly spry and while I was fatigued, was not completely drained. I knew I had done well but didn’t realize how well until the results were read. I once again managed to come in 2^nd in my category and to my surprise, was awarded 2^nd overall in the WVRR Series points competition for 2009!

I can definitely say that I will be back for more fast paced racing action next year! I had a ton of fun and will be upgrading categories for next season (which is automatically done after taking podium finishes in four or more events in one year). I learned a lot and plan on starting in on a new training block following a few weeks’ worth of R&R off the bike. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July and see you next year!