Mike's Bike Blog

Due to the recent rain my game plan going into today's Chappell Hill Bank Classic Road Race was to show up and hopefully the rain would keep the other 49 riders in my category away. At the very least it would dwindle the numbers down and hopefully then I could out sprint everybody at the finish. Of course the weather in Chappell Hill didn't cooperate, as the start approached the sun was coming out and there was very little signs of the rain the days prior. With that plan out the window I'd have to saddle up and go with the plan B.

Plan B was to stay up near the front and see what happens between the last 20 to 5 miles. My main goal was to finish ahead of the wheel truck. Let me get to the meat of this post, what mistakes I made and in the process hopefully it will detail the race.

Mistakes:
1. Didn't hydrate properly: I brought 3 bottles. 1 bottle of Heed (Strawberry), 1 bottle of Perpetuem (Cafe Latte) and 1 bottle of water in my jersey pocket. I also had Endurolytes for electrolye replacement. The plan was to start with the bottle of Heed to get me thru the first hour. At the 1 hour mark take the Endurolytes. The next hour I'd consume the Perpetuem, that should get me pretty close to the finish and if I needed more to drink I would drink the water.

This has worked for me on other races and group rides, but like a dote I got caught up in the race and didn't finish the 1st bottle till around the 1 hour 30 minute mark. I also forgot the Endurolytes until it was too late. At about the 1:45 point as I was countering an attack my left quad started to cramp. Luckily I caught onto the back of the group and was able to sit in and take my Endurolytes. A few miles later I felt fine and thought the worse was behind me.

2. I did too much work at the front. When I was walking my wheels up to the wheel pit before the stop I ran into Scott Dalhover(AT&T/Brain & Spine). He gave me some pointers on the course and some good advice. He said to stay near the front but don't do too much work, he pointed out that the guys that are doing the work early usually don't finish there. He also said I should try to break away somewhere on the last lap.

As it turns out I think I did too much work as I was up front the first 45 miles. I took my share of pulls. There were a few guys that wouldn't pull through at all. They got chastised for their lack of work but still just sat in. I did try to let Bike Barn pull me around as best I can. They had the highest number of riders in the field and seemed to be the most organized. I don't think this was a big mistake I was able to stay with all attacks and gave it a shot at the end.

3. Missed the winning break. I stayed with any attacks and attempts as not to get left out. I especially paid attention whenever a Bike Barn rider would initiate the attack as I knew they were working for someone, I just wasn't sure who they had designated to watch for. Around mile 30 a rider got away and had a 1 minute lead. I tried to initiate a few attacks to see about bridging the gap but I couldn't get anybody to go with me and found a little head wind, more than what I wanted to attempt solo. After one attempt a Bike Barn rider went and he had the legs to get up to the guy who was soloing. I'm pretty sure he caught him. As I saw him go I knew that I missed my opportunity. With the 2 off the front the paced slowed down a bit as Bike Barn wasn't going to pull the pack up to their breakaway rider. It was soon after this point that my quad cramped.

With 5 miles left I felt pretty good and had a decision to make, I could sit in and go for the pack finish and if I was lucky get in the top 10. The other possibility was to leave it all on the course and see if I could go for 3rd place and maybe even catch the 2 that had the minute lead on us. I moved up as the front was still not putting out a hard effort so I easily got to the front. I then stepped on the gas as best I could.

I didn't get the gap that I was hoping for and as I looked back the front of the pack was just a few seconds back. Then it happened, my left leg was in a total knot. It was like my cub scout was practicing his knot tying on my leg. My hamstring felt like it was twisted around my leg, my quad and calf muscle seized up. I was quickly engulfed by the pack and spit out the back. I couldn't apply any power. Everyone dangled just in front of me. The next few miles was absolutely painful, the rollers that I was able to power up with no problems in the big ring had regulated me to shifting down to my 39 and gingerly crawl up. I tried to stand up on one and that was no help, everything started to tighten up, even the arch of my foot was getting into the action.

Luckily I was able to fight through it and maintain 22 mph through the ordeal, but the grandiose notion of a podium finish was dashed. The wheel truck behind me was breathing mercilessly down my neck. The roar of the engine kept me going. I had to push on to stay in front of it. When I got my second wind I started making up time and passed 4 or 5 guys that were getting spit off the back as the pack geared up for the finish.

This was by far my best race to date. I could have sat in and probably made it all the way with the pack, but where's the fun and glory in that. A lot of guys were doing that already, I wanted to give it a shot, lay it all out there. Now I know, I just didn't have it today, but more importantly I learned a hard and painful lesson.  More importantly though I feel really good with my number pinning . In past races the numbers have been too loose and flopping in the wind or a corner came unpinned. At registration I snuck off with an extra 4 pins and used them on each of the numbers. The extra pins might weight me down a little but the added aerodynamics of not having floppy numbers makes up for it.