My teammate Shane Johnson, and I had this race circled on the calender for awhile now, and we're literally counting the days until the first road race of the new season. Heck the first race of the year period. We decided to make a weekend out of it, and ended up heading to Portland on friday, but it was more like we we're in Estacada on Friday staying at Sam's parents house. For those of you who don't know Sam is Shane's better half. Anyways....Of course it was pouring down rain, after all we were in the valley. Shane and I wanted to get a ride in of some sorts. So we braved the weather, and were able to find a slight gap in the weather. With vague directions we were off, and were pretty much immediately confronted by a huge hill, which was then followed by some more hills until finally we decided hey this is supposed to be a recoveryish day, so let's go downhill instead. We did, and were then screaming downhill on wet roads with wet brakes, and for those of you who road bike the stopping power isn't to sufficient. Luckily both of us were able to make it down in one piece.
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| Amazing views on the recovery ride in Estacada, OR |
Still we had just one problem...We were about 15 minutes into the ride, and were already on the main highway to Estacada, which would of taken us back into town in another 15 minutes. We didn't exactly want to get in only 30 minutes, so Shane gave Sam a quick call, and she directed us to a road that was closed to traffic with gates on it. Perfect!
I would have to say you couldn't of dreamed up a better scenery, or terrain for a recovery ride. The road itself paralleled the river, but there was no traffic to worry about at all, and it was almost completely flat with amazing views to boot. There were dams, and fish ladders, but there was also little tiny Salamanders on the road as well. We had to be careful not to hit the poor guys. All in all one of the most relaxing rides I have had in awhile. We had our timing down perfect as well, because we were able to time it just right to get back into the house before the skies dumped some more rain down.
After that we were served some amazing Mexican food, which was then followed by an intense game of Scene It. For those of you who don't know Scene It is a movie trivia game. Of course me being the quick starter, I was out on a solo breakaway going for the glory, but unfortunately my youthful exuberance would succumb to Shane's extra few years of movie knowledge. I did seem to occur some relegations in the process....None of which helped me one bit, but hey he won it fair and square...Next Time sir....Next Time....
In the morning we were greeted by yet another fantastic meal, and were then off to Corvallis to pre-ride the course, which just so happened to be about 5 minutes from where we would be staying at. Perfecto! We met up with another teammate of ours Brian Buskirk to pre-ride the course. It was windy for the majority of the time, but that didn't stop us from having a good ride. I of course tested the legs a few times, and they didn't feel terrible, but they didn't feel really great either. This was a race I was training through, so the plan was to just use it to springboard my fitness for later in the year. I put in some solid efforts on the two major climbs, the last of which being where the finish was. I couldn't help being excited for the race ahead. After that it was off to Shane's Moms House AKA Alice.
I just have to say one thing about staying at friends's family members houses...The food is almost always amazing, and this weekend was no exception. Alice made us some amazing Spaghetti. The perfect meal the night before the race right? Then of course she baked a Cherry Pie since it was the Cherry Pie Road Race and all, and some amazing Rice Krispie Treats. Let's just say those last two items probably weren't the best pre race foods, but man they were so yummy..After that it was some T.V., and then off to bed to get some rest for tomorrow was Race Day!
I woke up with a solid night sleep in the books, and raring to get this race started! Filled up on some oatmeal, which was perfect as I like to keep things nice and light before the race. Also Juan Ramirez who would be racing with Shane, and Brian in the Cat 4's while I did the Cat 3 race showed up. So of course we had some fun pre-race antics to keep the mood fun, and cheery. Before I knew it I was on the starting line for the first road race of the year!
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| On the front in the first Road Race of the year |
It started off with a bang! No literally it started off with a bang as someones tire exploded in the peloton creating a loud bang noise. We were of course still in neutral roll-out at this point, but I don't think he ever caught up with the main field, because once the race referees said go it was on! I decided to take the wait and see approach, and was in the back for the first 10 or so minutes of the race, while everyone on the front wanted to show off there early season fitness. I was completely fine with this...Well until I got bored, and decided to see what it felt like to go on the front and put the hammer down a few times, and to my suprise it didn't feel to badly. So I continued to stay at the front for the majority of the lap, and heck I even was completely on the front for awhile, but I was completely fine with it because I came in with the mindset that I would use this as a training tool to better myself for the more important races later in the season.
I must be doing something right because when a few of the TAI Cycling team members finally noticed me in the new colors of the Trinity Bikes kit. They said that I was looking strong and lean compared to last year. Of course I thanked them, and we continued on our way to the first time up the climb where I probably gave it about 70 or so percent, but nobody came around me so I was like perfect! Maybe I could possibly have something to give to get a good result in this race.
The next lap I still made some pulls, and somehow when I was in the middle of the back apparently the peloton let one guy go off the front and create a gap. Once I figured this out I decided it was time to take some more turns at the front to try and catch him, but it felt like there were only a handful of guys who actually wanted to put in the work to bring him back, but that's road racing sometimes. I of course neglect all logical strategy in road racing, and often do more work than I really should, but that's probably the mountain biker in me screaming "this doesn't hurt...go to the front and put the hammer down!" We eventually reeled the lone breakaway rider on the top of the second to last climb, and I was in prime position to get a decent result as I was in the top 5 at this moment, but that soon changed, as nobody wanted to push the pace once we crested the hill. So of course immediately I get swarmed on both sides, and move back to around 15th or so..Great....Just what I wanted...Not!..Needless to say I wasn't in good position to duke it out for a top result once we got to the final climb, which was where the finish line was located.
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| After the Race, and all smiles (From Left to Right...Me Brian Buskird, and Shane Johnson |
Now I'm not the one to complain a whole lot in races, but we were warned to make sure to keep it single lane all the way to the finish at the starting line, but let's just say I absolutely hated that decision. As I was ready to accelerate but had nowhere to go as the whole road was full of riders on a narrow road. Oh did I mention this road was one of those smaller roads as well? Suffice to say I felt like I had the legs to go for it and get at least a top 5 finish, but I just had nowhere to get passed anyone. But all of that blame lies on me for putting myself in that position anyways. All in all I ended up 11th, which while not a result I'm proud of it's also a result I should of excpected, as this was the earliest race i've done ever. Not only that but this was a race I trained through which basically means I didn't take barely anytime off beforehand.
The biggest compliment I got was when someone from our race came up to me, and said "I really respect the way you raced today. You did your work at the front, and rode strong." That's about the best compliment I could ever hear from someone. I like to be the one who does work, and is still able to do decent, rather than sitting in the bike not doing your work, and sneaking up on everyone at the very end with some fresh legs. I have always been like that, and it will probably never change as I like to feel like I earned that good result during the course of the whole race, not just the end. That's just me though. I feel like this race could be a spring board for the rest of the season depending on how my training plays out for the rest of the year. Now it's onto Echo for the first mountain bike race! Oh wait....Echo already happened as I'm typing this....Well ladies and gentlemen that's a story for another day! Hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed typing it!
And as always, Have Nice Day!
-Austin Line Trinity Bikes Cycling Team
