Cascade Classic Reporte Part Deux

Feeling pretty banged up on Saturday morning, my only objective was to start and see where the road takes me. After the initial climb from the ski zone, I was feeling okay. Definitely could feel the pain in my right hip on every pedal stroke but the hardcore purple bandage i was sportin' on my right arm gave me good sensations(euro slang) and sent chills through the peloton. RR was a nice big climb to start then rolling before a 8k climb to a ski resort on the way back, 120km. The race tactics still blew my mind. For all of you who do this in a race, stop! If you want to destroy a field don't do this. What?

Bad RR tactic: Lets go hard up the hill and make everyone suffer then lets slow down at the top so everyone can rest then brake on the descent so it all goes gruppo compacto. Funny, b/c so many of the teams and riders up front thought this was the key to winning. Keep all the nonplayers in the game as long as possible and let the players rest in the shadows.

Good RR tactic: Drill it on the climb if you can climb and put some pressure on the players. When you are nearing the top, continue to tempo it then drill it on the descent. Atleast give yourself a fighting chance to weed out the players from the fallout.

So the road race was pretty uneventful until the last 8km. But then it pretty much stayed together. I was feeling like crap on the climb, and I know I could have hung with the top guys and I managed to only lose 2minutes. They should have done me in much earlier. So many others were in the same boat. We went throught he feed 2x and each time riders would attack after they passed through only to cause enormous chaos and chasing just so the front group could get 1k down the road and slow to a easy spin. WHY!? The genius tactic caused one guy to crash on the 2nd feed. I was pretty vocal among the asshole riders for pulling off such a stunt and one guy condoned it. More on that shmuk later. So they would attack at the feed then they had the balls to say, "pee break." Its 90+ deg and you want to take a pee break? how can they consume that many liquids, thats what puzzled me the most but then nearly the entire peloton stopped. So you stop to pee which can relieve some pain, but you won't slow to get nutritious fluids? Funny how the mind works...

The circuit race on sunday was going to be a pretty tough parcours with little relief from the sun and nothing but rolling and climbing. Feeling like a million dollars in the pre-start, Darren Leva(RoaringMouse) and I decided to just attack like double-6 shooters from the neutral flag down. Steve Holmes(Arete) called us the California mafia. Both of had nothing to lose and I was tired of the kiddie riding of these riders. Racing should be fast and painful. So as soon as the green went up, I drilled it with darren on my wheel. Another rider had the same idea. We strung it out for 6k until the first climb, then it was Game Over. When I hit the climb, my million dollars felt like 1929 Black Monday dollars, and I fell back quick. I tried chasing for the next 5k with the peloton in sight but no dice. All I could do was just laugh b/c I had never had such bad sensations in my legs. As I was approaching the end of the first lap(28km) I came across Shmuk and another rider. I told them to ride one more with me. They declined. Shmuk said, "nope, I am going home, sitting on the couch and watching the Tour." I wasn't eager to race the rest of the 96k by myself, but hearing Shmuk and it gave me more motivation just b/c I didn't want to ever been listed in the same sentence as this jag. Quiting is never an option. So I rode the last 96k by myself, pushed myself further till the brink of complete exhaustion but it was far better than calling it quits and sitting on the couch wondering what if? I ended up passing several other cat 3 riders in my quest of anti-shmuk. Riding 96k of a race from the back gives you a lot of time to think. One thing that kept me going was just the humor of getting dropped so early and the joking I had with the spectators and feeders. It also gave me lots of phototakes b/c the photographers had nothing else to do and I was all alone. But one thing that I kept thinking, and you can use this too was a quote I have posted on my door in my office. Its by Mark Twain. Its probably the most inspiration quote I have ever come across....

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

It has a little sailing reference, but that is my line of work. Nevertheless, its the hardest days on the bike that make or break you. yesterday was my worst and probably my best despite losing 25min on the last stage. Don't ever quit, b/c you don't know what you will happen or what you will learn.

Matthew