My week went perfect on the bike. I was as ready for Anniston as I could be. I've been picking up the Strava KOMs in the area the past week or so, accumulating 13 now. I lit up the local group ride on Tuesday and then loosened up on Friday with a few sprints. I felt awesome and was eerily relaxed Saturday morning. I did some work on the bike, then cleaned up the yard before we hit the road for Anniston, AL.
New box of Maxxis goodies came in a few days before the race
We left earlier than needed on a chilly, but beautiful day, planning to get to the race at least two hours before my scheduled start. Like I said earlier, I was very calm and relaxed. I was almost confident. It felt like today was the day to end the streak of mediocre results. I felt like today was the day to show out and make something happen. It just felt like it was going to happen today. Little did I know what was really about to happen.
The drive went well for the first half, then turned to a nightmare. It began with a gas spill at our first stop. It didn't slow us down, but was scary. The car behind us was not paying attention and sprayed gas all over the parking lot. Then, we got stuck behind a big accident on I-24. We were 7 miles from the next exit and were not moving for 20 minutes. I was getting worried and decided to take the Taurus off-roading through the median to get us moving again. We back-tracked to the nearest exit and then took backroads down into Alabama.
We didn't bring our GPS. I hate using it. I love learning roads and navigating with a map. That works good until you get to an area that has few road signs marking the highways and your map is not labeled on roads that small. We got lost, going a little out of the way before we realized where we were. Once back on course, we got stuck in traffic from the High on the Hog Barbecue Festival in tiny Winchester, TN. We cleared the traffic, then found our only direct route into Alabama temporarily closed. Great, another detour.
We took a tour of north Alabama backroads, some of which were really cool. They were narrow and twisty through the green foothills. Cool as the curves were, they were killing our speed and slowing us down! It seemed everything was trying to keep us from getting to Anniston. We got caught by every small town redlight and every car we encountered nearly hit us. People were backing out in front of us, doing U-turns right in front of us and running stop signs. I was started to think our car was invisible. No kidding, I think we dodged at least 10 accidents after crossing into Alabama. I was getting a tad panicked as I did drive-time math. It was looking like we would just barely make the race.
We finally made some good time the last few miles, getting to Anniston with just enough time to pick up my race number and get suited up. I hopped on the trainer for 20 minutes and then headed to the start of the Cat. 2 race. I knew I wasn't fully warmed-up. The air was a bit cool and that made the lungs hurt when I tried to force my heart rate up. I tried to cram my full 60-minute warm-up into just 20 minutes. My body did not like that at all.
Sunny King Course Map
Cat. 2 race is underway
rounding turn 2
Chris Cundiff in the middle of the group here sporting his red, white and blue U.S. Military Team kit
I got to the line just in time to line up on the back row of 70+ riders and turn on my handlebar cam. I didn't even get to take a lap of the course. I tried to be patient the first few laps and not blow myself up. The pace was fast and I hurt, but I was smart the first few laps. I had a ton of adrenaline and wanted to just sprint to the front, but I stayed calm. A few laps in I was forced low in turn 3, causing me to clip a rough patch of pavement. The next time I entered turn 1, my rear tire was totally flat. It hadn't felt soft coming up the hill, but was totally flat when I tried to lean into the corner. I barely kept the bike upright and I went through the turn sideways with the tire coming off the rim. Somehow, I managed to miss all the riders to my outside, only slowing up one of them. It was a sphincter-clinching moment for sure!
Video: flat tire going into turn 1
I went to the SRAM Neutral Support Pit for a wheel and was inserted back in the race off the back. It was a very fast lap and the pack was single-file from front to back. The official let me go as the last rider passed by. They were doing 27 mph as they came by me so by the time I got up to speed I was gapped off the group. I chased hard through turn 2 and grabbed the last wheel as we rolled down the back stretch. My heart rate was pegged now, touching 187. Again, I was not ready for this and instantly got the pain in my chest. I was also having trouble with the wheel I got in the pit. It wasn't shifting very well at all. And the tire pressure was lower than I like. It felt like it was going soft and I kept having flashbacks to the near crash earlier. The wheel itself was stiff and fast, as the neutral wheel is a Zipp 404. I adjusted on my shifter cable every chance I got, but never got all the jumping worked out. It would always jump a gear at the worst times, like coming out of a corner or closing down a gap.
Riders tried to break away almost every lap
Will Fyfe in the group
I stayed at the back a few laps, but couldn't recover. The pace was not ridiculous fast, but it was fast enough to keep me from getting enough recovery. The flat incident has made me much more cautious as well. I was not willing to push it through the corners like needed to get away from the back. Riders started to pop at 20 minutes and I had to begin closing gaps. I was hurting the most off turn 4. It was a tough sprint out of that turn and up the hill on the front stretch. It quickly took its toll on me. I realized I was blown up and the goal began to just hang as long as I could, praying the pace would slow down soon.
Finally a lap where the group slowed down a little
Me in the group with the Zipp wheel on the rear after my flat
At 26 minutes, I popped off the back going up the front stretch. I was so mad! My legs felt awesome, but the lack of warm-up was too much for my heart and lungs. I had trained so hard for this race and things outside my control took it away before I even had a chance to try for it. I think I punched my handlebar three or four times in frustration as I watched the pack ride away. I was coughing up a lung by the time they pulled me out of the race at 31 minutes. I came here expecting to contend for the win and was instead being pulled halfway through the race. What a disastrous nightmare.
Group of 3 up the road led by a NashvilleCyclist.com rider
Me near the back trying to close gaps through turn 3
Cat. 2 field totally strung out up the front stretch climb
Video: Bar cam footage of my entire race at Anniston
After the race, Shannon and I went by the SRAM Pit to exchange wheels. While standing there, a dog comes strolling by and bites Shannon on the leg. He didn't growl or anything, just gave her a quick bite. She had on jeans so she was ok, but it did make red marks on her knee. The guy walking the dog was looking the other way and I don't think he even knew it happened because Shannon didn't say anything right at the time. Turns out the dog was a bomb-sniffing dog, one of three the city was using as part of heightened security for the event. I couldn't even believe how our day was going!
After changing, we walked a few blocks down to Dad's Bar-B-Que for some of the best barbecue around. I wondered if we would get food poisoning or something after the way things were going, but by this point, I really didn't care. It was a good dinner. We ate big plates of good southern food and picked up a stash to take back with us to a coworker who is originally from Anniston. Then it was back to the race to watch the Pro events. It was a chilly evening, but the races were great. I'm still amazed that the United Health Care team dominates so much. It's crazy how strong they are. They've won every major crit. this year.
Pro Women ready for their start
Pro Women show some speed off turn 2
I did a little filming during the Pro races and you can watch it below. The local Anniston newspaper has an article about the race posted here. CyclingNews reports can be read at the following links: Pro Women Pro Men
Video: Pro Women and Men clips
Our hotel was sweet! We stayed in nearby Oxford. The place had been remodeled recently. It's just a few miles from Talladega and the owners had fully embraced it, placing a huge picture of a NASCAR event at Talladega up on the wall over the bed. I love any kind of racing so I thought it was really cool to have a themed room.
Sunday morning came early. My start for the Cat. 2/3 race at the Foothills Classic Road Race over in Piedmont was at 8:15. It was still cold when we go to the race. Thankfully, this drive was uneventful. I was having some shifting issues after swapping wheels today. My Cosmic sustained a little damage in the crit. when the tire rolled off, so I raced my Reynolds Attack Carbon wheels in the road race. I spent my warm-up time working out the shifting kinks, so again I was not prepared for the start like I had wanted to be.
Course map for the Foothills Road Race
Race distance was 45 miles, to be run on one big loop. The area is very hilly. Most of the climbs are small rollers, but you are always going up or down. It takes its toll on your legs over the course of the race. I started in the back, but worked my way to the front early. I wanted to be at the front when we hit the first climb which was one of the bigger ones on the course. I wanted to have the room to fall back if I wasn't warmed-up yet. The pace was fine and I stayed up front over the climb. I even went with a large break about 10 miles into the race. We were pulled back quickly. I was not ready for that effort at all and realized how crappy I was feeling today. My legs were not there at all and it seemed like I couldn't breathe when my heart rate was elevated even the smallest bit. I was just off in the early part of the race. I made some good moves to stay up front and get with that break, but I was also making a ton of small mistakes. I kept missing my bottle cage after taking a drink. I clipped the wheel in front of me twice. I just wasn't functioning well the first half of the race.
Me lined up on the back row of the Cat. 2/3 race with my pasty white legs
Race underway in Piedmont
Cat. 2/3 field leaving the start area. Notice the cop next to the car with his back turned to the race. Guy in front of me nearly hit him, missing by only inches.
Riding the white line to move up in the pack
Making a turn
The group strung out on a fast descent
Making shifting adjustments on the fly. Seemed to be the theme of the weekend.
Crossing a bridge in the peloton
My plan did not work as I was not able to move up before the climb. I was probably 10 riders from the back as we hit the lower slopes of the final climb. Gaps started appearing immediately as guys couldn't hold the pace. I was unable to close the gaps and was dropped off the back of the lead group. I kept them just 5 seconds ahead and was able to rejoin when the grade slacked off halfway up the hill. I was suffering bad on tired legs, but I was back on. I just had to last a few more minutes!
Sharp turn before the main climb
Getting gapped on the first part of the climb
Clawed my way back to the group by halfway up the hill
The gradient kicked up again near the top and it turned out to be a bit too much for me. I came off the back again, but was again able to dangle just a few meters behind the group as we crested the top. I gave it everything I had over the top, but my legs just couldn't close the gap. The group gained so much speed on the descent that I had no chance to rejoin. I could only watch them ride away.
The group slowed a little after they got 25-30 seconds ahead of me. Several other riders had caught me, but nobody wanted to work together. We had a slim chance of catching on, but without cooperation amongst every single one of us it was not going to happen. We finally got it together with 2 miles left, but by that time it was too late. The sprint for the win materialized ahead of us and we were left to fight for the lesser places. I used what little bit of strength I had left leading out our group. I was hoping to do the lead out and take the sprint, but I got my doors blown off when the others opened up their sprints. I guess they had more left than I expected. I finished 46th, far from my goal of a top 10.
Getting dropped for good this time
Doing a leadout only gets you smoked in the sprint
Here'a video clip of the finish of our Cat. 2/3 race, followed by highlights of my race from the camera mounted on my stem.
Cat. 2/3 Finish
Video highlights of my race from my GoPro
The local newspaper published a news story on the road race too. Read it here.
I am pleased to tell you that the car ride home was smooth and uneventful. We got home early with enough time to unpack and relax before another full week of work and tending to the house and growing yard. I brought Snoop over to our house to help me with yard work. She patrolled the wood piles and drooled all over my car. In the past she has become sick during car rides. She's over that now, but still develops a huge drooling issue about 5 minutes into any car ride. Poor dog. She's still awesome though.
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