My legs did not seem to wake up after the rest week. In the week leading up to Gateway I did my best to find my legs. That's what I hate about rest weeks. Sometimes they make me feel worse. Most of the time I feel better when I am a little tired than I do fully rested.
Friday rolled around and it was time to depart for STL. I got in a morning spin and found that my legs were getting better, but I could tell I was not 100%. I had a good warm-up once we got to the race. The first day of Gateway is the Tour de Lafayette, a flat square course around Lafayette Park. I was a little disappointed to not be racing at night this year. With Gateway being added to the National Criterium Calendar this year, it made for a Pro/1 race only. That put me in the Cat. 2/3 race going earlier in the evening. The 2/3 race provided a good opportunity for me to maybe get in the money and maybe even net a few upgrade points. I came into this race expecting to get a top 10 and maybe even top 5 result.
Tour de Lafayette Race Course
I got a good start position and felt good the first few laps of our 55-minute race. Our group was 111 riders strong. We did not start very hard. No attacks went off the front the first three laps, then the fireworks began. I stayed in the top 1/3 of the field the first 20 min, then began to slide back as the pace cranked up even higher. I felt bad, almost sick to my stomach from the intensity and heat. I drifted to the back and at 25 min I was starting to worry if I could hang on.
The suffering lasted a few laps and then I decided that I had to move up no matter how much it hurt. I took the left side up the start/finish straight and moved up. Breaks were flying off the front every lap and the chase was always on. I had a hard time recovering from the effort of moving up, but then I started to settle in and actually got better. The legs felt stronger and the sick stomach feeling went away. I made some good moves to stay up front the final 10 laps. I was sitting top 10 with a few laps to go, which kept me out of a big crash near the start/finish line that happened midpack.
The crash with a few laps to go
The riders were very aggressive and I had to dodge a few near-crashes as riders almost took out my front wheel. I will admit that I was scared a few times, but I didn't back out. I had to hit my brakes with three laps to go as a guy just about clipped my front wheel as he swerved through the pack. It cost me a lot of spots. The pace was high the last two laps and I could not move back up. I did not have the legs to pull out of line and go forward. My acceleration was lacking tonight and I was just trying to hold on out of the turns.
I felt something weird in my steering with one to go and had to ease up a little. I thought I had a front flat, but the tire stayed up so I don't know for sure what I was feeling. Sitting up a little helped me miss a crash on the final lap. I cruised around trying to be careful and took 69th place. It was not the kind of result I was hoping for, but then again my form was not what I had hoped for either. I ended with a 27.6 mph average speed. My max heart rate was better tonight at 185 bpm, but I hit that just once and it came only 7 minutes into the race when we ran our fastest lap of the night. I need to hit my max at the end to be competitive in this group. Luke Keough and Coryn River made it a United Healthcare sweep of the Pro races, both of which looked to be very, very fast.
Nathan Labecki gets the win in the Cat. 2/3 race
Shannon shot a short video of the Cat. 2/3 race which is posted below, followed by highlights of my race from the handlebar cam.
Tour de Lafayette Video
Cat. 2/3 Men Handlebar Cam Highlights
I was desperate after the way I felt, so I did everything I could think of Friday night to help me recover. I even filled the hotel tub with ice for a long ice bath. Saturday was the Tour de Francis Park. I love the course around Francis Park. It is not the most exciting course, but I always seem to race well there. The weather forecast called for rain all day for the rest of the weekend. We got to the race to find the rain had mostly missed the area. There were a few small puddles, but at the time of my race the sun was out and there were no dark clouds in sight.
Tour de Francis Park Course Map
I was disappointed to find tired legs in my warm-up. It made me take it easy early in the race. I was sure to get a good start spot so I would not have to fight my way up from the back. i actually wound up starting on the front row today! I cruised in the group early on. The course is so wide and fast that you can do nothing if you want to sit in the middle of the group. The pack will just suck you along. The only risk with that is being involved in a crash. Again, riders were super aggressive today, both in terms of going on the attack and in terms of riding erratically in the pack. We had a few less riders today at 95 starters, but that did not make the group any safer.
Halfway through the race, after getting stuck behind several near-crashes and one incident where riders swarmed the sidewalk on the exit of Turn 3, I decided to move up front and stay up front. I found my legs to be good now and had little trouble riding into the wind to move up. I knew I could do well today if I could position myself well for the final lap. I was more aggressive today as well. I didn't let people cut into me without at least giving them a sharp elbow to bump into. There was a big crash with a few laps to go, but I was ahead of it. When the group slowed up the next time, those of us up front got swarmed by the riders behind. I found myself too far back with one to go. I was probably 50 riders back which is way too far back.
Riders try to go off the front of the peloton on the exit of Turn 1
This was about the most strung out the group got today
Me in the white and orange Maxxis skinsuit sitting in the group
I tried to move up between turns 1 and 2, but was blocked in at first. Then the hole opened up and I jumped out of line, passing a few riders. I didn't get by as many as I hoped as the headwind was like attaching a parachute to your back. I tried to slide under a rider in turn 2, but got pinched into the barriers. I had to jam the brakes and that killed my momentum going into the downhill. I lost several spots as I tried to sprint back up to speed and then was blocked in going into turn 3. And that was it. There is no passing 60 riders from turn 3 to the finish line. I picked off as many as I could and crossed the lined 54th. My legs faded that last lap and I had little left to sprint with. Pulling out of line to move up took everything I had. I was disappointed to finish so far back after racing so well the last 20 minutes. But I realized how tough this field is today. There are 40 guys in the group that can win. Everybody is so even that it is scary. We averaged 27.1 mph today. I am happy with my heart rate today after I maxed out at 185 again, but this time on the last lap when I was moving up. The last lap was the fastest lap I have ever run here, even faster than the past three years when I was in the Pro/1/2 group. Our lap times were very comparable to the Pros this year, with our times being close to equal equal most laps.
An Upland rider tries to get away in the closing laps
Close finish today. Lonny Knabe edged out Eduardo Nieuwenhuyzen for the win.
The rain may have held off for us, but it did not hold off on the Pro Men. A big downpour came early in the race and lasted about 15 minutes. Shannon and I huddled under an umbrella as the riders were pounded by the storm. There were a few crashes in Turn 3 as the course got very slick. Rain or shine, the result was the same. United Healthcare won again. This time Ken Hanson took the sprint win over Keough, while Coryn Rivera won the women's even again. After the race, Shannon and I took in dinner at Ruby Tuesday near the hotel. I have had three gift cards from there for over a year that we finally decided to use. We were both starving and raided their garden bar. We ate so much salad that we had to take our other food home for later. And again, I filled the tub with ice for another ice bath. The Hill is next and it is going to hurt!
Pro/1/2 Women at the top of the climb
Pro/1 Men before the rain.
UHC blue train lined up at the front on the final lap.
Tour de Francis Park Video
Handlebar cam highlights from Francis Park
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