In the last post I talked about getting a little sick during and after the DINO finals in Indy. I rested all week in an attempt to be ready to rock by the weekend which brought a road doubleheader, the first day being a major target for me this season at the Tennessee State Criterium Championship.
During my rest week down time, I cruised over to an old backroad I like to cut through from time to time. I've written before about the rough climb on this road well call the "Capelmuur." It's named after the legendary Tour of Flanders climb, the Kapelmuur, which you might recognize from many famous photos of the race with the riders climbing the cobbles in front of a chapel. But our climb is "Cap" with a "C" because the road has been filled with bottle caps for as long as I can remember. It started out with a strip across the road right at the top of the climb. It was like a finish line of sorts, with a stripe of shiny bottle caps about 4 feet wide embedded in tar that had come to the surface of the road. The county finally decided to resurface the road two years ago with a fresh coat of chip-and-tar. That covered up the original strip of caps. It was a sad day, but time has worked in our favor. Cars have pushed off the extra gravel and the sun has melted the tar repeatedly and bubbled it back to the surface. The tar didn't form a stripe across the road this time, but made several smaller patches just over the crest of the climb. I had waited for a hot summer day when the tar was soft so I could implant my own caps that I have been saving up for over a year. I was pleased earlier this year to see when I climbed the hill that the caps were starting to appear again. I bet the people that do that have no idea that some bike riders think it is so much fun to sprint to the caps. The tar was indeed soft in the August heat so I stomped in my own caps and ran them over later with the car to push them down deep. My caps are a bit different as I added all sorts of soda caps we have collected from across the country. Most of the others are bright blue Bud Light caps. I hope the other people see them and our cap project continues to grow as more tar comes to the curface. The Capelmurr lives!
Dina joined me in the trip to east Tennessee for the State Crit in the small town of Rockwood, about 45 minutes west of Knoxville. It was a hot day, but not as steamy as the recent weeks so it actually felt like a little relief. I liked the course. It had very little elevation change and was fast. The chances of a sprint looked higher than on most courses in our area and a sprint is what I was prepared for with my training. The course had 8 turns in about 0.85 miles through the town center. The Start/Finish line was 3/4 of the way down a fairly long straightaway. It was flat to Turn 1 which was a 90-degree left. We went one block with a very slight false-flat up before turning right. The exit of this second 90-degree turn was a little narrower and started a loop around a single block. Two 90-degree left turns followed and the road stayed fairly narrow. Turn 4 was blind and had an option on the inside where you could cut the corner a bit on the sidewalk right next to the building that sat just off the roadside. Another 90-degree left brought wider roads and a slight downhill as we finished the loop around the block. Next up, the course turned right, this time with a more sweeping turn. It continued with an oh-so-slight downhill grade for two blocks before another sweeping left and back to a narrow course as we shot one more block to the final turn. This corner was fast and tigher, a bit sharper than 90 degrees. There were some scattered gravels in parts of this turn and the pavement just didn't seem fully trustworthy at full speed. Thankfully, the sidewalk on the outside of the exit of the turn was at the same height as the road and could be used to carry a bit more speed through the turn. It was slightly, and I mean slighty, uphill from the exit of the following turn to the finish line over about 300 meters. Getting to that last turn first would not only give you the best chance of winning the sprint, but it would also be the safest option in what could be a sketchy corner.
I have expressed my dislike many times in the past for taking any kind of sinus medication due to it raising my heart rate during intense efforts. I was sick enough this week that I had no choice. Things felt under control by Friday morning so I got off the meds in hopes that I could clear most of them out of my system before the race. It usually takes several days for me to feel normal on the bike, but 24 hours was all I was getting for this race. I feel like getting off of them sooner would have jeopardized my next week which again ended with a target race at Gateway Cup.
To my surprise, I felt pretty good in my warm-up. The heart rate was a little high, but not crazy. I found several small climbs near the course that were good to prime the heart, lungs and legs. The Pro/1/2 race was a bit short for my liking at 50 minutes. Everybody in that class can go hard for 50 minutes so it was guaranteed to be super fast. We had 25 starters, a bit smaller than I am used to, but a good group size. The first 20 minutes of the race were blazing fast with almost constant attacking. There were plenty of riders that wanted the break to go while Richard Keller and I were hoping for the bunch sprint. My heart rate was pegged. I am not sure it was due to the meds because we were flying and I was definitely going all-out many times in those opening laps. I was thankful for a few moments of respite when the group bunched up.
The tightness of the Turn 2 through Turn 4 area really strung out the group. It just seemed like a matter of time before somebody went all-in with a move off the front and turned this into a single-file drag race. Just before the 30-minute mark that very thing began to happen and it did damage to the field. A break of five formed up the road with a trio chasing ahead of the bunch. You could see the strain in everyone's riding style. I knew I had to go now so I attacked as we crossed the Start/Finish line. I had a head of steam and sprinted across to the three chasers, joining them as we exited Turn 2. They sat up as soon as I got there. I rolled by them, then realized the gap to the front five was too much for me to do after just making that effort. We were quickly caught by the group who was chasing after me. The attempts to bridge continued and the pace was very high for 10 minutes. I was hurting after my bridge effort and fell back in the group.
Depiste the high pace the break pulled away slowly. At this point, I knew I wasn't getting across. I had to try to recover enough to go for the sprint from our group. The pace slowed a bit before another group of five jumped ahead of the pack at four laps to go. I had to use what I had left to get into a decent position for the final lap as we prepared to sprint for 11th. I wasn't up as far as I needed to be at one to go and got gapped a bit from the main sprinters who took off a little earlier in the lap than I expected. The went between turns 5 and 6. I had hoped to be on Keller's wheel, but he was several spots in front of me when things took off. I slowly closed the gap to the sprinters and was able to get by one rider in Turn 7 and a few off the final turn by using that sidewalk. I reached a wad of riders right at the line, but didn't get by any of them. Turns out a Cat. 2 medal was less than a bike length ahead. I ended up 5th in Cat. 2 for the state championship, 15th overall in the Pro/1/2 race. I was hoping for a bit better finish, but what a good ride considering how sick I was just a few days before. The training is paying off and I can't wait to get up to Gateway Cup.
Dina raced the Cat. 4/5 Women for her first ever attempt at a state championship on the road. Their group was very even, with a solid group of seven staying together for nearly the entire race. As a spectator, I could see the attacks were going nowhere and tried to guide Dina in the final laps. She and I had broken down my race. She knew I made the mistake of being too far back the final lap and getting jumped earlier than expected. I started to yell at her to go where it went in my race. I yelled it to her every lap the second half of the race. She never heard me. Her group waited a little later before the surge to the finish began. When the attack came, there was no change in position from there to the line. They were all so close in speed! Dina was third to jump and finished 3rd, second Tennessee rider. A great result for her, but I am convinced that if she had jumped first she would have won.
Sunday brought a road race in nearby Kingston to finish out the Three River Rumble Omnium. It was not the State Championship Road Race, but I wanted to stay for it. I was still riding a road race high from the Devil's Backbone race the month before. Dina and I drove the course Saturday night after the crit. It looked to be very fun with several fast, flowy sections and a few longer climbs. The course had a lollipop layout, starting with a 3 mile stretch on Hwy 58 from the parking area to the main loop which was 24 miles in length. The second half of the lollipop stick was a 1.5-mile climb. It had a steady gradient all the way up. I rode it several times in my warm-up as I was worried about getting past this hurdle with it coming so early in the race. It didn't help my nerves to see other Pro/1/2 riders sprinting the climb at full speed before the race. Yikes, this could get crazy real quick.
After joining the main loop, the course went up one more bump before a big descent, then a long flat section for 7.5 miles. After a left turn the course began a more gradual climb compared to the first climb. It was followed by a gradual descent on a more main road. A right turn led to a backgroad with a smaller climb followed by some fast rolling sections that brought the fun flow I was looking forward to. One short, steep climb came next at mile 22 before more fast riding to the final turn back onto Hwy 58. It was then just 1.5 miles to the finish, ending with 0.9 miles uphill. The final climb of the lap was much like the first climb on the lollipop, steady all the way up. Riders would turn left just before the finish line to start another lap. I was worried mainly about that opening climb and then the finish climb each lap. The rest looked like a lot of fun.
I felt good again in my warm-up ride over to the start from our hotel. Once the race started, my worst fears came true as things got heavy in a hurry. We were neutral rolling onto Hwy 58, but as soon as the officials turned us loose the group let loose. I was up front and hit the climb third wheel. I felt good and rode strong up the climb, but the pace was crazy. We were flying and still guys were able to attack and sprint nearly the entire climb. I fell off the back about 3/4 of the way up the climb along with several others. Those of us dropped did not get together in a group and instead were all chasing solo. I could still see the group after the first descent and felt like I had good legs so I chased hard for several miles on the flats. Then suddenly, I had no energy. My legs went flat and I had to back off, losing sight of those ahead. I faded quickly and was crawling by the time I reached the end of the flat portion. I struggled along the easier climbs, getting caught by the Cat. 3 group. By the feed zone just over halfway through the loop, I was in survival mode. Dina was there waiting for me with a bottle. I stopped and told her I was toast and probably just going to finish the lap. I really didn't even feel like finishing the lap, but I didn't want to miss those fast rollers. They weren't much fun by myself crawling along like a snail, but I did get through them and up the final climb back to the car. I guess the sickness caught up with me. I felt great on that first climb, but clearly my body was not ready for that kind of effort again today. I don't know what else I could have done to stay in the group early on. I don't think I could have have bettered my climbing time on any other day of my entire bike life. I flew up it, just not fast enough to keep up with the likes of Brendan Housler and the Novo-Nordisk guys. Even with my poor one-lap effort I still placed 5th in the Cat. 2 Omnium and got a little money which made my body feel a little better.
After I cleaned up and took in some food, I turned my attention to helping Dina get ready for her first ever road race. John Carr and I jumped in the car to drive to the halfway point of the loop and watch our riders come through. He was supporting girlfriend Marsha Williams in the Masters Women class that started with the Cat. 4/5 Women. I still felt drained, but had a good time watching some bike racing and cheering on the ladies. The group split just before the final climb. The previous day's crit winner, Melinda Spiva, climbed away to the road race win as well. We also heard she won a triathlon Saturday morning before the crit so she went full beast mode this weekend. The top two were ahead entering the last climb. Dina was able to outclimb the others in that main group to take another third place.
After the race we had another adventure at nearby Ozone Falls before driving home. This waterfall has been on my radar for a while. I didn't realize it was so close to I-40. It is located within the Ozone Falls State Natural Area. There isn't much parking which looked like it could be a problem most summer days. Today, however, it was not too crowded. The hike to the top of the falls is short and easy. Like short as in one minute of walking. Fall Creek comes in across a flat rock and then drops 110 feet into a circular gorge. If Fall Creek sounds familiar that's because Tennessee's tallest waterfall is also on Fall Creek, though it is a totally different creek. You can't see much of the water after it goes over the edge. The better view is from the bottom.
A trail to the side leads down to the bottom. Some challenging rocks along the way down make you earn the spectacular view that follows. You can see the full waterfall from halfway down the descent. From the bottom you can view the entire gorge wall and take a dip in the pool of water below the falls. The water valume was lower being late in the summer, but there was enough to form a perfect ribbon of water from canyon top to canyon bottom. We had the bottom to ourselves for a few minutes before hiking the 0.35 miles back up to the top, my legs screaming all the way. Check this little gem out if you are traveling I-40 and have a few minutes to spare. There's no better way to stretch your legs and get a smile this big. A visit to one of nature's splendors was a great way to wrap up our weekend.
The beautiful Ozone Falls.
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