It was a hot day. Getting ready was a challenge. Getting into lycra when you are already soaked with sweat can be a bit of a challenge. Sometimes that takes more energy than the race! I had good legs again today, maybe even a little better than yesterday at Francis Park. I was sort of dreading The Hill. You have a bad day here and you can be off the back really quick with all the tight turns that provoke frequent hard accelerations. Not to mention there is a huge climb every lap.
The tight rectangle that is the Giro della Montagna course.
Matt Winn in the Cat. 3/4 race.. He's one of the riders from Clarksville I get to ride with occasionally.
Photo by Carrie Z
I got a great start spot, lining up on the third row of the 85 riders and then staying up near the front all race. The pace was fast today the entire race. There was a crash in Turn 1 about 15 minutes in. I slipped under it with no problem, but it caused a split up front. It took three hard laps of chasing to get everything back together. Those laps hurt me and I slipped back in the group for a lap. I realized how far back I was and quickly moved back up. I was able to move up on both long straightaways today. I felt great on the climb. I just held my momentum with a high cadence and was able to spin my way up toward the front. The crowd was huge today, especially on the climb. I have never seen so many cheering spectators at a Cat. 2/3 race before. It was insane the final 10 laps.
Me tucking low early in the race.
I was in the new Swiftwick kit today. #215
Eli Wemyss
Staying up front kept me ahead of another crash just before Turn 3. I heard it behind me and it sounded more like a car wreck than a bike crash. You can hear it in the handlebar cam highlights video. I got shuffled back a little with two laps to go, but I stayed calm. I knew that if I panicked and moved up at the wrong time I would have nothing left for the finish. I decided to wait until the start of the last lap to move up. Between the Start/Finish and Turn 1 was the place to move up all day. I wanted to be the one surging today instead of the one up front getting swarmed. That would have been a good plan except for the part where the pace cranked up the last two laps and we came down the front straight at 37.7 mph taking the bell. I couldn't go fast enough to pass anyone. I stayed on the inside through turns 1 and 2 so I could have a shot at the left side up the hill. Of course, everybody had the same idea and the left was blocked as we started the hill, but I stayed there and waited for a gap to open up. And it did about 3/4 of the way up. I jumped through the hole in the gutter and moved up a few rows before turn 3. I was on the inside and chose not to force it today as to not lose my momentum like yesterday at Francis Park. The inside line was not the fastest line to Turn 4 and I lost some spots to the riders on the outside, but then I got a clear shot in the sprint, picking off many guys before the line to take 30th. I hit 42.3 mph as I crossed the line. Downhill sprints are fun!
Me out of the saddle trying to stay up front
Cat. 2/3s raced under dark clouds, but no rain fell.
With with a few laps to go.
Tight finish again today. The front of the sprint has been so close every day. David Morse won the race.
The data from the race keeps getting better every day. I hit 186 heart rate today in the sprint, showing my legs are lasting all the way to the end now. Our fastest lap of the race was the last one just like yesetrday. Our average speed for the day was 26.7 mph, which I think is pretty fast for this course. We hung around for the Pro events to watch UHC sweep again. Coryn Rivera made it three-for-three in the Pro/1/2 Women's race, while Ken Hanson's leadout was too much for teammate Luke Keough to overcome in the Pro/1 Men's race. I did not eat enough after the race and bonked on the drive home. I think my blood sugar level had tanked. I was sweating and had trouble getting my bike into the hotel. That is definitely not the way to start race recovery. Also, the ice machines broke so I did not get my ice bath this time.
Rivera makes it a hat trick.
Photo by Carrie Z
Recent Music City Crits series champ and TBRA Road series champ, Michaelee Bowes of I Am Racing, during the Pro/1 race
Photo by Carrie Z
Pro/1 Men on The Hill
UHC lead the chase after a break of two slipped away
UHC drug back the break in the final laps
There's a short video from The Hill posted below, followed by highlights of my race from my handlebar cam.
Giro della Montagna video
Highlights from The Hill
We had planned to ride the greenway on Monday morning, but when we woke up the radar was all green. It was not raining, but it looked to be on its way. I was hoping that the rain would be gone by my race at the Benton Park Classic, which was the last race of the day way back at 4:55 pm. The threat of rain was there, but the rain broke up and moved south. The result was a cooler, cloudy morning that gave way to a breezy, sunny afternoon. It turned out the be the best weather of the weekend. So the forecast was for three days of rain and we wound getting just one brief shower the entire weekend. For once this year, the weather was on our side.
Benton Park Course Map
I got to watch the Pro races before I had to get ready. It was UHC domination yet again. In the Women's race they went 1-2 with Hannah Barnes winning over Rivera. Then Hanson won the sprint in the Men's race over teammate Keough. Oh yeah, and UHC won the Omnium in both categories with Hanson and Rivera. What a weekend.
Coryn Rivera tries a solo break
Pro/1/2 Women
Pro/1/2 Women
Break of three
Pepper Palace leads the chase
Barnes and Rivera go 1-2 for UHC
Pro/1 Men spread out on the front stretch
Three riders stayed away until one lap to go
Hanson and Keough celebrate the win
I felt good in warm-up. The legs seemed to be there despite my poor recovery tactics from yesterday. I did have some trouble getting the heart rate up, which made me think maybe the legs were not as good as they felt. Once in the race though, everything was working good. I got a great start spot on the second row. I was behind that rider that has been in front of me many times this year. You know him, the guy who can't get his foot clipped in. It caused me to lose a lot of spots, but I did not panic. I just tried to stay in line. I have never finished a race here at Benton Park. To be honest, I was scared. I did not want to end my weekend with getting pulled. My goal was to keep my heart rate as low as possible and stay sheltered so I could stay in the race for to the end. I only wanted to move up when I had to or when the pace dropped significantly.
After four laps, I realized that I had great legs. It was definitely the best I felt the entire weekend. I moved up at will, usually on the climbs. Again, I never struggled out of the corners. I seemed to be hitting my lines and carrying speed well. I have really learned a lot over the past three months about corner speed and I put it all to practice today on this technical, 10-turn course. The wind was whipping us in places and I made sure to be sheltered there each lap. The group was smaller with just 50 riders, but the speed was even faster. We gradually picked up our average speed throughout the race. You could just feel the tension building in the peloton with every passing lap.
A rider tries to go solo halfway through the race
Breaks were trying to go off, but nothing was getting very far. I thought about going on the attack at five to go, then thought better of it. This group is so even that I couldn't really see anyone getting away. The attack that I wanted to go with turned out to be the one I should have followed. Four riders went up the road and never came back. It was amazing that they made it. Our group was single file for almost two full laps with three to go as we chased hard. I was hurting bad with a lap and a half to go. There were gaps opening up even at the front as riders were hurting on the fourth day of hard racing.
The pace decreased with just over a lap to go. The break had 18 seconds on us and it was clear we couldn't bring them back. It was about to be a sprint for fifth place now. I moved up to the front on the hill out of Turn 3, then lost a few spots in Turn 4. But there was room to pass before the tight chicane turns so I jumped out of line and tried to hit the chicane in third. I backed off just before the turn, thinking this was close enough to the turn that nobody would pass me. Wrong! I got chopped entering the turn. That killed my momentum and cost me spots entering and exiting the chicane. Then I was trapped in the middle. The group was not going all-out and now was the time to move up, but I couldn't get out! Surprisingly, we made it through Turn 8 without crashing and hit the long backstretch where the sprint would be decided. At the end of the stretch are the final two left turns. The Finish line was moved back this year, giving you less distance to sprint from the last turn to the line. I liked the change, but it definitely made the last two corners that much more critical.
I knew I had to be in the top three or four entering Turn 9. I followed a rider up the left on the straightaway, but then he backed off. I started to go to his left, then he pulled out again and I had to cut right. It was a decision that cost me a top result. I should have swerved left and went on by him. My instinct though was to rejoin the draft on his right, but that got me blocked in. I am shocked that I had the legs to pull out of the line any at all. I hit 41.4 mph when I was moving up down the slight descent to Turn 9, and this was into the wind! It was like trying to pass the scooter while we are motopacing. I was still too far back going into Turn 9. We were four wide and leaning on each other, but everybody kept it upright. I had to touch the brakes just before Turn 10 to miss the rider to my outside who decided to cut down on me. That cost me some momentum on the exit of the final turn. My line also put me on the roughest part of the course which made it even harder to get my speed back up. I passed several guys before the line as I had a good sprint left, but not as many as I would have passed had I not had to brake and hit the chatter bumps. I finished 26th, my best result of the weekend. We averaged 26.9 mph for the 55-minute race.
Jason Murphy wins at Benton Park
I finally finished at Benton Park! And it was not because the race was slower. Nearly all of my laps today were faster than my best laps in the Pro/1/2 races last year. The fastest lap of the day today was our last one. What a way to end the weekend! Sure, I would have loved to get a top 10, but just being up there and battling was a lot of fun. It is why I love bike racing. I feel like the last two years I have done nothing but just hang on in these bigger races. To get up there and battle with some of the country's top amateur riders for four days was awesome. It reminds me of how much I love to race. I just hate it that the season is over. No more big crits until 2015. :(
The Benton Park Classic video is posted below showing some of the Pro Women, Pro Men, Cat. 3/4 and Cat. 2/3 races and finishes. Highlights from my handlebar cam are posted below that. It was another exciting race and a fun one to analyze with the bar cam. Thanks Shannon for doing almost all of the filming for the sideline videos!
Benton Park Classic video
Benton Park Classic highlights from the GoPro
We hit up Ruby Tuesday again on the way home to use up the rest of my gift cards. Did I mention before that I just love their garden bar?! It is way overpriced though. I would not go there if I was paying. We got home very late after having such a late race. I went to bed after midnight which made for a groggy morning. I had to work in Nashville early, so there was no chance of sleeping in even a little. I am actually getting quite a bit of work. I can pretty much get in as many days as I want as clinics always need help. I struggled with changing jobs for a long time, even after I quit full time. I just didn't feel like I deserved it. But Shannon is so supportive of me and wants me to race well so she convinced me to think more about it. After a few weeks of thinking about it, I think I would be crazy to not take this opportunity. We are in a financial situation where we don't need to be full-time to pay our bills. Sure, it would be nice to have extra race money, but if you can't train then why spend so much money racing? I worked really hard in college, even working three jobs at one point. I raced a lot while going to school and working. I remember many days where I had class all morning, picked up or delivered a book fair in the afternoon, squeezed in a ride and then worked in a cabinet shop that night. I have worked really hard so I guess maybe I do deserve a chance to not work so much. Those younger years that most top riders spend focusing 100% on cycling I was working and making a career. The career was the right choice and I would not change it, but I do want my chance to focus on cycling now and see how far I can go with it. Gateway showed me that I do know how to train. While I did not peak for the event, I was strong enough to be in there and battling for a top place with the best quality field I have ever lined up with. It gives me hope for better things next season.
With that being said, I hope to carry my momentum into the Fall and off-season. We are going to Utah again in a few weeks, with a detour in Wyoming planned on the way out. I have some big rides planned both on the mountain bike and road bike. Upon return, I plan to do some mountain bike races and cyclocross to keep me focused and pushing hard. I'm keeping it local though to save up funds for next season as right now I have no sponsor opportunities lined up for next year so I doubt we will get any help with funding. I am still sad that Dirt, Guts & Donuts is not happening this year, but I did read about a donut road race happening in Utah while we are there. Hmmmm....
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