We took advantage of some of the July 4 sales to get us a new grill. We have been wanting one for a very long time and finally had the funds to get us a nice one. I can smell the barbecue chicken and grilled veggies now! Actually I can, because we have already used the grill for that very meal. I can't wait to grill a big pizza on it!
I raced the Bells Bend Time Trial #4 the following Wednesday night in hopes of getting my legs opened up for the Indy Crit race on Saturday July 11. I did my worst TT in a long time. My legs were junk and I went out too hard on the first climb and blew up. Then I had nothing the rest of the race. I was ahead of my best times at the first checkpoint despite them adding 0.1 miles to the course this week to improve the staging area, but then I lost big chunks of time all the way to the finish. I was a minute behind my worst time ever at the finish, clocking at 32:49. It was a terrible day on the bike, but it did it's job and I felt better after. I finished 7th in the Merckx class. I have now finished 7th in the last four Bells Bend TT races I attended, dating back to August of last year.
I was still feeling a bit flat on Friday, so I put in some bigger efforts than I normally would do on the day before a race and it did the trick. We stayed in Indy Friday night with cousin Sarah. I rode the trainer while I watched the Tour de France Saturday morning and found I had good legs. Finally, they had come on a day I needed them! Indy Crit was my first real target race of the season. I love the course and usually have family here to watch me race. While most of the family could not make this trip, it still was a big one in my mind and would surely set the tone for my next two target races coming in the next few weeks at the Intelligentsia Cup and Crossroads Classic.
The course for Indy was changed this year to run in the reverse direction with the finish now coming just before Monument Circle. It really changed the way we raced the course, but still it was the same old Indy. It's wide, fast and the group stays packed up all day. If you were to compare our schedule to NASCAR, Indy is like going to Talladega. Big packs racing very fast, going through the turns six- and seven-wide. It is fun, yet scary at the same time. And it's always exciting to race in front of huge crowds in the city known for racing.
Watching the Cat. 3/4 race from the parking garage
Pro Women charging down Meridian St.
It was a very nice day weather-wise. There was a threat of rain, but the dark clouds stayed north of downtown. It was partly cloudy and cooler than expected. The temp never went over 83 degrees and the humidity was lower than in recent days. It was a great summer day for some bike racing. The wind was also much calmer than I remember it ever being for this race. What wind was blowing came as a headwind on the finish straight on Meridian St. and tailwind on the long backstretch up Illinois St.
The first 20 pre-registered riders get a call-up and I managed to be #17 to sign up this year so I got a second row start out of the 96 riders on the start line. That made the early laps very easy for me. The start was fast, but I did not have to use much energy. We averaged 28.8 mph for the first lap from a stop. That is rolling for an opening lap! I was aggressive enough to hold my spot early. I did not try to get up to the very front, just stayed in the top 30 in the opening laps.
On the start line at Indy
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Pro/1/2/3 Men start on the cobbles of Monument Circle
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
Rolling off the line
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Photo courtesy of Action Images Indy
Photo courtesy of Action Images Indy
Things started to get sketchy about 15 minutes into the race. There were several close calls around me, then a big crash on the bricks around Monument Circle. We may have had a tailwind on the finish straight, but it did nothing to slow us down going into the circle, which was much narrower than Meridian St. It became a pinch-point every lap. I dodged the crash and decided it was time to move up. Guys were taking a lot of chances. It seemed like everybody was over-reacting today. I saw so many guys jamming their brakes in every corner and getting sideways. It was like they couldn't control themselves under braking. Another source of sketch are the dozens of manholes located along the course. Some are smooth, others are very deep and will eat your wheel. Richard Keller referred to those as "landmines." They look innocent until your back wheel explodes on the square edge you never saw sticking up three inches above the pavement. Needless to say, flats were a-plenty early on.
Still shot from the GoPro. Getting a little too close to this crash. Video is posted below.
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
Passing the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
Good shot of me through the crowd
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Two riders counter-attacked almost immediately and got a substantial gap. I stayed up front and followed wheels hoping to get in with any group that went across the gap. We had several fast laps before the group settled down. The leading two had a small gap and the group seemed content to let them dangle out front and fry with the fast pace. We were still averaging 28.4 mph after 50 minutes of the 75-minute race. Going with the breaks took a lot out of my legs, so I dropped back and tried to save what I had left for the final laps when I knew Bissel or Texas Roadhouse would crank the pace for a leadout.
Bricks!
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
Photo courtesy of Patrick LaPetina
It's getting serious
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Video: 6 laps to go at Indy Crit
Video by Indy Crit
Strung out in the closing laps
Great shot with a few laps to go. I love the steam coming up from the street! You can see my head sticking up there in the middle of the shot.
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
Photo courtesy of Photography by Boleyn
I was a bit farther back than I wanted to be at one lap to go. I was maybe 25th and just missed a crash coming off the bricks where a guy went wide on the exit of the turn and plowed the metal barrier going over the bars and possibly even over the barrier. You can see it in the left corner of the video from my handlebar cam. I found a hole up the left side on the long backstretch and gave everything I had to move up against the speed of the Bissel leadout train. I hung the outside of the turn onto New York St. and found myself battling for third spot to get on Adam Leibovitz's wheel. He has won the past two years and it looked as if his Bissel team were setting him up perfectly for win #3. I exchanged elbows with a rider battling for Leibo's wheel before Knapp finally got the spot.
Crash on the left side of this shot as a guy ran wide into the barrier on the final lap. See the video of this below.
Up to third wheel with half a lap to go.
My legs were screaming! It took so much for me to get to the front that I had nothing left. I lost another spot with three turns to go and was having trouble holding the wheels as we pushed along at 34 mph. I was gapped slightly as we hit the headwind and the front four began to pull away. I was hoping somebody would come by and fill the gap for me, but evidently they were dying behind me too as nobody came by until we went through the turn onto New York St. I stayed in the top 10 through the final turn and gave everything I had to the line as riders came flying by. I wanted so bad to stay in the top 20 and get in the money. I yelled a little in the final push for the line just to let out that last bit of power form deep inside the legs. I crossed the line in 17th. It was my best finish at a bigger race and I was in the money for the first time since 2011 in a criterium. Yeah, it's been almost four full years since I finished in a money spot in any kind of road event.
Leibovitz wins it
Photo courtesy of Action Images Indy
We really picked up the pace those final laps, raising our average speed to 28.9 for 71 minutes of racing. That was the longest crit. I have completed since this race last year, so I was pleased to be able to get to the front at the end. Leibovitz did win the sprint again, so I was right where I needed to be to battle for the sprint, but I used up my sprint to get there. Still, it was a great, great day and I am very pleased with it. I hit my max heart rate of 188 on the final lap. I actually held 187-188 for the final minute of the race. Yet again, the last lap was our fastest lap of the race so the end was definitely difficult. That is by far the best legs I have had in quite a while. Below is a race video shot by Shannon and Sarah, then highlights from my handlebar cam. There's several crashes on the highlight video and you can watch the full last lap.
Check out Action Images Indy, Patrick LaPetina photos and Photography by Boleyn to view and purchase some great photos from the event. Most of the photos I posted above are from these guys.
I want to end this post by giving a shout-out to the Monster, Scott McConnell. If you will remember back two years ago, Scott completed the Tour Divide, racing from Canada down to Mexico across the Continental Divide for 2745 miles. This summer, he spent four weeks racing the Trans Am Bike Race, riding 4406 miles from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA. I enjoyed reading his updates on Facebook, especially when he talked about eating pie for fuel. I was hoping to ride with him when he passed through southern Illinois and Kentucky, but he came through while we were in Cincinnati. Oddly enough, he passed over I-65 in Kentucky about 10 minutes after we did on our drive home from Cincy. Had I known he was so close I would have stopped and bought the guy a slice of pie. He did not get to train for this one as much as for the Divide, but the man is one stubborn SOB and fought all the way to the end. He was the first rider to complete the all-road race on a singlespeed mountain bike. Great job Scott!
Scott McConnell atop Chief Joseph Pass in Montana during the Trans Am Bike Race
Great job buddy!
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