I recovered well from racing the Music City Crits race on Wednesday and my long July 4th ride on Thursday so I decided to do something I have not done in a very long time: a road race. Yes, a race on the road that was not a crit. I had not done a road race since 2015, when I did Hell of the South and had a miserable day. Over the past few years in Dover, TN, Justin Lowe has hosted the Espinazo del Diablo, the Devil's Backbone Road Race. The route rolls through the southern end of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, which is full of lumps and bumps. I have ridden in LBL many times in my early days on the bike and know how difficult the riding can be in there, especially when you go hard. Other races have conflicted with this race in the past so I have not had the opportunity to do it. This time, no excuses. I was showing decent endurance so why not give it a try?
To be honest, I was scared to death of this race. I was worried I would get popped early and be out on my own for the rest of the 66-mile course. I did not want to ride that far on that loop on my own. I have a history of taking a few miles to get up to full speed. After an initial descent, it's straight into the hills so there isn't any time to gradually work into the day. Most of the climbs have a reasonable grade and last 3-4 minutes. Not awful, but far from easy. A few later in the race are quite steep. I studied the route more than any other route I have ever studied before, making tedious notes about the climbs. I put the start mileage and end mileage of every one of them on a small paper slip and taped it to my stem. It took two pieces of paper to get them all as there were 29 climbs of note. Yes, 29. It is lumpy.
Our race began early on Sunday morning. The race normally has a smaller turnout. This is due to a combination of it being freaking hard and also very hot in July. The Pro/1/2 and Cat. 3s race combined, and start with the Masters 35+ and 45+ groups. Even with all those classes going at once, we still only had 31 riders on the start line. My main concerns for the race were these two back-to-back climbs that started about 17 miles into the race. The first was two miles long, the other about 1.7. There was also a super steep one at 26.5 miles. I just hoped to make it to that one in the group.
I sat in the middle of the pack in the opening miles. I was surprised to hold my position over the first few climbs, though they were not the most difficult of the 29 we would face. There were some attacks, but it wasn't too wild until we got to the final climb on the first road. It was longer than the previous climbs and I suffered with the length and pace. Brendan Housler was definitely the top dog in attendance. He put in a move that was chased initially, but eventually he was let go. Kyle Tiesler was the only one able to join him and the two were off on the break of the day. I dropped to the back of the group by the 2/3 point of that climb and had to really put out to hold the wheel in front of me, but I did hang on. A few others were not so fortunate and went out the back. At least I wasn't the worst on the day.
We made a left turn onto the main road that disects LBL, known simply as The Trace. I did my first ever road race on The Trace way back in 1999. The race did a loop that included part of the Trace farther north than where we would be going today, but it still brought back a few memories. I smiled thinking about that first race, even though I got dropped that day about two minutes after the start on a big climb just like these we were riding today and rode the rest of the race alone. Not fun, but I still enjoyed road racing enough to stick with cycling.
The Trace kicked off with another longer climb. I had barely recovered from the last effort, but this climb was taken a bit slower by the group. I struggled again, but managed to hang on the back. Others appeared to be hurting too, so I moved around them on the following descent and was toward the front when we reached the first of the two climbs I had starred on the paper taped to my stem. The first was challenging and I again dropped through the pack, barely maintaining contact at the top. I moved up again on the descent, which gave me some room to fall back on the second climb. This time several people got gapped. I was only a few bike lengths off the group over the top and easily chased back on with several others. Hurdle number one was now behind me.
The Trace moved us from Tennessee into Kentucky before we turned right onto a backroad. This road started fast with a bit of flowing descent. There were potholes in places. With the speed and a few corners it was difficult to navigate in a group. There were some attacks here and the line went single-file for most of this portion of the race. We doubled-up at one point and I found myself on the right side as we reached some deep potholes. There was little marking on the road to warn us at those speeds. Three little dash lines of paint in the 20 feet before the holes does little to give you time to react at 30+ mph. People started going everywhere to miss them. I had no room to move so I just bunny-hopped the holes. The guy behind me did not and I heard the smack as he plowed the hole that was at least four inches deep. He did not crash, but he destroyed his tire and rim. John Carr was next to me and said I got some pretty good air with my bunny-hop. MTB skills save the day!
The attacks on this portion of the course seemed like the worst place to go on the attack with the speed the road naturally provided, but maybe the goal was to soften our legs before the steep wall of a climb that followed. If that was their goal, then put it down as a success. The group exploded as soon as we hit the climb, which had grades over 15% and stayed that way most of the way up. Three groups were quickly established. A front group of skinny climbers, followed by a group of decent climbers, then a group of people suffering. I was in between the second and third groups most of the way up, but had the legs at the top to get very near the second group. I was able to bridge as we started the descent, then go right through that group and over to the front group, taking just one rider with me. The pace backed off however, and the other two groups were able to rejoin us as we passed by Wranglers Campground, the main campground in the park for horseback riders.
Some gradual climbing followed Wranglers, then another big climb back to The Trace. There were some attacks, but nothing stuck. I stayed well in the group through this portion, but knew I was still in for many challenges as we were just halfway through the grueling course.
We started early, but now the heat of the day had arrived. The Trace is fully in the sun. It was hot as we reached the next climb, another 2.1 mile leg burner. I really never expected to make it this far, so I hadn't even starred this climb, though I knew it was the worst thing left before the climb to the finish. The pace was faster at the bottom of this climb, splitting the group in two before the halfway point. I found myself leading the second group. I kept myself climbing at a pace where I knew I could make the climb. The group pulled away at first, then I started to make gains back toward them. Eventually, I pulled out of the second group and was within bike lengths of the first group as we reached the top. It took maybe 10 seconds of effort over the top to be back in the main group. After making that one and still feeling strong, I started thinking I could make this whole race.
The Trace gave us a break now with just a few small rollers and gradual loss of elevation. We then turned right and saw the feed zone. I didn't have anyone at the race with me so I didn't have a feed. I just stocked my pockets up on extra water bottles, which was not helping me climb early on, but now I was even with everyone else on water weight. The road was fast for a few more miles before the climbing began again. This portion of the course had shorter, steeper climbs. They were not as steep as the climb before Wranglers, but still nasty in spots. Thankfully, I can get myself over steep climbs when they are short. Attacks started again as we reached the first of four climbs that come in succession, each getting a little steeper and longer. I was up front now and following some of the accelerations. The third climb made me hurt and I dropped back over the top, only to see that climb number four was a really tough one. I thought I had screwed up and put myself into a hole that would see me out the back, but I managed to hold onto the back over that climb, then recover on the following descent and the short flat road that followed. I think that was the only flat portion of this entire course.
More attacks went on the next rollers that took us back to the road we started on, where we hung a sharp right and began climbing towards the finish. We had three climbs left. The first came right away. I had decided to hold what I had left for the final climb. Guys were cramping everywhere on this climb and I was near the front as we topped it. The next climb was taken much faster with attacks going halfway up. I tried to stay patient, but a group was forming up the road. I felt like I had good legs left so I attacked near the top in an attempt to bridge across before the final climb began. I cut the gap in half before the descent, but did not gain any time going down. What was left of the main group was right behind me. As I began to lose momentum starting the final climb, the group blew my doors off. They came by so fast I couldn't even get on the back. Some of the riders were able to get to the lead group like I was trying to do, but I never made it. I set my pace the rest of the way up and picked off everyone I could, coming home in 17th overall and 13th in Pro/1/2/3. Housler and Tiesler stayed away the rest of the way and crossed the line in that order. I was 2nd in the Cat. 2. I kind of screwed up the finish, but I was happy to have even been there and to be aggressive. I went for it, things just didn't work out. I felt great too for riding over 66 miles with this group, averaging 22.9 mph with over 4,000 feet of climbing. I will for sure be doing more road races in the future. I have been missing out on some real bike fun. Paul Carter ran a seatpost cam during the race which is posted below.
I felt good all week after the road race and headed into a three-day race weekend with some confidence for the first time in a while. It would be a totally different kind of racing with crits on Friday and Saturday, followed by an XC on the mountain bike on Sunday, but I finally felt like I was getting onto some good form. Indy Crit was the target of the weekend. I have done this race several times and really enjoy it. Mass Ave, another well-attended race in Indianapolis, joined forces with Indy Crit and with a new Heros Crit to be held nearby on Sunday. We would be hitting up Mass Ave Friday night, Indy Crit Saturday, then heading north to Potato Creek State Park for Sunday's DINO Series race at another event I really like.
Mass Ave has traditionally been a big triangle course with very sharp turns. This year the course was modified, but not for the better. More turns were added to a very fast set of narrow roads. I liked the flow of the course, but it would be a nightmare in the group, especially if you were outside the top 20. The start/finish line was about 3/4 of the way down the course's only long straightaway. It was a short sprint to turn 1 on the first lap. Turn 1 was also the hardest turn on the course. It was a narrow, rough left turn that was a tight 135 degrees. Ouch. We then sprinted one block before a 90-degree left, then quickly back to the right. It was then just one more block of a straightaway before another 90-degree left, which was followed by a sweeping 135-degree turn to match Turn 1. Thankfully though, this final turn was wide and had a crosswalk in the middle that made for sort of a small straight portion in the middle that made it feel like two 67.5-degree turns. From Turn 2 down through the final curve it was ever-so-slightly downhill, making that whole section very fast. Then it was gradual uphill on a false-flat from the exit of the final turn to the finish line before it flattened off again. It was fast, technical and filled with potholes and manhole covers.
Dina raced early in the afternoon. I was able to talk her into doing the crits, even though she was really only on this trip to race the mountain bike at Potato Creek. This was definitely the biggest crit she had ever raced. I think she has only done one crit outside of the Wednesday night races at the Speedway in Nashville. There were 19 starters for the Cat. 4/5 Women's race. There were two teams who had the numbers and tried to control the race. Dina did a good job of following the wheels and not doing too much work. It was a fast race though and most of them were tired going into the final laps. The group really strung out the last lap and Dina fought to stay in the front bunch. They sprinted and Dina took 8th. I thought she did great in such a fast race on a technical course with riders who are faster and have more experience than her.
I felt good in my warm-up, but knew the call-up procedure would have me starting near the back. The goal was just to stay upright and hold on for as long as I could. It would be tough to move up here for sure. We had 80 riders on the start line for the Pro/1/2. I was given a start spot at the back of the group. We started just before dark as the lights started to blink on along Mass Ave, a strip of street known for its cafes, bars and nightlife. Lights always make riders extra aggressive.
The first few laps were wild. It was very fast and we were strung out halfway around the course. I managed to grab a few positions the first lap, but after that it was single-file and a blur of speed. It was one of those races where you were riding fully at 100% effort on the long stretch, then running into the back of people at the first turn. It was hard to even manage that turn as we were all in major oxygen debt every time we got there.
Gaps were appearing already on lap 2. I could see that I wasn't in the front group, but there was just not enough time to move up with the speed we were taking these five turns in just over one kilometer. All I could do was hold the wheel in front of me, then try to make a pass when the door opened up through a corner. We did 30+ mph up the finish straight every lap. I was up on the nose of my saddle. As we crossed a rough crosswalk of bricks completing lap 2, the nose of my seat slipped down. That added an extra skill to the first turn as I was bouncing on the back of the seat in an attempt to get it to tilt the nose back up. I got it back close to normal, then it happened again the next time up the same straight. Ugh. That is why I don't like single-bolt seat clamps.
The front group was absolutely flying, full of top-quality Pro and Cat. 1 riders. The First Internet Bank Team really controlled the race. There were also several riders from Bissell-ABG-Giant, Texas Roadhouse and ButcherBox. They quickly made ground up on the back of the field and groups started to get pulled. The third turn was right next to the finish straight so I could see the leaders were already half a lap ahead of me in about six laps. The lead group was already fairly small, maybe 30 riders left at most. It was obvious my group would be pulled. I felt good so I focused on moving up to get the best finish I could and last as long as I could in the race. I was in the third group when our entire group was pulled only 15 minutes into the race. The second group was pulled the next lap, leaving only 20 riders left in the race at 17 minutes. Ouch. By the finish, there were only about 16 riders left in the race. Courses like this tend to do that to the field.
I was scored in 54th, so I moved up quite a bit during those 15 minutes considering how hard it was to gain positions here. I would have loved to have finished the full race, but I was happy to have felt good. Moving up from the back was never going to happen here. It was nice just to have had some juice in the legs. The crowd was great, lining Mass Ave about three-deep. Most of them had no idea about bike racing, but were very supportive anyway. When I was pulled, several people approached me to ask about the race and tactics. They all seemed to be very interested in learning more and all gave me a big pat on the back even though I was nowhere near the front of the race.
We stayed just south of town with Shannon's cousin, Sarah, who always offers us up some floor space when we are in the area. We got in late, but did get a little time to visit Saturday morning before we headed downtown to Indy Crit. Dina had the first race of the day while I had the last so we were going to be there all day. We parked in the parking garage provided to the riders by the race organization, then got out on course to check it out.
It was the same course as the last time we were here, going clockwise on a figure-8 loop. The course takes on the bricks of Monument Circle just after the start line, passing by the beautiful Soldiers and Sailors Monument. We curve to the right to leave the circle before another right onto Illinois St for the longest straightaway on the course. This is two blocks long and very fast, with traffic moving alongside you in a single lane, separated from you most of the time by a waving line of caution tape. Scary. Another 90-degree right awaits at the end of the straight. It is rough out of this turn and into the next left. We then take three 90-degree rights to go around University Square before the final turn takes us back onto Meridian St. The last turn is a 90-degree left that comes about 300 meters from the finish line. The course is pretty much pancake flat and is one of the fastest crit courses you will ever ride. It's about 0.9 miles for a lap, so more spread out than last night's technical course, which is located only a few blocks away to the east. This course is also much wider with the exception of the portion on the bricks around Monument Circle, which can be a bit tight at speed in a big group.
The field of Cat. 4/5 Women was bigger on Saturday with 26 riders. A few attacks early were quickly neutralized and it was clear this was going to be a bunch sprint. A few riders went really early on the final lap and blew up most of the pack. Dina held her own again and ended up with another 8th place finish. A solid weekend of crits for her!
It was a long wait until my race. I was itching to get out there as I was feeling good again today. Some days you can just tell, especially on those when you have to visit the port-o-john and you don't have leg burn while doing the hover. I passed the leg test today. We met a fellow middle-Tennessean at Mass Ave, Steve Ehinger. What a nice dude. You could tell right away that he is a great guy. We cheered him on in the Cat. 4/5 race where he did well on Friday. Unfortunately, he took a big hit during a nasty crash in the Cat. 3/4 race on Saturday that took out a number of riders, some with severe injuries. Steve broke his helmet and frame, but was spared major bodily injury. A video of the crash from his helmet cam is posted below. It features his full race with the crash near the end, 19:20 into the video. Lots of broken helmets in this one by the look of it.
We had 74 riders for the Pro/1/2/3, which is actually quite low for this race. The race was very fast from the start. Again, my call-up spot was near the back and it made those early laps very hard. I took advantage of the wide turns to swing the outside and steadily move up, getting myself into a good position in front 1/3 of the pack after about 15 minutes. We had a 29.9 mph average speed at the 20-minute mark. It didn't slow down any and the pack started to line out more as fatigue began to show in many legs.
I got shuffled back a bit by 30 minutes, then flatted while moving back up. I clipped one of the deeper manhole covers between turns 4 and 5, pinching the front tire. I was quickly in the pit and got a new wheel. I could tell a group was attacking as they went around the park, but it looked to be back together as I took the last check over my shoulder to see them coming off the last turn while waiting to be let go from the pit. The official turned me loose very early, which I was happy about as he inserted me right at the front. I was up to speed in the top 10. There was a gap ahead of me on the backstretch so I rode hard to close it, not realizing I was the last man in a break that was forming. Next thing I know, I'm in the break with all the top teams. I had no business being there, but I was at least going to try to hang on. They slowed in a lap and then took off again. I had nothing to go with another attack after just doing that sprint out of the pits. A First Internet Bank rider behind me wanted me to close the gap to the break as they started to pull off from us. I just laughed at him. He was on the strongest team. I was not about to do the work for him. I really had no business even being up here. He eventually went around me, frustrated. Good try fella.
The pack was chasing the break hard and I was quickly swallowed up and sent to the back. I was blown up and trying desparately to recover in the group that was getting smaller every lap. Recovery is hard to do at 30 mph while dodging manholes, sketch riders and the occasional pedestrian wandering across the course. I only made about five more minutes before getting gapped when several riders ahead of me dropped off the group on the backstretch. I tried to close the gap, but just didn't have the legs left to do it at that speed. The free lap and effort out of the pits really killed my legs. I got pulled at 46 minutes, ending the day in 49th. Again, there were not many finishers as the pace stayed full-throttle for the entire 70 minutes. That is the only race I have done where the speed compared to the Pro/1/2 races at Speed Week, like at Athens Twilight and Spartanburg. I had a 27.1 mph average speed for the 46 minutes, which included sitting still in the pit for a lap and a half, and being on my own for the last three laps. It was fun! I would like to have seen if I could have finished that race without the flat. Who knows. That's what sucks about flats. You never know how your body will react to going from all-out to a stop then back to all-out, where you will get reinserted, or how the race will be going when you go back in.
We hit the road north as soon as Indy Crit was over. We made one quick stop on the way at Wilson Farm Market, a great little Indiana country store that has a bit of every kind of food. They have old Amish buggies and a giant corn cob in the parking lot. Stop in if you ever get the chance. They have delicious cheeses. We spent the night in Elkhart with Shannon's parents and tried to rest the legs up for the longest race of the weekend.
Potato Creek State Park hosted the final day of our three-day race weekend. This mountain bike race was the fourth stop of the DINO Series. The trail at Potato Creek is flowing and fast for just over 8 miles per lap. Despite the power needed to hold a top speed here I really like it. There are enough turns to bring in the skills aspect of the rider. It's a busy trail at race pace and everyone that reads the blog knows how much I like to stay busy on my mountain bike.
The legs were a bit sluggish in my warm-up, which was to be expected after hard crits the previous two days. I held back a little to save it for the race. So far this season, I do not feel I have had a really good DINO race and I wanted to end that streak today. We had nine riders on the start line for the Elite class. I was a slug off the start line while everyone else was very aggressive on the road that took us to the singletrack. I just couldn't get the legs going. Maybe I did need a little bit harder warm-up to get me ready to jump off the line. I entered the woods last out of the group in 9th to start lap 1 of 4.
I quickly settled into the pace once we were in the singletrack and began to move up. The group split about halfway through lap 1 with four riders getting a gap. I worked my way to 5th by the end of lap 1 and set off to try to cross that gap on lap 2. I really didn't think I could catch the leading group with how I have ridden this season, but I crossed the gap halfway through lap 2. I was on a good day. Finally!
As soon as I joined the front group, a rider went down in the line ahead of me. It looked like an attempted pass that was blocked and neither rider backed off. One went down, blocking up the trail for the rest of us. That busted up our line. I had nowhere to go and was unable to move up. The pace was crazy for the rest of lap 2. I was unable to get by 4th for several miles, allowing the top 3 to get a big gap. For the second time today I had a huge gap to cross.
The pace was higher now so it was harder to make up time as compared to the previous lap. I was about 10 seconds off of third place Chris Bowman for most of lap 3. Then my legs began to fade. The gap grew to 20 seconds and steadily increased the remainder of the final lap. I ended the day in 4th, 51 seconds off Bowman in 3rd. The leading two were on another level the second half of the race, with the winner pulling out to 3:52 over me by the finish. I was smoked after the race, but happy. I finally had a decent day and was able to fight in the front group. I was there, even if it was only for a few seconds before the crash. Positive things to build upon.
The winner on the day in Elite had quite the weekend. Nolan Vanderzwaag of Bissell-ABG-Giant ran a similar weekend to us, racing all the same classes that I did. He took 9th at Mass Ave on Friday, 11th at Indy Crit Saturday, then a win on Sunday at Potato Creek. He was not at the podium presentation so maybe he drove back to Indy to race the Heroes Crit Sunday afternoon. Either way, quite the weekend with some impressive finishes.
Dina had another solid day clicking off some good lap times and ending up 2nd in Expert Women. I am finally starting to see Dina turn into the kind of rider I knew she could be, putting together solid finishes on multiple days in a single weekend. And in different disciplines at that. I hope she sees all her hard work is paying off and will stick with it. She is getting to the point now where the fun far outweighs the sacrifices.
More from 2019 in my next post as I continue to struggle in an attempt to catch up.
