This weekend I headed down to Southern Oregon to race Table Rock Road Race.  I went down with teammate Pat and his brother and brother’s wife.  We left early Saturday morning in order to have time to preride a lap of the course.  Saturday’s weather was great, with highs in the 70s and sun.  We rode an easy lap of the course and then rode the 15 or so miles back to the campground we stayed at.  We rented a Yurt at Valley of the Rogue State Park, which worked out nicely.  Pat made some excellent yam gnocchi and chicken for dinner, and I made some oats for breakfast this morning.  The race itself was just under 50 miles, about 18 miles a lap times 2.5 laps.  There were two major climbs – a longer, gradual climb and then a very steep 1K finishing climb.

Here’s my race reprt as posted on the Team Oregon forum:

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon frustrated with myself, but without any good reason to be. I rode a good race, but it’s the first time this year I haven’t met or exceeded my own expectations for a race.

I was a big player in the entire race right until about 200 to go. In the first lap after the easiest cruise ever for the first several miles, Pat and I drilled it at the front up the first climb and put some serious hurt on much of the field, but unfortunately things mostly stayed together. Pat’s bad luck continued in the second lap when he got caught up behind a crash and was unable to chase back on. I had the closest near-miss I’ve ever had with that same crash as I was directly behind the two teammates that took each other out and missed bikes on the ground by inches.

On the finishing climb with one lap to go I attacked hard with Ryan from Veloce as we’d planned ahead of time, and we probably put 30 seconds on the field in less than two minutes. After a fast descent we got into a nice rhythm averaging probably 25 or so, and figured we had a shot. We’d hoped to have one or two more guys go with us, but instead the stronger guys in the field who should have gone with us knew just how much of a threat we were and managed to chase us down in probably 5-6 miles.

I spent the second to last climb in recovery mode trying to rest up after getting caught in the break, and I got a really nice second wind about halfway up the climb. I think it was about this point that everyone was getting tired and the already incredibly sketchy riding (one of the worst 4/5 fields I’ve been in) got even worse. I tried to not let that get to me, but it definitely psyched me out a bit and made me realize just how eager I am to be a 3.

On the finishing climb I chased down an early attack that I probably shouldn’t have, and I hit the bottom of the really steep section at a much higher heart rate than I should have. The hard uphill sprint started with about 250 to go, and for some reason my climbing legs that had been awesome all day simply wouldn’t go, and I dropped backwards in a hurry. Took about 20th.

After finishing I had fairly sharp pain on the outside of my knee near my LCL. I’d felt it a hair while climbing in the last lap, and I’m wondering if that’s part of the reason I didn’t have what I wanted to for the sprint. It’s just sore now, but I need to figure out what caused it.

I’m just going to blame it all on the fact that this is the first race this year where I haven’t eaten eggs beforehand. Try again next week.

Other Thoughts:

I’m tired of riding in the 4s not only because of the sketchyness, but because of the general lack of tactical racing.  Most 4 races there aren’t nearly enough attacks, and everyone chases everything.  Breaks rarely stick, and you can almost guarentee a pack finish.  If you play the odds, your best bet is to sit in the pack and do no work the entire race until the sprint at the end.  Thats what many riders do to place well, and it’s also a really boring way to race.  I like being at the front attacking, chasing, making people hurt, and generally being involved in some actual racing.  If I’d sat in and done no work today and cruised around like most of the finishing field, I probably would have placed better at the end.  I also would have been bored.  I suppose that’s what it might take to get my 3 upgrade – some boring racing to get another good result or two.

I know, I know – build a bridge and get over it already, right?

Picture Time!

The campground came complete with showers, laundry, and bathroom guard dog

Pat in the yurt

Out for an easy ride in the sun with pat and his brother

Cooking up some oats