Living the life of a Vehicular Cyclist

I mentioned a week or two ago that I had decided to become a bike commuter. I think a better term is that of “vehicular cyclist”. A vehicular cyclist is probably best defined as a person who uses a bicycle for basic transportation needs, but that also includes acting like every other vehicle out on the road. Vehicular cyclists are actually and currently a rare minority among modern urban cyclists, since it is my belief that most cyclists who ride bikes for recreation and for transport, are either ignorant of the law, or willfully disregard it. Cyclists who use sidewalks, ride against traffic, fail to signal intent, blow through stop signs or lights, and who tend to be prone to colorful metaphors when approached about their behavior, tend to ruin popular opinion of cycling as means of recreation, transportation, and fitness, for the rest of us. Until fairly recently, I was one of these cyclists. I generally obeyed the rules, but there were plenty of times when, either alone or in packs, I acted like a single fish in a school, and blew through any and all traffic control devices with minimal regard to my own safety, the safety of others, and the general law.

I’ve said that it’s the anecdote in the paper that bleeds, leads, and reads… Well, that leaves us about 12,000 anecdotes daily when you look at a census of cyclists just in the East Dallas area in and around White Rock Lake. Cyclists have developed a reputation for being lawless, self-righteous bastards who want it both ways… They want the same roads and the same rights as motorists, but they also want the freedom to disregard those same rules. Furthermore, cyclists, in conjunction with disaffected motorists, have come to believe that in areas of high congestion, cycling is NOT advocated or appreciated on streets and roads without special lanes or even separated cycle-tracks. Yet bike lanes don’t solve a thing.

I used to be a HUGE advocate of bike lanes. Then, over the course of the last two years, a true mentor who has been a friend and acquaintance for almost 9 years now, and whom I knew of much, much earlier than that, took the time and had the patience to educate me on the limitations of bike lanes or dedicated bike tracks like rail-trail projects. I think the most profound thing I learned was that, once a lane is installed, or a track built, motorists will expect you to use it, instead of the road itself. Motorists WANT what I call “Gutter Bunnies”. They WANT you on the right hand side, or even on the sidewalk (which is itself illegal). Once you’re out of the way, they can show their OWN disregard for conventional law, and thus speed, or roll through stop signs, or change lanes without signalling, etc.

One of the biggest sources of cyclist/motorist friction comes from lane control. If a cyclist acts like a motorized vehicle, and takes the lane, then the honest-to-God’s truth is that most every motorist can and should treat that bike as a motorized vehicle. Sure, bikes are slower, but most neighborhood roads are meant for slow-and-steady type drives or rides, and let’s face it, there are ample places to pass, or announce that you need to pass. Finally, have you ever truly ridden in or near the gutter of a road? It sucks! Grit, grime, sand, slick stuff, and lots and lots of glass, which can ruin any ride.

Thus far, my commutes have been to and from the JCC from my house, and short trips to West Village and the Whole Foods on Lemmon and Lomo Alto. I’ll start riding over to my friend Todd’s house, and to the Panera near his home as well. We also rode up to our friend’s house a few weekends ago, through the Park Cities. One of the best things to come out of Vehicular Cycling with my wife (I purchased an identical bike to mine for her, just in ladies’ colors), is the fact that we ride TOGETHER now. There’s no need or opportunity to speed. Vehicular cycling is more social, more ‘together’, and when the dog is with us in the front basket, it’s more ‘family’ time.

I’ll try to post my rides and adventures or experiences as they come along, and I need to get a photo of the family on our bikes. It may have to wait a bit, though. June is already becoming a busy month.

One more thing. There’s a bike calculator that is pretty cool. It figures out just how much you’re saving by bike commuting. I thought I was doing it at around $.90 per mile, but in reality, it’s a lot less. However, the environmental benefits, social benefits, and health benefits far outweigh the replacement costs via car.

Here’s the link. http://commutebybike.com/

Gas Savings Calculator

I’ll try to post the widget on both websites soon.

2009 State Crit Championships. Mirage C3’s deliver the victor!!!

Kutach Takes State!

You know, there’s something special about this group of 3’s with whom I’m riding. We’ve got some strong cyclists, but even better, we’ve got some smart cyclists who are looking for a way to contribute and work together. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m proud that we’ve worked through ego’s (including my own), and other self-promoting agendas to work together for the common good.

The 2009 State Crit Championship for Texas was held in Fort Worth, right in front of the two art museums (Kimball and Amon Carter), and the Will Rogers Memorial Stadium. It’s an 8-turn course on a slant, and there are some tricky turns in there that can really throw cyclists for a loop. It offers the best of challenges, from varying surfaces, to tight chicanes, to city reflectors that can’t be removed. Turn 7, in particular, is a doozy. It is a right-hand turn coming off of a section of brick road on to cement, and the promoters (who are awesome, btw), usually park an ambulance right at the location, so that the medics can pay immediate attention to anyone who might go down.

I had the privilege of having my wife and dog come over to watch the race, and we also had some friends from Fort Worth watch as well, bringing their dog for Shadow to play with. The morning was perfect in terms of temperature and wind (mild and mild), and our start time was right at mid-morning, so we had a chance to sleep in a little, warm up appropriately, and watch some of the earlier races, which helped.

Jordan, Andy, Darwin, Chase, Jason and I mounted up in a vacant parking space prior to the race itself, and warmed up on our trainers. I’ve become a huge fan of ice vests, so I brought mine with me, and with Amy’s help, was able to keep it on until the last minute. I swear they work, even if it’s just to keep your jersey wet and cool so you have some evaporation as you move through the air when riding for the first 10-15 minutes.  While we warmed up, Jason laid out the plan. We were to look for opportunities to attack and create breakaways, and it was the duties of the other teammates to block, anchor, or even counter-attack if a break was brought in. The race was going to be 75 minutes long, and on such a course, a lot could happen. But the priority was to deliver Andy Kutach to a position where he could win the overall and bring home a jersey. Andy was the strongest rider, the most savvy, and he possessed the ability to ride with stamina once a break got away. He was the package.

Chase and Darwin protect their main

Over the course of the race, there were dozens of primes (prizes) that were given away, and early on, Chase grabbed one and started the antics of trying to break away. Later, I moved from my position in the 20’s to the front and gave some strong pulls for 3 laps or so while Jason pulled back to recover.

Rich Takes a pull, leading out Ian Sewalt

Though I never looked back, apparently the starting list of 75 riders began to get strung out pretty quickly, and riders were being pulled early. I guess we finished with no more than 40 riders, maybe less. But in the middle of the race, while Mirage wasn’t really going for primes too much, Andy came up to me and said, “We’ve got about 45 minutes to go in this thing.” And then, he moved up. There was a prime on the line for $100 cash, and he took it. One other rider went with him, and they got maybe 10 seconds up the road. The next lap, there was a $50 prime. Andy took that, and Chase moved to the front in an effort to block.

Andy Breaks Away

It worked. The pack slowed down almost unconsciously, and Andy and the other cyclist started to get out of sight on the tight corners.

After a lap or two, several riders tried to get up to the front and force everyone to bridge. It didn’t work. I blocked. Chase blocked. Jason came up to me with about 15 minutes left and asked, “Did Andy get away?” My reply, “YES HE DID!” in my most Saturday Night Live-ish voice. He then went up to the front — and blocked. It was beautiful. The whole peloton began to slow down and collect its’ breath, while we intently watched the motorcycle that was following the leaders get further and further ahead. 1/3 of a lap stetched to 1/2 a lap, and then maybe 5 out of 8 corners. The lap counter came up, counting down the laps from 5 to go, but still the pack couldn’t adequately respond. In the final lap, there were some crazy moves on the brick descent to try and establish positions for the group sprint, but it was still too late. I made the turn in roughly position 20, and got passed by Darwin with his wicked-quick kick (he also took his share of pulls and blocked). But for me, the real goal was not taking a high placing, it was finding out how Andy had done. I looked up the road, and saw him cooling down at the top of the course, so I rode up as quickly as my own shelled legs would take me, and rolled up beside him.

“How’d it go?”

“I took it.”

There are no mountains in Ft. Worth, but I think 1000 people down below at the starting line and elsewhere heard the “WHOOOOO HOOOOO!” that erupted from my throat as I shared my elation at my Teammate’s win with them. The other riders came up as well, and there were pats on the back, high fives, fist bumps, everything. We’d done it. We’d delivered a State Champ. His next words out were, “I knew you guys were there for me. After about 15 minutes, the other guy looked back down and said ‘Your team is blocking for you.’ and I knew then that this was gonna work.”

We rolled back through together, and then went over to the cars to start loading up our bikes and gather up our gear. I told Jason – “Hey, this was YOUR plan. You made it happen.” He just smiled and went on. He’s pretty humble, dontcha think? It took a while for Amy to make her way up with Lila and Emmitt, and we got everything in the car, the headed over to their house for a post-race brunch, which was awesome.

Having a team, having a plan, and executing that plan, really adds to the dimension that is bike racing. I’m proud of my teammates, and want to congratulate Andy Kutach once again on his stellar performance on that Monday. I hope we can all get and give that kind of support the rest of the cycling year.

GS Tenzing Crit – Day 2 of Memorial Day Weekend

Leading through the chicane at the Tenzing Crit

This crit was run on the same course as last year, out at the Collin County Community College’s Frisco campus. I got up early and drove south to Oak Cliff, to pick up my protege for the summer, Matt Martinez. We then drove up to the campus, where we set up our bikes, and I then watched Matt race the Cat 5 event. Matt rode pretty well, took some pulls, challenged for a prime or two, but when it came down to the finish, unfortunately, he developed a serious cramp in his calf, and ended up out of the running – 1-legging it for almost 500 meters.

It’s been fun working with Matt. He’s got this incredible spirit, and his passion for learning and racing, not to mention the fact that he’s lost at least 140 lbs, and he has one of the hottest bikes in the business. I also like his intimidation. It makes him real. He’s old enough to know the consequences of falls, and he knows that he’s not superhuman – unlike the kids that I coached on Team “Dazed and Confused” in Montana in the 90’s. Still, he knows that he has a lot to learn, so once again, it’s going to take a LOT of races, rallies, and practice to get things right. He still has a little ways to go on his weight, but his Power! Man! I can’t wait to get him on a Ptap or Quarq!

By the time my race came up, it was almost 11, and the heat and humidity were picking up. I warmed up starting around 10, and wore my ice vest, something I intend to do a lot more as the racing season progresses. The ice vest is placed in a cooler packed with ice, but you also add some water in there, so that the vest stays pliant and can move with your chest once you put it on. It delivers a great way to keep your core body temperature cooler, but also allows you to sweat and release heat through your head, while you warm up your legs. I refreshed the thing by unzipping it every 10 minutes or so, hopping off the bike, and then dunking it in the cooler, and then re-zipping it around my chest. Teammates Andy Kutach, Darwin Darr, and and Jason Butler were there as well, and we decided that, just like the day before, we’d try to send guys off the front, attack and counter-attack, and shoot for some primes.

There were two problems with this strategy. First, there were over 75 riders on the course. Second, the course was dead-pan flat and super-simple, with just two right hand 90 degree turns, and a simple chicane. All of this prevented breakaways, since it kept the speed high for the entire 60 minutes. There were a few breakaways of 2 to 4 riders, but they never got that far up the road, and I actively participated in both attempting several breaks, and reeling a few in.

Andy Kutach and I go for a Prime

On one effort which was early on, I launched what I felt was a wicked-fast acceleration to try and seize a prime and thus force a breakaway, but I also told Andy I was going for it, and he ended up following me perfectly, then coming around to take the prime. I tried to push him along, but it was obvious that no one was going to go with him or with us, and we both came back to the pack to rejoin the group.

I need to comment about Jason. He’s been a fantastic teammate, and he’s been a real calming influence on me in the races. He’s come up 3 times in the last month, to basically tell me to back off, and quit wasting energy. I love to go off the front, but let’s face it – it’s not a smart way to race. Exuberance is one thing… Tactics and strategy are another. Jason is one smart athlete, and though he didn’t have any top finishes this past weekend, I have to wonder if it would have been as successful had he not been there to guide me and the other Mirage racers through the entirety of the events.

We went through the entire race as a pack mostly, but on the last half-lap, the average speed was something like 38 miles per hour (it was downhill and free of any wind), and there were still over 50 riders in the group. Andy took 6th, and some other Mirage riders did well, but I finished out of the money, and out of the TXBRA points (another competition for some sort of bragging rights at the end of the season – I think I’m in 7th in the novice category). The best news was that it was another race under my belt, all the Mirage riders finished wheels down, and afterward, we all decided together that we were going to race for Andy, and try to deliver him to the State Championships.

Pack finish at Tenzing Crit

Matt and I packed everything up, got him home, and then I went home to get ready for an evening dinner at a friend’s house (more on that later). I think the other memorable note is that I got Matt a ride to Fort Worth on Monday for the State Crit Championships, with the help of a friend from another club.

Racing is hard, and crits are, honestly, really hard. But what I’m excited about is the fact that I’m actually FINISHING these competitions on the lead lap, and that the Mirage Cat 3’s are actually becoming players in the field. Furthermore, we’re bonding as friends. Each of us have our own strengths, but the common thread of desire, a willingness to sacrifice, good communication, and delegation of order and hierarchy on a per-race basis, really has me feeling that this group is special, and that we are acting as a TEAM. All we need is to maybe train more together (almost impossible in this day and age), and we might be able to actually cat UP together, or continue working together to push more white jerseys up to the front at the end.

WOW! 3rd place – In a crit, even!

Pro 1,2's sprint for the finish

I’ll post more information about it later, and I’m hoping there are a few photos to go with things, but Jason, Chase, Jordan and I rode a VERY smart race, as we attempted to go for the win in the Mirage Crit. The course is semi-technical, with one hairpin, but it CLIMBS, which is awesome, and the finish is at the top of the hill. Jason, Chase, Jordan and I each attacked several times, starting about 20 minutes in, and we all had some good gaps going, which forced everyone else to work on reeling us in. But in the final sweeper to the uphill climb at 400m, I was in the PERFECT position, and we gutted it out for the top positions. Unfortunately, I was on the verge of cramping both my calves, and that would have meant some serious carnage if they’d seized, so I stayed seated the whole time, and unfortunately, I think that’s what cost me a win. Still, it’s upgrade points, and it’s the result of some awesome teamwork and communication, so I’m incredibly grateful for the finish and those who helped me get there.

There were some funky stats for this 75 minute event. PNorm for the 75 was 299, a new record, yet the average was just 241, which meant that I actually was able to sit in and read the race better, and relax when it counted. I also cooked about 1084 Kilojoules, which is pretty significant, yet the race was so wobbly and tight, that I dared not take my hand off the bars to drink at all.

It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, and the breeze was actually kind of refreshing. Hopefully the photos turned out. Thanks to the officials, and to the promoters, especially Brad Weddell, who busted his bum getting the race pulled off. Chapeau, dude!

A new direction

After a lot of thought, and several failed attempts, I finally decided to put my money where my mouth was, and become a cycling commuter. Here’s a photo of my new rig, but the co-pilot had taken off for a quick pre-ride squirt.

How to get from here to there and back again.

The route that I take to the JCC is almost 7 miles exactly, and I’ve done the out & back twice thus far this week. I’m hauling the dog in the front basket, and two panniers on the side, complete with my laptop, ipod for classes, and a u-bar lock, which I haven’t needed thus far. The route takes me past Northpark Mall, via Boedeker, and while I was nervous about the way I would be received, thus far, over 28 miles, on and crossing several busy streets, I haven’t been honked at or hazed once.

The question is, WHY?

Well, let’s look at some things about the route, the bike, and my behavior.

First, the route. I am taking the Katy Trail up to it’s (current) northernmost edge, then bearing left on Airline to SMU boulevard.

Home to JCC and back

Once there, I travel through the University edge, where there are some great neighborhoods and mild traffic. Once I”m across Lover’s Lane, there are STOP signs every intersection, so that’s a good traffic control device. Once I get on to Boedeker at NW Highway, however, it’s a 4-lane road, with very few right-turn neighborhood entrances or exits. North of Walnut Hill, the road is absolute crap, but again, traffic has ways to pass me, since it’s as wide as a boulevard up that way. North of Royal, things continue to be well-spaced out, and my right-hand turn on Northaven is similarly wide. Here’s a map. I’ll try to shoot photos, but honestly, I’d rather focus on cycling and not dumping my dog in a tipover.

The bike is a Gary Fisher Simple City 8, with an internal hub for shifting. It has fenders, two fat tires with built-in reflectors, and a small self-centering spring on the front wheel. The bike with gear must weigh close to 40 lbs, and I’m extremely upright. As such, it’s certainly NOT a speedster. Instead, it’s a true cruiser-hauler, and while I’m sure there are people with more effective bikes for schlepping, this one was the right one for my needs, my budget, and my tastes. On the rear, I’ve placed one of my Dinotte 200 lumens Blinkies, which is daylight-viewable, and on the front, I’ve temporarily placed a Cateye to comply with the law. However, on my helmet is my front-blinking Dinotte, which will give retina burn to anyone who stares at it long enough. The front is amber, but I may switch to white so I can see when the evening light is darker.

I wear this headlight and helmet combo at all times, and I am always making sure that the batteries are freshly charged. My average speed thus far? 12-14 miles per hour. When I’m on the road, I act, and ride like a citizen. The bike is not terribly maneuverable, and it’s heavy, but it is stable enough that I can use my hand signals when and where appropriate. MOST importantly, I’m going out of my way to act like my fellow motorists. That means riding with intent, signalling in advance, being polite with others (I smile a TON), and putting both feet down when I get to intersections, and waiting my turn. There’s no darting and dodging, hot-dogging, or cutting through. It’s all steady cycling.

I also carry a cold water bottle for myself and the dog, and I keep my cell phone in a zippered pocket, though I never pull it out, even if it’s ringing.

I think this all adds up to sensible urban cycling, and I’m excited about sharing this and other rides with you as I go about mitigating my driving.

One other thing. I’ve been trying to figure out just how much money I’m saving, per-mile, by riding instead of driving. It’s been a little tough, but there are some calculators out there on the internet, and based on those, I’m going to use $.90 per mile. So that means, when you add up gas, tires, oil, taxes, insurance, and depreciation, that’s what it costs me to drive per mile on a regular basis. It may go up, it may go down, but I think it’s a decent number to start with, so I’m going to use it until I can research this some more.

The bike cost about $1000, give or take, so I’m going to ride to proverbially pay that off first, then I’ll start blogging lunch, dinner, extra money for travel, etc. I don’t expect to completely replace my car, but I do think I’ll be able to lower my miles in the second half of the year, and maybe go 2 weeks between fillups. Right now, I’m at $25 over two days, so we’ll see how long it takes to come back up to zero.

Wish me luck, and feel free to provide comments or suggestions as you see fit.

Stage 3 Joe Martin RR 2009

Blogging is difficult, to say the least. You have to keep at it, and honestly, I’m not great at that.

Stage 3 was a crit that went through the downtown area of Fayetteville, with a good hill leading up to the start/finish, some good twists and turns, and a bumpy descent where we hit 37 multiple times, and 41 once or twice. Chase wasn’t feeling right, so he went home early, but Jason and I waited until 4pm to get our final GC placings and shoot for a good result. Several riders had gone home, but there were still around 45 or so who started on the narrow streets.

I stayed near the front, but not too close, and really started to feel on my game around 15 minutes in to the 45 minute race. Jason was ahead of me for a good chunk of that time, but he ended up moving back after a couple of laps, and stayed back a ways, suffering from what turned out to be a mechanical with his wheels.

I took some pulls, especially on the hill to the finish line, and tried to launch maybe one attack that would take me away, but I was definitely being covered by several others. Then, about 20 minutes in, the kid that was first in GC, and another rider, got off the front, and everyone just watched them waltz away. I tried repeatedly to bring them back, and once we got within about 7 seconds or so away from them, but that little punky kid that I described earlier, a teammate of the GC winner, got in the front again and pulled some dangerous blocking maneuvers, like standing up and wobbling backwards. It got old, but it worked well enough for those two to win first and second, and take the overall GC. On the last lap, however, I really gunned it, and in the last 100m, I was first in the pack. But, you know what they say – First at the bottom, NOT first at the top! I ended up 9th on the day, and moved up to 16th in the overall. ONE SPOT out of the money, and ONE SPOT out of the points for upgrade. NUTS.

Still, it was actually a great weekend, and Jason and I had a fantastic time returning to Dallas, just chatting, catching up on things, and discussing strategies, youth, experiences, etc. It was fun.

Honestly, I think I’d actually like to go back again next year. I have a 10-minute barrier to break in that TT!!!!

Joe Martin Stage Race review, 2009

Hey gang,

It perpetually takes me a few days to comment about weekend events, and it was worse this week because Amy and I had a trip planned for L.A. this upcoming weekend, so that squeezed the available days for clients, marketing, etc. Now, however, I’m sitting in the airport at DFW, waiting on multiple flight delays due to weather, and we may not get out at all now. Amy’s not happy about it – we were looking forward to doing nothing today but resting up. Now, we’re tense and at the airport, watching CNN, which is perpetually annoying.

I was also waiting for some photos, but they seem to be pretty hard to find. Oh well. 

I continue to be impressed with this group of Cat 3 Mirage riders, and I think it’s creating a team bonding that will allow us all to grow and develop together. This past weekend, Jason Butler drove Chase McKinney and myself out to Fayetteville, AR, for the Joe Martin Stage Race, a 3-stage event that I hadn’t attempted in 5 years. Last time, I remembered an okay TT, a horrific crash in the final kilometer in stage 2, and getting pulled with 3 laps to go in the crit. It was kind of a wasted weekend. This time, I was determined to give it a better shot.

Looking at last year’s TT efforts, I modestly decided that I could ride about a 10:30 on this uphill, steep, stale air effort. I looked at all of my wattage data, including the information I had acquired 5 years ago, and decided that if I held between a 304 and a 318 for 10:30, it would put me smack-dab in the middle of the pack. It was also achievable and realistic, but it would set a PR for my wattage over that period of time.

Jason and Chase went before me, and when my turn came up, I was well-warmed up and prepared for the task. The air was thick, but cool, in the Devil’s Den State Park, and in the first .4 miles, I really tried to gain as many seconds as possible via the flat section, before getting in to an uphill rhythm. But the transition soon occurred, and I was left to finish the final 2 miles at a sustainable pace. Unfortunately, just like 5 years ago, I went out too hard, too early, and in the first mile, I was at roughly 327w for 5 minutes. I knew I couldn’t sustain that, so I actually gradually worked it down, holding between 300 and 310w for the final 5:30, to hit a 314w and finish in a 10:39. Jason finished in 10:30, and Chase, riding my backup bike, rode a 10:50. I honestly think that had I been able to pace myself better, and shoot for positive wattage splits over the minutes, that a 10:30 might have been possible. As it was, though, the freakin’ winning time was something like a 9:30. Good Lord. 

Still, I was satisfied with my PR peformance, both in time, and wattage, and I felt like maybe I could do something in the road race, even though we were definitely going to be riding for Jason.

We went back to the hotel, ate, napped, and got ready for our departure, which was late in the afternoon, around 3:30, even later. We watched some of the racing, and I got to say hello to Steve Tilford, a hero of mine from my mountain biking days, as well as Pat McCarty and Floyd Landis from team OUCH. OUCH had the GC, so they were a little preoccupied, but it was good to see Floyd. He looked good. Relaxed. Ready. 

Upon departure, Jason and I were quickly at or near the front, but the pace was REALLY SLOW. We picked up a little speed when we got to the start of the lap from the outbound leg, but the course was pretty narrow, and most of the riders just did not seem interested in getting a break going. We DID have one guy off the front, maybe 30 seconds at most, for a good chunk of the first lap, but my efforts to either bridge to him, or pull the group up to him, were fruitless. Jason kept telling me to come back to the pack a few riders and save my energy, and I would – for a while. But I inevitably found myself back at the front a few minutes later, and once or twice, I actually rolled off the front with one or two other guys, only to get swallowed again maybe a minute later. I was active over the entire first lap, trying desperately to get a break going, but it ended up to no avail, and honestly, I did burn too much juice in the effort.

Right about the beginning of the second lap, Chase showed up. He’d been on the back, sick from a spoiled gu pack he’d taken, and had been desperately swallowing water to try and dilute the gut bomb. It finally worked through him, and he came up, relaxed, refreshed, and ready to rumble. He immediately went to the front and did some work, but by then I was sort of spent. It wasn’t a bonk at all, but more of a lack of response to the hills or accelerations from the younger guys. I got sort-of dropped on a sharp short hill, rallied back on, but then got SERIOUSLY dropped on the longer climb up to what I’ll call the Plateau, midway through the course second lap. The pack just rolled away, and I was forced to rely on self-pacing for the remainder of the climb. 

At the top, I found a pack of 3, then we merged with 2 more, to make a group of 5, and we picked up or were picked up ourselves over the next 2 miles to create a pretty good paceline of about 12. We didn’t really think we could merge back with the pack, who were now 3 minutes or more ahead of us, but it didn’t stop us from wanting to try. 

Now, here’s where it gets a little interesting. This team, team “Mesa”, had the leader of the GC after the TT, and he was up the road with the leaders. I had at least two of them in this little pack of 12, and they were both juniors. I love juniors. I coached almost a dozen of them in the 90’s in Bozeman, MT, with Team “Dazed and Confused”. It’s always awesome to see them, learn from them, and perhaps help if it’s appropriate. But one of these kids was absolutely one of the most dangerous cyclists I’d come across in a pack in a LONG time. 

This kid and his buddy didn’t want us to catch back on, that much was obvious. But the way to go about it is by not doing any work, and instead, taking what I’ll call ‘fake pulls’, or ‘glass pedaling’. That way, you get pulled, but don’t do nearly as much work, and you sort of sabotoge the paceline effort. Well, this kid, who had a REALLY choppy stroke, and tended to ride with his upper body gyrating all the time, pulled up to second position, and then repeatedly stopped pedaling, and sat up, quickly drifting backward through the pack. It definitely worked the first time or two, but honestly, it was a very dangerous move. Everyone was on the rivet, pedaling fast, pedaling smooth, and expecting the other 11 riders to come through the paceline when their turn came up. But this kid was actively blocking by ‘almost-braking’, and several times, riders almost hit the kid, which would’ve caused a wreck. I told the kid repeatedly to just come through and then come over, without doing any work, OR, alternatively, to just stay on the back and let us pull him and his teammate back to the pack (which was actually drawing nearer – we could see the trail vehicles). But he continually pulled up next to me and then quit. One time he even stood up, which is a BIG no no when you’re traveling at speed. FINALLY, his teammate convinced him to sit on the back. We caught the pack roughly 2/3 of the way through the lap, got back in the middle, and I sat in for a bit to recover from the bridging effort. 

After assessing the situation, I learned that there were two riders off the front, again by about 30 seconds, and that no one was doing anything about it. Time was of the essense, though, and I wasn’t done yet. I went back to the front and this time, I started pulling. I launched 4 to 5 separate attacks, each one countered by another team or two, and while the attacks didn’t break up the pack, they did serve to bring us closer. We finally caught the kids in the last four miles, and once again, I launched several more attacks to try and either break it up, or get away myself. 

Nothing worked. 

With about 2k to go, we were cruising along at roughly 17mph, and I just knew there was going to be a wreck in the final kilometer. I had been the only one to really communicate with everyone in the pack, so I announced that if the group would let me through, I’d do everything I could in the last kilometer to stretch it out and avoid the obvious. They let me through, and for about 500m, everything looked like smooth sailing, but at about 600m, WAYYYYY too early, I got swarmed by some sprinters, and at 500m, some dingdong decided to freakin’ WIGGLE his bike as he sprinted, and it threw everyone else in to all directions EXCEPT forward, this at the exact moment on the course where the barrels started squeezing everyone in to a tighter space slightly. It was a recipe for disaster, and I heard a tire explode, then the ubiquitous sound of derailleurs and skewers scraping pavement, and the accompanying thuds of bodies hitting the tarmac, LOTS of colorful metaphors, and the proverbial yard sale of bikes, kit, and kids looking around to see what was happening instead of paying attention to the road or the race. I saw Chase bunny-hop a bike that was skittering like a chainsaw blade from left to right, but by the time we regrouped, the top 7 were already across the line, and we were sprinting for the teens and 20’s. We all 3 came in within 3 or 4 places of each other, and lost 11 seconds due to the gap. I later protested that, but to no avail. Six kids ended up going to the hospital. I don’t know how they fared. I moved ‘up’ from 29th to something like 23rd, but it was a hollow victory, since I KNOW I could have done better in that race. 

Food for thought: I am loving the races this year, but I’m absolutely despising the Finishes. Why can’t the 3’s ride like teams? Why can’t the 3’s finish a race without a crash and the accompanying agony that goes with it? CRAP!

I’m going to post this now, and edit it later with Stage 3’s crit, because the battery on the tablet is running low, and I need to leave for lunch, since we’re delayed yet again. It’s times like this when I wish I had money, so I could charter a plane. ugh. 

 

More later.