We have been staying at the dorms at Denison University for the last
couple of days, so it was very nice that stage 5 started and ended
right here on campus. The campus has some wicked steep hills that they
had us do a circuit race on after we did a loop out in the country.
The circuit was 7 laps up two different cobble climbs (both 10-12%)
and then a quick descent and a few nice corners.
I was well rested by the time we left the dorm and headed down to do a
little warmup. There were tons of people out here in the downtown area
to watch the start as well as a cat 4/5 crit that they were going to
run while we were out in the country. The pace was fast right from the
gun and it was quickly strung out in one long line. After the whole
peloton missed a turn and had to turn around and go back to the right
road, we hit a brutal cross/headwind. Everyone was focusing on trying
to stay in the draft and were not really looking ahead. The guy in
front of me (one of the most squirrely riders of the whole group)
plowed right into this big pothole, and since I was trying to make the
best of his draft I ran into it as well. About 30 seconds later I hear
the horrible “pssss” of my tire going flat. Based on the track record
during the week of people falling off the back and not being able to
chase back on I was all but punching my ticket to ride in the sag
wagon. When the neutral support car rolled up he came very quickly
with a new wheel, but decided to grab the one without a skewer. He ran
back to the car and got a new one and put it on, all the while I’m
watching the peloton strung out single file getting further and
further away. I hopped onto the bike and sprinted up to speed, luckily
I hadn’t cooled down too much so it wasn’t a huge shock. I tried to
keep my HR under threshold so I wouldn’t immediately blow up. After
about two minutes the mechanic came up and got in front of me and gave
me a really good draft. I was able to hold between 40-45mph behind him
for about a minute before I had to pass the traffic backed up behind
the peloton. I then hopped from car to car (in hindsight probably not
the safest thing to do…) until I got to the caravan of team cars.
Being able to actually see the group at this point was a great relief,
but I still had a little ways to go. All in all it took me 8.5 minutes
to get back onto the group from the flat. During that time I averaged
almost 32mph, so needless to say I was pretty shredded by the time I
got back on. I must have pissed off the cycling gods though because
right when I got to the back of the group I see the “1.5 miles to KOM”
spray painted on the ground. The pace was ridiculous up the climb, but
I was just able to hold onto the group. After some much needed time in
the back we came into the circuits at a lightning pace. I knew with
the climbs ahead, and the 7 laps that I needed to conserve somewhat so
I just rode my own tempo. Sean and I worked together for the next 7
laps and picked off a bunch of people by the finish. We rode in
together for a finish somewhere in the mid teens.
