Winona Lake, IN – Sat. May 2, 2009 – Conditions: Mostly sunny, mid-60’s, steady SW wind about 15 mph. Great day to race. Course: 8.8-mile rural L-shaped loop, with a few gentle rollers, but mostly flat. Cat. 3’s did 5 laps (~44 miles).
Let me start by saying this is quickly becoming one of my favorite races. I placed 3rd here last year, thanks to 25+ mph winds that caused major attrition in the peloton.
This year Leadout lined up with the same Cat. 3 roster as last year: Peter, Lupe, and I. The conditions were much calmer and a bit warmer, but wind would still play a factor.
The first lap was fairly slow and uneventful. Got to stretch the legs nicely thanks to a few hard tempo efforts by some other racers. Lap 2 – we start heading south into the cross/headwind as I occupy my usual spot at the back of the field (try it sometime – it’s fun). All of a sudden – uh oh - I notice there are about 6 guys lined up in front of me who have let a 50-meter gap open up to the rest of the field. There’s the danger of tailgunning I suppose.
We start chasing hard – but some guys are pretty gassed and burn all their matches. I don’t see most of them again. The gap opens to nearly 200 meters (which might as well be 200 miles into a headwind), and it’s down to me and one other guy to chase back on. I pull around him and quickly realize he’s not on my wheel. Time to close the gap on my own.
I get a slight reprieve as the pack bunches around a corner, but I have to coast a couple seconds myself, as the road rises around the corner. Up the rise, I think I might be finished…20…21 mph…but a few hundred meters later, I see the telltale sign of a slowing field…racers bunched up across the road. Now I can taste the carrot…22…23…24 mph. I finally get myself back into the field. A minute or two later I hear one of those other gappers wheeze back up to me, but he doesn’t last too much longer in this race – still about 30 miles to go.
Skip ahead a little – 3 guys roll off the front – lap 4 I believe – there is some combination of teamwork in the pack, plus a lack of motivation to organize a chase. Those 3 will take the podium.
Last lap – about 2 miles to go – one of the Purdue kids who races collegiate A’s (must be sandbagging in the 3’s!) rolls off the front right where I thought I might make a move.
Less than a mile to go – we have a slight decline, then a narrow right turn at about 250-300 meters before the finish, and uphill to the line. Down this decline – we’re going SLOW – maybe 24 mph with a tailwind. I’m on the outside of the pack – the thought crosses my mind to make a move up the outside, except this is going to violate the centerline rule.
After nearly getting dropped 2-3 times throughout the race riding the centerline rather than the echelon in the LEFT gutter, I decided that abiding that rule was not all that important. So I power to the front – not even an attack – just roll up to the front – pushing pretty hard, but still seated. At the front, I hit it. No one follows.
I am pretty surprised that I get a huge gap in a hurry. I think I hit that magical point where everyone was resigned to a field sprint and nobody wanted to waste an effort chasing another attack. So I go around the last corner nice and easy – and solo. The Purdue kid is in my sights, but I’m a little too concerned with the pack winding it up after the corner, so I conserve just enough energy to roll through the finish a couple bike lengths ahead of the field.
With me soloing for 5th, Peter winning the field sprint for 6th, and Lupe sprinting for 9th despite being boxed in, it was a pretty successful race for Leadout.
I feel like I also had some extra motivation from my family, since my parents and brother had driven down to watch, and my cousin who lives in Winona Lake was there with his kids. I was really proud to finish well in front of them.
I was also excited to figure out during the race that my recent circulation problems in my leg were not likely internal, but caused by the new saddle I put on recently. That would prove to be a huge difference the next day at Cone-Azalia. Report to follow.
