Hell's Kitchen and Heaven in the RV

Sunday, March 18th was a great day to be alive and an even better day to race a bike. The previous day JD McCay, Evan East, and yours truly loaded up the RV in Little Rock and headed north to the Hogeye area which is just south of Fayetteville, Ar. The area is a well known and often used venue for hosting bike races not only because of the rural roads, but also because of the incredibly hilly and challenging terrain.

Moments before entering "Hell's Kitchen"

We arrived at the small church in Hogeye that has been used for registration for at least the last ten years for the Hell's Kitchen event. This race is always well attended and is an excellent gauge of one's early season fitness. We were able to pull the 40' Tiffin Allegro Bus right up into the gravel parking lot of the church which would be the scene of organized chaos that is the two hours before all bike races. JD and I had already done our leg openers Saturday morning but Evan had not yet ridden so he took off on his bike to reconnoiter the critical parts of the course where we had told him the smack would go down. JD and I went about the process of setting up camp, if you can call it that. First the jacks go down to level the bus, then the four slides go out turning the bus into what seems like a double wide, then the awning rolls out over the "patio" where we place a 15' X 15' sheet of astro turf, then the outdoor chairs and table. This basically completes the setup which makes for a very comfortable "camp". By the time Evan returned from his ride JD and I had whipped up a batch of Ground Elk Meat spaghetti which I am convinced makes you ride faster! After an awesome meal we cleaned up and settled in for an evening of watching old bike races on some new DVD's on the Flat Screen that occupies a large portion of the front of the bus. Knowing that Fabian was going to win the 2010 version of the Tour of Flanders I decided to turn in early.

The next morning dawned cool but far from cold. The race organizers were already scurrying about placing cones and setting up registration tables etc... After an espresso and a Jimmy Deans Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit, we began to get ready to race. Being the first one's there we registered early and got our numbers pinned on, always a critical part of preparation! A floppy, flapping number is not desired and frankly the first indication that someone is doing their first race ever. During our ritualistic race preparation the parking lot slowly began to fill up and our Teammates started arriving en masse. I think our team, OKC Velo, had twelve participants which I would speculate was more than any other single team. We decided to divide and conquer so four of the guys did the Cat 3 race and the rest of us raced the Masters 40+ and Masters 50+ race which all started together. Evan was racing in the Cat 4 race flying the CARVE colors.

The Masters race finally started and we rolled out to begin the three lap circuit which would total 52 miles and three times up the 1.3 mile long climb that gives the race its name. As the neutral start vehicle sped ahead after getting onto the race course Janne Hamillian immediately put in a hard, vicious attack literally from the gun. Janne is a well known strong man and has a National Championship jersey in his closet from winning the Masters Nationals Road Race a few years ago. He has been on the podium at Nationals multiple times so is regarded as a threat in any Masters Race in which he participates. He also still holds the 1500 meter track and field record at the University of Tulsa (distance and school name might even be correct?) where he was recruited from overseas.

 When Janne put in his attack I was at the back of the group but immediately recognized the danger. Janne took about four other guys with him but he was driving the pace. I started making my way towards the front but it took me a little time to navigate through the traffic. When I finally got to the front I saw another rider trying to bridge to the leaders about 100 meters off the front. I accelerated hard with the goal of reaching the guy stuck in the middle. When I made it up to him he was already getting close to the break and the field had still not reacted. Once we joined the break I was happy to see one of my teammates, Frank Jackovich, had made the selection and we both just rolled through trying to figure out how to play it. Janne and two others were really drilling it and we were definitely putting time into the rest of the field. Two Tyson riders had made the break but were sitting on doing no work. Not long after the break was established I heard a yell from behind and recognized it to be a fellow Pirate (our team logo). Frank and I went to the back hoping the teammate could bridge with us sitting on but he was unable to do so. Once we knew the break was established and no other teammates could bridge the gap Frank and I began helping Janne establish a winning gap to the field.

As we neared the climb we all knew this group of seven would be whittled down after the first time up. We all hoped that both of the Tyson guys would come off as they were still not contributing to the break. At the top, a $50 Schwag Bag from Cliff Bar was on offer. Frank was leading the way with Janne behind and then me. Everyone else was gone. Once we got within 50 yards from the top I put in a little more effort to take the Schwag which I would later share with my teammate for his efforts. Once we hit the flats we were rewarded with about a 20 MPH tailwind. We could see two guys behind us trying to bridge and one of them was a Tyson rider. We decided to stay away as we did not want the dead weight of the Tyson rider with us. They stayed within sight until we took a left into the crosswind section and then noticed the Tyson rider had been dropped so we decided to sit up and let the other guy on so he could help with the work in the upcoming headwind section before the climb. The guy got on and after a short recovery he began contributing to the pace.

When we hit the climb the second time we decided to ride tempo so as not to drop our fourth man. As we went over the top he got a flat so we put our heads down for what was the final lap. To Janne's credit, he never skipped a pull as most people would have when racing against two teammates. We decided to work together and the best man would win the final time up the climb. At that point I was certain that it would not be me. As a matter of fact, I felt like I would probably be 3rd out of this small group as both Frank and Janne weigh 135 lbs. each and are both regarded as excellent climbers. As we got onto the climb I was happy that Janne was going fairly easy on the lower slopes. He was riding a steady pace which was right at 350 watts according to a subsequent review of my power file. As we hit the steep sections about half way up he turned up the pressure to 500 watts. I was under some pressure but was still on his wheel and felt I could hold the pace to the top where I was confident I could come around him. Not long after the steep part began Frank came off much to my dismay. As we neared the top I was still at 500 watts but still felt I could hold the pace to 50 meters to go. Janne is not only a very strong rider but a smart one as well. He told me later he knew if he did not drop me before the 200 meter cones that I would win. At about 300 meters to go and on the steepest part of the climb he upped the ante one more time and I was having to put out 590 watts to stay on his wheel. By now I was way into the red zone and way beyond what I could hold for vey long. I popped off right at 200 to go and Janne went on to take 1st Place and I took 2nd with Frank getting 3rd. We finished almost ten minutes ahead of the next group and Frank and I were both pleased with the results considering who beat us. We also had three or four other teammates finish in the money so it was a good day for OKC Velo.

While I was recovering from my efforts at the finish line I was anxious to know how my son, Evan (15) was fairing in the Cat 4 race. I had no idea if he had been dropped on the first climb, gotten a flat or what. After the last of the Masters racers had finished we were all looking down the hill to see which Cat 4 racers would appear first from around the corner. Finally, a tall kid came churning up the hill on his way to an impressive victory. Evan had targeted this race as an "A" race and I was just praying that he would at least be in the main field to finish in the top ten. So, I was ecstatic to see him come around the corner next with his mouth open and jersey unzipped. He was way in the clear as 3rd place was nowhere in sight. He came across the line to take 2nd place and I was so proud at that moment that it was all I could do not to tackle him. He was mobbed by his teammates as they came acres the line and he received the kind of accolades you might expect a 15 year old to get that had just beaten 50 or so grown men in a damn hard race. I have long dreamed of a day like that to share with my son and it happened. I am still shaking my head.

As the winner of the 40+ race (Janne is 50!) I received an engraved devils pitch fork (from Home Depot) for my efforts. After getting my pitchfork and collecting our prize money we began the 8 mile ride back to the RV whereupon I learned from JD what had happened in the Cat 3 race in which he had participated. John Lasorsa had taken 3rd but JD had one of those days that happen to all of us at least once per season where he just felt awful. JD has a great attitude and like any strong competitor he is just that much more motivated for the next race. We got back to the RV and while packing up to leave countless people came by to offer their congratulations to Evan and me. What a race, but more importantly, what a day in our life to be treasured and remembered forever! Thanks for reading.