Racing Rapides Stage Race

Should I participate in life this weekend or just sit on the couch? I don't think I have ever even had to think about the answer to that question because I have never ask it! I have a feeling that 99% of those reading this blog are the same. So, Evan and I, along with Kris French and JD McCay loaded up the RV again with eight bikes and headed down to Rapides Parish in Alexandria, Louisiana for a three stage race. Kris, Evan, and I would be competing in the Category 1,2,3 race and JD would compete in the Masters 40+ race.

The road race was at 8:00 Saturday morning and would be a 75 mile gallop through the rolling hills of central Louisiana. I rode what turned out to be a stupid race in that I was literally in every breakaway attempt but maybe two or three. I expended way to much energy for naught and paid for it at the end of the race where the sprint was up about a 500 meter hill. I ended up 5th but at least was in a small group of only ten or so riders that had made the split when the race tore apart about ten miles from the finish up a really long grinder. The great news was that Evan had made the split and finished in the top ten of his first 1,2,3 race! Our average speed was exactly 25 MPH so the race was far from easy on such a rolling course. Whereas I rode a stupid race, Evan rode the perfect race always staying at the front but rarely sticking his nose in the wind. I was very proud of the boy and the decisions he made in the heat of battle. Kris also rode a good race and ended up 4th.

Right after our finish I heard an official say the Masters racers were only 1 K out. Evan and I and Kris went to the finish to watch as JD launched his sprint early at 600 meters. He held it all the way to the line for his first road race win of the season against some of the strongest Master's racers in the south. So far, it had been an awesome day with more to come that afternoon in the time trial.

The TT was three miles long but mostly up hill. JD would be first off and he posted a time good enough for 3rd place in the Masters race. Evan started about 30 minutes later and I started only 30 seconds after him. I told Evan right before his start to not let me catch him! He managed to hold me off and finished about 10 seconds before me for a time of 7:20 while I rode a 7:00 flat. I continue to be amazed at how much power Evan is able to generate from his relatively slight 15 year old frame. He evidently derives the majority of his power from his cardiovascular system, and as he matures and puts on additional muscle mass, his power numbers should increase dramatically. Several of the Cat 1's and 2's were complimenting Evan on his road race and I think that must have motivated him for his TT! Kris rode a storming TT with a time of 6:41 which put him in 2nd place in the overall with only the crit left to race the following day.

Sunday morning JD lined up determined to hold on to his 2nd Place in the GC, or overall. Unfortunately, the guy in third was a little faster sprinter and was able to gain time by winning a "hot spot" where time bonuses are awarded to the first three guys across the line about halfway through the race. JD lost his 2nd place but held on to the podium spot for a well earned 3rd Place against strong riders.

The 1,2,3 race started off fast and stayed that way. Herring Gas had the most riders with 7 or 8 and thus controlled the race. They were determined to unseat the guy in 1st Place GC, a very strong racer out of Texas named Russ Walker. The attacks were fast and furious with Russ having the responsibility of having to chase everything by himself. I sat on for the first 15 minutes of the race but after one particularly long chase by Russ to bring back yet another break, I attacked him with all I had. As I accelerated away I saw that there were only two other riders trying to come with me and Russ was not one of them. I felt it was the perfect scenario and would allow Kris to sit on Russ's wheel as he would be forced to chase again. After my initial attack I took two more hard pulls trying to establish the gap. After two laps, the incredibly strong Russ Walker came across the gap bringing three other riders with him. Unfortunately, Kris was not one of them. At that point I sat on the break hoping Kris would come across either solo or with one or two other riders. The riders driving the break were making that possibility more difficult with every lap as we quickly put time on the field.

About 25 minutes into the race the officials rang the bell for the "hot spot". There were 6,4,and 2 seconds on offer for the first three to cross the line and I was intent on getting some of that precious time. One of the Herring Gas riders was leading out his teammate for the sprint and we had a drag race to the line. I won the "hot spot" by a tire width. Now I knew who to watch in the sprint for the race win and hoped his teammate would lead him out again for a similar result! As the race neared the end there were a few attacks with three, then two laps to go, all of which were covered. With one lap to go one of the Herring Gas riders blasted off in a full sprint and I jumped for his wheel. Once I caught on he sat up but continued with a pace high enough to discourage further attacks, sacrificing for his teammate, which was also perfect for me. As we neared the last corner I jumped with everything I had to hit the corner with serious speed. As the finish straight was over 300 meters long into a headwind everyone else elected to try to ride wheels and have some kick left at the end. That decision allowed me to have a 30 meter gap all the way down the straightaway and to take the win with even a small time gap to 2nd place. The combination of the 6 second Hot Spot, the 10 second time bonus for the win, and whatever time gap I was given, moved me from 8th place to 3rd place in the GC. I was happy to have the win, but my elation was dampened with the knowledge that Kris had lost his second place. 3rd place on the podium is not as desirable as 2nd place on the podium, even when combined with a stage win. Tactics in any given race are always hard, sometimes impossible to dictate. The ideal scenario would have been for my attack to cause Russ Walker to have to chase so hard that Kris could sit on and jump around him to bridge to the break by himself and move to 1st Place in GC. Kris is a super strong rider and that kind of effort is well within his abilities. As it turns out, both 2nd Place GC and 3rd Place GC missed the break, so there was a significant reshuffling at the top of the overall finish order. I was disappointed with the result, but short of dropping out of the break and going back to the field there were really no good options other than to try and make the best of the situation by moving as far up in GC as possible.

After I crossed the finish I quickly came back to watch Evan and Kris finish. I saw Kris finish strong but I did not see Evan. I rode over to the medical tent and saw him sitting in a chair receiving treatment for some severe road rash. As a parent, whenever you see your child hurt it evokes an emotion that is so primal that it is really indescribable. I wanted to exchange places with him and have all the pain transfer miraculously into my body. I wanted to pick him up and hold him like a little boy a blow on his boo boo and make it all better but I was powerless. The elation I felt with the win vanished immediately and I realized more quickly than usual, how fleeting those feelings are, and how unimportant they are relative to things like the health of your children.

A little room to spare in Alexandria

We got Evan back to the RV and got him in the shower to clean out his wounds. The sounds coming from that bathroom I do not want to hear again any time soon, especially from any of my off spring. JD proceeded to expertly dress his wounds with the kit we keep on the RV for such unfortunate occasions. Once he got bandaged up he settled in for the trip home and endured his pain like a man. JD commented that Evan has now officially completed his right of passage into the sport and in a way it's true. Crashes are simply a part of our sport and a risk we all take when we roll up to the start line. Evan had not ever had a crash and while I knew it was inevitable, it was still very hard to watch him have to endure the pain. I'm glad he got his first one behind him without any serious injury, but I know in time, we will all crash again! Thanks for reading.

Just Short of the "Hat Trick" at Tour De Grove

There is something about being fit that creates an intense desire to race! After a long winter spent training, and then a Spring filled with races with varying degrees of success, I have finally reached what I feel like might be a peak level of fitness. When you happen to stumble upon your peak level, you just want to race because of all the work that was put into attaining your top physical potential. It's really not surprising to me that I am going relatively well at this point in the year. I have always raced well in May and June, and then started the inevitable decline as the weather heats up and the races are fewer and further between. So, I guess it is time to make hay while the sun is shining, so to speak. That said, I packed my bags last Friday, May 11th and headed to Saint Louis for the Tour De Grove.

I would be racing three different criteriums on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I had decided to drive up because three of my teammates would be there that would be driving from to Saint Louis from Kansas. Evan wisely decided to skip this weekend as he had been racing almost every weekend for the last two months. He needed a break and I was glad to see him exercise discretion and get some rest. JD McCay had also made other plans that involved a women and a small cabin in the woods near the Buffalo River, so he could not be persuaded to even consider changing his plans. Kris French was in a state of flux with regard to his form so I would be driving up solo. I actually welcomed the solitude of the 5 1/2 hour drive and arrived in Saint Louis at 2:00 with the race starting at 4:15.

The Friday night race would take place on a traditional four corner crit course with a long straightaway throughout the start/finish area but very rough pavement on the backside of the course. For some reason I had more butterflies than normal prior to the start of the race. I think it had to do with the fact that this was obviously a well promoted event with a large, quality field. As the race began we all started the process of figuring out the best lines through the corners and sizing up who would be a factor versus who would be "pack fill". There were several attacks that all came back very quickly. When the announcer rang the bell for a $50.00 cash prime (winner of the next lap gets the money), I maneuvered for position intent on sprinting for the cash. As we came around the last corner with 200 meters to go I accelerated and was surprised to have a large gap which allowed me to be able to sit up and cross the line first without having to expend to much energy. I was hoping that winning the prime was a harbinger of things to come and that a race win would come as easily. After the prime there was an attack from a member of the largest team, Big Shark. The guy got a nice gap quickly and then extended it over the next couple of laps until he had about 15 or 20 seconds. My teammate Bruce Tanner went to the front to bring back the escapee and began to cut into the lead. After sitting on the front for two full laps, my other teammate, Jay Hawkins took over and brought the Big Shark rider back. I never had to work and felt lucky to have teammates willing to work for a team win. With one lap to go a very strong rider from Florida went to the front to lead out his teammate. I was third wheel and liking my position. As we came out of the last corner the Florida Velo rider in front of me accelerated very hard. I really had to dig deep to hold his wheel and was only able to come around him for the win in the last 50 meters. During the warm down lap I spoke to my new friend, Pablo Santa Cruz. A very fast ex professional soccer player, and ex professional indy car driver that now feeds his competitive drive through racing bikes. Pablo is really quite the character and would be a factor in every race.

Saturday morning's race was at a new venue in an area called "The Grove". This course was non traditional in that it was about two miles long with several left and right corners. The first corner would be a factor in the race in that it was less than 90 degrees with a decreasing radius that was very difficult to take with any speed. Saturday's race was the "headliner" for the weekend and as such had the most prize money on offer. While most of us don't race for the money, it is nice to at least cover your cost for the weekend if possible! Once the race began I settled in and just rode wheels for the first several laps as half hearted attacks were all brought back. When the announcer rang the bell for another $50.00 prime, I once again maneuvered for position, which would prove difficult to maintain over the two mile long lap. As we came around the last corner I was on the wheel of a small guy with a blond surfer hair do and was ready to light him up for the money! When he jumped I tried to match his acceleration but quickly realized that I simply could not. I sat up to conserve energy and watched him easily take the prime. "Uh oh", I thought to myself, this guy is gonna smoke me today.

Shortly after the prime lap there was a flurry of attacks as the race got very hard and fast. At one point I was in a break with the small, surfer dude, Pablo's teammate, and a Big Shark rider. I thought the break had a really good chance of staying away so I did extra work to try and make it stick. All but the surfer dude were contributing but the pack was chasing hard and ultimately brought us back. With one lap to go, I had to really expend a lot of energy to move to the front. As we went into turn one a guy rolled his tire right off the rim causing a massive pile up. Pablo and his teammate were up front and upon hearing the carnage they attacked hard. I literally had to sprint to get back on terms after getting slowed by the crash that had unfortunately taken out both of my teammates, but also took out speedy surfer dude. Once I reached the front group I rode right to the front and took Pablo's wheel again. He was getting another lead out from Mark, his teammate and I liked my position. As the last corner was a very wide 180 degree turn that you could take with speed I attacked with a wide open sprint about 200 meters before the last corner taking everyone by surprise. I was able to fly through the last corner, open my sprint back up with 150 meters to go, and take the win by several bike lengths. It was a risky move, but I did not know the surfer dude had crashed and felt I needed to make the sprint long and hard knowing he had a better jump. By the way, I later found out that the little surfer dude was Jamie Carney, a World Champion on the track and multiple time National Champion, not to mention his many years spent as a professional bike racer. More about Jamie later!

After the race on Saturday while waiting on the podium ceremony, I spoke with Pablo. He had missed the podium but his teammate Mark, had gotten third. We hit it off immediately and I was reminded of some of the other reasons I love this sport, and one of those reasons are the people you meet that are involved in it. I have met some very interesting people over the years and have been amazed at how many common threads there are between those of us that race bikes at this level, and specifically, those of us over 40 that are still doing it. Pablo and I agreed to meet back at the race course to watch the pro race later that afternoon and then have dinner together with all of our respective teammates, which we did. We had a wonderful meal together and made what will probably be a lasting friendship.

On Sunday morning we arrived at yet another venue in what is known as the Dutchtown area. The course was a little longer that a normal crit but had some elevation change which would make the race a little harder and make a break away more likely. As we warmed up before the race the pre race buzz was that Jamie Carney would be racing with us. When someone pointed him out to me I realized it was the little surfer dude from Saturday and then things began to make sense in terms of why a 44 year old Master's racer was able to make me feel like a small child when we went for the $50.00 prime the day before.

 When the race started Jamie attacked into the very first corner with a one guy going after him. I instinctively jumped for the wheel of the guy trying to bridge to Jamie and just that quickly, we had a small gap on the field. As we came around to the start/finish straight which was a long uphill drag to the line that got increasingly steeper, I put in a very hard pull that was really just a sprint up the long hill. Unfortunately, the third rider came off after the pull and I asked Jamie if we should wait on him. Jamie shook his head "no" and put his head down to try and pry open the gap to the field. The field was chasing frantically as they knew who Jamie Carney was and I assume they were aware I had won the last two races. Jamie and I quickly established who would pull on the various parts of the course and we settled into time trial mode. For the first five laps I was literally sprinting the entire start/finish straight and then Jamie would let me recover for next 400 meters or so before I would take the next pull. The guy was smooth as silk and taught me a thing or two in that break that you would think I would have learned in 25 years of racing bikes. We switched leads in the corners where the guy in back would take the inside line and the front guy could just swing off then right back on the wheel for a super smooth, fast transition. We were flying! The field kept the gap at 15 to 20 seconds for the first 10 laps with Florida Velo and Big Shark doing the majority of the work chasing. Normally the field will reach the point where they will sit up once they realize a break is going to stick. These guys chased for much longer than normal but we finally managed to break the elastic and opened the gap to 45 seconds.

As we counted down from 3 laps to go I was wracking my brain on how I might be able to beat this wily veteran. With a half lap to go Jamie looked at me and smiled and said "well, the only thing left now is a sprint", to which I replied, "yeah, and I think we both know how that's gonna end"! With two corners to go, about 400 meters from the line, I was behind Jamie and jumped as hard as I could into the corner, with the goal of going into the corner with more speed, in order to gap him coming out. The idea is that if you hit the corner with more speed there is nothing the guy can do as you flow through the corner because he cannot pedal through the corner at such high speed. Well, the first part of my plan worked and I hit the next corner with about 12-15 meters on him. As we came out of the last corner with the long drag to the line, I looked through my legs to see him slowly making up ground. At that speed the draft extends back as far as 10 meters and once he got in my draft it was game over. He came around me on the steepest part of the hill and took the win. The good news is that I had not made any mistakes, I had no regrets, I had simply gotten beat by a faster guy.

As we took a warm down lap I spoke with Jamie about his accomplishments on the track and he informed me that he had recently won the World Championship in the Scratch Race (basically a crit race in a velodrome) on the track. I clarified that he did not win the Master's World Championship, but rather he had won the UCI Worlds against the fastest sprinters on the planet at age 44! He is the oldest guy to ever win a UCI World Championship in any event on the track. What an inspiration to know that old guys can still compete at the highest level! I had a new found respect for the little surfer dude. I googled him when I got home and his list of accomplishments as a cyclist was a few pages long. It was really fun to race with a guy with his experience and it certainly made it more tolerable that he had foiled my attempt at a "Hat Trick" of winning all three races that weekend. I would put the weekend up into the top three I have ever had as a cyclist, not just because of my placings, but also because of the quality of the events themselves, and certainly the quality of the riders in the field. And, I beat Jamie Carney in a crit!!!! (shhhh, don't tell anybody it's because he crashed :-) Thanks for reading.

The Junior Cycling Scene in Central Arkansas

This post would fall under "other stuff" with regard to the title of my blog. So while race reports seem to roll off my tongue with ease as I simply replay the race in my head, "other stuff" may not come so easily so bear with me. The junior cycling scene here in Central Arkansas has exploded. Whereas, ten years ago there were only two or three kids under the age of 17 racing bikes, there are now no less than twelve or thirteen juniors that are out there riding their bikes on a regular basis. Why is this exciting for an "old head", washed up bike racer like me? Well, for starters, its just awesome seeing these young guns out having fun doing something that is healthy and that generally has a positive influence on their young lives. Cycling can take up a lot of time in one's life that might otherwise be spent being idle. Idle teeneagers are prone to get bored, bored teenageers try to find something to do, and without sounding like the Comcast commercials that end with the mantra "don't end up in a roadside ditch", you get the picture. Cycling keeps these kids out of trouble and immersed in a healthy lifestyle that will serve them well their entire lives.

Another reason this phenomenon has me excited is that it will result in a sharp increase in the number and quality of bike racers coming out of our state. I saw first hand a significant decrease in the pool of talent from the mid 90's through as late as 2010. When I was racing for the Walmart elite team in 1996 we had twelve Cat 1 and 2 racers all of whom hailed from Arkansas and all but me were under 30 years old (I was 32). Beginning in the early 2000's there were very few active racers that held a Cat 2 license, and fewer still that held a Cat 1 license. That situation got progreesively worse until the only cyclist holding a Cat 1 or Cat 2 license in Arkansas were over the age of 40, with no new blood replacing the old ranks. Included in this latest crop of junior racers are several that are already Cat 3's and should easily have their Cat 2 licenses prior to turning 19 years old. I firmly believe we have a few guys that will become Cat 1's prior to reaching their 20's. This is in stark contrast to what we have seen for the last 15 years where there were no new Cat 1 licenses being issued in our state at all, and only a handful of Cat 2 licenses. These statistics speak volumes about the overall health of competitive cycling in Arkansas. I see the tide turning back to the days of having as many as twelve Cat 1 and 2 bike racers, all under the age of 30, racing here in our state. I have always believed in a "trickle down effect", whereby, up and coming cyclist are motivated by their stronger peers. When a beginning cyclist can go to a race and watch their friend, who happens to be a Cat 1 or 2 racer, competing in the Pro 1,2 category at a local race, it tends to inspire those just starting out to reach for new heights with the attitude of "if he or she can do it, I can do it"! That phenomenon is extremely healthy for the sport as it increases the quantity and quality of competive cycling in our state.

One of the reasons for this recent resurgence in the popularity of the sport for juniors has a lot to do with several High Schools in Central Arkansas that are participating in the Texas High School Cycling League. A local veteranarian, Renee Lavergne, is responsible for having recruited most of the kids involved, including his son Zack, who recently won the overall championship. He has donated both money and time to ensure that these kids could get to the races (all in Texas), and to ensure that they all had access to the equipment needed to be successful. While some of the kids would have gotten involved in the sport without this avenue, most would not have. I believe that Renee's dedication to this effort is the single biggest contributing factor to the dramatic increase in the popularity of the sport for juniors, which in turn will ultimately result in the increased popularity of the sport in general. The more cyclist out there riding and racing means more people advocating for the rights of cyclist, as well as for our safety. So, if you see Renee, please tell him thank you for doing his part! Thanks for reading.