I had my whole family in Lake Tahoe, including my Dad and Step Mom. We all loaded up in the mini van Wednesday morning to drive up to the top off the first big mountain to watch the boys come over the top. When they finally came into view it was apparent that a group of ten had broken away from the peloton and Evan was not in it. I was concerned because I had recognized a couple of the stronger riders in the break and they already had two minutes on the rest of the field. Once they passed we hopped back in the Swagger Wagon (minivan) and headed to the finish line. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant close by and then made our way to the finish area for the anticipated finish around 2:00. The announcer said their were two guys off the front with six guys chasing and the field further back. We had no idea where Evan was at that point. After watching several of the top places come across the line, (including Evan's teammate Micah Milne in 5th!), we began to worry. We finally saw Evan and he came across the line in 32nd place. He was disappointed as he was expected to be a top ten and possibly even a podium finisher. He had spent basically the entire month of May racing in Europe and was just "cracked" upon his return to the states. He unfortunately never regained the form that carried him to a 1st place GC in the Category 1,2 race at the Joe Martin Stage Race, held right before he left for Europe. He was in Europe for a month to race with the US National Team in five races in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Belgium. While he was very disappointed about his performance at Nationals, he has had a fantastic season overall.
The Elite National Road Race started not even one hour after the Juniors finished their race. Unlike races where I am expecting a decent result, I was completely calm and at ease. I had no support from the standpoint of getting water hand ups so that was really the only thing about which I was apprehensive. It was unseasonably warm, over 90 degrees and close to 100 down in the valley into which we would descend after the day's first climb, so getting enough water during the course of 103 miles was my major concern. The race started where it would finish which was in the ski resort of Northstar in the Lake Tahoe area. We would descend off that mountain then climb up and over another mountain, then once in the valley on the other side of the pass, we would make a large loop then climb back up the other side which was a 7.5 mile climb, then descend back down into the town of Truckee, Ca., then climb back up to the finish in Northstar. It would prove to be the hardest course I have ever raced when combining the terrain and the conditions.
After the neutral start of about 3K down the steepest part of the descent the race started full tilt down a fairly steep descent into Truckee. I was initially positioned toward the front but with every one of the 130 or so starters trying to be in the front down the long straight hill I started drifting backwards as the speeds approached 55 MPH and we were packed together like sardines in a can. I don't mind fast descents, and even consider myself fairly competent at the discipline, but I will admit that I was scared shitless in that situation. Until that point there had just not been any hard racing to spread the field out before the hairball descent. Once we hit the bottom things calmed down a little and I was able to settle in and re-position towards the front before staring the climb up and over the pass. I was pleasantly surprised not to be under much pressure up the first part of the climb. There were enough riders to let others absorb accelerations and to be able to ride a consistent pace. About five miles before the top where the first feed zone was located I found myself in a six man break that got close to a 45 second gap on the field… up a climb! I knew then I was on a good day but still decided to ride conservatively and put very little effort into the break. As we crested the top of the climb I was literally begging for water but no one would give me a bottle. Towards the end of the long line a nice lady finally gave me a small bottle of water with a screw top. Better than nothing but I needed a lot more water if I hoped to even finish the race.
As the small breakaway group began the descent down into the large valley, the rest of the pack started bearing down on us quickly. It wasn't long before we were reabsorbed but at least I was in the front of the of the long single file line. Towards the bottom of the 7.5 mile long descent I noticed that one team, Mike's Bikes, had gathered at the front. It seemed they were very purposely keeping the pace high down the last part of the descent and I decided they were going to try to control the race in the crosswinds that would possibly exist in the large valley below. I was right, as we entered the valley the wind picked up and immediately upon making a turn where the winds were across the road they put it in the gutter. For a long time I was able to find a draft by riding on the extreme edge of the road. Behind me was carnage. Over half the field was dropped after only ten minutes or less in the very strong crosswinds. After another ten minutes I was in a select group of only about 30 riders but I was under pressure as I was no longer able to draft. The wind was cross tail so we were going about 34 MPH for what seemed like an eternity. The guy in front of me, Evan Bybee, finally popped. I urged him to fight back on but he convinced me to drift back to the next chase where we could get in an echelon and get a draft. Once we were in the echelon it was so much easier as were were able to rotate through and get a draft. We kept the front group within close reach and then, just like on TV, a rail road crossing barricade dropped and the entire front group came to a halt in front of us! The barricades were only down for a minute but in that time a group of about 60 reassembled.
By now, we had turned back toward the mountain and the crosswind had turned to a headwind and our group stayed together until the climb began. The other factor besides the wind was the heat! All of the major teams had vehicle support and guys were dropping back to the cars and collecting water for their stronger riders. I was completely out of water and was literally begging for bottles from anyone that had access to it. One guy on Elbowz gave me a bottle and I have never been so grateful. I found him after the race and told him he may have saved my life! As the climb began, a group of about 35 or so began to to separate from the rest. While I didn't make that front group, I found myself in the second group up the climb and ended up in a six man split, including my Louisiana buddy Johnny Brizzard, that rode away from the larger group. At this point I was encouraged that there were close to 100 guys behind me. I never imagined I would find myself in such a position and I was determined to keep it. An Arapahoe rider in my group dropped back and got an ice cold can of coke and gave me about half of it. Another life saver! Before the top of the climb we looked up to see a large black bear in the middle of the road! As we got closer it became apparent that he had been hit by a car and he was injured and quite agitated. He was also huge. I would estimate between 500-600 lbs! When we got even with him we skirted around him on the far left side of the road. The poor thing finally scrambled up the embankment so we didn't get eaten at mile 80 as I feared might happen!
Once we began the descent we all worked together to try and stay away from any chasers. Unfortunately, about 20 guys rejoined us towards the bottom before we got back to Truckee. I was thinking that I would now be lucky to finish in the middle of this group which would probably put me in the top 50. As it turned out, I was able to stay with a couple of the stronger guys in the group and held on for 37th place. I was very happy with that result considering I really didn't think I could even finish the race given the distance and the amount of climbing, not to mention the competition! I think the thing I really appreciated the most is that I have always considered myself more of a crit rider, without the physiology necessary to hang with the best in harder road races, especially if there is any real climbing. This result proved to me that we shouldn't pigeon hole ourselves into only being able to do this or that. Start every race knowing that anything can happen. You might end up having the race of your life on any given day and get a result you never expected! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
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| Exhausted After 103 Miles |
