6/8/08: Mike Horgan Hill Climb

This year’s Mike Horgan HC went up Sugarloaf to end up at Nederland Elementary. A shorter route than alternate years when it heads up Magnolia to Eldora Ski Mountain, but certainly no easier of a route. Sugarloaf is not the steepest climb on the front range. However, it could arguably be the hardest. For a road this steep – with sustained pitches of 13% or greater – it is quite unusual in that there are no switchbacks. The road goes up and up – and UP – and never friggin’ ends! If you blow yourself during the first 4.5 miles of the Sugarloaf climb, your race is effectively over.

The temps were perfect for this type of race, where racers would be exerting a ton of energy. But strong winds out of the West would put the kibosh on hitting a PR. As a point of reference, racing in the 4s two years ago, my teammate Greg Ross went faster than the guy who won the pro race this year; and we were a good 5-7 minutes slower. The wind never let up and slowed everyone down accordingly. Certainly made the race more challenging.

My goal for the day was to notice an increase in fitness and ability over the Sunshine Hill Climb a month earlier. With my projected peak still 6 weeks away, I did not expect to feel sharp or “race ready”, but to avoid any sense of panic, I would need to quantifiably be stronger. Pre-riding the course last weekend was a disaster. After blowing up halfway up Sugarloaf, I had to Paperboy it up to the initial crest at the 4.5-mile mark. The rest of the ride up to Eldora, down thru Ned and then up Flagstaff was not any better but still needed to be done. My goal was to not repeat that performance. Time would soon tell . . .

Things started out mellow as we rolled across the start line 3 minutes in arears of the Pro-1-2 race. I found myself leading the peloton, cruising along, which allowed me a moment of contemplation. I knew people would get antsy rather quickly. As long as the race were on pavement, I was going to follow attacks rather than create them, so I sat u front and waited. It didn’t take long. Suddenly, a big guy from Echelon – solid crit and road race rider but not a climber – was the first to attack. While wondering why and what purpose it served, I quickly slotted in within the top 20. The pace remained punchy the 5 miles up Canyon to the Sugarloaf turnoff.

The nearly 180-degree right turn onto Sugarloaf is a shock to the legs. The pitch of the road increases from about 4-5% to something north of 10%. Among the “clank, clank, clank” of furiously shifting gears, the group rather quickly strings out, with the climbers finding their way to the front. I had cautioned teammates to not blow themselves in the early miles. Strong legs on the 4-5 miles of dirt is imperative to success in this race. I hoped I would heed my own advice.

Two early attackers were still up the road. While watching the known top climbers, waiting for an attack, my teammate Greg Ross gradually accelerated off the front with one other guy to build an expanding lead. Chris Case beat Greg and me at Evans last year and at Sunshine this year, so I figured sitting on his wheel was a good idea. If he bridged up, I would follow; if not, I’d be just as happy to stay put. A few folks attacked, but I still felt it was too early, so I hung back and hoped the patience would pay off later on.

Another teammate, Josh Tanner was riding very strong. We were riding together most of the climb, each half-wheeling the other as we attempted to reel in some of the other front runners. As we hit the first descent, Josh used his superior size to barrel down the road. Getting on his wheel – which he graciously offered – was a nice ride and we quickly snapped up Fred Dreier from VeloNews. The three of us forged on and slowly but surely started nipping at the heels of the 5 still in front of us. As we hit the dirt, Greg and his breakaway companion were still well out front but now in sight. Between them and my group of 3 was Chris Case and the 2 early breakaway guys who had finally given up the ghost and been caught (though, I have to say, Ian Nansel of Studio 1 Dental rode very impressively as he stuck with it till almost the very end before finishing 7th).

The dirt section of Sugarloaf is nice and smooth. The only technical part is an S-curve sweeping descent which bends left and then right. The bend to the right puts the hair on the back of the neck on end because the last thing you want to do is lay it down and slide into the guard rail. My legs felt stronger here than I expected. Josh and I pushed the pace and the race started to come back together. There was no harm in chasing down those in front of us as long as we stopped pushing once we caught them. We were not going to tow anyone up to Greg, if that’s what it came to.

As we crested the dirt and turned left on to Peak-to-Peak Highway, the front 8 were all coming back together. Aided by a slight downhill and motivated riders, Josh and I sat on the wheels of those who wanted to catch Greg. As the catch was looking imminent, Chris Case jumped across the gap. Josh, in perfect position, jumped on his wheel and the two of them bridged up. Right before this, I had told a couple of rider from the Pro-1-2 wave we had caught to disengage from our race. One of them was a Studio 1 Dental rider and the last thing that needed to happen was Ian potentially getting a free ride. I could tell his legs were torched; if he stayed up with us, he needed to earn it on his own. To his teammate’s credit, I believe he dropped off and did not aid Ian’s efforts. The timing of my comments with Chris Case’s attack was eerie.

Velo News Fred took off after Chris and Josh, but did not have the legs to go with them. I jumped on his wheel and sat on, content in knowing that 2 of my teammates were in the front group of 4 and that, at worst, I had 6th sewn up. I figured on waiting until the very end to try to pip Fred at the finish line. For the final 1.5 miles, he got out of the saddle quite a bit, but went nowhere. What I mean is that he wasn’t accelerating away from me even though he appeared to be trying. I remained seated and spinning well. At this point, I felt confident I could take him. We made the final turn on to the road leading to the school and the finish line. About halfway up that road, around a moderate pitch that bends to the left, Fred stood up again. And, again, he was not able to surge at all. I decided that when he sat back down, I would go. The hope was to catch him off guard and unprepared to react. Given his body language, I expected nothing less. Sure, I was tired but I had some punch left in the legs.

Well, Fred’s either a good actor or my jump lacked the punch I thought it would have. We still had about 400m to go when I jumped. As we closed in on the finish line, I saw Fred’s shadow by my back wheel and knew he was right behind me. He came around me in the final bend before the finish line. I had a little bit left and very nearly decided to give it another go. Unfortunately, some woman in a minivan decided to slow to a complete stop right in front of the finishing straight!! WTF!! I am not going to speculate whether or not I could have re-passed Fred. My guess is that I probably could not have. However, with that dunce making about the most dip-shitted decision that could be made and stopping her vehicle right in front of us – and on what is already a narrow finish – I saw potential disaster and figured it would be best to avoid it. I shut it down and rolled in the final 15 meters.

The driver was oblivious. Fred went to her right as I went to her left. Of course, right as I’m next to her vehicle, she decides to turn left to try to get out of the way and nearly hits me. Not a bright lady, to put it nicely.

A great result for the team: 2nd (Greg), 4th (Josh), 6th (me) and 12th (Jeremy Miller). As for my own personal assessment, I was happy with the result. Definitely stronger than I was on Sunshine a month ago. I still don’t have that characteristic punch in my legs when I get out of the saddle – I can’t “make things happen” just yet. But, that will come. That’s the final piece of the sharpening and I’ve got 6 weeks to do it. Had a nice post-race ride with Mike Mutzel of MixOne and Bart Abriol (my teammate; Bart ended up 32nd). We headed over to Ward, then over the backside of Lee Hill for some extra climbing miles.

As I stated earlier, time will tell . . .

Ride safe,
Nate