7/27/09: Musings on the 2009 Tour

1. Bradley Wiggins was the revelation of this year’s Tour.
2. In retrospect, Lance coming 3rd is huge. Especially when he probably would have ended up 2nd had he not played the proper teammate role like he did during key moments of the race.
3. George Hincapie will be on Radio Shack next year.
4. Contador only played the proper team role up Ventoux, when he sat on the Schleks’ wheels rather than attack them. His behavior during the Pyrenean summit finish (attacking against team directives) and to Verbier (effectively attacking and dropping Kloden) were completely selfish and self-serving tactics.
5. Lance will have a team in 2010 built for one purpose only – to help him win an 8th Tour title.
6. Contador will be on an inferior team, regardless of with whom he signs.
7. Contador could have won the 2009 Tour as a team of 1. He’s that good.
8. I don’t buy the rumors of Contador doping. If there were any valid suspicions, there’s no way Garmin would have been ‘this close’ to signing him pre-Tour. Vaughters studies athletes’ blood profiles ad nauseam to ensure no egg ends up on his or the team’s face.
9. Hincapie’s attack on the Garmin leadout train at the 1km to go banner on the Champs yesterday was sheer brilliance. He wrangled the control back singlehandedly and also set Cavendish up on the right line.
10. David Millar was clearly on the wrong side of the road in those final couple km’s. I found myself screaming at him to get over to the lefthand side of the road (from his perspective). Instead, Julian Dean and Tyler Farrar had to brake hard into that final righthand bend to the finish and lost the stage right then and there.
11. Columbia/HTC is nothing more than this decade’s Saeco. They’re wholly built around Cavendish. Make no mistake – despite what the team might say publicly, they have no GC contenders and do not covet the overall. If they did, then Kirchen and Rodgers would not be helping to lead out Cavendish, squandering precious energy in the process.
12. Cavendish is an amazing sprinter. But, he’s relegated the sprint stages to complete yawners. Is this good for cycling? It’s definitely good for British cycling.
13. Hats off the Vande Velde for coming 8th. Clearly, last year’s 4th place was no fluke. Had he not crashed out of the Giro . . .
14. Will Wiggins be on Garmin in 2010?
15. Will the Schleks still be at Saxo Bank in 2010?
16. What team will Contador be riding for in 2010?
17. Why was Lance’s TTing as sub-par as it was, especially in the Tour’s final week?
18. For the next 11 months, Lance will be pent up rage personified. If we thought he had laser-like focus in the past, just wait until next year’s Tour.
19. Kloden did an amazing amount of work for Contador and Lance throughout the entire race. He effectively took on the burden of filling in the hole left by Levi’s departure, doing the work of 2 men. No wonder he completely faded during the final 2 mountain stages. His final TT result was pretty amazing, considering . . .
20. Chris Anker Sorenson exibits the ugliest climbing form. It's painful to watch him. But, he definitely buried himself for the Schleks.
21. Wish we could flash forward 11 months to next year’s Tour. It’s gonna be a real barn burner!!

7/18/09: Mt. Evans HC

As stated in the Horgan post, Mt. Evans is the Mont Ventoux of Colorado. If you pride yourself as a climber, then your yardstick is Evans. The race is 28.5 miles, beginning in Idaho Springs at roughly 7,000 feet in elevation and finishing atop the highest paved road in North America at 14,200 feet. A steady 5% grind from bottom to top, there are some steeper sections in the second half and above treeline (around 11,500 feet in elevation).

While the ultimate goal was to vie for the win, a secondary goal was to set a PR and see how close to 1:55 I could get. Setting a PR was secondary because (1) you never know how the race will unfold; and (2) the longer riders stay together - and, thus, work together - the faster everyone goes. During the final 14 miles, if you're in a small group of 3-5, you can easily go 5-7 minutes faster than if you are isolated and alone.

Ben Buxton, Bart Abriol and I were the 'protected' Feedback riders. Diran Ayandele, Matt Duncan and Jonathan Weaver had signed up to selflessly work for us. Working for a team on a climb such as this is so much harder than working for teammates in a crit. At least in a crit the parcours are flat, so when you blow up you can soft pedal, recover and enjoy the rest of the ride having done your job. In a climb, when you blow, the parcours are still pitching up so you're left to somehow find a way to muster the grit to grind away to the finish line.

The goal for Diran, Matt and Jonathan was to control the front of the race in the opening miles, line it out and keep the pace steady. This would also serve to keep the peloton under control and disenchant riders from foolishly attacking off the front which only serves to cause the pace to maddeningly ebb and flow while the pretenders thump their chests and then die into Oblivion. If the pace was controlled properly, then we would hit Echo Lake (halfway) in under 56 minutes.

From the gun, these 3 guys went straight to the front and pressed the pace. The peloton was lined out and quite a few riders were grumbling at how hard the pace was in the opening miles. I settled in anywhere from 5th to 15th wheel, enjoying the brisk tempo and also the view of 3-4 Feedback riders forcing the race on the front. To say that my teammates did a phenomenal job during the first half of the race is a disgraceful understatement. Those guys set the tone for the entire race.

Once Diran, Matt and Jonathan completed their jobs WELL done, Ben took up position on the front and lifted the tempo again for the next handful of miles. While part of me wanted to accelerate forward and suggest to Ben that he save that energy for the upper slopes, I bit my tongue. Ben is a talented and very experienced rider. He knows what his limits are and the last thing I wanted to do would be to instill any sort of doubt in his mind that he might be doing something wrong. If and when Ben needed to back off, he would. So, I sat tight and focused on who I thought were the other key protagonists.

As we hit the flat section by Echo Lake, before the sharp right turn at the ranger station which marks the halfway point of the race, Big Diesel Lars Finanger came up alongside me and asked if I wanted him to press the pace. And, if so, when. Far be it from me to deny my instant teammate. I took him up on his offer and suggested that once we passed the bottle drop and weaved through the ranger station, he should drop the hammer. We passed this point in 54:50, so we were already flying. Typically, 30-40 riders are still together at this point in the race. However, today, there were fewer than 15. All thanks to the pace setting and effort of my teammates.

When we passed through the ranger station, Lars shot to the front like a cannon and set a blistering pace. 2 Black Sheep riders jumped on his wheel and I slotted into 4th position. I looked down at my SRM and saw 320-330 watts, effectively what I can hold for a 40km TT - we were hauling ass! But the acceleration served its purpose. The Black Sheep rider on Lars' wheel imploded and the other filled in the gap, while I rode his wheel forward. Then Lars needed to back off and ride his own race to the top. With more than 50 minutes left to race, it was down to just 2 of us (that whole sharing the workload thing I mentioned above). We traded pulls until with 50 minutes left, he said he couldn't pull through anymore. The pace was pretty aggressive for me as well, but once you have the separation you categorically do not give it up. So, I pressed on but held steady, content to keep the pace hot and let the Black Sheep guy sit on my wheel and hopefully recover a bit.

At 45min left to race (by my finish time), I was alone. Not an ideal position to be in on Mt. Evans. But, again, I wasn't willing to back off. If I croaked, I croaked. There's a lake before the climb bends left and steepens, which marks about 25-27 minutes left to race. At this point, I was at my limit but felt I could hold steady to the end. My quads were starting to flirt with cramping, which sucked. With 20 minutes left, my quads were locking up but I could still press on. With 15 minutes left, I was pedaling squares and could not wait to see that finish line. All I focused on was my lead vehicle and winding my way through the endless switchbacks to the top.

Once the observatory up top was in sight (just like at the top of Ventoux), I started to breathe (OK, gasp) a sigh of relief. Only a couple more minutes! Looking back down through the switchbacks, I tried but failed to see where the 2nd placed rider might be. We were passing throngs of citizens from the Citizen wave which started 50 minutes before my race and also the stragglers from the P/1/2 wave, so it was no use. Unless I fell off my bike, I was confident I would cross the line first.

Which I did, with a 1:30 buffer. I was completely spent. No fist pumping or shout of victory. I was reminded of a comment Miguel Indurain made when he won a tough mountain stage a couple years before he started his Tour reign. He said that had the finish line been another kilometer up the road, he wouldn't have made it. That's how I felt when I crossed the line.

The weather and the views were both gorgeous. There was no rush to get back down the mountain, and it was nice to be able to chat with the other riders before pulling on the arm/leg warmers and heading down. Jordan Sherr, I must say, has impressed me this year. In the hardest races, he's dug deep and stayed in contention long after he would normally drop off the pace. Known more for his wit than his prowess on the bike, I think he's one to take seriously moving forward.

Ben did an exceptional job to cross the line in 12th, setting a new PR along the way. Hats off to the team for a great, great effort. And kudos to everyone who conquered the mountain.

Ride safe,
Nate

7/12/09: Longmont Crit

Focused forward on Evans, this Saturday, so making this one short and sweet . . .

Team did a great job of controlling the race. We were all a little disappointed at not getting the victory, but not for a lack of trying. I spent a good 30-35min off the front solo. Didn’t expect to stay away; was trying to give the rest of the team a free ride. Picked wattage I could hold to the end in case the peloton didn’t get motivated to chase me down (yet I knew it would). Ended up setting a PR for 20min at 342w, giving me a Ptt60 of 325w. My 10min was 342w as well and the 30min came in at 339w, so steady as she goes. Lead maxed out at around 22-25sec before coming back down.

Ben, Donuts and Bag-o-Nuts did a lot of work on the front and at the end. Unfortunately, Peter crashed early on, suffering a 2nd degee separation of the shoulder. He should be able to stay on the bike and be good for the season ending races. Not fun to get back on the bike right after that sort of injury (I suffered a 4th degree separation in a bike crash a few years back), but the nervousness subsides in good time. Good luck recovering, Peter!

Placed 4 in the top 20, with Drinker coming 2nd, Donuts in 16th, Bag-o-Nuts in 19th and Ben in 20th. My job done with 2 laps to go, I faded to oblivion. May have still come out the ‘big winner’ as I walked away with 2 cash primes and a third product prime (a case of MixOne drinks).

Served as a great pre-Evans workout, that’s for damn sure. Now it’s rest, rest, rest leading into Saturday . . .

Ride Safe,
Nate

7/3/09: Latest Power Tests

Five days after Dead Dog, feeling very strong and fully recovered. Great day to complete the 5min and 20min power tests up Flagstaff.

Results:
5min test - 409w (6.46 w/kg)
20min test - 334w (5.27 w/kg)
Ptt60 - 317w (5.00 w/kg)

Better than projections leading into Evans in another 15 days, and huge improvements since testing in the early Spring while shedding 6 pounds in the process. Thinking the 20min test lags a bit compared to my 5min test. Something to address in the fall/winter.

For now, steady as she goes . . .

6/27-28/09: Dead Dog Classic Stage Race

When one thinks of Laramie, Wyoming, what typically comes to mind is a rural cow town which is home to the main U of WY campus. Their mascot ain't the Cowboys and Cowgirls for nuthin'! In fact, the tallest building in all of Wyoming is the 13-story dorm tower on campus. While not much happens in greater Wyoming, Laramie does play host to a two-day, three-stage cycling race, billed as the FIAC National Stage Race Championships - the Dead Dog Classic.

As with any stage race, lowest cumulative time after the 3 stages wins.
Saturday, Stage 1: 86-mile road race
Sunday at noon, Stage 2: 40min criterium
Sunday mid-afternoon, Stage 3: 10-mile ITT

Stage 1 - 86-mile road race

This race started about 45min outside of Laramie in Albany, Wyoming at 8,400-feet. The 3s field was nearly full at around 65 racers, most from Colorado but with some from the surrounding states as well. About as close to an 'international' field as we get, except for maybe the Tour de Gila (which I've never done).

We rolled out 7 miles down to 7,500-feet and then about another 7 over the flats before starting the climbing for the day. The first climb from Centennial gained 2,400-feet over 9 miles. There were no fireworks on this climb since it came fairly early in the race and we would have to retrace our steps in a few hours on the return trip. The wind was brutal as well, and no one wanted to waste precious energy cutting through it for the benefit of everyone else. The group did shed the weaker climbers but stayed together with a group of 20-30 riders at the top of the Snowy Range Pass at 10,800-feet. The course then descended to Ryan Park at 8,400-feet which served as the turnaround for the race. The upper parts of the first climb and the descent were fairly cool and I was happy to have started with my arm warmers on. But the day quickly heated up - literally and figuratively - at the Ryan Park turnaround, so the arm warmers came down to the wrists for the duration.

The action started immediately on the climb back up Snowy Range Pass. With a slight tailwind, I threw it into my big chain ring and set a solid but sustainable tempo on the front. We had over 40 miles of racing left, so my goal was not to rip the race apart but rather to shell some folks who were on the rivet at that point and accelerate the rate of attrition. I decided to hold tempo for about 20min and then assess the damage (or lack thereof).

Despite causing a good number of the front group to drop off a bit, some of the racers clawed their way back onto the front group, much to their credit for sure. On the flip side, the front group never really got cohesive. The first climb on the way out was a complete cluster with no rhyme or reason to the pace or the efforts people were putting in on/off the front. I settled down after about 17min of pushing the pace, when Evan Gatseos came through and pushed it even more. But, overall, we lost our impetus and at the summit (back at 10,800ft) we were down to 12 or 13 riders. After cutting through some rollers, where Gatseos again hammered the pace (very strong on the day, for sure) we were onto a fast descent back down the 9miles to Centennial. Lars Finanger, a big diesel engine of a beast riding for VeloNews, led the group down the mountain and back onto the flats. We had hit 60mph and faster for a good portion of this descent. Lots o' fun!!

Over the rolling hills during the final 11 miles of riding, we caught a breakaway rider, a guy who went pretty damn early (huge effort, very brave but ultimately very costly) and dropped a few others from the group leaving only 10 of us to battle it out for the stage. Finanger had suffered a few times throughout the ride with leg cramps and could sense he wouldn't have the strength to contest for the stage win. With about 5 miles to go, he came up alongside me and said if my legs felt good that I should go for it and that he would work as my "instant teammate". I was pretty tired, but felt good and decided to take Lars up on his offer. I asked him to set as hard a tempo as he could, which he did. I took a breather right behind him for about a mile before he pulled off and I pulled through. The cross/headwind at this point was killer and it would only get worse as the road bent to the left with 3 miles to go, putting us straight into the wind for the duration.

After pulling through for a couple minutes, I looked back and had, surprisingly, a sizeable gap. I put my head down and decided to go for it, guessing that based on the lack of cohesion in the first 80 miles, the group would not magically start working together now. Plus, no one (not even me) was psyched about being first wheel in that demoralizing headwind. I learned later that Finanget stayed on the front for most of the rest of the time, helping my lead grow incrementally. Thanks, Lars!!

When I saw the "3 Miles To Go" sign, I just about croaked. Committed as I was to going for the win, my legs were also pretty torched. With 1,000 meters to go, the road begins to pitch up at about 6-7%. Not super steep, but hard enough at the end of this brutal day of racing. I was way over the redline, but chanced a glance over my shoulder. I knew I would win at this point, but also knew I had zero room for error. Me climbing up that final kilometer was, I'm sure, anything but a pretty sight. My HR hit 190, a number I've never seen on the bike. With 200 meters to go, I chanced one more look back and finally felt a touch of relief and elation. I pumped a lame fist in the air as I crossed the line and then nearly fell off my bike. The 2nd place rider was only 4 seconds back!

The top 3 on the day gained 30sec/20sec/10sec time bonuses, which put me anywhere from 14sec to 1:19 ahead of 2nd through 10th on the day. Ben Buxton rode very strongly for the team, crossing the line in 12th, a little more than 3 minutes in arears. Matt Drinker crossed in 23rd and Matt Duncan was a little further ways back.

Stage 2 - 40-minute Crit

I had no idea how I would feel when I awoke on Sunday. But, surprisingly, I felt pretty darn good. Doing all the recovery protocols - chugging water, supplements, eating something right before bed to help the muscles repair, sleeping with the legs elevated and so on - appeared to have done the trick. As I spun easily to warm up before the crit, I noted how light the legs felt. Racing a crit is quite different than an easy spin, so I'd know soon enough just how good or poorly the legs actually were. The good news is that everyone was in the same boat. We were all tired from the previous day's effort. Given the crit didn't start until 12:15, Matt, Matt, Ben and I were able to sleep in and chow down on a big breakfast.

The crit was largely uneventful, a quick pace but very clean on a non-technical 0.7-mile course. I stayed out of trouble in the front of the group, spending quite a bit of time on the front of the race. Most of that time, I kept my HR in the 140s. Within the bunch, I was spending what I considered too much mental and physical energy braking, accelerating, watching others to stay safe, and so on. I decided that being on the front was probably more economical due to the steady pace I could set. Certainly, I was mentally more at ease. My goal was to just keep the GC contenders in check, not lose any additional time to who I considered the real threats, and then let the time trial later that afternoon determine the final placing. I ended up finishing the crit in 13th place, in the front group. One of the talented Aussie Junior National riders who make their yearly migration to Boulder, CO proper every summer for some altitude training and racing ended up winning the crit and gaining a 30sec time bonus. Still, it didn't worry me. I felt confident I could out-TT him.

Time would tell . . .

Stage 3 - 10-mile TT

The course was laid out outside Laramie at around 8,700ft. 5 miles slightly downnhill, 180-degree turn, 5 miles back slightly uphill. Of course, the wind would be right in our faces on the return uphill trip. The legs didn't feel quite as fresh as they did in the crit, but I wasn't worried. I would either have it or I wouldn't.

We started 30sec apart, in reverse GC order, so I was the last rider out of the start house. 'Start House' being a strip of duct tape across the road. The first 2-3 minutes didn't feel so hot. I was pressing the pace, but the cumulative fatigue was starting to make its presence known. I did my best to ignore it and focus on the riders in front of me up the road. I hit the turnaround in about 8:30 and could tell I was closing the distance on a good number of the top 10 racers.

Completing the turn around was a rude awakening. Not only did the road start to pitch up slightly, but the wind slapped me in the face. I could tell this would be the longest 5 miles of my life. And it probably was, as the return trip took me just shy of 15 minutes!

I passed my 1:00 man soon after the turn around and then my 30-second man soon after that. I never did quite catch the Aussie boy who started 90sec in front of me, but he served as a great carrot for the final 4 miles or so of the race. I did nearly catch him, crossing the line only 15 seconds behind him, for a net gain of 1:15. I could also tell I gained quite a bit on the guy who started 2:00 in front of me.

At this point, I felt pretty good about my chances at winning the overall. But, there were plenty of people in the top 10 close enough where nothing was a foregone conclusion. In fact, the guy who stood 5th going into the TT, majorly tore it up. After starting the TT 38 seconds behind me, he ended up beating me by 48 seconds. The net-net is that I came 2nd overall at 10 seconds.

10 SECONDS!!

I played the race frontwards and backwards over and over again to see if there was any way I could have gained another 11 seconds to secure the overall. And the answer was always, "No." So, while I'm disappointed I certainly cannot be upset. The guy who beat me, from Salt Lake City, definitely deserved it. My hat goes off to him.

All in all, a challenging but mostly fun weekend of racing. Certainly, I would not call the 86-mile road race 'fun.' It was brutal and extremely hard. The crit was fun and enjoyable. The TT was mentally tough due to the headwind during the final 5-mile stretch, but was still a positive experience. Would I do it again? Don't ask me today. Ask me after my season-end break.

Ride safe,
Nate