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