Carson did a great job getting through this one. Good report from a highly motivated young guy:
Todd,
Done with another big day in Redlands. I knew going into the race that I was in for some serious suffering – and I was looking forward to pushing my limits during today’s stage.
With a early afternoon start, I enjoyed a relxed morning and slept in a bit to maximize my recovery from the previous stages. A little coffee and my favorite pre-race breakfast got the day off to a good start.
With my routine dialed in, I hit the venue confident and ready for the race. After busting some Trigger Point last night, the legs were feeling pretty good, and I figured warming up for a 150km road race might be a bit excesive. And then I saw the entire Garmin team warming up on their trainers. At which point I knew the race would be “Balls-to-the-Wall” from the gun. And it was.
The first 2 crit laps were critical with sprint bonus points available. 2 laps over a 1km crit course wouldn’t take long, and I knew I would need to keep good position through the laps and heading out onto Sunset. Coming off a good spot in the grid, I rode solid position all the way out onto Sunset.
Going out of town, Larry and I got together and moved right up towards the front so that we would not be caught out by crashes or gaps on the first few laps. The next 12 laps of Sunset became a blur. Withthe break gone, and Fly-V happy to simply se tempo things became only slightly more mellow. Still, the climb took it’s toll on a large number of riders, and the group began to thin. I focused my efforts on keeping good position, and eating/drinking whenever possible.
During the final 3 laps our tempo picked up as Fly-V worked to bring back the break, and riders were sitting up all around. Each time up the climb I kept looking up the road to see what the riders ahead of me where doing. I knew every ounce of energy would ne critical on the last lap, and stayed in the wheels when the pace was high – using the corners, feedzone, and slow spot ls to advance my position.
The last lap was my undoing – barely. As I crested the KOM with Chris, we were still holding onto the back of the peleton. The rollers and false flat proved to be our undoing as we were constantly jumping around guys and closing gaps. Unfortunately one gap too many opened up, and the remainder of our race was a chase. We had a strong group with the two of us, 1 Garmin, Mattis, 1 Type-1, and several others. We drove our group all the way back down to the crot course trying to come back, and fell just a little bit short. Our day eneded 5km early.
Back at the tent, and I couldn’t even think of moving out of my chair. I went into today’s stage ready to suffer. And I suffered more than I have in a long time. At the end o the day, all that suffering and fatigue felt good and I was happy to come away from today’s stage having acheived 1 of the 2 personal goals that I had set for myself.
With my first ever Redlands in the legs, it’s time for a few days to rest and recover before we get back to serious work preparing for the next big objectives.
Regards,
C-
