110 miles, the longest race I've ever done and it showed!! Coming into this race my fitness is supposed to be peaking and my numbers show that it is, but at this level a lot of things factor in on the outcome of a race, for example, not eating or drinking right during a race can seriously affect even the best laid plans... But, more on that later.
We started out under sunny, hot and WINDY conditions, now I've raced and ridden in some pretty nasty Texas wind but this was wild!!! After a 3 mile neutral roll-out the attacks started, and they didn't let up till about 20 miles later when the right mix got away. I had a small crisis when I dropped my chain on a climb and despite all the helping hands that pushed me along I had to stop and manually put the chain back on, somehow Caleb and Kyle managed to see my plight and waited up for me and helped pace me back to the field.. crisis averted!! The next 50 miles were pretty smooth till a big crash took out about 15 riders. Now up to this point I was feeling very good, but Mt. Gaylor with its 9 mile climb was looming at mile 70.. We figured that this would be the deciding point in the race and that a select group would power over the top and stay clear, so we tried to stay near the front to avoid spilts. Now everything was going great, we had 3 of us near the front, Caleb, Kyle and myself. but about half-way up the climb I started cramping up and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep pace without completely locking up... so, I watched the field ride away knowing I wouldn't see them again.... after riding alone for a long time I hooked up with a small group and we rolled together till about 5 miles to go and then after a hard pull I completely blew up!! so I rode the lonely ride of shame all by myself till the finish, almost 10 minutes down on the winner... talk about humbling!! Caleb manged a fine 11th and Kyle won the sprint out of his group a few minutes back.
So, today is another day and we'll keep the chin up and ride hard....
Travis,
No comments:
Post a Comment