Rainy Victoria Road Race
Victoria road race. 50 miles, 5 laps on an open course with a few small hills and one larger/steeper climb about 2 K from the finish. Yes, it was dreary again but we were able to get rolling before the real rain started about 10 miles into the race. The field was relatively small but there was some talent so I knew the race would be hard. I’m tapering a bit for the upcoming Tour of America’s Dairyland series but wanted to get in a solid effort and try to get another decent result. GP made up about half the field and both Flanders and Synergy had strong riders in the mix. I was racing w/o teammates (which is fine) so I knew I had to be attentive. The attacks came almost immediately with Dave Zimmerman (Flanders) launching after the first left hand turn and the field was strung out single file. There were several counter attacks and this kept up for about 25 miles with no one really getting away. The rain continued and it was pretty cold and windy making responding to the sharper attacks a bit of a strain on the cold legs. I covered just about everything up to this point when Mike Woell (Flanders) and Dale Sedgewick (GP) attack and no one reacted. With GP and Flanders all over the front the break was established and the race turned into a ride. I get the lazy tactics but I don’t like negative racing. If someone is trying to chase, or trying to assemble a chase, let them do so. Go to the back and have a smoke and let the race be about something.
Eventually, Tim Mulrooney (Synergy) and Dewey D (Mercy Care) contributed to the chase and the three of us worked hard, but not too hard, to limit the break’s advantage. It seemed that at any point we could have brought the break back but we never really sealed the deal. We let them dangle at 20 seconds for a while when I had to drop to the back to pee. It took a while to rejoin the group and by the time I did, the break had extended their lead to closer to 45 seconds. The chase lost momentum and everyone was cold and wet and unmotivated. later, Adam Hanson (Synergy) came to the front and started working like mad to bring the break back. For some reason, Dewey & Timmer were no where to be seen. Even a little help would have made the difference. I suppose they were waiting for the capture and certain counter attacks to come from the GP riders with fresh legs. Jens Brabbit (GrandStay) came to the front to help a bit, especially on the tougher climbs into the wind but it was mostly Adam drilling it alone. I helped some but he was making good tempo so it seemed like the race would come back together. Adam had a tall order to bring back a solid break alone, even with fresh legs. Essentially, he couldn’t make a dent alone and it was too late. Up ahead Dale attacked Mike over the top of the climb and dropped him. Mike did get back on Dale’s wheel into the finale but Dale had the kick to win. The bunch sprint for third was won by a Nature Valley rider who never hit the front the entire race, not once. Zimmerman (also with fresh legs) was 4th. I was 6th behind Dave Hackworthy (GP). The prize $ went to the top 6 only so I was lucky to squeak in the cash.
Post race food and a hot shower near registration was awesome. After some coffee and I headed back to Karl’s for a nap and watched “Lost in Translation”. I forgot the ending and, seeing it a second time, I was moved. Later I went to the Strip Club in St. Paul for an awesome meal. I was inspired to pay more attention to my blog, and many other things.
Sunday was a great time swimming, napping, and watching a marching band with the kids. Afterward, I did a nice recovery ride (on the gravel, of course) near the Kasota Prairie. I made some great orange roughy with arugala and fresh tomatoes and fell asleep watching “The Last Picture Show”.
