Posted by Paul on Monday, May 05, 2003 at 11:57 AM
Inner Loop RR - 76 miles
(Friday's stage)
Another day, another stage. This stage has 5000 feet of climbing total - a bunch of it early, and then more of it late. I thought today might be a good day for a long breakaway if I had good legs. I didn't sleep too well last night, again. But I felt ok when we got up for breakfast.
The stage didn't start until 10 am which meant we'd be in for a warm finish. Another short neutral roll out and we were on our way. The first climb was a Cat 3 climb up to Pinos Altos. My legs didn't feel so fresh but I managed to stay with the front group. Then we started the first of 3 technical, twisty descents.
This first descent was a little sketchy because we had a such a large group. One guy in front of me overcooked it a little in the first tight turn and locked up his rear wheel. That woke me up!
So before you know it - we're climbing again. The end of this climb is the highest point of the stage. There were a few rollers and then a long straight climb the last part of which is the feed zone. It's tough mentally because you just see a long straight uphill road in front that never seems to end.
The new race leader, who won yesterday's stage to take the lead, didn't look too much older than Ben. Vaughn told me later that he heard that this kid was Jonathan Vaughter's new protege. He can sure climb.
Anyway, it was towards the end of this climb where I was, in the words of Phil Liggett, "put in difficulty". The climb was just so long, there was a large group and we were really moving. I knew roughly where the top was because Vaughn and I had scouted it out. But I was suffering like a dog. I opted for the little granny gear and tried to get my spin mojo workin' for me. It worked, as a group of about 30 of us crested the highest elevation point of the stage.
Then we started another descent. I white-knuckled it down 3rd or 4th from the back. There were a few more rollers to contend with, and then the last, supposedly most dangerous descent. Again, I sat near the back, and white-knuckled it all the way down. It was actually a pretty safe descent - there were lots of course marshals warning us with bullhorns, flags, etc.
Now we had a long ride through the Mimbres valley. Up over the Continental Divide (for the second time, since we crossed it near Pinos Altos as well) down to San Lorenzo, then up the last Cat 3 climb past the Santa Rita mine. It was mostly uneventful through here. I refuelled on gel and Accelerade as much as possible and tried to rest. It felt like me legs were coming back to life a little.
Vaughn and I scouted the last climb up past the Santa Rita mine. The one thing that I remembered was that it didn't really have a definitive beginning or end, it just seemed to keep going up and down, up and down. At the base of the climb was the last feed zone. We didn't have anyone to feed us, but I thought I might get a neutral feed. It didn't work out, so I had to make due with what I had for the last 16 miles.
The climb was windy the whole farkin' way. Swirling all over the place. And as I remembered, it didn't really have a definitive end. There were some resting points where it went down hill for a little, but it always seemed to go back up again. I was anxiously groping for wheels and trying to spin a little gear to keep the legs fresh. I was really starting to feel fatigued now, but I'm sure we all were. At the 10 mile to go mark, I drained my last of 3 water bottles. Bummer, since it wasn't getting any cooler.
With 2 miles to go, things starting heating up some. I tried to stay near the front. The last time I did this stage, I got 3rd so I was hoping for another good finish today. I was in the wind for part of the final run in, but wasn't working too hard and was holding my position. I figured that you wanted to be on the right for favorable wind in the sprint. But, I quickly got pushed to the left at this point. At the 1k to go sign, I had good position, even if I was on the left. We went through one final sketchy cattleguard-chicane to the finishing straight.
I had a clear line to the finish at the 500m sign. I knew it was too early, and I knew I was on the wrong side for the wind - so I went anyway. I guess the lactic acid was clouding things for me mentally. I was 3rd as we ramped it up. One guy dropped off, but another took his place. With 200 meters to go I started to fade badly. Another guy came past me with good speed at 100m. I got punked by one more at the line and managed 5th place.
No change on GC. Tomorrow is the crit - I really just want some time to recover. Although I do feel like I'm riding myself into form, I think an easy day would do wonders.
(Friday's stage)
Another day, another stage. This stage has 5000 feet of climbing total - a bunch of it early, and then more of it late. I thought today might be a good day for a long breakaway if I had good legs. I didn't sleep too well last night, again. But I felt ok when we got up for breakfast.
The stage didn't start until 10 am which meant we'd be in for a warm finish. Another short neutral roll out and we were on our way. The first climb was a Cat 3 climb up to Pinos Altos. My legs didn't feel so fresh but I managed to stay with the front group. Then we started the first of 3 technical, twisty descents.
This first descent was a little sketchy because we had a such a large group. One guy in front of me overcooked it a little in the first tight turn and locked up his rear wheel. That woke me up!
So before you know it - we're climbing again. The end of this climb is the highest point of the stage. There were a few rollers and then a long straight climb the last part of which is the feed zone. It's tough mentally because you just see a long straight uphill road in front that never seems to end.
The new race leader, who won yesterday's stage to take the lead, didn't look too much older than Ben. Vaughn told me later that he heard that this kid was Jonathan Vaughter's new protege. He can sure climb.
Anyway, it was towards the end of this climb where I was, in the words of Phil Liggett, "put in difficulty". The climb was just so long, there was a large group and we were really moving. I knew roughly where the top was because Vaughn and I had scouted it out. But I was suffering like a dog. I opted for the little granny gear and tried to get my spin mojo workin' for me. It worked, as a group of about 30 of us crested the highest elevation point of the stage.
Then we started another descent. I white-knuckled it down 3rd or 4th from the back. There were a few more rollers to contend with, and then the last, supposedly most dangerous descent. Again, I sat near the back, and white-knuckled it all the way down. It was actually a pretty safe descent - there were lots of course marshals warning us with bullhorns, flags, etc.
Now we had a long ride through the Mimbres valley. Up over the Continental Divide (for the second time, since we crossed it near Pinos Altos as well) down to San Lorenzo, then up the last Cat 3 climb past the Santa Rita mine. It was mostly uneventful through here. I refuelled on gel and Accelerade as much as possible and tried to rest. It felt like me legs were coming back to life a little.
Vaughn and I scouted the last climb up past the Santa Rita mine. The one thing that I remembered was that it didn't really have a definitive beginning or end, it just seemed to keep going up and down, up and down. At the base of the climb was the last feed zone. We didn't have anyone to feed us, but I thought I might get a neutral feed. It didn't work out, so I had to make due with what I had for the last 16 miles.
The climb was windy the whole farkin' way. Swirling all over the place. And as I remembered, it didn't really have a definitive end. There were some resting points where it went down hill for a little, but it always seemed to go back up again. I was anxiously groping for wheels and trying to spin a little gear to keep the legs fresh. I was really starting to feel fatigued now, but I'm sure we all were. At the 10 mile to go mark, I drained my last of 3 water bottles. Bummer, since it wasn't getting any cooler.
With 2 miles to go, things starting heating up some. I tried to stay near the front. The last time I did this stage, I got 3rd so I was hoping for another good finish today. I was in the wind for part of the final run in, but wasn't working too hard and was holding my position. I figured that you wanted to be on the right for favorable wind in the sprint. But, I quickly got pushed to the left at this point. At the 1k to go sign, I had good position, even if I was on the left. We went through one final sketchy cattleguard-chicane to the finishing straight.
I had a clear line to the finish at the 500m sign. I knew it was too early, and I knew I was on the wrong side for the wind - so I went anyway. I guess the lactic acid was clouding things for me mentally. I was 3rd as we ramped it up. One guy dropped off, but another took his place. With 200 meters to go I started to fade badly. Another guy came past me with good speed at 100m. I got punked by one more at the line and managed 5th place.
No change on GC. Tomorrow is the crit - I really just want some time to recover. Although I do feel like I'm riding myself into form, I think an easy day would do wonders.
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