Salida 2008, or What Not To Do in a Race

Road race - Saturday 7-26-2008: My favorite road course in CO. a 12-mile loop, with not a lick of flat in it. 1300' of climbing each lap, with the finish at the top. A real all-rounder's course, perfect for me.

I drove down there with my teammate Taylor, a gifted sprinter, but not a renowned climber. We left Denver at 6 with Chipoltle Burritos. Got to Salida at 8, and I accompanied another teammate Jeff to dinner. Not that I needed dinner again, but I ate it anyway - a big blackened chicken salad and a huge basket of sweet-potato fries.

Got up at 7 for our 8:10 start time, got dressed, and went down to the breakfast room and ate: 1 toast sandwich with peanut butter and banana, 1 large waffle with peanut butter, banana, and syrup. I wasn't even hungry.

Some of you might be questioning my judgment, eating a huge breakfast some 35 minutes before maybe the hardest race in the season. Well, my judgment was sleeping in at the apartment in Denver, so I didn't question it at all.

Race starts, and I'm good. 10 miles in we start the real climb, and I'm there. Near the front, legs are firing, I'm going to have a good day......until...... Halfway up, my stomach demands I pull over and get rid of breakfast (and probably the 2nd dinner as well). Pack is gone up the road, and I spend the next lap riding within the relatively low limits my guts impose.

I rode the rest of the 72 mile race solo - I was remarkably fast for being alone, which just means I had really good legs and squandered them by overeating. I was making up time every lap, but you just can't close that kind of gap.

Most guys drop out of races like that when they're dropped, but not me - I finished 39th of 45 finishers, after 68 started. This course is just too good not to ride, especially since I'd driven all that way to do it. The highlight of the course is the downhill - you go over the top, scream through some curvy rollers, and then go down quick. It's like a roller-coaster - you can see what's coming and you just have to be ready. Cruising at 48 or so, you drop over this last pitch and hit close to 60 on each lap.

A couple pics - the photog was sitting in the middle of the steep climb, yelling things like "Go! Go! Those guys don't have anything on you! Catch them!". Nothing else to do but laugh and mug for the camera.

http://markwoolcott.exposuremanager.com/p/salida_omnium_road_race_2008/_mg_48005

http://markwoolcott.exposuremanager.com/p/salida_omnium_road_race_2008/_mg_492243

Crit: Sunday 7-27-2008: Woke up feeling good, ate a good breakfast 3+ hours before the race. Warmed up, and lined up with the plan that I was to attack on the first lap, just to see what happened. Had a bit of a slow clip-in, and didn't get off the line quickly. A group of 4 did, though, including my teammate Randy. So I went to the front with a guy whose teammate was also up the road, and we kept the pace down to let them get some leash. I watched Randy totally screw up the 4th corner, sending his bike sideways (he stayed up), and dropped himself from the group. I told the other guy at the front that I had to get up there and I would send randy back, so I attacked. Uphill, into the wind. Dumb. I caught the group, but dragged a few with me, and I was spent. Absolutely could not catch onto the pack as they screamed by, so I was dropped. Raced solo (again), but this time for only 20 minutes before I was lapped and pulled. Apparently I only had one effort in me that day, and that was it.

All in all, a fun, but unsuccessful weekend.