Fayetteville Stage Race

Early Saturday morning, the Cat 4s lined up at the starting line. I was tired and a bit low on energy, but otherwise excited for the race. We started slow, and I had no problem with sitting about mid pack and coasting at a leisurely pace. But two miles in, I heard a terrible noise- a slow hiss. I pulled over as as my tire flattened, but the wheel car was nowhere to be seen. 2 minutes passed before I saw it coming up the road, and even with my fastest wheel change I knew my chances of catching were slim. Hoping the pace stayed slow, I hammered back up the road, shouting at another rider who had flatted to get it changed quick so we could work together. A couple minutes later he caught on, and together we started pushing until the pack was in sight. Before we were close, though, I saw an attack on the hill- the pack took off, and we were left in the dust. Devastated and surely in last place, I let the other rider go as I decided to take a leisurely pace. My comfortable ride took a turn for the worst as it began to rain though. As temperatures began to drop, I lost my will to complain to the empty road around me, and instead was forced to tell myself over and over that I was not going to freeze to death. 20 miles and another flat tire later, I began to hyperventilate without exertion and began to seriously worry about my well being. If it had been an option, I would most likely have called it quits, but I decided it was better to be riding than freezing in a ball on the side of the road. After I finished, I sat inside for 20 minutes, shivering so hard my entire body was cramping. Easily the coldest I had been in my entire life.

I had made it to the time trial however, and was excited to be riding my favorite track bike for the course. Starting with a tailwind, I was forced to spin a 115 cadence as I took off down the road. The first turn quickly approached, but the directing official was up the road concerned with something else going on. Assuming that he'd known I was coming and would not have left his post if it was an intended turn, I continued straight, hearing him shout moments later for me to turn around. I did so slowly, unable to brake on my fixed gear, and was passed by my 30 second and minute man before I was back on track. I quickly got into a groove though, and working much harder than before caught both men just before the start of the uphill last few kilometers. In much too high a gear ratio, I did all I could to keep my pace of 12 mph with a cadense of less than 50 rpm. Somehow I was not caught by either men during this section, and finished with a position of 39th, about 20 places behind where I would have been had I not lossed a minute or so.

With high hopes for at least some chance at upgrade points, I road hard for the first lap of the 3 lap course Sunday morning. With men up the road, I did my share of work to help the pack catch them by the end of the first lap. Things then heated up, and our field stretched out into a giant snake of riders with gaps opening left and right. I worked hard to keep a good position in the lead pack, but as our tailwind picked up, I momentarily ran out of gears before I remembered to put it in the big ring. That was all it needed for a gap to open up as I was popped off the back, working my ass off to get back on. I thought I was done just before a poorly organized chase group caught up to me. Trying to work together with anyone I could, a few of us stayed in close proximity to the slightly slowed lead pack. After being dropped by a man I had been working with, a large, tall rider came up slowly along side me. I hopped on his wheel thinking it was my lucky day, but with less than a 15 second break in his windshadow, he began swerving to the side and waving me ahead. Of course, being about twice my size I wasn't the wind block he had hoped for, and he quickly fell off my pull. Just when all hope seemed lost, I became the third in a group of 2 riders, and taking hard, quick pulls we made it back into the pack as it slowed to a very social pace. The next lap and a half followed this slow speed as I had plenty of time to start thinking about my apetite. Despite our low efforts, I noticed crampy twitches in my legs as my stomach began to growl. 1 k from the finish line the pace finally picked up, though I found it hard to keep a top 10 position. Exhausted, I threw in the towel with 200 meters to go as the entire pack passed me and I finished last in the group, coasting through the finish.

The weekend was hardly a loss in my mind though. I loved spending time with the team and sharing stories from our woeful races. Most importantly, I reached new limits of endurance for both the elements and my burning legs, and am happy to be stronger for them.