Home  Team BIKEMAN Fat Tire Classic
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Sean Daley
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008 |
Fat Tire Classic
Winding Trails
Farmington, CT
4/47/2008
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Before I go into today’s face report it should be understood that I disdain fast rolling courses for some reason, and prefer arduous climbs and technical descents. With that in mind, Winding Trails is my least favorite course on the Root 66 race schedule. Now don’t get me wrong it’s fun to ride, tight single track, short flats, and loose corners. But for racing, it leaves me in the dust. I just cannot power away in the big ring for over an hour with out reprieve. It’s too punishing.
I feel confident that I am not alone in this. The look on rider’s faces at the end of the race, combined with what my Fiancé said of the riders coming through the feed zone, says that the pace was high. A high pace, low technicality, and no climbs leaves me with a solo ride at the rear. That’s okay though. Like fellow Teammate Dave Barr said ‘It’s about the journey.’
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So it was my first race in expert and I was planning on sitting in and seeing how it was going to go. I knew that this wasn’t my course. I was a little nervous about the first little descent, it was all torn up and had a huge bump at the bottom, during a pre ride I went down and scraped my leg. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go with a fast group going through there, but it turned out okay. In the first corner I lost my line and slid out. I had to jump off and run. Then there was a crash in the first single track section that broke the field into two groups. The lead riders were gone and I was hanging in with the guys in the back. After the first lap I ended up alone. This is how I rode the rest of the race, alone, being caught by the leaders of the older categories now and then but for the most part alone. It’s hard to ride alone, the guys from the older categories that catch you are riding much stronger and they just blow by, and then you are once again, alone. I felt like I let up and just settled into a training pace. I wasn't giving my all on the climbs, I wasn’t suffering like I should. I was just off in no mans land, alone.
I tried telling myself it was about the journey but for the last two laps it seemed to be about the race, the fact that I was alone, and the fact that I wasn’t riding very hard. I was bummed. It’s easy to get bummed when things aren’t going your way in cycling, or in life. But in cycling things go wrong a lot. You have to suck it up and appreciate the miles you getting in. So I put on a smile and laughed it up as I came through the feed zone and had a good day. The best part was at the end of the race when I was a bit confused about how many laps I had done. My indecisiveness left me at the mercy of the crowd who assured me that I was in fact done. I finished in 11th place out of 13th about 12 minutes off the lead.
Last year I raced sport at Farmington and came in fourth, I wasn’t too happy with that because at Mount Snow the week before I had won beginner with a time that was a minute faster than the sport first place (they did the same number of laps). It left me not really appreciating the fast course and this year is no different I can’t say it will ever be a race I expect to do well in. The good news is that I have upgraded to expert—that wasn’t good news yesterday at lap four—and I appreciate the extra miles and fierce competition. I expect things to go better in the next few races, we’ll see.
To end the day I had dinner with my best friend, my Fiancé Kyla. She’s a great girl, she handed out water to fellow teammates and my warm up partner Katriel. She is very supportive and always excited to come to the races. So it was nice to sit down and end the day with a meal. Of course we argued about where to eat, she wanted Panera and I wanted anywhere with a steak or a burger (Kyla’s a vegetarian). Once I convinced her that the bread at the sports bar was just as good as Panera she gave in (with a roll of the eyes).
Back at the house I washed the numerous wounds I had accumulated throughout the day—I fell again cooling down, doh—and then before I could say goodnight I was out like a light.
See you at the races.
Sean |
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