Green Mountain Stage Race

The final 2 weeks of my season consisted of traveling to Vermont for the 4 day Green Mountain stage race. I arrived on Thursday afternoon, after a hassle free flight through Philly and into Burlington. I had shipped my bike before my arrival to a local bike shop, since the cost of checking one on a flight now is outrageous. Both Kim and my parents joined me for the weekend, helping me at the feed zones, but also getting to relax a bit themselves in the Vermont countryside. After picking up the bike we drove out to Waitsfield to the house we were renting for the weekend. It was the same place that we rented last year, which is an awesome house right by the first 3 stages. The view from the back window is amazing, complete with grazing cows and the Sugar Bush ski resort in the background. After unpacking, I reconed the TT course and then we got some dinner at a nearby bed and breakfast

Friday, ITT, 7 miles

My goal today was to best my time from last year and ride the course smarter. I had a good idea of what power numbers I wanted to maintain on the 2 mile climb out before the course turned into rolling terrain for the next 4 miles before the final steep kicker to the finish. I got out strong and held a good pace up the climb. The middle section was all about staying as aero as possible and getting myself into a good hard rhythm. The final downhill I stayed tucked as long as possible into the steep hill that followed, trying to carry all my momentum into my sprint over the hill, and into the false flat finish. It was good for 40th place, and the times were all slower this year than last because of a steady headwind on the point to point course.

Saturday, RR 72 miles

It was perfect weather today and a great road race course. The loop was not the same as last year so I didn't have any experience that would help me here. There was a long uphill at the start of each lap, followed by a long downhill and a fairly challenging backside before the flat sprint into the finish. The first time up the climb was neutral, and then the racing began. My plan was to not even test the legs until lap 2, so I kept good position and stayed out of the wind. Lap 2 and 3 I tried to go for some KOM points, but both times I went way too early and got caught half way up the climb. The aggressiveness kept me in good position on the climbs though so I didn't have to chase at all on the downhill. The last lap I was feeling very good, and really focused on moving to the top 20 positions for the sprint. The last 5km was a war zone, with about 4-5 crashes in the final K's. The crazy thing was that I was near the front and all of them were happening near the front. Only 2 really affected me, but the last one closest to the finish line took me out of the game. I thought for sure I was going down as I saw a guy just in front and to the right of me go down hard after a rider in front of him severely overreacted and swerved hard left. I had to touch the brakes a bit which took me out of the top guys. I never got to unleash a sprint which is unfortunate because my legs felt absolutely amazing. I finished 12th, with the top 15 separated by probably less than a second.

Sunday, RR 74 miles. App Gap Mtn Finish

In last year's race this was my best stage finish, and the course was identical this year. Last year an early break went and got caught at the base of the last climb, same with this year. The race started in the parking lot of the Sugar Bush Ski resort, at 8am! Normally I wouldn't mind this, but it gets pretty cold at night in Vermont, so the temps were in the low 50s with a 2mile downhill section to start out the day. It wasn't as bad as I thought since the downhill section was neutral so we were riding the brakes the whole way. 10 miles in there starts to appear some pretty nasty potholes on the road, and without seeing it till the last second I nailed one hard and bottomed out my rear wheel, flatting instantly. I stayed completely calm, shifted into my 39-11, pulled to the side and removed my rear wheel just as the SRAM guy was getting there with a wheel. He made a quick swap and gave me a push. I got back up to speed as the SRAM car pulled in front of me and I drafted back to the rear of the peloton. Finally, success! I have only flatted in a road race 2 times before this, and both times never gotten back to the group. I immediately made my way back to the front, recovered and ate and drank. Although now with the new wheel, my shifting was completely dialed into the new cassette, and every cog worked except my 25! I could ride in the 25 only if I held the lever in and pedaled, which sucked. I wouldn't worry about it until the last climb. The next 50 miles were pretty uneventful. Dave had gotten into the early break, and I got into a small chase group over the first climb. We stayed away until the top and got caught on the downhill. Then Peter bridged up with another rider later in the race. It was a large group up the rode though, too large to work together, and I was pretty certain it would come back together during the last climb. It did, and I was back in contact with the leaders.

Monday, Downtown Burlington Criterium

The final crit went a little bit like last year. I started with good position, couldn't keep it, and then just kinda gave up. The start of this race is a bit crazy, with a true fight to get the best starting position possible. There are guys holding a rope to keep the racers back, and when they let everyone finally approach the line it is a mad dash. I actually got a great spot at the front and spent the first few laps there, until I slowly started moving back. I don't know what it is about this course, but I can't seem to get into a good rhythm during it. The race is extremely hard as well, with a long uphill to through the start finish straight that is an all out effort each lap. The section before that is a fast downhill to big left hand turn, and I can never seem to get the right line out of. But anyway. I finally found myself at the back, and rode till the halfway mark and pulled myself. It would have been almost impossible for me to move back to the front, and I just didn't have it in me today.

So this year went a lot like last year did overall. I had one decent result, followed by a really bad crit. By hey, I'm still having fun and know my time will come!