Tailwind - Island Lake Induction XC Race

Training this year could be summarized as “the search for my limits”, limits in both time on the bike and pushing speed/power.  I set some training goals that involved training peaks metrics and speed on some training rides.  A lot of the goals have already been achieved.  I power tested after Pontiac and had my best 20 min test ever, still short of my goal for the year, but very promising.  Promising in 2 ways… the first was that I felt strong through the whole test and reverse split the thing!  The second was that I did another 20 min interval after it at subLT and felt good.  These are both good signs as usually I start strong and fade bad and would be so blown out at the end that I couldn’t even think about doing another 20 min interval even remotely hard.  I had a great week of training and felt good till Sunday when I found my limit and was blown out!  After a day of rest, I had back to back goal breaking rides to Richmond and back.  Couple days of rest and it was race day…

Thx Jim Ridley Photo!

After a good warm up with the team, we were lined up and ready to go.  This race, Tailwind started us ahead of the Expert 50+ guys which was good, but still put the Expert 15-18 guys ahead of us.  I was feeling good and looking forward to a great race.  The whole cast of characters were there and hungry as usual.  At the start, I missed my pedal and ended up at the back of the group… not the start I wanted!  I worked hard to get to the front and managed to settle in at 3^rd wheel.
Kyle was really aggressive at the start and was crushing it in the single track most of the first lap.  He obviously thought that he was going to lose us in the single track and I must admit, the kid has some skills.  I just sat back and tried to be efficient and then drafted on the flats.  The pace was pretty quick and at one point Patrick made an attack on a flat section and I had to dig to get back on his wheel.  My legs felt flat and I could already tell that I wasn't going to be able to make any kind of move.  We caught the group ahead of us before the end of the lap and had to work to get around them.  (See Video below from Cameron Buccellato... we are the group with the blue KLM kits about mid way through!)

Thx Jim Ridley Photo!

Gears are definitely an advantage on a wide open course like this.  As we came through the start/finish for the second lap, Todd made a huge move and blows by us and we all have to sprint to pull the train back together.  Shortly after, I let Joe go around as it was obvious that I was holding him up!  A few miles into the second lap, we catch a large group of 40-49 guys and they are going just fast enough that we can’t pass, which ends up neutralizing our race a bit.  We had it whittled down to 4 guys… Todd, Patrick, Joe and myself.  With the slightly slower pace, we were then joined by Todd Ace and Kyle along with a few of the 15-18 guys!!  It was a mess as 3 different classes were trying to get into a better position for the finish.  There was a lot of tire rubbing and a few low speed crashes.  Somehow, I manage to make it around the group and it was back to Todd, Patrick and me for the sprint… or so I thought.  At the last minute, Joe came out of nowhere with a ballsy early sprint and we all scrambled to react.  We were on a sandy 2-track and unfortunately, I had to take the bad line through the sand to try and get around Patrick and Todd.  I gave it all I had, but had to settle for 3^rd with a time of 1:40:08.3, as Joe held on for the win with a time of 1:40:07.7 and I couldn't pull around Patrick who finished in 1:40:07.9!!  The 6^th place SS finished in 1:40.11.1!!  Chaotic… but fun race!!

Congrats to Joe, Todd and Patrick for a great race!!  Also Congrats to B-Rad for another W... he is on a roll!!

Looking forward to rest week and then the Stony Marathon!!