Hugo Road
June 18, 2006
I drove out to the race with teammate David Kutcipal. David is new to road racing. He did one race last year, Deer Trail, and finished 7th. Not bad. He previously raced on single-speed mountain bikes and specialized in endurance races like the Leadville 100 and the Vail 100. He’s also an accomplished ultra-runner. He finished his first 100-mile race, the super high-altitude Leadville 100, on his first try, which is rare. He’s also finished the Wasatch 100 which has 27,000 feet of climbing. This dude is tough!
We signed in at the start, pumped up the tires, and hopped on. I rode for about 20 minutes to warm-up and then queue for our 10:08 start. I carried three water bottles, one in my jersey pocket. I staged next to Gene-o Palumbo and David and we notice Chris Busacca, Bruce Polderman, and John Guillaume further up on the right. We were about halfway back in the pack.
The race course is unique in that it is just a single 63-mile loop. There are no laps or out-and-backs in this race. It is the purest road race that I’ve done. We had a pretty descent wind coming out of the north, so we started fast and rolled along at 25-30 mph as we headed south. I was probably halfway back for most of the 20-miles we headed south, only moving up just before the turn west, in case anything happened. Nothing much happened in the first hour, except that a solo rider went away right at the start of the race. I’m not sure if we caught this guy and another 2-man break went off or if another rider just bridged up to this guy. Either way, a break was up the rode for nearly 45 miles of this race. The peloton didn’t bother to chase these guys for quite awhile.
Around an hour into the race, near the front of the pack, something bad happened. I don’t know what caused the crash, but it can be as simple as reaching for a water bottle and drifting sideways, touching your front wheel. Riders went down hard. Three rows of riders crashed and I was the first row to not crash. I had time to slam on the brakes and come to stop before hitting the downed riders in front of me. I feared that the riders behind me would plow into me, but that wasn’t the case. I rode around the crash in the grass and chased back onto the front group. This crash split the peloton in half and all six Rocky Mounts riders were in the lead group.
This crash turned out to be a very nasty one. A rider would tell me later that one of the downed riders looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his face. Two riders didn’t continue the race and were put into ambulances. I’d find out later that the crash was so bad that they stopped the other race categories behind us for 15 minutes! This is stuff that must really stress out the race organizers. Everyone hates to see things like this and the stress of possibly crashing is probably what makes bike races so quick to yell profanities when anyone does an unexpected or dangerous move.
A number of riders got up from the crash and tried to continue. One guy completely taco-ed his wheel and was covered in nasty road race, but he finished. I know this because he took my wheel out of the neutral support vehicle. This is the way support works at this race. You put wheels into the vehicle, but there is no guarantee that you’ll get a wheel when you need one. They just pull out the nearest wheel and slap it on your bike. At Deer Trail I benefited from this but didn’t contribute a wheel since I don’t have any spare 10-speed Campy wheels. Here I contributed a front and a rear wheel with Shimano 9-speed, hoping that I could use it on my bike in a pinch. It was good karma that I didn’t need a wheel today and that I repaid the debt from Deer Trail. After the race, I had to wait quite a while for this rider to come in with my wheel and he had blood all over his legs. Ouch.
I stayed near the back of this group and on the yellow line, getting as much of an echelon draft as I could from the other riders. Twenty minutes later, I see Busacca drifting back in the back and I know he’s heading back to pee. I go with him. It was my first time peeing on the bike and by that I mean I actually peed on my bike! I whipped it out and generally got most of the pee off to the side, but some hit my legs and my bike. I had to stop pedaling to pee and was gapped by the pack, but the relief was worth it. A minute of hard effort had me back safely in the pack.
After we turned to the north, into the headwind, there was a neutral feed zone on the right. I didn’t really need another bottle, but I tossed my empty and picked up a new one. Doing this had me off the back of the pack again, along with a number of other riders. The pace seemed to pick up right here and I had to work hard for a couple of minutes to get fully integrated. I rode David’s wheel for much of chase. I felt it was now time to make an appearance at the front of the peloton to watch for and possible join any attacks. I found Chris Busacca up here and we’d ride within 5 or 6 riders of each other for most of the remainder of the race.
Speaking of other teammates, I saw John early in the race,
always up at the front, but I never got close enough to him to even say hi. I
didn’t see him before or after the race either. He eventually faded back in the
pack and either got dropped by the lead group or, more likely, got caught
behind the second crash and gapped. Yes, there was a second crash. While
heading north we caught and passed two dropped riders from the Cat. 4 race, which had started 8 minutes in front of us. One of
these riders was apparently a junior and he veered into our pack. I guess he
was trying to integrate into the pack and just did it badly, going much slower
and making a radical position change. I don’t know for sure, because I wasn’t
caught behind this crash, having moved to the front already, and didn’t even
know about the crash until after the race. Unfortunately, Gene went down in the
crash. He managed to slow way down before toppling over and had just minor road
rash. Bruce was behind the crash and noticed the downed
Things were heating up now and many attacks occurred and some erratic pacelines were started and quickly abandoned as not many riders were pulling through. Mike Bowers of Sear got frustrated with lack of a concerted chase and yelled, “I guess we’re all racing for 3rd place, then.” He was referring to the break of two riders that were still up the road. Chris and I were at the front of the peloton now and we took four or fives turns on the front to help in closing down the break. Pat of Sports Garage and Steve Young of Simple Green were also working it, along with a couple of Sear riders and a few others.
I had cleaned my bike the morning of the race, but didn’t lube it, since I was short on time, and figured I’d do that at the race. I remembered this omission about ten minutes before the start of the race, but didn’t want to stress myself out by going back to the car at such a late time. My bike wasn’t making any noise at the time and I figured it would be okay for another 2-3 hours. Wrong! My bike was squeaking like box of mice from mid-race on.
Each time a hill would present itself, Busacca would try and attack, but everyone was on his wheel, including myself. We rotated through, thinking we had a break, but we didn’t. Despite the hard pace, the pack wasn’t breaking up. The hills weren’t steep enough or long enough, they were really just rollers. We eventually caught the breakaway pair and absolutely blew by them. They had been out there working hard for so long. I was told later that they did latch onto the lead pack, but got shot out the back before the finish.
After we caught the lead riders, I stopped working at the front, along with Busacca. I took a pull at the front maybe one other time, up a hill, when we thought we could get a break. It was going so hard that I assumed we’d be shedding riders fast. At one point I moved to the left, sat up, and looked back to see the size of the lead group. When I turned back forward the rider next to me asked, “What did you see back there?” I said, “Everybody.” We still had at least 30 riders and maybe 40, though only 15 or so riders were ever at the front. I wondered if I should slip back in the pack and just hang on for a bit longer, but decided to stay at the front.
On one rise the pace went up again, as it always did, but no break was forming. A Sear rider, who I’d later find out to be their time trialing specialist Tim Cody, yells, “Come on, guys, work it!” He was sitting behind and to my left when he said this and I was sitting probably 8th or 10th in the pack. When he yelled it a second time, I responded, “No whining from the back, dude. If you don’t like the pace, get up there on the front.” I heard a lot of whining about the pace at Deer Trail when we were riding into a huge headwind, but it’s logical to go slow then. Who wants to kill themselves on the front of the peloton when everyone else can sit back, hardly put out any effort at all, and easily float along with the group? Nobody wants to do that. If you are in the front in that situation, you soft pedal. Anyway, Cody didn’t like my remark and immediately responded, “F%^& you! I haven’t seen you up front all day.” Now I should have just answered with “That’s why I’m not whining,” but instead I said, “Then you haven’t been up there.” He said something else and Busacca could see I was wasting energy so he just said, “Let it go, Bill.” Good advice to be sure and I dropped it. Later, at race headquarters, as I was picking up my wheels, Cody came up to me and stuck out his hand. I shook it and asked, “Were you the guy bitching at me?” He said he was and that he was sorry. It was cool of him to do this. I assured him that I was indeed at the front more than a few times. I wanted to meet this guy before the race because I knew he was a great time trialist and that we shouldn’t let him get into any breaks without us.
We made the fourth and final turn and headed east towards the finish. There were 11 miles to go and the pace immediately picked up again. We descended, gradually, most of the way to the finish now, and a couple of times I was spun out in my 11-tooth gear (riding a compact chain ring, though). Before the turn, Busacca rides up to me and asks, “Want to attack after the turn?” I say, “I think we’re moving too fast for that, but I’ll go with you.” After the turn, Chris did try to attack a couple more times, but everyone was on him, including myself. I didn’t just like sitting in and waiting for the sprint, but when pack is moving at 30 mph it’s too fast for me to attack. I have to ride smart and within my abilities, even if it means just sitting in, as frustrating as that can be.
As we closed in on the finish, things got strung out even more. I was always within the top ten riders and at this point I had found Steve Young’s wheel. He’s a great guy, super strong rider, and one big draft. My plan was to shadow him the rest of the race. With about two miles to go, Steve moved up along the right side of the road, with me glued to his wheel. Just as Steve moved into the front of the group, the rider to my left, who must have been thinking he could jump on Steve’s wheel, moved radically left and into me. I don’t know if he didn’t see him or what, but when he moved to the right, I was dead even with him. I was pushed off the road, into the grass, and we briefly locked up handlebars. Instinctively I yelled a profanity and struggled to keep my bike upright. I fishtailed left and right, bouncing over the grass, dirt, and rocks at 30 mph. I thought for sure I was going down. I pulled my left foot out of the pedal to try and steady myself, as I slowed down. Eventually, I got control of my bike and, still upright, steered it back onto the road. I had lost about 20 places, was unclipped from my pedal, was going 15 mph, and at the same time I went into the grass, Steve, Pat, and Chris got clear of the peloton. This would prove to be the winning break, as they worked well together for the remaining 2-3 kilometers.
As I got back onto the road, Bruce went by him. I quickly clipped in and chased hard up to Bruce. I was pissed and in trouble, with not much time to make up ground. I knew I could sprint faster than Bruce, at least on such flat terrain, so I pulled up to him and said, “Bruce, get me back up to the front.” I was hoping Bruce could pull me back to the front, saving myself for the final 500 meters. I got on Bruce’s wheel, but we weren’t moving up in the pack. I said “Bruce, get me up there” before realizing that he was burying himself already. He didn’t have anymore. This took a while to sink in because Bruce is superhuman. He climbs twice as fast as I do and crushed me in the state TT, over fairly flat terrain. I just have trouble conceiving of a scenario where I could ride faster than Bruce, but if there is one, this is the race. Bruce is tremendously powerful, but he’s much smaller than the other riders left in this field. I out-weigh him by 35 pounds and I was out-weighed by Steve Young and Pat by 40-50 pounds. Pat, who’d get second, weighs 214 pounds. Bruce weighs 130 pounds.
I pulled left, into the wind and pushed to get back to the front of the chase group. By the time the final sprint started, I felt like my sprint started at 1000 meters. Three or four riders zoomed by me, including three Sear riders. Dang! I dug deep again and passed one Sear rider, Mike Bowers, back. I finished a very disappointing 9th, but we had closed things down so much that I was given the same time as Busacca, who finished 3rd. Chris had been forced to lead out the break with Pat sitting on his wheel and Steve on Pat’s wheel. Pat went with 400 meters to go and died with 100 meters to go. Steve won easily and time gaps were recorded between the top three riders. Chris easily hung on for third, deservedly so.
David and Bruce were at the back of the lead group and finished 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Sear finished 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. Tim Cody finished 12th. We only scored two riders for BAT and lost some ground to Sear here, but Bruce and Scott will set things right once the hill climbing races start. We 14 points to Sear at this race and are currently 24 points behind Sear, 268 to 244. John Guillaume finished 46th and Gene finished 50th, so at least all our riders finished. Out of 92 starters, 79 finished the race.
My heart rate was only 148 as Steve Young and I were moving up to the front. I had room to go harder. After being run off the road, my heart rate hit 170 and would remain above there for the final five minutes of the race, hitting 177 in the final sprint. We covered 63 miles in 2h41m.
Bruce’s thoughts:
Two guys shot off
early in the race. The group let them go assuming they'd
be reeled-in later. They were, but not until
about halfway in the race. The
peloton was getting nervous about them. It was
an impressive attempt. There
were not one, but TWO crashes. One was pretty
bad. Bad enough where they
stopped the race behind us. Cat 4's, women’s and 45+/4's waited
15 minutes at
a dead stop while they scraped some guy off the
pavement who, when I passed
him was not moving at all. Scary shit.
As is customary at
this race, there was an attack just after the "neutral"
feed zone. The crash happened right there and
that was the separation of the
group. I was caught behind the crash and had to
TT my way back, just as the
group was attacking. I was lucky to catch. With
about 30-40 the group stayed
together for a good 20 miles or so with some
surges and attacks but all were
covered. The attacks did succeed in shelling
about 10 from the group leaving
about 20-25 for the last K.
John was filling
Matt's old role and rode at the front of the peloton for a
good part of the day. BAD! I'm not sure what
caused the second crash but I
heard it was a junior who saw us coming and
decided he wanted to jump on the
train. He swerved in the road and took down a
bunch of guys, including Gene.
After the first crash my stomach turned when I
passed and saw an RM rider on
the pavement. I thought it was John but learned
it was Gene sometime later.
This consumed my mind for the rest of the race.
It's awful to know one of
yours went down but not knowing if they're hurt
or will continue. What do
you do in that situation? Stop and help and try
to TT back? Or continue
knowing the main field is attacking to try to
capitalize on the misfortune?
David and I were
pretty much riding at the back of the field most of the
remainder of the race. The pace was hard and I
saw Busacca trying to attack
on several occasions. I kept looking around at
the size of the dudes on
bikes and was wondering what
the hell I was doing there. I kept reminding
myself that my turn is coming in July and
suffered on.
With 1K to go the
field was still about 20-25 guys. It was going to be a
sprint finish. I was hopeful that Bill and Chris
would be right in the mix
and would do well for BAT. Next thing I know I
see Bill and some dude riding
side-by-side off in the grass on the side of the
road. Bill is doing some
'cross move and drifting back toward David and I. He pulls back on the road
and I tried to help him get back to the front.
No way. The pace was very
high at this point and I'm doing everything I
can to stay with the main
field. Bill shoots up and I wish him luck.
The finish of this race was extremely disappointing to me. At Deer Trail I was right with Busacca and Steve Young at the finish. Here I was right on Steve Young’s wheel when I got driven off the road. I met Pat, the second place finisher, at the Rocky Mounts crit. He went for the first prime with me and I held him off at the line. We worked together for a lap before sitting up. He’s strong to be sure, but I think I would have been in this break. The strongest and most aggressive riders finished 1-2-3 and that is fitting justice. Both Pat and Steve credited Busacca with making the race for them. He’s a relentless attacker with the strength to back it up. I guess that is bike racing, but to ride 61+ miles and to get within two kilometers of the finish and then get driven off the course sucks. Of course, it sucked worse for Gene, who was crashed by no fault of his own, and must worse for the guys who took the ride to the hospital.
