Blue Hills Report

I too figured that I’d write this out before I again embark on a week ofintellectual hell and no riding. I’ll be going back to my home in ColoradoSprings in about a week (to a pretty awesome job where I’m allowed to work myown hours so I can ride/race whenever and as much as I want/need), so I won’tsee you all again until probably the end of August. I’ll keep you updated withmy Colorado racing exploits, though, while rocking the blue and orange (hey,Denver Broncos colors!) in thin air and mountains.

Despite the pouring rain and the gravel I kept finding in my mouth an hour afterthe race, I enjoyed Blue Hills. For one, it was nice being back in Providenceby 10:30am – a nice change from the collegiate season, replete with itssacrificed weekends and 11 hour drives to Pittsburgh. I’ve also discovered inthe past year that Massachusetts-style power climbs are probably my biggestriding strength, and so I enjoyed being able to whip up the climb each lap at20mph in my big ring while people fell off the back. Finally, it was a niceexperience being on the biggest team in the peloton, although I probably lookedlike a weirdo in the extra-large jersey that Michael loaned me along with myBrown argyle shorts. Oh, I had #101 which was sort of cool.

I was apprehensive starting the race – my first USCF of the season, and in therain. There’s definitely a different race dynamic in USCF races compared tocollegiate ones. Collegiate riders, at least in the higher categories, aredefinitely a lot more cautious and deferential to the other guys during a race –probably because we all have to see each other like three times a weekend andtherefore don’t want to kill each other or get a bad reputation. USCF races dobring out some random loonies, though. I definitely made a lot of contactthroughout the race and threw my share of elbows (without any apologies), whichwas a big change from the collegiate races. Some guy right in front of me,early in the race, also went to put his water bottle back down in his cage butinstead dropped it on the ground, which I missed hitting by about half an inchand prompted a bit of a barrage of cussing from me at the time. Casey mentionedafter the race that he heard a whole bunch of cussing throughout the entirerace; for the record, I think he was actually just listening to me.

Radu attacked on the first lap, and was quite a ways off the front with twoother guys. Michael, Casey and I went up to do what we could in terms ofblocking; honestly that’s not a skill that I’ve yet mastered, but Michael andCasey did a good job of it. At first I thought that this would be a race wherea breakaway would win it, but the sightlines were just too long for a break toget out of the attention of the peloton. Radu’s break got pulled in after abouta lap, but after that there was a big presence of Refunds Now riders in the topfifteen or so the whole time: Mark, Michael, Casey, me, Radu were all up therethroughout.

On the climb on the second lap, I went to the front and whipped up the pace atad to hopefully put the hurt in some guys’ legs. There wasn’t really a singlepoint in the race where I was beyond conversational pace, and I definitelydidn’t go anaerobic until the final sprint – but there were definitely a lot ofguys out there who looked like were on the verge of having a stroke, even at thebeginning. I found that I had some good legs on that second lap climb, whichwas a surprise. In my continuing effort to not fail out of school, I hadn’tridden in about a week and had gone to bed at 3:30am beforehand. I chilled nearthe front with the crew on the third lap, finding the point where I was going tostart my final effort on the uphill finish.

On the last lap, Michael took command at the front of the peloton and did thework for several miles, giving me the privilege of sitting second wheel as therain came down heavier and made it a lot harder to see. Casey was also up therewith me, and I could taste a good finish for all of us. Near the base of thefinal climb, people got itchy and sketchy and started trying to unnecessarilythread holes and ignore the yellow line – all of which was unnecessary becausethere was still about 1.5 miles of uphill left on a very wide road. At thebase, I hear a huge yell behind me “ATTACK ON THE RIGHT,” and some guy flies byat about 26mph. I fly up out of the saddle, slam it three gears higher and jumpinto his draft, all of which was unnecessary because he died rather soon. I wasdefinitely overly anxious, and would have been better off relaxing more andsticking to my own plan of attack, but instead I responded to a few moreill-fated attacks up the hill. Then about 100 meters before where I was goingto attack, I see somebody fly up the side for the decisive winning move. I hadtrouble shifting into the proper gear this time, and also had even more troublegetting my legs to respond. I finished somewhere in the top ten along withCasey. I’m a bit disappointed with my lack of discipline in the end, but Iguess considering all of the circumstances I have nothing to complain about. Myanaerobic engine is definitely still firing on all cylinders, but since Ihaven’t done much to improve or even maintain my aerobic fitness in the lastmonth and a half (and have done over 20 races so far this year), it’s time for alittle break and another build phase for me.

On a final note, I never mentioned again that my bike fit has proved wonderful:absolutely no injuries, I’m very comfortable training and racing, finding powerthat I didn’t have before, and able to race in the drops all the time! Just oneweird quirk that I’ve found: I’ve been climbing in the drops a lot during races,not just on power climbs but even long ones. I’m just finding it morecomfortable and faster – you might have seen me doing it during the race. It’skind of weird; maybe it’s just a personal quirk, or maybe a consequence of thefit (since I’d never done it before). Whatever – if it works, do it.