This is a little embarrassing - the Topsport Stage Race Report

Where: Oakdale and Copperopolis, CA

When: Saturday and Sunday March 30 and April Fools Day, 2012
Race: TopSport Stage Race
Stats: See the first paragraph below. Pouring rain and cold on Saturday. Nice and partly cloudy on Sunday.

Overall Placing: 16th out of 25

I was the only CoreTechs rider in this race

The TopSport Stage Race is three races in two days. For me, I ride a 54 mile road race at Knights Ferry on Saturday afternoon, a 75 minute circuit race in Copperopolis on Sunday morning and a 10 mile time trial, also in Copperopolis, on Sunday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to this weekend, partly because the last time I did a stage race I almost won.

Hmmm... let's think back. The last time I rode a time trial (except for the Low Key Hill Climbs) was before purpose-built time trial bikes had been invented. The last time I rode a stage race was almost 25 years ago. That stage race ended poorly because of a flat tire at a very inopportune point in the race and I never was really good at time trials. Still, I'm excited. I'm pretty fit and I think I'll do well.

Saturday:

Kate and I plan to drive up in the morning on Saturday getting to Knights Ferry about two hours before my race starts. We don't really manage our morning very well and we get a late start to the drive. I'm not worried though, I've done this drive four times in the last few months and I know how long it takes and I have plenty of time... I should have been worried!

It's raining buckets for the entire drive and we get caught in numerous sections of slow traffic. I should have left home earlier. By the time I get to the race course, it is eight minutes before my race is to start and I need to register, pin on my number and get dressed. As I run through the pouring rain to registration, my competitors are lining up for the start. I get my number and run back to my truck. My race has already left and I hear the referee telling the next wave of riders that the race will only be one lap (about 25 miles) and I assume - correctly - the same is true for my race. I get in my truck and get dressed for the race and the weather.

By the time I'm ready, it is at least 20 minutes after the start of my race. I decide that I'll go anyway because, I made the drive, I want to race on Sunday and it seems unfair to be allowed to race in the stages on Sunday if I don't do the same "ride" that the others are doing on Saturday in the rain. Besides, I like to ride my bicycle! Actual race report: It is 45 degrees, a light wind, raining and wet. I start with a 20 minute deficit but the pack is riding slowly and I'm riding hard and alone (yet another solo break, this time off the back?). I finish about eleven minutes behind the winner of Saturday's stage 1. Given my bone-headed tardiness, I consider this success.

By the end of the race, I am completely soaked but not too cold. My "rain gloves" are so wet that I wring about 10 ounces of water out of each one! So, I jump back into my truck and change into warm, dry clothes and head to the hotel to get my riding gear dried out and ready for Sunday.

An excellent pasta dinner on Sunday evening with a small glass of wine and I sleep well.

Sunday:

I get up early, load up the truck and head to Copperopolis. I'm determined to make up for my poor planning and tardiness on Saturday. There is a heavy mist in the air at the hotel but when we get to Copperopolis, the roads are wet but the weather is clearing and dry.

My next stage is the circuit race on the same course as the Copper Town Square Circuit Race this past February. So, I'm on the start line after a decent warm-up. We get our normal briefing from the referee and at the whistle, we're off. I'm planning a couple of laps of riding comfortably in the pack, making sure to cover any good breaks, then attacking on the rolling terrain to hopefully get a good breakaway going. I'd like to make up some of my time deficit.

The pace is fairly brisk so I'm happy to be in the pack. On lap three, I make an aggressive attack on the second hill. I get a small gap but the entire pack is charging and I get caught in short order. After about a minute, still on lap three before the turn-around, I attack again. This time I have a technical turn where I make some gains but the pack again chases me down very quickly. So, I settle in a few wheels back for a rest.

As we complete the section through the town square and make the left onto Little John Road, I attack again. This time the pack is ready and I never really even get a gap. Even though I have a nine minute deficit, they don't want me to get away. Team Polli Veloci has four riders in the pack and they clearly have plans for the win. In fact, it must have been Paul Wren's job to cover attacks as it seems that he's the guy who does most of the work keeping the pack together - he is a strong dude!

But, I'm determined. On the next hill, I make another attack - this time I go for as long as I reasonably can. The pack is strung out behind me and I can't get away. So, at the turn-around, I settle back into the pack again and check the matches box to see if there is anything left. After a lap of rest, I make one more attack before the turn-around on the last lap, again to no avail. The pack is going to the finish line together.

This is where I get my second painful lesson of the weekend: "Make sure you know where you are on the course at all times, especially at the finish." As we complete our final lap, I catastrophically misjudge the distance to the finish line. I'm too focused on the riders around me and I don't realize we're only about 250 meters to go when everyone around me is starting to sprint. In my head, we have over a kilometer to go and I can't believe these guys think they can sprint for that distance. Then I see the finish line and the 200 meters to go sign and it is too late, I've missed the sprint and cross the finish line at the back of the pack. Crap.

Well, that is racing. If we knew how it would turn out every time, it wouldn't be as much fun. The bonus is that I get a valuable lesson and I still have the time trial to do. So I head back to my truck to get ready for that.

The TT:
I watch the Tour de France so I know that the warm-up for a short time trial is critical. So, with an hour before my start time, I'm on my bike getting the old cardio engine primed. I head over to the start area and watch a couple of starts to learn how it is supposed to be done. Then I get a course briefing from Mark Dames and some technique advice from Andrew. I have about 35 minutes left to get my legs accustomed to the effort and to get my heartrate up. When I roll up to the start, I'm ready.

The course is simple, ten miles out and back on rolling hills and rough country roads. The five miles out is uphill and there is a vicious headwind. Vicious. The five miles back is downhill with a tail wind (tail winds are never vicious.) Time trials are by definition an exercise in suffering and this one is true to that definition. The head wind makes it difficult to settle into a consistant effort. Everytime I think I have everything under control, the wind slaps me back and I'm struggling to keep from blowing up.

Still, I catch my 30 second man well before the turn-around and he's on a full TT rig. I'm on my road bike so I feel I'm doing well. After the turn-around, I'm starting to get things in control. I can ride at the edge of my aerobic max and at a more consistant effort (see, I told you tail winds were never vicious!). Shortly after the turn-around I get passed by the rider, and eventual overall winner, who started a minute behind me. He is on a full TT rig, aero helmet and all, with the added benefit of a gigantic 60 tooth front chain-ring. With the tail wind and generally descending back section of the course, he can keep his cadence in the comfort zone and still maintain over 40 miles per hour for much of it.

At the end, I'm very pleased with my TT performance. I finish in fifth place and I'm the first non-TT specific bike to finish. Woot!

Overall:

So, I finish 16th out of 25 overall - 13 minutes and 14 seconds behind the winner. It is an amazing, eventful, trying, wild and wooly weekend and I had fun. I'll definitely do it again!

Thanks for reading!

Tom Rice
Bicycle Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team