I rushed out of work to throw my bike into the back seat of the convertible and head out to Donaldson Center for the Tuesday Night World Championships. The big question of the night was whether I would have the legs to hang with the A group for the six laps planned for the evening. What happened was I learned some valuable lessons.
The first lap seemed to be slower than normal. This made me happy because I didn’t have time to warm up. However, I determined it wouldn’t matter anyway. Even if some riders attempted a break on the first lap, I was going to do nothing about it.
That first lap was just under 19 minutes, but things picked up in the second one. We knocked two minutes off the first lap time. It was on this lap that I started to learn my first lesson of the night and experienced the “worst of times.”
A break had formed and I was sitting about fifth wheel in a chase group. My teammate, Reece, was up there with about six other riders. My group crossed the tracks and slowed. It was at that point I made the mistake of becoming a strategist.
I looked at the riders around me and determined that if the opportunity presented itself, I could attack, create a gap, and then bridge over to the break to join Reece. The pace line fell apart and I was near the front. I accelerated and the rider next to me responded but miss shifted. I then sprinted and got the gap I was wanting.
The problem was 1) I got caught out in no man’s land. I got a gap on the riders behind me, but could not seem to close the deal with the break ahead of me. What to do? Do I continue fighting to join them or do I back off and go back to the chasers? 2) I created a gap on the riders that were around me. However, there were some stronger riders sitting behind them. They were able to come around and then get on my wheel.
By the time I got within 10 yards or so of the break, these stronger riders started to come around me. As they passed, almost to a man they looked over at me. My mind interpreted their glances as saying, “Why did you do that?” I had just pulled the field up to the break and shut down the chances of my teammate.
This was confirmed when on the third lap Reece came by me and looking back said, “I buried myself to get up in that break and then I look back and see you bringing the field. What’s up with that?” I could tell he was not happy. I didn’t blame him and spent the next several minutes with my tail between my legs.
It obviously got into my head because a little over half way through that lap my teammate John came up and put an arm around my shoulder. “Relax,” he said. “You are tense. It is making you weave. Take it easy.” It was just what I needed. I relaxed my shoulders and arms and tried to focus on putting the energy into my legs.
I was praying by this point that Reece would get into another break. Finally, in the fourth and fifth laps a break formed. Not only was Reece there, but John had also pulled himself into the group.
That left Mark, Louis, Randy, and me in the main field. There was no way I was going to try to bridge to the break! It was then that I started to experience the “best of times.” We four riders started to mix in with any chase attempts to confuse their rhythm. The first concerted effort came from the Spinx riders. Mark and I slipped into their pace line and tried to slow them without actually blocking them.
It is harder than it sounds. You want to slow any attacks, but you don’t want to just get in front of them and stop. I tried to get into a rotation and when I pulled through hold a controlled pace that was slightly slower than the chasers. At other times, I would hang back off the back of their rotation and just let them do the work.
This continued with various individual riders and teams as we completed lap five and continued into lap six. It was funny, but I didn’t even think about how I was feeling. It was so much fun working with my teammates to help extend the gap for Reece and John.
Of course, going into the sixth lap I started arguing with myself, “Ok, you’ve done your work, just go ahead and sit up.” That was the wimpy side of me. “Don’t quit. You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Suffer to the end.” That was the competitive part of me. The later won out.
That sixth lap was tough at the beginning. Knowing the break was safe and we were now racing amongst ourselves, it was taking a bit more effort. However, the farther I got into the lap, the better I started to feel. By the time we started the climb toward the finish, I was moving right along with the leaders.
Overall, it was a great night. Even in my mistakes, I learned some valuable lessons. I do fear that I might be getting the reputation for being the idiot that chases down all the breaks. Several times I would be in a group and a rider or two would look over at me with a look of expectation on their faces. It was as though they were expecting me to start an attack.
Thankfully, I learned my lesson and was able to disappoint them while Reece brought home a third place.
