Tour of Walla Walla 2010

I love Walla Walla. Although I don't like the amount of time it takes to drive their from Seattle but I really like the city and the weather. Lindsay and I headed over around 1pm on Friday. We had enough time to get in a nice 45 min ride from the Capri Motel with Adam from Arrivee Endurance Sports/uBrdo.

The clouds were doing some funny things but sure did look cool.


Time Trial

I did this stage race last year but didn't have any teammates with me so this year was great. We had a several team members this year which made it that much more enjoyable. The TT course is a big U shape with a hill right in the middle. The hill is where I lost the most time. I knew when I started the hill that I was going to have problems. I am not sure what happened to my legs but I couldn't get them to turn over fast enough and thought it would be better to stay in the aero position rather than get up out of the saddle. Once over the hill I set a good pace but I already knew I wouldn't be able to make up to much time.
2009 24.59 22nd (Category 5)
2010 24.07 45th (Category 4)

This was my focus race for my early season training so I was hoping for much better results and to start it in 45th, 3:03 behind the winner was tough. However to see my teammate, Jed Barden in 16th place was fantastic. He has been racing really well this year and it was exciting to have one of our teammates in the top 20. Back to the drawing board for me and the TT bike.

Downtown Walla Walla Criterium

We went back to the motel and I relaxed while Lindsay and Amy Harrington went to do some wine tasting. I put the legs up and watched some tv in and out of napping. The unfortunete thing was that our Crit course was going to be cut short because of a funeral taking place. Instead of the full 1.1 mile 8 corner course we were doing the .5 mile course with 6 corners for 25 minutes. We made sure we were their plenty of time ahead of the start so we could get our place at the front of the line of 85 starters. This was going to be fast.

I got away well and tucked in behind the lead group. During the start Jed got together with someone which isn't uncommon when you have that many guys trying to get clipped in and going. It was still a really fun course even though it was shortened. Everyone behaved well in the group with only a few bumping going on. I stayed up near the front and my plan was to try and get in the top 10 for the last lap in order to launch myself for the sprint. I wasn't able to get there and finished 16th.

Jed continued his race but was falling back pretty steady and couldn't figure out what was going on. Come to find out he broke a spoke on his bike at the start line. So he was pedaling with an out of true wheel that was grinding on his brakes for several laps. Shawn made the time cut on the crit so he was happy with that. Travis had some issues with his pedal and crank arm so he wasn't able to stay in touch with the pack. Mark rode a great race and finished with the group in the top 30.

Waitsburg Road Race
58 miles 4300ft of climbing

The major climb of this race is about 3k long or 1.8 miles and at the summit of the climb is the finish line. We had the neutral roll out at the bottom of the hill and they controlled the lead car at about 8 mph. As soon as we got to the top of the climb it was game on. Our team goal was to keep Jed close to the front and help him anyway possible. Jed was the teams best chance of having a good result with the finish being at the top of the climb. He climbs very well and does better on longer climbs so this was right up his alley.

As we came over the hill from the neutral roll out I could here a ting sound coming from my front tire. I put my hand on the tire to clean it off and sure enough I had something stuck in the front tire right in the middle. It appeared to be a tack or staple. The tire held air and I looked over to Shawn and asked him what I should do. He told me to just ride it as long as possible. Which looking back now that was a smart move. The start of the race was fast as it was mostly downhill. Matt from Recycled Cycles took off on a flyer and had a good size gap on the field for several miles. I kept thinking about possibly trying to bridge up to him but then kept thinking about my front tire. I made it 11 miles before it started to go soft. I thankfully was on the shoulder side of the road and was easily out of everyones way. I came to a stop and the follow car with the neutral wheel support was stopped and running up with a front wheel. We got it on in about 30 seconds and I was off. I chased for probably 5 miles before I was able to connect back on. It seemed like forever. The mental aspect of chasing solo was tiring. I kept fighting with myself as my legs were burning and my brain kept saying to stop, they are too far away. I resorted to actually yelling at myself out loud which was kinda strange but hey, it seemed to work. The last 50 yards before I connected back on the pack was the worse. You are so close but you can't stop, you have to push even harder to make sure you get back on. I rode up to Mark and he immediately moved over so he was on my right side and even let me hold onto him for a bit. Thats a teammate. I only had about 3 miles before the big hill and I knew I was going to be in trouble. I spent so much energy trying to connect back on. As we started climbing I started falling back. Thankfully Shawn and Mark were there. Shawn towed Mark and I up the hill. We were gapped off the back and you could see the peleton was splintered into 3 groups. We were in the last group of 5. Now it was time to go to work. All the team rides we did this winter practicing pace lines came in handy. One of the guys that was with us I don't think ever worked a paceline before but we were able to talk to him and get him sorted out. We could see the 2nd group but we just didn't seem to be closing the gap any. Just as we came around a corner the 2nd big hill on the course came into view. Uh oh. Boom. Mark blew up, Shawn blew up and it was just me chasing one of the guys from our group who gapped us on the climb. Damn, I was chasing solo, again! This sucked. I could just make out the group ahead of me and it appeared the whole peleton was back together again. I chased solo for several miles again and could see the one guy from our chase group reconnect. Then I came up to Jordan from SCCA/Starbucks who just got a flat changed. I slowed a little bit and waited for him to catch on. Jordan did alot of the work to get us back up to the group but I helped as much as I could. We connected back on and I moved up to the front to let Jed know I was back in the main group. I shoved as much food down as I could and just sat at the front of the race. Jed took a couple turns at the front attacking the field to see if he could get away. He came back and we were on the yellow line cruising along when someone started moving around and bumbing Jed and Jeff from SCCA/Starbucks. Next thing I know is Jed's in the air crashing down right in front of me doing about 30 mph. I grabbed my breaks and got sideways avoiding the bikes and bodies. I got hit in the leg by a body part but was able to stay upright. I knew Jed was going to be in bad shape. It kinda freaked me out a bit for several miles. He went down pretty hard. It wasn't a easy hit the pavement type of crash. I was pretty pissed as we were on the yellow line not doing anything and someone just lost concentration and caused an accident that included my teammate. The rest of the race was just a blur really. I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere near the front group on the climb so I just planned to pace myself up the hill.


I finished in 50th place, 3 minutes back from the winner. Overall in the GC I was
46th out of 100. The best thing ever was the orange slices, banana slices and water at the finish line!

Aftermath
Amy, Lindsay, and I waited around for about a hour before Shawn and Mark showed up. They come up to Jed still laying in the gravel shoulder in pain. Apparently they do not have cell service where we were so the follow car was unable to get a ambulance up there. They all hopped in the truck and took Jed to the hospital where they pass the ambulance on the way. From the information Shawn and Mark got it wasn't good. His shoulder was messed up and he had severe road rash. Imagine jumping out of a car in your underwear doing 30 mph. Not a good picture. We went to the emergency room and saw Jed who was actually in good spirits. He was able to get some pain meds and get his shoulder put back in. Which was dislocated. So far though the X-rays on his knee, hand and shoulder were ok. No signs of breaks. His shoulder might have had a hairline fracture but they weren't sure yet. Heal up soon Jed and we hope and need you back soon!

Volunteer Park Crit & Olympic View Road Race

In preperation for the coming Tour of Walla Walla I did a couple races back to back.

The first was Volunteer Park Criterium Saturda which was my first time attending. I really enjoyed the course. It had a fast descent down thru a corner and you carried most of your speed half way up the hill before coming to a false flat before the finish line. If anything the false flat seemed to be the hardest part for me. We raced for 40 minutes and it was fast. Shawn and I decided to hit the bathroom one last time before we lined up. As we came out, the line up had already begun and we were at the back. This seems to always happen and one of these days we will get it right and be the first in line. From the word go I was going to have to be on my "A" game to get through the pack to the front. I knew the pack was going to get completely shelled and those first few minutes were brutal. The course is hard to explain but after you go past the start finish line you make a quick left and then a semi circle right around the water tower and then a quick left and down the hill you go with it being a right hand sweeper. Anything with alot of fast corners or any corners for that matter I will take all day long over false flats and hills. Although I guess I have to take the good with the bad on the hill part. Anyways it was alot of fun making up spots on the corners and bombing down the hill. We had roughly 70 starters for this race. The last couple laps were hectic going up the hill section as the guys at the back of the group of 30 would catch up to the front really fast on the hill. This created alot of swerving and a few crashes happened. I was at the back of the group and almost was caught out a couple times. Thankfully I never hit the deck. We came around for the last lap and I knew I was totally spent and had nothing left. I hung on going up the hill then just kinda blew my whistle like Lindsay's tea pot does in the morning. The legs said enough and I just soft pedaled across the finish line about 15 seconds behind the winner. Jed did well to finish in the top 15. Out of over 70 starters we finished with 36 and I came in 34th. My heart rate date showed an average heart rate of 175 bpm. Which for me is pretty much pegged the whole race, my max is around 196 bpm.

On to Sunday. My alarm went off at 4 am. Yup 4 am. I got my stuff together and met up with Travis, Tim3 and Tina at Renton park and ride. We all piled into Travis' Land cruiser and off we were. The news had been warning everyone about the work they are doing on I-5 south so we thought it better to leave early. We arrived at a gas station to get some coffee and apparently this little stop was the place to be. Tim3 mixed it up with the locals that were in line. My normal coffee of choice is a double tall non-fat vanilla latte. Cost here in the city is almost $4, I think $3.90 to be exact. Coffee at this little window at the gas station was $2.87! Must be the small overhead for that price difference but I suspect its the reality of living in the city.

We arrived to some light rain and for some reason I couldn't get warm enough. Travis was the same and we layered up thinking it was 30 degrees out. I had hand warmers, toe warmers, 3 undershirts, my vest, leg warmers and two sets of arm warmers. That is alot of clothing. We were racing 54 miles of a 18 mile loop. Shawn and Tina did some recon on the course last weekend and came back with its a mix of Mason Lake and Tour de Dung in Sequim, rolling hills and mostly flat with chip seal. This course was alot of fun. The first lap was pretty chill until we got to the 90 degree downhill right turn. I moved up on the inside of the turn as everyone fanned out to the left to carry momentum into the right. After that it was a quick left, right then over a bridge then you were 3k from the finish line. This is where we had a group of 20 or 30 that split the group up. We probably could have completely stayed away but the guys at the front sat up a bit and the rest of the peleton caught back on. Which was ok because we were moving pretty good and it took alot of effort to catch back on. I think it was Matt from Recycled Cycles that took off the front on the next lap and stayed away for a bit. Its fun to get away for a bit until the pain sets in and then its not so much fun especially by yourself. We gobbled him up just before the biggest climb on the course. I was telling Shawn that we need to hold a "drinking and racing or racing and eating clinic". You really had to keep your focus because several guys were very swervy when drinking or trying to dig out some food. I am not the best rider by any means but I think I can do those things fairly well. Mark Taylor from SCCA/Starbucks was behind Shawn and I and told us after the race he thought this little conversation was pretty funny. Shawn and I were chatting it up and Shawn was crackin jokes when you hear the horrible sound of air seaping out of someones tire. We both looked at each other and Shawn said "you got a flat". I then looked at him and said, "no, you got a flat". Then at that moment Shawn disappeared to the back. Poor guy, two road races in a row. He was able to get a neutral wheel though and still finished. Good job. It was down to Travis and I. Several teams had big numbers like Recycled Cycles, Cucina Fresca, Bikesale.com, and Firstrate Morgage. We left the pace making to those teams and just hung on as long as possible. Travis did really well and we stayed close for most of the race. Once we got to the last climb which is about 2 miles from the finish the pace increased. I think this is where Travis said he went to the back of the group. I stayed close to the front for the downhill 90 degree right turn and moved up some more spots on the inside. Then I really hit the gas and so did Bikesale.com as they had 3 guys at the front setting the pace for the finish. As we got to the 1k to go sign I positioned myself behind a real fast guy, Phil Spencer of Lenova. I knew he would be a good wheel to follow. When we got to 200 meters I was out of the saddle sprinting but had to sit down because guys were moving to the left and not holding there line. I got back up out of the saddle and was able to come across the line in 6th place. Travis was able to finish with the pack. Bikesale.com had the numbers and controlled the race when it counted and won. That is how its done and congrats to them. Good job to our Cat 5 team with Tim3 finishing in the top 10 and Rhae finishing in the top 5 for the Womens Cat 1,2,3 race. Heal up fast Mario and we hope to see you back on the bike soon!!

Stay tuned for Walla Walla...