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...