3/30/2003
Hello Everyone,
I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoyed such a nice and tropical
weekend. I want to keep writing you guys to fill you in on the weekend's
events in collegiate racing, this may take a while as we raced twice this
weekend, but if you have a minute I hope you enjoy! Of course if you dont
I wont take it personally! Also, let me apologize for any bad writing
ahead of time!
This past weekend was in Lafayette, IN at Purdue University. Two races,
Saturday RR about 60 miles, and Sunday RR also 60 miles. Saturday first...here
goes. Our team of Men's "A" riders arrived at the race with
7 riders, we knew we had good numbers and strong legs so we decided to
try and blow up the race a little bit. We decided that we needed men in
all the breaks and we liked 2 out of 5, but no worse a ratio or we may
try to bring it back. Our past experience with collegiate races told us
that if a well represented group got off, the pack would probably just
sit up and let the break be the real race. With this in mind we decided
to have groups of two men attack with each other immediately after the
start of the race. When the first group of two was caught/chased down,
then the next two would go. So we were on the attack. I had to smile as
we rolled out nuetral for the first 1/2 mile and many guys agreed that
our nuetral pace would be good all day! needless to say some people weren't
so happy after we turned a corner, attacked and put the whole feild in
the gutter. Our attacking continued for almost two laps and of course
people chased EVERYTHING down, just like we planned right? My teammate
Nick and I realized that we didn't feel great and the other guys were
not good after this so we decided to switch up the strategy and simply
cover other attacks and still look out for the good moves. Of course just
after I told one of my teammates (name not mentioned) NOT to attack anymore,
he attacked over the top of a hill. This happened about halfway through
the race and almost shelled everyone...well it did shell everyone. He
ended up in the first group of four, followed by three, followed by four
(including myself and teammate Nick). All of these groups came together
not long after and this left the race with a bunch of groups with about
9 in the front. the front group had three from Marion, two Miami, one
IU, and three Wisconsin. This group was OK for us, but the attack had
caught out three very capable teammates. A bit down the road the unmentioned
attacker ran into some serious respiratory problems and was dropped from
the group. Now we were not so thrilled with our group, but it was to decide
the race and Nick and I worked as little as possible to make the break
work. From this point, the break was rather boring, and it came down to
the last few kilometers before anything happened. I had told Nick that
I was working for him and that I would cover attacks and if it came down
to it, I would lead him out for the finish. We came the the last kilometer
and the group was more or less together. for the sprint things were going
very well, the strong riders of the break went too early and I was third
wheel with Nick on fourth wheel with about 500 meters to go. with about
400 to go, I kicked up a slight hill and began to come around the two
ahead, then I unclipped and was riding the top tube with a chain off and
one foot. Nick had to hit the brakes and we were done, settling for fourth
and fifth. Nick would have won the race for sure and I probably would
have been second, had I not come out of the pedals. We executed very well,
and we were on the same page so at least this is march and not July when
the season is really on.
I was very disapointed at the result, Nick should been delivered for the
win and I didn't come through. All was not lost however as Sunday was
a new day and a new race. I went out of pissed mode I went and into I
want food/sleep/get ready for tomorrow mode.
Sunday, RR. Todays race could be aptly titled "lets chase everything".
The bunch today had 6 Wisconsin riders and only about 20 total. It was
chilly, maybe about 35, windy again, however today it didn't snow/sleet
on us! Our strategy was to merely cover all of the good attacks and look
out for a few certain riders. Of course, after the past two races, I cannot
go anywhere or do anything without the entire group following me. Sometimes,
when I went up to talk to our guys at the "front" (is there
a front with 20 guys in the feild?) everyone would click-click and get
on my wheel like I was taking a flier. Rather funny, but perfectly fine
by me. We covered attacks, kept guys at the front, and the race clearly
wasn't going to let anything off. I attacked three or four times, hard
attacks, with the hope that a teammate could counter or get into a counter
attack by another team. This didnt really pan out and about halfway through
a lone ranger took off and the pack was more than happy to let him go...knowing
he wouldn't go anywhere. He did. He probably had about a 1:30 gap with
two laps to go, and by the last lap he was 30 seconds off. We went to
the front and kept him within stricking distance until a flat tailwind
section at which time I went to the front and worked with an IU rider,
and a couple of our guys to bring him back. We caught him with 5k to go,
attacks went hard and fast, and three of our guys were at the front. on
the last corner, a group of three including two really strong guys slipped
off, maybe 3k to go. this was bad, so I went to the front and sat there
for the final flat stretch leading to the uphill with finish immediately
following. I was on the front going onto the hill and I needed to get
the about the 500 meter point, then Bret would come off my wheel, and
deliver Nick to the line. Only when we got to the bottom, I was shot,
riders swept on both sides and I was toast, Bret was toast, and fortunately
Nick got onto the right wheel and we watched him take it to the line.
Second wheel with 150 to go, I figured Nick had the win for sure, but
just couldnt come around a Marion rider at the finish.
Again we ended up missing a win, but we had two or three in the top ten
and more importantly we had raced hard and we all agreed that today had
gone much better from a communication stand-point than saturday did. It
might be an excuse, but we are more concerned with the events of the summer
and May, than we are about the collegiate season. I struggle with this,
and I would like to win all the time, every race, so I try to. Or I at
least try to get my teammate the win, but I also believe that the mind
must be motivated in June or else it will not suffer like it can.
I would like to say that our team was very good this weekend, Today we
had help from all guys in the race, and especially Dan and Russ, who were
at the front all day. This was also my first week and race on the training
wheels that Nigel has built up for me. the wheels are beasts, very strong,
very heavy, perfect. They are great training wheels, and so far have treated
me well in the races. I am excited to race with the real race wheels,
whenever I do get them on the bike, we will be flying for sure!
On a final note, I want you all to know that I do truly enjoy writing
about these races. This gives me a chance to think about what we did and
why we did it, after the bikes are put away. I hope you enjoy reading,
but please dont not ever hesistate to write me back and let me know what
you think might have been a better idea, or what you think was a great
idea. It would be really cool to hear what you think and hopefully that
can help the team race a little better in the future, after all we are
young guys who probably dont know much compared to people who have been
doing this for many years.
Thanks for reading, and again, thank you for all the support that have
given me, until next time,
bryan