Stage 1 - Warren Store TT
The Green Mountain Stage Race starts with a nasty 9km time trial, 4km uphill and rolling downhill 5km that hurts way too much. I definitely overcooked the first 4km and maybe left some time out there but came in 18s back of the winner of the TT and 9s back of the major GC contenders in 6th. Not the perfect start but it puts me in the running. The rest of the crew road solid TTs with Chris Jones in 14th (+:41), Ben Frederick in 18th (+:49), and Andy Seitz rounding out the Top 20 (+:57s). Excited to have the team here to see if we can't get a couple stage wins and maybe a GC Podium or win. Great to be back with the guys for a great weekend of racing and hanging out. Only a couple more weekends with the guys, gonna miss this team next year.
The Stats: 13:56, Avg. Power 419W, NP 434W, Avg. HR 188\
https://www.strava.com/activities/384798092
The Stats: 13:56, Avg. Power 419W, NP 434W, Avg. HR 188\
https://www.strava.com/activities/384798092
Stage 2: The Bridges Circuit Race
Stage 2 of GMSR is a 72 mile circuit race with four laps including a significant climb, big descent, and fast rolling roads in between. Usually it is a day for the bunch and a sprint finish but anything can happen, last year 15 went up the road and never came back. Dakota and Curtis were active early to catch the early break but nothing materialized. On the 3rd time up the climb I flatted but got a quick wheel change from Curtis and then Andy Seitz and Ben Frederick rode me back in to the bunch. Unfortunately Sram neutral who finished the wheel change, didn’t tighten the skewer. I could tell something was wrong on the descent but just had to catch the bunch. If you want to know precarious try hitting 58 mph inches behind Sram neutral car with a loose rear skewer. When I got back a small move had gone up the road but CCB brought it back. Once the break was caught things slowed down and I managed to stop and tighten the rear skewer, again making Andy pull me back to the group. Right before I stopped he just yelled, "Better make it quick!". Lucky to have selfless teammates, as he had just made it back to the field.
Luckily it was easy and with a lap to go we were all together. We were planning to set up Dakota for the sprint but it never came about. With 6km to go we were neutralized due to a crash. I’ve never had that happen in a race but it was a little crazy, or odd at least. After a brief reprieve we began again and the race to the line began in earnest until 1km to go when we were again neutralized. This time Ben Wolfe, the current leader, made the decision that racing was done for the day. 1km is far too short a time to set up a safe sprint without people taking crazy risks. Everyone received same time and we rolled home. Well, actually the officials told us to ride backwards on course because finish line was shut down, luckily we didn’t ride the entire loop backwards but instead found a cool gravel road to loop around the finish on. Unfortunately it also included a monster climb, big shoutout to the family that let our four man group hang on and get pulled up the climb. My arm was nearly ripped out but it was better than pedaling up 20% gravel. All in all an eventful day that was totally uneventful in terms of race changes. Onward to the crucial Stage 3...
The Stats: Avg. Power 241, NP 306W, Avg. HR 159, Avg. Speed 26.0mph,
https://www.strava.com/activities/385686280
The Stats: Avg. Power 241, NP 306W, Avg. HR 159, Avg. Speed 26.0mph,
https://www.strava.com/activities/385686280
Stage 3: Champion Systems Mad River Road Race
Stage 3 is the big key GC stage, if you can win on top of App Gap, you’re going to give yourself a very good shot of winning the overall. 95 miles with 4 categorized climbs and the nasty final 500m that average 15%. This was our time to give it a crack in the overall. We hoped to place a rider or two in the break, but decided it wasn’t necessary as long as the key players didn’t go up the road. The first hour of racing was fast and hectic as a break tried to establish. Eventually a solo rider got up the road and disappeared. Ben Frederick and another rider followed catching the solo rider just before the sprint point. The group finally settled as we headed up Middlebury Gap, the Cat 2 first climb. A couple attacks from the field were neutralized and then Andy and two others got away up the gap. Andy dropped two of them and bridged up to Ben solo, meanwhile Ben dropped one of his companions. When the dust settled two groups of 3 were up the road. This set it up great for us with no responsibility to chase and two strong guys out front of the race.
Things settled and we cruised up the Cat 3 Baby Gap climb in relative comfort, chit chatting at the front and keeping it stiff enough to cause some pain. Over the top Ride with Rendall began the chase of the break in earnest. At that point Andy and Ben had dropped their other companion and were just riding a TTT off the front. The chase group Ben and Andy had dropped was caught fairly quickly and the pace instantly settled. I looked at Chris and said, well this could be good, clearly the peloton didn’t know more riders were up the road. Unfortunately the commissaire gave the peloton a time check to the two leaders at 3:00 and the chase was back on. Now CCB, Cal Giant, and Ride with Rendall all helped to bring them back. I settled in behind my teammate Dakota Schaeffer and he guided me selflessly through the peloton until the base of Baby Gap (part two). He dropped me off right at the pointy end of things and left it up to me to finish the job. We caught Ben and Andy near the bottom of the climb and they looked ragged.
You could tell they had sold out during the break to give us a free ride, it was great motivation to bring it home. Ben also had some great consolidation as he took most of the KOM points and snagged the KOM jersey for keeps. The pace stayed high as teams looked to set up their guy. Chris and I, who had been resting all day, followed along until the road turned upward for the last 4K up App Gap. CCB set the pace for Chad Young at the bottom of the climb, we literally accelerated up the climb. Jordan Cheyne of Ride with Rendall took over when they finished and different pace setters came through and kept the pace high until Jordan got back on the front and wittled it down to three of us. I was feeling great, it was fast and hard but I felt comfortable. The pace wasn’t as hard as it had been when I was doing my 15 minute intervals back home.
It was definitely hard, but I knew it was setting up well because it was a little below the pace I would have set. Eventually Jordan and I dropped our third and it was just us with 1.5K to go. I didn’t want to have to race him up the steep part so when it flatted out with 1K to go I attacked and never looked back. The gap opened quickly and then it was just riding hard to the line. Those last 500m take forever but I eventually made it to the top. Besides beginning my celebration WAY too early before quickly realizing I needed to stop and pedal through the line to get as many seconds as I can all went smoothly. I won by 19s and took the overall lead by 10s. I still can’t believe it went so well. I can’t believe I had the legs and I can’t believe we set it up so well as a team. Each big win is almost a shock, I know it’s a chance but when it happens it’s weird. I remember at Battenkill riding the last 2km and just thinking, “I can’t believe we did it, I can’t believe we set this goal and actually did it”. GMSR feels the same, great feeling, great teamwork, but it the race didn’t end at Stage 3…
The Stats: Avg. Power 226W, NP 294W, Avg. HR 145, Final climb: 12:12, Power 430, VAM 1678
https://www.strava.com/activities/386413398
The Stats: Avg. Power 226W, NP 294W, Avg. HR 145, Final climb: 12:12, Power 430, VAM 1678
https://www.strava.com/activities/386413398
Ending the day with a little dip in Warren Falls and a great dinner at the Flatbread!
Stage 4: Dealer.com Burlington Criterium
The team and I knew this would be a hard criterium, with 3 chances for time bonuses (2 intermediate primes and the finish) and only a 10s lead it would be hard and on the gas from the gun. I trust my teammates a whole lot but the nerves before this crit were as high as they have been all season. Anything could happen. When the gun set off it was hard as expected. The boys did their part and kept everything easy and together for me, Ben Fred led me out for the first GC prime and I took it with no other contenders getting any time. Perfect. Andy Seitz came through in the clutch for the next GC prime and I got that too. Things were going great. Somewhere after the GC prime with 15 laps to go a split happened and about 10 of us were up the road. The group contained all the GC favorites which was surprising. No teammates made the split and I was covering what I had to and trying to keep things under control. With 5 laps to go it was under control and I grabbed the sprint prime for good measure, mostly just covering Jordan Cheyne and making sure he didn’t get away.
With 3 laps to go they offered a field prime, I took that as well and got to hear Blair screaming on the backside of the lap, style points baby!! At that point I knew, give or take, barring catastrophe I had it. I was feeling good and no one was getting away. With a lap to go Ben Wolfe took a big flyer and locked in the win. I followed the finishing moves and narily avoided disaster after crossing wheels with the guy in front of me and skiing for a bit. (Skiing meaning I was riding on the top tube with both feet unclipped and on the ground. I completely twisted and broke my chain but had enough momentum to coast across the line. With that the Yellow jersey was officially in hand and the celebration with my teammates could begin. There really isn’t anything better than being able to celebrate a victory like that with your best friends. Everyone worked so hard and rode so well, it was really a team effort. More so than Battenkill even. Each day these guys selflessly laid it on the line. The hugs and congrats after made it well worth it. A toast of Champagne ended a great last race weekend with my Kelly Benefit Stategies Teammates. We still have the Reading 120 left but it won’t have the same feel as a four day stage race where we lived and ate together for 5 days. I wouldn’t trade the jokes, good times, and goofing off for anything. What a trip.
Stats: Avg. Power 253W, NP 285W, Max Power 1465W, Avg. HR 180, Avg. Speed 28.3mph,
https://www.strava.com/activities/387418022
Stats: Avg. Power 253W, NP 285W, Max Power 1465W, Avg. HR 180, Avg. Speed 28.3mph,
https://www.strava.com/activities/387418022
The weekend couldn't have gone much better for us as a team. Some extra big props belong to Blair Berbert our director for taking care of all the little things this weekend to keep us stress free. Also Dakota's Dad, Jeff Schaeffer, who has been there all year was amazing. Those two made the weekend more fun, more relaxed, and more better (grammatical error on purpose). You may not see them out on the course but they made a huge difference. Now it's time to rest, reset, and get ready to smash 120 miles of good harding riding in the PA countryside at the Reading 120. I can't wait. There is supposed to be a livestream of the RR on cyclingnews.com so check it out! After that I leave the road behind for the year and wrap up the season at Fools Gold 100 mountain bike race in Georgia. Should be good fun.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow