The next stop on the Pro Calendar after Joe Martin Stage Race is New Mexico and The Tour of the Gila. Based out of Silver City, NM at 5,895ft it brings altitude into what is already a hard stage race. 3 hard climby road races, a 26.1km (16 miles) Time Trial, also not flat, and a Criterium in downtown makes for a solid 5 days of racing. The team finally worked out Nicolae’s Visa, so he’ll be a welcome addition to the team for this race and beyond. This week will definitely be a battle of attrition, cross winds, and your ability to adapt to the altitude as we top out over 8,000ft.
The Crew:
Chad Beyer
Chris Horner
Matthew Jeannes
Mike Olheiser
Nicolae Tannovici
Nolan Tankersley
Oliver Flautt
The Crew:
Chad Beyer
Chris Horner
Matthew Jeannes
Mike Olheiser
Nicolae Tannovici
Nolan Tankersley
Oliver Flautt
Stage 1 - Mogollon
The first day brought a hill top finish on Mollogon but not before a ripping fast 140km brought us to the base. From Silver City we dropped down into the valley cruising at about 60-80km/h for the first half hour of open racing. Between the drop of the neutral flag and the turn on to the climb the peloton averaged 50kmh (31 mph). A small break of four got away through the first feed zone after the course finally leveled out and it was controlled and steady from there on out with one minor exception. About 5km to the turn for the climb a dog made its way in to the peloton. I’m not sure if people didn’t see it or what but it was never pointed out and no one every yelled “Dog” or anything, next thing I know I wiz past it just barely to the left knowing for sure a crash was coming. Surprisingly it was a small crash as most everyone avoided it but it caused a good sized split in the field as the racing for the corner heated up. Nolan and Oliver were caught out of the split and missed out on the action, the rest of us prepared for the hard climb. Matt and Mike made sure myself, Chad, Chris, and Nicolae were in good position as we made the right hand turn and began the climb. Mollogon is broken in to two parts, about 1.4km that tops out at 10% and then a 2.2km plateau before the real climb begins with 4.5km to the finish. The plateau is honestly the most important part of the race as there is always a ripping crosswind coming across the wide-open field.
Jelly Belly set a hard tempo up the climb and punched it into the cross-wind causing instant chaos. I was futher back than I should have been, maybe 20 wheels once it got strung out on the flats. With everyone in the gutter people started popping, I covered one, two, and the third was too much and I came unglued. Trying to start another echelon as I came unhinged was useless as guys were just flying backwards. A group was close in front so I kept driving to see if I could catch them and made contact just before the climb, but that group was the 4th group on the road. With Nicolae, Chris, and Chad up the road, there wasn’t much point in drilling the climb, unfortuantley, the smart call was to find a decent tempo and just get to the top. I eventually rolled in 5:25 down on stage winner Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly). Chad and Chris faired better in the cross winds but neither were in the lead group and both dealt with similar issues of opened gaps and single file survival in the gutter. Chris ended up 12th with Chad 22nd. Nicolae made a big attempt to get across one of the groups in the crosswinds and paid the price of the maximum effort at 7000ft and suffered a bit up the climb. It wasn’t the best day for us, but it’s probably the worst day for our guys. Besides Chris who is still working on form coming off of sickness we’re not a group of climbing specialists. We’ll fair better on the rest of the stages where the riding is still hard with plenty of elevation change but no big Cat 1 or HC climbs to get up and over. For now it’s time to do our best at recovering at altitude and moving on to the next day.
Stage 2: Inner Loop Road Race
Stage 2 brought another Road Race day in New Mexico, this time over 3 climbs and into the Gila National Forest. The first two climbs came within the first 35km before we went down a twisting descent into the valley where we remained before turning back toward home, the final climb, and the fast 15km descent into the finish. The break rolled early and while we wanted a guy in it the group was too small (3) to spend the entire day wrecking yourself into the headwind in the valley. We covered anything that might go across but nothing did and by the 2nd climb we settled in to a nice tempo that continued over the climb, down the descent and across the valley. Things finally picked up as we approached the right hand turn and last climb of the day. Jelly Belly had been controlling the race and had brought the break back a little early and as we caught them shortly after beginning the climb the race started rolling.
A couple attacks and then Axeon started drilling the front, a group that was once 150+ strong whittled to 30 guys over the top, with maybe 10-15 catching on the downhill. From there it was fast and heated as we ran in to the finish. We stayed safe but without a true sprinter we didn’t play into the finish as much as we’d liked. At the end of the day we stayed rested for the important 26km TT tomorrow and kept our best GC contenders in the mix. Between the TT tomorrow and the hard Gila Monster RR Sunday there is plenty of shaking up to be done in the overall and hopefully a good result on a stage. Looking forward to it.
Stage 3: Tyrone Time Trial
A nasty TT laid ahead for stage three, 26.1km with a long 6.5km climb to start, steep descent, three big rollers and then turn it around and come back home. The wind was hitting pretty hard dead in the face on the way out making the slog up the climb even worse. The descent was so fast on the backside you could super tuck and not lose any time before suffering on the three rollers to the turn around. Coming back the tailwind made quick work until you hit the 2.5km climb. I cracked there, just struggled to keep a good solid cadence and the bike moving forward. Once over the top it was 6.5km of ripping tailwind descent. With a 55 tooth front chainring I was still spinning out, alternating 15-30s supertuck, 1:00 at 400W. I still bled time like crazy in part from the legs feeling the effort and part trying to put power down at 120rpm. At the end of the day it wasn’t what I would have hoped but I have so much to learn, there’s definitely value in having done this before, how to gauge effort and how to manage wind and so forth. Would love to take another crack at it in the future, 41st and 2:00 down isn’t so fun for me. Still, I was happy with the effort, I didn’t totally screw up, made up 8 places in the overall, and my first TT on the new Merckx bike. Still want more, but being patient, learning, and move forward. The criterium tomorrow is hard and Sunday is absolute madness, I want to be ready and play with some of the top guys, we’ll see how it goes. The rest of the guys had similar experiences. It was hard and the times were what they were. Chad and Chris didn't move much in GC, Nicholae moved up, and the rest of the guys rested to be more prepared for the Criterium and the monster RR on Sunday.
Stage 4: Downtown Silver City Criterium
After the morning time trial the 4:15 criterium the next day leads to plenty of time to chill and hang out, possibly too much time spent staring in to space in a hotel room. After the TT it was off to the sandwich shop for some crit food, AKA a Chocolate Chip cookie. Well we walked in and low and behold they had fresh cinnamon rolls, so Nolan and I split a cinnamon roll and a cookie. More importantly we spent 3 hours hanging out in the shop by the window enjoying not being in a hotel room. Eventually the crit rolled around and we got the day started. The course had a good sized hill on the backside and promised to be pretty hard. In the end, it turned out to be relatively easy and uneventful. Jelly Belly took control of the race and kept everything smooth and controlled the entire race. A couple efforts going off the front proved useless and eventually we settled in and focused on saving our legs for tomorrow. The team finished safely near the front with no mishaps and ready for the big day tomorrow, which is really where we could shake things up. As much time as we had between the TT and the Crit, we didn’t have between the Crit and the Queen Stage that began at 8:40am the next day. A quick dinner and it was off to bed dreaming of what the Gila Monster would bring the next day. 100 miles and 10,000ft of climbing how hard could it be…
Stage 5: Gila Monster Road Race
The plan for the day was simple, get 1-2 guys in the break, preferably Chad and myself, have the team take care of Chris, keep him out of trouble and in the right position into and over the climbs, allow him to get into the lead group that would eventually catch the break, then have 2-3 guys in the lead group and options to contest for the win. The race starts with some big rollers and then over a cat 3 climb at 22km in. I tried to be patient to wait for the right break but started covering moves about 10km in just before the sprint point. Somewhere in there I forgot we were at 6000ft and got way too antsy to make sure I was in the move. I was in a group of 20 a little bit off the front of the main peloton when 5 guys moved that I was sure would be the beginning of the break. After covering and attacked for the last 5-6km I was gassed and couldn’t get there and instantly with the effort I went into a bad place and I knew I was in trouble. Stay calm, float through the peloton, and stay safe, breath, breath, oh boy I can’t breath at all up here. That happened with about 3km to the top of the climb, the hardest part before we dropped over the top and in to the valley that would lead us to the first big climb of the day.
Usually in a 150 man peloton you have a ways to drop before you’re in trouble and I was sure I’d be fine, until I started noticing splits up the road and started floating through big gaps. At one point our director counted 6 groups on the road, the break, the “peloton” and 4 groups struggling to get back in the race, I was somewhere in there. Eventually I regained control of my breathing and focused on getting back in the game. Our director came up next to me and I told him how I was close but screwed the pooch on getting in the break, I told him I’d be back with the group shortly, little did I know how hard it would be.
I spent the next 30 minutes or so jumping up groups using cars, riders, and anything I could to move forward. At first I assumed that once the break formed catching the group would be easy but the peloton kept charging. Eventually I came up to a group of 15-20 which was the last group behind the peloton. We hit the valley and rotated hard and still weren’t gaining that quickly on the peloton. The Jelly Belly boys were keeping the pace super stiff. Eventually we did get there and I thought I could catch my breath, but honestly the pace was fast enough it didn't feel like I was recovering. On stage two went we went the other way through the valley and average 202W, this time I averaged 310W on the wheel. The Jelly Belly crew never gave the break much of a leash and never gave me much of a shot at recovery. The team did survive through the splits and we worked on keeping Chris protected through the valley. I rode the climb with him in my draft and did my job to keep him protected in the valley out and back before the big Cat 1 climb out of the Cliff Dwellings.
We hit the bottom of the climb hard and I was sitting on the tail end of the lead group doing 550W, I decided I didn’t have that energy and focused on riding at my threshold, I lost time but kept it insight for 2km or so until finally I gave way and settled in to tempo know that was all I had and watched the race go up the rode. From there I just rode on my teammate Matt’s wheel to the line, still riding hard to maximize the good training up at elevation. Chris got briefly dropped from the lead group but regained quickly over the top of the climb and they caught Chad shortly thereafter. Both stayed with the lead group of 15 or so until the finish where Chad got a little ancy (from what I understand) and launched his sprint too soon finishing up 7th. Chris moved up to 9th in GC and Chad 15th (from 22nd). Not a bad final day, the team was there at the finish, and turning that into a win or podium is always hard. The lead group was made up of 75% ex world tour riders, so the competition was definitely stiff. Personally I’m upset I wasted so much effort early since I think I had good legs and the “numbers” agree (I think). Either way it was a fast and hard day with the winner taking 4:04 where usually it is in the 4:30 range. All in all it was a decent week for the team, we’re still looking for that little breakthrough but we also keep learning and getting better at working together on the road. It’s tough when the team is so new and none of the guys no each other well but results are coming, just have to find them somewhere. From here it’s off to Roanoke for a couple weeks before the madness begins with US Pro in Winston Salem, then Philly one day, and then two Canadian stage race (Saguenay and Beauce).
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow