Twenty miles in and we were caught and I was tired.
My goal and plan had been to get off the front solo, which had failed despite 3 real efforts to do so and some great help from Rochester teammates. I'd only succeeded in gaining two man moves- first from mile 3 to 6 or so and then again from mile 13 to 20ish. It was disappointing I hadn't gotten further clear. I knew Franz had done what he could for me and it was appreciated. The group that had caught up was very strong. They were the reason I had planned and hoped to go solo. I didn't like my odds against any of them late in the race heads up and they were all there yet but one (Nick). My failed gamble had been that if I went before the group broke up I might gain more time than anyone was expecting. There was little left to do but take my turns at the front and avoid being dropped. The group was friendly and worked well together for the next 20 miles as we all anticipated getting back out of the valley.
On Nature rd Dominic attacked and he and Pat gained a gap. I sat back knowing the false flat would give time to pull things back together, which was true. Wow, was I ever thankful we did not go up Oriole! I noted that Pat's teammate Adam did take a couple turns with me to get us both back on term. At that point we were over the only large bump and there were about 18 miles to the finish. Surprisingly, with so far to go, the attacks, games, strategy started immediately.
Pat and Dominic appeared much stronger than Adam and I and Pat wanted clear. I was dropped multiple times over the next couple of miles but always came back after the move was covered. Simply unable to respond to either of their digs I was resigned to not even trying but instead staying steady and hoping. Adam didn't appear to be doing much better either. At one point Adam and I were 25 or 30 seconds back riding side by side both thinking that we were beat. Once we were back on the other two were marking each other so hard that Adam and I both slipped clear, but I wasn't on terms with Adam and I needed to eat so I went back to the other two. Adam opened up a 45-60 second gap as Dominic realized that for different reasons neither Pat nor I would really do any work. Over the next few miles Dominic put in a really strong effort and I did eventually take a couple of pulls. I started to see that if we caught Adam he might be the only one of the three I could beat and as such I wanted to keep the gap reasonable. Then again, when we caught him the whole thing would break open and I would probably be dropped, so no need to catch until the end.
At 3.5 miles to go nothing had changed for quite a while and Adam had 26 seconds. I was hoping for a sprint.
At 3.2 miles to go we crossed hwy 30 and Dominic slowed and moved left marked by Pat. They seemed to stop. I was alone on the right side of the road and I must have had a hundred plus meters before they even reacted. I was very very tired, constantly looking under my armpit for the next mile. I wondered what had happened, how could they not be coming after me? The gap was so big so fast, it felt like a gift.
Meanwhile Adam was 15-20 seconds ahead of me and I had no idea how he was feeling or if I could catch him solo but then he blew the last corner...
2 miles to go I was leading, riding 24+ mph down a gravel road I know well. It was the solo ending I had hoped for.
It happened so fast I didn't even know what to think. Again, like a gift. Luck. Wow!
Pat beat Dominic in a contested sprint. Rochester teammates had solid rides in 5th and 6th. Monika came in with a strong 11th on a flat tire. Everyone seemed happy. I won 12 pork chops...
The other thing of note...
Which was the right choice. The frame and both wheels are cyclocarbon repairs. I won't get into my thoughts on 'gravel bikes' any more than this... expect to either see my on this setup or my tarmac with the same wheels and 27s. I mostly went with this bike here because I was too lazy to change handlebars so I could run aero bars on the Tarmac at this time of the year.
And, Strava...
No comments:
Post a Comment