September 19, 2009 – Nebraska State Road Race

A great day for the stripes.

Perfect race day weather for this large field of 68 riders. The anxiety of such a large group was apparent with the frequent screams of “SLOWING”, the bumping, even the nervous attitude of the guy that kept returning to my front wheel like a bad sock in the dryer. For purposes of this write up, I will refer to him as “White T-Shirt”. Those who rode will immediately recognize him by this description. He was the first rider in a race I have witnessed experiencing self-inflicted road rage.

Master Yoda (Pete) provided very good pre-race advice regarding positioning in the peloton. As any old Jedi warrior would, I followed exactly. The first lap was more avoiding trouble, than positioning (Garmin refers to avg speed at 23mph). Lap two provided the opportunity to put a little pressure on the heavy breathers (the ones doing most of the screaming, and yes…that included White T-Shirt). When Lap three arrived, which seemed quite early, it was clear which riders were important to keep in your perimeter. With only one real breakaway, it seemed difficult to get any partners to contribute to a chase. The best opportunity was when, wearing the stripes, Ted Lechnowski came by me valiantly in a very fast pace (too fast to react for me). He did stretch ahead, only to be unfortunately pulled in prior to the last turn off of the loop. Next time I will ready to assist.

At the final turn in, I decided it was time to deplete the fuel from the latest powergel I consumed. I jumped out of the seat on the turn and cranked the pedals like never before. Success! This positioned me well in the front group (where I witnessed a very intentional Cat 4 girl-girl shoulder bump…mean), then on the final approach to the finish line I found a gap on the right side of the bunched front runners and let the tiger stripes work their magic. Sixth place overall (my best finish), and actually won the old guy group (40+) at a mere age of 47.
Congratulations to Pete for his terrific finish and 1st place ranking in his group, and Connor Randalman for the same in the Junior category. Stripes has a terrific road season. Thanks for the great year.

El Guapo sprinting for the finish line in the Cat 4 race. Not exactly a caven-dish fin-ish.

Race report for State Road Race Championship at Branched Oak, September 19, 2009

El Guapo, Sir Troy of Perry, Ted the Menace Lechnowski and young Connor Randleman all sported the stripes at the race. I'll let Troy and Connor contribute their own writeups, but congrats to all for taking state titles. Connor takes the gold in Juniors, Troy crushes his opponents (by Krom) in Cat 5 40+, and El Guapo is teh best of the old goats.

My race was 60 miles. Twenty-four Cat 4 racers of all ages circled Branched Oak 5 laps. There were a couple of ill-fated break away attempts, but the pack wasn't going to let anyone get away. I think only two of the 24 actually faded before the mass sprint at the finish. I spent most of the race yakking with my pals. Chased down one break away with Brady Murphy and Dan Ertz.

So the plan was to be ready for the sprint. Felt strong, thru the hills leading up to the final turn. Had to scrub a bunch of speed at the final turn, but found myself in about 6th position coming out of the corner. Decided to open up the throttles to the old diesel a couple of hundred yards out. Caught most of the racers napping and found myself on the front as we approached the finish. In the last 50 yards or so, saw two guys beat me to the line. Finished in 5th, but that was debatable.

Didn't really matter, since 2nd through 5th are all LOSERS. Congrats to the winner Brandon Fenster. I'd love to try it again and maybe suck a little more wheel leading up to the finish line. Probably launched a little too soon.

Oh well. I did take the state crown for 50+. All the the little packets of Geritol, errr....Gu, must have helped out during the race. Nice to compete against the young studs and not get dusted. Always wanted a state road race crown, so I guess I can check that off the bucket list, but it would have been nice to win the whole enchilada.

Ran the Corporate Cup the next day. First time I ever raced a 10K. Finished in 40.54. Not bad considering I was a little gassed from this road race, plus I cramped up at the 4mile mark and had to slow down a little. At least I know now that at sub 40 10K is doable. New goal!!

Time to call the road season toast. Can you say cyclocross??

Thanks to all for a great season. Velo Veloce did great as a team. Thanks teammates!