2010 Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race

Seeing how it has been 6 weeks since I raced it, I should probably write a post on my experience at this year's Mutual of Enumclaw State Race.  This race weekend is probably my favorite of the year.  The race is really well run, the courses are interesting, and the fields are usually large and competetive.  Last year was my first crack at this race and I competed in the master c/d field.  This year, I opted to race category 4 instead.
Another change is that last year's race was based on points awarded by finishing positions in the stages and this year was a true time-based stage race.

Like nearly all weekend omniums or stage races, the Enumclaw race consists of  a time-trial, criterium, and road race.  Typically, in an omnium, I hope for a strong TT result to gain enough points for a decent foundation for the weekend's competition and try to defy the odds and gain a few more points in the crit or road race.  Because this was going to be time based, however, a strong TT would only need to be followed with staying in contact with the bunch in the crit and road race to garner a strong result.

The weather forecast for the weekend was for cool and damp conditions and the TT conditions didn't miss the mark.  A light drizzle and temps in the low 40s greeted me as I arrived at the race site.  Being unenthused because of the weather, I was a little slower than usual getting my bike on the trainer and starting my warm-up, and ended up with a little shorter warm-up than I probably should have.  I rolled to the start line hoping that wouldn't come back to haunt me.  As in Wenatchee the week before, I rode the TT without a heartrate monitor or a computer, just my body's sensations to guide me.  The course is a nearly dead flat, 6.5 mile u-shaped course around Mt. Peak.  There is not a lot of time to spare settling in to a rhythm.  The clock counts down, you hit the gas, and you've either got it right for the day or you don't.  Luckily for me, I was on a good day.  I quickly caught the two riders that started ahead of me, kept my pace high, and took all 3 technical corners on the course at top speed.  In fact, I slid sideways a bit through the final corner.  Immediately after the finish I was not all that thrilled as my time of 15 minutes even was around  20 seconds slower than the previous year.  Once the results were posted, however, my mood improved as my time was good enough for 7th out of 76 starters in my category.

With a solid position now established in the overall, I set my sights on the afternoon's criterium and not losing any time in it.  It had been many, many years since I had finished a criterium in contact with the main bunch so I certainly would not be taking it easy.  The weather gods smiled on us and we had dry, sunny weather for our race.  Criteriums frequently start off blindingly fast for the first several laps and starting position can make a big difference on how easy it is to hang in there during this initial intensity.  Another benefit of my strong TT in the morning was a front row start for the criterium as the top 10 TT finishers were called to start line ahead of the field.  The race started very fast as usual, but instead of struggling to maintain contact with the tail end of the field, I was able to gradually drift back through the pack over several laps.  By then, the pace had eased some and maintaining contact was easier.  Then the crashes started.  Our race was only 30 minutes long, but there were at least four different crashes.  The first took place in the middle of a straight away, right near the front of the pack involving quite a lot of riders and took a little faith on my part to keep my pace up while shooting through gaps between fallen riders.  I managed to stay out of trouble and in contact with the second group to the finish, losing only about 19 seconds to the leaders.  In the overall, I still maintained a top 10 position with only the next day's road race remaining.

Sunday's road race would be 44 miles in length and feature three trips up the Mud Mountain Road climb.  The conditions that greeted us at the start line could not have been bleaker, steady rain and low 40s, this was late May right?  It felt like March.  We rolled out and were soon soaked through by the rain from above and the water off the wheels from below.  The first trip up the climb soon arrived and unfortunately, just like last year, I came up about 200 meters short of cresting it with the pack.  As the field disappeared up the road, I was soon caught up by a group of other dropped riders and we began the effort of chasing.  Unlike a similar effort last year, however, we were able to regain contact and get back into the field a couple of miles before the second time up the climb.  This time I was only able to hang on until about halfway up the climb.  I resigned myself to the fact that they were gone for good.  I was able to hook up with a couple of other riders as we began the final lap.  We worked well together, but certainly without the urgency of the previous chase.  As we approached the last intersection before the base of the climb, the corner marshal asked us which group we were with.  We answered 4s and she said, "keep it up, they're neutralised".  I thought to myself, "Sure, but they're ten minutes or more up the road".  We came around the corner, and there they were only a few hundred meters ahead just starting the climb.  It might as well have been 10 minutes, though, I was pretty cooked  from the chases and the weather and we never caught on.  At the finish, I was about 4 1/2 minutes behind the field.  As you might expect, this doomed my overall result, but I still ended up 35th out of the 76 cat 4s that started the weekend.

Other than the weather, it was another great weekend of racing in Enumclaw and with a little more climbing training before next year's edition, I may just get this race figured out. 

Frozen Flatlands Omnium Road Race #2 - An Easter miracle?

After Saturday's involuntary solo sufferfest, my morale was a bit shaken and I wasn't quite sure to expect for the final event of this year's Frozen Flatlands Omnium.  Usually, the second mass start event at this race is a circuit race held at Spokane Raceway Park, the local car road racing track.  This year however, that venue was unavailable so the organizers set up another road race on a 25 mile loop to the north and west of Cheney.  The terrain was pretty mellow with few hills to break up the pack, but the winds were back for a second day and they did the trick.

The wind had changed direction though, and was now blowing stoutly from the southeast instead of the southwest.  We rolled out on the course which started out by following the time trial course from the previous day.  It was a wide two-lane highway with a good shoulder for the first 10 miles or so with a strong quartering tailwind.  The pace was high but steady and it was quite easy to sit in the pack and watch the miles tick by.  At the end of this stretch, the course turned onto some narrower county roads with a few small rollers, but still nothing serious enough to break up the group.  With the race now nearly half done, various riders did try their luck at getting off the front, but none of the attacks stuck.

The course gradually arced back towards Cheney and more and more back into the wind.  Most of the race thus far had passed through forested areas and therefore the winds were somewhat moderated.  Soon, we passed across about a 1/4 mile wide open field which exposed the pack to the wind and gave a hint of what was to come.  The wind was blowing from the right and soon those of us near the back were lined out along the centerline trying to get what shelter we could behind the rider ahead.  We fought through it and entered the trees again.  A couple more miles passed uneventfully and soon the course headed directly back towards Cheney for the final five or so miles.  The run in was on a fairly narrow county road with some small rollers on it and through completely open fields.

The wind was now full force from the right and as the inevitable attacks began, the pace picked up and soon the entire field was lined out along the centerline.  This was the first time I had raced in crosswinds this strong where you gained no benefit at all from the rider directly ahead of you.  At about 5k to go as we headed up a slight hill, the pace began to ease and I decided since there was no draft anyways, it was time to try and move forward in the group.  I pulled out of line and began to move forward.  Several riders ahead of me, I could see a gap in the line opening and decided I had to get across it.  Further ahead, I could see a small group of perhaps 5 or so riders going clear from the front.  The gap I was moving across was to the chase group or second group on the road.

I realized that the course dropped away a little on the other side of this hill and that if I didn't close the gap before the top, I would never see that group again.  I dug in and gave it everything I had and just caught onto the group as we crested the hill.  I sat on briefly and tried to recover from the effort.  At the 3k to go mark, I could see the breakaway several hundred meters ahead but had nothing in the tank to try and bridge with.  I traded pulls with one or two other riders in the group in an effort to make sure that no other dropped riders would get back to us.  Entering the final kilometer, I found myself on the front realizing that at least a couple of the riders in our group had teammates in the break and therefore had not been working at all the last few miles.  I swung off the front hoping to get a bit of a breather before the sprint.  Two riders pulled through giving me at least a little shelter and a chance to catch my breath.

The final 200 meters were uphill on a nice wide city street.  I was pretty sure I was hosed if I waited to sprint late as the other riders in our group had been sitting on my wheel for the most part, so I gambled at about 250 meters to go and attacked with whatever I had left.  From the spectators' standpoint, I'm sure my attack was undetectable.  I was immediately passed by a couple of riders and shortly after by the rest of my group.  Fortunately though, the work had paid off and no other riders had rejoined our group in the late going.  I ended up ninth for the day.  It was really a great surprise to me to find myself near the front of the race at the end and my biggest mistake was not recognizing the team dynamics in my group of who might have teammates in the break.  Even if I had figured that out though, I'm not sure I had the gas in the tank left to do anything differently.

It was kind of a roller coaster weekend for me confidence wise.  A great TT result had me on a high, then a dismal road race that afternoon had me questioning why I even bother, and then the next day an unexpected and strong result in the second road race had restored my faith.  After all was said and done, I finished 8th in the weekend's omnium for the 40+ Masters field.  Not too shabby at all for the first full weekend of racing for me for the season.

2010 Frozen Flatlands Saturday Road Race - Wind sucks as it blows!

After my solid result in this morning's time trial, I was cautiously optimistic that this afternoon's road race might be an enjoyable affair.  I've yet to finish in the pack in my previous two attempts, but hope springs eternal!

As we lined up for the start, the day's wind was still howling 20+mph and a very dark cloud seemed to be headed our way.  Most of the riders were chatting about how much clothing they had on and would it be enough with the wind, precip threatening, and temps in the low 40s.  I opted to start with my rain jacket on and that proved to be the right decision even though the dark cloud staring us down at the start missed us.

The course started through a forested section for the first few miles and was fairly directly into the wind.  This and masters proclivity for easing into their races made for a comfortable pace early on.  Soon though, someone had had enough and launched an impressive solo attack.  The pack chased intermittently, but seemed content to let the rider go up the road a ways.  Soon we emerged from the trees and onto a more windswept landscape.  The wind was still from mostly ahead, but had a pretty good cross from the right which meant I spent a lot of time trying to hang near the centerline and get as much shelter as possible.  I'm always amazed at how unaware of wind direction some riders are.  The pack steadily shed a few riders in this section as they were unable to figure out where the draft was, even though the pace was still reasonable.  that was about to change.

Soon, the course made a 90 degree turn to the left and entered a rolling section.  The wind went to being a quartering tailwind.  The collective will seemed to be that it was time to reel in the break.  The pace spiked and their was almost no shelter from the wind at all.  I yoyoed a bit, but was soon dropped for good after only about 15 miles of racing.  With the wind and squall clouds all around, I seriously considered pulling a 180 and heading back to the start.  Many other dropped riders were choosing this option.  Stragglers off the pack were tantalizing close and I continued on hoping to catch on and have a group to ride with.  Alas this was not to be and soon I had passed the halfway point on the course and the shortest way home was to finish.  The wind and occasional bouts of hail, some heavy, made the solo ride less than enjoyable, but I finished it off.

I'm sure I was the absolute last finisher in my field as surely no one else was stupid enough to ride the rest of the course after being dropped that early in today's conditions.  Tomorrow is a short road race of only 25 miles, so hopefully that will go better.  At any rate, its all good training mileage which is what I need most this time of year.

Methow Valley Tour omnium - Road Race

My goal for today's road race stage of the 2009 Methow Valley Tour omnium was to stay out of trouble and finish with the bunch. Happily, I achieved that goal. It was a beautiful morning for a bike race with clear skies, temps in the 70s and only a little wind. The race for the category 4/5 field consisted of 4 laps of the the 13.5 mile Chewuch loop for a total of 54 miles. Once each lap we passed right through the center of downtown Winthrop.

Like last year, the first lap was pretty mellow. Our field of 70 or so rolled out neutral until we had passed through town and were out on the East Chewuch Road for the first time. When the officials honked their horn signalling us to race, there was no immediate acceleration as usually occurs. The pack continued at a pretty comfortable pace for the rest of the first lap, seemingly in no real hurry. That changed on the second lap.

Coming through town to start our second lap, the pace went up considerably and people began to drop off the back on the hills. I made sure I closed gaps in front of me and stayed in contact. Looking at video my wife shot of our pack each lap as we passed through the finish area, it looks like we lost at least a third of the field that lap.

On lap three, the pace seemed to relax again. Last year, the race became very nervous on lap three culminating in a crash that took down or delayed about half the field. This year, there seemed to me to be less of that. There was one solo attack for about half a lap, but other than that, very little aggression or driving of the pace and very little twitchiness in the pack.

I thought for sure that the pace would elevate again for the final lap and that riders might try their luck at getting off the front. The pace was high as we passed through town, but on the hill leaving town it was only slightly higher than the previous lap and the other hills on the East Chewuch were taken similarly. There were no serious attacks and the bunch seemed resigned to a sprint finish as we headed back in the West Chewuch Road and the final 6 miles or so to the finish.

To this point, I was not aware of any crashes in our field although their had been one or two close calls with the customary skidding and cussing from the involved riders. As we crested one of the final rises a few miles from the finish, I heard a rider go down behind me and off to the other side of the pack from me. I have no idea what happened as I was nearly at the back and the pace was steady at the time. I guess he probably touched wheels with the rider in front of him out of fatigue and loss of concentration.

With the finish approaching rapidly it was clear it was going to be a bunch sprint and I was not going to be a factor in it as I was sitting on at the back. I set my self up towards the right side of the bunch figuring that as people swung across the road at the 200m point, some room to pick up a couple places might appear on the right side. With about 25om to go however, the inevitable happened. Too many people trying to squeeze into too narrow a lane resulted in someone drifting onto the gravel shoulder and taking themselves and at least one other rider down with them. I had to slow to get around the crash and crossed the line at the tail end of the main field in 36th. Still, I had achieved my goal of finishing with the field and staying out of trouble. I had a great day and a great weekend racing my bike on my home roads and look forward to doing it all again here next year.

Enumclaw Omnium Road Race - A pleasant ride in the country

Not being a great climber, today's goal was to stay in contact with the bunch up the Mud Mountain Road climb for at least the first of three laps. Close but no cigar. I lost touch with just a few hundred meters left the first time up and spent the rest of the first lap in a group of about eight riders trying to chase back. Most of us in the group understood the plan: pull through and swing off as soon as you hit the front. When we managed to keep it working smoothly, we were definitely making great headway coming back to the group. Periodically however, someone would sit on the front too long and the pace would drop and the rotation would be disrupted. We managed to get within a few hundred meters or so, but could never quite close the gap.

Approaching the climb for the second time, at least half the group shut off, probably feeling that even if we caught back on, we'd immediately get dropped when the climbing started again. That sealed our fate to a day off the back. Shortly after the climb began for the second time, a pack of riders with lead and follow cars miraculously appeared before us and we were gaining quickly. As we drew closer, our dreams were dashed as it turned out to be the Cat 4 field which had been neutralized to allow our field, the one we were chasing, to pass. A few of the stronger riders in our group attempted to climb past the Cat 4s and a few of the weaker ones had already dropped off our pace. My pace on the climb was just enough to match the neutralized Cat 4s and so I followed along up the rest of climb behind their follow vehicles. Climbing a steep hill while breathing the exhaust of the follow vehicles gave me a new appreciation for the pros you see climbing the Alps in the Tour led by a number of cars and motorcycles.

After the climb was crested, the officials released the Cat 4s and they began to pull away. Our little group had splintered and I found myself working with one other rider on the descent back to Enumclaw. He seemed a little stronger than me and we were working well so I was surprised when he told me he was going to pull out at the fairgrounds and bail on the last lap. I told him I was going to finish it off and was left to start the third and final lap by myself. On the flat farm roads that begin the lap I was making good time and soon found myself up the back of the Cat 4s who again had been neutralized for some reason. Just as I pulled along side their follow car to ask if I should attempt to pass or not, they were again released and quickly left me behind.

The third and final time up the climb, I just rode at a comfortable pace and topped out with another rider in view just up the road. I picked up my pace and soon caught him. He turned out to be another master C/D rider, but he was pretty dead and unable to hold my wheel. I set about trying to get myself back to the finish as quickly as possible. Partway down the SR 410 descent I was caught by two members of our original chase group. We stayed together to the finish where I put in a token 75m sprint only to finish second in our group.

All in all it was a really enjoyable weekend of bike racing. The event was well run and marshalled, although I'm continually puzzled why it takes so much longer to put together the masters results as compared to any other field. I will definitely try to put this race on my schedule for next year.

Next up is my home race the Methow Valley Tour in two weeks.