Wapello – Burlington (Iowa) Road Race, Category 4/5

33 beautiful miles along ‘the river.’ Friday, May 27, 2005 5:15 PM. Weather was a bit overcast, 68 degrees and winds gusting to almost 20 MPH (remember this is Iowa).

The Bike Burlington Race Weekend would begin with a 33 mile road race from a small town along the Mighty Mississippi (Wapello) to a bigger town 33 miles down the road…Burlington, Iowa.

This being my second official race and my FIRST as a member of the Proctor Cycling Team my goals, while a bit higher than my first career race, were not that much different. Seeing how there were over 120 people involved in the race I figured to do a bit better and hopefully get some actual “race” exposure. My goals:

1. Finish the race!!
2. Compete hard enough to beat someone (preferably that guy with the hybrid, ha ha ha).

The race started out along a stretch of road that would prove to separate the “contenders” from the “pretenders.” There was a narrow bridge a few “climbs” (remember we are in Iowa so that term is relative) and the thing that really made the race difficult was the large contingent of DICE cycling team members on the front.

The nervousness and tension of the 120 plus riders was obvious. After the second near crash and the second “climb” the group that would eventually control the race separated itself from everyone else. I found myself hanging on to the lead group with the help of Proctor teammates Ryan Michels and Rob Koechle for almost 7 miles…this starting to sound a lot like the last race?

Yes, after about 7 miles and those nasty up-hills I was dropped from the main pack. I quickly found myself in that “no-mans-land” scenario I raced in a couple weeks ago however, I knew this would be different because of the shear size of the race.

As the race wore on I found myself in a nice sized Peloton working very well with several guys in the group. By about the 12-13 mile mark I felt super strong and like I was actually “leading” the group through a complicated pace line.

Normally a pace line isn’t complicated but when you are racing with 15 guys that you don’t know and have no idea if they know what they are doing it becomes complicated. As I mentioned I found myself encouraging people (“nice pull” “don’t burn” “easy when you get to the front”), taking really long pulls and overall leading the group as we made our way over the beautiful river valley.

All of this from a guy on his second true race…Hey, I have to give my mentors and friends from the Proctor Cycling Team all the credit they have been unbelievably supportive and helpful.

The countryside by the way was beautiful…rolling hills, large trees and gentle terrain. This coupled with how well I felt on the bike made for a great day.

Okay, the race…we ended up becoming the “third” pack of riders but we were working very well and at one point we spotted a group of riders approximately ¾ of a mile up the rode…I remember at one point one of the guys in the group said, “Can we catch that group?” My response was, “only if we work together.”

Within 2 miles we had not only caught the group we had swallowed them and only a few of the 20 or so riders could hang with our pace.

At the 30 mile mark I made a conscious effort to push the pace a bit more than I felt we were going earlier. I took several very long pulls hoping to “drop” some of the group…hey, I can dream right?

That plan didn’t exactly work like it does for Lance, Basso, Salvoldelli et al. It did however, show me inside that I can be strong at the end of a hard race.

Anyway, as I was consciously picking up the pace the road gradually started going uphill to Burlington. With 1.5 miles to go it was definitely uphill with the last .5 miles at about 5-6%. This caused the entire group to get out of the saddle and pump our way up to a .5 mile straight downhill finish…exciting.

I made it to the top of the “climb” in about 4th place in the group after my work below…it was an unbelievable feeling to look down on the open road, the finish line in site and all the “fans” lining the streets. Truly a rush…

I began to shift and pump as hard as I could all while trying to totally enjoy the moment!!! As I get closer to the finish, I hear the Proctor contingent screaming for me to go harder…Thanks to Stan, Sue, Lenny, Matthew and all the others giving me so much encouragement (I’ll never mean this more than I did the next morning at Snake Alley).

I ended up finishing about 6th in the group, 54th overall…I had the time of my life…or at least until Snake Alley the next morning J