Chalk Creek Drag Race

First of all, congrats to Peter who won his division. He is the official state champion in the 55+ Category. Ryan also did well in the Cat 5's. Travis and Matt also represented the team in that division.

In the Masters 35+B division, it was a drag race. The peloton finished over 9 minutes faster than the Cat. 5's from 2008, and my personal time was almost 13 minutes faster than last years. I started off by trying to just hang on the back as long as I could. Last year I was spanked and left for dead on the 3rd hard hill and expected to only hang on a little longer this year. I secretly hoped the 35B division would be slightly easier than the Cat. 5's were. I was wrong, they actually beat the best cat. 5 2009 time by about 3 minutes. I could see Adam and Eric smartly hanging on the front and actually chasing down a few attacks. Brent seemed to be positioning himself in the middle. Part way up the canyon on a difficult hill the pace kicked up and my heart rate monitor started mocking me as I began slide off the back. I dug in deep and managed to hang on. Brent later said that we had split the peloton at that point and lost half of it. I hadn't noticed in all the pain. I was excited to still be in the lead group and tried to recover. At that point Adam and Eric were still up front, with Brent and I hanging on the back. I remembered from last year that at the turn around point the road kicked up and the pack attacked. So I decided to see if I could slide up to the front. About that time I hear a big snapping noise and a tirade of four letter words. It was Eric. His chain had decided to snap and save him some pain. The peloton started braking and swerving to miss him and I got pushed to the back again. At the turn around point there was a massive slow down whiched caused me to come to a complete stop at the back. Unfortunately the riders at the front attacked and I was left trying to re-snap in my shoes and get moving again. I could see Brent about 1/2 block ahead of me and the peloton about 1/2 block ahead of him. He must have had to stop also on the turn around. I put it in my highest gear and shifted my heart into 95% mode. I wasn't making up any ground and I was beginning to think my lungs were going to burst out of my chest. after about a mile two guys caught me and I hopped in their draft to catch my breath. We worked together to catch Brent, who I believe was holding up a little to wait for us. Then Brent and I worked like dogs for 10 more miles to reel in the peloton. I have never been more proud of my meager cycling skills than I was in that moment. I threw my hands up in the air as if I had just won a stage in the Tour de France. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to recuperate a little. As I started to feel good again, It dawned on me that I had probably used up way to much energy to really be effective up the final climb in a sprint, but I felt I needed to do something. So with 2 miles to go I moved up to the front. I said hi to Adam and attacked off the front. I created a gap and tried to settle into a rhythm. I only lasted about 30 seconds and the peloton reeled me in. I was starting to be absorbed by the peloton when I remembered that they were probably tired too, and with the image of Andy Shleck in my mind I just attacked again. I was quickly brought back to reality when my heart rate monitor texted, "You are NOT Andy!!!". At that point we were making the final turn and Adam had moved into first place and we only had to climb about 1/3 of a mile to the finish. I was ceremoniously dropped to the back. Brent said he downed a gel with about 8 miles to go that helped him finish strong in the sprint. Adam ended up drifting back some. I think he was trying to use the race to lose weight and probably didn't have the requisite carbs in his system. Even though I didn't place well, I felt successful with a faster time than last year, an awesome chase with Brent to catch the peloton, and two attacks at the end. And that is on top of losing 8 pounds or so last week. The 8 pounds that I had gained the month before. Do I dare to do the Tour de Park City next week. It was so painful last year that I don't know yet.