Since when is it September? What happened to June, July, August? Cyclocross has already started for the real lunatics. For me, all I’ve been thinking about is GMSR and what a weekend that was. I trained my butt off in July and August and went into it fit and ready.
I targeted the points competition. That plan basically eliminates the TT and last 50 miles of the road stage from my weekend since there’s no points there. It seemed like a good plan since I still can’t seem to be competitive on long steep climbs. I like to blame it on Boston since the longest local climbs are less than 5 minutes long, but then you get local guys like Stephen Pierce that fly up the mountains. Maybe I just don’t like to suffer.
Stage 1 – Warren Store ITT
This is the same TT as 2008 and 2009. The course climbs 500’ over the first 2.5 miles, then drops about 200’ of that vertical over the next 3 mile with a technical 10%+ dip with 500m to go. The average gradient of the climb is mellow but it kicks up to 7% or more in places. Equipment rules are mass start legal equipment only, so aero helmets and disc wheels are OK, aerobars are not.
Wind direction makes a big difference on this course. 2008 and 2010 had a favorable wind while 2009 did not.
In 2008 I got smoked here and I think it was my flat pacing strategy because my average power wasn’t bad. My plan for 2010 was to go 100% to the top of the hill, which would be 8 or 9 minutes, then hold on the best I could. I was thinking somewhere around 330W for the climb and 250 or 300W or whatever I could muster after that.
I got 45 minutes of warmup in rolling up and down Rt 100 and somehow that still didn’t feel like enough. On Thursday I was on my feet all day at work which made my legs feel like bricks. What can you do though. Doing 60 or 90 minutes seems like overkill.
And just like that, 5,4,3,2,1, GO GMSR had started. I punched it hard in the little ring, get up to speed, take the turn, and up we go. I went with my Edge wheels and not my Powertap so I was pacing on feel. 400W always feels like 200W in a TT so I tried to keep my effort reasonable.
However, this TT is supposed to hurt with all the elevation gain being early. When the grade kicked up a bit just a minute or two in I ramped it up. And as the road kicked steep for the second time I was already breathing hard, and couldn’t really punch it like I wanted to. I was a little annoyed that my 30s man seemed so far away (he eventually put a minute into me), and I was really deflated when the dude 30s behind me made his pass just before the top. To make matters worse, the 60s behind me guy also passed me on the start of the downhill.
I shouldn’t be surprised though because I never got that feeling like I was really crushing it on the climb. I’m not a strong time trialist. If I’m not on the verge of blacking out it’s not going to be a great ride. And after I got passed twice, I just had no motivation to really go.
The two people that passed me didn’t really put much distance on me on the descent, and I was taking it easy especially right before the dip. I sprinted hard enough up the dip that I caught the two of them and held on to the finish. Sprinting up that steep grade brought back a 10 or 15s gap in no time. I think it was well worth backing off enough to really hammer the dip.
Finishing time was 16:22 which was 62/80 for the 3’s. Placing was not so good but I was actually pleased with that time. Given my effort was far from stellar I was surprised to still sort of be in the mix. Sure, I was +1:55 on leader Victor Taomina (Seaside Cycles) but I’m pretty sure that dude clicked the cat3 box by mistake instead of cat1 when registering. His winning time of 14:27 would be solid for the 1’s. So compared to normal 3’s I was only +1:30 on 2nd place and a minute out of the top 20. I’ve had TT’s that have been far worse.
Stage 2 – Bridges Resort Circuit Race
The 3’s did 3 ½ laps for 72 miles total. Each lap has a 700 foot climb and sprinter’s points paying 4 places deep on every lap. I wanted to get as many of those points as possible. My teammate Oscar was in the race and our plan was to approach this one aggressively. I checked out the course after the TT on Friday to get familiar with the finishing section and feel out the climb.
Two guys snuck away on the little Rt 2 hill on the first lap and stayed away to snag the points. That left 3rd and 4th place points available. Before the race I decided I would sprint for 3rd place points but not for 4th so it was time to play. With 1k2go Oscar was drilling it on the front but it was a strong headwind so it was a longer effort than it appeared. Sweet Open Roads’ Cosmo starting drilling it Renshaw style after Oscar was done. He was leading out his sprinter Patrick Barter and I was on his wheel. I was ready to go to the inside of the slightly left-bending downhill turn and Patrick went hard to the outside with 200m. He got a great jump and absolutely crushed me and I took 4th place points uncontested.
For whatever reason it was hard to recover after that. I was out of breath before the climb even started. I took my feed from Erica then had to dig super deep to get over the climb. I was worried. This climb wasn’t supposed to hurt this much. But, I was still with the field and ready to sprint some more. I thought a few other people may have been dropped but it looks like they clawed back on.
No breaks got away on the Rt2 hill although people did try. The pack was ready this time and the same move didn’t work twice. With max points up for grab the field was packing in tight. Much more interest in the points than on lap 1. 3k out I think someone hit a pothole that crashed out 2 racers. Luckily, I wasn’t affected and was in excellent position, sitting 2nd wheel on the left side of the bunch all the way to 1k to go.
Turns out there was a problem with this position. Sweet Open Roads lined up their train again, this time with a 3rd man added for more horsepower, and they were on the far right side of the bunch. So, when they started drilling it with 1k2go I was boxed in, scrambled and still missed the train, torching my legs somewhat in the process. I watched 4 of my competitors sweep up the points just up the road.
I didn’t think that lap 2 effort was too deep, but I was in trouble when we got to the climb. It comes up surprisingly soon after the sprint, especially considering the counter-attacks that ensue after the finish line. The trouble for me is that my anaerobic juices weren’t recharged when we got to the climb. I rely on anaerobic power a lot for these shorter ~5min climbs. If I can do a max of 100kj of work in 5 minutes, but only have 25kj out of 35kj max anaerobic capacity available, I’m down 10% on my 5min average for the climb. That means I can do 340W average instead of 380W, which is a huge difference.
So when we got strung out single file, I assume because the KOM sprint was on, I got dropped. I just couldn’t dig into those reserves to go harder; there was nothing there.
Three of us tried to get back on during the descent but the gap was too much, even with the caravan of traffic that had built up behind the field. Our chase group grew and ended up finishing about 12 minutes down, but more importantly I had missed out on the sprinter’s points.
This stage was more of a learning experience than I had expected. I thought I was perfectly suited for this stage but it ended up being my worst of the entire race. The extra work required for the intermediate sprints was far more taxing than expected. I expected this race to be similar to the KSR circuit race. The elevation gains on the KOM hills are similar, but KSR seems to be longer and more gradual, requiring significantly less anaerobic power.
Stage 3 – Mad River Road Race
This is the queen stage of GMSR and I can’t think of a better road race in New England. There have been a few variations of this course over the past few years, but the general idea is to have lots of climbing and end on App Gap 60 or 70 miles later. This year we started at Mt Ellen base lodge, went through Waitsfield Center and did the TT course backwards, adding a pretty significant 500’ climb to the stage. After that we took the usual route over Middlebury Gap, a slightly different route through Bristol, and once again up App Gap. Sprint points were available paying 3 deep, 23 miles in at the bottom of Granville Gulch.
That new climb right after Waitsfield had me nervous after being dropped in the Circuit Race. I figured the field could shell me pretty easily if I weren’t careful, but we ended up just crawling over it as if we were warming up. It was actually a really beautiful addition to the course, going through the covered bridge, by Round Barn Farm, all with spectacular views of the valley that you don’t appreciate during the TT.
Attacks ensued over the top of this climb, likely sprinters trying to get away for the points. We descended pretty rapidly and I was able to get right to the front. We bombed through Warren Center in full on chase mode. Onion River Racing had the green jersey and were leading the chase, keeping the attacks within reason.
As we turned onto Rt 100 and started ascending Granville Gulch there were still 2 guys off the front and we were going hard, still strung out. I was dreading this pace, thinking it’d make for a brutally hard day. We still had 55 miles to go that included Granville Gulch, Middlebury Gap, Notch Road, and App Gap.
When Onion River eventually reeled the last escapee in I prepared for a counter attack to come, but it didn’t.
I figured everyone probably felt like I did: a bit winded and ready for the pace to mellow out a bit. So, I decided to do a counter myself. Instead of sprinting like a mad man, I just gradually picked up the pace while hugging the gutter and slowly rolled off the front. I kept looking back, checking to see if anyone wanted to come with me, but no one did.
At first the gap was 10m, then it slowly increased to 20m, and a bit later 50m. There was a headwind going down Rt 100 and I’m sure no one wanted to work into it. Eventually my gap stretched out to 200m or so with only a very minimal effort, and when the gradient got a little steep I started hammering and got out of sight.
I felt strong, but I was a lot further from the top of the climb than I realized. Closer to 10 or 15 minutes than the 5 or 10 minutes I was thinking. Partially because that headwind was brutal. Eventually I realized I was getting caught and I backed off since I knew I was still a few minutes from the top.
When I got caught Oscar was the first to pull up alongside me. He asked if my legs were toast and I said that they were not. The green jersey wearer started yelling a whole bunch, and at first I didn’t understand why. It turned out that the bunch hadn’t caught me. Instead a group of 7 had bridged up to me and I couldn’t see the main field behind us.
This breakaway got organized around the top of Granville. Oscar and I were both there for NEBC, Sweet Open Roads had two including their sprinter, the Green Jersey was there, so too was Chris Wood (Sound Solutions sprinter), and Nevin Rallis (Bikeman sprinter). It was like a big sprinters’ party and this was definitely the move I wanted to be in.
Sweet Open Roads attacked on the descent and Oscar immediately chased him for me. Everyone else sat on. We were ripping down this descent and I knew the sprint well. The line is hidden and doesn’t come into view until 200 meters out which is exactly where I went after Oscar led it out. I launched on the left side just as Nevin went to the right. I felt like I had all the snap in the world, but Nevin still pulled away from me, and then I also got nipped on the line by Barter and Wood. So zero points for me despite having everything go nearly perfectly. Dang. I just got straight up beat.
We sat up and chatted for a minute after the sprint. Two guys charged ahead showing their intent to keep the breakaway alive. Then Oscar went up to them so I did too. Before long we had 6 guys and shortly later we had 2 new faces that bridged up.
A motorcycle told us we had 3 minutes and I liked the idea of having a head start over Middlebury Gap. We had a pretty decent paceline going and worked well through the feed zone. When the climb got steep we broke up, with 5 guys going up the road from me and 2 going back. Oscar went backwards, having been struggling with a stomach issue. The last kilometer was miserable for me, grinding out a cadence of like 50 with my 40x26 gearing.
Oscar and another guy weren’t far behind me at the top of Middlebury, and there were more guys just up the road. We formed a chase group that kept growing and growing, and before long we had 8 again.
At the bottom of Middlebury the situation looked like this: 43 miles down, 27 miles to go. Lead group of 3 was up the road, I was in Chase 1, a group of 8, and the peloton was chasing us.
When we started heading north on 116 we got a tailwind, which I really thought would favor us. However, when the motorcycle started giving us time gaps I was kind of shocked to hear that the lead 3 had 5 minutes on the peloton, and that we were only a minute ahead of them. Those 3 had to have been absolutely drilling it if the 8 of us were losing ground to them.
As the time gaps got less and less favorable we lost more and more people. When the peloton got really close we even got a few new faces. I eventually disconnected from our group on Notch Road. That road is so ridiculously steep, I didn’t have a chance. In fact, I was so slow going up it that the peloton caught me just shortly after getting on the dirt section. My 40 miles of breakaway glory were over.
Speaking of the dirt road, boy is that section miserable. This is coming from someone that generally likes flat, selective courses. I’d be OK with it if it were smoother like Battenkill’s dirt roads are, but those sharp potholes are deep, sharp, and plain nasty. It’s more like a game of avoiding flat tires than anything else.
The pace ramped up as we got to the Baby Gap turn. The motorcycle informed us the peloton was still 5 minutes behind the leaders. Those 3 guys must’ve been crushing it. As we strung out single file I realized just how shot my legs were. When we came to the turn onto Baby Gap I just let everyone come by. I didn’t want to screw up anyone else’s day by getting gapped.
Despite being pretty shattered to start the climb, it was actually the easiest it’s ever been for me thanks to a wicked tailwind. However, 40x26 was still too much gear and I should get something smaller if I ever want to try and compete on that sort of gradient. I finished a whopping 15 minutes off the leader who came from our breakaway.
There was some controversy about our break because the main field got neutralized when the master’s group passed them. The complaint was that our break didn’t get neutralized as well. I’m not sure what the rulebook states but after having been in that break for so long I’m pretty impressed that the stage winner was able to hold on. The fact is he did 50 miles in a breakaway and still had enough left to stay away on App Gap. That’s impressive.
Stage 4 – Burlington Criterium
This is the 1km, 6 turn, super technical downtown criterium that keeps some climbers away from the stage race altogether. Cat3’s do 34 laps and there are sprinters’ points with 30 to go, 5 to go, and on the finish. I would have needed to win pretty much everything to get the green jersey so I gave up on that goal. I just wanted a decent result.
A ton of people get dropped in this race compared to most criteriums. It’s hard to say why exactly, but a lot of it has to do with super strong people drilling it at the front while nervous bike handlers get sloppy at the back. The race gets so strung out right from the start that it’s impossible for even the stronger guys to avoid getting dropped if they have to keep closing gaps.
That being said, this race is all about the start, and the start is totally unique. Top 10 GC and jersey wearers get a call up. The remaining 70 people in our field go through a staging fiasco. We line up on a side street as much as 30 minutes early. When the time comes the officials drop a rope and we sprint like madmen to a second staging rope that’s on the course. Then that rope gets dropped and we again sprint like madmen to the real start line, behind the people that got a callup. It’s a race before the race.
I nailed it this year. I lined up super early and sprinted to the spot behind Stephen Pierce on the first rope-drop. When he got a callup, I took his spot in the first row. On the next rope-drop I got out in front which let me chose which of the top 10 GC and jersey wearers I wanted to start behind. The obvious choice there was the green jersey who would be going after the lap 4 points and needed a good start. After getting behind him I was please to see he had speedplay pedals, easy to clip into. When the whistle blew for us to start, he clipped in instantly and so did I. I moved up slightly before turn 2 and was on the front of the race, right behind the pace car. Perfect!
If only I could have raced well on the first few laps of the race. For some reason I lacked any confidence and handled my bike in the turns like a total idiot. There were only 2 people in front of me yet every single turn I let a gap open. Then I’d have to close them. This went on for the first 2 laps. I was surprised it took 2 laps for anyone to come around me. I would have passed myself in a second.
Victor (Seaside Cycles) came by me when I was still at the front and sort of just rolled away, and I knew I needed to go with him. He had lost the yellow as a result of the breakaway in the RR and I expected him to try and lap the field. I thought if I played my cards right I could ride his wheel most of the way. But I was too gassed from closing up gaps and essentially watched the race ride away from me. He took a few others with him and eventually there were only 3 that would lap the field.
I did settle into the middle of the field as my cornering ability improved. The gap to the 3 leaders stretched out every time we came around but I figured there were stronger people than me to chase it and was pretty content to sit in.
With somewhere around 15 to go I was right in the middle of things. On turn 1, I was on the outside lane when someone came flying around me on the outside at a ridiculous speed. There was very little space for him and I think he ran into the curb on the side of the road. After that, all I can remember is his bike being sideways in front of me and plowing into him. I went down on my right side and somehow the 20 or so people behind me managed to avoid piling up. I tried to get up but my tailbone was throbbing in pain and I couldn’t do it without help, so that was it for my race.
Summary
Back home I talked to my doctor about my tailbone but passed on doing x-rays after being told there isn’t much that could be done for a break anyways. If the pain gets worse I will get them done, but hopefully it won’t come to that. Unfortunately the seatstay of my Tarmac was also cracked in the crash so I need to look into a repair job.
Despite the crash, this was still the most fun I’ve ever had at a race, probably in part due to the long build up to the race. The time trial was OK, we had some great sprints in the circuit race, the road race was amazing between being in the long break with my teammate and throwing down for the sprints there too, and the criterium was cool too until my crash. My roomie Colby won the green jersey in the 2’s and it was fun to be part of that. Erica made great food all weekend long and we love soaking in the central VT atmosphere.
I have lots of pictures to add and will hopefully get around to that soon.
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