I had to find my road climbing legs today at the Superior Road Race. I had heard that the course was hilly, however that wasn't the hard part. 
This race was particularly hard because I and three other guys broke off the front less than 12 miles into a 64 mile race. My adventure companions were Bryce from Bicycle House and Mark from BC Canada. We got away on the second climb after the first KOM which I won, eventhough there was not prize for it. The rest of the way until the turn around point was either downhill or flat with a strong head wind. I had to work really hard everytime I pulled through. The three of us worked really well. We even passed the Cat 3s and didn't stop cooperating until we made it to the last big climb where we went every man for himself. Mark was the first one to drop back. Bryce and I kept going but I was already hurting. I tried to look confortable but I was out of water from the bottom of the hill. 1/4 mile from the KOM, Bryce just up'd the pace enough for me to loose contact. He didn't attack, he just slowly rode away and I couldn't do anything. My quads and hip flexors were cramping up as I summited but I still had about 6 miles of rolling hills before the finish. I managed to hold on to second place thanks to all the work done by teammates Mark Bunz and Judah Cain back in the pack blocking and disrupting any attemps to organize a chase. Thanks for the help guys!
This race was particularly hard because I and three other guys broke off the front less than 12 miles into a 64 mile race. My adventure companions were Bryce from Bicycle House and Mark from BC Canada. We got away on the second climb after the first KOM which I won, eventhough there was not prize for it. The rest of the way until the turn around point was either downhill or flat with a strong head wind. I had to work really hard everytime I pulled through. The three of us worked really well. We even passed the Cat 3s and didn't stop cooperating until we made it to the last big climb where we went every man for himself. Mark was the first one to drop back. Bryce and I kept going but I was already hurting. I tried to look confortable but I was out of water from the bottom of the hill. 1/4 mile from the KOM, Bryce just up'd the pace enough for me to loose contact. He didn't attack, he just slowly rode away and I couldn't do anything. My quads and hip flexors were cramping up as I summited but I still had about 6 miles of rolling hills before the finish. I managed to hold on to second place thanks to all the work done by teammates Mark Bunz and Judah Cain back in the pack blocking and disrupting any attemps to organize a chase. Thanks for the help guys!
After the race I did a short stop to check some historic markers and learn a bit more about Superior. Did you know the Jennifer Lopez movie; U Turn was filmed there. This is a mining town, so there is a lot of history and this outdoor museum has a lot of it.
I guess they had mules to pulled these things. I hope mules would be smarter than me and know not to push from the brake handle...
1 comment:
Hey Jeff, it was great racing with you in Superior! Good luck in your upcoming MTB races - hope to see you out on the road again.
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