OVR - St. Leon - Biowheels RR

Where did that hill come from?
I can climb?!?

As I cross the finish line with arms raised in victory salute I look just up the road and realize, we never pulled in all of the first lap escape. Let's flash back to the beginning.

The day started off well, on the drive in we see this little steep climb just before the finish and I think, "Can this be the climb people fear on this course?" Talking to a local we found out the real hill was on the back portion of the course about 3/4 mi long and very steep.

The race started off fairly normal with no real surprises. A Cycle-Dot got away on the downhill stretch after someone tire blew (sounding like a gun) and nearly scarring a horse to death. We let Darkhorse do most of the work at the front, afterall it's their man leading the GC. I stayed very close to the front. At the day's main climb I gapped the field on the first half, turning the corner thinking it was over, I couldn't have been more wrong. At this point on the climb the suffering begins as you're already down into the 25 (yes, I said 25, I can't tell you the last time I used a 25.) Nearing the top my gap had been erased and a group of 5 escaped. Being that I was still with all the GC contenders I wasn't too concerned. As we come around through the curves Randy recovers and rejoins our group. We hit the little climb just before the finish line and realize this isn't so little either.

Now on the second lap Randy and I join the front and start doing some more work to reel in the escapees. I talked to the Darkhorse leader just before the main climb trying to enlist more help and he says we've pulled in all but 2 of the 5 according to one of the UC guys who came back. The second time up the climb, again I gap the field on the first half and they start to catch up on the second half. At the top I realize I'm with a group of 5 with about a 15 second gap, as I tried to get them organized to keep going nobody seemed too interested. Nearing the end of the lap offered a bit of entertainment as some "spectators" (I'll use that term loosely) were enjoying themselves at the side of the road offering us beer, cheering, whooping, one wearing a wig, another a foam finger.

The final lap, Randy did his best impression of a sacrificial lamb. He went to the front a couple of times. I told him to go and he attacked and managed to take one of the GC guys with him. They didn't make it far but it was what I wanted, forcing Darkhose and UC to work more. The final time up the main climb really shattered the field. I was in the lead group of 4 and got them organized. The pace was high enough that we shed 1 rider and stayed away. As we head towards the finish we pulled in a number of other riders, unfortuantely they had all been dropped by their fields. At the top of the last little climb Wendy was standing at the top cheering and telling me to go now. Unfortunately she was loud enough the UC guy next to me started as well. He had a slight bit more trouble then me getting back to the big ring, I fairly easily outkicked them...so after raising my arms in victory salute...flash forward...none of the riders we pulled in had been in our race.

The good news is that I gained points on all of the GC contenders. Thanks to Wendy for the cheering, Randy for the hard work, and Chris for telling me to put on the 25 as a bail-out gear, we need to talk about the definition of a bail-out gear.

Another weekend, another OVR race. Hmmm...Never been to St. Leon before. Been told the hill isn't all that bad. According to the Revolution team, the course got changed a little due to debris on the hill they normally use. So, take out old hill, add in new hill. New hill was awful. I can't even come up with a hill we have ridden that comes close to this thing. Around 3/4 of a mile long and more than 10% incline. Oh yeah, and did I mention, it's a right turn and then up the hill, so no momentum to help at the bottom.
Lap one, had some shifting issues lost the pack for a little while, caught them on the bottom half of the hill. Had no idea how long or steep the hill was, body quit climbing about half way up. Lost the pack again. Time trialed for the rest of lap one and passed a couple of women. Start of lap two, caught a Revolution team member. Had her on my wheel most of the rest of the lap. Part way up the hill, got a Kenda team member. Had her on both our wheels the rest of the lap. Women don't take turns all that well at pulling. Slowed way down to conserve some energy. One more little, nasty climb up to the finish line. Into the head wind. Wind was blowing hard.
Spent to much time out on my own, couldn't outsprint Rev. at the end. Got 10th, which puts me at 9th in the GC. I will say the locals in the lawn chairs with the wigs and foam fingers cheering us on were entertaining. Apparently they offered the guys beer. We just got chicky, baby comments. Up next, Lynchburg, see you all there.

bahahaa...my legs hurt..

This race will go down as one of my favorites. I had a good time but the unfortunate thing was I finished outside of the main breakaway. The race started out a lot slower than previous weeks. The pace was slow but as soon as the big climb hit the pack exploded, there was only a group of like five of us at the top of the climb. I hung on through the crosswind section but just couldn’t keep the pace up. I had nothing to offer. For the rest of the first lap I was in no mans land hoping for a group to come on to play catch up but we had already blown that group away. I thought for a long time that I could hold on for another lap for like fifth. A friend that was willing to work eventually caught me but it was too late. I dropped him and did the rest of the race with a group of five. I have no idea what I placed to be honest really don’t care. I love racing and I had fun that is what it is really all about.