On April 2, 2011 I arrived at the
Mason-Dixon Park in Mount Morris, PA to compete in the Morgantown Road Race, only to find conditions seen in this picture below. Big, fat snow flakes were coming down almost in sheets. The race was delayed by almost an hour and just as there were talks of canceling the event the snow quit, the sun came out (though it was still cold), and the race went on. It was an epic event for sure!
Fast forward to this past weekend, April 7, 2012, the scene for the Morgantown Road Race was entirely different. Barely a cloud in the sky, it was a most beautiful 60 degree day for the hard, rugged 50 mile road race. And cyclists from all around agreed as it was a record breaking turn out. In attendance with me were teammates
Mark Briercheck and
Dave Shaffer, both first time participants in this epic encounter.
As we rolled out of town, away from the start line and into the glory of southern PA and northern WV, our group stayed together albeit with a hasty pace, speckled with an occasional attack by someone that was eventually brought back into the fold. But just under half way into the race there was an attack that formed into a small group of about six or seven that was successful in riding away from the rest of us. I thought for sure that being so early into the race, and with the looming big climbs ahead, they wouldn't be gone for long. I was wrong.
Personally, I was feeling great. I've been training hard and consistent... and resting equally so for recovery. When we got to the first "big" climb of the day, all that training and preparation fell by the wayside as I was developing a lower back pain, and the harder I worked to get up the climb and stay with the group, the more unbearable it became. It doesn't matter how good you're feeling, when you have a back issue like that it's hard to keep the momentum going and generate the needed power output. At least that's how it is for me.
By the time we got to the top I was dangling off the back like a low hanging apple on the tree ready to fall to the ground for a brusing. I saw
Briercheck a head of me and was determined to stay with him. Fortunately what goes up, also goes down, and I go down pretty quick as I can descend rather well. On the descent I caught back up and went right back to the front of the group and stayed there until the second, and much bigger climb.
Pop... that was it. My back was killing me. It was all I could do just to get up what was a mountain at this point. I slugged it out, got to the top, and down the other side, and this time it even hurt a lot to go downhill. I got together with some other guys who fell off the pace, we re-grouped, and got our little train rolling. Eventually we picked up
Mark and a few other guys and Mark whipped us into a nice rotating paceline, very workman like, and we caught another group that was just a head of us. Now, as a bigger group, we motored along, again, until another big climb where I promptly fell off the pace in pain. Same story... repeat. I bombed my way down the other side, passing people, even Mark, and I was gone. I dug deep, caught up to the leading remnants of what was our big group, and we got on with business. They wound up dropping me once-and-for-all as I just couldn't keep with them even on the small rolling hills, and I came across the finish line... all alone and around 14:00 off the winning time. I finished the 50 mile race in 2:23:30 in 26th place, Mark Briercheck finished one place behind me and Dave Shaffer met his goal of finishing the race in 33 place.
Two days after this race I met with my chiropractor and he
snapped me like a Slim Jim back into shape and gave me some suggestions, and
Todd Schoeni from
Pro Bikes suggested I get a bike fit to help with the back pain. With what I get from the two of them I hope to beat this nagging nemesis of mine once and for all and get on with actual racing! As for the race itself, it has everything a die hard cyclist could want... rugged beauty, narrow roads, glorious climbs, fast descents, and "on-the-rivet" sections of speed, not to mention the relative unknown of weather, blustery snow one year and bountiful sunshine the next. A
classic indeed!
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| Fred Jordan Photography |
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| Fred Jordan Photography |
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| Fred Jordan Photography |
By the time we got to the top I was dangling off the back like a low hanging apple on the tree ready to fall to the ground for a brusing. I saw Briercheck a head of me and was determined to stay with him. Fortunately what goes up, also goes down, and I go down pretty quick as I can descend rather well. On the descent I caught back up and went right back to the front of the group and stayed there until the second, and much bigger climb. Pop... that was it. My back was killing me. It was all I could do just to get up what was a mountain at this point. I slugged it out, got to the top, and down the other side, and this time it even hurt a lot to go downhill. I got together with some other guys who fell off the pace, we re-grouped, and got our little train rolling. Eventually we picked up Mark and a few other guys and Mark whipped us into a nice rotating paceline, very workman like, and we caught another group that was just a head of us. Now, as a bigger group, we motored along, again, until another big climb where I promptly fell off the pace in pain. Same story... repeat. I bombed my way down the other side, passing people, even Mark, and I was gone. I dug deep, caught up to the leading remnants of what was our big group, and we got on with business. They wound up dropping me once-and-for-all as I just couldn't keep with them even on the small rolling hills, and I came across the finish line... all alone and around 14:00 off the winning time. I finished the 50 mile race in 2:23:30 in 26th place, Mark Briercheck finished one place behind me and Dave Shaffer met his goal of finishing the race in 33 place.
Nice ride and write-up !
ReplyDeleteI hope you are feeling better soon.
Kirk
Was Mark carrying all the Team's Gear in his (Camel Back)?!!!
ReplyDelete