NATIONALS

You can probably judge by the immense delay in reporting that Nationals did not go as well as I had hoped.

Be it fatigue, be it altitude, be it course difficulty, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, this Cat 3 cannot hope to content with the Professional and Cat 1/2 riders who dominate the ranks of the peleton at Nationals.

The road race, I thought, would play out strategically and practically. Instead, It became a slugfest, with riders and teams simply trying to put each other out of competition, as opposed to trying to beat them. The first 7 miles were innocent. A few stupid attacks off the front that simply resulted in those riders being caught on the first slight rises. The course was a rolling enclosure, so we had the whole road to use. This meant moving through the pack was fairly easy, and I made my first mistake by not making sure I was on the front when we hit the big climb. Instead I was just chilling, anticipating an entirely different scenario than what would play out. Air Force took the first swing, sending a few guys up front and DRILLING the false flat leading up the the 3 minute, 12% climb that everyone knew would likely dictate the elite group for the rest of the race. I knew the climb would be tough, but I had felt great on it the day before. The problem was that the pace was ramped up so much before we even hit the climb, that I was confused on my gearing when I actually hit it. We were still pushing 23-25 mph up the 4% grade before the serious kick. I kept moving from big ring to small ring, desperately trying to find a gear to make that pace easier to maintain. Then we hit the hill, and all hell broke loose. I dug as hard as I could, seeing my place in the pack slip back. I yelled at myself, refusing to let my race end this early. I took a huge effort, moved back up a bit, refusing to be dropped. Then I saw what was happening. I, and all 7 guys around me were all getting dropped. The grupetto was getting its first victims. I got into a more reasonale rhythm and started to pick up guys along the way. The problem was, I would pass them but they would not join my pace. I was still in front of the "end of caravan" car, and technically still in contention with the field only a minute ahead. I didn't want to slow for the grupetto. If they couldnt maintain my pace, they weren't worth working with. I continued like that for another 4 or 5 miles, catching and passing several conference rivals (cough, cumberland, cough), and starting to feel better about myself. I ended up with 3 guys who were riding pretty well, a kid from Union and some other guy. But then they decided to take a dangerous descent full speed, something I was not willing to do if not in contention. A this point the race was way out of reach, and i was racing for survival. I made the decision to ride to the feed zone, where my grandpa waited, and pull to save legs for the crit. I soloed for another 15-18 miles, up over some epic climbs, passing a rider here and there, trying to keep my pace up. On the Masonville loop, the first half was slightly downhill with the wind, and I was in my 53x11 spinning out. No word on top speed bc the garmin quit, but best bet looked to be about 36-40mph on the faster stretches. Then I turned into the wind and I knew the day was done. I just wanted to hit the feed zone without getting caught by the leaders. The wind was insane, and I was riding between 15-16mph in zone 4/5 on a relatively flat road. An air force guy caught up and we chatted for a bit. He was the guy who drove the pace that killed me, and I was sure to thank him for it in good fun. he did a hell of a job, no question, and put his teammate into a position to take 3rd on the day. I hit the feed zone and withdrew. We then headed to the finish to await the results. The field exploded. 1-9th finished by themselves, attacking each other to the point of implosion in the final 5 miles. 10-20th was a pack finish. 20-50th were all solo or in groups of 2s. 25mph winds dominated the masonville circuits, and tired legs hitting the climbs back to the finish just trashed everyone. The course is incredibly difficult, not because of the climbs, which actually were less of a factor than the wind, but because of how technical the descents were and how demanding the wind made the flats. We would see similar results in the D1 mens race and D1 womens race, with only the D2 women finishing as a pack.

I had felt good about the crit, despite not having the race wheels. I felt relaxed, motivated and strong. I got a good spot on the line, against the barrier, and clipped in and held myself up with the barrier, thus removing the 1-5 second delay I always deal with clipping in. And I started well too, riding mid-upper pack for the first several laps, biding my time. But then 2 things happened at the same time to end my day early. First, there were a few guys in the pack who could not corner or accelerate for shit. I kept getting stuck behind them and losing speed/momentum/place. At the same time, The front of the pack were attacking each other, and our average speed rose from 26 to close to 30. The pack started to string out, and I was still stuck behind the yahoos. Soon though, my legs had no jump, and I was fighting to remain on the last wheel. I held for a few laps before getting popped. I rode a few more laps solo before the official pulled me as I was about to be lapped. I rode off the course, straight to the car, packed up, and left. Getting home sounded better than sitting around. SECCC peeps brought the noise though, with Thacker Reeves of Cumberland getting 2nd and Thomas Brown of Emory getting 3rd. Amazing job by those guys.

So that concludes the 2009 Road Race season. 33 Top 10, 16 top 5, 6th in the season omnium, Curtis Grace - 21st in the A season omnium (19th B), Joe Bray - 15th in the B omnium (7th in C), Barrett Eubanks - 13th in the C omnium, Clinton Wann - 42 in the C omnium. Curtis won the Alabama omnium, Team UAH won the team Alabama omnium. Keep checking the website and this blog, as I anticipate some major updates in the coming months before Mountain Biking and school starts

Arrived in Colorado!

Hey everyone,

The final road event of 2009 is quickly drawing upon us. Nationals is this weekend! I am already in Fort Collins, Colorado adapting to the altitude and getting some incredibly advantageous time on the road race course.

Race Reports will be posted on Friday and Saturday Nights, hopefully.

If you are interestd in following my day to day preparations this week, feel free to check out my personal blog:

http://curtisgoestonationals.blogspot.com

RideStrong!