Ronde von Deathmarch

Yesterday, I loaded up with 3 other teammates, Kent, Rudy, and Zak for a trip down south to Carbondale and the Ronde von Evergreen cx race. The weather was absolutely perfect for a picnic or a BBQ, but a little warm for a cx race. Sunny, clear, and 82 degrees for the start with a slight breeze. Most of the course was in the sun, so that meant even more heat on the body during the race. I mention all of this because it was one of my biggest days of suffering on the bike.

I ate breakfast at 8am and then failed to eat again before my race at 1pm. That's a recipe for disaster for me. Also, the course, while a good course, just didn't set-up well for me. It contained a lot of places where you had to reaccelerate your bike. Over the course of the race, the combination of my weight, the heat, my lower back aching, and my lack of fuel it didn't take long before I was toast. How much so? Let's put it this way, my final lap was my cool down ride. We had enough of a gap on the following 8-10 racers, that I was able to keep anyone from passing me, but let's just say I wasn't breaking any speed records.

Bob Crow and Bill Howells worked me over really well. Bill did it early in the race and he seemed to be riding with a great rhythm and was having a great day on the bike. Bob and I punched back and forth at each other, but in the end, he too had too much for me to hold off and at the pea gravel pit, he put the final nail in my coffin. After the race Anthony Dust told me, "sometimes your the hammer and sometimes your the nail." I responded and said, "well today I felt like the nail and the board."

I finished 14th, while my teammates Zak and Kent finished 6th and 9th, respectively. Rudy had a fantastic effort in the C race with an 8th place finish. He absolutely carved his way through the field picking off racers. After the first lap, he was 20th but rolled a very strong effort to close down on the guys ahead of him and was successful. I think he just needed 1 more lap and there would have been a podium in his sights.

A great day with my teammates however. The ride home is always the best and these guys didn't disappoint me. We were amazed by Zak's nutritional advice and his insights on racing with Kent. Dr. Pierce called us to get a report on the day and tossed in a little good humor that had us laughing for miles. Good tonic to cure and aching body. I'm happy God put these men in my life. And I'm also glad He gives me days like yesterday to keep me humble.