Author

Luke Seemann on May 16, 2009

Race name: Denzer-Larue-Denzer Race date: Saturday, May 16, 2009

This has always been a favorite course of mine, thanks to a long sustained climb this is perfectly suited to my style. This year the organizers changed the layout, moving the start/finish and adding another monster climb.

Pre-driving the course with my mother, my eyes got real big ... and then the road pitched up again and my eyes got even bigger ... and then we went up some more and I was bouncing up and down in the seat. I couldn't wait to find Moyer, Jacques, Peter and new teammate Ben to tell them what ecstasies lay ahead.

The flier was a bit confusing about the exact navigation of the course. In the end we would do five monster climbs: Three times up the new stairstep climb, and twice up the traditional climb. I'm told it was 7,500 total feet.

My plan was to take each climb a little more aggressively: 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% -- and then 100% on the final climb, going for broke and hoping I'm able to hold it for the final 4 miles to the finish.

Climb No. 1 (stairstep): I punch it a bit and Jacques comes with me. We have a good gap by the top, but it's way too early, and there's no way the group is going to let two teammates off. We keep it tranquil and are soon we are all gruppo compatto.

Climb No. 2 (stairstep): Again I punch it and get off by myself. By the top I'm out of sight, so I keep riding tempo. Soon I see a Wheaton-Franciscan bridging. I let up so he can catch, then return to tempo. We trade pulls well enough, but a few miles later we're caught.

Climb No. 3 (traditional): Here the race gets really interesting. As we roll through Denzer, Peter goes off the front with a few riders. That's good. It'll help soften the field, and it gives our big guy a head start. When a Wheaton-Franciscan moves to bridge, Jacques tags along. Even better. By the base of the hill, we have six off the front and a peloton of 12.

As soon as the peloton gets into a rhythm, I attack to bridge, making sure I don't take anyone with me. I pass some of the riders who'd been off the front. I get to the top about the same time Peter does. Soon we have a chase group of five: Me, Peter, Purdue, Wheaton-Franciscan and a strong Brone's rider. Jacques and a second Wheaton-Franciscan are still off the front.

The five of us ride strong and keep them in sight. By the time we hit the turns out of Larue, however, the peloton is closer to us than Jacques is. We have a choice: Drill it to catch Jacques -- giving us 3 XXX out of a group of 7 -- or let Jacques go mano-a-mano. I tell Peter to cool it: Let the group catch us, and Jacques can fend for himself.

Climb 4 (stairstep): Turns out, that was just the tactic needed to ensure Jacques' success. As soon the peloton caught us, it lost all motivation to chase. We mosey up the climbs, and there are no attacks. Wheaton-Franciscan and XXX were the only teams represented by multiple riders, and we are a lazy, impenetrable wall at the front of the chase.

According to my plan, this would have been where I would climb at 90%. But I don't want to interfere with Jacques' chances, and still a bit cooked from the previous climb and our aborted chase, I don't think I could bridge single-handedly -- which tactically is the only way that would have made sense.

Coming through Denzer, we see the pace car well off in the horizon. I peg the gap around a minute.

Climb 5 (traditional): Time to go for broke. Again I wait for the climb to settle into a rhythm, then shift up a few cogs and spring forward. A Wheaton-Franciscan comes with me. We exchange a few tugs, and we have a great gap. "Let's keep it together to the top," I say, "and then we race for 3rd." No such luck. He decides to settle it right there, getting out of the saddle and ... leaving me behind?

I keep him as close as possible and hammered it from the top. His gap grew, however. I look back and see a XXX chasing, but I also saw the pack close behind him, so I keep up the effort. I'm going for broke, after all.

A mile later, the XXX jersey is close enough that I slow down to let him catch. It's Dave. As soon as he is on, I hammer again, hoping to catch the Wheaton-Franciscan. Dave and I exchange pulls, but we made no progress. In the end, Dave asks if he can roll in first for the upgrade points, and I cheerily agree. (Last thing I want right now is points. People are already on my back about upgrading.) He takes 4th, myself 5th.

Moments later, Peter sprints in to round out our representation in the top 10. Meanwhile, Jacques had been able to ride his guy off his wheel on the climb, but the Wheaton-Franciscan caught back on and then got him in the sprint. Still, we had four in the top 10, and three out of the five money spots. Not bad.

This was a great, great course. It's a shame that it so often conflicts with Monsters. I hope in the future more people will make the trip and experience a true climber's race.