Author

Jeff Holland on May 18, 2008

Race name: Tour de West Lafayette Stage Race - Men's 4/5 Race date: Sunday, May 18, 2008

Oh boy, my first stage race! I talked some teammates into doing this with me, namely Brian M. and Jonathan (and Bob decided to race with us too at the last minute). To make it even better, our significant others Debi, Katy and Lara joined us and provided unbelievable moral and race support (cheering, fetching bottles, shuttling us from finishes to starts, etc). It was a good decision on our parts. We had a one of the best weekends ever.

After picking up Brian and Katy on Saturday morning, we drove to West Lafayette and come across the first and oldest diner in Indiana, Triple XXX Diner. Ha, how about that! Oh yea, you know we are going there for lunch (thank God that they had a Belgian waffle on the menu, I was nervous about eating at a greasy spoon before a race).

After lunch, we drove to the crit race. Now, to make a long story short, the neighbors of the little sleepy town and their law enforcement were not too thrilled with us racing through their hood or having to move their cars. So they didn't. This caused the 1.3 mile loop to be whittled down to a circuit race of 0.6 miles with a steep 100 ft hill on every lap. The race was 35 minutes, so I think we climbed that thing 25 times. It was perfect for me. Short enough I could not be hindered by my lower power threshold compared to others but a short enough course that I could use my ability to recover quickly to my advantage (thank you Coach Fiona, steady-state and tempo workouts!). Everyone else was bitching, but I was grinning like a fool. There was a KOM and Sprint on random alternating laps when the bell rang, as well. The field was destroyed by lap 2, with only 12 out of 58 guys finishing (the others were pulled or dropped out).

Going into the final lap, where you started your final descent down the hill, entered a hard 90 degree corner with the yellow line in effect and onto the finishing straight, was pretty much where you ended up. Jonathan came in 5th, me in 6th, and Brian in 11th. Funny, we had no idea the pack was whittled down to 12. When you are up front, your are oblivious. The race was won by a Perdue rider who went off the front and gained 15 seconds in the GC. Good for him, not so good for us in terms of our GC standing.

The exciting race and beautiful weather were topped off by dinner at Olive Garden (yea, chains suck, but it was actually pretty good) with all xXx'ers in attendance. It was a great meal and we all enjoyed reliving the race that day.

Sunday morning was the road race. We rolled into the parking lot and set up shop.

The Beverly Vee-Pak guys had a bit of bad luck in the crit and were pulled, so they were feeling frisky at the start. They drilled it at the start of the race, pulling us along the entire 4 mile lead up to the 4.5 circuits around the finish line. After that, I didn't see them. They are learning just like we all did, and I give them respect for racing their hardest. The hill on the RR was not my cup of tea. It was 250m of agony, and catered to those with high power outputs. I would start at the front of the group on the climb, fade back 10 or so spots, and then make it up on the flats at the top of the hill before the finish line 1/2 mile away. With 2 laps to go, a Pista Elite guy was off the front and I was getting nervous (no more breakaways, not if xXx can help it). Brian, Jonathan and I go after him and pull him in on the downhill portion of the course. At this point, we have a 5-10 second lead on the pack with three of us, but the odds are not good. We decide to slide back into the pack and recover.

On the last lap, everyone guns it up the hill. I slip back to maybe 15th, with Jonathan and Brian right near me. Once it flattens out, we all try to move up. Jonathan and Brian gain a little more ground than I do. We cross the line 6th (Jonathan), 7th (Brian), me in 10th, and Bob in 12th.

GC Standings: Brian in 7th (thanks to his KOM and sprint points earned in the crit race), Jonathan in 8th and me in 9th. The Perdue rider, who we successfully blocked in the RR and prevented him from breaking away or earning a ton more KOM/Sprint points) was in 1st with a 15 second lead, and 11th place and lower was 3:57 back. Sweet, we have a top 10 finish locked up. Now all we need to do is improve on that.

The TT was to start in reverse order based on GC. We would go near the end of the 4/5's. Jonathan advised us to drill it almost the entire race, with the TT only being 5.8 miles. I decided I'd ride about 90% effort the first 3 miles, then 100% the last 2.8 miles. Brian rolled out first, then Jonathan and myself, in 30 second intervals. I started to gain time on Jonathan about halfway through the course, making up a good 20 seconds on him when my 30-second man caught me, then passed Jonathan. Holy crap. That guy put 1:00 on the whole GC. I lost a little of the ground I'd gained on Jonathan on the hill, but finished the TT with just the right amount of gas in the tank: fumes. I finished in 15:48.

After the race, I talked to the guy who smoked me on the TT course. A former track runner, avid bi-athlete and new cat 5. OK, that's why he smoked us on the TT but was not up front in the crit or RR. Still, that was an impressive TT by that guy (who would go on to win the GC with his TT ride).

It took a while for them to sort out the final TT times, and then GC points and final GC standings. I had no idea how I did on the TT, but I figured I did OK and might have moved up from 9th. Jon came over and said "Jeff, you smoked the TT. You got 3rd!" Wow, 3rd place... I was humbled.

Even though I never got any KOM or sprint points (which ended up being my downfall), I moved up to 4th overall in the GC. Jon came in 6th in the GC (7th in the TT), and Brian 5th in the GC (6th in the TT). I missed third by a hair. I was bummed, as the top three got trophies and pictures in their team colors, but 4th overall in the GC, two top 10 finishes, and upgrade point and some cash was more than I had hoped for. I also had a friggin' great time with my friends and teammates, and the ladies went along and provided huge moral and race support.

Another bonus was $. Yea, money is good.

- I walked away with winnings from my 6th in the crit, 3rd in the TT and 4th overall in the GC

- Jonathan earned winnings for his 5th place crit finish and 6th place RR finish and 7th overall in the GC

- Brian earned winnings with his 7th in the RR and 5th overall in the GC

Finally, a huge thank you to Boris and Benga Sports for putting on the stage race. We appreciate your efforts and we'll be supporting your races for as long as you care to indulge us.