Date: 11-0723
Location: Lakeshore PArk
Event: Tree Farm Relay
Result: 2nd out of 11 teams, Advanced Men's Class
Result: 2nd out of 11 teams, Advanced Men's Class
Riders: Dozer, Diesel, Dubs and A-Train
Recap: A-Train
14 months in the making. It was 6:30am, my car was packed and I was on my way to race. I wasn't going to believe it until I was actually on the course. I arrived at the park about 7:15, not to long after Jon. He had already pitched his tent and was lounging in his chair like a racer who could look the part. After a short good morning I proceeded to pitch a bigger tent to show him who was running the show. After all, I had my image to look out for. As we sat and talked to Jay the Hammer, Brian and Jeremy eventually showed up and we went to finalize our registration. Jon said he would take his bike and go home if we didn't use a pink lay so we amused him and went with pink.
As the start of the race neared Jeremy went through his preps to make sure he would be good for his two laps. The plan was for all of us to do 2 consecutive laps but have a rider ready in case some one blew up or had mechanical issues. Jeremy was to go first, Jon to follow, Brian and then me. Sounded like a great plan considering Advanced Men, our division, started at 9am and Sport started at 11am. So Jeremy lined up at the top of the hill with the rest of the Advanced teams for the LeMans start. Gun went off and down the hill Jeremy went to his bike. He was second man into the woods breaking his streak of 5 years in a row of being first man in. No problem though, he's always going 110%. Plus this is an Endurace Relay that would go on for 80 miles equaling 8 laps.
Lap 1 - While Dozer was out pacing with the starters Brian and I prepped Jon on the course. He had never raced here before so he was getting a crash course. We weren't sure if Jeremy would do 1 or 2 laps so Jon starting getting ready to go in case Jeremy wanted to exchange. We figured Jeremy would be coming through between 43-45 mins and our jaws hit the ground when the first rider lapped through at 38 minutes!!! Next rider came thru with a low 40 and the third was just over 41. Man it's going to be a tough day. Then all of a sudden Jeremy and his Carbon Cannondale Flash 29 came out of the woods and signaled for a switch. He made the hand off to Jon at 42:30 and looked completely exhausted. "Man those guys were fast." was the first thing out of his mouth. He had to pull in because he drained his reserves chasing the leaders trying to keep up close to the top 3 podium spots.
Lap 2 - While Dubs and his GF Superfly SS were out we had a team huddle about changing strategy. All the teams seemed to be switching riders after one lap and this Endurance relay was quickly turning into a Time Trial-fest of who could run the fastest single lap. Jon was prepared for 2 laps but like Jeremy had to ride his lap in the red as to not lose ground on the 3 guys ahead of him. No problem tho, Brian was ready for the hand off when Dubs came around. I figure anything 45 mins and under would be a solid lap from Jon on his first trip around the course and he delivered no problem. He had one small scuffle with a hairpin turn but, "Everyone falls the first time" on that turn.
Lap 3 - As the Diesel and his Santa Cruz Blur went hauling off into the trail I discussed our new strategy with Jon after he caught his breath. We were still sitting in fourth after 20 miles and I started to ponder about how we could pull off a podium. There were some serious fast guys out there, lots of CAT 1's and a handful of Elites and now we only had 40 minutes until the 60-some Sport teams were dumped onto the course. Then it hit me that I was going out next and I needed to start getting ready for my lap. It had been 14 months since I had the nervousness pre race jitters....triple checking to make sure I had everything and my bike was ready to go. Down to the exchange area I went to wait for the Diesel to lap around.
Lap 4 - Here comes Brian and there I go on the Kona Hei Hei 2-9 Deluxe. I get the lay and off I go....I am racing. Damn it felt good, but no time to enjoy that moment. Other teams had thrown down some serious lap times and we were down into fifth. Now the Sport group of 60 some team had just entered the trail a few minutes before me so I was mentally preparing for log jams. My first surprise tho was when I came across an Bike Patrol and a few others tending to a fallen rider. It was the Greyhound I had been chatting with at the exchange. He look pretty beat up like he endoed at high speed. As I walked my bike past the scene I offered my assistance but they said they had it all under control so I mounted back up and went back on the chase. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.......34, 35, 37...or was that 36...ah hell who cares. I was passing and dropping the back of the pack Sport riders like it was going out of style. For the most part everyone was cool and the passes were clean but I was wondering why I picked to go 4th. My heart rate was thru the roof as I would sprint between packs of riders and then pass the group in one fell swoop only to Sprint to another. It was my duty to clear the path so Jeremy and Jon could have less congestion on their laps.
Lap 5 - I came around at 43:40 which surprised me two ways. One, I knew I was moving quickly between packs of riders but not that quick. Two, that's the fastest race loop I had ever completed at this race over the years. With Jeremy in traffic now I knew another 42 min lap may not happen but he's a solid rider and knows the trail well so any passes he would have to make would be clean and quick. Plus Brian had fixed his front derailluer issue so his 39t would be working now. As I came back from checking the standing at the live timing feed I heard Brian asking Jon if he could do lap 6. I saw no issue with it and neither did Jon.
Lap 6 - Dozer pulled off another great lap with a 44 in traffic and made the hand off to the Diesel. Brian was out and truckin' for his second loop which was lap 6 for the team. The Diesel said after his first loop he was having a hard time digging today but I know plenty of people who'd give their right arm for a time like Brian can do even on a bad day. Again my brain floated into how could we pull off a podium position. Last I looked we were more than 3 minutes down from 3rd and it was getting hotter outside. Forecast called for 90's again that day but the top 5 teams in our class had experienced riders today so I didn't expect any bonking. I didn't have any pep talk ready for Jon for his last lap other than try to stay upright this time. I knew Jon's lap would be quality since he had been around the course once now and knew what to expect in some more technical sections.
Lap 7 - As expected, Brian came thru with another solid lap. He had kept the gap to the team behind us while not losing any ground to the team in front of us. We were still a couple minutes out of a podium spot and you never know if teams are saving their fast riders for the last laps or if they front loaded the race. Time will tell. As I started to get ready I was of course getting nervous again. Nature of racing for me. It helped to have Brian spinning the infield with me while I warmed up. And then even Jeremy came down to ride with me. Made me feel good to have the team around me. They pep talked me and Jeremy reassured me that Jon was going to pull out an awesome lap to set us up for the podium. I had plenty of confidence in Jon's racing ability. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked him to race with us. The infield of the exchanged started to grow in numbers as the other teams had their anchors out. Jeremy came back and told me "that dude over there rider 300+ miles a week!".... f@@k..... Just as I did my last sprint warm up Jon came zipping out of the woods and Jeremy signaled to me to get my @ss back to the exchange because Jon was charging fast.
Lap 8 - I fully expected Cycletherapy to come around before Jon but Dubs had taken care of business and gained us a position. Hot Damn! I had saw the team ahead of us go around and make their last exchange and he had about a minute and 15 seconds on me, if not less. I was in full chase mode. Close enough to have a visual and that was all I wanted. Jon is awesome, I thought to myself. I mean after all he is the Expert/Elite SS Class Leader of the overall in MMBA. That's why we wanted him on the team so bad. After finding out Dawn couldn't make it and we'd have to race Men's Advanced I had to come up with someone who was wicked fast. Someone who feeds on pressure and doesn't flinch in the face of challenge. "Who could I get with such experience and poise?" I asked myself a few weeks ago. I needed some one fast but some one under the radar. A hired gun. Some one who could show up looking the part but also back it up on the course. Walk the walk, talk the talk......"Jon Wlodarczak!" I said out loud to the heavens. He can overcome this feat. So nervously I sent him a message on facebook. I wasn't sure he'd acknowledge me given his status in the scene and me being an outsider, out of the scene for a few years. After hours of waiting, hoping he'd at least let me down easy, I got a reply and it said, "Yes, I will race on your team. Celebrate and be joyous." As I kept on the chase I felt truely gifted that The Awesomeness was on our team. After all, he had brought us to the edge of the podium and now it was my turn to deliver. The Awesomeness had set me up for a test and I must pass. Then I thought to myself what I had told Brian right before I got the exchange from Jon, "There is no spoon." I charged hard but kept focus. I was gaining with every short climb and tight turn. Figure I would overtake him by the crater. But then it hit me....oh sh!t....that 300+ mile dude is going to hunt me like a blood hound. I didn't shift but my cadence increased as did my heart rate. I was not about to be caught. Not here. Not at the Tree Farm. There was still a bit a traffic to deal with but I was starting to get visuals of the Orange jersey behind me at some switchbacks. I knew I had a good half mile or better on him but I needed to turn it up even more. This I where I entered a level of racing I had never been to before. I was now gaining rapidly on the white jersey I was chasing and holding steady to the orange one behind me.
As I caught the white jersey I told him Cycletherapy was coming and coming fast and if we worked together we could keep him behind us. But I got that look like he was losing his legs. So I said, "Then you need to let me through." So I passed him earlier than I planned to but now the race was on to hold my position. As I flew out of the crater I knew what I had to do. I need to beat him to the trenches. He was now gaining ground on me but not as much as I thought. But the two track was coming up. At 300+ miles a week he is going to gain on me on the two track. I dug deep, I went to places in my pain cave that I didn't know existed. I can't let him make up to much ground on the two track. Need to beat him to the trenches. The two track seemed to last forever even tho I was hauling @ss and overtaking Sport riders like they were standing still. "The trenches" I said to myself again. "Get there first." As I got close I caught the orange jersey in a switchback. God damn is he closing fast. But I entered the trenches like the woods were on fire behind me. I had did it. I made it there first, but the race wasn't over yet. I had to work the trenches like an ace because he was close and I could hear his bike. I needed to keep this small gap I had because if he catches me here I cannot out sprint this guy to the finish. I f-in went into Luke Skywalker mode and buzzed the trenches cleaner and faster than ever before.
As I came out of the woods and climbed the last hill to the finishing stretch of field I knew I had a great chance of pulling this off. I was in so much pain and my stomach was in my throat. "Almost there!" I told myself. I saw Brian, Jeremy and Jon in the infield yelling at me and cheering me on. It gave me that last bit of kick to hammer the stretch to the finish. When I went to take the last turn to go under the arches I looked back to see the orange jersey 10 seconds behind me. I coasted thru the arches with a small fist pump and nearly collapsed.
The team came over and about bum rushed me. It felt great. We secured third place. But when I had told the guys I had passed the white jersey, Jon was like, "You did what? Hold up." Minutes later he came sprinting back to tell us we had finished 2nd, not third. The whole time I was working to pass the white jersey to put us up in third when it actually put us up into second. Holy crap, we took second. Jon told me how he kept the white jersey in sight himself on his lap but how the orange jersey had blew up and he passed him and hammered away to put time on him. Jon had increased our lead over the orange jersey by 2 mins and 15 seconds after making up over a minute deficit on him. Do the math and the guy chasing me made up 2 mins and 5 seconds on me in 10 miles and I did a 42:43 lap. Who the hell was he anyway? (Mark Parmalee that's who!)
So first place killed us by 8 minutes but the next three positions on the final grid were only separated by 66 seconds.....over an 80 mile race that lasted nearly 6 hours. The Motor Club now has their first race results posted and we couldn't be happier. Yes, winning is always a plus but considering the competition for this race, a well earned second place is worth writing home about. Great job to the team that fought the battle out there today. This finish was a team effort. Took all four of us to make it the 80 miles. Great job guys!!!
Race Results: http://www.raceservices.com/11/treefarm/072311_am.txt
Pix (this post was long enough without them) https://picasaweb.google.com/pongomoto/2011TreeFarmRelay#
