GMSR 2014 - 4/5 Masters

[scottc]

My goal for this race has always been to finish every stage and improve on the prior year’s results. The last stage day 4 criterium is pretty selective and I've been pulled every year before the bell lap, so finishing this race without a calculated time is a subtle detail. I could write a small novel describing the GMSR experience, but won’t and will simply recommend it is as something every road racer in New England needs to get a taste of.

Stage 1: Warren Store Time Trial - 5.7 mile

“From Flat Iron Road take a right onto Brook Road. This Climbs for 2.3 miles until the Roxbury Gap Road.
At this point the course rolls along tending to be slightly downhill and will be fast!
At mile 5.2 you will enter the "dip" at the bottom you will immediately encounter a short sharp climb out. Once at the Rolston Road the climb relents and as your legs and lungs burn you will drive the final .3 miles which is slightly uphill to the finish at the Waitsfield Common Road intersection.”

I flubbed this stage big time by making my warm-up way too long. I got on my bike and started riding south on RT100 to recon the stage 3 sprint line, which turned out to be 20+ miles adventure of half easy riding with tail wind down hill and the other half hard (read: OH $h!t – I might miss my TT start time). Needless to say, I arrived at staging with a good sweat and a only couple minutes to spare. Phew, what relief, but I already did my TT, can I go home now? The start up the gradual hill should have been done at threshold, but I held V02max and was cooked by the top. A guy who started behind me passed me and we crested together. He continued to push away out of the saddle and I settled into threshold buns seated. Seeing him do the same a minute later helped my pacing, but soon I passed a guy who started 1 minute before me. A minute later, the guy who passed me was in the rear view as well. The rolling down part of the course suited my strengths. Before the race, I swapped my crank to a compact. Not having ridden compact in years, I kind of regretted it going down the dip at 35 mph running out of gears. Regrettably, I didn’t have the legs to power out the other side and drive it home over the false flat. Pure agony this TT was. Daily TSS: 122 ; Result: 38/55

Stage 2: The Bridges Circuit Race – 2¾ laps / 53 miles

“A rolling circuit with a gradual 2-mile climb and net elevation gain of 700 feet of per lap. Riders start at base of the climb and then descend towards Waterbury. Riders then roll along the flats of the Winooski River Valley toward Middlesex. The course travels over a newly built bridge and up a short hill into Middlesex and then turns right onto Rt. 100B. The course follows the Mad River heading east where you will pass the Ward Access, which is the finish line. The course then passes through Moretown Village and then turns right onto Rt. 100 up the climb and past the start where the feed zone is located.”

The best strategy for this one is to sit in and be part of the bunch finish. Maybe go for some sprint points, but nothing fancy. A neutral start leads up the signature climb, then to a really fast 50mph downhill dumping you onto a sharp turn RT2E. This is the Winooski river valley and has some crap pavement and is flat except for one climb that always drops pack fodder danglers. The hairpin right onto 100B courses south and passes along the Mad River, which is mostly fantastic open road. First time though, I surged ahead and lead the pack through this turn simply to be cautious and show the peloton it can be done safely at high speed. The sprint and finish line are 14 miles in and marks the lap. The course passes through the village of Moretown and the road narrows over a couple of bridges, then turns right onto RT100N and is pretty much up-hill for the next 5k. First time up the hill was ok, but the second time had me out of the saddle to fend off cramps. Second time all year cramps were chewing at my legs and really though my race was done at the feed zone before the major climbing began. The sit, stand spin thing worked for me and managed to stay in visual contact of the field. A gap opened up between the main field and those who couldn't hang, which include me and KT. After the KOM, there is still a bit more up before the speedy descent, so I organized a small chase group and we caught the group before the turn onto RT2. The bits in between were fairly uneventful because I just sat in. I ran dry with about 10 miles to go and prayed the cramps did not return. A 2 man break was about a minute off the front, which caused no alarm to anyone. With 5k to go, the break became visible and one rider drifted back to the chasing peloton. 2k to go and the guy was solo hammer and we were making no ground until Jamie Willsey of home team 1KTOGO went to the front and put in real digs. The peloton got a shot of adrenaline, but it wasn't enough because the lone rider #604 got the stage win by half-a-bike length. The finish was fast and I would have tried something had I not cramped earlier. TSS: 181 ; Result: 23/54

Stage 3: 65 mile Road Race

“The course is a point-to-point race that starts at the Sugarbush Ski Resort Mt Ellen Base area in Fayston, passing through the scenic Vermont towns of Waitsfield, Warren, Granville and Hancock while traveling through the Mad River and White River valleys on Route 100. The course then turns right for the first of two crossings of the Green Mountains. The first crossing is via Middlebury Gap where the steepest grade is 18%. After pushing over the summit racers will descend the twisty recently paved west side of the gap passing Middlebury College’s historic “Bread Loaf Campus” and through Ripton, former home to Poet Robert Frost. Once through East Middlebury the course rolls along Rt. 116 until a right turn onto the steep climb of the Notch Road, which has 2.35 miles of descending gravel road. Racers next encounter a short sharp climb into downtown Bristol on South Street. The course then follows flat roads for 4 miles to the day’s final obstacle - Appalachian Gap. Appalachian Gap is Vermont’s highest 4-season maintained roadway. Racers will start the first of two climbs known as the “Baby Gap”. Baby Gap will take racers through Jerusalem and a brief but fast descent as the course rolls onto the base of App. Gap proper. This final section is only 4K, but it twists and turns and climbs very steeply in sections. As racers approach the last pitch, the canopy of trees opens up and the top of the Gap comes into view less than 1K away. The final 500m will take racers up one of the steepest pitches of the day (20% in places). This final pitch will be lined with hundreds of cheering spectators and a chalked road to help racers push through the pain to the finish”.

Raining, two gaps, and few other short climbs, but mainly flat or rolling other than the Gaps. Plan is to hang with the main field as long as possible and survive the epic final climb. The race starts at Sugarbush base lodge and is a 4.5 mile neutral start until RT17E hits RT100S. Pretty tame pace to start out, which was a great thing for me because I hit some glass a few miles in and got a front wheel from neutral support. The guy had no sense of urgency and the peloton had disappeared by the time I was rolling again. Sprint, sprint, kick, kick, Oh $hi!t, my race could be done. When the road straightened out enough, I could see the peloton far up ahead. Using land marks to count the time gap was discouraging. At one point, it was 107 seconds. I almost gave up after 10 miles of chasing, but didn't and it paid off! Catching the field after such chase was sheng-gra-la. Pure bliss led to massive feeding and re-hydration. Soon, we turned up Middlebury gap. The pace quickened and the herd was thinned. A lot of ambulance and rescue type vehicles passed us as we ascended. I lost contact with the head of the main field, but was among others and organized chase on the descent. A medevac chopper circled overhead, indicated a bad crash and reason for the ambulances. The first real hairpin had a lot of action and folks waving flags to slow down and was where all the ambulances were.
The Neutral feed came up quickly and the rest of the field was in view. I was super happy and sought refuge out of the wind. It started to really rain at this point. There was rain/drizzle earlier in the day, but now, it was drenching. The type of rain you could look up at and open your mouth and get a drink in. We turned off RT116N onto Notch road which lead to Bristol notch and the 2nd KOM of the day. It was only at this point that I learned that the guy wearing polka dots was off the front this whole time and collected Middlebury KOM and Bristol KOM and was now riding next to me - totally smoked - glad I wasn't the only one. Dirt roads lead to Bristol center and then the turn back onto RT116N. Before long, we turned onto RT17E and were starting the final leg of the race - App Gap. Baby gap has terrible pavement and is steady incline, but enough steps to allow some rest. I was riding threshold the whole time and felt okay, but if the pace stiffened at any point, I would have been shelled. We crested baby Gap with about 20 guys and the tank was nearly empty. When we rounded the first hairpin (where the Pro1/2 men turn left first time up), I knew things were about to heat up. The yellow jersey launched his attack soon after and all the skinny guys followed. I hit the lap button on the Garmin and tried to ride 330W to the finish. That number came and went and was relegated to 300W, which I could barely maintain to the summit. Looking up and seeing where the finish is in relation to where you are at is demeaning when your legs feel like this, but I’ve done this climb enough to know that it can be the golden highway paving the way to personal victory. Either way, I was cooked and could barely stand after crossing the line. TSS: 277 ; Result: 29/51

Stage 4: 25 lap Downtown Burlington Criterium for 15.5 miles.

“Proceed east on Main Street and make a left onto Church Street. Proceed one block north and make a left onto College Street. Go one block west and make a right onto St. Paul Street. Head one block north and make a left onto Bank Street. Proceed one block west and make a left onto Pine Street. Go 2 blocks and make a left onto Main Street to head back to the start/finish line.”

6 turns on varying terrain in my beautiful hometown of Burlington, VT. This picture perfect finish is ordained with a Lake Champlain and the Adirondack mountain backdrop. The course description does not tell you that this loop is up or down and really has no flats. It is fast and super fun. The last turn is fast and furious and usually the scene of a few guys whipping out because of pedal on the pavement while crit racing. I lined up behind the yellow jersey and got a great start. Pretty much rode top wheels the whole race and didn't bury myself once. There were 2 crashes, which I avoided and had no issues with. The second one created opportunity for the home team. 1k2go attacked and sent their strongest rider off the front and blocked until he had a significant lead on the field. He rode solo for the victory and collected a lot of primes and time bonuses and finished second overall GC after this ride. The last lap got pretty hairy going into the last two turns. The guy who took second chopped my line each turn and took the field sprint. I took 10th in the field sprint, which I was happy with. I had words with him after the race and we had a beer together, so all was well. Probably my best race of the year. TSS: 88 ; Result: 11/41.

My only regret was finishing the race with more left in the tank and not riding a bit more aggressively on the last couple of laps. My GC overall result overall was 21st of 55 starters. Flubbing the day 1 warm-up and flatting day 3 definitely cost me, but it was still a lot of fun and I am already looking forward to next year's race.

Parting thoughts:
* Kevin Teves gets most aggressive rider of Stage 2 award. He was off the front both times going into the big climb and much of the time leading up to them. First time he has done a stage race and put in a solid TT and stage 3 ride and finished with main field on the crit to deliver him a great result. 13th overall is fan-fuk-in-tastic
* Despite Joe not doing nearly the amount of training he would like to and coming off a stomach bug the week before, he put in solid rides every day. I know a lot of the guys he raced with and they're on the bike much more than he. We stayed at my parent’s house the first couple nights and Joe did a fantastic job of rooting out food when he needed it. Joe is my 2nd newest hero next to Ben Wolfe.
* Rich Batten actually did the race despite no indication in the pre-race email threads. He put in a killer TT, was solid on stage 2 and 3, but got pulled on the crit. His race report is awesome and written like a visitor, not a homie like me.
* Oh yea, I’ll be back next year. Hopefully with more of my mates.

[KTeves]

Nice work out there Scott--four days of good racing. And thanks to you and your family for letting us use their home as our home base.

The problem with doing this race is that now I'm going to be very tempted to try to improve on my result next year