This was my second year competing. I came vastly more prepared physically and mentally. Last year I entered the 12 hour race but I completed the first 101.5 miles in 4:16:52. That meant that I was close enough to see Jesse Groves and Jim Parker duke it out in the final sprint. I quickly calculated that if I had not crashed at mile 65 that year and had to close down the gap that resulted and if I didn’t have eight hours still to ride, I probably would have had enough sprint power in reserve to win. It was there that I set my goal to win the century race the next year.
I made a few modifications to my bike over the year. I added a carbon fiber race case. I used it to hold one water bottle and left a second shorter water bottle empty. It was there only to improve aerodynamics and to hold my garmin rear view radar. I put a case beneath the seat to hold my spare tire and removed one of my under seat water bottle holders. I did carry a second water bottle under the seat, but this bottle went back and forth to my crew so was often not on the bike at all. I added a subtle bump of padding near the small of my back to anchor my hips to the seat. I changed to a 53 - 12-25 cassette to better match my high cadence style (95rpm average). I changed the rear wheel from 80mm to full disc and I replaced the front 80mm with a new 2-spoke wheel - if nothing else, it would at least look intimidating. I upgraded to the 2018 chain stay and went with a ceramic hub. I switched to molten speed wax on the chain. Finally, I cut off a huge amount of my handle bars. I did not go as far as Larry because, although I learned over the year to ride in that ultra-aero hands in the middle position, I found I could not sprint well that way (same thing with tilting my head further back - more aero, but less power). My best sprint would be from the hoods position.
This year I loosely followed three structured training plans simultaneously. The first was a CTS training plan for a century. This was the same plan that I followed last year and it calls for various longer duration intervals to help prepare you for riding five hours at tempo. The second was Tacit Training which adapts your plan based on actual ride data so, if you miss a few days or go on vacation or simply ride harder than planned one day, it will adjust the plan automatically with the goal of peaking for the event. Finally, on a few separate weeks I followed a training plan tailored for me by Tom Lobdell, a good friend and Nationals Champion. I did everything on the road, not a trainer, and I tried to incorporate as much group riding as possible (and of course get any KOM’s that matched an effort the plan required!).
I bought a power meter, PowerTap P1S. I quickly learned that I have terrible endurance power, but that I have an incredible sprint. I showed up as “untrained” when I looked at my best ever one hour power. However, my best 5 second power was nearly professional level. I can sprint hard enough to just barely spin the front wheel of the Vendetta on flat ground when I am fresh and that takes nearly 1500 watts depending on road conditions. I can also hold a respectable power level for 30 seconds, but beyond that, I am weak - not a good thing for a 100 mile race.
Last year, the lead group stayed intact for 90% of the ride. Breakaways were brought back by the group. This is exactly the race that I need. The larger the peloton the better for me. I can stay at the back and draft everyone else and then sprint at the end. Of course, not every race will develop the same way so, I have to analyze how much power is going up the road in the breakaway ahead. If it’s too much and I don’t go with it, sitting at the back of the pack will be sprinting for 5th place. I listened to podcasts and read four books cover to cover on racing tactics, memorized them and practiced them on group rides. I was also surrounded by many good riders and training partners I want to thank for teaching me so many lessons!
I trained on both an upright and on the Cruzbike Vendetta depending on the goal for any particular workout. There were several experiences along the way that were pivotal to the Sebring race this year. Two weeks before the race I joined a two man breakaway. I broke my one hour power record on that ride, but we were caught 45 minutes into the ride by three riders, two of them former professional riders for Hammer Nutrition. Five minutes after we were caught, they attacked and both of us were eventually dropped…. we had a good run though Ghost Rider, and sorry I couldn’t pull more! This was a great reminder that breakaways are hard and they do not usually hold up against a strong group all the way to the end. On another day, I was coming into the finish about half a mile out at least 100 feet ahead of a group of three riders. I had to make a decision. Do I drop back to draft and then sprint around or do I sprint early to increase my gap? I chose wrong. I sprinted early. Two of the riders towed their best sprinter almost all the way to me and then he sprinted around me like I was standing still…. Thanks Tom Collins for that lesson and so many others! A few weeks before that I was on a ride with three former pro riders all stronger than me. One of them answered a phone call. I kept going and, of course, built up an enormous gap (don’t judge me), but this time I made the right choice. I reduced my power to active recovery as they approached. My riding partner attacked and was coming up to me as I watched them organize behind him. They flew by both of us at 35mph just as my partner arrived, however, because I was recovered I was able to sprint onto their wheels and hold onto their draft. I went head to head with their sprinter at the end of that road and lost, but not by much.
Anyway, before the race this year, Larry Oslund communicated to Jesse, Jim, and I that he wanted to work together. That’s perfect for me! However, his plan was to break away at the start of the race. That’s terrible for me! The night before, I talked to Jim and pointed out that there was a 12mph head wind forecast for miles 80 through 90 and that we should let the large peloton take the brunt of it before any of us try to escape them. I think Jesse was generally on board with that plan also, but of course, things never go as planned.
The race started in the fog and we were held up by a pace car for quite a long time. I was happy with that. I wanted the race to be slow until mile 99 if at all possible. I started at the front to stretch out the group just a bit so that there would be a clear separation of those that were serious and I got on the back of that train. Larry and Jesse went to the front and pressed the pace but kept the group in contact which was also nice. I watched four salt stick capsules that were taped to my handle bar fall onto the track. These salt tablets are a requirement for me to prevent muscle cramps. Well, now they’re gone. A while later the group almost collided with a sweeper that was mistakenly on the track while we were coming through. It’s not always safe to ride at the back of a large group in such situations. Luckily, no one went down. A few miles later Jim and I were at the back smiling and talking about how great it was to be back there in the draft. I felt like I should have had one of those little umbrellas in my drink and toast to the next eighty easy miles. Life was great as we departed the track onto the road!
Fifteen miles into the ride, Larry’s pressing the pace turned into Larry’s off the front and the group is no longer hanging on. Jesse came by me and said come on, let’s get up there with Larry! I thought for about forty milliseconds - no way, I’m not going anywhere. It feels super easy right now, but I know it won’t feel so easy at mile 80 into the headwind so, I’m staying put. Jesse joined Larry. Could they escape the group and make a two man breakaway stick all the way to the end? Maybe, but I decided to gamble the answer would be no. Enter Jean-Luc Perez. He went by me on his time trial bike very clearly chasing the breakaway. Well, I wasn’t going to join it and it seemed impossible that this guy could even possibly stay with it, but if he was going to give me a free ride up there, I was taking it. And, then there were four. Jim poked his head out from the back of the peloton and, despite his impaired vision with his glasses smashed on the road behind him, realized - this is happening. He, however, did not get a free ride. He closed up the gap, got onto the back of our now five man train and off we went. The pace was around 26 miles per hour much of the time and a little slower in the corners. When we went around the corner at the Family Dollar, I unloaded a water bottle. I would carry only one full bottle from here to Frostproof.
At mile 25, a sign was held up that said we had a one minute gap. I thought to myself, well, we are doomed. That is not nearly enough considering the head wind still to come. We pressed on. At one point, Jesse Groves pressed the pace hard enough that the two of us broke away from the rest of our little group. I yelled to ease up and he did. When I went to the back Jim said I hope you guys were going for a KOM! For this to work, we had to keep working together and I could see Jim was suffering. The tough pace continued all the way to the turn around and Jim said he was done. Come on. You can do this I yelled, but he was cooked. I figured our chances of being recaptured by the group just went up. Now, we’re one man short.
I came screaming into the turn around with my poker chip in what would have been the hand I use for one of my brakes. I had no idea we were going so fast. I don’t display speed on my head unit. I put my heel down and locked up my front wheel and dumped the bike onto the ground as I came to a stop. My poker chip, however, was completely unharmed and safely in the bin. Well, I got my annual Sebring crash out of the way and I didn’t even rip my skin suit! I got the bike turned around, started out and grabbed a water bottle full of ice and skratch. Boy was that nice. Thanks again to my support crew, Lee and Karen!
Now, you’re thinking this is where the pace eased up into the headwind, right? Ummm…. no. We rocketed out of the turn around and Jesse and Larry both took the KOM on the next seven mile segment into the wind and up a 70 foot hill - fastest of all previous years. Before this point we’d traded pulls evenly, but for the second half I slowly pulled less. I had meant to start my lap timer to measure the gap myself at the turn around, but in my confusion, forgot. So, as I watched them go by I could only wonder how close they were. I had no idea. I got to see the girls all come by just a bit behind the peloton, and briefly considered joining them for a more relaxed pace! I ate a couple of gels along the way and I wanted to eat a cliff bar to get more sodium, but the pace never relaxed enough that I felt I could chew anything.
We all continued our rotation. Jean-Luc would skip a pull roughly once per cycle of our Vendetta pace line, but we made him work. He tried to take his pulls on the uphill segments because everywhere else he was generally in the red on his power budget just trying to stay with us. For one 90 second period he had to turn 400 watts just to stay in our draft. I was around 200 watts at that same point (my average power for the race was only 156 watts!!). None of us were sure which race Jean-Luc was in, but, after seeing a sign around mile 65 that indicated we were now 6 minutes ahead of the peloton, at mile 70, I decided he didn’t belong any more. When he came off the front I didn’t let him get behind me. I allowed us to fall off the pace line as Jesse and Larry continued up the road. We slowed down and I soon realized he was totally fine letting those two escape. He was at his limit anyway so, I rapidly closed the gap. He was able to stay on my wheel and rejoin us though. Now, if Larry and Jesse and followed a similar protocol, he wouldn’t have lasted much longer, but Larry doesn’t like to play games and I decided I couldn’t hurt myself any more than necessary and maybe it was the right call to keep him for the head wind (though he didn’t do much pulling there). They had plans to drop him later. So, he stayed.
Into the headwind we slowed down to 22mph. Larry’s idea of breaking a course record evaporated however we never lost time on the group. We just further extended our lead. It was tough, but we all rode roughly the same power we’d been riding before, maybe even a little less. It was just a really strong wind there, as predicted. I was thinking to myself how much I hated Larry’s early breakaway plan, but I suppose since he was the one that suggested having a plan it is just as well that we ended up following his. I knew that once we reached the end of the head wind it would be a good place to attack. So, I stayed prepared in case we dissolved there. There was no attack even as we turned the corner into a one mile cross wind. After that there was a turn onto HWY98 which I knew meant there was a little more than seven miles to go. I had visited each remaining corner in person the day before. I had also measured them so that I knew the distance to the finish and I had studied the speed and power produced in several of the previous years at those key points. Because I knew that turn onto HWY98, I went through it faster and was now in the lead with a gap of a few bike lengths. I knew exactly what to do. I reduced my power to recover and let them come by. Then, I got into the draft just ahead of Jean-Luc.
That’s when I got worried. I started to feel cramps in my legs. My day might soon be over with a DNF! Larry and Jesse started turning the screws. They ratcheted up the speed on that seven mile stretch. They again, took another KOM there - record pace for this section. They traded turns and each time one of them came off the front, I skipped my turn and stayed at the back. Jean-Luc did the same thing, but the pace was too much and he was dropped. I hoped they might ease up once they dropped Jean-Luc, but they did not. Along this road I dumped my remaining water to lighten up the bike for the sprint.
I had decided in advance that I needed to be in 3rd place around both of the final two corners. When we came around that second to last corner, I was in the red at my limit and still feeling cramps, but I had enough to respond to Jesse’s acceleration. He yelled back - come on man take a pull! Then, he slowed down and started weaving to shake me out of his draft. Tom Collins has shown me many times how these tricks work and he was a master teacher for me so, I was more than happy to slow down behind him. I was hoping it would become a balancing contest something like a track sprint so that I could recover from the earlier punishment, but of course, Larry pulled into the lead. Again, Larry doesn’t play such games. He goes fast all the time, but Jesse couldn’t let Larry leave if he wanted to win so, he chased and pulled me with him. That took us into the final corner. We were deceptively close to the finish.
Patience. I knew that it was a 12mph head wind and so, I knew that my optimal sprint point would be quite a long way past that final corner, unlike previous years. I let Jesse and Larry get a small gap on me so that I could use this space to increase my speed. Jesse started his sprint and Larry started his. Larry was able to get a very small gap on Jesse. I reached the point that it was time for me to launch and I hit it as hard as I could up through Jesse’s draft. That brought me up to Larry’s wheel. I paused my sprint so that I would not go by him too early because I remembered when I had sprinted against him before he was able to pull into my draft and come around me on the other side. Then, I hit it again with everything that I had and hoped my timing was right. Their intensity pulling in the last seven miles hurt me and that meant my sprint was very weak, but still adequate. It felt as though I was ahead at the line, but at 31mph and my heart rate at 186, beyond its maximum, I knew we’d need to go to the photo. Before we could do that, I unclipped. Both legs cramped completely and I fell over into the dirt just past the finish. I laid face down in the dirt unable to move. I thought to myself - that is a perfect ending. I didn’t leave anything on the table! The tactics in the last two miles put me in first place with ten percent less effort. 4:10:48.000.
I got up and thanked my support crew again and started drinking and eating as much as I could - once the food hit me, the cramps subsided. Then, I got back on my bike! I started biking the course backwards, retrieved my discarded water bottle and continued until I met B Girl on her ride. She was alone on the road and had been solo for the last 50 miles, but no cramps, nothing hurt, and she was still in good spirits, smiling! She’d had neck surgery on two herniated discs a few weeks prior so we didn’t know if she was even going to try the race. She ended up as the third woman behind Katie and Maria! It was cool to see her Garmin show her new personal record - farthest distance ridden - it was her first ever century!
It’s a strange thing to win as a sprinter because you know that you didn’t get there without a ton of help. It was really fun to be in a pace line with four Vendettas in a breakaway that was running a pace far above last years despite significantly more wind in what should be an impossible place to break away - essentially the start of the race. When I saw we had that six minute gap, I knew it was going to stick, and although we all worked together, that gap was largely the result of Larry and Jesse. It was undoubtedly a team effort.
