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| Carb-loading |
Michael Hast
This was my 2nd TT in a cycling race. I have done plenty of triathlons and didn't feel as nervous about it and you're not all wet on the bike :-) Our start time was just before 11 am which put me in a bind of should I eat before the race or not. I have been following Hammer Nutrition's advice of not to eat 2 to 3 hours before a race. This time it was closer to 3 hours and I didn't eat. However warming up on the trainer I had a gel with caffeine. I started after Kyle who started after Buzz, which was a great setup, 2 riders I knew ahead of me. A few minutes after the start my cycling computer display stopped working and all I had as a gauge was Kyle up ahead. On the way out, I think initially closed the gap between Kyle and me. Then I had a horrible onset of dry mouth and started coughing (I blame me having the gels during warm-up). I reached for my bottle of water more than I anticipated. Before the turnaround point the TT/GC winner, who started 30 seconds behind me, blew by me and took some wind out of me. On the way back, I passed one rider, but didn't see Kyle or the TT/GC winner anywhere ahead of me. I placed 7th, one place ahead of Big Mike.
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| Michael preparing to chase down Buzz |
Road Race
I have never ridden that course, nor anywhere close to Casa Grande. It is a triangular shaped course and we had to ride it 2.8 times, about 46 miles. The first section of the course was a slight downhill with a headwind and the second section was a straight away with a headwind. Nobody wanted to do any real work, so we all just sat in and rode. The third section was where all the action happened. It had a 400-foot gradual hill climb followed by a fast descent to the first section of the course. One rider just took off on the base on the hill and we didn't catch him for a while. On the second lap just before that hill we got passed by the Cat 5's and the referees put us in a neutral mode, so no attacks were allowed until the Cat 5's had some distance from us. Then there was a mad rush to the top of the hill because time bonuses were handed out on the 2nd lap. Buzz passed me on the way down after each climb and yelled, "Grab my wheel, we're going to the front!". WOW, what an encouraging working teammate. So I got on and we went up front. On the last lap I just wanted to move up to the front before the hill, but launched an attack because I saw 3 riders up ahead and wanted to bridge to them. The pack followed and we bunched up in the middle of the hill. Towards the finish line at the top of the hill a pack of 10 riders broke away. I fell back, but tried to bridge. Then out of nowhere Buzz passed me and yelled, "Get on!" My legs were screaming, but I followed, then he released me and yelled, "One last sprint and you'll catch them!" My legs still screaming, but my mind said, yes, I can do this. So I stood up and sprinted a few feet. The guy behind me released a big sigh, but he eventually caught up to me and passed me. So I ended up 12th and moved to the 6th place for GC. Then we watched Gary and Coul race. WOW!
Criterium
Well, crits are crits, too many corners and too many riders :-) The plan was to form a breakaway with Kyle, Buzz and I after a prime was given to have some separation from the pack. Well, right from the the start I was at the end of the pack yo-yoing and it took me a while to get comfortable. With the crit only being 30 minutes, there wasn't much time to get comfortable and to move up. Whenever I tried to move up, others had the same idea and I unfortunately held back. Buzz and Kyle broke away and stayed away for a while. It was great to see and I was there with them in spirit. The last 5 laps came and the strategy changed for Kyle (and me) to lead out Buzz for the sprint. Well, I almost made it to Buzz's wheel on the last lap, but again held back because a corner was approaching. I came in last in that group and didn't even sprint to the finish, which added 21 seconds to my time. So I need to be aware next time to at least stay in the pack all the way to the finish. I kept my 6th place in GC though and am very thankful about that.
Coul Hill
Now, I’m a brand new Cat 2, coming to Arizona – where there is no winter – to compete in a stage race in a field of 79 Cat 2 guys (many of which who will be next year’s pros), without TT equipment, and criteriums (although I love ‘em) are not my strongest discipline; although I like to dream big and aim high, I wasn’t planning on coming away with upgrade points just yet. This one was for the experience, the Cat 2 experience, to start my race season early and knock the cobwebs out of my race brain – this was to get me focused.
Time Trial
The time trial was fast, really fast. I like TTs because it’s me against the clock and it’s all about finding that zone where I’m oblivious to the pain, power is maxed, and the podium is the legitimate focus. That’s fun. I ended up 52/79 in the TT without a TT bike, aero bars, or any TT gear, but I’m totally stoked that I was able to show up regular roadie style and whoop 27 experienced Cat 2s. Next stage race/TT: this guy will gear up for the TT.
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| Coul crushing his time trial |
Road Race
Man I love road races. This is where my pipe dreams come alive. If you ever tell me I can’t do it in a road race, I’ll turn around and show you I can. I absolutely love going out there and grinding it all down to nothing – and I prefer to do it off the front. This field was a bit intimidating though… I’m looking around at the start and there are seventy-some beasts on bikes looking lean and proudly displaying and discussing the fact that their race season started three months ago. I started off in the middle and stayed with the pack, but got dropped at the very top of the climb at the end of the first lap (to be expected given that I’m still over 200 pounds, but I’m working on that), but I caught the pack about a half a lap later. The next two laps the same thing happened: I stayed with the pack until just before the crest of the climb, and then I was off the back, but I caught the pack three times – that took some serious grinding I must say. That’s my beast mode, the goal is GO. On the fifth lap I was not able to catch back up with the pack after being dropped a fourth time, but a group of five other OTB riders did latch on to me as I passed and they looked to start a pace line. Their idea of a pace line included slowing me down several miles per hour and they had already resigned themselves to not catching back up as they were encouraging me to “save some for tomorrow,” but that’s not my style. I go hard until there’s nothing left, then I keep going. So, I did the pace line with them for a few miles through the headwind and I dropped them on the top of the climb of that lap. Then, I pounded out my 6th and final lap solo and came in 54th with a time of four hours and seven minutes for ninety-five and a half miles (with my cool down I got in an even century on the day).
Criterium
Then the criterium – my weak point in any stage race or omnium. I have to admit, I get scared on those corners and I freeze up and fall back. I start out in the front and I get super sketched out by the proximity of all the other riders and the bumping, tapping, grinding, tire rubbing, etc. On the back side of this course dudes were bunny hopping up and over the sidewalk to advance and to avoid wrecks – I can barely see (I’m supposed to wear glasses) so everything in front of me is a blur of jostling colors – all I can think about at that point is not being in a pile-up (or causing one). Simply put: I’m the cowardly lion in criteriums, but I hate that and I want to overcome that fear. I like crits, I think they’re fun and I love the idea of them, I just have not mastered them and my cornering skills are sub-par. At least I know what I need to work on. So I rolled tight with these boys for 12 of 50 minutes before I got dropped, then I hung on till almost 30 before they lapped me and I was pulled from the race (that is fairly standard in crits, lapped riders typically get pulled for safety reasons).
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| Coul getting comfortable in the corners |
I didn’t hit the podium, I didn’t earn any upgrade points. I didn’t get to finish the criterium. But, the weekend was a total success for me. I got my first three races of the year under my belt in February and I did it with the best in the country in my category, and it was my first outing as a Cat 2, AND I beat a lot of them in two out three of the races. This weekend made me stronger, it honed my focus, and it highlighted for me what I need to address before I line up in Seattle in March. This was my pre-season race weekend and it was a blast.
On top of all that, I was truly blessed to spend the weekend in great company with new friends that I’m super thankful to have had the opportunity to get to know. For me it’s always a great blessing to share my testimony because it forces me to remember two things: the incredible body of work God has done in my life so far and that He’s not done with me yet. As I sat there at the dinner table that first night I found myself trying to temper my testimony because in the front of my mind I realized that if I’d just met someone and they were telling me this same story that I was telling, I don’t think I’d be able to believe it! God is great. Many of the conversations that I was truly blessed to have with these Christian gentlemen brought me to a few crucial realizations of my own (personally, I love epiphanies because that’s usually when life makes some kind of drastic change – it’s like the apex of the roller coaster: time to hold on!). One of those epiphanies for me was this simple fact: I am, now at this point in my life, living my dream. I dreamed this years ago, that I’d be a college graduate with a teaching job, traveling to bike races all over the country, married with children – not the whole nine, I got the whole thirty-six! My second crucial epiphany came with the realization that I must not resign myself to outside expectations of my perceived limitations of me. To put it another way, if God can do what He has done with me thus far, then truly I cannot fathom what He has planned. Where so much around me in my busy life is screaming for me to quit, slow down, accept my position, etc. I recognize that the Lord’s drive within me will take me where He wants me (but I must remember there is no “destination” here, it is the journey, the how that He is interested in with me). Today I turn thirty-three years old and I am confident and rejuvenated to say that I’m going to keep going hard, hone my focus for the Lord, and trust in the knowledge and faith I have that one day soon (still maybe years away) all of who and what I am will culminate into something beautiful, sustainable, and honoring to Him. For now, I am in the refining process, and although it hurts, I GET to be a part of the incredible testimony He is writing and I GET to call it MY LIFE.
I must thank my sponsors, The Spoke Shop, Chalet Market, Chiropractic Health Associates, Hammer Nutrition, Schwalbe Tires, and PowerTap CycleOPS.
Without Dean Cromwell, Sarah, and all of the Spoke Shop staff, there’s no way I’d be able to keep rolling, I love you guys!
I really enjoy the fact that my spine and neck are ALWAYS properly aligned on race day, and the only way that happens is with the awesome work of CHA; Paul Berger and Body Mechanix with the sports massage are the best in the business and that’s no aside.
I am very grateful for the Hammer sponsorship—I love being an ambassador for y’all, the best part (aside from the best fueling and supplements in the industry) is giving away stickers and temporary tattoos to the kids after the kids’ race… what a blast!
Schwalbe Tires are looking to be a god-send sponsor-wise. I’ve never ridden them before this weekend, but MAN am I impressed. These tires are LIGHT, FAST, DURABLE, and they grip well even when pumped up over 130 PSI. I’m a believer and proudly sponsored by Schwalbe Tires. I will get your banner on the podium this year!
PowerTap and CycleOPS are also a new sponsor to MY arsenal – ones which I have not yet begun to utilize, but I am very excited to start using PowerTap in my training and CycleOPS in my warm up as I know that these two will greatly improve my output and my standings.
I must also recognize my wife, and thank her for her steadfastness and support. I love you too. Our six kids are great too: Ezekiel, Rose, and Hannah are already well infected with the bike racing bug (there’s no cure, just more races), and I do enjoy every opportunity to mountain bike with Nate and Isaac. Abbi, I sure do miss you and hope and pray that the day comes soon where we can reconcile and enjoy time together again.
Key takeaways and lessons learned from the Valley of the Sun Stage Race: don’t over eat the day/night before a race, be more intentional about pre-race nutrition, have a more purposefully designed and intentional warm-up for all stages, somehow get access to a TT bike for time trials, get crit and cornering practice to build race-day courage, monitor power for training, IC3 Tucson is excellent, some aliens speak English with a German accent, Don Russell is the coolest USAC referee, and Jesus loves me.
God bless y’all, thanks for reading!
Coul Hill
IC3 MT
0^0 4 ><>
Ken Huizenga
Time Trial
Day one Time Trial had now arrived. After a mostly sleepless night, it was time to clamp on the TT bars and play the mental game of balancing consistent power vs. blowing up before the finish. This day turned out good for me. I found the course a good fit elevation-wise and came close to my FTP for the complete effort. This is about all I could hope for and it turned out to be good enough to place me in 18th position out of 28, 7:00 down to the leader. I was happy with my run.
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| Ken working hard in the time trial |
Road Race
Day two was a 46-mile road race in Casa Grande. This was 3 laps around a mostly flat course that had a long climb at the end of every lap. I was stoked to think this was going to be the day that I did not lose the group. I felt strong and was determined to stay with the pack. All went well till the first climb. The group thinned out and became mostly single file up the climb. I dropped slightly but worked with a small group to get back on to the leaders. I held one till the second climb and then the effort required this time around definitely burned one of my “matches” and I was left to work with only one guy that looked close to my age. The pack was ahead of us, and the two of us dropped the remaining field. We worked together most of the last lap and passed a few Cat 4 stragglers (they left 5 minutes before us) so that felt good. I thought I had saved enough energy to crush the last climb but as always, this never works out. I did finish semi-strong and was again content with my performance. An hour after the race, the adrenaline wore off and I felt totally wasted. Clearly I had given everything I had and was about to pay for not drinking or eating enough... when will I learn?
Criterium
Day three was tough to get out of bed for. I had a crit left to run and my start time was 7:15.. ugh! This turned out to be the highlight of the weekend for me. I held onto the pack for half the race and had I listened to Kyle (coaching me from the sidelines), I might have stayed up front and had the best crit finish ever. The problem was they called for a prime and the field surged and I could not hold on. I am hearing that the surge is best handled if I’m up front when it happens. I hope soon to be strong enough to try this. I had four guys left to work with and we managed to not get lapped and finished with a 23 mph average speed. I ended up 18 out of 28 in the GC. I am gaining skill and confidence. Maybe I am in the right place.
The weekend can be summed up this way: my team is super supportive, and guys like Erik and Kyle from TriSports also were awesome to be around. I am very lucky to have great people to race with and that care. Thank you to all of you that took time to support me. I appreciate you all.
Gary Schobel
Time Trial
I was blessed by Doug Perry and Dan DeZess with a TT bike, wheels and an aero helmet. Now, I looked fast, I felt fast, therefore I was fast if only in my head. The distance was 20k and I finished in 34:14. That time was 3:57 off the first place. While looking at the results it was brought to my attention that I had entered the wrong category. I had entered into the men's masters 45+ category instead of category 5. I learned that the Men's Masters is made up of category 1, 2, and 3 racers that are no longer interested in being at the pro level so they fall back into the Masters category. I was probably the only cat 5 racer in this category. Looking at my finishing time If I had been registered in the cat 5 category I would have my first time on the podium. I would have placed third instead of 40th out of 57 racers. Oh well, I guess you live and learn. Little did I know that was the first of many times I was going to say that this weekend.
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| Gary about to start the time trial |
Road Race
Time for the road race and the second time for me to say live and learn. Since I was in the Masters category instead of a cat 5, I got to do two extra laps. 62 miles! How lucky was I... I did my best just to hold on to the group. I stayed in the pack for the first two laps. The last two laps I rode solo. Sure there were other groups that passed by, but per the USA Cycling race Bible I could be penalized or disqualified for jumping into another category of racers to draft off of and aid me with catching back up with my group. I finished the road race in 3:03:34. That put me in at 51st place out of 52. Definitely nothing to phone home about. Finished 19:12 off the leader. It was at this point that I felt God has really blessed me with some great team members. Encouragement was fantastic. They kept reminding me of the caliber of riders that I was racing against and to never sign up for Masters categories again. That was a hard day.
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| Gary hanging on in the road race |
Here's something to make you laugh. I didn't know what the term "roll out" meant, but I kept hearing them mention it. As I was standing in the staging area waiting for my category to start the race I see a group of cyclists in this roll out line getting their bikes checked. I thought to myself, "I didn't have that done." I jumped out of the staging area to take my bike over to the line, only to find out when it was my turn to have the bike inspected the nice lady gently slaps me on my cheeks laughing and says really, you may think you're a junior, you may feel like you're a junior, but you're not a junior. With that I stepped out of line and back into the staging area. How embarrassing! Boy did I feel dumb. That has something to do with a gearing for the junior racers not a 46 year old guy.
Criterium
The Crit! We got a chance to sleep in Sunday morning. All except for Ken. Cat 5 were racing at 7:15 and I was the next up a 10:55. The weather was perfect and the course was nice. But I already let the race get into my head. I knew I was going to get my butt handed to me. And I did! 30 minutes later I finished the crit. solo. The group left me with two laps to go. I finished in 51st place. Dead last! With an average pace just under 25 mph, it was obvious again that I registered in the wrong category. Of course I took the time that I finished in and compared it to the cat 5 times and I could come in the top 10. If only I had registered in the right category. Once again live and learn.
In closing, here are some of my take aways from the weekend.
- God made us a teammate to speak to you. "character building"
- No matter how young I feel or think I look, 46 is not a junior.
- NEVER WILL I SIGN UP IN THE MASTER'S CATEGORY AGAIN!
Buzz Wright
I'm not really a fan of time trials. My power is pretty low compared to other riders and I don't really enjoy long, straight, steady-state suffering. But, the TT is necessary in order to do the RR and crit, so I had to do it. I haven't spent much time in the TT position and wasn't able to generate as much power as normal (about 10% lower), but I wasn't too concerned with the results so it didn't bother me. I was passed by Kyle, Michael, and a third guy who ended up taking 1st place for the day. I finished right in the middle of the Cat 4's with 26th out of 52 racers. About 4.5 minutes behind the leader. I was just happy the TT was over.
Road Race
My plan for the road race was simply to do whatever I could to help Michael out. He was sitting in 7th for the overall, 21 seconds behind 6th. Our hope was to move him up in the GC. On the second lap I had a little scare when I rode over the rumble strips on the side of the highway and lost a bottle. When we hit the climb on that second lap there was a decent split that occurred and our front group was around 15-20 riders. I went to the front to try to up the pace but nobody else wanted to work which was unfortunate because the chase group was able to catch back up to us on the descent. On the third climb Michael was in a good position and looking strong. Near the end of the climb about 10 guys opened up a gap and were pushing hard for the finish. I saw that Michael was not in that group so I found him and told him to grab my wheel. I gave it everything I had for him for as long as I could, trying desperately to bridge the gap to the front group. I was able to deliver him about 100 meters short of them and as I exploded I yelled for him to give it one hard effort to catch them. When he jumped there was one guy on his wheel but the rest of the group was a good distance back. I was able to grind to the finish only getting passed by one other guy, taking 14th. Michael took 12th. I was so happy for him and he ended up moving up to 6th in the GC!
Criterium
I was really, really looking forward to the crit. The course looked fun and I expected it to be fast too, which played to my strengths. I have been wanted to get on the podium and haven't quite been able to do it yet. Pre-race we chatted a bit with Kyle from TriSports, who was only 18 seconds off of 2nd place in the GC. I told Kyle I would be happy to do whatever I could to help him so he asked if I would try to work with him in a break, attacking after a prime when the pack was somewhat tired. I was excited to work with Kyle because he's a very strong racer and a super nice guy. If it turned out that the break didn't work Kyle said he would lead me out for the sprint. It was really cool to work together with another team. There were a total of 4 primes in the 30-minute crit and Kyle and I attacked after the second prime.
The attack worked very well and we opened up about a 10-second gap. Kyle's pulls were almost twice as long as mine which was necessary since his FTP is about 15% higher than mine. Super strong dude. I had trouble just sitting on his wheel to recover after my pull. After a lap or two a third racer bridged up to us and helped with a nice pull. He dropped off after another lap or two and then it was just Kyle and I again. During our break Kyle took a prime and then the forth prime bell rang. Halfway through that lap I took a look back and the group was gaining on us fast. I was so spent. We were caught with around 11 minutes to go in the race. It was a great opportunity and had a lot of potential, I just need to increase my power output a bit in order to be more of a help in that situation. I think our break lasted around 9 minutes.
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| Buzz sprinting for the line |
I did my best after the pack caught us to recover, but my legs were really worn out and the pace was relentless. This was the fastest crit I'd ever done, averaging over 27 mph. I almost told Kyle to not worry about the lead-out and was going to just finish in the pack but he started looking for me in the group and the excitement of working with him overrode the pain in my legs. I took his wheel with 5 laps to go but ended up losing it after about a lap. He kept looking back to see if I was on him so I yelled at him to just stay where he was and I would get on his wheel when I could. I almost went down once, locking up my back wheel and going sideways when the guys in front of me braked through a corner. Luckily I kept it up and was able to maintain my spot in the group. With one lap to go I was able to maneuver my way back on to Kyle's wheel and shouted at him that I was there. As soon as he knew I was on his wheel he cranked it and we went from about 10 back to the front of the group with 2 corners to go. Kyle's speed was blistering and I was pushing as hard as I could to hold his wheel. He stretched the group out single file giving me a great lead-out. We went through the final corner and he faded and dropped me off about 250 meters from the finish. Two guys went around me and I jumped to sprint. My legs were so spent I had no power left but I was able to snag 4th, just a half wheel shy of getting on the podium. It was a great race and I was so thankful for the sacrifice Kyle made for me.
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| Buzz takes 4th in the crit |
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