GMSR- Day 4- The Criterium....REDEMPTION!!!

Well folks, that black cloud finally lifted! This is a seriously technical and fast 6 corner crit in downtown Burlington. Not to mention changes in pavement, potholes and a stiff breeze off of Lake Champlain...fortunately, it was a tailwind at the finish. With a tense start and a few yoyo's off the front, the pace settled in. Ed decided to head home the night before so I knew I was on my own. I thought I would test the sprint legs during one of the intermediate sprints (15 laps to go) for point and did so in fine shape...took 2nd and helped Johnny Bold keep his distance on the Sprint Leaders Jersey as he took 1st in that sprint and other combatants looking to shake that jersey away from him were fighting behind me. I had no interest in that jersey, just the finish. I had passed Troy Kimbal from Westwood who is quite fast so I knew I had legs. Basically did the same at the next sprint with 5 laps to go...ok, all system checked. Roger Aspholm still lead the overall race by alot so he was never in danger but I knew he wanted the clean sweep for the weekend for his Westwood Team and would give Troy whatever help at the end was needed. This played right into my hands because I banked on that. 2 laps to go, Mark Gunsalus from Fuji separates off the front...not real hard but opens a gap. At that point, I was 2nd wheel and didn't feel that was the move so I eased the pace just enough and pulled the field farther left than it would like. I waited and waited as the gap opened and then Mark really decided to go for. Just as planned, Roger came shooting up to the front and Troy right on his wheel. I gritted to grab the wheel and the game was on. Coming around to the bell lap, Mark still had a nice lead but I was not worrying, Roger was pulling hard and I knew he would get there. Around the 2nd to last corner, we are flying, slight downhill, extremely fast but Mark still has a gap. Roger turns the last corner, I here the "ok" from Troy to release him and we are heading slight uphill to the finish still chasing Mark with about 2oom to go. I stay tight on the wheel for a few seconds and then burst to the right. Feels great when you have it because it feels effortless. Passed Troy with 100m to go and set my sights on Mark. Closing, closing, closing and just nip it at the line for the win! Damn that felt good and made all misery from the weekend forgotten. I don't think I have ever let out a louder yell in my life as 2 years of frustration came roaring out. Mission completed!! A couple of slices of pizza and a few beers and we were on our way home. If you have been following this, thanks. I got a bunch of calls, emails and texts and they are surely appreciated. Take care.

GMSR- Day 3-The Road Race

Well, a monster 75 miles of up and down. 2 massive climbs (Brandon Gap then the finishing Appalachian Gap which is 5 km of pure hell a pitches of 20%) and a Lot of stiff climbs in between. Not riding for GC anymore after yesterdays debacle so just looking for a top 10 and this really hard stage. Felt good all day and over Brandon Gab...near the front. Took a flier with 30 miles to go and stayed away for about 10 miles solo...hoping for some over the shoulder watching at the front but they eventually caught me. Went over Baby Gap in fine shape right at the front and although I felt pretty good with 8 miles to go, I knew I burnt a couple of matches on that solo. Ed was being active as well during the middle parts of the race as we kept flying off the front trying to create a break. The leader Roger Aspholm was keeping a vice grip lock on the front trying to cover every move. App Gap came and I was hanging in there for a while....4km sign came and I am thinking, "why not podium"? Well, the lactic acid wasn't far behind and I slowly started to drift backwards. Ed seemed to find his rhythm earlier and was up ahead. At about 1km to go, my girlfriend pulls alongside and gives me a couple of shouts so I go. Picked up a bunch of spots in the process but boy am I suffering. That is one thing you learn to do a lot of in this sport is suffering. How you process the pain goes a long way. Last pitch...500m to go. Wow is this hell. I pick up 2 more spots as I keep the pedals turning. Finally, the line....I am home!! Ed rolled in a few spots behind me and we were both shot. I ended up 23rd and Ed 27th. Not very good but we live to fight another day. Tommorrow is the Crit and I have had good results on this one (2nd in '06 and 1st in '07) so we will hope for a way to salvage the weekend.

GMSR- Day 2-The Circuit Race

I'm not going to say much here...yesterday, first I got a flat during the first lap. Then, I got into the winning move which started just 3 of us with 7km to go and I crossed wheels with Lattanzi and crashed. Field passed me, bent my derailleur hangar, stumbled in with a few cuts and cried after I finished. I must have a dark cloud following me. I just can't seem to get a damn break. Roger chased down his teammate and won today again...Lattanzi 2nd. He is ridiculous!

Green Mountain Stage Race: Day 1 -- The Time Trial (report by Max L)

As much as I was looking forward to the beginning of what I call my Super Bowl for the season, I must say I was dreading this TT. The Green Mountain Stage Race is one of the biggest and best stage road races in the country and with prior success at this event, I always have good feelings going in, except for yesterday. Time trials are not my forte yet I recently have been working on it for this event with its' newly designed TT course from last year that I missed. I've put out some good times and not so good times in my practice sessions and the variable for me always seems to be my Asthma....I seem to lock up and over cook sometimes out of the shoot and find it hard to recover. Using last years times as a guide (best was mid 14 minutes), I was shooting for around 15 min or just over to get me in the top 10 to 15 and give me a fight chance for Top 5 or podium in General Classification over the coming days. The course is mainly uphill the first 2 miles with the 2nd mile being much more severe in pitch. I hit this part pretty much under control cresting the 1.5 mile steepest portion in good pace and accelerating over...this is good. There is a false flat for a quarter mile and then another 5-6% pitch which takes you to 2.2miles. This is where the problems began. As I put it in my big chain ring on the false flat, the heart rate began to crest. As I tried to get up this one in the saddle, I began to exceed my threshold. Got to the top, tried to shake out the legs but I couldn't get myself out of the red. Over the next 3 miles which was slightly downhill, I should have been rolling fast and excelerating but never could get over the pedals and drive some serious speed...still in the red! The head wind didn't help to get into a comfort zone either. At the 5 mi mark, there is the "dip"...great! You fly downhill at top speed and quickly hit a wall. I tried to stay tucked for half of the wall and slowly drive out of the saddle trying to stay in the drops and out of the wind. The last 1/2 mi is slightly uphill so you can't burn out on that wall. That was truly like hell I must say and just put my head down and kept looking for the markers spray painted on the ground. The result; 16:31. Bad...very bad. That's what you call laying an egg!! That put me at 39th out of 62 at 1:48 behind the leader. Great job to Ed Angeli (my only other Masters Teammate racing with me this weekend...Badger, here is now where you are mentioned or lack there of. Thanks for the moral boost by coming to stay with us this weekend even while you are not racing but how about helping me "chamy up" or even a chain cleaning?). Ed cam in with a time of 15:53 and in 19th place. We will have our hands full the next couple of days with a loaded field and teams that have numbers. For me, it's about stage wins now and possibly the King of the Mountain jersey. I have fought back in the past from a bad TT (all be it a different course in '06 & '07) to get into the top 10 in GC and this weekend looks the same. Look for daily updates and Ed should be blogging later on the results of the Circuit Race. Or, keep an eye on the race at gmsr.info.

Saturday Ride Map 9/5/09

44 miles with 3,400 feet of climbing.