Best Laid Plans…
Most races I contest are high intensity, high stress events,
but the Renegade Gent’s is low stress, in fact it is my most laid back race all
year. This race is a coming-out party
from the hours of dreadful time spent on the trainer through the winter. The rules are unique; a team of five must
stay together from start to finish on the 63.5 miles of nearly flat gravel
roads. The race organizers attempt to
start the fastest teams first, separating each team by 2 minutes. This allows every team to finish on the same
clock, regardless of when they started.
Our team started as the 42nd slowest team (the first team to
start is considered to be the slowest) out of 64 teams (320 total racers).
We always say we are going to have fun at this event; it is
hardly even a race. We are far from the
fastest, but are not the slowest team.
Despite our declaration of non-race intent, our pace is always too fast at
first. Mentally we all tally every team
we pass and which passes us. Predictably,
we do the same thing every year; it must be something in our DNA makeup.
When my phone rang at 6:53 AM on the Saturday morning of
race day, I knew it could not be good news.
I was completing my last few tasks to get prepared for the race before
we departed at 7:45 AM for the 1 hour drive to Slater. It was Jim on the phone and he was telling me
he had been riding the commode since 3:45 AM.
His words were carefully chosen to convince me he was not faking it and
he may not be very fast on the bike. Jim
is one of the toughest guys I know, and I was sure he was not backing down
because he had the sniffles. It was
clear to me, he was in no shape to be on a bike, so I assured him we did not expect
him to race. I am still amazed at the
relief I could hear in his voice as he began to realize I was not going to ask
him to race with “intestinal issues.”
Even before I hung up the wheels in my brain were turning to develop a
backup plan. Where would I find someone
who could be ready to ride a bike on gravel for the next 5 hours? I had about 30 minutes to convince someone
how fun a 63.5 mile bike race on gravel would be in 40+ degree temps. After two unsuccessful attempts, I gave up. It was looking like we would be starting with
four and thus be un-scored in the race.
We decided to go do the event rather than riding around Newton because
at least we would see some new scenery.
It is difficult to spend quality time on the bike in the
Spring in Iowa. First it is too cold. When the temperature finally climbs above
freezing, the wind will not stop blowing.
We brave poor conditions to enjoy being off the trainer, but can’t spend
enough time on the bike to get in the miles we need to be in top form until
closer to the end of May. None of us
felt like we were fit enough to contest a race, but in early April in Iowa
everyone is in the same shape.
Shawna had been having flat tire issues with her gravel bike
(4 flats this season already). The shop
made some repairs and asked her to maintain the minimum air pressure in both
tires (50 psi). Within the first mile of
the race she told us she could not stay on the road because she was bouncing so
much from the high pressure in her tires.
We stopped to deflate her tires a bit so she would not feel every piece
of gravel. It was the only thing to do
to get her through a day on the bike on gravel.
It was in the mid-40s at the start and because we had not warmed up yet
from the exercise, our noses were running.
Luckily I was up-wind because the wind blew something out of Shawna’s
nose while I was deflating her front tire.
Being the gentleman I am, I tried not to embarrass her by making a big
deal of the incident (until now).
As usual the team was strong through the first 27 miles to
the checkpoint. We adjusted our pace a
couple times to accommodate periods when teammates were having difficulty and
stopped a couple times to make sure Shawna ingested calories. Trevor made a comment about the pace being
high as we were leaving the checkpoint. We
dialed back the pace but I could tell he was no longer having fun. At about mile 40 he shared he was having
stomach issues and his thighs were beginning to cramp. By mile 43 he was cramping up on every hill. It was obvious he was going to be in big time
pain to finish the race because we were facing several miles of headwinds. I didn’t want to suggest to Trevor he was not
capable of finishing the race, but I didn’t want to see him suffer to the
end. Luckily, Trevor was happy to
entertain the option of heading directly back to the start. Using our phones, we were able to find a 7
mile route back to the start / finish. Since
we were already disqualified from only having 4 at the start; we could not get
more disqualified by finishing with only 3.
We also observed several other teams riding with fewer than 5 racers.
The three of us took turns at the front and made our way to
the finish over the last 20 miles. The
wind was out of the SW and the route seemed to include over 40 miles of either
southerly or westerly direction.
Actually, there was a nice section of several miles near the end where
we traveled east with the tailwind. To
make sure we were well aware of our sorry fitness, the last half mile to the
finish was south into the headwind.
What was the main take-away from this race, you may be
asking? In bike racing, just like in
life, you need to have a goal, create a plan for reaching the goal and work the
plan to turn the goal into reality. There
is a high likelihood you will encounter things which require you to adjust your
plan. There is no shame in these
adjustment(s) as long as you keep sight of the finish line. We all made it to the finish line on
Saturday. I am sure Trevor will be
stronger than me very soon. When this
happens, and I cramp, I hope he politely helps me adjust my plan so I can
finish.
Happy riding, keep your eye on the goal.
The team of 4 at the start. We miss Jim!
An action photo of our team on the road.
