Start of 2016 Races

Humbling Race

I have already completed a couple early season races in 2016.  These are “for fun” races, but I am sure I take them more seriously than I should.  One should not have high expectations for so early in the season.  Every winter I think to myself, this year I have put in the time on the trainer to be fit when I finally start riding outdoors, but every spring I am disappointed with my fitness when it counts.

A promoter has faithfully organized the Iowa Spring Classic gravel race series for several years.  These races happen on the gravel roads in central Iowa, so I feel obligated to race them because they are close to home, and they get me outside in the early spring.  This year the race in Colfax lined up with my schedule.  There were two options, an “A” and a “B” group.  The A’s were racing 48 miles and the B’s were racing 32 miles (6 and 4 laps of an eight mile loop).  I signed up for the A race thinking I typically do better in longer events.  I confirmed there was a small field (seven A racers).

I rode well on the first lap and was able to pull away from a few riders on the long climb.  I found people to ride with so I could share the work into the wind on laps one through five.  I was feeling pretty good about myself on subsequent laps because I was able to lap a couple of the B racers.  On the last lap I was all alone in the wind with my thoughts and tired legs.  I was watching behind myself to make sure there was no one about to overtake me.  When I crossed the finish line I noticed the promoter put away his clipboard.  Could I be the last finisher?

Once the results were posted I confirmed my fears, I finished last.  I was very tired and could not have given any more.  The person who finished just before me finished six minutes ahead.  I don’t think I could have ridden nearly a minute faster per mile, unless I was drafting 100% of the time which would not have been a fair tactic.

I never finish races at the front, but I am not normally at the back either.  Also, most of the races I enter have significantly larger fields.  I was able to console myself by looking at the statistics from my PowerTap Joule GPS cycling computer and PowerCal heart rate monitor.  My average pace was over one mph faster than my pace in other long gravel events.  My conclusion, I was the slowest in a small, fast and fit group.  This is completely different than being slow and out of shape.

I want to remember this feeling to ensure I always give my all on training rides and races.  I made little “DFL” stickers and put them on the handlebars of my bikes.  Hopefully I can turn a bad memory into positive energy and motivation.

 

Windy Iowa Spring

Another early season race I contest every year is the Gent’s race.  This is a 61 mile gravel race taking place on the roads around Slater, Iowa.  The format is unique because you compete as a team of five and must stay together to the end to be counted in the official results.  The race organizers start teams every few minutes from slowest to fastest, so the first team across the finish line is declared the winner regardless of overall elapsed time.  The format is fun because each team must work together to get to the finish as fast as possible.

The forecast for the day of the race was for high winds (25 mph sustained, 40 mph gusts) and cool (low 40’s, warming to upper 40’s) temps.  Race morning delivered the weather just as predicted.  I think each of my teammates was waiting for someone else to say they thought the conditions were too ugly, but luckily, no one did.  In our reluctance to start riding we ended up getting to the start line about five minutes after our allotted start time.  I had a hunch it would not matter.

The first ½ mile in town was windy, but when we made our way to the open road where there was nothing to block the wind, we all started experiencing challenges controlling our bikes.  Within the first mile, one of our teammates pulled over and almost quit.  I was able to talk her into giving it another shot and we were off.  We were battling head and side winds (simultaneously) for the first three miles.  Our pace was not much faster than a snail.  We then turned with the wind and found ourselves able to maintain 18 mph without pedaling much at all.

Luckily, the course had no super long stretches into the wind without turning to give us a break.  Controlling our bikes so we could ride in a straight line was almost as hard as pedaling into the wind.  We worked together to keep the smaller riders out of the wind as much as we could.  I was watching my PowerTap Joule GPS cycling computer and noted we were maintaining a blistering 8 mph pace into the wind (north or west).  It was so windy we had to work hard to communicate on the bike and controlling our bikes took considerable mental effort.  Taking your hands off the bars to grab a drink was very difficult.  It was about this point I began to realize our brains and bodies were starting to adapt to the difficult challenge of riding in the side wind.  We were “getting our sea legs,” controlling our bikes was no longer a full time job.  It is very interesting how our bodies adapt to new challenges.

There was a mandatory check-point at mile 32.  The race organizers transported one drop bag per team to this location.  We were wind-blown, cold, hungry, mentally exhausted and generally miserable.  The contents of our drop bag was not going to remove all the misery.  The route was a modified figure eight, so we were only a few miles from Slater.  The misery factor and ease at which one could quit made the decision not too difficult for a couple of racers on our team, and many on other teams (more about this later).  Three of our team pushed on while two went directly (and happily) to the finish.

The rest of the race was fairly uneventful.  The portions into the wind were slow and hard, while the route with the wind went by much too fast.  I never warmed up (face, fingers and toes) throughout the entire race.  We encountered a five to six mile stretch into the wind with less than 10 miles to go which was slow and difficult.  When we finally made the turn where I knew we had less than three miles to go, all of it with the wind, I finally felt like we were going to survive.

We finished before the cutoff after racing for 5:33.  I was happy to finally be done and at the finish.  There were 63 teams signed up but only 18 teams officially finished plus five who finished with fewer than five racers.  There is no data available on how many teams started the race.

After we finished I was able to check on the weather conditions.  The maximum sustained wind for the day was 40 mph with the highest gust at 50mph (as reported by the National Weather Service).  The high temperature for the day was 44 degrees.

Ironically an article titled “Misery Is a Choice: Developing Mental Toughness in Endurance Athletes” came across my desk the week after the Gent’s race.  It is experiences like the Gent’s race this year which provide yardsticks for measuring other events and conditions.  By comparison, all other winds will seem small compared to what we experienced this year.  When faced with a strong wind in a future race or training ride, I can recall the winds at the 2016 Gent’s race and know I have ridden in worse.  This will help me to be mentally strong and more confident when the conditions are less than ideal.  If you ride and race enough you will have the opportunity to build a rich history of memories you can use to get you through the difficult times.  Reflecting further, I believe this same thing happens in life as well.  Please join me as I expand my basis of misery in order to keep bike riding, racing and life in perspective.