Usery Pass Race Report

On Saturday, February 6th, Mark and I drove 2 hours north east of Mesa Az to race the first race of the ‘05 season. We decided to drive up Saturday night because the race started at 7:30am, so we packed the van with the double air mattress, pillow's, sleeping bags and a little single burner that runs off propane. Before we left I mixed up a batch of home made pancake batter and a few sandwiches in a cooler for some sweet breakfast and a little lunch after the race.

We rolled into the baron land of a parking lot around 10:30, perfect time to throw the Dodge in park, and jump right into the pre made sleeping arrangements. The only alarm clock we had was my watch, so I set it for 5:15am. Mark and I were both a bit worried about not hearing it, but we couldn’t help that, so we just went to bed. I managed to get up before my watch after a great sleep. The air in the van was cold and sharp as we slept with a window open. It was great. I tell you, having a big old van is priceless.

I got the breakfast started right away, my mom’s recipe for home made pancakes and maple syrup were a great smell that early in the morning; I just wish I had brought something to fix up a hot cup of the Jet Fuel. Mark and I filled up, and it was soon time to get the gear on and head to the start line.

There was around 70-80 guys on the start line. It was still cold, as the sun hadn’t come up fully yet. The plan was for Mark to follow the early moves, and sit on them with the intention of killing them, and bringing them back until I could get in a solid move and start my race from there. Off the gun 4 guys nailed it, and got a gap fast. The pack wasn’t reacting, and there were a few “teams” present. The Subway team had 5 or 6 guys, Trek/Landis had 4 or 5, and the USA Cycling Center had 5 guys lead by a strong Austin King. No one wanted to react to the break, so I thought I would pull an "Andrew Randell" and just lightly attack to get the ball rolling, and hope it would start a chain of attacks that would keep the speed of the pack up and keep the break in check. But no one followed. I had a decent gap, and didn’t want to just sit up, so I thought I would just hang out front for a bit longer hoping someone would bite, still nothing. I thought I would just give it a whirl, and just keep it at %75, I ended up in no mans land 3 minutes in front of the pack, and 3 minutes behind the break for 30k. I called it quits with 75k to go, and rode up the finish climb very slow and got caught. Only small breaks would go, and come back, with no one really strong enough to stay out. The break shed 2 of the 4 guys, and with 1 lap to go, the 2 leaders were still out front. On every climb on that lap, Austin King drilled it, trying to split up the group, and he did. The race shattered, I made the front group every time, feeling very comfortable. With just under 15k to go, I flatted at the worst time. There were riders all over the road behind, and cars waiting to pass all the small groups. The wheel truck was somewhere back there. I waited almost 5 minutes before I got a wheel again the race was long up the road, I put in a hard chase, but fell short of catching the field by over a minute at the finish. 3 guys ended up in a small break ahead of the field. Mark’s day ended with just less than a lap to go, he worked hard all day, but wasn’t feeling too fresh.

It wasn’t our day. But the legs are still there. Next race, Valley of the Sun, we’ll see what we can do there.