Teaching an old dog new tricks.

 Our inline skating practices back in the day were some days like a final at a World Championship. We had many top skaters from the United States already living here and had skaters from Australia, France, Belgium, India, England, Canada and Italy coming to train as well. You had to be on point at every training session or you would go home feeling like you were a complete failure. Every Tuesday night in the warm weather months, for about the last ten years, somewhere between 30 to 80 of the best riders in Iowa get together and compete in what we refer to as the TNWC (Tuesday Night World Championship). Nearly 56 miles of tape your ears back and let the snot crust on your face pain on a bicycle. We have had pro riders, pro triathletes, pro skaters, Olympic riders and lots of other heavy hitters. It is another event where if you don’t show up ready you will get escorted out the back door quickly. Put all of those experiences together and you think I might be ready.  

At some point (not sure when it was), I began to be too comfortable in the pack. I have been racing skates for 30 some years and riding bikes for nearly as long (the legal bike racing only for a couple but riding in packs for many years). I started getting more involved in bike racing when my older brother stopped racing skates. It was amazing to me how important a training partner’s motivation was to my success. When he stopped skating I had no one pushing my endurance, or challenging me to go harder so I had to find other athletes to replace him. I have really enjoyed bike racing as I have met many great athletes and I was forced to start again at the bottom of the totem pole. To be honest (and most of you skaters know this), it was kind of cheating because cycling and skating are so similar in many ways. I certainly have had to adapt some of my training and learn the different ways to pull through and drop back in a pack but they are really close. Recently, I was upgraded to a higher level in bike racing (cycling has categories that you must earn points to move up in). I have only a few races under my belt in this category but already I am learning how much I didn’t know.

My first race in the new category was the Iowa State Road Race. 108 miles of lightly rolling Iowa farm land. It would be a day of new experiences for me as I had never raced in the higher division and I had never went 100 miles without stopping (ragbrai), let alone race it. I decided to hide for the first half of the race and pretend it didn’t exist and then head up to do a tactical race when I was at a more manageable distance. When half of the race was over, I went up towards the front and was told someone was over 6 minutes up on the pack. I was happy I didn’t know that earlier (so I wouldn’t panic) and I assumed the race was now for second as I have never been down in a race that far and had it come back together. Education # 1. If a team is committed and stays with it, it will find success. A team of 5 riders without looking for any help from the other 50 guys in the pack turned it into a team time trial and with 25 miles to go…..we were all one pack. As it would turn out, one of that teams riders went on to win the race. Education #2. At the higher level, position is everything at the end and I may have to eat a little wind at the end in order to give myself a shot to win.

 With about 1 mile to go, I foolishly thought I was in a good position to win the race. I tucked in behind a rider I thought would do well and I hid from the wind. As the sprint starts to wind up I am surprisingly fresh and ready, and then……stuck, hiding in the draft in a pack of riders and I can’t go anywhere. I literally ride 108 miles to have the best view of other people racing. I tried and tried to find a lane to go through but with grass on one side and riders on the other I sat up and rode stuck as a member of the pack to the line.

This past weekend I had three races and three new adventures. Saturday was the Big Creek Road Race. A 58 mile ride through many of the roads I ride for training. It should have been a good day. Education #3.  When I race with a group that is fast, I have to be strong enough to cover all significant breakaways or be content racing for nothing. As we start lap 4 of the 11 lap race, I am sitting in the 5^th or 6^th spot in the pack hanging out as the pack is continually surging. I see a small attack form on the left of me and 3 or 4 riders head off of the front. After what I saw a few weeks earlier I assumed they had no shot. Then on the left of me another 4 riders went after them and I again did nothing. Two chances I had and was afraid to go. In our main pack was the lone pro rider in the race and I assumed he would make the group come back. With nearly 5 laps to go he put the entire pack on the edge and took off after the lead group. He pulled us to nearly 100 meters (from 800 meters back) of the lead pack and was then forced to stop because of issues with his race entry. At that point I was given a third chance to get with the breakaway and I failed again. Only one rider gutted the bridge up and went solo to cover the final 100 meters. The final 9 man breakaway was set. I did use my earlier lesson (#2) at the end and I led my teammate out to win the pack sprint.

Sunday I had two races in the East Village Criterium. The first was 40 minutes plus two laps and the second was 45 minutes plus 2 laps. Both races finished with nearly the same results and I think it happened to me twice so that I would really get the message. 15 minutes into morning race a guy who races with me makes a great attack and gets a gap. Shortly after, a rider from another team attacks and begins to bridge up to the leader. As they ride up the road, I realize I am again riding for a non winning position (although my teammate is in a great position). Education #4. I will have to risk the pain of a breakaway if I want to be successful at the higher level of cycling. The second rider catches my teammate and goes on to win the race solo. I use rule #2 again and win the field sprint for 2^nd place. The final race is in upper 90 degree temperature and is either going up or down hill. By the end, many riders will be tired just from the natural elements. I start off nicely and try to stay near the front of the pack nearly the whole race. An easy break tries to roll away but it is kept manageable and brought back after a few laps. After the pack had been narrowed to around 10 riders, I decide to check the pack out and see who I think looks good and who I think is suffering. After a few attacks from a few others, one of the riders who I was not worried about counter attacks and gets a small gap. No one in the pack reacts and he has made his escape. I was right there when he attacked and could have made an effort to stay with him or bring him back but I failed to react or be concerned again. One more race and again I watch my chance at a victory roll off of the front. Education #5. When you don’t know everyone in the pack it is essential not to judge a book by the cover. He played a nice poker face and got away for a solo victory. Chase them all, especially when you are in the last quarter of the race.

My cycling season is over for the year but I loved it. I am so blessed to have an opportunity to continue to learn and grow in athletics. I have the Duluth Inline Marathon in 2 weeks so I will be doing loads of inline skating getting ready. My back is a bit better so I pray it will stay healthy enough to put in the work load required to be competitive soon.