2008 Tour of the Frozen Flatlands Race Report

Tour of the Frozen Flatlands Race Report

Location: Cheney, WA

Race Type: Multi Day Omnium

Last weekend's race consisted of a 1 hour circuit race at the Spokane Raceway and a 50 mile road race in Cheney. Brian and I left town around 10 am to meet up with Sandy and Robyn at the race way only to be greeted with winter like conditions. The temperature was in the mid 30s and there was a 2 hour delay to clear snow that had fallen that morning. Two hours later we start our warm up while Robyn starts her race in the women’s cat 4 field. She finished strong in second place. 3:30 pm roles around and Sandy, Brian and I then line up to start our event in the men's cat 4 field. This is a multiple loop circuit race lasting 1 hour. The gun fires and we're off. My legs feel heavy as I hammer to sprint to the front to avoid all the chaos that trail behind the lead bikers. Especially in a circuit or criterium, being stuck in the back is not the ideal spot to hang out. As the front group slows for sharp corners and then speeds up out of the turn these motions are greatly amplified in the back as the pack acts like an accordion hitting hard on the brakes coming into corners and standing out of the saddle, sprinting to catch the group out of the corner. So the front is where I tried to stay. After about 200 yards we take our first right hand turn. The track is wet but doesn’t seem to affect our handling. Next, a gradual sweeping left then an immediate right that takes us toward an 'S' turn. The 'S' turn consists of a very hard 135 deg left, a short striate section, followed by hard right. Negotiating these turns can be quite difficult in a mixed cat 4-5 field as inexperienced riders take shallow lines and try to pass on the inside forcing others to change a smooth line into a sharp turn while braking to avoid over-shooting. After cautiously negotiating the ‘S’ turn was a fast, slightly down hill, tail wind stretch to get back up to speed before a wide right hand loop back into a slightly uphill, headwind stretch to the Start/Finish line. One lap down. The next three laps were pretty identical in nature. Nothing too exciting. Just trying to stay in the front and not go down in the ‘S’ turn as the wet conditions made it very slick. As we made our approach in the 4th lap to the Start/Finish line things started to get a little skittish. I was about mid pack, Sandy was about 4 riders up then Brian right in front of him. I noticed Sandy try and maneuver around some very unstable riders when he clipped someone’s back wheel and went down fast and hard. Two more people in front of me went down. I had two options. 1) Ride over Sandy and keep racing or 2) try to swerve and risk clipping a wheel. I chose option 2. I did clip a wheel and did go down. No injuries although Sandy wasn't as fortunate. A pretty good sized bump and some bleeding on his head as well as a completely destroyed helmet. I got up, brushed myself off and assessed the bike. Bent front rim, ripped handle bar tape, and miss aligned shifter. I quickly reattached my chain, straitened the shifter, opened my front brake and started chasing the group. My front wheel is pretty bent and still rubbing on my brakes. I struggle a bit in this first strait section as there is a bit of a head wind. "I'll catch'em on the other side with a little tail wind," I thought. Ok, passed the Start/Finish, through the first left hand turn and on to the 'S' turn. With a little bit of tail wind and exceptional cornering skills, I'm starting to gain some ground, but not enough. Back to the strait section into the wind and loose a little ground. 3 more laps I would gain ground with the wind and cornering and loose ground into the wind on the strait section. Overall, each lap I would gain significant ground as riders would fall off the back of the main group and I would try to motivate them to help me out. It was no use. At this point I was really starting to get tired and the group starting to gain more and more ground. Finally I sat up and finished the last lap as a cool down. I was pretty bummed and wanted to call it a weekend and go home. But I still had tomorrow's road race and some fun activities planned for the evening in Spokane.

My first stop for the evening was to check into my hotel, clean up and dress for the remainder of the evening's events. My next stop was an impromptu dinner visit at a house warming party of one of Brian's friends in north Spokane. I felt a little over dressed as I was wearing a suit and tie for the Spokane Symphony to be enjoyed a few hours later. A couple of very tasty hot dogs, hamburger and pasta salad all washed down with a beer completed the formal setting I was so dressed to attend. Ahhh, a very much needed (and appreciated) dinner followed by a relaxing visit with friends and new introductions but it was time to depart for the symphony.

The Spokane Symphony, for the longest time, had been performed at the Opera House (built 1974) at the Convention Center in down town Spokane. In 2007 the Symphony purchased the Fox Theater (built in 1931 as a movie theater) and remodeled it for use as their performing arts theater. The remodeled theater seats 1725 and was a full house for the evening I attended. The Symphony's guest artist was Anne Akiko and is recognized as one of today’s most inspiring and sought after violinists for her impassioned performances. ...and what a performance it was. She walks out on stage in an elegant red dress contrasted against the black and white of the symphony members; it was quite a sight and, I might add, was nothing compared to her performance.

Ok, 2 hours of classical symphony? ...I'm ready for bed! A few blocks down the road and I'm at the hotel. Through the entrance, passed the night club (no thanks!) and to the elevator. It wasn't long before I was fast asleep dreaming about winning bike races.

Suddenly I was awoken by a very particular, annoying, sound. I'm a little disoriented and not quite sure were I was. The only thing on my mind was "what the heck is that annoying buzzing?" I burry my head under the pillow to try and block it out. No good. A moment later I start to get my bearings and look at the time. 2:00 am?!!! I smack the alarm to try an turn it off. No good! What the heck is going on? Wait, I remember this? This is familiar. I've practiced this at school and at work several times. Ok, so I trip over my bag, stumble over my shoes and stub my toe on the chair to get to the door. I poke my head out into the hall (one eye still glued shut) to find many confused people packing their bags and children down the all. Fire alarm! Crap! I quickly gather all my things (good thing I left my bike with Brian at his friends house) and head to the stairs. Oh yeah, I remember the attended saying while I was checking in "why don't I put you on the 11th floor so the traffic noise doesn't bother you while you sleep?" "Ok, sure" I remember replying. 11 flights of stairs later and I'm in the lobby getting ready to exit the building when I hear "false alarm!" Apparently some punk decided it would be fun to pull the alarm and run. A few moments later the firemen show up to turn off the alarm and give us the OK to go back to our rooms. This time I take the elevator.

After breakfast at my favorite bagel shop in Spokane "The Rocket Bakery," I'm off to pick up Brian, our bikes and a spare front wheel. The weather forecast wasn't favorable; rain and low 40s. Driving the course earlier on Saturday morning, Brian and I had the perfect plan to break away from the group and finish with the top 2 placings. Our race started promptly on time at 9:50 am. It was cold and dreary, but nothing like what we had in store for us further down the road. The neutral start led us away from the high school in Cheney, down the block and across some rail road tracks. Our pace car pulled away and we were off. The first 20 miles were pretty uneventful except for the occasional one or two people trying break away from time to time but would always get sucked back into the group as if a big fish was swallowing up its dinner. The next twenty miles were some of the most uncomfortable riding I've done so far. Instead of rain we got a hailstorm. This stuff hurt too. You couldn't look up for more than a few seconds to make sure you were still riding strait before the pain of the hail stones hitting your face would force you to look back down to block it with your helmet. These conditions would last for the next 15 to 20 miles. Yuck. It wasn't too long before a group of eager riders decided to break away -- and with authority. This time it was for real and I was stuck in the chase group. As soon as I realized these guys were for real it was too late to just jump on to the tail-end of their group. Waiting a few moments for the perfect time to jump and not take anyone with me I went for it. It took about 4 miles to bridge but eventually caught up, and with some well needed recovery. A few moments of spinning my legs I jumped in to help pull. These guys were so unorganized with their pulls I was afraid the chase group was going to catch us. Over the next 5 miles most of the riders started to get their act together and work more efficiently in a pace line but the chase group was still gaining. At about that time we came upon the hill were Brian and I had planned to make our big break, only no Brian. Apparently he was stuck in the back of the group before it broke up and was stuck in a 2nd chase group. Well, I thought, I guess I'll have to do this alone. It was perfect. With 10 miles to go, there was a short, very steep hill followed by a similar descent with a very hard right turn at the bottom, then rolling hills, gradually twisty turns, a slight elevation gain on average AND a slight tail wind. Perfect for a breakaway. So I hammer up the hill to break away, bomb down the other side in a very low tucked position and hit the turn wide and fast (knowing that it had been swept the day before and could be taken hard). Now it's time to get out of sight. I hunker down in the most aero position I could and just started crankin' out the miles. In no time I was out of sight but didn't want to let up. It was just me and the lead car and the occasional woman from the women's cat 1/2/3 field that started ahead of us. These last 10 miles was just a time trial for me, but hey, that's what I do best. The finish line approached, I through my arms up in the air and celebrated my victory. It would be over two and a half minutes later before the chase group would cross the finish line. With a DNF the day before and a win for today I would receive 2nd place for the weekend's omnium. Next stop, Tour of Walla Walla April 19 and 20.

Thanks for reading. See you at the races...

Ryan