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Cascade Cycling Classic Stage Race
The Cascade Cycling Classic is one of the longest running races in the US. A couple factors made this an appealing target for me. First, Cascade is an NRC stage race with a Cat 2 only field, seemed an ideal opportunity to snag some upgrade points. Second, it takes place in Bend, Oregon (near the old stomping grounds).
I decided to put all my marbles in this race this year. In the months leading up to this race I began working with Kam. This turned out to be the best decision I could have made to prepare for this race! I'll save you all the gory details except to say that Kam was able to take what little time I had to train and sharpen my fitness and psyche to a needle sharp point. Despite having a busy schedule himself, he was always there to answer my questions and even dedicated many an early morning to watch me suffer up a climb or motor pace me around Fiesta Island, Sledge Kammer you rock! This success is as much yours.
I traveled by train with my dedicated wife Erin and 1.5 year old son Odin. This would have been a wonderful trip up if Odin hadn't been getting his molars in and there hadn't been a fire in northern Cali and southern Oregon. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and they had to bus us around the fire in the middle of the night...anyway. Ok onto the race.
Stage 1: 120 starters. The first stage was a 73 mile road race that finishes with a bitchin' climb up Mt. Bachelor at around 6000 feet. Last year I blew through the roof in the lead group. The final climb is 20 miles long but only the last 5 miles are steep. Thanks to Kam's training I was confident with my climbing. However, with this stage being first it seemed reasonably that the right break could stick. I reasoned that I could gain more time in a breakaway than waiting for the final climb. At about 35 miles into the race with 2 teammates in the pack I started following wheels that went up the road. I had planned on not working too hard in any break but after a series of small groups forming and getting caught I found myself in a 8 man break. This was one of the smoother breakaways I've been in and I decided to not hold back. I felt great for about an hour in the break but with 20 K to go I quickly started to feel hollow and crampy. We received one time gap and we had 3:52 on the peloton. At 15K I stopped taking pulls and pounded GU and water until I couldn't stomach it anymore. With 10K to go we hit the steep climbs. The tattooed guy went agro up the hill and the 6 of us that were left exploded all over the climb. It was all I could do to keep the pedals turning over. My legs had no accelerations left in them. After hearing the Davis rider implode from leg cramps I made it over the climb with one other rider. We worked together and I finished 5th with the same time as 3rd place and about 43 seconds from the lead. We had about 2 minutes on the leaders of the peloton (which is where I would have hoped to have been if I hadn't attacked) so strategically it really paid off to be aggressive. Be Aggressive...be be aggressive yay!
Stage 2: 10 mile TT
Uhg, the race of truth. This is by far my weakest event. The TT was 5 miles uphill turn around and ride 5 miles downhill. Jason King let me borrow a super aero front wheel for the TT which worked out great if not a little squirley. Kam did an excellent job dialing in my warm-up routine and focus. Also the 55 tooth front chain ring was awesome coming down the decent. I hit over 43 MPH down the hill. It paid dividends. Last year I was around 65th place and this year with a time of 23:24 and 301 W average I hit 25th with only 53 seconds from the lead. Luckily, my time trial was on par with the rest of my breakaway compatriots and I kept my 5th place GC
Stage 3: 40 min crit the same day as the TT. 4 corners with wide straightaways and narrow corners. Not too technical but with 120 guys it can be a bit chaotic. My legs felt good. Strategically I muffed it. While sitting a little too far back early in the race I saw the 4th place rider bridge to a break of 3. By the time I weezled my way up front I had to make a quick decision. Bring it back or wait it out. I chose the latter, wrong answer. My teammate Pascal came to the front to help bring back the group but the Davis team did an excellent job feathering their breaks through the corners. The gap was 16 seconds at the finish. Still 5th in GC
Stage 4: 67 mile circuit race with lots of punchy climbs. Tried really hard to catch some one of the GC contenders sleeping the first 3 laps and force a break. All the climbing accelerations Kam had me doing worked out well as I was riding away from guys on the hills. However, the longest I could stay away from the pack was only a few miles. By the final lap all those A-tacks started to take their toll and I started to worry I wouldn't even finish with the group! Damage control time. Ate more GU drank more water and made sure I was at the font on all the climbs so I could do the pack slide during the climb and not lose contact. By the end of the lap I had recovered and tried to give my teammate a lead out until I knocked handlebars in the last K. Kept it upright and rolled in with the pack. Much to my delight the 4th place rider got a flat on the course and couldn't catch back on (hopefully during one of my attacks). I'll take what I can get. 4th place GC and a handful of upgrade points.
So what did I take away from this experience.
1) Races don't always go according to plan. For the months leading up to the race I trained and envisioned for a much more conservative race. Having confidence in your training goes a long ways to allowing you to adapt to the situations on the road, thanks Kam!
2) Aero wheels are sweet. From my new 303s during the road stages to the super duper deep zipp front on my TT, at least I looked pro.
3) Eat eat eat eat eat. Not racing a lot this year made me forget how important being tanked up during the race is. If I had been fresh at the final climb on the first stage I am sure I could have rode away from my breakaway companions, but thats racing!
4) Having a focus race is an excellent way to structure your season
5) The riding in Oregon is awesome, and I miss it.
If you made it this far through this race report congratulations, you must have taken some GU along the way to avoid the BONK. See ya'll out on the road.
I decided to put all my marbles in this race this year. In the months leading up to this race I began working with Kam. This turned out to be the best decision I could have made to prepare for this race! I'll save you all the gory details except to say that Kam was able to take what little time I had to train and sharpen my fitness and psyche to a needle sharp point. Despite having a busy schedule himself, he was always there to answer my questions and even dedicated many an early morning to watch me suffer up a climb or motor pace me around Fiesta Island, Sledge Kammer you rock! This success is as much yours.
I traveled by train with my dedicated wife Erin and 1.5 year old son Odin. This would have been a wonderful trip up if Odin hadn't been getting his molars in and there hadn't been a fire in northern Cali and southern Oregon. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and they had to bus us around the fire in the middle of the night...anyway. Ok onto the race.
Stage 1: 120 starters. The first stage was a 73 mile road race that finishes with a bitchin' climb up Mt. Bachelor at around 6000 feet. Last year I blew through the roof in the lead group. The final climb is 20 miles long but only the last 5 miles are steep. Thanks to Kam's training I was confident with my climbing. However, with this stage being first it seemed reasonably that the right break could stick. I reasoned that I could gain more time in a breakaway than waiting for the final climb. At about 35 miles into the race with 2 teammates in the pack I started following wheels that went up the road. I had planned on not working too hard in any break but after a series of small groups forming and getting caught I found myself in a 8 man break. This was one of the smoother breakaways I've been in and I decided to not hold back. I felt great for about an hour in the break but with 20 K to go I quickly started to feel hollow and crampy. We received one time gap and we had 3:52 on the peloton. At 15K I stopped taking pulls and pounded GU and water until I couldn't stomach it anymore. With 10K to go we hit the steep climbs. The tattooed guy went agro up the hill and the 6 of us that were left exploded all over the climb. It was all I could do to keep the pedals turning over. My legs had no accelerations left in them. After hearing the Davis rider implode from leg cramps I made it over the climb with one other rider. We worked together and I finished 5th with the same time as 3rd place and about 43 seconds from the lead. We had about 2 minutes on the leaders of the peloton (which is where I would have hoped to have been if I hadn't attacked) so strategically it really paid off to be aggressive. Be Aggressive...be be aggressive yay!
Stage 2: 10 mile TT
Uhg, the race of truth. This is by far my weakest event. The TT was 5 miles uphill turn around and ride 5 miles downhill. Jason King let me borrow a super aero front wheel for the TT which worked out great if not a little squirley. Kam did an excellent job dialing in my warm-up routine and focus. Also the 55 tooth front chain ring was awesome coming down the decent. I hit over 43 MPH down the hill. It paid dividends. Last year I was around 65th place and this year with a time of 23:24 and 301 W average I hit 25th with only 53 seconds from the lead. Luckily, my time trial was on par with the rest of my breakaway compatriots and I kept my 5th place GC
Stage 3: 40 min crit the same day as the TT. 4 corners with wide straightaways and narrow corners. Not too technical but with 120 guys it can be a bit chaotic. My legs felt good. Strategically I muffed it. While sitting a little too far back early in the race I saw the 4th place rider bridge to a break of 3. By the time I weezled my way up front I had to make a quick decision. Bring it back or wait it out. I chose the latter, wrong answer. My teammate Pascal came to the front to help bring back the group but the Davis team did an excellent job feathering their breaks through the corners. The gap was 16 seconds at the finish. Still 5th in GC
Stage 4: 67 mile circuit race with lots of punchy climbs. Tried really hard to catch some one of the GC contenders sleeping the first 3 laps and force a break. All the climbing accelerations Kam had me doing worked out well as I was riding away from guys on the hills. However, the longest I could stay away from the pack was only a few miles. By the final lap all those A-tacks started to take their toll and I started to worry I wouldn't even finish with the group! Damage control time. Ate more GU drank more water and made sure I was at the font on all the climbs so I could do the pack slide during the climb and not lose contact. By the end of the lap I had recovered and tried to give my teammate a lead out until I knocked handlebars in the last K. Kept it upright and rolled in with the pack. Much to my delight the 4th place rider got a flat on the course and couldn't catch back on (hopefully during one of my attacks). I'll take what I can get. 4th place GC and a handful of upgrade points.
So what did I take away from this experience.
1) Races don't always go according to plan. For the months leading up to the race I trained and envisioned for a much more conservative race. Having confidence in your training goes a long ways to allowing you to adapt to the situations on the road, thanks Kam!
2) Aero wheels are sweet. From my new 303s during the road stages to the super duper deep zipp front on my TT, at least I looked pro.
3) Eat eat eat eat eat. Not racing a lot this year made me forget how important being tanked up during the race is. If I had been fresh at the final climb on the first stage I am sure I could have rode away from my breakaway companions, but thats racing!
4) Having a focus race is an excellent way to structure your season
5) The riding in Oregon is awesome, and I miss it.
If you made it this far through this race report congratulations, you must have taken some GU along the way to avoid the BONK. See ya'll out on the road.
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Selling my 55-56cm Basso Titanium road bike
That kam sure looks sexy on a bike.
Hey, how can I get fit?
I was fortunate enough to be a test subject for a the Specialized fit system being developed and promoted at B&L Bike and Sport in Solana Beach, Ca.
Now I know what you may be thinking... what's so special about a Specialized test? Well, if you g...
I was fortunate enough to be a test subject for a the Specialized fit system being developed and promoted at B&L Bike and Sport in Solana Beach, Ca.
Now I know what you may be thinking... what's so special about a Specialized test? Well, if you g...
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