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| The drive to Bend from Portland is beautiful |
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| Oregon is so beautiful |
Leaving for Cascade was a bit of a weird feeling, I had just gotten back from a 2 week hiatus for dariyland and nationals. I found myself already packing and heading out the door 4 days after I got home. I guess this is a taste of what it feels like to be a professional athlete. Deep down I liked the hustle and bustle, I love seeing and discovering new places as I travel across the country. The plan was I was going to fly out of Houston July 14, get picked up in Portland by the host family that my team would be staying with for the week, then make the 3 hour drive to Bend once I find my bike and equipment. This would be my 3rd time coming to Oregon. In 2009 and 2010 Bend hosted the Jr and u23 national championships, which I was apart of in my early years as a Jr racer.
As I got off the
plane my nose was quickly filled with the familiar smell of pine, and mountain
air. I had a painless time finding my bikes, bags, and my hosts. Before I knew
it we were on the road to Bend.
Once I made it
to the Olsen’s home I quickly became familiar with my teammates for the week.
The Fire Fighter roster would end up being: Shane, Berry Miller, Kennett Peterson,
Johnathan Freter,
Dillon Bennett, and myself. That second
day we were in town, the day before the opening prologue, we went out for a nice
little ride. We rode up the old nationals TT course. A course that reminded me
of some of the worst time trials I would have my Jr years racing. We rode to
the top of the course and back down. The whole time we were spending time
getting to know each other… The next day would be the start of The Cascade Cycling Classic.
Prologue
Basically the prologue would be one lap around what was the
15-16 road race course that I raced back in 2009. Meaning it was going to be
very fast, quick times, and no room for error. I was able to get in the warm up
I wanted as well as show up to the line hot and ready to go. When I jumped out
of the start gate I started in an all out sprint and quickly found my rhythm.
When I finished 5 minutes later, sprinting through the line I was welcomed with
the sound of my rear wheel rubbing my breaks and my frame. Not the sound I wanted
to have for my start into my first NRC race.
Stage 1
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| Really thankful for the Olsen family for opening their home to us |
Going into the first stage I have been told that there is always
a very bad crash on the long decent on the way to the base of the first major
climb. With this knowledge I rode near the very back for a lot of the beginning
of the race. The last thing I wanted to get tangled in a 40+ mph crash
in the opening miles of a week long race. Sure enough when we were in the final
kilometers heading towards the climb I was not in optimal position. I was in
the half back of the field, as we hit the initial grades of the pass I found myself dealing with plenty of hard accelerations to
try to stay with the pace. As time went on I could feel my breathing beginning
to become uncontrolled. Before long I was gasping for air. I looked to my right
and see a sign that says we were 2000 feet up. I knew the summit was close to
5200 feet. I looked back and saw that there was no one behind me. I became
unglued from the group not long afterwards. A few others caught me and the
three of us exchanged pulls and did our best to climb to the summit. As we came
to crest another group caught us, which included Shane. By the KOM point we
were up to 15 riders. We hustled down the decent. I could not stop thinking
that I may not make the time cut my first race at the NRC level. As we came off
the pass another large group caught us and we had a group that consisted of 30
some odd riders. We all worked well together till the base of the final climb.
As the road started to pitch up with 10k to go I quickly became unglued and was solo. When the
road pitched up to around 5 percent with about 5k to go I quickly found my
rhythm and was able to catch back up to the group I was dropped from earlier, which was now shattered all
over the climb. I finished 13 minutes down. Safely in the time cut.
Stage 2
Stage 2 was a time trial. Needless to say I had another sub par
TT. I felt great on the way out, and actually went out saving quite a bit
of energy for the way back. As I hit the turnaround I found myself unable to
even hold the power I had put out on the way out. I eventually crossed the line
out of breath and moved even farther down the GC. I was not happy, and I was
feeling pretty disappointed in myself. My time trialing has felt out of place
for almost 2 seasons now. Something I vow to work on this coming off season.
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| Mt. Bachelor |
Stage 3.
This was a simple stage. Descend down Mt. Bachelor, do two laps
around the reservoir, and climb back to the top. I felt that my legs were
finally coming around during this stage. For the most part I was able to ride
comfortably at the front. I was able to do a lot of things I have never done in
a race before, including going back to the caravan for bottles for the team. The plan for the team was to keep Johnathan safe and near the front. He was
having a great race so far and was sitting 21st in GC at the start
of the stage. Only one minute outside of a top 10. As the race went on it was
obvious that we were going to come to the climb in one group. With 8 kilometers
to go Johnathan found me and told me to move him up, I gave it one big
push on the right side of the peloton and was able to move him up about 15 positions
before I faded back. Once we hit the base of the climb the group quickly
shattered. I found as many people as I could and held on for dear life. Johnathan
did his job and was able to make the first chase group with many of the big GC
contenders. I rolled in with Barry and Kennett in a large group of close to 40
riders. I was finally feeling my legs come around.
Stage 4
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| King of Bend |
I got very lucky with
the start of the criterium. Lucky with the fact that they were only supposed to
start the top 150 racers in GC, yet they decided to start everyone that
finished stage 3. I was sitting 152nd in the overall. The
crit was not too terribly hard. I could feel my legs getting stronger and
stronger each day. I ended up rolling in with the pack, keeping myself out of
trouble. As of now Johnathan is sitting 16th in GC
Stage 5
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| Shane and I |
Today was the
circuit, on a course that I am very familiar with. The course was the same loop
that I raced on for the national championships when I was a 17-year-old racer. The
plan was simple, protect Johnathan as much as possible on the early laps
and by the end of the race he should be able to go with the super stars when
the real attacks go. Throughout the stage the team did a great job. We all
found each other in the closing kilometers before each major climb and was able to bring Johnathan to the front and
protect him. This worked great for the first couple hours. I was also feeling
the strongest that I felt all week.
Unfortunately at the end of the 3rd lap I got behind the
wrong people at the wrong time and found myself closing gaps on the hardest
part of the course. I quickly found myself off the back and trying to catch wheels, I never could quite caught them. I ended up pulling out at the end of a
very lonely 4th lap. (the race was 5 long) I made my way to the
finish and plopped down to await the finish of the rest of the race. I was
later joined by Shane, who was having difficulty all day in the race and pulled
out much like myself. As we waited for the race, we saw the leaders coming in. Johnathan was
right up there with them. He did not lose anytime on his rivals. The best thing
that we could have had happen.
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| A little post race brotherly competition Haga style (Chad ended up 3rd overall for Optum) |
As a team we had a
fantastic week of racing. Johnathan moved up the 14th in the GC,
4th in the best young rider classification, and was the first placed amateur. I
personally felt pretty disappointed in myself. I really wanted to be more of
factor in this race. But I gave it my all. What more can I do? Each day I felt a little stronger and more confident racing with the pro US peloton. I will take away
valuable experience from this race. Experience in terms of my first NRC stage
race, my first 200+ person fields, my first mountain races, and my first
week long race. I am really hoping to take this experience with me to other
races coming up this fall, and the potential fitness boost from all the hard days
racing with the best pro cyclist around.
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