Elkhorn Stage 4, wrap-up

Chris and I had a rough go at the last stage of the Elkhorn. With Chris sitting in 6th place, and with myself out of GC contention, our plan was for me to protect and help Chris get to the finish as close to the front as possible.

Right from the gun a group of ten went off the front with over 100 miles of racing to go. We looked around and found all the top-ten guys still in the pack, so we waited. Shortly after that, another group of ten went off the front. Still, the top-ten GC guys were sitting in the pack. So we waited. We talked about bridging up. I was riding next to a Bob's guy and just then he got on his radio: "Don't worry, I've got number 128 [Chris] right here. He's not going anywhere." Chris was marked.

Fifty miles in, the 20-man breakaway had over 5 minutes on the field, with no sign of relenting. The race leader and his team had not organized themselves yet, and didn't seem to have any intention of doing so. Things looked grim. Meanwhile, I was having trouble staying in contact with the field. I was suffering mightily from my crash and my form was far from perfect. Chris stayed up front, waiting for an opportunity.

Over the crest of a steep roller the opportunity came. Will Routley, of Symmetrics, and Kevin Rowe, of Bob's Bicycles, along with a Hagens Berman guy and two others, sprang off the front of the group. Chris was on it. I was out the back, dragging myself over the hills just trying to keep with it. Chris lost contact with the bridge group, I was nowhere nearby to help. They went up the road and Bob's and Hagens Berman radioed up to the break to have them wait for the bridge group.

We were still in the main field, along with the leader's jersey, and half the top-ten of the GC. The leader had given up completely; "anyone want to take a pee break?" he asked. He exhibited very poor form and we were disappointed in his performance. We came to the bottom of the final 6-mile climb and hit it hard, finishing in the first 6 of the group, but behind the 25 guys in the break. Chris went to 18th in the GC, and I moved up but due to my crash on Friday, was still out of the running. Will Routley won the stage and the overall, with Kevin Rowe taking 2nd.

Chris and I had a long time to go over the race on the road trip home. It was an incredible race and we learned a lot. Racing in our first stage race together opened our eyes to the possibilities we'd have with a few more team mates, as well as underscoring the amount of hard work we have ahead of us to take down bigger teams when it's just the two of us. We're looking forward to the next one eagerly.

Elkhorn Classic Stages 2 & 3

This morning we raced a 10-mile Time Trial. Chris stomped out the 7th fastest time at just a bit over 20 minutes. I took 27th, 1'07" off the first place time. Chris is now standing in 6th place overall, and I am in the 50's.

The crit was canceled because the roads were slick with rain. So no changes there.

Tomorrow we're hitting the 100+ mile final road race. It finishes on a 6-mile climb. It is, how shall I call it....? the decider.

Ian waits for the count to zero.
Chris shoots by the 1km mark.
Ian begins the "race of truth."
Ian approaching the line.
Chris covers the course with serious speed.

Elkhorn Classic Stage 1

Elkhorn started with a bang. 75 miles on cantankerous and unforgiving roads through the Poweder River valley. Right from the gun a break of four went off. Having ridden the course the day before Chris and I knew any breaks would be caught shortly after the big climb 45 miles in so we didn't worry. At about mile 5 Chris got a front blowout and I waited as he got a wheel-change and we paced back up no problem. Then it was a lot of patient sitting in. Around mile 20 we tucked into a little canyon and cruised for about 20 minutes at 40+mph, just coasting. Ian makes his way through the field as the road tilts up.

Then at Union the climb started. The break was still out there by about 2 minutes, so the pace was moderate as their team-mates kept watch. But as the climb pitched up into the pines throttles were opened and we started racing for real. Chris and I planned to kick it with the lead group until the end, at which point I would lead him out for a sprint finish. This required vigilance and patience, as we needed to be totally fresh for the end. We both got over the climb no problem, and cruised into the rolling countryside that played home to the last 30 miles of the race. Sure enough, the pack caught the break. The last rollers were long and difficult, as everyone could smell the finish line. Cresting the second-to-last hill the group splintered into small knots with me and Chris in the front group of twelve or fifteen. The peloton is exploded as the 2nd-to-last roller takes its toll.

Then disaster struck. Doing about 35 mph single-file into the start of the very last climb, the guy right in front of me swerved hard and swiped my front wheel. I went down instantly. Other guys behind flipped over too and it was a mess. The impact blew apart my shoe and my helmet and knocked a brake pad out. I reset my chain, found my brake pad and climbed back on to finish the race. The good news is that Chris finished just 17 seconds off the leader. He pushed it hard with 1.5km to go and sapped himself a bit too early, but held on for a strong finish. And we've only just begun!Chris takes a drink as the race gets underway.Chris coming in hot for 15th place, just 17 seconds off the lead.Chris cools down Ian after a bit of bad luck.

Elkhorn Classic, warmup

Fellow AC Racer Chris Turner and I drove up to Baker City, Oregon on Wednesday for the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race. I've heard a lot of good things about this one, and we're both very excited. We'll be in the Pro/1/2 field, and the race starts this afternoon with a 75-mile road race at 1:30, followed by a 10.5-mile TT and an hour long crit tomorrow, and concluding with a 102-mile road race on Sunday. (As always, clicking any picture will enlarge it).Chris and I prerode today's course yesterday. Glorious.Much excitement is being felt.My Dad and Stepmom came out to scope the route as well. They will be cheering us on tomorrow. This is Lori taking a turn through Union, Oregon. The towns here are all picturesque 4-block-long main street affairs. We took a good look at them yesterday because during the race we won't see anything.Nothing quite like setting up AC HQ in the Super8. Here are our TT bikes that we've just finished prepping for tomorrow.

The Dirt

Jared Inouye, a racing buddy from Salt Lake City, did a phone interview with me last week. You can check it out at his site:
SLC-Samurai

Pescadero Road Race

The AC team was represented by me and new addition Chris Turner. We lined up with about 80 other guys and started fast. Immediately after getting out of the neutral roll-out a break of 6 went up the road. They got out of sight quickly on the twisty roads and after a lap they had put in 5 minutes. There was a BMC guy, 2 Cal Giant guys, a Z-Team guy, and 2 others. Cal Giant had a big showing so they steered us around and stayed up front of the pack. The climbs were fast and hard. The descents were fast and crazy (first time down a few guys went off the road on a particularly nasty hairpin). On the straightaways we all trained out and inexplicably some other Z-team guys pacelined us every now and then to keep the pace up (didn't they know their guy was in the break?).
Chris and I didn't talk much. We were just sticking to wheels and carrying on. He put in a couple of chase attempts but the berry farmers jumped on each one. At the feed Shea expertly passed us bottles. Somewhere along the way we picked up the BMC guy who had fallen off the break. Then one of the other breakaway guys came back too.

This was a long freaking race. 103 miles total. With just 2 miles to go, on the final climb, we caught sight of the 4-man break and promptly swallowed it. Then there was a mad dash up the hill on very tired legs to the line. A small group hit it together and I took 11th with Chris just behind at 18th.

(All photos by Kieran Sherlock)

Ross' Epic Hill Climb!

Back on form. My last race experience was sub-par, and I've whipped myself back into shape for the second half of the season by melting down all my ice cream and throwing it down the drain. Adieu my ice-cream! See you in October!
And now for the task at hand...

Holy Toledo, this was a killer. The basics: 18 miles total, with the first six flat, then about 3200 feet elevation gain over the next twelve. The grade ranges from pretty mellow to crap-your-pants steep. The race benefits Ross Dillon who was struck by a car a few years ago while out training and is now in a wheel chair for the rest of his life. A sobering thought, and one that popped into my head a few times throughout the ride. Here's the bike I rode: It's the Parlee Z4 with Lightweight Ventoux wheels. I only put one bottle cage on because hey, every gram counts, right? This bike was AMAZING! And I especially have to pay tribute to the wheels, because I'd always looked at them and thought, "are those really worth so much money?" The answer is a resounding yes. They are far and away the most impressive wheels I've ever been on.

The Pro/1/2 field had about 20 guys in it. Pretty small, but then this climb has such a mean reputation that most folks don't even show up to challenge it. We started full-bore thanks to a z-team train of Nate English, Chris Kearney, and Justin Laue. They hit it hard and we time trialed out to the base of the hill at close to 30mph. Then the fun began. One of the z-teamers had a mechanical (dropped chain maybe?) and disappeared out the back. The rest of us hammered up and up and up. I stayed on 4th wheel to avoid getting stuck behind any blow-ups. We were cruising uphill so fast that we were actually braking around some of the corners. Thankfully I had no watt-meter on my bike or I think I would have pitched it in right there.

The view got better, but I didn't know it at the time, as all I could see was the thin wheel in front of me. I felt my legs filling up, kept at it, had a little chain suck and got a friendly push from Scott Nydam on BMC, who was right behind me. My legs filled up some more, and I kept at it, and then like a can of botulistic soup I exploded. It's a funny thing to experience. One moment you're keeping pace no problem, and then instantly this gap yawns wide open and the guys you were running with so gracefully just disappear out of reach. I moved over to the side of the road so everyone behind me could pass. Then I looked around and realized there wasn't a soul behind me. We had ridden completely out of sight of the rest of the field. From then on I basically solo time-trialed my way up the rest of this horrendous mountain. The end of the climb is the steepest road I have ever ridden, hands down. I was doing the weave. I was doing the chicken head-bob thing. I was doing 25 rpm and 2 mph. I thought I might just tip over. (On my way back down after the race I saw guys walking their bikes up this part. I am not exaggerating the steepness here). Somehow I made it up and over and to the finish, for a very respectable 4th. Nate English and Justin Luae stuck 1-2, Scott on BMC took 3rd, and the rest trickled in one at a time behind me.

And now, in 2 parts and without further ado, here is the race in all its horrendous entirety as filmed from the follow car: