7/3/09 Leesville Gap Road Race - M35+ CAT4

[Tom Lyons]

Leesville Gap Road Race
July 3rd, 2009
M35+ CAT-4

Start/Finish in Williams, CA with a 64mi loop into the hills. Central Valley summer hot. Very bad road conditions at times as well as gravel sections. This race is more about keeping air in your tires than anything else. We started out leisurely, which is fine with me. I don’t mind if the group wants to make it a 50mi race with a warmup. Once we got on the bad road and gravel (about 10mi into it?), the pace picked up and I was sitting at the back trying to figure out which holes to not put my tires. I couldn’t believe I still had air after the section leading up to the climb. Guys were pulling off to the side every few minutes with flats. We saw others from earlier groups fixing things through this whole section. Bottles were shaking loose, as were my arms and legs. It would seem the Yolo County Maintenance crew should reconsider their pavement patching plan. What a complete mess….

I drove up to the race with Kyle Klopfer and was glad he was in the same race. A few guys said hello during the race – two who got 2nd and 3rd at Panoche. Also the winner of Pescadero was in there. A couple others I knew as well. I figured the Pescadero winner would be a good climbing partner when we hit the hill (which climbs 1500’ to the 20mi mark). He flatted before we started climbing so that was a bummer.

Kyle was up front during the gravel and I was barely hanging on the back apologizing to my bike for the abuse. When we hit the hill, I moved up through the pack and got to Kyle about 1/2mi up the climb. We were in the top-6 (35 starters) at this point but he was drifting back. I had hoped he would be in the break over the top because he has been racing strong and I thought we could go 1-2 if we played it right. I moved to the front and a few minutes later there were only four of us with Kyle too far back. So, I decided to make it hurt for our group when a guy in the Taleo jersey complained that we didn’t need to go so fast. Mike from Chico was right there at the top with Taleo and one other about 50 yards back. We regrouped going down and had our break.

We traded off very well with the Taleo guy looking strong. I couldn’t stay close enough at times since the road was so bad (or because I was so bad at riding the so bad road). Once we hit the smooth road, I took the initial turn at the front and made it brisk setting the tone. We were going to stay away and it was going to be fast. And it was. Mike flatted at 30mi on a rough road as we kept negotiating our way around the carnage from the earlier groups. It was down to three of us.

Then a few guys we passed (who started in the age groups ahead of us – five minutes earlier) got on our wheel. I was pissed as they shouldn’t be catching a free ride. I told them we were in a different race, but they would hear none of that. The three of us rotated and they just sat on. As far as I’m concerned, they don’t belong in a race if they are going to cheat. It wasn’t fair to the guys we were catching that these guys got pulled up.

The road started going up a bit and the three of us were trading off nicely but I noticed that I was in the front the longest and they couldn’t always pull through. I was still intent on keeping the pace hot and stayed at the front long enough to put them in distress on the little rollers as I kept the pace strong up those and they struggled to stay on. From riding down route 1 in training, I know I can stand up on the risers and keep the pace honest up and over those. I also knew that this would either break them or at least soften them for the next climb. When we hit the next significant climb (it was maybe a mile long), I stayed at the front and pulled away. I looked back at one point, not to check on my two companions, but to see the group of cheating losers fall apart in one big explosion. Very satisfying.

The descent off this climb is long and probably worth 40-45mph solo. I didn’t have a computer so I had no idea how fast I was going except that it felt like a fast descent. I was low and trying to get away. After about 3-5mi out in front I hit the last uphill and I got more water and found out it was 20mi to the finish. I was here in 2:06 and with only a watch to judge how far to the finish, figured I had an hour. I had to go solo or save something if I got caught. I went for it staying hydrated and battling the wind. I learned how to rest my forearms on my bars TT style and that made a difference. I was riding scared but controlled. I couldn’t tell if I was being caught but I had passed some single/double riders and they all regrouped and were in chase. They never caught me, but they got close. They weren’t a threat but I wasn’t completely positive that they were not in my race.

One guy who I passed from another group tried to stay on my wheel for the last 5mi and it was making me mad. I let him know but he insisted. What’s with these gutless losers? I kept turning around and telling him to go to the other side of the road but he followed me every time. I never got on his wheel, but I didn’t want him anywhere near me. As it turned out, he pulled up on a couple guys right at the end and I was finally able to be free. I was expecting a gravel road two miles from the finish so I was surprised when I saw the 1K sign and the tent up the road. No more gravel! I picked it up and finished in about 3:05. I waited four minutes for the Taleo rider in 2nd and then another three minutes for the other break-away guy who just narrowly held off Kyle and his three-man pack in 3rd. Kyle out-sprinted his guys so we had a pretty good day.

My back is sore and my legs ache. I feel every bit as old as I am today….

-Tom Lyons