Race Report

Tower Racers,

Early Saturday morning Pat and I were off to Denzer, a bit north of Madison for a
36 mile road race. We arrived early enough to register and get a good look at
the course. We were greeted with sunny sky and a nice 20+mph wind out of the NW.

Lap 1
The race started at a reasonable pace into the headwind and headed for the first climb, a 2 mile climb straight up with no place to rest or recover, We figured it was 7/8% the whole climb. I stayed at the front and avoided a small pile up after one guy crossed wheel. At the top a sharp left then a flat flat for the next mile before a step descent the another climb. I managed to stay with the lead group tried to work as little as possible. After a huge descent and a rotating pace-line into the wind we were ready to start lap 2.

Lap 2
By now the group has gone from 40 or so down to 20 or so. On the big climb again groups start to form and the tempo picks up. Once over the climb, which by the way takes between 5-6 minutes to get up (Timberline x10) the group is down to about 10, After the climb on the false flat we drilled it and tried to drop as many as possible. A few very strong riders (Pat) were able to bridge up and help drive the pace. The descents were as hard as the climbs, if you hit the brakes you had little chance of catching back on into the headwind.

Lap 3/Carnage
On the climb for the last time. One guy is already up the road and the field shatters as soon as we hit the bottom. I stay on the front and soon I'm in a small group of 5 leading the way. The pace was hard but not ballistic. I decided to attack and see if I could get a good gap by the top. I took off and nobody followed. With still well over a mile to climb I kept my pace and stayed away. Here is where I made my one mistake of the race. I had a nice gap
60 to 70 yards to the group and close to the lone leader, but... i did not think that was enough to stay away so I played the numbers game. A group of 5 will catch 1, so I sat up and waited for the group to catch up. I did not realize that 60 to 70 yards on a big climb is almost 2 full minutes!!! After the regroup we drilled it and all worked together to stay away. After a few miles we realized no one was going to to catch us and all 5 of us shared the work, but the one guy up the road was gone for good. One big guy tried to get away on the big downhill but we kept him in check and headed for the finish. The sprint started into the wind from about 200 out and I was able to take second out of 5. Good for 3rd place overall. I was very happy with 3rd overall (just ask Pat), but soon realized I had a chance for more. All in all a great race and I have a small donation for Tower Racing with the result.

Lessons learned
-60 to 70 yards on a big climb is much different than on the flats or even the climbs we are used to.
-Teammates are a must, During the first lap I was caught out in the wind a no one would let me back in the pace line. I looked up and found Pat a few riders ahead, he was more than happy to let me in.
-Always stay at the front. I stayed out of trouble and saved energy by always being in the lead group never having to catch back on.

Finally- as long as the climb was, so was the descent later in the lap. After the race I checked my max speed and it read 51.3mph!!! YES 51.3!!! Even at that speed I had to pedal to keep up with some of the bigger riders. Also after the race Pat and I realized we raced the masters 30+, both of us were very happy to place ahead of many younger riders.
Doug