guiltypleasure

i worked into an early break which got about 20 or so seconds up the road before we were chased down. i went for it because i found myself on the wheel of some guys attacking, so why not? hurt a bit as there was a side wind and it was my first major effort. it was too small of a group to be successful. i took a pull and that was about it for us. got my picture in cyclingnews though.

shortly after owen got off this bad bad luck. he flatted when he followed a move through a pile of glass. the got a slow wheel change and chased for a long time. when i got into the group he found that on the hills his chain wouldn't hold onto the cassette. eventually, he went back for another wheel and got a really slow change (several minutes) and was essentially screwed. it would take a huge effort from anybody to pull back 2-3 minutes on the field. this was probably not even half way through the race. he slogged it out though and made the time cut. that's determination. solomon's luck was worse and he went down on a gnarly train crossing. his wrist may be broken, he doesn't know yet.

the approach to mount gaylor proved to be challenging. the break that was off was being chased and (as you can see in the profile) it was uphill just a bit. enough to be annoying. the pavement sucked and their was a slight side wind. mt gaylor starts off at a decent pitch of 5-6% but then really eases off. it's long though, 10 or so miles. i hit it and felt ok to start. i was reasonably close to the front. i started to suffer but i was hanging in. finally i got into cracking range but i was hanging onto a good second group with a few united guys (top pro team). i figured that if i hung with them i'd make it back onto the main group. finally i cracked and was floundering with one other guy in the caravan. after a bit i mustered something back and started pushing it again, using the caravan as much as i could. eventually the caravan left us and i cracked again. at this point the climbing is a shallow grade with large flat and downhill spots. if you've cracked or are just off the back you aren't going to recover here as much as the pack is and you really start to lose ground. eventually a big group with chad came up behind us and i recovered again. towards the top i started to suffer and nearly cracked again. we barrelled into town at about 30 mph and lost a total of about 9 minutes.

i thought for sure i'd get over this climb with the main group this year. such was not the case. i gave it my all on the climb so i can't say that i got weak in the head. i think that if i want to be successful on those longer climbs i'm going to need to train them more, which can be difficult with our seattle hills; especially as i am not naturally inclined to do on them.

what makes mt gaylor tough is that the bottom half of the climb is a challenging grade. enough to start cracking guys. the side wind hurt too. but then, once you're cracked it eases off but not enough to let you back on. instead it is a gentle rise of 3-4%. the pack will motor over this but alone a rider doesn't stand a chance. a cracked rider is doomed. if you can make it to that halfway point and be in the caravan, you can make it. before that and you're screwed.