The Willamette Gran Fondo - Philomath, Oregon  May 3, 2014

(written 5/5/2014 - gm)

The Willamette Gran Fondo is a 100 miles, ~ 6,800' of climbing, out and back course.

Race Results:
I won the 60-69 age group. Last year I was 2nd.
I placed 23/89 overall.

My official time was 5:08, last years time was 5:32 - progress!
 
Here's the blow x blow:

Weather Conditions:
We got pretty wet.  The start was cloudy and windy in the low 50's. After about 20 miles, the start of the climbs, the wind abated, until we headed back home for the final 18 miles.  It rained on and off throughout the day, sometimes just showers sometimes pelting rain.  There were times on the descents I was just following other riders lines because I couldn't really see where I was going very well. :)

The Race:
I raced much better than last year both tactically, taking care of my nutrition, and pacing.  The start was faster than last year heading out for the first climb.  I did a good job of keeping out of the wind and conserving energy while staying toward the front 1/3 of the peloton.  I moved toward the front a bit more at about 18 miles and the first of the climbs started at ~ 20 miles. The lead group of young bloods getting busy for the team competition took off.  I just allowed myself to slide back, I worked the climb steadily monitoring my %HR max, watts and PE - steady suffering. About mid-climb I started to reel in some folks. Over the top a group of about 7 of us organized a solid chase group paceline, picking off some folks along the way. I stayed with this group through the remaining climbs to the turn around point.

It was the second half of the race that I know I did much better than last year. I stopped briefly to refill a water bottle at the turnaround while some others went ahead and our original chase group fell apart. When I got back on the road it quickly went into a long climb. I worked steadily and methodically and caught 3 guys in our original chase group. I recall thinking. I'm getting stronger. The longer this goes on the better it is for me, less so for them. Then I caught another guy and we both worked together for several miles when we could see a group of about 8 or so folks down the road. I said, "let's see if we can work on bridging across." As this went on I noticed I was taking longer pulls. Finally, he said, "I'm at the end of my fitness level." So I struck out on my own in pursuit of the group ahead. Gradually, I was making headway on the climbs and losing less on the descents.  Finally, I caught them! A great feeling! I took some time to recover at that point.

Not sure what was going on, but the group was having a hard time getting organized into a paceline. It was making me very edgy because I knew if we didn't get going some of the heavy hitter '60+ guys were going to catch us and all my work bridging up would have been for naught. Eventually, 3 of us forced the issue and started paceling in earnest, but Greg B. (I was 2nd to him in both this event last year and the Mary's Peak Hill Climb TT. He also finished 10th at Nationals last year!) caught us.  We pressed on. There are 5 of  us now with the other 4-5 off the back.

At about 85 miles we're all tired, pacelining hard into the wind. Then I notice Greg isn't pulling for very long at all. Crap - he's playing us! Then to my surprise at about 88 miles he's gone off the back. :) There are now 4 of us, at 92 miles there are 3 of us. Then Jesus! I start cramping and bonking and it's like a drogue shoot flies out of my back pocket! Then my 2-paceline mates are gone - just that frackin' fast! My hands feel like they've turned into winter lobster mittens as I try to fight my way past my arm warmer stuffed pockets to get some GU and then get some liquids into me, all the while looking down at my Garmin which is reading in the terrifyingly low neighborhood of 135 watts.

I get caught, but not by Greg B. So now I'm with this guy I had dropped. He suffers on any incline, but can hammer on the flats and we are close enough to the finish now that he's "smelling the barn", while I'm still de- bonking, but feeling much better. Heading into the finish, a more capable and savvy bike handler, he takes the inner corner forcing me to the outside and beats me in the last 25 meters.

Nonetheless, I'm very pleased with my performance, place and time!  

:: garth ::