So close yet so far

Yesterday we were in the beautiful area of Pontorson, which is very close to the famous Mt. Saint Michel. It was not a super nice day, raining on and off, but not too cold either, so I couldn't complain. This course was pretty much the essence of euro racing at its finest, tiny roads, amazingly strong crosswinds (somehow the wind was against you the whole lap, figure that one out!), rain, mud, and smelly farmer's fields. Throw almost 150 crazy cyclists on there, including a former world champion, and it makes for some exciting racing. After only a couple of kilometers we got onto this road with a huge crosswind, it was literally throwing me off the ground. At this point it was all out battle to get into the echelon that was soon to break the field to shreds. It wasn't easy to hold position, but with some elbows, headbutts, yelling, wheel touching, and other nonsense, I managed to stay up at the front and make the split that happened just as quickly as everyone expected. Now we were about 40 riders probably, maybe a bit more but not too much, and the race was very controlled for the next little while. With the wind, it was impossible to stay away in a small group, after not much time at all you would look back and find a colorful sea of riders coming up behind. With that in mind, I tried my best to stay hidden from the wind, but also stay away from the crashes that were happening due to the thick mud on the small farming roads. Not a whole lot of action went on, but I was quite content with that, as for some reason my legs were not feeling quite as primed and ready as in the previous races. I felt like I could keep this moderately painful pace for as long as I needed to, but that once all hell started breaking loose, that I was going to struggle. I shoved bars, gels, and water down to try to get some energy, but still didn't quite have that jump that was there the last few weeks.

With about 50km to go things were starting to heat up again, with positioning being very key on the many sections of crosswind. I was riding as far over to the left as I could, with the wind coming from the right, so as far as energy saving was concerned, I was perfect. The only problem was I was riding literally inches from the biggest ditch I have ever seen, and being in the perfect position means you need to defend in with your life. It's more than a little claustrophobic being in these situations, but it's important to just relax and things will turn out fine. Or at least, most of the time. Somewhere towards the middle of the echelon two people touched wheels, neither crashed but they both twitched towards the outside, which sent a nice wave of twitches across the whole group. That's great when you've got 20 feet of pavement to move onto, but when there is a hole that likely leads to China inches from your tires, things aren't so wonderful! As the guy next to me came over into my space I remember thinking, okay, this is it, probably looking at a couple broken bones, front wheel is definitely toast, hopefully won't hit my face too hard, etc. It's funny how time slows to a halt when you are about to go through something catastrophic, but at least it gives you some funny memories of what you were thinking before going headfirst into a ditch. Then, just as my wheel entered the grass, call it an act of God, stroke of luck, good time, superb bike handling skills, whatever, but the ditch filled itself with dirt just for me to pass over. We were passing the entrance of a farmer's field, and this was the "driveway" he must have used for his tractors. Upon realizing I wasn't dead, and in fact still on my bike, I had a new situation: the fence that was playing a cruel game of chicken with me, and didn't seem like it had any intention of moving. With that, I hauled my bike parallel to the road, only on the wrong side of the ditch, and continued along cyclocross style losing time to the group, but at least still on my bike. I remembered watching the famous stage 9 of the 2003 Tour de France where Lance Armstrong took a shortcut across a field to avoid Joseba Beloki's crash in the mountains. With that, I swung a leg over my saddle, unclipped and vaulted over the ditch, not nearly as gracefully as I'm making it sound! I hopped back on the bike and rode back up to the pack. Whew, that was enough excitement for one day!

So, back to the race, again, no breakaways were able to stay away for long, but with about 20km to go, I knew I had to get away to have any hope of winning. I jumped away from the group on the one small climb of the circuit, and got a good gap quickly. It was horrible out there along by I knew it was my only shot, judging by the numbers I have been putting out in sprints lately (not so high!). I took a quick look back and saw the group had shattered, but about 8 riders were coming up to me. I sat up, took a drink, and jumped on with them as they whizzed by. This one looked like it would go the distance, as it was as big as any other group on the road. Looking back it was absolute chaos, with small groups of riders everywhere. We worked together for a little, but everyone was also trying to soft pedal to save themselves. Again, I knew my only chances were to get away, hopefully solo. With 5km to, on top of the same hill I jumped hard, not even looking back to see if anyone came. I just put my head down and hammered. After a bit I took a quick look, and while I was alone for the moment, one rider was coming across the gap quick. I tried to keep him off my wheel, but with about 2km to go he latched on. At this point he wasn't going to take his turn in the wind, and despite my yelling he didn't move. Knowing this guy had a background in track, I was pretty sure he could take me in a sprint, especially with me leading it out, so I jumped again, and again, with less and less power in my screaming legs. Every time he just glued himself to my wheel, and then finally came around me in the sprint. I managed to come back a little in the last 40 meters or so, but he still took the win, by a couple centimeters I think. The guy at the photo finish said it was pretty close.

In any case, he was strong all day and got a well deserved win, I just wish I could put my hands up after a race, this whole second and third place is starting to get to me! I do have to keep the big picture in mind though, and remember it's only March. The big races are still to come. After reviewing the whole race in my head, I am pleased with how it went, I raced smart and made the right moves, just couldn't quite finish it off. I think this will motivate me for the biggest of the races I'll do here in France though, and that's a National level Junior race next weekend. Maybe there I will get to take one step higher on the podium!