Hillsboro was it's usual kick in the sack. If anyone hears me talk of entering next year's race you get a free pass to slap some sense into me. I have nothing against the race. Saturday was probably the best edition yet. I am just tired of driving an hour and a half, getting my head bashed in, driving another hour and a half. then getting frustrated and wallowing in a funk for the rest of the weekend about how bad I suck.
What was the first sign this race was going to be yet another case of futility? Late Friday night I got on the internets to look at the race flyer to make sure I knew the correct start time and to plan my morning schedule. For whatever reason, I also went to 2wheeltech to look at the registration list. Even now, I am not sure why I looked, since the 3/4's were sold out back in February.
Regardless, I was mindlessly scanning the different categories. After passing through the entire list of 3/4's, I did not see my name. My first thought was that I simply overlooked my name in the quick scan down the list. I did know I was one of the final ten riders to register so it should not have been to difficult to find my name.
Another scan of the names still yielded no results. Confusion crept into my mind. I clearly remembered seeing my name after registering. I decided to search again but used the computer's search function. Still, there was no name. Now, a little panic started to set in.
Then I remembered receiving an email from 2wheeltech after registering for the race. A search of my Inbox found that the email I received was notice that there was a problem and that I should contact 2wheeltech within 24 hours to save my spot. Unfortunately, that was a month and a half ago. Maybe I should have read that email when it arrived, instead of ignoring it. After resigning myself to missing the race, I realized that I am an old fart and could race Masters if the field was not full. There were still 28 spots open in Masters. With my registration woes cleared up, I hopped into bed for some rest. While laying in bed I remembered that I didn't renew my license until the end of February and I registered for Hillsboro in mid-February. I am sure that 2wheeltech caught my non-renewal and booted me off the list.
Saturday morning I woke up my typically early way and prepared to leave earlier than normal so that I would be sure to get one of the remaining 28 slots. I also needed to stop by the bank for some cash since I was no longer preregistered. As the clock struck seven, I was walking out the door. After driving over to the bank, I pull up to the ATM and find that it is out of service. Super! Not a big deal but it was another couple minutes wasted as I hunted down another ATM. After gathering some cash I was back on the road.
For the past several years I drove through downtown on my way to Hillsboro. This year I chose to take I-255 and cross the JB Bridge into Illinois. Heading northward, I reached the I-64 exit and got confused. I knew I-55 to Chicago was the way to go but convinced myself at the last moment that I needed to take I-64 to get to I-55 even though there was no mention of Chicago on the street signs. As soon as I made the turn onto I-64, it just didn't feel right. The surroundings looked different than I remembered but I drove a little further. Once I reached the O'Fallon I knew it was time to turn back. There went another 5-10 minutes. Thank goodness I left an hour early.
Things went smoothly from then on until race time. The usual race instructions were given with a little more emphasis than usual placed on center line violations and off we went. I had some shifting issues that shifted me to the back of the pack as we started down the first hill. No worries, though, as I moved up a few places on the uphill and would continue trying to pick my way through the pack. Unfortunately, we turned off the main road and the race was on and I was not prepared. We were riding into a crosswind and immediately the front of the field echeloned across the two lane road and everybody else was strung out in the wrong lane looking for whatever draft was there. Call me stupid, but I stubbornly elected to stay in the correct lane as the gap began to grow. I'm not blaming the center line rule for my gasping lungs and seized up legs but it would have been nice to at least have had a chance of catching a draft off someone. I am not a center line Nazi, especially on roads like these that have absolutely no markings on them. If someone drifts a little more than they should, I understand. But there really is no excuse for being on the far left edge of the road. You know where you are when you are over there. Those roads around Hillsboro are not heavily traveled but all it takes is one screw up and you have a bad situation on your hands. The pack is going 25mph. An oncoming vehicle is approaching about about 35-40mph. That's an equivalent of 60-65mph. The closing speed can be fast. And, while the first people may see that oncoming vehicle, the 50 other people behind also have to get back into the right lane safely as well.
Enough bellyaching. I got gapped and blew up trying to catch back on and we were not even 4 miles into the race. That was one of my race predictions on Friday. Then came prediction #2... Put in a futile chase to keep the peloton in sight. Down the hill, I passed Dodd who had blown. Then, it was a VeloForce. Then, a rider in red kit as we pulled up to a generic jersey.
We began turns at the front until we reached our first small hill. I opened a gap unintentionally. My small hill training in Columbia apparently paid some dividends. The other three worked there way back up to me and we settled into another rotation. I led the group into the second small hill. By the top, they were gone again but one of the three was close enough to possibly catch back on. I wasn't in a mood to purposely sit up, though. If he caught back on, fine, but that was up to him. A few miles more and I picked off a couple more riders and left them behind and then another rider as we were getting closer to the main road again. This guy had the legs to stick on my wheel and began to pull through once we reached Walshville Trail again. He proved to be a useful partner.
We picked up Marco, who had popped off the pack, and the three of us steadily brought back the main pack that seemed to have slowed on the small farm road diversion off of Walshville as they began to catch the 1/2's. We turned back onto Walshville and were tantalizingly close to making the catch. More than once, I considered a bridge attempt but we were making steady progress. We stayed steady up the feed zone hill and started the second hill still within reach. The legs were not so spry, however, and I gutted my way over but the field seemed to pull away and our chase partner had 60ft or so on me. I was in recovery mode and then lost a water bottle as we hit the brick road. That was enough to break my flagging will. I turned around and Marco was picking up my bottle. We rolled to the finish and into the parking lot. Another wonderful day in Hillsboro.
Good things: I was happy with my chase.
Bad things: Much like Tuesday Nite, the initial fast pace put me in the red zone and popped me. That needs to be fixed.
How well do you know your celebrity gossip? Talk celebrity smackdowns here.
What was the first sign this race was going to be yet another case of futility? Late Friday night I got on the internets to look at the race flyer to make sure I knew the correct start time and to plan my morning schedule. For whatever reason, I also went to 2wheeltech to look at the registration list. Even now, I am not sure why I looked, since the 3/4's were sold out back in February.
Regardless, I was mindlessly scanning the different categories. After passing through the entire list of 3/4's, I did not see my name. My first thought was that I simply overlooked my name in the quick scan down the list. I did know I was one of the final ten riders to register so it should not have been to difficult to find my name.
Another scan of the names still yielded no results. Confusion crept into my mind. I clearly remembered seeing my name after registering. I decided to search again but used the computer's search function. Still, there was no name. Now, a little panic started to set in.
Then I remembered receiving an email from 2wheeltech after registering for the race. A search of my Inbox found that the email I received was notice that there was a problem and that I should contact 2wheeltech within 24 hours to save my spot. Unfortunately, that was a month and a half ago. Maybe I should have read that email when it arrived, instead of ignoring it. After resigning myself to missing the race, I realized that I am an old fart and could race Masters if the field was not full. There were still 28 spots open in Masters. With my registration woes cleared up, I hopped into bed for some rest. While laying in bed I remembered that I didn't renew my license until the end of February and I registered for Hillsboro in mid-February. I am sure that 2wheeltech caught my non-renewal and booted me off the list.
Saturday morning I woke up my typically early way and prepared to leave earlier than normal so that I would be sure to get one of the remaining 28 slots. I also needed to stop by the bank for some cash since I was no longer preregistered. As the clock struck seven, I was walking out the door. After driving over to the bank, I pull up to the ATM and find that it is out of service. Super! Not a big deal but it was another couple minutes wasted as I hunted down another ATM. After gathering some cash I was back on the road.
For the past several years I drove through downtown on my way to Hillsboro. This year I chose to take I-255 and cross the JB Bridge into Illinois. Heading northward, I reached the I-64 exit and got confused. I knew I-55 to Chicago was the way to go but convinced myself at the last moment that I needed to take I-64 to get to I-55 even though there was no mention of Chicago on the street signs. As soon as I made the turn onto I-64, it just didn't feel right. The surroundings looked different than I remembered but I drove a little further. Once I reached the O'Fallon I knew it was time to turn back. There went another 5-10 minutes. Thank goodness I left an hour early.
Things went smoothly from then on until race time. The usual race instructions were given with a little more emphasis than usual placed on center line violations and off we went. I had some shifting issues that shifted me to the back of the pack as we started down the first hill. No worries, though, as I moved up a few places on the uphill and would continue trying to pick my way through the pack. Unfortunately, we turned off the main road and the race was on and I was not prepared. We were riding into a crosswind and immediately the front of the field echeloned across the two lane road and everybody else was strung out in the wrong lane looking for whatever draft was there. Call me stupid, but I stubbornly elected to stay in the correct lane as the gap began to grow. I'm not blaming the center line rule for my gasping lungs and seized up legs but it would have been nice to at least have had a chance of catching a draft off someone. I am not a center line Nazi, especially on roads like these that have absolutely no markings on them. If someone drifts a little more than they should, I understand. But there really is no excuse for being on the far left edge of the road. You know where you are when you are over there. Those roads around Hillsboro are not heavily traveled but all it takes is one screw up and you have a bad situation on your hands. The pack is going 25mph. An oncoming vehicle is approaching about about 35-40mph. That's an equivalent of 60-65mph. The closing speed can be fast. And, while the first people may see that oncoming vehicle, the 50 other people behind also have to get back into the right lane safely as well.
Enough bellyaching. I got gapped and blew up trying to catch back on and we were not even 4 miles into the race. That was one of my race predictions on Friday. Then came prediction #2... Put in a futile chase to keep the peloton in sight. Down the hill, I passed Dodd who had blown. Then, it was a VeloForce. Then, a rider in red kit as we pulled up to a generic jersey.
We began turns at the front until we reached our first small hill. I opened a gap unintentionally. My small hill training in Columbia apparently paid some dividends. The other three worked there way back up to me and we settled into another rotation. I led the group into the second small hill. By the top, they were gone again but one of the three was close enough to possibly catch back on. I wasn't in a mood to purposely sit up, though. If he caught back on, fine, but that was up to him. A few miles more and I picked off a couple more riders and left them behind and then another rider as we were getting closer to the main road again. This guy had the legs to stick on my wheel and began to pull through once we reached Walshville Trail again. He proved to be a useful partner.
We picked up Marco, who had popped off the pack, and the three of us steadily brought back the main pack that seemed to have slowed on the small farm road diversion off of Walshville as they began to catch the 1/2's. We turned back onto Walshville and were tantalizingly close to making the catch. More than once, I considered a bridge attempt but we were making steady progress. We stayed steady up the feed zone hill and started the second hill still within reach. The legs were not so spry, however, and I gutted my way over but the field seemed to pull away and our chase partner had 60ft or so on me. I was in recovery mode and then lost a water bottle as we hit the brick road. That was enough to break my flagging will. I turned around and Marco was picking up my bottle. We rolled to the finish and into the parking lot. Another wonderful day in Hillsboro.
Good things: I was happy with my chase.
Bad things: Much like Tuesday Nite, the initial fast pace put me in the red zone and popped me. That needs to be fixed.
How well do you know your celebrity gossip? Talk celebrity smackdowns here.
