My coach, Chann McRae , had my peak starting the week before this race and like clockwork, it showed up. My power at FTP jumped ~15w in about a week and my weight has stayed pretty constant at about 147lbs (68kg).
After an 8hr drive from Corpus, Kevin, Colton and I, rolled into Fort Davis around 3pm on Friday. We unloaded and headed out to do some openers and maybe some light climbing. There is a 10min climb behind an RV park that I like to do, its not a road that many know about I suspect and there is a "No bicycles" warning at the base of it.
I was getting good signals from my legs and was pretty confident about getting a decent result this weekend. There was only a few things that could throw a wrench in the weekend: 1. We were racing a separate P/1 category from the '2' category but racing at the same time, which completely confuses the race tactics 2. There are a handful of Pros in town that normally are not there.
Stage 1: This year the first stage was the Hill Climb RR. An early move of really strong riders got away in the first few miles and hit the base of the climb with a really big gap. Not sure why the peloton thought it was ok to let these guys go but we did. Vargas, Frost and Dille were gone and finished a couple of minutes ahead of the first climbers in the Peloton.
Once we got near the base of Mt. Locke the pace picked up and I moved into the top 10 on the protected side and was feeling good. John Coppin and I set tempo on the lower slopes, we had a tail wind so being at the front seemed like a smart move. Once we turned and the wind became a factor I drifted back and sat in the top 5. The pack quickly whittled down to about 10-11. Pat McCarty (Ouch Maxxis) and Heath Blackgrove attacked after a few minutes of climbing and I didn't respond, thinking that if I climbed my pace it would end up being faster. There were some other attacks but I kept my own tempo and was able to drop most of the group. Chris Wherry attacked and got a gap that I almost closed at the finish 3miles later. At about half way up, a Ten-speed drive rider and Stefan attacked and got a small gap, i caught them as the course leveled off and we rode hard to keep the gap on the rest of the field. I was able to pass them on the final incline and hold of the field. I finished 7th on the stage and 4th out of the main group.
Stage 2: The TT was held in the afternoon and the winds kicked up to a steady 40mph+ there were reported gusts to 60mph. I thought that they might cancel the stage but no luck there. My TT was ok, but not great. I averaged ~17mph for the first 9miles and 40mph+ for the final 7miles. My time put me mid-pack of the P12's. After the first day I was sitting 14th GC.
Stage 3: The final RR was a 72mile RR. The first 35miles were flat and then you start hitting the climbs. The race was hard for the first hour or so as people tried to get away, but nothing was going to stick. The field would split and rejoin in the crosswinds. Once we hit the first climb, 'Bear Mtn.', the tempo started to pick up. San Jose kept the pace most of the last half to keep Vargas in the lead and to keep the attacks down. McCarty attacked a few times but was reeled in each time. I just stayed near the front making sure to stay out of trouble and be ready to respond to any hard surges. By the time we hit the finals decent and run into the finish we had 15 guys left in the group with a few dangling off of the back. I finished 9th on the stage and 13th GC.
All in All i'm happy with the weekend. Chann has the ability to make sure you are fit and efficient all season but also that you are peaking right when you want to be. Even though my results here weren't as good as 2007, my power was up, almost 10%. It took more power this year to hang with the leaders, the fields are getting deeper and the top guys that are here have national level experience.
If I can start focusing on my time trialing I can improve my overall results. However I am happy with 2 top tens.
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