Killington Stage Race – cat 4

After a 10 year hiatus, Vermont Race Director Gary Kessler brought the Killington Stage Race back to New England and put on a first class event. Threshold Cycling was ready to make their presence know this weekend with a total of 9 riders entered in the Cat 3 and 4 fields with another group, as equally important, there in support. The team success has been top notch this season, but individually, I’ve had high expectations and have been average at best. I rolled into Killington Friday afternoon with two goals: (1) RACE each day – without being afraid of blowing up. Put in the work and if a break was going to happen, I was going to be in it. (2) Be within striking distance to give myself a fighting chance on day 3.

Saturday May 29

STAGE ONE: The Mountain Times Circuit Race was 3 x 18-mile loops. Each included a 5 mile climb that began gradually and slowly pitched upward toward the King of the Mountain (KOM) check point and ended with a fast downhill finish. Each time through the finish line was for Sprint points. Lap #1 and at the base of the climb, Shake launches an attack. A gap is forming. A few riders respond and I am one of them. Sitting 3^rd, I do all I can to stay on Shake’s wheel. We hit the 5K mark and my heart rate reads 189. I am suffering, but we have a gap and I am in it. The gap is short lived. I can no longer hold the pace and begin dropping back into the pack at the 1K mark. I get my wind back as we descend and find myself towards the front of the pack as we approach the first sprint checkpoint. I decide to give it a go. Two riders from Dartmouth shoot off on the right. They obviously have a lead out train going and their second man is large. I am not. I choose the large wheel to pull me to the front. It works. We charge towards the line. I run out of gears! Cross the line 6^th to contest the first sprint. Lap #2 and Mover slots his way to the front keeping the pace up until we make the turn towards the one-lane bridge. Shake is near the front again looking smooth. I begin to set up as the second wheel on the right as we approach the 1K mark to try to contest the KOM. The group goes. I see Randall shooting right and it looks like he has another gear in him that I don’t have. Powerful! He contests and is 2^nd over the line taking his first KOM points of the day. He would later earn points on the 3^rd lap as well. Mover is still near the front and I notice guys easing back as we are descending. There is more space between riders than there should have been. We make a hard right onto Rte 100. Mover gives a quick peek back and sees the potential for a break. I see it and know what he is thinking almost instantaneously. He puts in a large dig. He and I go back and forth taking quick pulls, like at Sterling, but to no avail. A couple riders escape towards the second sprint. But there are still points at stake as the main group approaches. As the pace slows, I see Randall and Travis sprint off towards the line. I thought it was a perfect idea. They just started too early. Lap #3 and Jeff shows what was the start of a strong weekend for him. He leads the charge to bring back the break down Rte 4. We head up the climb again. The third time up the climb was the hardest for me. Road was gutted a bit and required me to put out more effort to ride through it and maintain my position in the pack. Randall looks good again and powers by for more KOM points. Moving forward to the final moments. My plan is to maneuver similar to the first lap, but have teammates with me. After Randall’s showing of wattage during the KOM’s, I said to myself, “he looks good. Let’s get him to the line.” I see Randall. Travis is close behind him. I tell Randall to “get on my wheel because when I see a hole, I’m gonna to take it.” The right side is not open as it was in the past. I’m in the middle and the seas part . . . only slightly. Cross the line 10^th on the day with Randall and Travis right behind in 11^th and 14^th. Pace was high throughout as I had the average at 24.5 MPH over the 53 mile course. Later in the evening we receive our time trial start times for tomorrow.

Sunday May 30

STAGE TWO: Travis, Randall and I caravan to the start for the Long Trail Brewery Individual Time Trial. The ITT is essentially an 11 mile false flat with 3 short steeper pitches along the way. Take 30-minutes to warm up. Legs feel pretty good. 9:42:30 and I’m off. Randall has a one minute head start. I have no MPH goal, but plan to solely focus on execution. I always believe that if you execute, results will take care of themselves. Since I do not have a power tap, my goal is to hold 90% of my max heart rate for what would essentially be 30-minutes of work. I pass the rider in front of me by the 15K mark. He hangs around a bit until I permanently drop him by the 5K mark. I thought I was having pretty good ride, but then I am passed shortly thereafter by the rider behind me. We jockey back and forth for a bit until I decide that I am not racing him, but need to execute my own race. The final 5K is windy. I tuck in as aero as possible. I usually have difficulty on windy courses but work through this fairly well and I can see Randall slowly getting larger in my sites. Randall stays away. I cross the finish line in 28:04 averaging just slightly under my LTHR. Good for 14^th on the day and :55 back on the GC after two days of racing. Big thanks to Jeff for taking the time to help me make adjustments and set up my TT rig.

Monday May 31

STAGE THREE: Initial plan was to make it to the final climb on East Mountain Road with Shake. Let the others dictate the pace up the preceding climbs. Work together in the final. Test our metal against the field. He’s sitting 1:11 back and I’m at 0:55 off the GC and within :30 of a podium spot. The field rolls out and shortly we are at our first climb of the day. I see my heart rate hit 180+. A rude awakening early in the race. We are over the climb and now its fast flat &/or downhill until about mile 25. Very glad we scouted the course Sunday. I decide to keep my wheels in the middle of the road &/or on the left side as the right side was pretty gutted in areas causing guys to flat. And I’m a right-side rider. Shake flats, but I knew we still had a strong group in the field. And they made their presence known all weekend. At mile 20, Mover asks if I need to be pulled to the front. I say thanks anyways for the moment. “We have 5 miles until the climb. I’ll start making my way up pretty soon.” Pace picks up slightly for the intermediate sprint with only a few guys battling for it, probably knowing what was ahead. I have no intention of going for it. Right hand turn and let the Battle of North Road begin. Rider goes down. And instantly my initial reaction is that anytime a rider goes down, the pace at the front picks up and a few riders are OTB. And it does. A Mystic Velo rider hits a pretty good 2 minute interval before exploding. I’m on the inside and clear. We hit the 5K mark. Things are stringing out. I am anticipating a selection soon. We hit the 500m mark that includes another surge as we approach the KOM. I take a quick look back to see where the rest of Threshold is. Quick look reveals no one. Rider next to me is fading quickly as the group is pressing ahead. Thinking I’m solo, I tell myself get to the pack then get your rest. I surge onto a pack of less than 20 riders. We have a gap. And I don’t know who is left in the dangling group of riders behind us. The typical Cat 4 rotation to keep the pace up is short lived. We are over the climb, descend, and make a left hand turn. Pace slows here as we climb to the feed zone. Recovering well, I see the Threshold pit crew manning the feed zone — PRO. I get a shot of adrenaline from them and I’m stoked! I notice the pack is larger now as I drop back to conserve. See Travis and I’m pumped that he made it through the first round of climbing with the main pack. Make our way to the dirt road section of the course. Travis makes his way towards the front and does a number on the peloton with some riders at the front of the pack. The kid has an engine. He had steam coming out of his ears as he hammered away on the main pack for 10-15 miles with a few others until we turned onto East Mountain Road. I didn’t feel great going over the dirt road climb or down the majority of Rte 4 with the pace high and Travis mixing it up in front. It was pace-lined out. And as soon as it wasn’t . . . crash . . . on the bridge. Just prior, I hear a holler on my left side. It’s Jeff! Awesome to see him there after 45+ miles in the bank. Three riders are now off the front. Jeff let’s me know he still has wattage in the tank. He and Travis were having none of it! Back to the front came Threshold’s 1-2 punch. They were cycling’s version of The Hart Foundation. Sitting 1, 2, me at 4. They were determined to bring this thing back together before the turn and set the pace high. I stake out Stephen from Cambridge. He’s looked strong all weekend and that’s the wheel I want. ‘The Foundation’ almost pulls it off as 2 riders are pulled back on the first climb. Stephen goes. I follow. Time to test my metal. I get energy from The Foundation. I hear one of them call my name. They did their work and I want to finish for them. We make it up the first climb and around the bend. I’m thinking “let’s do this.” We approach the second climb and my gasket blows. I enter mind over matter mode. Jeff goes by me like I’m standing still as we near the KOM. I see Curt and Dan yelling encouragement. I try to get one rider to work with me in getting some time back as we crest past the KOM, but he declares, “I won’t be much help.” “Help when you can,” I reply. The carnage ends as I cross the line 30^th on the day dropping me to 21^st on the GC.

A Moment to Reflect

Many positives came out of this weekend. I’m proud of my teammates and being a Threshold’er. Break through performances all around. Jeff, Mover, and Travis take punches at stringing out and wearing down the pack. Leo wins an intermediate sprint and works with hardman winner BB to keep Devin in the KOM jersey. Jeff conquers the mountain. Randall earns some KOM points. Devin wins the Cat 3 KOM! Did I finish where I wanted to on the GC? Maybe not. But my teammates left it out there for each other on and off the bike, gave me a fighting chance in the end, and I finally earned my first top 10 finish. I will be back to tackle this course again next year. Special thanks to Curt, Dan, Paula, Sari, and Sarah for being our support crew and helping to make it a great weekend of racing!