FLCC> Balloon Fest RR

[Brian Lawney]

This past Saturday Matt and I headed out to Cambridge, NY to represent the
Chris' Cookies/Swan Cycles/FLCC/Cornell/Ithaca College cycling
conglomerate at the Balloon Fest road race.  Suffice to say, it was not
quite the successful race that Glenn had at the Whitney Point race...

Friday saw us depart Ithaca at 4pm to throngs of adoring fans, eager for
race results.  I had not raced since the 102 mile epic of Collegiate
Easterns, and Matt had yet to race this calendar year.  With another month
of solid riding in my legs, I was curious how I would hold up to the heat
and the competition.

We arrived in the greater Albany area with enough time to tour Albany's
"interesting" surrounding areas looking for food before settling on a Ruby
Tuesday's, where we were whisked to a dark corner of the restaurant.  How
many among you can claim to be a less-than-desirable patron of such an
establishment?  It must be my moustache...

Saturday morning came sunny and hot, and we got to the race with enough
time to settle all the usual pre-race stuff, but not enough to get in any
decent warm-up.  But who needs that on a 90+ degree day and 84 miles
ahead...  I noted the amount of FiordiFrutta riders milling around, and
the fact that the TargetTraining elite team was supplying their riders
with race radios...there are some really serious riders here.  This will
be a good test of my riding fitness...

We rolled out and took things easy for the first 10 or so miles, until we
turned off the pavement and hit a dirt roller.  This was the first glimpse
of things to come.  I didn't exactly get popped off the back, but the
sudden surge definitely required power that my legs were not willing to
supply.  This was where any kind of a warm-up would have helped.  It took
some work to stay on as we crested the roller and descended down and back
onto pavement.  The pack was lined out at this point, so I knew someone
was doing something on the front...

Everyone together again, we hit the significant climb en course- a bit of
a stair climb.  It began with a steep section followed by a flatter feed
zone, and finished with another steep kicker.  Probably 600-800m in
length.  Again, my legs did not respond.  Had this been a 3/4/5 race, my
pace would have still shed half the field...in a p/1/2 race my pace led me
to get gapped at the rear.  My how things have changed since last year...

I wasn't the only one to get shelled on this climb, as there were 2-3
riders directly behind me.  As we descended to the flats, I could see that
the field was strung out in a line, which was not a good sign.  I began to
wonder why I do this to myself, and how much more fun it would be to just
race FLCC tuesday night races.  Then I calculated all the money I spent on
this weekend and I began to chase with a little more effort.

I didn't get much help from the other guys, but occasionally a
Kenda/Raleigh rider would pull through to give me some rest.  As I looked
ahead, I could see the field regroup and become very wide- they were
slowing down!  We could still catch back on and survive until the next
climb!  We pulled to within 50m of the field.

Then things got bad.

A rider in the peloton got a flat and pulled to the right.  The wheel
truck pulled right to assist.  A random car following the wheel truck(e.g.
not a race vehicle) stopped dead in the middle of the road.  Our whole
lane was pretty much blocked ahead.  There was some room between the
vehicles, and there was some room just around the yellow line. 
Unfortunately I was pulling through at this point, and the momentary
confusion led myself and the Kenda/Raleigh rider into the same path.  We
hooked bars at 30+mph and that was it.  Next thing I knew, I was sliding
along the road, with two bikes and one rider atop.  In a moment of
clarity, I remarked (while sliding) that I was going to be missing a bunch
of skin after this.  As I recall, the other guy didn't get a scratch on
him, since he was laying on top of me and two bikes...lucky him.  At least
there was no yelling after the crash; we were both very confused as to
what happened.

So that was it for me.  My bike suffered a broken skewer, a mangled but
functional shifter, and a significantly dented top tube (which I suppose
is still safe to ride).  While being transported to the start/finish in
the wheel truck I remarked that the crash saved me from 60 more miles of
suffering at the hands of fiordifrutta.  Even with road rash all over my
left leg and hip, I'm certain that would have hurt more...

Matt lasted longer, and I'll leave it to him (if he wishes) to write about
his trials.  As a side note, when we left there were only 10 finishers (of
the original ~50).  Bikereg results says 25 finished, but those guys all
finished 40 minutes back of the winners.  Ridiculous.  Hopefully this
coming weekend goes better.

Brian