Iowa State Road Race 2010

{Insert smartass remarks about Herbert Hoover, Hooverfest, Hooverball, Great Depression etc and draw ludicrous analogies to bike racing}

Last year this was the hardest race I had ever done. 25 mph ave speed in 25 mph cross winds. I got dropped with a few miles to go. No-holds-barred survival of the fittest. The way a state road race should be.

I've always enjoyed racing in Iowa. Friendly folks who race hard. So I was really looking forward to the 2010 edition and a break from the lame Cat 4 groupthink that Chicago has brought to a fine art. Unfortunately, the virus has spread.

Nice course. Roads in superb condition. Lots of rollers but only 1 significant hill. 27 mile rectangular loop with every side exposed to a crosswind, it seemed.

Very poor turnout. For such a well-organised race, with low entry fee, wheel trucks, lead car, motos, and the support of the locals, only 20 Iowa cat 4s bothered to turn out to honour their State Championship. Throw in a few out-of-staters and the peloton started only 25 strong.

Neutral rollout out of town and my teammate breaks his right shifter - he's stuck in the 11T for the next 54 miles and a choice of either 39 or 53 to pair with it. This is a big blow, because he's very strong and is always up for an attack. Between the two of us we could really have made our mark on the race. Instead he's forced to go to the front and set tempo at a pace he can handle and make sure to get a clear shot at all the downhills to minimize the out of the saddle mashing on the ascent. Didn't stop several others from closing down any gaps he got, even though everyone knew his predicament.

Not a huge team presence, 6 from New Pi, 3 Dice and 3 Rasmussen plus a mish-mash of all the other Iowa teams. New Pi sent several riders on off-the-front efforts while the other two teams did nothing, not even chasing, until the last mile.

The rain came down with varying intensity over the duration. It was welcome, cooled us down and made me homesick. The wind was mild, maybe 10 mph, strong enough to make solo breaks too hard but not enough to make guttering worthwhile, or to have any wear and tear on the pack.

Not much noteworthy during the race. I tried several off the front efforts but got chased down. Also attempted several bridges to solo breaks - jump for 10 seconds, get a gap, strong 30 second effort to get on first guy's wheel, look behind, find the pack on my heels, pull off, pace immediately slows down. This happened several times, so I gave up and resolved to let any solo attacks ride away if they could.

Strange thing is that every roller and hill was hammered at a huge effort, then we would slow down again until the next hill. Given the lack of work being done, most legs were still fresh enough to do this, even after 50 miles. So much so that we succeeded in dropping exactly zero riders.

The order of the day was neutralize any bridge attempt, then slow the race to a manageable pace - manageable often being 19 mph or so. Don't know why this is considered a racing tactic, you're basically handing the race on a plate to the 2-3 real sprinters who are hiding mid-pack and laughing away at all the fools marking each other out, knowing full well that they'll come out to play when the finish line looms and their fresh legs will ride away from the rest.

It's a state championship - honour it. If you don't want to race then at least give those who came to race a chance. Tootling along at pedestrian pace and sprinting up the occasional hill does not make you a racer or the event a race.

After all the abortive solo attacks, bridging efforts and, out of boredom, keeping the pace up at the front - my legs were pretty much toasted. Heart Rate was remarkably low but power was either recovery/endurance effort or way anaerobic. Far too many matches burnt. Nothing much else happened. We had a few heavy rain showers and a few more abortive solo breaks left to dangle until we finally made the turn for home.

The last four miles is the best feature - a drawn-out drag race. Narrow road, gradual uphill, a few rollers and a crosswind, with the last 500 meters being about a 3% grade to the finish line. I fought hard to make my way up to the front and stay there. There were plenty of wheels jockeying to get into the 5 man paceline at the front. I opted to ride mostly parallel, soaking up more wind but better positioned for the inevitable swarm.

I managed to maintain about 6th position, with a good line of riders following my wheel, but none opting to try to come around. The pace was gradually upping the closer we got to the finish and plenty of digs were required on the mild rollers in order not to fall back.

With about 600 meters to go the shenanigans started. Too many fresh legs who had done no work. A few riders tried to bully their way past me, I was ready and jumped to counter. A junior who, several people noted, had problems riding a bike straight tried to sprint past but only managed to smash his bars into my hip (I have the bruise to prove it). No danger to me but I had to slow down a bit to steady him up and prevent him from crashing. A few riders got past me - now relegated to about 12th.

We hit the feed zone at the base of the hill, the riders in front fan out and the sprint is on. I do what I can on the uphill but it isn't much - the legs hurt like heck. I have to wait for those in front of me to blow up, which they do, and I pass them in the final yards to sneak into the top 10.

Top 10 in a state championship is nothing to be ashamed of, but I'd much rather be dropped from a hard race than get a respectable finish in a lame one.

In retrospect, I regret not trying harder in the last couple of miles, I should have worked harder to stay in the top 3 wheels. It wasn't as hard as I expected. I've learned that, when it's a relatively difficult approach to the finish, position is everything - it's difficult to get swarmed; the guys who work to stay at the front are the ones who finish on the podium. Try harder, finish higher.

If I had sat in the whole race and just some to the front for the last couple of miles I would easily have been in the money places and maybe top 3. But if you ever see me sitting in for the sprint... please shoot me.

One thing I have to note were the guys headbutting each other in the sprint Cavendish-Renshaw style and boasting about it afterwards. Moronic.

Anyway, great venue and organisation. Glad to be able to support it. Iowa City Cycling Club do a great job. Pity that a State Championship couldn't be raced a bit more positively, but my fault for expecting anything better. Oh well, riding in the rain was exhilarating and the last three miles were am enjoyable, intense headrush.

Of course the top finishers were the guys who did no work and made no contribution. That's Cat 4 racing - hand the win to a guy with a decent sprint and feel good about yourself because you didn't get dropped.

For the powergeeks: 2:17:45, 23.4 mph, Ave HR 140 bpm (very low). AP: 215W NP: 275W, 57% recovery/endurance/coasting, 27% supra max (too high). Very little time spent at threshold or race pace.

Last 3 miles, 27 mph, 302 W. Uphill Sprint: 460 m, 35 seconds, 31 mph, 510 W (low)

{Insert more smartass remarks about Herbert Hoover, potatoes and draw more ridiculous analogies to bike racing}