Tour de Dung Race 1 Category 5

Here is a race report from the Category 5 "Even bib number" race from John Wendle.

Since there were 81 CAT5 men they decided to split the field vs. limit it to 50 riders like the flyer said. Probably a good idea given how many crashes we had at Mason last week with 85 racers. Unfortunately the even number CAT5’s had to wait until the odd number riders were completely finished and off course so we had about a 2 hour delay to our start which made for a long day—10 ½ hours door to door for a race just over an hour and a half! They also didn’t get this info out until most of us had completed our warmup and slammed some gels 5-10 mins before the start. I had some time to kill so Tina and I cheered on all the Cycle U riders in the CAT4 and odd number CAT5 race. The women’s CAT4 race was also split so Tina also had a delayed start time. Travis rolled in after the first lap unfortunately having tangled with another rider and going down. He didn’t look too beaten up and his spirits were pretty good all things considered.

The CAT5 even numbered riders finally got started around noon with 33 riders. I guess there are more odd numbered CAT5’s as they had 48 starters. I must say this small group made the race much more enjoyable than Mason last weekend. The pack was pretty well controlled and it was always easy to move up in the pack if you wanted to. The course also sets up much better than Mason with wide shoulders and fairly straight, flat sections so the accordion effect is minimal. We had one crash on the 2nd lap. Two riders came together in front of me and both went down. I just waited to see which way the bikes and bodies were going to go and gently steered around them. This created a little bit of a gap that I had to close down which was actually surprisingly difficult because of the wind. With such a small group that was a bit aggravated by having to wait the pace was pretty high and there were frequent accelerations. Not really all out attacks but sudden accelerations, maybe trying to force a selection but more likely people just being aggressive since it was only a 3 lap race vs the CAT4’s that did 4. Or maybe it was just because we’d been sitting around all day and just wanted to get finished and home to our families!
Since the group was small and it was easy to move up I spent most of the first 2 laps near the back to avoid the stress and risk of fighting for wheels to stay near the front. It nearly cost me on the 2nd lap as a small gap opened up a ways in front of me on the small climb on Woodcock road. The leading group accelerated hard at the top of the climb and beyond trying to force a selection and a few of us had to work really hard to get back on. I basically had to a do a finishing sprint to get back on and certainly burned at least one match doing it. L I would have been really disappointed to be dropped there though. While it can be less stressful to be at the back of a small group like that it’s probably not worth it due to the risk of getting dropped from an attack like that. Things were pretty calm leading into that so I thought the risk was low but it goes to show you never know when the front is going to attack and you need to be close to it. As usual things really started picking up on the last lap. I knew from last year that with only 1K from the turn onto Kitchen Dick road to the finish it gets a bit crowed and crazy before the 200M sign so I wanted to be at least in the first 10 riders before the turn. BikeSale had 5 strong riders that were forming a lead out train. I sat in on that but they were hanging back a bit just before the turn and I was afraid to be too far back so I moved past them into 3rd or 4th wheel just before the turn. Somehow I found myself 2nd wheel next to another guy, both of us fighting to get behind the leader who was pushing all the wind. I was getting a partial draft but not full. I didn’t want to move back at that point so close to the end so I made the best of it. 2 guys went flying by on the right just before the 200M sign and I decided to chase in fear that they’d check out and win. Unfortunately they both blew up at about 100M to go and I found myself leading. With 100M to go and no one to draft off of I had no choice but to just go as hard as I could. Then, somewhere between 50-100M to go, that patient 5 rider BikeSale lead out train timed it perfectly and came flying past with a couple other riders in there as well so I ended up 8th at the line just behind them. I’m not sure I would have faired any better had I hung out behind them into the final sprint but maybe next time I’ll try that. I’ve had races where the final 200M seems to go by in a blink of an eye but when you’re leading with 100M to go it takes forever!

All in all a good race, great weather and as always, some good learning as well. On the plus side this was my final race needed to upgrade to CAT4. I have submitted my upgrade request so hopefully next time I’ll be able ride with all the other CAT4 guys. I’ll have to recalibrate my expectations given the strength and depth of that field!
-John Wendle-