Frozen Flatlands Omnium 2010

The hardest day, and a most frustrating day.

Time Trial
The weather report leading into this race looked terrible. High winds, cold temps (low 30s), and a good chance of snow. I came prepared for blizzard-like conditions in the time trial. With that mental preparation the conditions didn't seem too bad when I pulled into the staging area. The temperature was 30 degrees and the wind was blowing at 20mph, with gusts up to 35mph. I don't know what the wind chill was, but at least the sun was out. Remembering my college days at Gonzaga, this just seemed like a typical spring day in Spokane.

Needless to say the time trial was a challenge. The distance was longer than most TTs at 12.4 miles (out and back). The way out was into a major headwind and crosswind. It was a battle to keep the bike straight and keep some kind of rhythm going. I probably traveled 8 miles on that leg with all the weaving I did on the road. Looking at my computer was depressing, since I was only going about 16-18mph. After the turnaround the wind was a big help, and I was able to get the speed over 30mph. I actually started to get warm because there was no air to push through--it was like riding on a trainer. About a mile before the finish I passed my 30 second man, Nate B. from L 'ecole (who put in an impressive ride with no TT gear). Finished 14th, which later became 13th due to a disqualification.

Saturday Road Race
We didn't have long to rest before the road race, only about three hours. Sitting in my car resting I watched the weather deteriorate outside. By the time we were about to start, it started to hail. I rushed back to my car to get my jacket and hat. While we waited for the neutral rollout, guys were already suffering from the cold.

The road race was 48 miles and the wind was certainly going to play a factor, I just wasn't sure how. Once we started racing there were a couple surges but the pace stayed fairly slow. I think guys were tired from the morning effort and didn't want to go crazy in the first few miles a long race. At last someone grew impatient and attacked up the road. Everyone looked at him thinking "have a nice day" and within a couple minutes he was out of sight. I was looking for a chance to breakaway, and I thought now was a good opportunity. 5 miles into a 48 mile race? Why not? I attacked hard from about fourth wheel, looked back, and had the pack on my wheel. I sat up and let things settle. Surprisingly nobody wanted to be at the front so I started moving from left to right in the lane to see if the guys would stay on me. After a couple weaves I looked back and had a gap of about 25 feet. I turned around, put my head down and took off.

In a few miles I caught the early attacker, Joshua from Northern Rockies. We turned to the east and got a big help from the tailwind, building a 2-3min gap on the field. On the rises we could look back and see some other riders trying to bridge up. One was getting fairly close so we slowed to let him catch us. This turned out to be Steve from WSU, who is very strong and ended up winning the whole omnium. The three of us turned south into the head/crosswind and unfortunately we were in the open fields and there were no trees to protect us. We got a pretty good rotation going but had to use massive amounts of energy because of the wind. At one point I turned around and saw the demoralizing sight of the pack gaining ground. Eventually we were swallowed up just before the turn to the west.

Now the wind was coming from the left and everyone was trying to find shelter. I was tired from my early effort and worked to get in an echelon to recover. This was hard to do because everyone else was in the gutter thinking the same thing. The merciless wind was taking a toll on the peloton as one by one riders dropped off the back. One of those turned out to be Joshua from the breakaway. I was almost popped myself and had to dig deep to stay with the lead group. Not only was the wind pushing us all over the road, the hail would occasionally come down just to add to the sufferfest.

Eventually we made it back into the trees and the wind calmed down. The pack had dwindled to about thirty riders at this point. I could tell everyone was gassed as the pace became ridiculously slow. I recall looking at my computer and seeing 11mph! A great time to attack, if I hadn't of blown myself early in the race. But everyone was blown too so we all braced for a final climb referred to in the race flier as the "wall." Once to the climb I had recovered sufficiently and made it over without losing too much ground. I found out later a bunch of guys fell off the back on that climb.

The last turn was to the north, and we were in the trees and protected from the wind. Guys were pushing the pace and I was doing my best to hold on. I was running on empty because I had only brought enough food for a two hour race. But with the wind, the race took about 2:45 and I was a little bonked at the end. The constant accelerations further shrank the lead group to about a dozen. No one got away and we geared up for the sprint finish. I had one more bullet to use. Sitting about fifth wheel I moved right to open up my sprint...only to get blocked by three riders from the Masters C field slowly cruising into the finish (we had been passing these guys all afternoon). Swerving around these riders I tried to sprint again, but had nothing left. I finished 11th.

Sunday Road Race
The profile of this 25 mile race was flat, but the wind again would be a factor. The only event of note early in the race was when Phil from Lenovo flatted about five miles into the race, probably costing him a spot on the GC podium.

The last ten miles of the race headed south into a strong headwind. The pace was slow because everyone was tired from racing the day before. The road was narrow and it was hard to move up. A couple times I had to take some risks riding on the shoulder to get back to the front. At 1k to go, a couple riders went off the front. That would be short lived as no one could get away into the headwind. At 250m to go I was in a great position--on the centerline with riders to my right blocking the wind. Then suddenly a rider from behind jumps over the centerline, passes me, and moves back over the centerline into my front wheel. I don't know what the heck he was thinking, and I can't post what I was thinking. When his rear derailler went into my wheel I heard the horrible sound of a carbon wheel being chopped up. While regaining control of my bike I realized my front wheel was toast. I steered over to the left hand shoulder to inspect the damage. The wheel had a bunch of broken spokes, the true was off, and it wouldn't spin. So I hoisted the bike onto my shoulder and ran across the finish line in 39th place. I somehow managed to beat a dozen or so riders who must have been dropped from the group.

Incredibly frustrating to be a great position for the finishing sprint only to have my front wheel chopped up. Unfortunately I don't know who the rider was because it happened so fast. The officials tried to find him after the race but never did.