Well, 2012 is officially upon us, and since we all know the end of the world is nigh—fellow eschatologists, the Mayan calendar ends!—we have two options, per T. S. Elliot, for how we want to go out—with a bang or a whimper. I can’t say what the dear reader’s game plan is for certain, but I certainly know how I plan on going out: whimpering, all the way up the heavens.
Yes I want to be whimpering, just as I was this past Thursday after one of the finest workouts of my life. At our very own training center, on a Thursday afternoon, 3:30 p.m. (how’s that feel, office workers?), I went toe to toe with some of the finest coaches and riders this side of the anti-doping spectrum (that is, the “anti” side). I lined up on the computrainers with Cole, a 21 year old professional mountain biker to my right. That’s right, his career is to do what most of us cyclists dread—ascend mountains on roads with no traction, then down the other side avoiding switchback cliffs, boulders with sharp edges, and bears. And he loves his job more than you, I almost guarantee. Plus he's 21, so he eats pizza all day every day and still has 12" calves and a 27" waist. As if that weren't enough, to my left, Joe, a world champion bicyclist. Yes, literally the best at what he does, viz., bikes, in the whole freaking world. And because we are a geocentric people, I’ll amend that to universe. What had I gotten myself into? And to his left, Javier—a very strong cat 3 racer, who may not be the world’s fastest, but with the departure or Sir Tyler Bauer, is now our best looking employee--distractingly good looking in fact, so at least he had that going for him.
I wasn’t totally without advantage though. Cole has next to no experience riding the computrainers, and the unusual nature of the drafting functions and the different dynamics of racing with drafting turned on. And then there was the course: 3 climbs, 2 descents, none of them, obviously, particularly technical. The world champ attacked from the gun, catching Cole off guard. Presumably he was distracted by Javier eau, which even during training is wondrously pleasant. The two of them were dropped instantly. I won’t bore you with the minutiae of the racing—Joe dropped everyone one by one, Jav, then Cole, then, on the final descent, me, until he won alone by just under a minute. I came in ahead of Cole, having been towed around by Joe for an extra 20 miles. Today, as I write this, my legs are rendering me whimpering, even with the aid of my compression socks.
Why were we riding? Training, obviously. Racing is excellent training. But it was also to gain experience riding the course that will serve as Stage 3 of the 3rd annual Tour de Breakaway.The Tour de Breakaway is a 120km indoor stage race, held over 3 days from February 5-7. Each stage could prove decisive. The first is a 10km Time Trial, the same one used for a qualifier for callups at the Athens Twilight Criterium. At the TdB, previous years’ winning times have been around 14:20. The shop record is 14:11. The second stage is a gently rolling 60km course, where riders who got odd placings in the TT form the lead group and ride one bay of 8 trainers, while even placings race on the other bay. The challenge is two-fold: win your bay to garner time bonuses, but also go faster than the other bay, whose time you cannot see, in order to maintain your position on GC against your 2 nearest competitors, both of whose pace will be invisible to you. The third stage is a monster, the course that cracked us all that Thursday (but for the bossman/world champ), a 50km 3-climb stage, with 3,500’ of climbing and 12% grades at the final summit.
Is it for competition and pride, bragging rights and fodder for trash talk amongst overcompetitive people? In part. Is it a great weekend of training? Did I not mention the whimpering legs? But is it fun? Absolutely. All of these things—but most importantly, it is for charity. Our shop is hosting the event for free, and our coaches are volunteering their hours to make this event happen. The cost is $60 a rider, and the entirety of the proceeds will be donated to help underserved junior cyclists afford to race their bikes as much as possible this year. The program it’s serving is known as the Junior Membership Initiative, an aspect of the developmental cycling club QCW Cycling. If you have not read about this project and the wonderful club volunteers who support these fine young men and women, please read about their story on their website, www.qcwcycling.org.
Spots are selling out fast, so if your’e reading this late, you best hurry. I hope any and all those interested have an opportunity to do this race, but space is limited to the first 16 riders to register. If you don’t plan on racing but would like to support the cause, see the JMI website for information on making a donation.
Oh, and speaking of donations, I plan on betting on the results of this race as if the riders were horses. (After all, at least three of the competitors have equine nicknames.) Your’e welcome to make a donation to me by taking anyone else besides Joe for the victory in a “friendly” wager.
