Well, it’s been a while… again. Apparently the combination
of school, work, and training can fill a large portion of available hours. In
any case, back here for an early-season update.
This
past weekend was the inaugural Montana Gravel Challenge. It’s basically a
combination of what were previously two separate events: the Montana Hell Ride
and the Rocky Mountain Roubaix. Now, the sadistic powers that be decided it’d
be a good idea to combine the two… and throw in a time trial as well, because
why not? All in all, the weekend came out being a three-day event: hillclimb
time trial on Friday, Hell ride on Saturday (50 miles), and Roubaix on Sunday
(70 miles). Initially, the Roubaix was to be 100 miles, but due to the never-ending
winter around Montana the snowline prevented climbing too high. This weekend
would prove to be a test piece for the early season legs, and a quick snapshot
of how training has paid off… or not… Oh, and it was largely on gravel too, and
I have no clue how to road race.
Day one
was the hillclimb, so nothing too interesting there; basically just go as hard
as you can for the lightning-quick two mile uphill. By the finish line though,
I was well within zone five and feeling the effort. Ended up with the third
fastest time, so was really happy with the result going into the two real days.
The
second day consisted of four laps of a circuit, plus the intro and exit on
gravel roads, and finished on quite a brutal punchy climb at the end. Off the
gun it felt as though people were frothing to go and get off the front. A few
attacks went but were quickly pulled back by the leading main group. Finally a
few really strong guys went and got a decent gap out front. Being the unwitting
loyal servant I am I dug deep and pulled the group back. Only slightly aware
that I was burning too many matches too quickly, I kept going hard throughout
the laps, letting one group of three go clear. By the time I realized I’d been
pushing boundaries for about an hour, it was a little too late. Doing my best
to recover what I could I jumped into drafts and attempted to save energy for
the final lap and exit. Once we jumped onto the gravel for the final lap the
attacks went, and the group blew up. When we finally finished the lap there was
one person from the original break, and our chasing group of about 20. Flying
over the dirt roads we swung into the finishing straight, and everyone suffered
through the final punch to the finish. In the end one person stayed clear, and
we all sprinted for second. Since my sprint is a pretty depressing thing, I was
somewhere near the tail end in 11th. All in all, I felt good about
my efforts throughout the day, even if I went too hard too early… hey, I don’t
know how to do this road bike stuff.
Day three
was the Rocky Mountain Roubaix: 70 miles, half on road and half on gravel.
After the starting gun went off, the drizzling rain began. Even though it only
kept up for a few minutes, the roads became sloppy and wet. Everything started
out a bit mellower than day two, but I was still pushing a high tempo
throughout the first climb. Jumping onto the first long climb of the day,
everyone was still all together in one main pack. A few attacks went here and
there, but the length of the race was a deterrent for anyone to go solo too
early. After a relatively relaxed climb and descent, the group began to get a
little antsier for action, and when we hit the dirt road it was game on. Once
the pace went up, the group began to shatter, and the rough road conditions didn’t
help keep everyone in contact. I made an attempt to go forward with another
strong rider, but we weren’t able to make it too far away from the group, but
the acceleration dropped a few more off the back. When we rounded the corner to
descend, the dirt and potholes made everything feel more like a cross event on
a wide road than a road race. Mud and sand flew everywhere, and tire-eating
potholes hid around every corner sending an already adrenaline-infused ride
into sheer sensory overload, complete with a lot of quick reactions. Hitting
the familiar exit road from the previous day, it was clear everyone’s legs were
toast, but no one was willing to give up, especially since we were sprinting
for the overall win. Rounding the finishing corner to the punchy climb once
more I dug deep and buried myself, gaining a few spots on the sprint but still
finishing around 10th… consistency is key, huh?
Overall
it was a great intro to race season, and a way to wake up the legs… especially
with the Whiskey Off-Road coming up in two weeks. Lessons were learned, largely
revolving around the fact that I had no clue what ‘proper’ road racing tactics
are, how to pace over longer distances, and high-intensity sprints at the end
of an event are a definite area of weakness. All in all it felt good to suffer
a bit, and the Montana Gravel Challenge turned out to be one for the books, and
I’ll definitely be looking to come back next year… hopefully with some more
fine-tuned skinny tire skills.
