Frozen Flatlands...Holy He##!

Photo by Sue Hutter

This weekend would be my first return to a multi staged cycling event. It was the Frozen Flatlands in Cheney, WA put on by the Baddlands Bicycle Club. I feel it necessary to mention Baddlands because any group that puts on bike races I truly admire and respect. It’s no easy task, but they make it look so simple. The race saw over 500 people registered to race this multi staged, multi day event. It consisted of a time trial, and 2 road races… one being 47 miles (right after the TT), and then a shorter 25 mile road race the following day.

Pat, Cris, Roger, Mark

This event is the one that recently reassembled the Arrivee Cycling Club (Mark, Pat, Cris and myself) about 3 weeks ago…on a whim. For more on that, visit arrivee.blogspot.com. So as the 4 of us got to the venue, it would only be me racing the TT that day. This is one advantage to the Omnium format. You do not need to race all the events. You can, or you can pick and choose which ones you want to do. Since they did not have the miles, or recovery in their legs, they all decided to forgo the 20k TT. Made sense really, it was windy, cold, and…well… it was a TT. Nothing says miserable like an individual TT. But to their credit, they came to the event to support regardless. My time to take off was at 10:39:30. They sent us off at 30 second intervals. Our road race would go off in the afternoon at 2:15pm. I only say this because all 3 of these guys came out to cheer me on, when they could have stayed in bed for a few more hours.

Now, let me simply explain what an individual time trial is. The official says “go”…you ride as hard as you can for 20k… then you cross the finish line and you are done. It is known as “The Race of Truth,” because there is no drafting, teammates, support, nowhere to hide…nothing. It’s just you against the clock. Now, as bad as this sounds, these are my most favorite races. Eliminate the variables, and the strongest on the day, on that course, will win. This is probably why I like triathlon so much. It’s one big time trial but you have to swim and run too. Sure, there is strategy, but it’s “your” strategy.

I am always impressed, or surprised really, how much cyclists warm up for races. When I raced (you will hear this a lot), we got on our bikes, rode a mile to make sure all 7 gears worked and the brakes did not rub, and then waited for our start. Now I see people warming up for 30 minutes to an hour on trainers. Oh well, maybe something I can learn from. After sitting in the car for as long as possible, I started to get ready. The weather did not really lend itself to “hanging out.” It was 34 degrees and the wind was gusting up to ~35 mph. As horrible as that sounds, I LOVE racing in conditions like this. Throw in a little rain/snow…ideal. Not my favorite training conditions, but love to race in them. I rode my traditional mile warm up…give or take…and headed to the start. I had about 3 minutes which I passed by asking one of the officials, Marla Emde (www.emdesports.com, another group here in Spokane that puts on races as well) what the rule is when overtaking another cyclist. Obviously I know what it is in triathlon, but in cycling it is much different. The draft zone is more than 20 meters long and 2 meters wide and you cannot enter the draft zone. Holy crap! That is one big zone. But unlike triathlon, TTs are a bit more spaced out and overtaking other riders does not happen too frequently. Glad I asked Marla, because I did not know this.

This is a great video that Dave Erickson (www.daveerickson360.com) created.

Soon my time to start came, and I was ready roll. I took off like I would normally in a tri or TT. I soon found myself battling headwinds and crosswinds. I knew they were out there, but my upper body was working very hard to maintain a straight line. It was tough, but I watched my power, and kept it honest…maybe a little high, but I would soon see that come down. I caught a few people ahead of me, so I knew I was moving right along. I eventually hit the turnaround and was headed back. I looked at my time and saw that I was right about 15 minutes. I thought that was pretty good since I “should” have a little tailwind coming back…hopefully. For the first bit, it still seemed windy. But there were a few sweet spots that allowed for a tail from time to time. Once I got to about 5k to go, it seemed to turn into mostly a tail/cross wind. This was very welcomed. I took as much advantage of it as I could, and pressed on home. My legs were feeling like tree stumps and the thought of a 47 mile road race later that day, lingered. But I needed top focus on what I was doing now. Nothing worse than losing a TT by a second or two. I kept winding it up as much as I could and came across the line with the day’s fastest time at 27:29. I was very happy with the time considering the conditions. It was nice to have Pat, Cris, Mark, Jessi, and Dave out there cheering me on and getting some great pics too. Now, on to the 47 mile road race.

The road race was only 3 hours away and I needed to get some food in me. I went to subway and fueled up a little. Cycling is a little different from triathlon in that it’s not all at threshold. There is a lot of recovery going on, so I was not as particular as to what and when I was eating...it was that I was eating. I was excited to dust off my new Orbea Orca recently outfitted with the new Shimano di2. Okay, there really wasn’t much dust because I have only had it 1 week.

Photo by Sue Hutter

Photo by Sue Hutter

I was a tad nervous to be in a pack of 75 riders, but I had been there before. The winds were still kickin’ and it snowed from time to time. The pack was not too interested in doing much work so it all ended up being decided on a hill with 10 miles to go. The pack broke up and there was a group of 15, or so, of us moving towards the finish. Things got a little crazy with 300 meters to go as we overtook 3 people from the race ahead, but I was still able to muster out an 8th place finish. Not too sure my legs knew what was going on when I asked them to “sprint,” but they did what they could. I was very happy with my efforts at the front of this group and a bit disappointed with the unwillingness by the majority to get their nose in the wind. But that may be whole separate post.

It was a long, and cold, day that was full of highs and lows. But all in all, I was happy to be back on the road again and sharing this with 3 other teammates that I had done this with before. Afterwards, it was great to hear about everyone’s race and what happened and where. I know we will only get stronger and fitter.

The next day, Easter, our pack would start at 10:40. Kind of nice since I could use the sleep. Again, I showed up 2 hours early, only to sit around and talk with some good people. As I rushed to get my gear on, and number pinned, I was once again able to muster up a 1 mile warm up ride with the guys. Old school I guess since the gals next to us had been on their trainers for an hour by now. Ironically, none of them won their field sprint either…go figure?

This race was substantially shorter, and for a lack of a better explanation, easier. It was relatively flat and the pack stayed together. But, unfortunately, it was the same people doing the work at the front. Surviving several near crashes by people not paying attention, I made it to the finish leading out what was to be a very difficult and chaotic sprint. I finished towards the end of the pack and cruised back to the car. Pat was also in the pack and launched a few attacks as well. Nice to see him up there. Cris reeled in some breakaways and defended the front a bit and then ended up finishing on the pack’s heels. Mark, on his new bike, took off of the front early on and mixed things up as well. It was so great seeing all these guys out there and having fun. The only thing we lack is fitness. And that all comes in time.

On a side note, Jessi raced her first TT as well and won her division, and placed 5th overall female. Pretty cool for someone who still expected to run a 10k afterward. She looked very comfortable out there and I may have even overheard her say that she wants a road bike.

Thanks to everyone that helped with the race, raced, and suffered out in the elements regardless. It was a fun weekend.