I've been doing really hot base miles for a few months now and, even though I've done a few road races, I'm fully locked an loaded on 'cross season. Even when I started making plans for 2017, gravel and mountain bike have been my primary focus. The roadie burnout is in full effect.
Ever since coming back from New Hampshire, I've had a hard time motivating myself to head out for a simple road ride. I mean, I've raced a few times and done my typical Saturday morning chaperoning but, otherwise, I'm pretty certain that every ride I've done since I've been home has taken me onto a dirt road or trail. Whitemarsh Island isn't quite the same as 3000 feet of climbing and snowmobile trails, but its pretty close.
Typically, I hate driving to ride, but last week I made an exception. I had a pretty weird work experience on my normal day off and then grabbed some lunch with a very important marketing exec. After that, I had an afternoon to kill and some exploring to do. I swapped out the aero wheels on my 'cross bike and returned it to its normal style and function. Its sentence as "circuit race bike" was up, and it was ready to enjoy its freedom.
Chris the 'cross bike and I hopped in the car and drove to South Carolina (barely) to go ride around the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge site sits just north of the Savannah River, across Highway 17 from the city. The spot where I rode Wednesday was once home to a rice plantation, and remains from those days can still be seen in the landscape. As both a dirt road and a history enthusiast, I was pretty excited.
This image illustrates how an amateur photographer fails to capture a rice trunk on film.
I've known about this area for a while, but my lack of enthusiasm to drive across the river just to ride has prevented me from doing it in the past. Now I know that I've been missing out of some quality dirt road loops.
Well, mostly quality. This probably wasn't meant to be ridden.
I only rode a short loop today, 5.2 miles, but there's so much more to explore. There is another collection of dirt roads, trails, and canals across Highway 170 that I didn't set foot on. I can definitely see making trips out here in the winter for some long days in the marsh. Hopefully, as it gets colder, the bug population will quiet down a little bit, making for a better riding experience. The gators will be slower when the temperature drops too, right?
I could probably ride from my house to the refuge, but I'm not sure how much fun the two bridges across the river and Highway 170/Alligator Alley would be on a bike. I hate logging trucks.
Miles of this might be worth the car ride.
Of course, all this dirt road riding got me thinking. The Wildlife Refuge is a pretty enclosed area, with very low traffic. A 5.2 mile loop would be easy to mark and control. I haven't put on a dirt road ride/event in a few years. Maybe its time to have a race.
Gears are turning. I've pulled out some paperwork and started looking at permits. There may be a gravel grind (ugh) coming to Savannah this winter, after cyclo-cross season. Stay tuned.
This past weekend was Hilton Head Cycling's annual Rumble at Roebling road. Race track events have practically become a discipline of their own in this region, with races taking place in Savannah at Roebling Road and Hutchinson Island, and Charleston's annual Double Down circuit race. Racing on a stock car track makes for relatively easy (financials aside) promotion, as the course is self-contained and doesn't require traffic control. Courses are typically WIDE OPEN which makes for safe racing as well... hopefully
The DART boys and I lined up for the 3/4 race on Saturday without any real plan. I was on track for another 12+ hour week on the bike and had little idea how my legs would feel. They didn't feel great. I pretty much felt worked over from the very start of the race. I don't know if that was because of the training time I had put in, or because I lined up for a circuit race with a 46 tooth chainring on my cyclo-cross bike.
I felt like I spent a decent amount of time covering the front of the race. I figured that Sid had the best chance today, and I wanted to make sure nothing too threatening got away without covering it, or getting him in it. I tried to get away a few times myself, but never got any real separation from the group. Without much of a plan or strategy, though, we managed to get JP in second and Sid fourth on the day.
Sunday brought a pair of races for me. Both days offered a chance to line up twice, but I had to leave for work at the shop after the morning race. On Sunday, I planned to line up for both the 3/4 race at 9:10 and the 4/5 race at 1:45. Knowing that I had a second race, in the peak heat of the day, had some effect on the way I planned to race in the morning. My dead legs on Saturday weren't very inspiring either.
I knew that Sid wanted to get in a move, so our plan was to try to make that happen early and, if nothing got away, to line it up for JP in the sprint at the end. I volunteered to cover early moves, and got into a less than inspiring break early in the race. Gregg got himself into a promising looking move later, but attacks in the break saw him return to the bunch.
When I saw Gregg coming back, I attacked to try to either bridge or inspire the chase. I didn't manage to get away, but things were definitely trying to heat up. Secret teammate, Tim, wanted to be in the break of the day also and started making moves of his own. A few times, he and Sid were either just off the front, or working to get separation. After a lap or two of covering moves at the front of the group, I was gassed. Tim and Sid managed to get some separation and a group had formed so I decided to let it go and call it a day.
I made the wrong call. The group that went up the road was growing, and was getting too large to even call it a break. The field had split in two. When the move going up the road bridged to the leaders, there were 13 riders in the front, and 8 or 9 of us left riding in the second group. I didn't have much left to chase, and was happy riding at a leisurely pace at the front of our group. I didn't want to spend up any of my remaining teammates, including JP, in a chase knowing that it would take away matches for the sprint and for the afternoon race. We let the group go, and settled for sprinting out of the grupetto.
We did kill the leadout for JP though. Best leadout we've done all season. For 14th place.
The afternoon race was on track to be miserable. We managed to rest up in the DART compound, listening to music and goofing off, while attempting to stay off our feet as much as possible. It was easily in the upper 90s when we lined up, potentially low 100s or 1000s, and super windy. I figured that the race would be slow and sketchy.
A single rider rolled off the front at the start whistle. I don't think he meant to, but none of us were interested in riding hard. When we brought him back, attacks started going. I knew I wanted to be in a break in this smaller race, and that the field would be easy to control when something got established. Again, after following moves over and over, I was starting to lose my spark. I saw a group going and, knowing I couldn't follow, motioned for JP to cover. That was the move of the day and I settled in to make sure no one joined.
Covering the front of the race started to get sketchy and after following one attack, I found myself off the front alone when the other rider stopped pedaling. Someone else bridged to me in no man's land, and I asked if he would prefer to go back to the group to get out of the wind. Instead, we stubbornly kept riding.
JP dragged his group around for the rest of the race, and won the sprint from the front of the breakaway. I'm not sure anyone was really able to challenge him, even after the pulls he was taking. I put in a half-hearted effort at the line and wound up fifth. Still, it's hard to say "no" to a top five in the third race of the weekend.
The most striking statistic from the race is that we started with 14 riders. 10 finished. 7 finished on the lead lap. It was hot and stupid.
So, this has potential to be my last road race of the year. I'm tempted to go to Atlanta for two more crits, but will likely choose to do a 50+ mile gravel race instead. It's closer to home and gets me some more base miles on my 'cross bike. After all, 'cross is on its way.
