Co-Motion

We had targeted this race (an ORBA race) early spring and were looking forward to it. Since most of our early season tandem races had been cancelled due to my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury in my knee and hamstring problems, this became our second major target of the season after having set a new course record on the Terrible Two in the end of June (200 miles, 16,000 feet of climbing and over 100 degrees).

As usual my body was not quiet cooperating in my preparation. I was peaking a few weeks prior to the race and felt strong. But I then got a new pair of nice Sidi shoes from Paul and combined with new pedals caused my hamstring and knee to complain again. I was worried and forced to cancel all intensive training 2 weeks prior to the stage race. Paul has an incredible patience and I am really happy that he has not lost faith in my ability to ride my bike.

I went up to Paul and Janet in Richmond on Wednesday night. Thursday morning we left for Eugene, Oregon and did the 8 hour drive up there without major problems. We checked into the nice hotel in Eugene hosting the ride and then went out to ride the circuit race course and dial in new saddle and new shoes. After saddle position was corrected my knees were hurting a lot all night, and I moved my cleats back as far as possible.

Friday morning Janet set out on her own adventure ride. And her adventure rides were quiet adventuresome, dirt road, fires and off roads. Paul and I went to the hill climb course to ride it a few times to figure out what gear to use and so on. It was only a one mile climb. Thereafter we had a leisurely breakfast and drove the Sunday race course. A beautiful 62 mile course with quiet some good climbs (total 3000 feet), which has been used a lot for road races such as Burly classic. Then we came back and were resting a bit before the hill climb Janet finally called and she was far outside of town. Paul drove to pick her up and when they came back we went directly to the hill climb. We had nice skin suits and looked good. There were quiet some competition this year. In the A-category race there were 5 male tandems and 6 mixed tandems (man-captain, woman - stoker). The times from the hill climb were all within seconds of each other, and we knew that this weekend there was serious competition. Doug and Carol Breed, out new friends from the California double scene were there and we heard everywhere of their performance and for every race they had a new championship jersey.

Saturday morning we drove out to Junction city for the circuit race. Four 16 mile laps in a nearly totally flat course, with one little riser. The race was quiet uneventful. Doug and Carol woke up the racers on lap one by picking up the pace. On lap two they did a solo break away and stayed away for nearly a whole lap. At the end of lap two Paul and I suddenly found ourselves in serious trouble, off the back of the pack and the other tandems seriously gapping us in a surge of speed. We worked until our muscles screamed with lactic acid until we caught the group again. That felt really scary and I really thought the race was over for us. So, I was therefore quiet surprised to see that we caught Doug and Carol again on lap three. They had been unable to catch the wheels of the male tandems that had broken away. The rest of the race, the peloton stayed together. We attacked on the little hill and a few more times. A few others attacked, but the tandems were too even in strength to allow for any split in the group. The race ended in a group sprint. Paul and I, definitely not sprinters, determined our starting time for the afternoon time trial by coming in 4th from the back.

We went home to the hotel to nap for a little while before the time trial. This was definitely new to us. When we came back to the race course all the tandems were equipped with aerobars, we saw aerohelmets and all kinds of other adaptations to the bikes. We only knew that we had to go fast all the way. We brought water bottles for the 12 mile time trial, in case we would get thirsty (showing how much rookies we were). So we went as fast as we could and we were pleased with our last place finish. Doug and Carol won the time trial and were 1 minute 25 seconds ahead of us. We were pleased the gap was not bigger. That night we went out to eat at a nice Mexican place with Doug, Carol and their friend, Tony. Janet and Tony had both been supporting and riding their own adventure rides, so they were able to meet up for the Sunday ride to ride together.

At 11 am we are finally on our way. There are two early climbs at mile 5 and 10. Paul and I attack on climb 2. Two male tandems go with us and were were able to stay away from the group for a little time, but the third tandem was not working with us. Pace settles into comfort mode. We are always among top 3 tandems waiting to counter every move. There is a 15 mile stretch to big climbing section. Six miles prior to the big climbs a male tandem attack and we go. We look back and the rest of the peloton makes not attempt to follow. We are in a solo break-away with these guys until the climb, taking turns, pumping away, enjoying ourselves. At the climb the male tandem falls off and Paul and I climb in first place. We are waiting for another male tandem to come through that we can hook up with. The first male tandem came up, but we were unable to stay with them. After a while a second tandem is passing us and we can see the `mixed' race leaders chasing us. We realize that we have to stick with the male tandem in order to win this one. `Cause all the other tandems are stronger than us on the flats. We need to make up more than 1 minute 15 seconds in order to win the stage race. We stick with our male tandem for the rest of the race. There are a few more hills and rollers. Up over the last hills we give it all we have, realizing that 10 miles from the finish, this hill will determine our outcome. Paul said afterwards that his heart rate was 4 beats from maximum at the end of that climb. We managed to stick with the guys and we take turn to the end, they would pull 5 minutes and we would pull 20 seconds. Since we are not really competing in same division, they are fine with that. Approximately 5 minutes after we had come in, a peloton of 4 tandems come. We look at our speedometer, we averaged over 24 mph in this 60 mile race with 3000 feet of climbing. I guess it was not wonder I felt a bit tired at times.

I want to thank you again for helping to make last weekend one of the most exciting bike racing weekends ever! It was a wonderful experience, full of anticipation, highs, lows, and in the end a huge effort for a huge reward. I'll never forget the effort to hold that wheel over the climb on the Doane Rd. loop as long as I live. I don't thing I've ever suffered more or been more happy at the result! The whole event was great, and I really enjoyed participating in a stage race. Pulling off the victory with aggressive tactics was wonderful. So often bike racers ride aggressively only to be caught and beaten. We held them off for the win. I'm sure some of them were wondering, "What happened?"