With the chance to race on the newly awarded US Nationals road race course, the VeloWorks/Spokes, Etc. took a full squad to Clear Spring, Maryland.  The women raced a combined Category 1-4 field, the men split the squad among the 35+ 3/4, the open 3/4 and the 1/2/3 races.  Jason came away with a solid 6th in the 35+ race and Jamie took the win in a controversial women’s race.  See her report below.

Category 1-4 Women

Jamie’s report:

Robin and I took the start line with a group of about 25 women. After a neutral start, the race proceeded at a conversational pace until the first little set of climbs, where a few riders drove the pace up before relaxing on the downhill. A woman from Colavita attacked the downhill and I countered briefly, mostly to have open road in front of me for the descent. I kept the effort level low because I didn’t want to get away with 45 miles to go. There were a few surges, but nothing serious until a Sweetspot-Cutaway rider got a gap about halfway through the race. She stayed away for most of a lap with a lead that varied between 20 and 30 seconds. A few riders tried to bridge up to her, and the racing got tough. She was eventually brought back and the pack stayed together for a bit.

I was sitting second wheel through the rollers on the second half of the course when the rider in front of me accelerated hard up a hill. I matched her pedal stroke for pedal stroke and it didn’t hurt too bad, so I figured I’d try my luck off the front. I dug hard on the next roller and got a gap. I was getting time splits from the officials, so I know the gap fluctuated between 20 and 30 seconds. I got to come through on the bell lap with a 30-second gap, which was cool. My goal was to stay away at least until we got over the main hill, because I figured I’d be blown out the peloton’s butthole if I got caught there. I managed to stay away with a steadily-closing gap until after the descent and the hard right turn on the other side. Shortly after that, the race came back together and I got a little rest.

At that point, there were about 10 miles left in the race. Women who had teammates started coming together and moving towards the front. Robin and I found each other and talked about who had the better legs. I told her I felt like I could still sprint a little, so we decided to do what we could in the final sprint with her leading me out. Sweetspot-Cutaway and Haymarket were keeping a steady but fairly easy pace at the front. I was on Robin’s wheel.

Coming into the final significant climb (where the road narrows), Robin and a rider from ABRT ended up on the front. Robin drove the pace hard up the hill and I managed to stay on her wheel, although it took an effort because she’s STRONG! Neither of us was sure how far up the finish line was, so we didn’t know when to go. We tried to keep our heads up and respond to the movements of the pack. We made the final turn. At some point, the pace got harder and Robin’s legs were done. My legs felt pretty done, too, but I tried to stay near the front and jump on the tail of someone else’s leadout. ABRT jumped and I tried to follow, but I was sinking rapidly through the pack. Legs had too much in the breakaway, I guess, and I sat up, figuring it might be good enough for a top 10.

But as we came across the line, I noticed that there were no officials. And no camera. And no spectators. Then I remembered that one of the race e-mails mentioned that the finish line would be up the road near the school, and I realized that everyone had sprinted to the wrong line! One of the motos pulled up alongside us and told us that we’d gone too soon; the line was still ahead. I accelerated, and yelled that the finish line was still ahead. No one else had enough time to respond, though, and I already had the winning gap. I came across the line, fist raised in victory.

And then things got less fun. Naturally, the women who had sprinted to the wrong line were angry. We were all summoned to talk with the officials. Robin and I rolled up as they were listing out the people who should have (in their opinion) won. Robin and I mostly stayed quiet and listened, keeping in mind the first rule of Veloworks-Spokes Etc. The crux of the argument was that the women’s field hadn’t been told that there would be two lines and two tents, but some neutral observers had reported that that fact was included in the pre-race briefing. The head judge took me aside and asked me if I had known that the finish line was still farther ahead. I was upfront about the fact that no, I hadn’t known exactly where the finish line was and I had sprinted along with everyone else for the first line. But I also said that I had figured out what was going on and acted upon it. “I think everyone should race heads up,” I said, and left it at that.

The officials decided to take the results from the actual finish line, rather than the line that everyone sprinted to. The third place woman declined to stand on the podium; she would have won if the decision had gone the other way.

So I won, and I think I deserved the win. I don’t think it would be reasonable to say, “Well, none of us knew where the finish line was, so we’ve all decided that there should be a different finish line for our race than for everyone else’s races.” And I think Robin and I (and Beth, who was also around) represented VWS well in a difficult situation. There were women from other teams who came up to me and told me to be proud. But it still wasn’t a very enjoyable win.

Post-Race Reflections

We all at VeloWorks/Spokes, Etc. take our oath very seriously.  “Don’t be a jerk.”  Robin and Jamie represented VWS with grace, honesty and class amid the swirling controversy, regardless of where the officials chose to place them.  Chapeau, ladies!

VeloWorks/Spokes, Etc. team continued it’s hot streak with great performances at the cool, damp, sloppy Poolesville Road Race.

Category 4/5 Women

Robin’s report:

First of all, major kudos for the tough VWS cat 4 women, who all showed up to race Poolesville. I don’t think any of us were especially excited about riding in the rain and in the mud (except maybe Jamie, who must be part Belgian), but we did it anyway! Our race plan was to keep it hard from the start, with Jamie, Sarah and me doing pacemaking and attacking, and Beth and Kim looking after Cinnamon as our A.

Of course, as racing often goes, our plan changed almost immediately on Lap 1. Cinnamon lost touch with the group in the gravel, which we didn’t realize until later, and Beth got a flat in it. (The gravel also claimed Jamie’s tire on lap 2). Gah! The peloton rode on, and I put in a couple attacks after the short steep hill on Elmer School. I got a small gap of maybe 5 or 10 seconds, but was gradually floating back to the field when a rider from Bike Rack rode past me. I knew from past races that she was pretty strong, so I followed her wheel to not let her get away.

The Bike Rack rider and I worked together a little while, but those attacks had me tired and struggling to keep up the pace. I ended up dropping back a bit, and spent several miles trying to close a small gap between us. Eventually I caught up to her again and we started working, but I didn’t think we’d be able to stay away for 2 more laps together. However, the moto came by at several points to give us time gaps, and they were steadily increasing. Midway through the final lap he told us we were up to 2 minutes, which is when we knew the break going to stick.

I had no doubt this was the result of VWS women doing work to manage the pack, and knowing the rest of the women were now essentially putting their race on the line for me gave me the extra motivation I needed to keep pushing those last few miles. I wasn’t sure, though, how I should try and lose my breakaway companion… my legs were feeling a little heavy, so I didn’t want to leave it down to a sprint.

Fortunately, the opportunity presented itself after the final turn onto Westerly. I saw she was starting to fall behind, so I decided to take off. When I was gasping for air and thinking I was almost done, though, I saw the 1K to go sign, ahhhhh!! Thankfully, I managed to not die before getting across the line. I then watched Sarah take 3rd in an incredible sprint, and Kim finish seconds later in a reduced group of 5 or 6 women. Cinnamon cheerfully joined the finishers not long thereafter.

I was stunned by the result, and cannot thank the Cat 4 women enough for making it happen. Even though any one of them could have been on the top step, they made a choice to race selflessly in support of a teammate — a teammate who was not even supposed to be on the podium that day! That. Is. AWESOME. I look forward to repaying that goodwill, and to getting all the VWS women the results they have earned and deserve this season.

Category 3 Men

Justin’s report:

Pre-race Details:

Sean, Eric, MT and I lined up in a field of about 40 along with the 1/2/3 women. NCVC was well represented in the group as well as District Velocity and District Taco. With the long stretch of gravel for each of the six laps, we took a wait and see approach given the unpredictability of the course, with the potential of setting up Sean on the flat to slightly downhill finish.

Race Commentary:

The pace was tame from the start with a measured push through the gravel as riders were getting their confidence on the surface. After this stretch and a series of rollers, two riders went off the front. With about two miles left in the first lap I put in a modest chase effort to keep the riders in sight while letting them dangle a bit on their own. I’m guessing I had pulled for two minutes or so when another rider came around me. I took a glance back and saw the peloton had given us 200 feet or so. At this point, I decided to bridge to the riders off the front to see if we could establish a four man break. As we started the second lap, the other rider and I really drilled the downhill of Willard road until we caught the two of the front. I immediately began pushing the pace to ensure we consolidated our lead. The moto then informed us we had 25 seconds on the chase. Looking back there was nobody in sight.

With 45 or so miles to go and 5 more passes through the gravel, I figured our chances were slim to be able to stay away. On the bright side, I knew MT, Sean and Eric would use their abilities to try and break up coordination of a chase. Additionally, both District Taco and District Velocity were represented in the break, cutting down the number of teams that would be willing to drive the peloton. My main goal at this point was to increase the gap quickly in hopes of sinking the morale of the chase group. Over the course of the next couple laps, I put in work on a good portion of the flat and downhill sections to ensure we didn’t lose time. On the flip side, the other three riders did a great job leading the way on the gravel as I did not feel particularly comfortable on the slick stuff. Somewhere on the third lap the moto told us we had a fifty second gap. I knew this wasn’t enough and just kept driving the break as hard as I could. Everyone appeared to be tired at this point but we all took our turns at the front. On the fourth lap I flagged the moto down to get an idea of the gap and he said he wasn’t getting radio communication at this point. While I felt this was a good sign, I knew we still had a lot of work to do.

By the sixth lap everyone in the break was running on fumes but continued to do their part. The last time through the gravel seemed like it would never end as the other riders did their best at the front. I kept looking back thinking we were going to be caught. As we hit the last couple of miles of the race with no chase in sight, the truce faded as everyone was posturing for the final push. This was very similar to the Turkey Hill finish last week where I pulled a tempo pace towards the end with riders on my wheel, who proceeded to come me around me in the last 100m. I knew I had to do something differently this time. I was able to shed two of the riders with a hard pace up the false flat into the last kilometer, with one rider still on my wheel. I put in a quick attack at this point with the rider still directly behind me. Knowing I had to create a gap before the finish, I put in another attack with about 400m left. This time I was able to get some separation and as I began my sprint with 200m left, the other rider sat up and I was able to cross the finish line with a smile rather than having to fight the last few meters. In the end we had gapped the peloton by over four minutes.

Post-race Reflections:

I had an amazing time with the other three riders in the break. As tired as everyone looked and felt, even with forty miles left, I was so impressed that they all put in the necessary work when it was their turn. Equally important, however, was the effort that was put in to break up the chase. While being in the break was an incredibly hard, we were not going so fast that we were uncatchable. Without the help of teammates putting in this critical work, I’m am sure we would have been reeled in at some point. After the race, riders from other teams told me the nice job they did in this and I thank you all so much for being willing to do this for me. Additionally, I really appreciate all of you in the VWS cheering section by the finish line. While I could only hear you all for a couple of seconds each lap, it really kept me in good spirits to know you were there.