Steamboat Stage Race, Done and Done

My world ends three feet in front of me. My mind screams at me to just stop pedaling, pull over and give my legs a rest. How I am still moving forward I don't know. It's me and 5 other riders and I know that if I lose the shelter of the group for one second my world will explode. Courtney is behind me in the car leap frogging ahead to take pics, maybe I could just jump in the car. I try to push the negative thoughts out, but I don't have the energy to spare. My legs continue to turn over automatically, but with no purpose. Thankfully, mercifully, no one attacks. Earlier I felt strong, like I could pull away from anyone, now I need all the help I can get. I remind myself that I am out here of my own volition, no one made me sign up. I take in some fluids and throw down some energy blocks I stashed away in my jersey pockets.
Somehow my legs start to come around. I am pedaling circles again and the power is returning. With the surge in my legs comes a big boost to my morale. I've suddenly gone from dead man rolling to taking longer pulls up front. With each mile I feel I am getting stronger, I am taking the energy from the other riders and using if for myself.
Our group splits on the final climb, I am in the final three. I grab for my water for one last drink, another rider attacks. I jam the bottle back in the cage and go after him. He holds me off to the line, but I was coming up on him fast. I cross the line exhausted but happy from the effort. I went to the brink, my mind tried to sabotage me, but I kept it together and fought to the line.

This Labor Day weekend I labored at the Steamboat Springs Stage race. The 1st day was a time trial, the 2nd was a circuit race, the 3rd was the road race (where the excerpt above occurred), and a crit race finale. Stage racing places a new set of demands on each rider. Recovery, pacing, tactics and a positive mind are all needed. I enjoyed having to mark riders, keep track of time bonuses, know who is in the group, who is up the road and who has been left behind. It brought a new element to each day.

Each morning I woke up tired, sore and groggy. I used everything I could to get my legs ready, coffee, espresso laced chocolate bars and more coffee. What was most difficult was getting my mind ready to race. The mind knows what's ahead, the pain and effort to come and it doesn't want to acknowledge it. Simply focusing on getting organized is hard. You know you need to focus, but your mind isa foggy mess. But once you throw a leg over the bike, clip in and start pedaling it all starts to come around. The adrenaline gets flowing again and pretty soon that fogginess is replaced by a singular focus to achieve. The transformation is acute and fun to go through. Amazingly it happens the same every day. Fatigue and tiredness is replaced by energy and alertness, if just for an hour.

In the end I took 5th overall and placed 4th in the final crit, my highest crit finish ever. I wish there were more stage races on the calendar but the logistics make them hard to pull off. Next year I will certainly highlight this race and go for a big result.