Tour of PA Stage 5

Stage 5 was one of the strangest days I’ve had on a bike. The 91 mile course had no major climbs, but the steep hills, the technical course, and racers’ aggression never let up, making it one of the hardest stages of the race. I bridged up to an early break that looked dangerous. We worked well over the first and only KOM, but the group came back soon after.

A few miles later, we hit one of many hairy descents, and (I’d been waiting for it) my typical shitty stage race luck began. I was in the group, and there must have been a rock or something in the road. My front wheel ran right over it, my hands slipped off the bars from the unexpected impact, and I went over the bars. I stood up, threw my shredded gloves into a ditch on the side of the road, grabbed a rear wheel from neutral support, and chase back on to the group behind my team car. We would get a fine for drafting: 100 Swiss Francs (the UCI is in Switzerland), but the investment proved very worthwhile.

We were probably somewhere around the halfway point of the race when I rejoined, feeling major pain in my back and shoulder, and wondering if I could be able to finish. Hayden and Jamey gave me a bunch of bottles, so I was able to clean my wounds some. I settled in to the pack and focused on finishing.

Heading in to Pittsburg, there was a break of 3 guys 1:30 up the road. Attacks started to fly, and splits formed. My legs were starting to come around again (or something), and I stayed safely near the front, closing gaps when I needed to but still saving energy as much as possible. Two strong riders slipped away on a descent, and I bridged to them on an uphill. We ended up a group of 5, and worked smoothly heading towards the 10 miles of finish circuits downtown.

The run-in to the circuits was absurd. There were sharp, unmarked turns, narrow roads, gravel, and cars on the course, so it was great to be in a smaller group where I could see what was going on. Still, we all came too hot into one 45-degree turn. The group shot into a gas station parking lot, but most of them were able to slow down and stay on the correct street. I had just pulled through, so I came in fastest, and was forced to head towards what looked like an exit on the other side of the gas station, which would rejoin the race course behind the break. As I neared that exit, I realized that it was blocked by a 4-foot high steel cable. I was going way too fast to slow down, so I said a prayer and ducked. The cable scraped my helmet, caught the race radio in my back pocket, and tore my jersey, but I made it out onto the street, and chased back onto the break. I really hope Versus got that shit on tape.

Our chase group continued to work well, and caught the break with 2 more 5k laps to go on the circuits. Once we made the catch, cooperation went out the window. I found myself, Alex Boyd, Sheldon Deeny, and Caleb Fairly doing all the work, with everyone else sitting on. Gaps started to open, and with just over a lap to go, the group split into two, with no one working on the front or behind, and me in the middle. Sensing opportunity, I attacked, and they all looked at each other as I rolled away. I came through the finish line with a 10 second gap on the break, seeing a lap to go and 70,000 spectators screaming like hell. I could barely hear Curt yelling at me to in the radio to keep going, but I knew that anyway. Sheldon attacked the break just before the field swallowed them up, but I had too much of a gap for him to catch me. For the second day in a row, I thought I had it won.

With 500 meters to go, I looked back and saw bad news: two Kelly Benefits riders had shot out of the field, caught and passed Sheldon, and were gaining on me fast. I tried to get the wheel when they came by, but I was too blown, and they were too fast, coming by my with two turns to go (see yesterday’s stream of swearing). I kept it going, and stayed well clear of the field for the last podium spot. Not a win, but I played my cards right once again with all the odds against me, and everyone saw it. I think I’ve officially learned to overcome my poor sprint with sneakiness and smart tactics, and it’s starting to get me some results at big races.

Between my various pains and scrapes, I couldn’t sleep last night. Luckily there’s just a 50 mile crit left, so I should be able to hang on. My shoulder and back are seriously killing me. I don’t really want to know right now, and if I could race like that before, I can do a little more. I’ll do it after the crit.