Stage 9

Starting to lose track of where we are. I took yesterday off and it feels like I haven't raced in weeks...so a few words about stage eight, The Ripon Criterium. The paper said "1.6 miles with a climb on one of the straights". Fantastic. Just my style. Long enough, not too technical, and with a climb to make things selective. The weather forecast was promising, and the legs were ready to smash it up after the flat messed things up a bit at Shorewood.

Pretty clear where I'm setting up to go with this entry, isn't it? Good course, good weather, good legs. After scrambling with the phone to find a ride, I hooked up with a guy from Colorado (actually, the guy I stole the $200 prime from on day 1! Funny how you get acquainted sometimes...) and made the 2+ hour trip out to Ripon, Wisconsin. North-most point of the tour. I hadn't eaten, so instead of checking out the course and laying out, I went out to find a bite to eat. Slim pickings in Ripon. Most serviceable option at the first grocery were Snickers bars. Hmm...went to a pharmacy, and way out in a dusty corner I uncovered a single energy-bar. Also put away 3 packs of these:


High sodium. Not too much sugar. Plenty of carbohydrates. Not the finest option, but honest it was far and away the best choice. After loading up, I registered, hassled the neutral for a rear wheel, and lined up. No callup today, I'd slipped to 11th. First thing that caught my eye: 100 laps. Huh? 1.6 mile course? I guess they'd shortened the course (doubt we were doing a 160 mile race that starts at 6pm). We lined up. First time this tour I didn't get clipped right in, and it proved a near-fatal mistake.

The course is impossible. 4 corners. You descend into turn 1, hang a left, and go up a power climb for 100 meters. As you crest, it's downhill immediately into turn 2, and another left for the back straight. Off-camber left turn at turn 3 into another equally difficult power climb, then yep....right back down again to turn 4 where you turn left and go up another slight rise to the finish. 1k! 2 good climbs. 1 little climb. 3 climbs x 100 laps=300 ascents! Gaps in large doses at every part of the course. I found this shot which is probably from the first 5-6 laps where way too many gaps were thrown up over the course.

Thank you Clint

That's the finishing straight. Anyhow, the peleton filtered out at a rate of 3-4 riders per lap. Looked back and saw that I was last wheel on more than one occasion. All bad. Difficult to move up on this course without completely bombing the two downhill corners after the hills. A break of 4 (with the yellow jersey up there) got up, and they were set to cruise. The jersey crashed and had to DNF. Unlucky. The best thing about triple-digit lap cards is how quickly the laps fly by. 50 to go, and there were less than 50 riders left in the peleton. I was fine. Then....the rain came. I look up and see nothing but sun and some distant clouds, so it was confusing, so I figured it wouldn't be long...but...laps from 40 to go up 'till 10 were in the wet. Riders crashing in every direction at ridiculously slow speeds. Unlucky. Some riders just stopped and pulled out. I felt fine, surprisingly, as wet weather ain't my thing at all. I was mid-pack in a rapidly shrinking peleton. A guy opened a huge gap on the approach to every corner, then sprinted like made to close it. After a lap of this I pulled up, had words, and passed. "Guy, if you can't ride at the pace, pull off. You're killing the riders behind you for no reason. Cmon." "What? You crazy? I'm doing that so that I can ride around when people crash." Needless to say, but he was gone a couple laps later. So I was allright...until...the rain stopped. I have a difficult time re-adjusting and trusting the slowly-drying course. I lost mid-pack position, and eventually was last wheel. 1 to go I came off, and had two fellow stragglers on my wheel. I let them through, then attacked into the final corner at way too fast a pace. The guy just shrugged and let me by with no response. I counted the riders ahead, and was pretty sure a $ spot is still in the works.

24th! Skin of the teeth! Not stellar, no points, but on a course like this, I can't complain. I really thought the money streak would end here, but it continues...can't wait for today. I want to throw myselft into a couple of moves. I've given up on the sprint points in favor of the GC. Top ten would be a dream. Stat junkies: Ripon Criterium: 2363KJ in 2:21. New record. I hit the 1000 watt mark way too many times. I must be on drugs.....ohh...bad joke maybe. Anyhow, the graph tells the story pretty well. The erratic start, the settling, where the rain starts, and how the speed picked up as the course dried.




Salut!

Danny pate! 1k to go! Live! Allllllllllllez mon petit Americain! vite Vite VITE!