The emotional roller coaster one goes through the moment
before the gun goes off can lead you to believe your mind is playing tricks on
you. This is exactly what happened to me
at the Mount Pleasant RR. I was in the
back talking with Ray and there was a strange smell. We were questioning who would be smoking "medicinal herbs" the moment before a race.
Only to find out the local Indians were burning sage for the start of
the race. Sage is burned to drive out
bad spirits, feelings or influences and also keep bad spirits from
entering. It's also burned to promote
healing. This definitely worked for me
as it took away my pre-race anxiety and focused my mind on other things.
As the gun went off I was far from ready unclipped and
sitting on my top tube. Good thing this
wasn't a crit or that could've burned a match.
Although I was forced to catch up with the group it wasn't an
issue. The first 7-10 miles I mostly
hung near the back just getting my legs underneath me and observing the
field. Mostly trying to see who was
going to attack too soon. After the 2nd
or third corner I realized I better move up.
The pace was really starting to pick up and the effort I was putting in around
the corners was more than I wanted to do that early in the race.
I took my time moving up usually riding the gutter. This is my classic move as I can really gain
a lot of ground in the peloton in a short period of time. I'm surprised more guys don't do this or cut
it off. Before to long I found myself
around 10th wheel. Right where I wanted
to be. Although this race was really difficult
to hold position. As one side would slow
the other would surge and you could lose 10-15 spots in a matter of
seconds. This continued to happen over
the next 10-15 miles.
Around mile 25 or so I moved to the front and set a really
high pace hoping to string it out and maybe drop a few stragglers. Although I wasn't to hopeful it was worth the
effort. As I slid back a few spots Jon
launched an attack. Seeing who went with
him I knew it wasn't going to hold.
Knowing this I was trying to move toward the front to attack as soon as
he was brought back. Only to find myself
boxed in. Shortly after Jon was brought
back I attacked through the gutter. Only
to look back see the field wasn't chasing I had a decent gap and nobody was
bridging. At this moment I started to
have an internal battle. Do I push
myself to the limit over the next 20 or so miles and try to solo to the
finish? Do I hold a pace and make the
field work hard to chase me down hopefully hurting a few riders? Or do I start to ease up and try to save some
energy for the finish? Honestly I was
really hoping to get 2-3 riders to go with me and make an effort to having a
break stick. At this point I decided to
ease up slightly and let the field catch me.
The pace started to really yo yo the last 5 miles. It went from really fast to slower. I also wasn't paying attention to the
mileage. Finding myself out of position
when everyone was trying to move up for the last corner. I was able to get into decent position
though. Probably 15 around the last
corner. This is where I made a huge
error in judgment that potentially cost me a top 5-10 finish. I knew I wanted to take the corner either on
the inside or outside and not be caught in the middle. From the beginning of the race my plan was to
take the outside. If I would've pre
ridden the corner I would've taken the inside for sure. We turned onto a 4 lane road. Two lanes and the turning lane were opened up
around the corner. I didn't realize how
fast the turning lane was closed off til it was too late. I found myself pushed off into the cones
hitting one square at a high rate of speed.
I didn't fall but had to slow way down to avoid the next cone and rejoin
the field. At this point I knew my race
was over as the majority of the field had gapped me it was going to be really
tough to catch them for the sprint.
However I decided to give it a go and started sprinting to get up to
speed and then drill the pedals. I was
making up a ton of places and notice I had a chance to catch the group and get
into the top 20 at this point.
Unfortunately, as soon as I was thinking this I saw wheels and bodies
flying. All I could think was not on
this bike. Hoping to find a clear lane
and stay upright I slowed down. Only to
find the lane I chose a rider from the crash moved into. Clinching my brakes and bracing for impact I
hit him square in the back causing me to go over the handle bars. Luckily I didn't have a scratch on me and
only my bike computer was out of position.
I then hopped back on the bike and strolled in for 47th place.
After cooling down and chatting for about an hour my
derailleur hanger broke in half. If
that's the only result of crashing I'll take it. Much better to spend $20 for a derailleur
hanger then $800 in hospital bills and the added expense of a new bike.
Overall awesome race.
Had a ton of fun and really enjoy our team. Even though we had to get up way to early the
conversations in the car and ride make this team one of as kind.
-Jeremy VanSpronsen
Jeremy has come a long way since he decided he wanted to start riding and racing a bike in 2011. He went from getting shelled at every Cat 5 race to finishing on the Cat 4 podium in 1 year. His talent, drive, attitude and personality make him a valuable asset to the team.
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