2-WHEELS Elite Cycling

With over 20 years of military service and numerous combat tours, I have witnessed courageous acts countless times.  Courage is the ability to act regardless of the feelings or potential consequences. Courage is following your intuition when the facts are against it.  The thing to remember is courage is not only done by military personnel in a combat zone but is done every day by ordinary folks doing extraordinary things.

This past weekend at the Dothan Criterium (crit), we all witnessed a very courageous performance by one of our teammates.  Michele has been really struggling with feeling comfortable in the peloton racing at high speeds, especially in races with tight corners and down hills.  Well, the Dothan crit had both.  It was a 0.7 mile 4 corner crit with the last 2 of the 4 corners being downhill and fast.  To make matters even worse, as Michele and I were sitting on corner number 4 eating Moe’s and watching the Category 4 race there was a huge pile up with one guy being transported to the hospital. (side note: he is ok!)  This sent Michele’s fear sky rocketing.

So, as the hours passed and her race time got closer she was getting even more nervous about racing.  About an hour before her event, she started warming-up and I could tell there was something really bothering her.  She was distant and not really focused on warming-up.  Her thoughts were elsewhere.  As a good friend and someone who has been to all of her races, I have never witnessed her in this state.  All I could muster up to tell her as she warmed-up and debated on racing is that “if she wants to leave then we will!”….She has never not started a race and I only know of one time that she dropped out of a race and that was because of asthma. She has stayed in races and finished by herself numerous times because she refuses to quit.

After a half hearted warm-up, she headed to the line to race.  This was the first step in facing her fear.  The officials and promoter did the typical pre-race announcements and rules and they were off.  The women’s Pro 1, 2 race was an hour long event and on the first lap Michele was falling off the back of the peloton because she was cautiously going through every turn.  The good thing is Michele was strong enough to get back on the back of the peloton on the straight-aways and up hills.   This lasted for the first 20 minutes of the race.  Eventually Michele went to the front and pulled the group for a few laps and you could tell there was a change in her.  They were through about half of the race when this happened, and then Debbie Milne lapped the field.  After a couple of laps being in the field Debbie went up the road again.  Michele, realizing something needed to be done, attacked the field after turn 4 going through the start/finish and joined Debbie.  The two of them quickly started to work together and built up a huge gap on the field.  In the end Debbie rolled in 1^st and Michele took 2^nd.

Michele’s courage did not come through her ability to take on the whole field but came from facing her fears.  She has been struggling with the fear of crashing since she crashed at Master’s Nationals last year.  This fear has been hindering her abilities and results.  It had gotten so bad on Saturday that it almost prevented her from racing.  Regardless of the amount of fear she had eating away at her, she went to the start line and performed.  Her courage came out again by not only facing her demon but out witting it and the peloton and finishing 2^nd in a very tough long crit.  Please do not get me wrong, Michele is not over this fear and she probably never will be.  Having a fear of crashing as a bike racer is a healthy fear to have.  The level of fear she has for crashing at this time is too high, but this past weekend she made some big strides in knocking it down to a lower level.  Please do some self reflecting and if you have a fear reach down and grab hold and face that fear.  Do not let that fear control you!  Take control of that fear and face it. This is courage and being courageous is the act of courage….” ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing!”

I want to congratulate a couple of 2-WHEELS Elite Cycling Athletes for winning the Alabama State Road Race Championship this past weekend in Tuscaloosa.

Gage Kronberger (Junior 14)

Ryan Couture (Cat 4)

Fantastic job this past weekend winning in your respective categories!

Michele and I debated the whole week about if we were going to go to this race or not.  It was Friday afternoon when we decided to head out there.   Luckily, our fields normally don’t fill up so we were not worried about not being pre-registered, and we had already locked in a hotel room.  It is a 4 ½ drive to Tuscaloosa from Albany……on back roads breaking the speed limit the whole time.  A long boring drive!

Reflecting back over the weekend of racing for me, I guess it was a mix of bad decisions, some bad luck, and some good luck.

Saturday’s Crit, Tour de Tuscaloosa (26 March 2011):

Being an avid cyclist, you also become addicted to the weather.  According to weather.com there were storms moving through Tuscaloosa in the evening on Saturday.  Between the late start of the Pro race and the storms moving in my decision was fairly easy and I decided to race the Masters 35+ to avoid the bad weather.  Parking and registration went smoothly.  Got the kits and the bikes ready and before I knew it, it was time to start warming up.  I was able to get a couple of laps on the crit course.  Basically the course was 8 turns with one nice descent and one nice leg snapping climb.  I guess you could say the course was a cross between a circuit course and a crit course.

With an ok warm-up, I headed over to the start line as the dark clouds started moving in.  This was not a good sign.  As we lined up, the thunder hit, and the rain came.  Unfortunately for us, it was a short little down pour and only brought all the oil to the surface of the roads and did not wash it away.  The officials went over the typical race information, the rain stopped and we were off.

The roads were slick and it seemed like every turn you made your bike would slide out from under you.  On the first lap coming out of turn 8 to the start/finish a rider right in front of me slid out taking a couple of cyclists with him.  How I avoided the crash I have no clue.  Luck!  A few laps later I was coming up the hill and realized I had a flat tire.  As I was going to the pit, Michele asked what was wrong and she headed to the car to get her rear wheel.  Mark Thompson met her half way between the car and the pit, grabbed the wheel and ran it to me in the pit.  I had enough time to place the wheel in the frame, adjust the brakes, hop on the bike, and start pedaling to join the race again.  Huge thanks to Michele and Mark for being great teammates!

Almost immediately back in the field I was off the front in a break with two other riders.  We held the break for a few laps but it was touch and go until we were reeled back in.  With about 5 laps to go a solo break went but I did not think it was going to stick.  The last laps were speed up, slow down with riders trying to bridge to the solo rider but no one did.  On the last lap, I got myself in a bad position for the sprint finish and really did not have a fighting chance.  I ended up taking 7^th.

Sunday’s Road Race, Alabama State Championship (27 March 2011):

Unlike Saturday, I decided to race the Pro 1 2 race on Sunday and it was not supposed to rain.  The reason for deciding to do the Pro race was because it was in the morning and not mid day allowing us to get back to Albany late evening on Sunday.

The road race course was a 10 mile loop rolling course with two good climbs.  The first climb was right after the start/finish line, and the second climb was about a mile from the start/finish line.  The Pro field had to do 7 laps for a total of 70 miles.  With not the best warm-up for the race, I headed to the start line hoping that no breaks get up the road until after the first lap or so.  How wrong I was!  The race started and within the first mile the winning break of 3 went up the road.  I saw it and was in a good position to respond but I thought “no way will they let that go”.  Another bad decision!  Individuals put some gallant chases in but no team came forward to chase the break down and it slowly gained time on the field.

After the first lap, my legs started to wake up and I tried to get in a couple of breaks but everything got pulled back.  On lap 4, I actually rolled off the front and held a solo break for a lap until I was caught by a chase group.  We all worked together for another half a lap until the peloton caught us.  It seemed like the next lap around, I rolled off the front at the same spot but this time I was chased down by the field within a half of a lap.  As soon as I was caught, a fairly large break of 11 riders went up the road and with tired legs and seeing that nothing else got away I made the decision not to go.  Another bad decision!  This time what was left of the field let that break go up the road.  With about 14 riders up the road, the remainder of the field just tempo’ed in the last two laps.  I ended up taking 25^th for the day and basically finished in the middle of the field.

Not the best weekend of racing for me but in the end, I put some gallant efforts in but they were probably poorly timed.  I did not crash, which is huge, and Michele and I were able to walk away with enough prize money to cover our entrance fees.  Lastly, we were allowed a late check out from the hotel so for the ride back to Albany we were able to take a shower and felt clean.

For the drive back to Albany, my GPS took us through Birmingham and back down.  This time we drove a more highway than back roads but the drive was still 4 ½ hours of boredom.

Just a quick update on what is going on!  This past weekend 2-WHEELs Elite Cycling continued to have success with two juniors leading the way.  Cole Acord won both of his races on his home town BMX track.  Gage Kronberger won the Alabama State Championship Road Race in the Junior 14 category.  Michele Moutlon showed her courage on Saturday by fighting through a cramp and finishing 10^th in the woman’s Pro 1 2 Crit at the Tour de Tuscaloosa.  She followed her results on Saturday with a 10^th place finish in the Road Race on Sunday.   Ryan Couture fought hard in the Cat 4 Crit in the Tour de Tuscaloosa this past Saturday and Sunday improved on his finish in the Alabama State Championship Road Race.  As for myself, I raced hard both days but luck and bad decisions got in the way of good results.  I took 7^th in the 35+ Tour de Tuscaloosa Crit and 25^th in the Alabama State Championship Road Race.

Unfortunately for Michele, there were only two Pro, 1, 2 girls racing the road race so Michele opted to race with the Cat 3 guys on a 73 mile ride around the country side. Knowing that her chances were nonexistent for a podium finish she went into training mode for the day. The course was a lollipop shaped course on rolling terrain. After doing the stick portion of the lollipop, getting dropped on the descents and chasing back on, and slamming her breaks on because of all the yoyo’ing going with the Cat 3s, she had enough and slipped back off the back of the field and waited for the master field to come through. She jumped in with those guys and was able to hang on with the masters field for a lap and half and then was directed the wrong way by some of the cops on the course. From there she had to solo it in to the finish by herself. She completed the 73 miles and did at least half the ride by herself. A valiant effort that has her completely exhausted and rightfully so.

This morning Kent changed his race category from Pro 1,2 to Master”s 35+ after adhering to a friend’s advice telling him he should race the category he has the best chance of doing well in. Like Saturday, he again went on the attack early in the race and got away with two other riders prior to the ten mile mark of a 73 mile road race. After a few more miles, one of riders could not handle the pace and slipped back leaving Kent and another rider. The two of them slowly gained time on the field. Half way through the last lap and about 20 miles from the line Kent slipped away from his break away companion and was able to solo in to the finish for the win.

It was another good weekend of racing for Heritage Bank/PCP Race Team. Four races…. three podiums.

Quick update from Union City….Michele raced the woman’s Pro, 1, 2 and took 3rd. It was an awesome effort by her. She was attacked on every lap by the Louis Garneau Team and was able to hold them off the whole race. With all the efforts of shutting down attacks it is amazing she had any legs at the end of the race and to make matters worse the Louis Garneau Team blocked her to prevent her from sprinting. Kent made a last minute change and decided to race the 35+. As typical within the first few laps Kent was in a two man break and about halfway through the race another two riders bridged. The four of them were able to hold off the peloton and Kent finished 3rd. Another great showing from the Heritage Bank/PCP Race Team.

“Bury yourself on the bike when you race!”  I just read a similar quote in the March 2011 Bicycling magazine from Peter Stetina, and it jarred my memory.  It is not the first time I’ve heard this quote and I hope it is not the last.  The first time I heard it was when I was an up and coming category 4 racer out in San Diego.  One of the master riders I looked up to for advice told me prior to a race to win or bury myself trying to win.  This stuck with me for some time.   There have been times in my racing career, such as the Tour de Toona, where I actually taped it to my handle bars so I could read it when I raced. 

This quote might mean something a little different to all of us but I will try and express what it means to me:   When you are out on the course racing you do everything you can do to win, finish or accomplish your goal.  You are aggressive, you ride hard, you dig deep, and you do not worry about your heart rate, your power or your speed.  When you come across that finish line either in first, last or in the middle of the pack you know and everyone else knows that you threw down everything you had on the race course.   You dig into your reserves as much as you have to. You do not hold back any reserves for later in the day or for tomorrow or for the following week.  You understand what matters is what you are doing right then and there.  You will die trying to cross that finish line first no matter how much pain you are in.   You attack, bridge, pull, and so on when you least feel like it.  You come to peace with pain and you start to enjoy it.    Please do not get me wrong, I am not advocating or encouraging that you race so aggressively that you are causing a dangerous situation for the other racers.  When I speak of an aggressive rider I am talking about someone who is willing to go to the front of the peloton and pull a break back, bridge to a break, create a break, ride hard at the front in windy conditions or up a hill, and so on.  I would rather take second and be known as the rider who did all the work than a rider that wins  and sandbags the whole race.     

As we start rolling into the 2011 cycling season and the racing starts I want to remind everyone the proper mind set you must have when you roll up to the starting line.  No matter what your event or goal…. ride as if you are going to “Bury yourself on the bike when you race!”