Spring Series - Thunderbird/Aldergrove East

[aruss]

Last Friday eve I took the boat over to the continent to get a sniff of mainland fitness. Two Escape Velocity Spring Series road races were lined up in Langley (Thunderbird Horse Show Park) and Aldergrove Lake Park. Both races would feature classic spring conditions which was sure to keep mechanics busy in the days after.

Thunderbird was about a 6k lap with 50m gain. With 104k on tap, many many laps were about to ensue. After registering and picking up a timing tag (great lap timing at these races, live results) the heavens opened with a downpour. Warm up consisted of changing in the car with the heated seats on to the last possible minute. As we rolled out of the parking the rain eased to a drizzle and racing began. Positioning was fairly key at the start as several attacks began to solidify a break. The narrow roads made moving up very difficult, that is unless you placed yourself on a pedestal and attacked over the yellow line. Finding myself in the middle of the group and unable to participate in early escapes I sat pretty and conserved. After about a dozen attempts a break was established and the pace slowed to 'Polish massage' pace. The break from what I remember had all the major teams involved, however Langlois Brown didn't fancy their chances with their representation so their workhorses set a tempo to reel it in. After 20-25k the gap had been chopped to a minute, this is when LB didn't want to finish it off. I pitched in with the effort along with a few personal digs to see if a small group could make the bridge but nothing materialized. The bunch ended up catching the break with a timely 3k to go. I positioned myself well into the final rollers to be at the front third going into the last corner. About a 500m drag, over train tracks, lead us to the finish with my legs responding quite well to finish 9th.

Recovery post race, included mowing down and a Four Winds Brewery tasting. The following day the weather had cleared. The Aldergrove race would be a longer loop, 10k with 80m gain, totaling 120k. With many of the same riders doubling up the weekend, there were only a few sets of fresh legs, most notably Nigel Ellsay and Dylan Davies (DNF first day). These were the riders to mark, and these were the riders that would dictate the race.
This time around I positioned myself well in the opening stages to participate in the opening action. I found myself in an early 6-man break that I sat in on, much to the distaste of an LB rider. I had that luxury though, no teammates in the race. I also wasn't confident in the composition of riders in the break to make it stick, but had hopes that some stronger riders would make the bridge. I began to help out after enjoying the ride for some time, but to no avail as we were reeled. A half lap later a stronger group of riders, including the eventual winner, established themselves. I jumped to bridge across and was joined by two others. We worked very hard to get across the gap but it hovered at 5-10s for what seemed like 10 minutes. Looking back the bunch had now sat up and we were firmly in no-mans land. The three of us couldn't connect and after one other fell off on the hills I found myself with only an LB rider swapping turns. This steady type of riding was actually a nice change from the surges that were persistent in the bunch throughout the whole weekend. We rolled together for about another lap and then were reeled in. At about 60k the weather turned for the worse. Torrential rain with gusty winds would alter the remainder of the race. I have never raced in that type of weather, the rain and spray was so heavy at times that my eyes, behind glasses, felt as if they were under water. The water streaming down my face was also swallowed through my gapping mouth searching for oxygen while being guttered along the cross wind section. Russ Hays and then HR Block began ramping things up during this time and the break came back at about 90k. Davies of Red Truck launched a solo attack that the bunch assumed was a suicide mission in the strong winds. However, 10k later and Ellsay and a HR Block rider distanced themselves to join Davies. Ellsay seemingly was not into waiting around though as he rode right through Davies and soloed to the win. Davies outmatched HR for 2nd and the bunch sprinted for 4th which I ended up 14th and ready for a change of clothes.

Two testing races, some good take aways and info for teammates when we revisit the Spring Series racing at the last weekend, April 2/3 to check out the BC's course. Up first though is the first VCL event this Sunday at Caleb Pyke.