The Minnesota State Championship

After having prepared for this event for over 6 months, I am glad the day is finally there. After my poor result of last week and my 2 DQ's in a row, I want to prove to myself that I am in good physical shape and I am able to put that into results. The race distance is 72 miles and therefore I stay in the back of the peleton for over 50 miles, just trying to conserve energy. The peleton is riding conservatively, something I was expecting after last week's race and seen we have to do 72 miles today aswell.

Each lap has 2 climbs in it, 1 climb to the finish line; and on the backstretch we have more gradual climb consisting out of a few plateau's in it. Since I could scout out all my opponents for 2,5 hours, I had a pretty good idea about who to keep an eye on in the final lap. One of the strongest contenders had a flat tire, he was the winner of last week, I truly felt bad for him and would have really wanted to compete against him. However I need to refocus on other riders now. With 1 lap to go on the final climb the peleton goes up the hill a little bit faster than the previous laps, and there I feel that my legs feel pretty solid today. In the light descent after the climb we break away with a group of 12 riders, and for the first time in the race after more than 50 miles I am coming completely to the front of the race pulling to break away, however it does not last and the peleton is able to bridge the gap. The original plan was to attack in the last lap; and that is what I am going to do, with 16 miles to go I place an attack in an attempt to bridge up with a rider who rides alone before the peleton. I easily bridge up to him and we start working very well together immediately, both of us are going 100% for our chances and in the uphill stretches I feel I have still a lot of power left in my legs. With 8 miles to go another rider bridges up to the 2 of us; and that surprises me since we were riding about 30 mph the whole backstretch. He must be a really strong time-trialist. 1 mile further 2 more riders bridge the gap and we are with a total of 5 riders now; with a split of around 40 seconds before the peleton.

With 6 miles to go, I feel that I need to step back and skip a few turns since I am going already for 30 minutes way over 100% of what I can do. This is not really what my fellow riders want and they ask me to keep pulling and I decide to take 1 big turn with some extra effort to keep it a fair game. With 1 mile to go we have an advantage of around 20 seconds. Not a whole lot considering the fact the finish is on a 1 km uphill stretch.
Mentally this is the hardest time of the race. I really disappointed myself last week in the sprint; and started doubting about my sprinters capabilities; this week I am determined to set that straight. The climb consists of 2 parts. After the first part of the climb the five of us are still together. I am hesitating whether to use the small ring or the big ring on the climb. Initially I had my gear on the small ring, but watching the ( according to me ) better rider of the 5, he had switched to the bigger ring, for me that was (53x19). We turn left, there is an uphill stretch left of about 300/400 meters. I can see the finish line now. This is always the moment a sprinter decides to forget about all the pain and to explode. That is what I do. With that acceleration I was able to take even a 4 seconds gap and I become the Minnesota State Champion after a race of 3 hours and 8 minutes with an average speed of 23 miles per hour. I am exhausted, but extremely happy that 6 months of hard work and dedication on trainings paid of to reach my ultimate goal of the year. The reward is a Champion's Jersey!!!! I will be very proud to wear the Jersey in the upcoming races.


And, off course the pictures!!!!

Me, right before I will get my State Jersey

Me putting on the Championship Jersey.

The podium of the Championship

As a cycling tradition wants it...

My and my precious bike before the race. I did a lot of work on my bike and changed many components to improve efficiency.

Sasha taking pictures on our way up to Richmond at 6AM, It promised to be a beautiful day.

 

 

My and my fellow competitors for the Cat 3 race today. I look relaxed, and actually I am!

This is me flashing by during my final jump! Sasha did not get me completely though! Was I too fast?

After the race, 3 hours of racing, very happy but also tired.

More pictures of me recuperating with a water bottle.