The hardest part of the day was the 4am up and about with no where to get food. Michelle and I did some shopping the day before so it was cereal and bananas in the room before riding our bike down to the Pacific Island Club for our shuttle pic up. We were greeted down there by "Joe the Bus Driver" and Peter Ford from Cycling Sport News. Nothing like starting your morning with some comedic relief from Peter! What a character! Still waiting to see his article that he is publishing about this new wave of naked, brakeless, downhill MTB that was discussed at dinner! Should be fun!
So we loaded the bus and started the trek to the south part of the island for the race start at Jeff's Pirate Cove. Once we arrived there, it was great to talk to the rest of the competitors and some last minute ribbing for wearing MTB shoes and using Crankbrother Eggbeaters on my Specializd SL3 Rocket Ship. Good thing I can take it, cause it was the topic of discussion all weekend and some think my demise at the finish, maybe??
Anyway, the gun went off and we followed the pace car out. We had a pretty easy roll out and once the car pulled away, the action started. I think the first major thing that happened was when Kyle from Australia flatted less than 5K into the race. I was ridding next to Malcolm at the time and was content to set up and wait a bit, but the other riders were having none of it and took advantage of the situation. So game on. We came across the top part of the loop in a pretty good paceline keeping the speeds high. Then on the first climb of the day Malcolm hit the throttle. I glued myself to his wheel and when we crested the top we had about 30 seconds on the group. Once over the top he gave me a smirk and said "just checking to see who is strong!" We then set up and let everything come back together. We then rolled the flats and a pretty moderate pace and that is when Kyle bridged back up. From there it was tame down the lower part of the island with just some acceleration up the hills. I think this is what hurt me most, cause when we hit the first of the climbs, my legs were not ready to go. Malcolm got about a 20 yd gap on me, and then about another 20 yds to the group.
Photo: Peter Ford, Cycle Sport News
I chased for a bit, but was really struggling with the first climb so I set up and let the group join me again. Unfortunately once they were back on I noticed that the rest were hurting as well and was not able to offer a lot of help. So on the 2nd climb I kept the pace a bit higher and only Kyle (from Australia) and Hamada (from Japan) were able to go. I kept hitting the small rises as hard as I could and finally unhitched Hamada, who was riding really strong that day. Kyle and I then hit the cross island road with a horrible head wind that pretty much made sure no one was going anywhere. I tried a couple attacks but they were matched every time. So it came down to a sprint. Not what I wanted since Kyle is a track rider! We made the last turn and I told Kyle, no crashing, and that I have never contested a sprint on a road bike before! He looked back at me and said "Good!" There was a bridge about 100 yds out and I remembered when we did our pre ride the other day he said that would be his launch pad so I decided to attack him just before and try to catch him off guard. It worked, but I did not have the power to match his sprint and ended up 3rd on the day.
Michelle also had a really good ride and pulled the guys around for the day. She did struggle some with the nutrition and the heat and humidity, but prevailed and finished 3rd on the day. I think she is super excited cause now when she downloads her power files they have mileage associated with them! She has done nothing but ride the rollers all winter! I was looking to find a good podium shot of her, but cannot find one. The 2 girls that beat her can't be 90 lbs and 5 feet tall, so she looked super tall on the podium!
Once again thanks to everyone here on Guam for the hospitality! They keep making sure Michelle and I have all the support we need and have been so pleasant to share our vacation with. We will definitely be back!
