Cancelled!!

For the first time in 37 years, The Ironhorse Bicycle Classic never made it to the starting line. After watching the weather reports we all knew it was going to be touch and go for the race. Honestly I never thought they would cancel it. Shorten it maybe, but not completely cancel. There is so much time and money involved and people from as far as Australia had come to race.

When we arrived Thursday night it was already spitting snow off and on. Friday was pretty much the same. It was mostly rain in Durango but there were reports of snow falling at the higher elevations. The car thermometer showed 36 degrees as of 2pm Friday. I always like to get in at least a short ride the day before a race so I bundled up and went for about 15 miles. It wasn't bad as far as temperature but it was cold and windy. Even with the temps, it was rideable, but in a pack of 125 riders it could be a bit dicey.

At registration on Friday afternoon, everyone still seemed optimistic. The Saturday weather report showed only a 30 percent chance of precipitation. They were going to announce their decision on the radio at 6am Saturday morning.

It rained (in Durango) all night long and got down to about 32 degrees. I had no idea what I was going to wear for the race since I had no clue what the weather was going to be. You don't want to be too warm on the climbs, otherwise you freeze to death on the the descent. You don't want to be too cold then the whole race is miserable. You freeze both going up and down, Not Good!! So I had several piles of clothes laid out. Warms coats, gloves, legwarmers, long sleeve jersey, medium gloves, ear warmers, I had it all but no clue as to what to expect. About 9:30 that night a few friends and I drove up towards Purgatory Ski Area to see what the weather was. It was a total white out. The was the 28 mile mark for the race. It wasn't looking too good.

The next morning I got up at 5:30, got dressed in my warmest garb and went out and sat in the freezing car to listen to the radio report. It was big time cold out. The race referee's were two rooms down and I could see them leave on their motorcyles. I can't even imagine the windchill on those motorcycles. Much less, had they hit a patch of ice they were done!!

Then the report came. The Ironhorse Road Race has been cancelled. There was 5 inches of snow on the road at Purgatory and 8 inches of snow on Coal Bank Pass and in Silverton.

Unbelievable!!!

Every emotion possible went through my head. I had just spent the last 5 months focusing on this one race. I've lost almost 20 lbs and drove for an hour every other morning to work on my climbing. All of this to have mother nature just poop on the parade. I was pretty bummed!!

The Bright Side

About 10:00 that morning I opted to ride up to Purgatory. I just drove 6 hours to race, I was definitely going to get some riding in. It was warming up nicely but in Colorado you never take the weather for granted. I still wore my warmest coat and legwarmers. I believe it was about 45 degrees when I left the hotel. We stayed at the IronHorse Inn which is on the outskirts of Durango and right on the main road to Purgatory. It's a very convenient starting point.

I felt good starting out. It's a flat ride for about the first 10 miles. I was hammering pretty good. There were tons of other riders who had the same plan I did, ride to Purgatory and back. I was passing quite few people. Then came the first climb. I believe it is called Shalona Hill. I've always believed this to be the hardest part of the entire ride. It's steep and it's long. Anyway, I thought I was doing pretty good. I kept my heart rate at about 165 the entire time. Passing ALMOST everyone I see this "little" guy in black just flying up the climb behind me. It's at this point you go "holy crap"!!!! You ask yourself "do you look at them as they go by and act like your not hurting??" This awesome rider was absolutely just riding effortlessly up this climb. I look across as SHE passes me!!! That's right, I just got smoked by a 100#, all muscle, longhaired, very fit, Chick! Now I'm not being sexist at all but I was totally impressed. I've been passed on this climb before by Kristen Danielson (man she's a cutey) who races pro but this gal put me very quickly into my place. Better yet, she stops about 3 miles up, I pass her, and about 10 minutes later she blows by me again. This is God telling me, "Rusty, be thankful the race was cancelled". Remember, I was mistakely racing Masters 35+. I would have been blown away.

Training

After getting humiliated on the climb to Purgatory, I thought about all the training that I had been doing. Although I had been doing a lot of climbing, I for some reason didn't feel as prepared as I usually do. I just didn't feel like I had the legs I should have had. One problem that I found out today was that my blood work is still showing that I'm a bit Hyperthyroid. Dropping my dosage a little should help. I also need to work on cadence work. I need to be able to increase my power at a higher cadence for a longer period of time. How do I do this? I haven't a clue but I'll research it soon and find out. I think the most important thing right now it to get my thyroid levels in the right spot.

I'll post more later about this weekend. Even though the race was cancelled we had a great time.

Thanks for Reading