The final stage was a 105mi Road Race that finished in an 8 mile 5-6% climb. The first 30 miles were mostly flat followed by 3 significant climbs and then a flat run up to the final climb. After popping off early on day 1, my major goal for the day was just to make it to the base of the final climb in the main group.
I stayed near the front near the front for the beginning of the race and made sure to move up before the first climb of the day. They drilled it hard up the first climb and I managed to stay with the front group for the majority of the hill. I started to lag climb and fall back as we approached the top, but only lost a little bit of ground. The group I ended up in chased back on the downhill quickly and it was time to start the second hill. The second hill was milder and I didn’t lose contact with the front group. The third hill was pretty much a repetition of the first one.
The rest of the day was pretty much just a flat ride to the base of the climb and then a matter of spinning up it. My legs were cramping and I was pretty well drained of energy by the time the climb hit so I did not have a shot at hanging on to the group. I’m just glad I made it to the climb with the pack.
Elkhorn was a great learning experience. My poor tactics put me in a world of hurt on day 1 — I certainly wasn’t racing my strengths. The race put into perspective how weak my weaknesses are and how not-very-strong my strengths are. I need to work on time trialing/muscular endurance and I really need to think more about tactics. It was an enjoyable race and I know exactly what I need to work on now — I’ll probably be back next year.
