One of my favorite events of the year is Rouge Roubaix. This would be my third time doing the race, My first was in 2010, when I did the P123, and got 9th in the 3s and mid 40s overall. Last year I did the P1/2 race, which was my first P1/2 race ever. I got 24th, losing the sprint to the line with the guy I caught at the 200m mark.
This year I was determined to do much better, certainly crack the top 20, and maybe the top 10. I didn't want to peak for this race, as there are many outside factors that can influence the outcome of the race, but I wanted to be prepared. My coach had me doing some low cadence tempo intervals in the few weeks prior to the race, to acclimate for the dirt/gravel sections.
We headed down to Louisiana a day early, to break up the driving, and to spend a little time in Baton Rouge. On Saturday, we got some good riding in, and some quality teammate time.
Sunday morning showed up, we got our breakfast secured, then went to get ready for the day. I had plenty of nutrition—3 Honey Stinger energy chews, 2 waffles, 2 Gu's, and 3 Sheets, as well as Perpetuem mixed with Crazy Water. I took one of the Sheets at the start, since I knew as a team we were going to be aggressive and try to get one or two riders into the early break. Nothing was getting away early, so we stayed towards the front, and covered moves. A group of about 8-10 separated from the group and we had 2 riders in it: Adam Koble and Michael Lalla. The lead group hit the dirt with a bit of a gap, and our group seemed less frantic than last year's upon the entrance to the first dirt section. It would split the peleton behind us, but by the end of the dirt section we caught the break.
The road section that followed was a lot of attacks, especially when Adam got an early flat. There was a group up the road with Corey and Lalla in it, while Adam, Jesse and I were in the peleton. Jesse dropped back with Adam, while I sat with the group as they tried to get organized and leave them behind. The moto carrying the wheels was right with us, so Adam got a spare, and caught back after about 10 minutes. The group came back together again, with the addition of Collin Davis, who had made his way back after a 50 minute solo time trial, after getting separated in the dirt section.
Now we had 5 riders back together. Heading into the second dirt section, Brian Toone and another rider from GearLink Racing got off the front somehow without one of our riders with them. They got to the second gravel section and hit it, as they knew it would be the best area to gain time, and there was the $100 dollar Royal Purple preme. The group of 20 or so split into a small group of less than 10 during this section, between the hills and the gravel. I was momentarily stuck in no man's land between the two groups, but seeing as all my teammates were in the front group, I dug in and got back to them.
We again had our 5 riders—now we were more than half the chase group, so it was our turn to work, as the two riders still had a 40-50 second gap on us. We tried a rotating pace line, and attacking the group, to keep the pace up and try to possibly get one of our riders up the road as well. Attacking seemed futile, so we settled in and 3 of us started rotating—Lalla, Collin and myself, and sometimes Corey would get into the rotation as well. Adam was sitting 6th wheel or so, staying fresh for what was rapidly approaching: the third dirt section.
This section is particularly tricky, as the road leading into it is full of potholes and for the most part quite uneven. Then comes the climb. It is FAIRLY steep, and I hadn't made up without unclipping in years past. I started the climb in the back of the group as I had managed to drift back on the lead-in road, which was a mistake, but I was able to make up for it. But I knew this was my section to lay claim to once I got over the hill, so I put my head down and started trudging up the hill. On a climb like this, you really can't stand up at all, as the traction on the gravel is quite poor, so seated climbing is how it went, otherwise you would slip your rear tire. I slowly moved my way up the hill, looking up occasionally, making sure no one was going to block my path. I saw most everyone else unclip and have to trudge up the rest of hill. Adam made it up without unclipping first, as well as a rider from MA, and I managed to not unclip as well, so once we got over the top, it was Adam with a small gap, and then Jason Snow and myself. I stayed in the front, as I knew that picking the right line was essential, and didn't want to follow anyone through the next section. Jason stayed with me for awhile, looking back every now and then. I told him that I wouldn't bother looking back cause it wasn't likely anyone would be coming up to us. Suprisingly, after a little bit, Corey proved me wrong by bridging up to us. Now that we had 3, Corey and I kept rotating to make sure we wouldn't get caught from behind by anyone else. One of the two guys off the front had a front flat—we passed by him, but soon enough he was back up to us.
Now we were a group of 4, and Brian Toone, the fellow we had just passed, was riding strong. With Adam up the road, neither Corey or I were about to work anymore. Jason was sitting on the back cramping, so it was all up to Brian to pull. Corey and I put in a few attacks, enough to shed Jason, but Brian was able to cover each one. We passed the other rider who was up the road, with a flat, so now Koble was on his own. I had confidence he could hold Brian off, but Brian was riding really strong, especially this close to the end. With less than 10 miles to go, Brian got another front flat. Now PACC was 1,2,3 on the road. I started to pull as to distance ourselves from Brian, and possibly to get closer to Koble.
We continued for a mile or two, and made it across the low water crossing, which had been cleared from the day before, but still had a little soupy mud on it. On our way up the final incline, Mahoney Hill, I could see Brian coming with the GearLink rider who had been off the front with him. At that point we sat up and waited for Brian to reach us towards the top of the hill, anticipating his attack. He attacked trying to blow past us, but only managed to shed the rider he was with. We now sat on, and let Brian bring us to the finish.
We got to 1k and I made sure Corey had just a little bit left, enough for the final sprint. We hit the final turn with 500 meters to go, and I attacked up the hill. I got a good gap on the other two on the top and Corey was on Brian's wheel. Once at the top I realized there was still a long way to go, and I was in my little chainring. I didn't bother to upshift to the 53, but I probably should have just to give myself a little bit more power. I realized I didn't have too far to go, so I just buried my head and dug in. One more push and a quick look back and saw Corey to my left and crossed the line. We had done it. Watt Posse had gone 1, 2, 3! Lalla came in soon after in 6th and Collin not too far back in 10th. Not too bad—5 riders in the top 10. We had raced our bikes, and come away the victors.
