My 2014 race season started with the Tour of New Braunfels down here in Texas. Saturday is a 90min circuit race and the Sunday road race takes place on 3 laps of a hilly loop for about 135km in total.

Since these races would mainly serve as training for bigger objectives ahead I decided it would be a good idea to ride to the start each day and try and steal a ride back to San Antonio afterwards.

The plan worked perfectly on Saturday as I cruised mostly with a tailwind for 2hrs up to the race. I had plenty of time to register and catch up with my old teammate Jonny Sundt.

We both agreed that it was a hard circuit to get away on.  The small rollers are over before any real selection can be made and things typically stay together. I had done the race 2 other times in the past (both field sprints) taking the win once and finishing 2nd the other. Those years the finish was on a gradual uphill about 200-250m from the only real corner of the lap and I used that to my advantage as I’m normally not much of a sprinter.

The race started out fast with lots of small attacks but never gaining any real ground. I also discovered that the finish line had been moved to a flatter section of the course, making me less sure how to play it. Eventually Jonny got away with one other rider and they formed the only serious breakaway of the day. That stabilized things for a bit and I used this time to study the finish section as the road curved left and right gradually. Because of this gaps on either side of the field would close on you just as you thought you had clear shot through.  The break came back as the race wound down  and although I made a few hard digs I could never crack the chasers. I rested up the last 3 laps and decided to try my hand in the sprint if it didn’t involve taking too many risks. I comfortably sat about 20 wheels back as we started the last lap figuring that the speed would lull at some point and I could move up rapidly in one shot and save some energy in the process. Sure enough I found a good wheel to follow and we punched up the left side and I found myself in second wheel with about 220m to go. The rider in front started to fade forcing me to start sprinting  earlier than I would have like but somehow managed to hold on and take the win.

So far so good right?

However, I made a bit of a rookie mistake and failed to get some food in me immediately following the race. Having ridden to the start and not being able to bring a post race snack with me meant I missed this important window to replenish for tomorrow. I ate a solid meal a bit later but in hindsight should have stuffed some more in as tomorrow would be longer and harder.

“Winter” weather here can vary quite a lot and sure enough after temperatures in the 20’s I awoke to rain and temps maxing out around 8. Mistake #2 was underestimating how long it would take me to get to the start. My built in buffer time was eaten into as I battled a headwind most of the way to the start. This forced me to ride a bit longer and harder than I would have liked deepening the debt I created with my poor refueling the night before. It also scrapped my plan to stop part way and grab some more food to eat before the race. I had enough food with me to cover what I would typically eat in a race like this but being prepared with more just in case is always a good idea. This was one of those just in case times. Let’s call that mistake #3.  I made it though, changed out some wet clothes for dry, got numbers pinned on and was ready to go. I kept pretty quiet early on knowing that I might now have the reserves to race hard the whole day. The first 2/3 of the passed with things still looking ok. There was a small break of 5-6 in front but I figured they would begin to weaken and/or in-fight as the finish got closer helping us bring them back. As we stared the last lap my legs were still good and I attacked bridging up to a chase group about 30 second in front and about 45sec-1min behind the leaders. This was earlier than I preferred but all of the harder climbs were at the start of the lap and I thought it might not be possible to get a gap on the flatter roads afterwards. We kept a good tempo and had the break in sight and appeared to be closing in. Eventually though I began to fade and my pulls became slower. I could feel the groups mentality switch from “hey, we can make it! To, hey, let’s just try and hold on” Let’s just say things went downhill from there. I was caught by a small group in the last 10km and was thrilled to have somewhere to hide for a bit. I rolled up to finish 15th but completely spent after 5.5hrs of riding.

Funny how the day I thought I would have a good chance of winning went sideways and the day where the odds were against me I won. Just proof that you’ve got to take every opportunity that presents itself.

Up next I head to Tucson to meet up with some of the other guys on the team and get my new Norco Tactic. We’ll keep you posted!

Ryan