Giro di Jersey - Stage 2

Stage 2 of the race was a 53 mile road race that consisted of 5 10 mile laps. The course was rolling hills for the first eight miles, turned left and went up a 8% hill for a quarter mile, leveled out for a couple of hundred yards before going up at about 5% for another quarter mile. A short recovery before a screaming downhill descent into the finishing straight. The finish was spectacular, wide open straight-away that you could carry a lot of speed into, but it had a slight uphill that kept it very safe.

Unsure of just how far from my friends house I was staying at, ML and I packed up the car early and headed out. With no traffic on a Saturday morning, we arrived about two hours before the start. Early enough that we parked in a lot that ended up being closed to cars an hour later.

With plenty of time to get ready, I double-checked my equipment and prepared for the 9:05 start. At 8:50, they announced that the races would be delayed by 15 minutes. Great, more time to wait.

Finally, the race went off. Unlike local races, the first five miles were neutral, and the pace car kept it neutral, cruising along at no more then 20 mph. With the pace car gone, the pack upped the speed a bit and I started to look for any rider in the top 5 GC trying to make a move. Seems that regardless of what rider moved off the front, the pink jersey (worn by the race leader, just like that race in Italy by a similar name) chased. The pack turned left onto the hill, and I found myself very easily moving from 20th to first on the hill. This was a typical big ring power hill for me. As we transitioned to the middle section, I eased up and drifted back, trying to preserve all my matches. I took note of one rather large rider who was climbing very well. I continued to watch him on the descent, figuring that if he could climb like that and descend like a rock, he would be an ideal rider to draft behind into the finish.

As the next couple of laps wore on, I continued to watch either the pink jersey chase everything in sight, or his teammate Andy track things down. This kept the pace comfortable and I never had to work to keep things together. On the final lap, the pace quickened and everyone got strung out in the field. As we climbed the last time, I worked to stay five riders back. No sense putting effort in where I didn't have too, but I couldn't afford to go too far back and not have time to make it up on the finish. Just at the top of the hill, when the pace typically slows and everyone comes back together, I yelled to Peter C to keep the pace up and he kindly obliged. Going into the downhill, my pre-picked big boy came to the front and dove down the hill. What seemed like a perfect plan started to fall apart when by draft sat up and wanted me to pull through. I obliged momentarily, then started to coast. Four or five riders came by me and I again jumped into their draft. At the bottom of the hill, 400 meters from the line, I was sitting sixth and towards the middle of the road when I saw the pink jersey sprint on the right hand of the pack. Two guys went for the line in front of me and I followed their wheel. 200 meters from the line, their pace slowed a bit and I momentarily tried to figure what to do. I distinctly remember hearing an interview from the Tour a couple of years ago where someone commented that their finish was slightly uphill and they needed to wait until it was almost too late before launching their sprint. This memory had absolutely no impact on my decision and I figured it was time to go for it. I gave it everything I had, I broke clear of the field and opened a gap. 30 meters from the line I ran out of steam and three guys snuck past me. As I coasted after the line, I realized that my mind was telling me to wait. Too late for that realization. Instead I reveled in the moment, I took fourth with some impressive teamwork from Peter.

We cooled down a bit and as we headed back to the start/finish area, we saw the pink jersey riding away and both realized that someone else would be in the lead tomorrow. I felt confident about my chances, but then three guys scored more points then me in the second stage, I didn't think that they were top 5 the previous day, but I would have liked some confirmation.

ML, Peter and I hung around for the next three hours. We watched the rest of the races, we listened to the announcer talk to the winner of the Pro field, listened to them talk to the winner of the junior field (that race started 10 minutes after ours finished) and even watched them reopen all the roads. While unintentional, we realized that our car was now free to leave the lot that we parked in to start the day so long before. We ended up leaving the race unsure of who would start the next day in pink.

Quick note: Stage 3 started at 7am on Sunday and was an hour away. When I crashed at 10pm Saturday night the results were still not posted. When my Blackberry chirped at 2am and woke me up, I checked my email. The results were posted on-line, but my Blackberry couldn't display the page. Great, just what I need to think about at 2am as I tried to go back to sleep. Leaving the house at 4:45 Sunday morning, I was fully amped up and didn't require the large coffee I started to drink on the drive.