My first stage race of the season kicked off with the Merco Cycling Classic in Merced, CA. The race consisted of 4 stages in 4 days alongside 130 other racers: an 82 mile road race, a 12 mile out and back time trial, 40 lap crit, and a 120 mile road race around the blossoming almond orchards. The last time I participated in the event was in 2009 where it only featured two optional days of a crit and road race over the weekend.
The first day was a 6 lap circuit of rolling terrain with one decisive climb. The pace was fairly fast from the whistle with multiple attacks and a high tempo on the first go at the KOM. Testing each other’s legs and early season fitness immediately resulted in riders popping off the back on the FIRST climb. After getting a preview of the loop, I made sure to stick myself toward the front of the bunch as we approached the lower rollers leading into the climb. On the third lap I rolled off the front, following wheels, into a large breakaway represented by the majority of the teams. As we made our way up the climb I found my spot at the front where I ended up taking a strong pull until about 200 meters to the KOM. At that point, Bissell launched an attack which would break up the large front bunch into the decisive 8 man move of the day. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bridge to the attack after a couple Bissell riders sat up effectively creating a gap. Rotating with Jelly Belly in the chase group we saw the break slowly increase the time split until we were caught by the peloton (at least what was left of it).
For some reason everyone seemed to be happy with the move even with four Bissell riders away! WHAT THE?!! The peloton eased up letting the gap increase to over five minutes. By the end of the fourth lap Jelly Belly formed a rotation at the front riding tempo to minimize the damage. At this point, it was a matter of just hangin’ in the bunch and conserving energy. We made our way around the last lap to the two kilometer uphill finish where I ended up 41st. Nothing spectacular but the legs were feeling good.
The following day was the time trial just east of town. It was a 12 mile out and back course with light winds, a slight grade, and 30 mph finish. After a decent warm up on the trainer and going through my pre-TT checklist, I made my way to start tent. The effort was pretty straight forward of trying to pace myself just a touch in the beginning and leaving it all out on the course before the end. After blazing past the finish line I plopped myself in 48th on the stage moving up to 35th on GC with a time of 27:05. A good cool down after and I was onto thinking about the next stage.
The third day was an afternoon crit which always allows for the typical sleeping in and casual morning of sipping on coffee over a light breakfast. The course was a fast loop with a 180 degree turn leading into the finish stretch. The goal of the day was to work on positioning and conserving energy for the next day allowing the sprinters to do their thing. Making it through the 40 laps unscathed and finishing in the middle of the pack I was ready to tackle the last stage.
After being treated to three beautiful days of mid 60’s and sunshine, we finally encountered the forecasted rain and wind for the region. Waking up at 5 AM to the pitter patter of rain outside the hotel door, I readied the rain gear. Once at the race parking, and finally deciding on the appropriate layering for the day, I made my way to start area. Again, the race began with a high pace over the rolling terrain. With rooster tails cascading over the peloton we sped around the 20 mile loop until it was abruptly halted by a crash. Needless to say wet brakes make it a bit difficult to stop before becoming the next domino in the pile up of bodies and carbon. After untangling the bike and making sure my body and rig were in working order I rolled away from the mess only to find the peloton absolutely GONE. That was it, the end of the day, a DNF, and no result. Uuugh!
It was a pretty crummy and abrupt end to the weekend but that’s racing and sometimes is unavoidable. Now that the bikes are all cleaned and the legs are recovered I’m ready to hit up another race weekend in Murrieta. Hungry for some results and more competition I plan on being aggressive and capturing as many points over the 3 day omnium. Stay tuned!
Photos taken by: Lyne Lamoureux! Thanks!
