Part 3 of the Getaway is the Senior Games Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa. We drove from Suches, Ga to Des Moines, arriving two days before the start of racing. Our host in Des Moines is Hilton's Homewood Suites. Let me say now that the weather for all races were ideal.
Past experience has taught me the value of previewing the race courses and the next morning after breakfast I headed out to the road race staging area parking. Let me say now that there was some confusion as to the start, finish, direction of the race, and the awards presentation. The course itself was a rectangle, a little over six miles per lap. The original map indicated a counter-clockwise direction but that would give us all left turns and didn't seem right. I left the parking lot and did the course clockwise. Fortunately, that was not the start line, since it went immediately up a long hill, of approximately 6% grade with one ramp over 8%. I knew I'd get dropped as soon as we started up. Anyhow, there were a few more, less steep and less long, climbs before hitting the long downhill. We would go past the start line, make a right turn and have flat road for over two miles before arriving at the hill. I took my time, noticing the changes and put a vague plan together. After finishing the loop, I loaded up the bike and drove over to the time trial course, a few miles away.
Senior Games has two time trials, 5k (3.1 miles) and 10k in length. The 5k race would be all in one direction, and you would cool down on the way back. The 10k would be out-and-back. I parked the car along with a dozen or more other cyclists with the same idea of previewing the course. I was a nice, concrete road with a few inclines, mostly 1-1.5% grades but to my mind it was all uphill. Of course, that would make the 10k mostly downhill on the way back. I did the preview on my road bike. That chore down, I chatted a bit with one of the guys who had also just finished, then packed up and returned to the hotel. I wasn't feeling all that energized so rested the rest of the day. Marilane was hard a work on a puzzle.
The next morning we drove out to the course and found a very convenient parking spot. The police had blocked off the road to traffic so that was comforting. Earlier, right after breakfast, I went down to the exercise room at the hotel and put in thirty minutes on the Peloton bike. Therefore my pre-race warm up didn't take the usual thirty minutes, more like fifteen just to be sure I could hold the time trial position without straining.
Generally speaking, there are no surprises in the older categories. I had raced against some of the guys, and the others I looked up on Strava or race results. So I knew it would be a miracle to get a medal. My race would be for fourth or fifth. Let me diverge a bit into strategy for time trials. Yes, it is the "race of truth" in that you go as hard as you can for as long as you can. Mainly, it involves shifting to the best gear at the appropriate time so that you don't lose seconds. I determined yesterday what spots I needed to shift at, and was gratified that my race went exactly as I planned (that's rarely the case). Anyway, as it turned out, I finished fourth, with the fifth place finisher two seconds slower. We waited around for the awards ceremony, got my 4th place ribbon, then headed back to the hotel. For me, more rest. For Marilane, more puzzle.
The 10k race day started as a carbon copy of the previous one. What changed was the wind direction. It would be a bit stronger and be at our backs going out and in our face coming back. I started well and felt good. But a couple of miles in I realized I hadn't optimized the downhill sections. Hey, I was going fast at 29mph, but it should have been another gear and 32mph for those two short sections. At the turnaround I still felt good even though I was now going slower. About a mile from the end, I took a short breather out of the aero tuck and let my heart rate drop a couple of beats before returning to it. We're talking maybe six seconds. That allowed for a strong half-mile finish. As it turned out, the guy (Craig) I beat by two seconds in the 5k beat me by two seconds in the 10k. So, I collected my 5th place ribbon.
The next day, Friday, was a rest day. Saturday was a nightmare. Started off with the thirty minute Peloton warm up, then breakfast, then drove out to the course. The directions were to drive to the Raccoon River parking lot, then cycle on the path one mile to the Soccer Fields for staging. Marilane would have a golf cart to shuttle her. Given these instructions, we arrived early so I could pick up my timing chip and get additional information. As it turned out, staging was not at the soccer fields, AND, in order to pick up our chips, we had to ride the course clockwise. That meant climbing the lot of hills. So, one mile to the soccer fields, four miles to pick up my chip. Two miles back to the soccer fields, now being allowed on the course since all the previous races were completed. Then another mile to Marilane to apprise her of the situation. Then another three miles back to the start line. As it turned out, another half mile after that. All in all, my "warm-up" was 12.1 miles.
For the 20k, we were grouped with as 80+, so the older guys would be with us. I lined up close to Mike (TT winner). Generally speaking, the Senior Games has about half the folks as first timers to racing. And, generally speaking, they are not as quick to clip into their pedals at the start. As a result, the faster riders open a gap immediately and those who are left behind rarely catch up. Mike slotted in second and I was right on his wheel. We made it down to the intersection, turned right, and were cruising in the mid-twenties. I had a chance to check my mirrors and could see maybe a half dozen riders drafting and nothing in sight further back. We got to the big hill and almost everyone climbed faster than me. Well, I dug in and at least kept them in sight for a couple miles. But for the second lap, it was mostly just me. I held off anyone coming from behind, but never caught anyone who was ahead of me. As it turned out, I was 6th, 66 seconds behind Craig.
We weren't finished, in terms of chaos. The awards ceremony were to be at the soccer fields, 2.2 miles away, not at the finish line. So, I had to ride 3.2 miles to where Marilane was and let her know she could take the golf cart shuttle to the awards ceremony. Let me back up a bit. There was no way Marilane could get to the start/finish line (which were about a half mile apart), so her options were to sit in the comfy car with Wi-Fi, or shuttle to the soccer fields to watch me speed past twice. I suggested staying in the car. Once the awards were done I cycled and she shuttled back to the car. On the way back to the hotel, I previewed a way to get to park at the finish line of the 40k. They also changed the awards to be at the finish line.
In 2008 and in 2018 I signed up to do both the 20k and 40k road races. All other years I do mainly just the 40k, unless it's at Pace Bend, where I do the 20k. So I wasn't looking forward to the slow slog up that hill four times on already weary legs. For the 20k I averaged twenty minutes per lap, so I told Marilane I'd be 20-22 per lap for the 40k. Given our parking spot, she was able to bring her chair to the intersection where riders made the first right turn (or went straight for the finish line). The start line for the 40k was much further up the road than where the 20k had been. .9 mile from the intersection.
For this race, we were paired with the 75-79 youngsters and the younger ladies would start three minutes behind us. That guaranteed a fast start. To my surprise, because it was four laps, the start wasn't an all out drag race, holding in the high 20's. We still left those who couldn't get clipped in quick enough behind, but there were about eight riders ahead of me and probably the same amount behind. On the flat part we dropped the speed a bit as the leaders probed each other to see who was doing what. As the hill approached, the speed increased and when we hit it, those who could climb left the rest of us behind. As it turned out, by the top of the hill, there were only two of us left. And one got dropped quickly. I let the other guy (Robert) know I was in the 80-84 category and not his competitor (he being 75-79). So he pulled and I drafted. All too soon two young ladies passed us, with enough speed that we couldn't catch on to their wheels. As we approached the last incline before several miles of downhill, four ladies passed. We did catch their wheels and drafted, saving us precious energy and putting us further ahead of the guys behind us (even though they weren't in sight). The ladies pulled us for about four miles, leaving us at the hill. I was dropping behind at the end of the big hill, but caught up on the next two, so we entered the downhill section together and stayed that way all the way around to the hill, where I bade my farewell to him. BTW, I did maybe a 30% share of leading so as to give him a break. But when he led, we were 1-2 mph faster.
I kept checking my mirrors to see if anyone was gaining, and couldn't see anyone. While my Madone doesn't climb nearly as well as the Emonda, it's faster on the flats and downhills. I was able to hold the mid to high 20's for the last mile and pushed hard until the end. As it turned out, I only finished 55 seconds behind my helper. And, I finished 22 seconds ahead of Craig. Even better, Bill Earp (from Missouri, who is always much faster than me), didn't enter the 40k, so I came home with a bronze medal. Most of my stats will be in a separate post, but the first two laps were in nineteen minutes because of drafting, the next two laps were in twenty-one minutes, and the last mile (four loops plus a mile) took two minutes, twenty-five seconds.