Heading south during lap 2 of the road race, I was in a bad place. Elbowz was on the front, the crosswind was howling, and I was so cross-eyed my right eye was seeing the east horizon and my left eye the west. Next thing I know, there's a gap two wheels ahead of me. I go over the top to close it but just can't hold the wheel; Brady and Preston go around me and then I'm moving backwards.
~14 hours earlier...
The Tour of Corsicana was my first stage race and with an ITT as the first stage, I was really excited. Rolling up to the supposed start of the TT, I knew something was wrong. Anyone that races knows the area surrounding a start area is a chaotic swarm of cars, bikes, and pedestrians, but when Google Maps told me I had arrived, I was the only person in sight. Turns out, Google had automatically completed my location search to "Corsicana Independent School District" instead of "Corsicana High School." Take note of lesson #1 of the weekend, make sure you're being directed to the actual correct place. After retracing my steps for 15 minutes, I finally arrived at the TT site around an hour from my start time. I checked in, put on the timing chip, and started prepping for the race. Put on skinsuit, check. That's about as far down the pre-race checklist before realizing my front brake was rubbing and panic set in. By then, Brady, Josh, Shane, and Spangle had arrived to witness me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Spangle let me borrow some tools and did my best to fix the brake issue (unsuccessfully). After receiving advice and pep talks from Brady and Mitchell, I began heading towards the start line with about 10 minutes left to fake a warmup. As I'm rolling away, Brady yells after me, "Your number!" "What?" "You didn't pin your number!" A second panic sets in as I have Spangle pin my number mere minutes before I'm supposed to start. Finally, I successfully make it to the start with two minutes to spare, no warmup, and a questionable front brake (lesson #2). Soon enough, I'm clipped in, starting my computer, and waiting for to "Go!". The actual time trial is a blur of hurting legs and sweat dripping onto my visor. Right before I started, Brady told me not to go out too hard and then to bury myself. Naturally, I went out very hard and then had to hold on for the rest of the TT. At some point I manage to look at my speed. The advice I had received was to aim for 30+ mph; I was going around 25 so things were not looking good. I focused on my 30-second man and tried to close the gap to him. There were two 'hills' leading up to the finish line. Unfortunately, I thought there was just one so I put in a big effort, tried to calm down a little, and then pushed again up the second to the line. After the race, we reconvened in the parking lot to discuss the TT and lunch. No one else brought food so I fed them cookies and protein powder while deciding on a place to eat. Right before leaving, we checked the results. I beat Brady by half a second and we were sitting 4th and 5th GC after the first stage!
Going to lunch went pretty par for the course thus far. We ended up eating at two different restaurants and then meeting at a third to wait for our hotel rooms. Collin Street Bakery has great cookies at great prices (trying to get the team a cookie sponsorship). I bought five oatmeal raisin and one large chocolate chip. The large cookie was literally as big as my face. Brady took a picture and Phil Gaimon reposted it so I'm #famous. After our cookie adventures we camped out in the hotel room for a couple hours before heading out to the crit.
The crit through downtown Corsicana was rad. It was my first time racing on bricks, at night, or through city streets so I was obviously pretty nervous. Our race started at 9:10 so by the time we got going it was fully dark, with the only light provided by city streetlights and the few set up by the organizer. Crit-racing isn't my strongest suit. Given my 4th position in GC, my main goal was to stay with the main field and not lose any time. In practice, this was easier said than done. I tried to keep my eye on Brady or Josh in order to take advantage of their experience and knowledge; I figured they would stay in a good position in the field so as long as I was near them, I would also be alright. The first half of the race was extra hard because I started towards the back and took corners more cautiously than necessary. As time went on, however, I became more comfortable and moved up, eventually finding myself first wheel heading into the start/finish. Right before crossing the line, someone stuck their wheel in front of mine and won $130 in the process. Unbeknownst to me, I almost won a prime lap. No one else seemed to know either because the field was all together travelling at a civil pace (lesson #3). The rest of the race went smoothly until a crash in the first corner of the last lap. Brady ended up on the deck but I weaved around and caught onto the tail-end of the first group. It seemed like we were all staying together and I wouldn't lose time until the person in front of me sat up with two turns to go. A small gap opened but I couldn't get around until the last turn and by then it was too late. Josh also made the front group but lost position while looking for Brady and I after the crash but still managed a powerful sprint for 5th. After the finish, Josh and I took some laps and then went to find Brady at the med tent. He had a banged up knee and a bruised hand but was otherwise healthy. He also received the front group time and jumped me to switch him the 4th and me to 5th overall.
Back to the road race...
The third and final stage at Corsicana was an 4 lap, 88 mile road race. After a short delay, one of the hardest races of my life began around noon. The first lap was relatively civil. A few riders escaped to form a six(ish) man break, but no one seemed worried. Again, the plan for the day was maintenance of our places in GC and moving someone into the top 3. Spangle helped make sure Brady and I held a good position throughout the first lap while the moto was giving ever-growing time gap calls to the break. Everything changed in the second lap. The winds had picked up, Elbowz decided the break needed to be pulled back, and the field started stringing out. This is where we rejoin the story I started in the beginning. I was too far back in the group and not receiving any draft to speak of (lesson #4). A small gap opened up a couple wheels ahead, and I tried to go around and close it. Things get a little fuzzy here; as I said earlier, I was very cross-eyed. From what I remember, I caught onto the wheel but then couldn't hold on. Brady and Preston went around me to try to bridge back to the front group. I was moving backwards, but it wasn't just me. Other riders caught out were all around me. This is when Josh saved me. He saw I was struggling, came back, and pulled me back into contact with Brady and the chase group that was forming. Without Josh, my race would have been over (lesson #5). Once I was in the chase group, the race probably got even harder. It wasn't a small group but only a small portion of the riders were willing to work. Brady, myself, and the other workers pushed super hard to rejoin the main field. In the end, we made it. The effort was brutal but we eventually made it. Frustratingly, the whole field slowed down right around the time we caught back on. The third lap was tame relative to the second, but I was still pretty convinced I was only seconds away from being dropped for good. About halfway through the lap, Brady told me Shane was back in the group. He and two other riders had been chasing for a lap and a half before they were finally able to rejoin the main field. At this point, Shane entered full support mode, offering food and water as well as blocking the wind a few times. I ran out of food (lesson #6) and Shane gave me one of Brady's hotel-made rice cakes. Brady literally brought a rive cooker and made these rice cakes on Sunday morning. Anyway, He gave me this rice cake and I immediately shove it all in my mouth. Right around the same time, we enter another crosswind section and the effort level increased. There I am, rice cake crammed in each cheek, unable to breathe, and struggling in the crosswinds. I feel sorry for the riders around me because I was shedding rice drool for that whole section. Brady, Shane, and I were all still in the main field entering the final lap, and I was mentally preparing myself to be brutalized. Truthfully, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting until the final straight when things heated up again. This time, I was better prepared and stayed towards the front of the group to avoid being caught out. As the pace increased, I found myself at the front of the group surrounded by Elbowz. With only a couple miles left until the finish, I was expecting the fireworks to start anytime. CCR had done a good job protecting Kyle Anderson all day and hes was the first to attack. Kyle stood 2nd in GC so Elbowz immediately responded and I jumped on Preston's wheel as he followed that response. Preston attacked again, trying to bridge to Kyle, but I couldn't match the acceleration and stayed with the chase group. We were gradually closing on Kyle and Preston as the finish drew closer and I was pretty cooked. When the sprint started I didn't have much left but most of the field had been left behind during the run-in. Brady finished in 9th and I ended up 11th, this would have put us in 3rd and 4th, respectively, but Nick Torraca stuck the break, finishing alone about a minute ahead of the field and collecting some bonus time. In the end, Brady and I finished 4th and 5th GC, making Strike the only team with two people on the overall podium.
The Tour of Corsicana was a ton of fun and a great learning experience. In summation, here are some lessons learned:
1) make sure you know where you're going
2) eliminate all external factors that could hurt your performance well ahead of time, i.e. rubbing brake, no warmup, etc.
3) if you're at all close to the front near the start/finish line, be first across
4) crosswinds suck; position yourself well or you're f'd
5) I'm #blest to have my Strike teammates (I already knew this. It was just a good reminder.)
6) Take more food than you think you could ever eat
Patrick Mannon is a PhD student in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He went to undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis and currently resides in Austin, TX. Patrick started racing in the fall of 2016 and joined our team in January 2018. He has upgraded from category 4->3->2 in the past 4 months and is only a few points away from his category one upgrade.
