The day started at 4:30 AM. The alarm buzzing.
Normally on any other given day, this would be annoying and I’d slam the
snooze and go back to sleep. But not today. This day was different
- I was ready to knock it out of the park. Michael and I were going to
crush Race the Lake.
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| TMT at the start of Race the Lake 5:45 AM |
It was only a month ago that Michael Mayer and I started planning
for this event. An event that hosts 1300 people, where you can ride your
bike for 90 miles around a huge lake and not stop once. Race the Lake is
a road race for some, but a bicycle ride for most others that starts and
finishes in Fond du Lac Wisconsin every August. There are twelve waves of
rides whose experience levels vary from the pro racer to the hybrid
recreational neighborhood rider. I even
saw people riding fat bikes! Wow. The grand depart takes place at Walleye
Weekend's Lakeside Park at the very early hour of 5:45 AM. Hence the alarm
clock. The route takes you up the flat
west side of the lake through the cities of Oshkosh and Neenah before making
your way to the only category one climb on the parcourse at High Cliff State
Park. You continue south to finish the last half of the ride back into
Lakeside park for the finish. Side note: Make sure to scout the finish
before you actually finish (Mayer). So
let's get started with a quick race report.
Michael and I started in the Pro Wave 1. About 70 riders. By
the way Michael is my Trek Midwest Cycling teammate, a cycling advocate, and a
generally nice guy. We were ready to rock. Usually the 17 miles to
Oshkosh is pretty laid back. Smooth roads, a good warm up. Well my
skepticism showed as 300 meters into the race, a young, eager kid who was
trying to get to the front fell and hit the tarmac. My heart rate spiked
as I watched him roll and then stand up as if it was one motion chasing after
his bike. Michael had to lock the brakes up as he narrowly escaped
running over the kid's head, simultaneously turning around shaking his fist in
the air and yelling something that sounded Italian. I’m still not sure
what he said. Thankfully the rest of the pedal strokes to High Cliff were
relatively easy and unmarred by crashes.
High Cliff State Park marks the half way point in our
adventure. The climb is an average 7%
gradient for about a mile. The race
organizers also put a KOM point on the summit.
We had read our race books, so we knew about the KOM prize going in and
figured the run-in to the climb was going to be fast and then full gas once we
hit the hill. Michael was ahead of me working his way up the peloton when there
was nearly another crash. In every race, there is always at least one “guy” who
you need to avoid because of his sketchy riding. Today’s “guy” liked to ride
from left to right and then right to left again. In other words, all over the road! Well the guy clipped bars with his teammate
no less, and almost crashed Michael and five others. I had to break hard to
avoid touching wheels with the rider ahead of me. Luckily no one went down. But this did open
up a gap within the group and we desperately had to catch up before the climb
started. We caught the tail of the group
but the chase proved unnecessary in regards to the KOM, because, as we ascended
High Cliff State Park Road, the cream rose to the top and the peloton was scattered
up and down the road. I’m not sure who
won the KOM but it unfortunately wasn’t a Trek Midwest Team rider. A little bit
further down the road…gruppo compacto.
Let’s jump ahead forty miles and talk about the last 3k.
The last stretch of the race is flat with 2 hard 90 degree turns
approximately 400m before the line.
Forty of us were still packed together with people fighting for
position. Mayer tried to do a solo flyer, Hammer Time he says… Maybe he figured
he could get away since he was the only one riding a Race Shop Limited Red
Madone 9 Series with Aeolus D3 5 wheels. Ha! I mean, why not, right?! He was brought back by a team of mid 30 master’s
dudes, but not without a fight. I heard
people talking among themselves; “Why is he so hard to bring back?” “That guy
is fast!” Was I supposed to
counter? We hadn’t talked about it but
NO way was I going to attack. I was
sitting about ¾ of the way back navigating the last two corners and planning on
just finishing with what I had left in the tank. But I realized that I’d carved out those last
two corners so precisely that I’d moved up to about 20th! Numerous spectators were amazed. And it is at this point in the race where
knowing the finish is handy. 200m to go,
time to crush it, give it all. I went for it, out of the saddle,
sprinting. Ahh! That hurts, to far yet I
said to myself. Sat back down. Ok now time to go full gas! Quickly passed Mayer like he was on a Sunday
cruise on his Town bike and dashed for the line. 87.7 miles at 25.2 average speed, Race the
Lake was over and I finished 13th.
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| Beer IV's |
The race part was over but often the best moments in cycling come
after the race. Beer IV’s in place for recovery,
sitting on the grass chatting with fellow participants, sharing stories,
laughs, and soaking up the sun…that’s what it’s all about. I soon realized I’d
just ridden 90 miles in 3.5 hours all before 10 AM. Not bad, not bad at all. A great day in the saddle. I finished 13th overall and Michael was quick behind, in at 21st.
Next year I challenge you do join in on the fun. The people and
atmosphere at Race the Lake are phenomenal.
Michael Mayer was quoted:
“Race the Lake is an incredible
organized race. I want to do it every year!”
A shout out goes to Gloria West for directing the race and making
this ride possible.
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| Bonesaw getting 13th overall; 1st in his age group |
