Hills of Somerset Race Report from Gabe Lloyd

About the post: This is a race report I wrote for the Columbia Cycling Team list. The "Alex" here is Alex Bremer, a Cat 2 from CRCA/Empire. Alex and I were teammates at Columbia and last year at CRCA/Remax.

About the Race:
Pro 1 only with invited cat 2s. Alex and I made the Cat 2 cut. Yay!
80 miles (though 81 ticked off my odometer) with 5 "major climbs" and the rest was just hilly and rolly. Like, really rolly.
Weather was one of the first warm weather races of the season. High 70s with a lot of crosswind.
The Hills of Somerset kicks off the most famous weeks in US Bike Racing history. HIlls of Somerset starts off the US Hall of Fame weekend, which pushes into this weekend's CSC Invitational, which pushes into the Triple Crown. So, participating in this race is pretty special, and it makes the caliber of the field pretty impressive.

Wheel Raced: HED Stinger 60s

Racin'!

The race started off aggressively with Alex's teammate "The Choad", Jonathan Choadroff riding off the front with one guy from the parking lot. Strategically, this is a great move for an amateur squad to pull early in a strong pro field in a long race. Its too early for scared amateurs and too early for pros who think the move will disintegrate. For the amateurs who are in the move, a little early suffering to get the gap is less suffering than going with the selection that will inevitably happen in the field. Especially in a race with "Hills" in the name.

When the first move was brought back, Alex and I countered a few times. I ended up being the lucky one to get a gap with a PA Hershey Medical Center rider, who I also raced with in Belgium. We rode together for about 30 minutes, riding a steady tempo. After about 30 minutes, we turned left onto a small road and a woman in an SUV was sitting there talking to the cops on the motocycles (this is a full rolling enclosure of a race, so in a break you have two motos up front, a cop car and then two motos behind). Instead of getting the hell off the road, the woman demands to know why she has to move. Motos stop, cop car stops, we hit the cop car. Awesome. Shortly there after a group that included Bremer rolls up to us. The two of us from the original move are still shaking our heads in disbelief. I sat on the back of the group for a bit and ate a little and drank a little. Seeing Bremer's pantry in the pockets reminded me. "Hmm," I thought. "I've already gone through one bottle and two gels and we're 20 miles into a 80 mile race with no feedzone. No good."

The other players in the break are Valeriy Kobzarenko (Team Type 1 rider who rode in the Giro and the Tour with AquaSapone before there was a ProTour), and Justin Lindine. Besides Bremer the group was not well organized. My friend from Belgium was already having trouble. At the base of the first climb, Valeriy pulls off the front and Justine Lindine is there and then its me. I've been dropped by Justine more than once in races, so I knew to stick to his wheel for as long as possible. I just kept telling myself, "Hurting now will be shorter than hurting later" and so we pedaled. Valeriy comes back up on my left and I see him look over his shoulder then go back infront of Justin. And then it gets faster and faster. I click down two gears in an already hellacious pace. Out of the saddle, back in the saddle, out of the saddle. I can't see. My heart rate is at 189. My last LT test told me my capable max was 189. "This will end. This will end." We crest the climb, slam it into the big ring and take off down the other side. All three of us a lying on the top tube pushing 50mph. Vladi puts it in his 53x11 and gets out of the saddle to keep the pace high. Justin and I look at each other like, "what the hell did we just get ourselves into?"

The three of us rotate through. Valeriy takes HUGE pulls in his 53x11. Justin and I are 53x14 at best. Vladi starts yelling at us to ride better. We don't say anything. Its the curtious way of saying, "You ride harder Pro man. We're a Cat 1 and 2 having the best rides of our lives." We are sustaining 28 mph in the trio on flat, windy terrain. After 30 minutes we hit the base of the second climb. "How many Ks left?" asks Valeriy. "Not sure, but we've done 50 miles, so 30 miles left, " I respond. Well, that was dumb. I should have just said 100 miles. We all put it in our 39s and Valeriy goes to the front. "Double shit," I think. We ride and the pitch gets stiffer and stiffer. Out of the saddle, in the saddle. I start to come unglued. But so does Justin, relatively. I start to think, "There are three of us with 30 miles left. I think its too early for us to start attacking each other, so if I sag this a little I can catch back on the decent". Just then, Valeriy kicks it to his 39x14 and swipes to the left and attacks. WTF?! Justin doesn't sustain his pace, but I can't sustain Justin's pace.

We crest the hill and Justin tries to catch Valeriy. I don't blame him. But by the bottom of the decent, Valeriy is literally out of site from both of us. Justin sits up and we start to work together. For the next 10 miles we ride together at about 21 mph. The time splits keep growing. Within 5 miles Valeriy had put 2:00 into us. Holy hell.

During this time I have completely run out out of food and water. Justin gives me his extra bottle of gatorade. I've eaten 6 gels and two Enervitine Cheerpouches and three bottles in 60 miles. 20 miles to go and I'm running on fumes. Stupid no feedzone race.

With 20 to go, the first chase group catches us. Jake Hollenback (CCB), Team Type 1 (Glen Chadwick), Kelly Benefits, Team Inferno Pro, Ben Showman (PA Lightening), Chris Kuhl (PA Hershey Medical) and Bremer! This group catches on right as we hit the bottom of the third ascent of the day, which is Basking Ridge, NJ. Right where last nights race was (Ricola). Bremer pops off the back, and I'm on Bremer. Oh no. I'm the perennial wheel sucker here and there's no way I'm catching a group on a climb at this point. On the decent, I gap off Bremer. All of a sudden it Paris-Roubaix as a train crossing is coming down in front of us at the bottom of a 50mph decent. The gates are down and Bremer goes through. WTF?! Three motos pull in front of me and stop me. its a short train, but I just lost 15 seconds to a great group and to Bremer.

I decided to wait for the next group. I roll along at my new found "tempo", which is only about 23mph. Totally done. Second group catches me. Its the entire Kenda Raleigh squad and few of the MetLife guys and some other guys. One of them has a Two Johns Podcast on his butt. I sit on this until we hit the 4th climb. Good-bye.

At this point my potential for grasping the details of my day are pretty shot. So, the details might be simply wrong.

Another group catches. I sit on this for a while. All of a sudden its Bremer again! This group is a lot slower than the rest, so I can climb with them over the 5th of the day. I yell for Bremer to catch on, but I think his pantry was empty and that was that. Ride ride ride. I don't really know why people were attacking with 5 miles to go in the last field on the road. Seriously. You're racing for 20th place. While that might be a money spot, its 20th. You missed 3 chase groups on the day. If you can't catch those trains your ticket has expired, so just ride it in. I'm totally cramping and losing focus, gapping off the back, not even pedaling. Remember, this is 20 miles now without a single calorie consumed or an ounce of water. We FINALLY get to town. I'm so relieved! Everyone thinks they are Boonen and they sprint, except that its for 20th place. I cross the line a salty mess and head right for my truck. I see Valeriy in the parking lot and he says, "Nice ride". Really? Thanks! Thats probably the nicest thing he's said to someone all year. Or, I might have made it up. The details are all blurry.

Results here