Everest Challenge Cat 3Day 1The first day started innocent enough. The neutral start was substantially shortened from prior years, but the pace was conversational and nobody attacked all the way up the false flat leading to the little town of Paradise. At the big hairpin that marked the real start of the climb, the grade picked up and so did the pace. A strong rider from Big Orange (Dan) started to ride off the front which stretched us out into a long line and I started to get strained under the pressure. Remembering years past, I wanted to ride my own pace and not blow myself up hanging on too long. I know all too well that a few minutes of ego and bravado at the beginning mean hours upon hours of pain and suffering later. After 10 minutes close to my altitude-adjusted threshold, I unhitched and rode pretty much by myself the rest of the 6000 foot climb to the top of Mosquito Flat. I counted about 16 guys ahead of me as they inched away, and a big wake of single riders scattered behind me.
On the descent I fell in with a group of mostly M35 riders and a few cat 3s, and we worked together to the base of Pine Creek, the next climb. It is a shorter but steeper climb, the sun was higher in the sky, and the air was really starting to heat up. I had gotten a bottle at the top of Mosquito Flat and grabbed another from a handup. Hydration was my main concern and I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to restock. Most of the guys I was with disappeared here, but I pressed on up the climb. I had a power target and stuck to it, feeling pretty confident in my pace. As I neared the top I started seeing other cat 3s descending, no longer together as a group. Making a note of the time, I later determined I was about 5-10 min back from the bulk of them, but a few were much closer, maybe within catching range if I continued strong and/or they blew. I got 2 more bottles at the top and began the screaming descent back to the valley floor. I saw Benny in the lead group of the 4s after only a few minutes; they were gaining ground on me quickly, having started 15 minutes back.
On the descent I caught Matt, another cat 3 whose GF was in the car with my wife helping feed both of us. We rode together and picked up some more M35 and cat 3 riders as we passed the start at Mill Pond and approached the final climb up the 168 to South Lake. My legs were starting to feel heavy from the pace on the 10 mile flat section, but when we hit the climb I felt much better and rode away from all of them. I got two more ice-filled bottles from my wife at the next aid station, and kept plugging away. I was pretty happy with my time to the final climb, and thought that I could do it under 2 hours and break 7 hours for the day if I could manage to hold 200W up the entire 17 mile climb. I passed several more riders including more cat 3s as I went. I'd lost track at this point of what place I was in but I knew I was doing very well.
It took me a little over an hour to go the first 10 miles and get to the turn off the highway towards South Lake. My power was a little under my target, and I felt like I could probably go a little harder, but I really wanted to save my energy for the steep ramps at the end. I pushed hard to the finish but I ended up just missing 7 hours by 20 seconds, for 11th place. I was less than a minute back from 10th, and within 4 minutes of 6th, but 5th was almost 12 minutes ahead.
Day 2The second day started just outside of Big Pine, and the field was conspicuously smaller. We rolled out nice and easy but it wasn't long before someone attacked and rode away. It was so early, actually, that we were still supposed to be neutral. Nobody seemed to care though, and I certainly wasn't going to chase. When we hit the climb up to Glacier Lodge, Matt and I were in the front setting the pace, which was actually nice because it meant they weren't going any faster. I dialed it into my target power and just held it there for 20 minutes until we hit the hairpin; everyone started going harder and I started slipping back. I held on for a little while but stuck to my own pace and grudgingly accepted watching everyone ride away.
I counted as they slipped past. 10 riders gone, I was 11th on the road. One more slipped by, then I caught someone else. Finally it stuck at 12th for a while, but two riders were just dangling ahead, tantalizingly close. Eventually I closed the gap and started gaining on more people. 10th. 9th. 8th. Some shrapnel from the P12 field. They all latched on, and I ended up towing a long 'B' group train. I caught one more guy near the end, and that moved me up to 7th. The final push to the top dropped most of my grupetto; I grabbed a fresh bottle, and was alone when I started to descend. I'm not the most spectacular descender, and one guy caught me back quickly. It was Dave, the 5th placed rider from the first day. I was doing the GC math and thinking that if I was sitting in 7th, then a lot of the guys who were close to me in time were probably behind me and I good chance of improving my placing significantly.
Dave and I rode down together (as together as you can be at over 40mph for 10 miles), and I towed him back across the flats to the second climb up Death Valley Road. I held my power steady again and we rode up most of the climb together. We were passing tons of other riders from other categories, but only one guy passed us from the M35 field. The first two M35 riders passed me very early in the first climb so by my figuring he was 3rd, and the rest of the field nowhere in sight. I rode away from Dave near the turnaround, and caught the M35 guy, Mike, right as we started to descend. We worked together on the descent and then he towed me up the first few miles of the final climb, right up to Aaron, the 6th placed cat 3 rider. The 3 of us rode together for a while but we couldn't keep Mike's pace, and he rode away, very slowly. Then I started fading and Aaron crept away as well.
I think I rode too hard with Mike trying to catch Aaron and was now paying for it. My power steadily dropped and although I had done over 230W on the first two climbs, I was now struggling to maintain 200W. Despite this I actually started gaining on Aaron again around the turn on to White Mountain Road, and with 15K to go I was reeling him in. I got very close, but after we hit a small descent at around 10K remaining, my legs didn't want to cooperate any more. I cracked hard and it was all I could do to keep turning the pedals over. I relished every sign and marker that I came across indicating my progress to the finish and tried to not think about the gobs of time I was losing to him, and all the others I had worked so hard to put behind me. 3K to go, I was passed by another M35 rider. 1 mile to go, I was passed by the cat 4 leader. Close behind was Benny and another rider that turned out to be one of the cat 3s that was just ahead of me in GC. I used Benny to pull away then "attacked" him at the last 200m to the line.
In the end, it turns out I either miscounted somewhere or someone dropped out because I got 6th place for the stage with a time of 5:09:10, and 8th in GC with a time of 12:09:30. I had only lost a minute and a half to Aaron and regained nearly 2 minutes on the other guy. When the dust settled, it wasn't enough; he got 6th in GC, with only a little over a minute on me. Even closer was Dan, who stayed ahead of me for 7th by only 11 seconds. Dave lost about half an hour to me on the last climb and just held on for 10th in the GC.
I get 1 or 2 points for my 6th place finish but there weren't enough starters for any GC points. This year was a huge improvement for me. I took over an hour, or more than 8% off my time. Next year a similar improvement would put me well in the running for a podium position.
Stage 1: 11th (7:00:20)
Stage 2: 6th (5:09:10)
GC: 8th (12:09:30)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 5:21AM 
Piru TT 10/3/10
