Race Report: Masters Nationals 30-34 Mens Road Race

12 months of work came to fruition Monday as I ended up 10th overall, 3rd in the chase group in the Mens 30-34 Masters Nationals Road Race Championship. Was I happy with this result? Not quite, but I was not terribly disappointed either. Why, when my goal was to win? Well, looking at my power file (I know I'm a geek when it comes to this, but power doesn't lie) it was the hardest race I've ever done since I started racing again in 2007. I set new 1 min, 5 min, 20 min and 60 min. Normalized Power numbers, and for the race (over 2.5 hours) my NP was 310W.

The course was the same as last year, with a different start/finish. After pre-riding the course on Sunday with Chris Emory and Mark Ruscoe, I decided that I really liked it this year and thought I had a legitimate shot at the podium, if not the jersey. The morning of I made a list of all the danger men that had been getting solid results in Pro/1/2 races this year. The race started out fast, and nervous as Josh Frick of DC Velo took off from the gun. Frick was on my 'list' as one of the danger men and I got a little nervous about him being pulled back. However constant attacks and efforts, especially from Mike Olheiser (check, on the list). After 5 laps we finally pulled Josh back as the counter moves went. However I'd already gone into the red zone multiple times and I just couldn't close the gap over the start/finish hill. As a matter of fact, looking back at the race data I recorded a new max heart rate of 193bpm, 3 beats over my previous max. Ouch! As I settled into the chase group I figured we had a shot at catching the break, with both teammates with me. But, DC Velo had a man up the road (who eventually had a mechanical and dropped out of the break) and the others didn't seem to have the motivation to chase. The other thing working against us, was all the danger men on my list, yes ALL 5 that I'd chosen to mark, were up the road. 20 seconds turned into 2 minutes as our group withered in the heat. Repeated attacks by Jacob and I went nowhere, and unfotunately a crash took Chris Emory out of the group, and the distance, heat, and a missed feed took it's toll on Jacob.

Coming into 2 laps to go the group seemed resigned to race for 8th although a Kelly Benefits rider kept attacking up the hills, even though he wouldn't work and never got anywhere - highly annoying! With 1.5 laps to go after a half-lap lull he attacked up the hill on the backside of the course and both my quads went into full lockdown. Oh no! Over the top of the climb I clung to the back of the group and shook and spun my legs to try to loosen them up. Fortunately I recovered enough to hang strong in the group going into the last lap and led over the first climb when Dave Bozak started the lead out for his teammate Ken Young. Dave set tempo for the next two miles until Kelly jumped up the climb again. He hit the front again going into the final turn. Ken jumped with 500 meters to go and I went right after him as Brad Spears from TN went on the other side of the road. I dug as deep as I could, but fell about 2 inches short of catching Ken as Brad hung on for 8th, as I ended up 10th. I practically passed out as I swung between a couple cars and fell off my bike into the grasp gasping as my diaphragm cramped. Holy cow, that hurt! Jacob and Chris both hung on for top 20 as a slew of DNFs kept the finshers to a minimum. Even though we didn't place anyone in the top 10, we had one of the strongest teams out there. My #1 seed, so to speak, Matt Davis from LaSport beat out Olheiser for the win, so at least I got something right on the day! (seriously though, check out this guy's results for the past couple of months: http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?compid=230433 How do you win that many races in a row? Unreal.)

1	90	Mathew Davis	02:31:59.30	230433	1355	Team Lasport
2	85	Michael Olheiser	02:31:59.60	133375	1377	Marx And Bensdorf Realitors
3	80	Eneas Freyre	02:32:01.50	146736	1360	Targetraining
4	75	Sam Krieg	02:32:02.30	201431	1371	Ice Rocky Mtn. Surgery
5	70	Daniel Quinlan	02:32:02.80	214530	1378	Carbon Racing
6	65	Tom Burke	02:32:04.20	179205	1353	Lathrup Industries/Giant Bicycles
7	60	Jonathan Jacob	02:32:16.30	226733	1368	Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team
8	55	Bradley Spears	02:38:31.00	146455	1386	Krystal-Hincapie Elite Cycling
9	50	Kenneth Young	02:38:33.00	233138	1395	Clean Currents P/B Don Beyer
10	45	Christopher Larsen	02:38:33.00	70660	1372	Industry Nine
11	40	Colin Sandberg	02:38:33.40	119361	1381	Meredith Group/GPOA
12	38	Todd Hesel	02:38:33.50	185182	1365	Kelly Benefit Strategies/lSV
13	36	Igor Volshteyn	02:38:38.70	36785	1391	Champion System
14	34	Ryan McKinney	02:38:58.70	97634	1374	Clean Currents P/B Don Beyer
15	32	David Bozak	02:39:05.80	155889	1352	Clean Currents P/B Don Beyer
16	30	Jacob McGahey	02:42:00.90	108366	1373	Industry Nine
17	28	Brandon Cowart	02:42:02.30	7964	1354	Bike Barn Texas
18	26	Jamie Kimberley	02:42:02.50	133782	1370	Kelly Benefit Strategies/ LSV
19	24	Joseph Bosemer	02:42:03.20	237064	1351	Fetzer Cycling Team
20	22	Chris Emory	02:46:31.90	208902	1358	Industry Nine

(This is what 195bpm feels like when your max is 190!)

Aside from a slipping saddle, and missing the break, it was a good day on the whole. Thanks my teammates Chris and Jacob who rode great, dug deep, and finished despite setbacks. A special thanks goes out to Robert and Kelly for the late feed when I ran out of water, the coke, and everyone that cheered for me and the team! And of course, our sponsors, and those that are reading this for the support that make all of this possible. What a great sport!

Thanks goes out to all of our sponsors:

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