Bryan Brosious: Act 2 of 4: The Road Race

*Tarje and Brodacious discussing the great race.

If someone were to call you "calculating" you probably wouldn't consider it a compliment. You would however consider it a compliment if it were in the context of road racing. The road race is one of the most tactical of all races and I enjoy that aspect of the sport.

*Want to know a random fact?...

*...Most bike kits don't have a waistband, they have suspenders! lol

Although the numbers were a little bit low this year, there were some familiar faces (and bikes) in the race. This included my friend, Ken, who is a super strong rider. He beat me at this race in 2010 and hasn't slowed down. On top of that he was wrangling a new Pinerello which is basically the Ferrari of the bike world. We had a quick chat before the race and hatched a plan.

*Rockin' the Montana State Kit

*Riding to the start line

*Ken and I discussing "the plan."

The plan was to make the break, take the peloton out of the competition by getting a big lead, and then fight it out every man for himself at the end. Ken is fantastic sprinter and this plays right to his game. When the race started we rolled out and our plan went into effect, perfectly. Pretty quickly into the race Tarje, a phenominal jr. rider made a solo break. Tarje told me he has been racing in the Lance Armstrong's bike series and has been tearing up the scene.

Tarje's break was a perfect opportunity for Ken and I. After Tarje went clear Ken and I made our own break to join him. It worked perfectly, after two hills our group of three was clear and working together very well. When it was clear that our break was amassing huge time, we all went into the "every man for himself" mode and put in a few attacks on the break. I made a few accelerations to test our trio and see if they had pretty good legs. Both Tarje and Ken covered my small attacks and we made the turnaround stuck together in paceline.

*Ken going off the front to join Tarje

After a couple of miles of rotating through on the front I realized that I had a little secret, and it wasn't a good one. My front tire had picked up a puncture or a pinch flat, I could see the tire's sinking sidewall and feel the degrading handling. This was a bad feeling because stopping to change a flat would guarantee me of not winning. I was hoping the other two riders wouldn't notice my sagging tire. I was very lucky because the tire was a slow leak, it wasn't a dead flat (which you shouldn't ride) or a total tire blowout (which you can't ride).

I did my best to maintain the other riders' wheels and stick in the draft. I was also very lucky that the finish was uphill and there were no high speed descents, the latter would be dangerous on a going-flat tire. For 90 percent of the race our break worked together. With a mile to go the pace slowed to a lull as none of us really wanted to be the lead out man for the final sprint. We all wanted to win, that's not a bad thing, and were not really set on doing any more work for the others. So we all coasted down as if to say "No I insist, you go ahead."

*Ken and I joining Tarje in the break

The best way to win a sprint is to draft a lead rider up until the line. When you get within a couple hundred meters of the finish you smash it and go for the pass, never looking back. Ken beat me doing just that in 2010. I was able to cover his finishing move and repass him to win in 2011. With a 500 meters to go I was on Ken's wheel and Tarje was on mine. I really had to force myself to stay there and be patient. "Stay here, stay here, not yet, not yet." I repeated to myself as the finish line approached and my patience meter was about to bubble over. Every nerve in my body was buzzing with anticipation of the sprint finish to come.

*Ken opening the gap with an accelaration, I need to reel him back in.

*I have a secret and it's not a good one, my poor tire.

With 300 meters to go I pulled through and raised the pace to disrupt the sprint. Ken and Tarje covered it well and stuck to my wheel. I knew this because I could see our shadows just inside my periperhal vision. With 150 meters to go Ken made his move and accelerated around me in his quest for the finish and the win. If I wanted any shot at winning I had to cover his move and get on his wheel. My flatting tire wobled as I dropped a few gears and stood out of the saddle to accelerate. My front tire felt like it was glued to the pavement.

*Jostling for position

With 50 meters to go we hit the steep part of the climb, I had covered the attack despite the protesting wheel. This was my chance, I had to now put in my attack and go for the win. With 25 yards to go Ken was full power, mashing his big chain ring while going up the hill, that guy can ride! With 20 meters I made my move and swung right and exited his slip stream. With 15 meters to go Ken countered my attack and we were wheel to wheel. 10 meters to go and it was anyone's race. 5 meters to go I put my head down and gave a few final accelerations and eased a bike length ahead. This was the moment a bike racer lives for, the close finish is something special.

*That's it, we are done!

I crossed the line just in front of Ken for the win. I was thankful I even made it to the finish with my tire issue. Tarje did a fantasitic job and came across the line a few seconds later after being spit out the back of the group during the last half mile or so. Just past the finish Ken and smiled at each other and he said, "Good race." You know, that's what it is about, we worked together in the break, then tried to break each other. In the end, regardless of place, we are all lucky to share the race moments. It was really fun.

*Tarje telling me about his race. He told his mom he "did all the work for us." :)

*Epic landscape

*This race also took place in the middle of nowhere

After the race I had a good chat with Tarje and his team manager (his mom, Cindy). They have a great family. They were telling me they go to Colorado for bike races and Tarje has been showing the boys up. The kid is a great rider and it was fun to have him in the break. In all honesty, he did a ton of work for our group while gaining valuable race experience with the big boys. To my surprise I had some air left in my tire so I was able to ride the short distance back to the car with Tarje while he gave me tips on bike racing. :) What a fantastic day, I am glad I was able to share it with all my friends, special moments and memories for all of us.

*Tarje and I both won our respective divisions

Again, a BIG thank you to Chris Sievers for graciously taking pictures, without her I would have to settle for photo-shopping my head into other bike race pictures.