From my limited experience, I've discovered that tire selection is pretty important. If the gravel is fresh and things are muddy, you're going to want some pretty chunky tires. On the other hand, if it's dry and hard packed, you can get away with a faster tire. To keep things rolling quickly without completely sacrificing control and flat protection, I stuck a 28mm Maxxis refuse slick on the back, and then put a Clement LAS 33mm file tread up front. It's meant for cross racing on grass, but the high volume, low rolling resistance, and moderate side knobs seemed perfect for the speedwagon course. Most of the other riders had the same idea, although there were a number of road bikes and skinnier tires.
Friday, the weather was fantastic. 70f, sunny, no wind. But it's spring in Montana, so obviously that didn't hold out for long. Saturday brought scattered showers, with my weather app telling me Polson was experiencing 20mph winds with gusts to 40. I'm not sure they were that strong, but it definitely wasn't pleasant. That, plus a training race in Drummond thinned out the field a bit, with just under 30 riders turning up for the start. Two years ago it was closer to 60. It didn't stop most of the fastest guys in MT from showing up however, most of them in the same Cycling House van.
It looks pretty nice, but it was only 45f and I could could barely keep my hat on:
At the start, I lined up near the front, with the goal of sticking with the lead group when they went for it, and hanging on as long as possible. A few miles in we hit a sharp turn over a cattle guard Matt Seeley had warned us as a place to go easy to keep from crashing or getting a pinch flat. I guess I should have known better because that's exactly where he made the attack, and I wasn't ready for it. Suddenly I found myself in no-man's land (or one-man's land?) in a nasty crosswind, working way too hard at mile 6 of a 50 mile race. Josh Tack found himself out of the draft and I caught up, hoping he'd help me out, but he just drifted back to the main group. I hung on out there for awhile and finally Jesse and another guy came up and we started working together. We caught Stinky who had also been dropped, and then had 4 people working to catch 8 or so. I gave up on the chase a little too soon and the other three guys made it, while I was out on my own again, with Josh Martell the only guy in sight way behind me. I'm thinking "oh great, I'm going to have to ride this whole damn thing by myself."
As I was climbing up the hill to the aid station at mile 20 or so I saw a guy in front of me (Dave?). He let me catch up and we started working together a bit. Then I glanced back and saw two more guys, the Joshes. We slowed up, ate and drank a bit, and let them catch up. Then we had 4 people to work together in wind. That worked pretty well for awhile, and then Josh Martell got a flat before we crossed the river. Another rider appeared in front of us, and it turned out to be Owen. He was having tire issues and didn't seem interested in riding with us, and then we started climbing and lost Dave, so it was just me and Josh Tack through the mud, up "dentist hill," and back down to the start of the final climb. We spotted one more rider, Stinky, and caught him a few miles before the last hill.
The pace picked up a little there and I was hurting, so before the last turn I let them ride away from me. Stinky hung onto Josh for awhile and then was on his own again as we started up toward the finish. Josh was riding away as I'd expected, but I was gaining on Stinky. That climb was not pleasant and I was wishing for about 3 easier gears as I plugged along at about 50rpm in 36x25, my mud caked drivetrain groaning and skipping with protest on every pedal stroke. About half way up I caught Stinky, and while I felt like I wasn't going to be able to keep turning the pedals all the way up he looked like he was about to give up and start walking.
We both made it, and there were not many people up at the top. Matt Seeley had rode away on his own to win, Jesse Carnes pulled off 2nd place, and Toby ended up 3rd after getting a flat and not quite being able to catch Jesse. Shaun Radley and Wayne finished next, not sure on the order, then it was Josh Tack, me and Stinky. So I managed 7th. Given who was there I couldn't really have expected to do much better, even if I'd been with the break from the start. It also meant there was PBR left in the cooler out of the 12 that had been brought to the finish line, so I had one of them plus some chips.
I hung out at the finish for awhile and we cheered on the beat up riders and they rolled in one by one. Then I caught a shuttle back because I wasn't making the mistake of trying to ride the 12 miles back to the start again. Jesse and Matt did, and Jesse got two flats and they ended up in a car anyway.
The best part of going to Speedwagon is the post race dinner. Wayne has a really nice place with lots of room, and all of the kitchen counters were covered with food. We ate, hung around for the awards (Jesse got a really cool hand made plaque), and I had a lot of chips and cookies.
This weekend is the Rocky Moutain Roubaix, and will be my first road race in category 4. Hopefully I've done enough riding and training this year to keep up.
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