Barry-Roubaix 2015
Wow! What an epic ride!
The race started at 5:00 pm as I ran out of work and headed down the 401 to pick up Eric at the carpool lot north of Aylmer. Once we got the equipment transferred it was a fun ride to Lansing, MI to the Ramada to spend the night. Only a few pit stops along the way allowed us to get there in good time to talk about a brief race strategy and goals for race day. It’s always tough to fall asleep in a hotel, but the addition of drunk parents of an under 18 baseball team (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michigan-Jets-18U-Travel-Baseball-Team/139800376057677?sk=timeline) stumbling and hiccupping to their rooms added an extra dynamic I wasn’t quite prepared for. I’ve since added ear plugs to my overnight bag. Regardless, we awoke Saturday morning tired but ready to race! The hotels complimentary breakfast was an added bonus. Ask Marc J. how the eggs were. I’m sure he’s perfected the recipe by now! We were on the road to Hastings, MI by 7am and arrived just before 8am. Race packets were picked up, stars were dropped, and we immediately headed for coffee and a parking lot to sit and relax and get ready. Race time quickly approached, so once we were all kitted up, we did a small warm-up in -10 Celsius air. It was cold. Having first elected for regular five finger gloves, I made a last minute decision to grab my lobster mitts as the others corralled in the 62 mile open race line. Time to race!
The wait was cold. Very cold. We chatted about storing a honey pot full of gels and fantasized how nice it would be if we were Whinny the Poo and could scoop a mitt-full of gel out of our jersey pockets to eat during a race. Obviously, that approach is much easier than having to open single serving race sachets. And then it was time to RACE!! 10:00am on the nose, the race was off. Thank goodness, because we were getting cold!
(Jeff Schiller leading the group out of the gate - http://www.jhkunnenphoto.com/p686654710/h40a4261d#h40a4294b)
We rolled through Hastings as a group which, on a whole, had the usual pre-race jitters and fury for quite some time. The first real selection, aside from the one rider solo up the road, happened at the Sager Road left turn. 5 km before, Mike Aston rolled beside me and said “some bottle necks are coming up”. We were prepared, but couldn’t anticipate the general chaos that was about to hit. Riders went everywhere. If you weren’t near the front, you were out the back. After being caught behind a crash, Mike Aston had to unclip and then was forced to turn a monster gear up a climb. I was right behind him, with both feet unclipped, so I gave him a little push to get the momentum going. I then ran up the hill and began chasing. I did my best ‘cross remount and continued to chase. Up the road, I saw Eric Hueston on the ground, falling victim to the foot deep ruts in the road and sand. I weaved between each of the three choices of a line trying to get back to Mike Aston as he powered through the trail and climbs. Jeff Schiller and Marco Li were still up the road, and unfortunately, Marc Joanisse was also caught behind some of the madness.
(Marc Joanisse on the single track - http://www.snowymountainphotography.com/Sports/Cyclocross/2015-Cyclocross/Barry-Roubaix-2015/i-gdpNXF6/A)
I continued to chase, and latched on to a group working to catch Mike Aston and his group up the road. Aston was pulling, and dropping guys out of his group every minute. My group rotated, and clawed back more and more time, and thanks to the help of a few other strong riders, we made the bridge to Mike Aston’s group and then continued along back to the main group. A quick check saw Schiller and Li still rolling near the front of the group. Time to recover. A few punchy climbs created another small split which I had to chase back from, and I started feeling the impact of the hard work. I was cramping all over! I was eating gels, my frozen Clif bars, and drinking lots, but nothing seemed to help. I decided to rest up and stay safe and conserve energy and see if I could help Schiller in any way. Well, my body wasn’t responding, and I kept catching myself doing the math in my head of how many KM’s we had left to race which is a personal sign that I was toast. After the last gravel section, I moved closer to the front and tried to watch for any moves. Schiller attacked the group on the final climb, but was immediately covered, and I heard some comments from the guys ahead that they were not interested in giving Jeff any daylight. A sprint for second was how this would play out. The last 5 km were very messy. No crashes (that I’m aware of) but the fact that we had to weave around riders from the other categories who weren’t at all racing created some unpredictable road traffic and more nervous riders contesting sprint. I had no legs, so the best I could do is hang on. I saw Jeff and the leaders powering through the corners, covering late flyer attempts, and make a mad dash for the line while narrowly missing unsuspecting casual cyclists at the same time. Jeff managed a 7th place finish, and I rolled in 4 seconds behind them for 24th.
(Jeff Schiller going for the line - https://www.flickr.com/photos/kbrowerphotos/16952165106/in/album-72157651240938920/lightbox/)
Mike Aston and Marco Li finished 31st and 32nd, Eric Hueston 39th and Marc Joanisse 69th.
(Eric Hueston crossing the line - http://www.robmeenderingphotography.com/Iceman-2014/2015-BarryRoubaix-Post-Race-Pa/i-5PFWD4B/A)
Overall, it was an amazing race which tested the body and the mind. There’s no hiding in the gravel!
Congratulations to all the To Wheels Epic Sports Performance BCC riders (Jeff Schiller, Marco Li, Marc Joanisse, Eric Hueston, Mike Aston, and Michael Jaffray) to the organizers of Barry-Roubaix, and to the Town of Hastings, MI for a fantastic race.
Here’s a review of the race with results from Cyclocross Magazine: http://www.cxmagazine.com/2015-barry-roubaix-gravel-race-full-results-interview-woodring-lombardo
And here's my strava data: https://www.strava.com/activities/275404065