I did this race for the first time in '05. It's on labor Day weekend, toward the end of the season. By that time, I had a full season of racing in my legs and head and I was starting to understand it. After placing 5th in the prologue, I felt confidant about doing well. A couple of days later, on the last climb in stage3(the road race), my friend Tobi pulled me and the rest of the lead group of about 30 guys up the hill. Tobi talked me through things and basically gave me a great launch into the final climb.
And then I cracked. Not just cracked, but completely fell apart. In about a minute's time, my spirit was broken, and I felt like I was just clawing my way out of a mud hole with no traction.
I was pissed.
The good news for me was that I've always done my best work when inspired by my own failures. I'm never so angry as when I let myself down, and I was really, really angry with myself. The next year was basically the execution of an obsessive mission to redeem myself on that same climb in that same race. I'm not sure why this was so important to me. I'm sure it goes pretty deep, but I won't get into that here.
Over the winter I lost 10-15lbs, got even more obsessive about training, and visualized that spot on the climb. In early August I went to Vermont(after a 110 mile mountainous ride with Mark McCormack) to ride the major climbs and commit them to memory. I wanted to be able to ride them over and over in my head.
This year I took 2nd on the prologue, maintained my overall GC position through the circuit race. For the road race, I hung in the wheels until the first major climb, when 7 of us got away for what would be the winning break. I was the only one there with a teammate, and he (Coleman O'Connor) babysat me.
When we hit the final climb, IU sat comfortably in the group, trying not to do any work. When we reached that spot in the road where I cracked last year, I put some pressure on, and we dropped 3 of the six guys in the group. At the foot of the final, killer climb up App Gap, it was blowing about 30 mph, raining, and foggy. I was in heaven. With just about 500meters to go, John Funk slipped past me and I just couldn't match his pace. In the fog and lactic haze, one other guy got past me just before the line, and I took third. Could I have hung on for second? I think so, but I'm not going to obsess over it for a year.
I survived the Burlington Crit to take 3rd overall.
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