The Volkswagen River Gorge Road Race was my third and final cycling road race of 2011. This race maintained a similar pattern throughout...Break away on the climbs, and then get caught on the descents and flats. This pattern repeated itself three to four times during the race. Fortunately for me, the race finished on a 3.5 mile climb, and I was able to capture my third consecutive road race victory. Here's how the race unfolded from start to finish:

The worst move I made all day came before the gun. Chris and I arrived at the start line about five minutes prior to the start, and we found ourselves in terrible position. The neutral lead-in and the first couple of race miles consisted of a stop-and-go, slinky-like pace. This speed up, slow down pace made me nervous and uncomfortable. To avoid being involved in a potential crash, I maneuvered to the yellow center line with the first opening I saw. Chris eventually found my wheel, and we progressed to the front of the peloton. I led for the next five miles or so with Chris on my wheel. Following a short surge from a couple of competitors, Chris moved to the front and led us to the first turn.

Immediately after the turn we began a short but rather steep climb. Without attacking, we maintained a steady pace up the climb, and we found ourselves pulling away from the main field. Chris and I were joined by one other rider in the first breakaway of the day. Over the descent and flat to follow, the three of us decided to work together in an attempt to widen the gap. This breakaway was short lived as we were caught by the peloton just short of the next climb.

Although it was irrelevant to our race, this next climb was home of the the first KOM for the pro race. Whether or not there was money to be earned, I viewed that orange line in the road as a challenge, and I wanted to get there first. Here, the second breakaway of the day commenced. This time I was alone. I was the first rider to summit the climb, and I began the next descent anxiously peeking over my shoulder every half mile. Surprisingly, I was soon reeled in by a solo rider. This guy was fast on the flats! We worked together and tried to extend our lead. We failed. Riding into a stiff headwind, we were no match for the peloton. They caught us shortly before the stair step climb. For the next few minutes leading up to the stair step climb, I tucked in, reduced my heartrate about 15 bpm, rotated bottles and began getting mentally prepared for the final 17 miles of the race.

I quickly moved back to the front as we started the 2.76 mile stair step climb. I stayed in the saddle and simply tried to maintain a steady pace with minimal effort. As we approached the feed zone atop the final "step" of the climb, I began to gradually pull away once again. This was not an intentional move. It just played out that way. Here, I passed my family, which provided some extra motivation to finish well. Riding clear of the field simplified the bottle exchange in the feed zone. I was able to slow down and ensure that I had a clean, successful hand-off with Gumby. I tossed an empty bottle #1, which had consisted of water only, on the roadside, and grabbed bottle #3 from Gumby. Bottle #3 consisted of the of one scoop of EFS and one GU gel. I still had half of bottle #2 (one scoop EFS) remaining.

A long, lonely descent ensued. I tried to maintain the gap without putting myself in the hole. Toward the bottom an official notified me that the gap was 22 seconds. Roughly a minute later it was down to 12 seconds. I had been caught, again! Chris pulled up beside me and said, "Get in here and rest. We're not going to break this group." Getting caught a third time was a bit demoralizing, and I agreed with Chris for an instant. I said, "I know. The competition is much tougher today." That thought didn't last long at all. As it turned out, Chris' comment provided the spark that lit the fire. As we approached a small climb, I said to myself, "Yes, this group can be broken. Hit it hard from here to the line. No looking back now." So I did just that. I put my head down, pulled away and hurt all the way to the line.

The final climb to the finish was brutal. I haven't been so relieved to cross a finish line in a long time. Contrary to my previous two road races, I knew I had been in a race after this one.

Congrats to Chris for a strong race and an awesome finish! I look forward to bigger and better things for both of us in 2012. ENDURE. NEVER GIVE UP.