Billy scores 10th at Leesville Gap RR

A few of the guys spent a vacation day in hell, I mean Leesville, last Friday to contest the dreaded Leesville Gap Road Race. The single loop ~70 mile race is noted for terrible pavement, a hard climb early in the race, and insane heat. It's usually a race of attrition due to heat and mechanicals and this year was no exception. Billy Crane, one of our up and coming riders, rode valiantly to finish in 10th place. Below is his entertaining report.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leesville Gap RR aka ride through hell
Williams, CA - they have a nice deli...and that's about it
July 3rd, 2009
Weather: 20 minutes of pleasant then HOT
Teammates: Peter Cazalet, Bo Hebenstreit, Rand Miller
Placing: 10th or something like that of ~35

The Wednesday before a group of friends invites me wakeboarding on Friday. I weigh the options thinking I always have fun boating...but bike racing is fun too!
3:45AM Friday- alarm goes off. girlfriend throws elbow to get me out of bed...grumbling to myself "I should've gone wakeboarding this weekend" I roll out of bed and start what would be a fantastic day of suffering. I thought the perks of being in the 2's was race radios (highly overrated) and late start times...
For those not familiar with the course it starts with ~8 miles of flat decently paved road that leads into ~25 miles of "unmaintained farm roads" aka "we paved them in 1921 but haven't done jack to them since". This includes multiple gravel sections of various depths and a ~3 mile climb. The rest of the course is over good roads and has a 45mph+ descent. The last 15 miles are flat as a crepe.

The plan going into this race was to have Peter and/or Rand get into an early move before the climb and get enough of a gap that it could be held for the remainder of the course. If that failed...well I guess my skinny ass would have to haul up the climb with the top guys. Unfortunately, those top guys included Max Jenkins (now gainfully employed by a Belgian team) and local strongmen Jesse Moore and James Mattis. Peter started the attacks from the time our lead Honda Insight (even motorbikes don't show up for this thing) honked the horn to signal the end of neutral roll out. He lingered off the front for a few miles solo, then was brought back after the bridge attempts were all followed. Rand immediately jumped, but with similar result.

A small group that contained Peter, Jesse Moore, and Max (I think) got a small gap just prior to us hitting the gravel/jacked road. About 300 meters into this eyeball jarring experience I saw Rand with his hand up..."sh*t, one teammate down" "I know I'll sacrifice my race and give him my wheel and keep my eyes in my head" I thought. Rand accepted the offer..'YES!!!' Now this is where the day goes a bit sideways. Just as I came to a stop Rand realized he didn't want to jack my race and told me to keep keep going. Cursing to myself about his change of heart I take off chasing the pack....wishing I'd gone wakeboarding instead. After a few miles of chasing through the gravel and dust I catch back on. Unfortunately, I'm now at the back of the pack and there has been a small separation. I look over to see James Mattis and think "well I'll just follow his wheel...I mean I do on some training rides" As I'm thinking this my front wheel hits a deep patch of gravel and goes sideways....no idea how I stayed up, but I no longer need to pee.

We hit the climb and my strategy of following James' wheel is now a fading memory and I'm resigned to climbing at my own pace. As guys that were in the break are quickly coming back or flatting I see that I'm the 3rd group on the road. I'm working with an Above Category guy and a couple others I couldn't identify. Peter catches up to us as we hit the flats again. The 5 of us quickly form a paceline and work together to catch the group ahead of us. This was interesting and sometimes challenging to do over the bumpy roads. Unfortunately for Peter he hit 499 potholes to our 498...the last one (and I swear the last one on the entire course) took his front wheel. He flatted and cracked his wheel. Now come for attempt #2 to 'sacrifice' for a teammate....Peter declines. DAMMIT!!! Our group catches the 2nd group on the road of 4-5 guys just as we hit the 2nd and final climb of the day.

Around this time I wonder why my left hand is burning...figuring I'd be hardman and not wear gloves was stupid. My left hand is now sporting some decent blisters...oh joy.
As we hit the 2nd climb a few guys pop instantly and are shed off the back...unfortunately, I didn't last much longer at that pace and popped with only a few hundred meters left in the climb. Luckily Tyler Brandt was in the same position. We crest the hill together and bomb down the descent into the feedzone. As we hit the feedzone Tyler turns to me and asks how his rear wheel looks...erm...I think you've got a flat. I look up the road and see the group fading away into the horizon with all the puddles of water and look back to see nobody there. I'm resigned to finish the last 15 miles solo.

Given that this sufferfest is a point to point race I quickly run through my remaining options: A.Give wheel to teammate...nope already tried twice, B.go wakeboarding, nope...C.fiegn stomach flu and get into team car, I wish....D.HTFU put your head down and finish the day. D is the correct answer.

I set the goal of not getting caught and nearly made it except a rather intent group of 3 M1/2/3 riders caught me with a couple miles left.

The epic day of suffering was capped by Velo Promo provided watermelon, a nice sandwich from Granzellas...

Wakeboarding would've been fun, but I'd have less stories to tell...

Thanks for reading.
Billy