Sunflower State Games Road Race

Wow, it sure is hard to catch back up with the pack when you're by yourself. I learned that the hard way on Sunday.


I was feeling really good before and during the race. I did the first breakaway with Rob from Team such and such. I raced with him at the Crit on Saturday as well as the Power and Light Crit where he came in third behind me. Rob just came up beside me and said, "Let's go." We went out at a pace that we weren't going to be able to hold, but that was fine. We were just looking to split the field a little and see who was out to race.


The course was a 16 mile loop. The first loop everything was going great. I felt good and the pace was one that I could hold all day if needed, while I was with the pack of course. It happened just after I had caught a solo breakaway. I moved back to the rear of the peloton to rest a little from the effort. I was making it a point not to spend to much time out front so that I didn't have a repeat of the day before. Just after moving to the back I heard something fall off my bike. I looked down in time to see that my second bottle cage (that I had just put on before I left for Topeka) had come partially off. The top bolt was gone. The cage then swung down and nearly got jammed in my crank. I spent about a minute trying to unscrew the other bolt with my fingers, but I finally had to just break it off. I spent the next 16 miles trying to catch back up to the group. I did a good job of bridging the distance, but I just didn't have quite enough to get all the way there. I did finish, but spent the rest of the race time-trialing. Below is a pic of me still trying to catch the peloton. This was the closest I had got and you can see the grimace on my face as I hammered the pedals, but to no avail. I even picked up a straggler, but dropped him about a mile later. Thanks to Lanterne Rouge for the pictures.

I think the cage bolts got loosened on the drive out to Topeka because they were tight when I left home. I had noticed that they were loose before the race, but I just tightened them with my fingers thinking it would be good enough. I should have just gone back to my car real quick and tightened them properly. Ah well.

Adam, Phil and I had some good after race grub at some cafe just down the road from Forbes Field. Nothing like a big greasy handmade burger after a hard race. Even though I didn't finish in the pack I felt much more whipped than I would have had I stayed with the group. Good workout even if the race didn't turn out well. Good times!

Stay Dirty.