This weekend was the Dutch County PA Stage Race (point-based) in the Gap/Lancaster area, some 2.5 hours away. It was “supposed” to be a novice-type race, with only Category 4 and 5’s attending. Not to compare or take away from Fitchburg, but a similar scenario pans-out with end-of-season stage races - quite a few sand-bagging Cat4’s show up.

Of particular interest were these 2 Bolivian guys. One in the Cat 4 the other in the Cat 5s. They completely crushed/shattered/blazed each race, with the Cat4 taking 1st, 2nd, and 1st respectively in the Road, TT and Crit. Also of greater interest, his Bolivian jersey had rainbow stripes, a’la Bettini. Hmm? Is this guy really a Cat 4? (More to follow.)

The first stage was a 45 mile road race, around a 5-mile loop give or take, with a few rollers nothing spectacularly challenging. Not really what I would call a road race per se due to the loopy-esque aspect of the course and the number of turns. No selection. Frustrating at best. Nothing particularly exciting. Very difficult to move around, attack, get away with 90+ riders following yellow-line rules. I managed to stay up near the front, cover a few attacks, and even test the legs on a roller. I was sitting pretty a few miles from the finish when all of a sudden swarmed from both sides there’s nowhere to go. The officials refused to open the road for the final 1k and you could already imagine the ensuing chaos. Bolivian-striped guy jumps from 1k out and forget it. Everyone lets up and again, since it’s yellow line rules there’s nothing much one can do. I roll in 33rd.

The TT on Sunday was much better - a 7.5 miler with a few rollers and a nice climb midway through, followed by a 45mph downhill and a nice punch to the finish. I had determined this would be my race for the taking.

I started out feeling pretty good. (Don’t we all.) HR under control. The idea was to keep it under control through midway, hit the climb hard and let it all hang out, balls to the wall from then out. I knew the hill would be the deal-maker/breaker. I caught my 30 second man within a few minutes so I was definitely on track. 2 guys were subsequently caught on the ‘hill’ and another on the final stretch. The climb might have cost me some watts in the end but I figured it was energy well spent. I couldn’t let this race come down to seconds, as has been the case in many a races before. (15 seconds dividing 1st through 6th as happened at Readington, not in my favor.)

Crossed the line feeling pretty good, not to mention 4 guys were passed. Time was around low 17s, only averaged 290 watts. Maybe my wattage dropped due to drop in weight to 145lbs. Who knows.

Funny thing was after the TT. People kept staring at me, as if from another planet. “Man! You looked fast, what was your time?” they would ask. “I don’t know, not quite sure.” (I always try to keep my time quiet and to myself, lest I get pre-excited only to find out my SRM was off as often happens.) “What kind of helmet is that, Spook, never heard of it?” (Spiuk). “Are you a Doctor?” “Are you the guy that passed 11 people?” One guy even came up and said that the race coordinators could not believe my time. “Yes, that was his time. He passed me and I started 1:30min before him” he told them. “Can I look at your bike?” I guess they’ve never seen a P3, let alone an SRM, a disc and a long-sleeve skinsuit? Absolutely hilarious!

At the end of the day, it was the fastest time out there. I actually beat the Bolivian!

This is where it gets interesting. After each race, people would go upto the Bolivian (his name was Yamil and he’s 25yrs now.) and start asking him questions. Problem was “I noh speaky inglish” was all he could muster. Here’s how it works in Bolivia after speaking with him - there are NO categories like in the US. You either ride in the under 23yrs old, or over 23yrs old. You could be riding with pros or less-than-pros. It doesn’t matter. When they come to the U.S., he tells me, they have no idea what category they belong in, and since there’s no record of their previous races, they stick them in the cat4/5 races. Furthermore, after additional inquiries, he rides for the Bolivian National team. He was training for the Pan-Am race next weekend in Brazil. How does he pay for all of this? The Bolivian government pays it all. Must be nice I tell him. He laughs.

In Bolivia he tells me, they train/ride year round at 4000 ft. “Puro montaña” he says. (Pure hills.) He has a coach of course. Does a LOT of hill-work. They specifically target 1k sprint work, on the hills. Once a week he does a 4-5hr ride, with the majority of his rides being in the 2-3hr range. Power meter, fancy wheels, light equipment? Forget it. He rides an older alum Eddy Merckx, with bomb-proof open pros. At any rate, I thought it was interesting.

The crit was nothing spectacular. I had no interest and had it been for Dave being there, I could have cared less. Not sure where I finished nor did I care. Not sure where I ended up in GC either.

Ralf did pretty well over-all, taking 10th place in pretty much every race.

Up next…Owasco!