Neil Shirley Mt. Hood Classic Diary – Stage 3
5/16/08 - Today was the first of two hard road stages. The stage was only 85 miles, but trust me it was a day for the climbers. We had 4 and 1/2 laps on a circuit that had only 1 mile of flat roads, it was either up or down the whole time. The lap started with a 10-mile climb, it was only around 5-6 % until the last 3 miles where it went up to 8%.
The plan for the day was to make sure Jittery Joe’s was represented in any break that went up the road and after that just hang on! Six miles into the race a break of about 10 formed and even though Bissell wasn’t in the yellow jersey they took control of the front of the race. We didn’t have anyone in the break so I attacked to get across. I brought Bajadali (Kelly), Swindlehurst (Bissell), and Matt Crane (HealthNet) across with me. We caught the remaining members of the break (some had already been dropped) just before the KOM sprint. I decided to give the KOM a try but realized that Bajadali and Grabinger (Successful Living) were much more motivated for it than I was. I’m usually keen on the KOM’s but I knew this break had a chance to stay away until the end and I wanted to give myself a good shot to win the stage.
Neil Shirley and Jittery Joes teammate, Matt Shriver, get ready for stage 3.
photo © neilshirley.com
Bissell wanted to keep us on a short leash and kept the gap under two minutes. I also soon realized that the break was a complete disaster! I have been in a few negative breaks but this one takes the cake. The break had 12 riders, but only about 6 were willing to work. I understand Swindlehurst not riding since his team was chasing, but it starts getting really frustrating when a team has nothing to loose and they still don’t ride. It’s usually the director making the call from behind so it’s not always the rider’s choice to sit on. But it starts to become negative when a pro team has multiple riders in the break and is not defending a jersey or have their team chasing and they still won’t do a turn. Toyota had two riders in the break as well as the yellow jersey on Hilton Clarke’s back and they still swapped off. That’s enough complaining for one night. I will say that Bajadali, Grabinger, Wherry (Toyota), and especially Phillip Gaimon (Fiordifrutta) rode hard all day.
I was feeling really good most of the stage but I think the near 90 degree heat started affecting me with an hour to go. My legs were on the verge of cramping. I have not cramped up in a couple of years so it was very odd to have the muscle twinges that we all dread. I managed to keep the cramping at bay and was still able to throw in some attacks towards the end. The break was down to 7 of us with only 6 miles to go. We were all feeling the efforts of the day but we were holding a 50 second lead and I thought we were going to make it to the finish. I was getting pumped up for the finish by visualizing myself coming across the line first. Even with my legs nearing the cramping point I am totally confident I would have ended up on the podium. Well, it wasn’t to be. We were caught by a thinned down, hard charging peloton only three miles from the finish. There was no time for me to despair about the break’s misfortunes. My next goal was to stay in the front group to make sure I didn’t lose any time. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stay in the group for the last three miles up to the finish but I was pleasantly surprised how much kick I still had left. I couldn’t do anything in the finish but I don’t think I lost any time either. The front group was blown apart at the end with maybe only 25(?) of us on the same time.
Matt Shriver had a good day and finished in the top 10. All in all, Jittery Joe’s had a good day, especially considering there are only four of us out here. Tomorrow is an 18- mile time trial. I’m really hoping my legs get some good recovery tonight so I can put some pressure on the pedals tomorrow.
Oh yeah, Darren Lill (BMC) won the stage with an impressive attack from 500 meters out. Thanks for reading!
