Will Dickeson: Cycling Tribe Blog

Well, I now have a weekend of proper American racing under my belt after just finishing the Tulsa Tough event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Before Tulsa though, I was trying to get myself back together after a solid block of stage racing – the Tour of Thailand, Tour of Korea and Tour of California. After getting home from California, I was pretty much a buckled unit. The mind was still fresh and keen, but the body was at the point where it was too tired to do anything at much more than 60%. Part of the fun of riding with Jellybelly, however, is that we only have 10 senior riders, so there is not much of a chance to miss some races. As a result, it becomes a matter of managing fatigue as best you can and listening to your body.

6 days without touching the bike was exactly what I needed, and I was able to fill in the time with a visit to the offices of our clothing sponsor Pactimo to discuss product development as well as spend some time with my Mum who had come to Boulder to check things out.

The first few days back on the bike were a challenge, all my muscles were stiff and sore, but a few good stretching sessions and I was soon feeling right again. I was also able to get out my first ride in the hills when I actually felt ‘good’ and think I am just about becoming adapted to the Boulder altitude.

Two days later, I was on the plane to Tulsa for the NRC race which consists of 3 Criterium races in 3 days. To be honest, I was not expecting good things, I had raced maybe 2 crits in Adelaide over summer and before that it was probably the Tour of the Murray, so leg speed was going to be an issue. This turned out to be the case in the first race – a 70 minute race in downtown Tulsa that started at 9pm. I think I made it to the front of the race once and was feeling completely out of my depth, but it was a really cool event, super fast, big crowds and even a fireworks display that started halfway through the race. It was an awesome sight, even from my position hanging on to the back end of the bunch, to see my team mates Jeremy Powers and Sean Mazich hit the front with 15 laps to go and keep things strung out. Towards the end Team Hotel San Jose team stepped in to wind it up and this played into our hands as Sean was able to launch Brad Huff to the win and hang on to 3^rd himself.

After an easy 35km morning spin along the river and a lazy day, we had another nighttime crit. Again the crowds were fantastic and made even better by the fact that the race climbed past one of the best bars in the city. Nothing like some responsible alcohol consumption to build an atmosphere! After having my legs shocked into action and also dropping back to some 172.5mm cranks, I was feeling like a different bike rider for race 2. Team Hotel San Jose were  active, using their 8 riders to cover a lot of moves, so I busied myself following their lead and dragging back any significant breaks. The boys did the job once again with Jeremy dropping Sean and Brad off before the last corner and then soaking up the joy of a 1-2 finish. Those boys can sprint!

The 3^rd and final race was late on Sunday afternoon and after watching ‘Philly’ on TV, we were pumped! There is nothing like watching  team mates rip things up and Will Routley was doing just that with a long solo move that netted 2^nd in the sprint classification, 2^nd in the KOM’s and a massive amount of TV time. When it came to the sprint and Mike Friedman got a run and jumped early, there were four riders and our team manager in the lounge room, jumping up and down and screaming at him to “GO!” Mike ended up with 11^th in the biggest 1 day race in America, but he took a chance and it’s better to go for the win and fail than be happy with perhaps a top 10 result.

Anyway, back to our final race that consisted of an 800m lap that went up ‘cry baby hill’. This hill came as you turned off the main straight and went right into a bottleneck and 100m at about 15%. It then turned to a longer false-flat and this is where the party was at! I think there would have been a couple of hundred (mostly drunk) fans, screaming, squirting hoses, water pistols and waving flags, banners and even a baby doll. Our main objective was for Brad to win the overall omnium classification for the 2^nd year in a row and after his wins in the opening races, we only really had to watch 6 guys. Again, I was feeling better and was able to do some longer turns to set tempo and not let breaks get too far. However, I was still missing a bit of ‘snap’ so hitting the hill every lap was starting to take its toll. After 80 minutes of racing, 4 guys stayed away and the sprint for 5^th got really messy as the bunch screamed down the hill and into the final off-camber concrete corner. The boys were able to get a few points with Brad 14^th and Sean 15^th and that was enough to secure 1^st and 2^nd overall – another big result in what is turning into a massive year for the Jellybelly Cycling Team!

I am now on my way back to Boulder, stoked with the 4:30am wake up call. I don’t mind the early starts so much, but when it’s because everyone else is on the 6am flight and I have to sit in the airport till 8:30… well I could have done with the extra couple of hours! It’s a good thing we kept a lid on it last night!