2012 Cascade Cycling Classic - Stage 3

20 July 2012 - Written by Guest Rider Melina Bernecker Cascade Cycling Classic – Stage 3 Cascade Lakes Road Race Starting at 1951m (6400 ft) elevation at the Mt bachelor Ski Resort Parking Lot today stage would take us on a long descent through the Deschutes National Forrest for the first 19 km (12 miles) to 1340 m (4400 ft) elevation. Once at the bottom there were only a few big rollers that would challenge us but mostly just flat roads with just the elements to contend with and some of the most scenically beautiful landscape I have ever ridden through. The 77 km (46 mile) marker was the start of the climb back up Mt Bachelor and also the last feed-zone. The climb started very gradually and slowly building to a steeper pitch before easing into a false flat and another steeper climb for the last 5 or so km (3 miles) of the race before turning back into the Mt Bachelor Si Resort Parking Lot where the finish line was located. Arriving at the top of Mt Bachelor car-park it was freezing cold with snow still lying on the edges of the car-park . We all sat in the cars with the heaters on trying to stay warm until it was time to warm-up. Rallying up every last piece of clothing we had (in July) we feebly attempted to warm up (knowing it would be freezing cold during our long descent). One of the Tibco Coaches felt sorry for us standing around shivering and offered us some Embro Cream to rub on our legs to keep warm… in our moment of extreme weakness we accepted with glee (except Bea who rubbed herself down with Vaseline) Feeling a slightly warm glow now we rode a few laps of the car park before heading out to the starting chute. Due to the still big field of 88 girls we all wanted to make sure we were towards the pointy end of the field for the descent giving ourselves plenty of space as the roads were still slightly slick in shaded areas. I was glad to be wearing a wind vest and arm-warmers as the air temperature on the way down was very cold, I could barely feel my finders at the bottom. Once we hit the flats we all stripped down ready to dump our gear in the feed zone which was coming up on the next little climb about 12km (8 miles) away. The pace was fast with girls attacking even on the descent. Our average pace on the flats was over 42km (26 miles) per hour. For the next hour or so we flew along the highway through the forests and past the cascade lake network. Attacks were constant which resulted in the fast pace. The Tibco and Optum girls were doing a lot of the pace making whilst the Exergy 21 girls focused on protecting their leader in Kristen and chasing down any breaks. At about the 65 km (40 mile) mark there was finally a successful break with 5 girls getting up the road (one from each of the big teams). At that point things finally settled down a bit with the break gaining about two and a half minutes on the peloton, which was mostly still intact. Our legs were on fire from the Embro cream, it felt like someone was ripping off the skin, I think in some ways though it was distracting me form the pain my legs were feeling from riding though. Once we hit the climb and the second feed-zone the pace picked up again. Kristen was not in the break and could not afford to loose too much time so the Exergy Team picked up the pace to ensure minimal time was lost and Kristen would retain the Yellow Jersey. The next 16km (10 miles) started to hurt as the pace picked up along the climb, there was only one short section of about 4.5 km (3 miles) where the gradient got steep and the legs began to hurt before the road flattened out 5km and we hit the 10km to go marker. The peloton stayed mostly together until the last 5km climb where the road gets steep and the group splintered apart with the gradient between 6 -8%. Before is flattened out again and made the final turn for the finish line. My legs hurting (and burning from the Embro Cream) with my heart about to explode, I stomped down on the pedals determined to keep any time lost to a minimum. With Jenny & Lisa just up ahead I managed to stay with the group until the last 3km at which point both Jenny and I propped back a few seconds with a couple of other girls. The 1km to go sign came as a huge relief as I mustered up any last energy I had to make it to the finish line. Lex Albrecht (Optum) crossed the line in first place in a time of 2.53.26. Andrea Dvorak (Exergy) was second and Beth Newell (Now). Kristen Armstrong (Exergy 21) managed to hold onto the yellow jersey overall on GC with a marginal lead. THE SC Velo Girls did really well with Amber Gaffney managing to hold onto the leaders group the longest crossing the line in 25th place in a time of 2.55.14, Lisa Campbell finished 42nd in 2.55.52, myself in 44th place in 2.56.38, Jenny Rios 46th in 2.56.38, Beatrice Rodriguez 69th 2.57.54, and Holly Breck 80th 2.59,57. Post race we all hopped around trying to get the damn Embro cream from our legs without much success, we covered them in ice but as soon as the sun hit the skin it felt like a blowtorch… we tried washing it off in the bathroom (much to Bea’s amusement) but nothing seemed to work! It took 12 hours and 3 washes with dish-soap to get the cream off – major rookie error!!! Thanks to Team SC Velo support (Charlie, James, Dennis & Jake) you guys were awesome out there!!!