In the first race back from spring break and the first of three races in a little over 24 hours, it was more about riding smooth than fast for the Skyhawks.
The 2015 Squawker Road Classic kicked off with the team time trial down County Road 213. Collegiate teams of up to four racers took off at 1-minute intervals at the intersection of River Road and County Road 213 and crossed the finish line 13 miles later before County Road 213 meets with Highway 550.
With a long weekend ahead and coming off action-packed spring breaks, the Fort Lewis College riders were more focused on technique and teamwork than their final times.
“Being smooth out there and being in a flow and communicating with your team takes a lot of work,” FLC women’s cyclist Sofia Gomez-Villafane said.
Gomez-Villafane grouped with Maddie Chaves and Sydney Edmonson to take third out of three teams in the women’s team time trial. They crossed the finish line in 31 minutes, 11 seconds. Colorado Mesa’s team won the women’s event in 29:39, and the University of Colorado was second in 30:29.
It was the first time trial of the road racing season for both Chaves and Gomez-Villafane.
“The first one is never about how fast you go, it’s about how smooth you are,” Gomez-Villafane said.
But don’t think for a minute the cyclists weren’t pumping their legs with all they had as they raced across the mostly downhill course that features small rolling hills.
“I feel like if you’re going to race you show up and race. I agree with Sofia that, for this race, it’s more important to be smooth with your team. But regardless, everyone tries super-duper hard every time they start a race.”
The team time trial truly is a team event. Racers take turns leading the charge so their teammates can draft a bit behind them. But in an all-out sprint to the finish line and with swirling winds, it forced teams to be even more precise.
“With the wind changing direction, we had to stay even closer together with even shorter pulls at the front,” said FLC men’s cyclist Alex Martinek. “Guys took turns in front for less time. The longer we went in the race, the shorter pulls we had. Especially the last 3 miles, it was probably 10-second pulls each guy.”
Matthew Turner competed in his first-ever team time trial event Saturday. He typically sticks to mountain bikes but enjoyed the team aspect of Saturday morning’s race.
“It was my first time doing any type of road race, so it was really cool to come do the time trial. It’s a lot different than mountain biking,” he said.
Cormac McGeough, another FLC men’s cyclist, estimated his team averaged around 28 mph on the ride, with some miles averaging up to 35 mph. All of that speed only can be maintained if the whole group is working together.
“You’re flying the whole time, even up punchy, steep climbs,” McGeough said. “You have so much momentum and use other teammates to go into the hills with all that momentum. It’s cool how you can use your teammates to make yourself go faster.
“You have to stay really close to each other and guys in front have to take a turn and then pull off to the side and let your buddies go up front.”
FLC entered three men’s teams in the race and had two teams finish, taking fourth and ninth out of 10 teams. The Colorado Buffaloes won the race in 25:36, with FLC’s teams finishing in 26:15 and 27:55. Colorado Mesa was second in 25:42, and Colorado Mines took third in 26:06.
The race is part of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference schedule. It continued with a criterium event Saturday afternoon and will conclude with a road race on Rim Drive at 8 a.m. Sunday.
For the Skyhawks, who so frequently have to travel to every race, the chance to host this one event a season comes as a sweet relief, especially as the team gears up toward the Collegiate Road Nationals May 8-10, when FLC will seek a 22nd national title.
Gomez-Villafane said the key to a successful weekend is hydration, nutrition and sleep, while Chaves said mentally blocking out fatigue will help her push through.
“Coming off spring break, we all spent the whole break doing active things. Then we come back and race. When you pack on being wiped out all the time, after awhile it’s just normal to have everything hurt,” Chaves said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
