Quail Run Race Finale

A recap of our tallies so far: we each had one win, one loss and a tie. So the final “race” up the 3-mile climb to homebase was to be the deciding factor for the overall title. It’s pretty lame I guess, but it’s a great way to simulate race-pace intensity – especially at the end of a long ride.

Karim and I were both tired today. Our legs felt pretty sapped, our breathing was a bit lathargic and our morales certainly weren’t as positive as they were on the first day. We intended on getting a solid 4 hours in today, figuring we’d make the most out of the warm weather training opportunity we had, but after 1.5 hours into a headwind under cloudy, cool skies, we decided to head back after our gas station sag stop. Mentally, I felt a bit livelier, knowing we were on our way back and that translated into a bit of pep in the legs.

The trash-talking started soon after our turn toward home. We caught the draft of a slow accelerating concrete truck on the long, straight stretch of Hunter Rd. just prior to the turn up Quail Run. Karim lasted a half-mile or so, but dropped off when small chunks of concrete started kicking up off the back of the truck at around 45mph. A stayed on for another half-mile (can you say Keirin!??) and had a good 500 meters on Karim after I finally came off the back. I had a mile to go before the start of the climb, so I continued tempo to the base. I had a few fleeting thoughts of continuing on to an easy win (Karim wasn’t chasing), but decided to wait for him anyway.

Long story short (and I don’t like to gloat) – I spanked his sorry arse. I don’t think I’ve ever sprinted that hard (uphill!) before. He had his small win the day before, and today I had mine. Back at home, we boxed up our bikes and shipped them back to Indy in hopes of having them to ride again on the weekend once we get back.