GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll: You've Been Cooked: Nez to Fitchburg Road Trip

(We catch up with Matt Cooke just outside of Boston, as he's recovering from a Top 10 on GC finish at the Fitchburg-Longsjo classic over the long July 4th weekend. Matt raced locally as an amateur with Lateral Stress Velo and in 2006 was the Elite National Road Race Champion. For 2007 he landed a pro contract with Navigator's Insurance, and this year is racing for the Health Net Pro Cycling Team. He'll be contributing regularly to GamJams as he follows the NRC Calendar around the country.

Questions for Matt? Ask away in the comments and he'll get back to you. But probably not until after his massage.)

You've Been Cooked: Nez to Fitchburg Road Trip
by Matt Cooke
Health Net Pro Cycling Team, presented by Maxxis

I have been doing some road tripping this past month. When I looked at my race schedule over a month ago and figured out that I would not race for a long time I took it upon myself to find some racing on my own. I hooked up with my teammate Roman Kilun in California to do The Nevada City Classic and then the Tour de Nez in Reno (where we would be joined by our other Health Net/Maxxis teammate Corey Collier.) The goal with these races was several things and in no particular order they were: get outta of Boulder, keep racing (into fitness), make some money, keep the motivation high and get some results. My little trip ended yesterday and I’d say for the most part it was a success. I got 9th at Nevada City, 6th I think in Nez, with 2nd on a stage and then 7th overall at Fitchburg. And I did Reston Town Center GP which I thought was great course and a lot of fun. I also want to add that Corey got 9th overall at Nez and Roman won two stages plus the
sprinters jersey, so yeah he’s pretty much the man.

Fitchburg ended yesterday with a crit that my teammate John Murphy won with me in the field (sorta) holding onto 7th. I started out with a pretty good time trial that put me in 12th after the first day. One of the guys I trained with in Tucson over the winter won the damn thing and it was pretty cool to see a cat 1 spanking a bunch of pros. The next stage was a hundred and 5 mile road race ending with a 1k climb (I may be off with my distances but really a few miles here and there does not matter too much.) This was where I was supposed to really shine. It is a super steep climb and the truth is I think I am well suited for it but this time I just blew it. I can’t really say what I did wrong. I have an idea but really I’m not sure. Team Type 1 had two guys in the final group. One would attack and then if he got brought back, the other would go. I knew exactly what was happening but there wasn’t much I could have done. Team Type 1 got the stage win and Kyle Wamsley got 2nd and took over the GC lead. I got 9th on the stage. I think most people consider Kyle a sprinter but I have a specific memory of a race in Holland last year when we were both on Navigators where he took off like a rocket up some short steep climbs. So the guy can go up hill.

The next day was the 70 mile circuit race. It has a steep hill on the front side and then the rest of it is a long gradual downhill. Colavita rode the front very well and pretty much had the race in lockdown. Kyle showed he’s on form by winning the stage by several bike lengths. Towards the end of the race riders would attack on the hill and Colavita’s train would come apart but they would regroup on the downhill and pull back every significant move. I did try myself once and it’s funny because you can think you have a gap and you may look back and not see anyone but on a course like that it’s nearly impossible for one guy to stay away.

And then the crit on the last day: Colavita had it on lockdown again which was to be expected and pretty much everyone knew it was unlikely they would lose the race on the last day. As for me, I just stayed in the bunch and tried to stay safe which for the most part worked until there was a body in the road that I could not avoid so of course I go ass over tincups and landed on my back. There were only 3 laps left of the race so I ran to the to the pit, got a new bike, rode half and lap and then got pulled by the official. But here’s the good part, actually several good parts. My teammate John Murphy won the crowd prime that was $1500, then won the stage, and since I went down after the free laps ended I got the same time as the field, so I kept my 7th in GC.

I’m at my teammate Tim Johnson’s house right now outside Boston and tomorrow we fly to Bend, Oregon for the Cascade Stage Race. I’ve been looking forward to this race sooooo we shall see.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Climbing at Nez. That's me wearing the purple climber's jersey.