Big Sugar was the finale for the Life Time Grand Prix (LTGP) series in Bentonville, AR. The two-week-long festival of all things bike was capped off with a 105mi gravel race that would seal the LTGP overall standings. Alexey showed he was there to party... and not just at the Rave that night.
Big Sugar weekend is all the rage, don't let anyone tell you different! It's intoxicating and I can never get enough of seeing all my friends around the town all week long. After making the decision not to race Little Sugar, I left my flight and flew into Bentonville early. I wanted to settle into town and have time to pre ride the course and see everyone I wanted to see.
Big Sugar Classic is always one of my favorite races because no one leaves anything out there. It's a dynamic course at the end of the year that forces constant focus and strength. The terrain is death by 1000 cuts as you climb over 7000 ft in small short spurts with chunky rocks and dust making traction and vision luxuries you rarely have access to.
After a turbulent final three LTGP races I went into Big Sugar with something to prove to myself.
I never would have expected I would be in 16th heading into the final race of the series, but that's where I was and I wanted to finish on a high.
I broke the race up into three sections and focused all my energy on positioning and minimizing any chance for mistakes. After getting through the first 1/3 of the race everything was going to plan. I had eaten over 240g of carbs in 1hr 40min of racing and felt great. From mile 50 to mile 75 the pace started to lull at times as small groups of riders went up the road. We hit a series of hills that Keegan made incredibly tough as the group whittled down smaller and smaller.
With about 45 miles to go I attacked bridging up to a group with 2 guys about 10 sec up the road. Matt Beers gave chase, but as I connected with the group I looked back and he sat up – I thought to myself, "Go for it, why not?" I attacked again and looked back to see no one giving chase.
From that moment on I looked down and said, "Settle in, it's going to be a long day."
I reminded myself it was at least 2.5 hours left to race from there and pacing was going to be key. If the group wanted to catch me, they would. I pegged it at 300w avg and focused on doing everything I could to be efficient. I hit climbs harder knowing the group behind would as well and always forcing myself to look forward and focus on the road ahead and not the group behind.
After about 10 miles I bridged the gap to Colby Simmons and Simen Svendsen. From there we rolled into the last section of the race from Feed 2 at mile 75 to the finish. I grabbed my feed bag and then hit it on the climb out of the brewery. I wanted to see how strong my compatriots were. I got a gap over the top but saw both riders claw their way back over the next miles.
The next 30 miles were spent keeping the speed high and racing to win. I honestly expected a group to come from behind, but the closer we got to the finish, the more I thought we might have timed this perfectly.
Big Sugar finishes with 7 miles of pavement and 2 climbs. Colby and I dropped Simen with about 15 miles to go and from there collaborated until the final climbs. As we entered the last 5 miles I went to the front and rode a hard pace on the climb. One of my favorite parts of the race was going all out as Colby's dad rode beside us cheering on his son, but also occasionally giving me some motivation too. What a guy!
From the top of the climb I knew I had won the race, but stayed focused on not overriding. Having done Big Sugar the last two years, I knew it was a long 2.5 miles from the top of that climb to the finish. I looked back to see Colby making a big push again and rolled until the final climb and gave it a bit more gas to turn onto main street with the feeling we all crave as bike racers – free space to spin to the finish line with time to think about the day.
A year capped off in style. I soloed across the finish line as proud as I have ever been. With one race left to go back home in Michigan, I can confidently say I am riding high these last two weeks until off season. Here we come Iceman!
ps. Champagne showers for Willie
Photo credit: Life Time
