El Tour Platinum Coach Nelson Recap

This is the story of the “platinum” El Grupo riders (Kramer, Logan, Dillon, Max, with coaches Alex, Nippy, and Nelson) in El Tour. We lined up early – 5 AM – getting reasonably good position in the front half of the “gold” group, rolling across the start line a few minutes after 7 AM. For the first 55 miles or so, the strategy was to keep the boys out of the wind as much as possible, and to avoid potential crashes. Both goals were achieved, and as we reeled in literally hundreds of riders the main challenges were safely threading our way between groups of riders and making sure that everyone was eating and drinking as we cruised along at an average speed of 24 mph. Kramer took on the responsibility of reminding everyone to eat and drink every 20 minutes, and closing gaps in the pace line, and Kramer’s leadership was a key part of the group’s success in the first half of the race. We were on track to finish in under five hours.

As we turned on to Oracle we were towing a large pack of riders, some of which were trying to edge into the middle of our pace line. A gap opened up in the middle of the pack and Dillon was dropped; Nippy stayed back to help him bridge back up. We slowed our pace off and on for the next 25 miles, hoping that they could get back on quickly, but ended up riding that distance without Dillon and Nippy.

At our second sag stop we waited, waited…and waited some more; after more than 10 minutes Dillon and Nippy were back with us. We chased on to a group being pulled by a tandem, and things were looking good again when I took a pull and missed the turn up Avra Valley. Ten minutes later, after a couple of long, hard pulls, we were back with the tandem group, at the base of Rattlesnake pass, looking at a finish time under 5:20 - and then Logan was off the back. We slowed nearly to a stop at the top of Rattlesnake, took it easy on the way down, regrouped, then realized we were loosing Logan – his legs were shot, with severe cramps that forced him off the bike. We all stopped for a few minutes, then got Logan back on his bike, still cramping, and Alex and I pushed Logan while Nippy and Kramer took turns at the front, pushing the pace as much as possible. Kramer looked like a sled dog straining in a harness, strong enough to pull the group all the way to Hermosillo. I think Kramer could have pulled us in at 25 mph, but we had to hold him back because there was no way that the entire group could match his strength. In the last few miles, Logan’s legs started feeling moderately better and we crossed the finish line, looking strong, as a team.

The point of this tale is not shortcomings, but strengths. Dillon and Logan faced challenges that would make even the most experienced riders quit, but these guys did not quit. They did not consider quitting, even though that would have been both easier, in the short-run, and understandable. The team loyalty that was displayed by the rest of the group waiting for dropped riders was something seldom seen among athletes of any age or ability. It would have been easy for the guys that were riding the strongest that day – Kramer, Alex, and Max – to break the pact they had made the night before and continue on without their teammates. They very likely would have made platinum. They would have caught some flack for the decision, but anyone would understand why young, competitive riders, in the excitement of a big event, would take off and leave their teammates in their quest for a faster time (believe me, older, more experienced riders do this all the time in El Tour). But they did not break their agreement to finish together, and it was never seriously discussed. Equally impressive, there was no bitterness about having stuck with the decision to finish together – these guys were justifiably proud of their achievement as a team.

Kudos and huge thanks to Kathleen, Carol, and Megan, for starting line assistance and support stops that were so professional and organized that they would have looked at home in the Tour de France, and to Nippy and Alex their excellent on-bike coaching.