The 2011 Amgen Tour of California Ultimate VIP Experience Contest!!!

[Born2bWild]

CyclingForums proudly presents the
2011 Amgen Tour of California Ultimate VIP Experience Contest!!

One lucky forum participant will get to experience the crowd, the course, the energy, and the excitement of Amgen’s Tour of California from an official race vehicle. This is a chance to feel the thrill of the race up close and personal in a way that few have done before.

In addition to the VIP Car Ride, the winner will get to invite two guests to meet at the finish line. The three of you will enjoy the amenities of Finish City, which includes hors d’oeuvres and beverages in the Michelob Ultra VIP Lounge, as well as a tour of the Media compound. The winner will have the choice of attending either the Tahoe, Modesto, or Solvang stages.

TO ENTER: Reply to this thread by April 29, 2011 with the story of your personal victory – What was your best finish line experience? What was your motivation? How did you feel?

The post with the highest “Thumbs up” count by 4/29/2011 end of day (PST) will be named the contest winner.

For further race details, please visit the Amgen Tour of California race website: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/
Follow the Tour on Facebook or twitter

 

[coneofsilence]

I was 13 years old and it was a school athletics carnival. My event was the 100m sprint which i was always good at. This one particular race i tore my calf muscle after the gun but i didn't want to just walk off the track, i hopped to the finish line just for the 1 point for my team. When i feel unmotivated to do something, i usually think back to this moment in my life and tell myself to not give up, even if it is just for one point.

 

[gman0482]

Well I know it's a long shot, just from the fact that I'm still a newbie, and I did not attend (or even win) as much as some of the folks here. In fact, I haven't ever won, but here's my little experience. Last year was the first year I pinned on a number and raced. On the first crit, my nerves were through the roof, but after the first few laps I mellowed out and started to enjoy the race. On that day I didn't finish 1st, or even in the front bunch for that matter, but more importantly I FINISHED.

The experience that I wanted to use for this, came from my second race. It's amazing how much confidence you gain, just from braking the ice and doing something for that first time, and the next and the next after that. Anyways, after finishing my first crit, and feeling better and more confident, I'm really loving it now. Sure, it's still only a Cat5, but I just love it. The course is a 0.8 mile loop. 31 riders showed up, and after a ew laps the leading group got smaller. At this point I'm not thinking much about any tactics or matches, and I'm only thinking about not getting dropped from the front group. Long story short, on the beginning of lap 14, I'm sitting in at the end of the group of about 10 riders, and just thrilled to be there.

The last lap comes around, I'm feeling real strong, and on the last bend I go slightly across the yellow line on the opposite side of the street, and dig as hard and deep as I can. I end up pulling up to the 3 front riders. Coming out of the bend, I can see the finish. So there I am, on the front, in a little breakaway, with the finish almost there................. and here comes my rookie mistake. I was so excited and adrenaline-pumped seeing where I was in the race, seeing the finish, that I just started going all out waay too early, and didn't even have enough energy left to get up and sprint. The other guys flew by me sprinting away and crossing the line.

So I finished in 11th place, even getting passed by the rest of the lead group. I didn't care though. I was just so happy that I was even in that position, to be one of the front guys on the final stretch. To me there's nothing better. I know I made mistakes, and I'm happy to learn from them. It was only my 2nd race of my cycling "career", and I couldn't wait to come back and do it again.

Cycling is an amazing sport, passion, and a way of life. I'm just happy to be riding.

Thanks,
-Greg

 

[MMMhills]

This is the story about the first race I ever entered. It was an unsanctioned race called the Black bear out of Grayling Michigan. It follows the Ausable river canoe race which is a 120 mile canoe race. They call it bikes against boats. The boats leave the night before and the bikes the next morning and the leaders both arrive at about the same time. It attract about 300 Bikes that all want to go fast.

This was my second year on a bike and I had just started riding with a new group. It was a Tuesday night training ride that the local racers did. Right away I felt like part of a machine. There was no calling out every obstical or car just fast riding and trust from the guys around you. I was addicted.

They had told me about an upcoming race and said I should give it a try. I was very hesitant at first but they assured me that they all worked as a team and they would give me a jersey and consider me part of the team. They explained one more person to share the load would help them out. They told me that there were two big teams their team and another that always competes for bragging rights at this race. I was surprised that they thought I could actually help them out.


I decided that if I ever wanted to do a sub 5 hour century that this was my chance. At the time I couldn’t even imagine that this would be possible.

So the day finally came and butterflies would be an understatement. My Team (boy did that feel cool) met up early and they started talking about all kinds of stuff that I didn’t even understand, Tactics for many different situations. I thought we were just going to ride fast now I was really nervous.


Time for the start and this was crazy they start just like the canoes were you run 100 yards to your bike. Everyone had their shoes off as this was faster and safer. So the gun goes off and I run like crazy. I get to my bike and put on my shoes and start riding looking for jerseys that match mine. We all group up and we have to wait as people are blowing by us. One of the strongest guys had problems getting his shoes on. He finally hooked up and holy cow we were off. The speed was near 30mph and my heart rate went right to max. We ran a rotating pace line and were passing people like crazy. We soon found ourselves in the front working with the other team along with many other people. There was a peloton of around 50 people riding at 30 mph. I had never had this much adrenaline. I stayed with my team which meant up front rotating pulls. After about an hour there were only 15-20 people left everyone else had been spit out the back. This is how it stayed for the next hour or so. Every time we went through a town or a sharp corner there were groups of people cheering us on this was so exciting I felt like I was a pro or something and yes I was hooked.

Around Mile 70 there was a hill that went for about a mile at near 10% grade well that’s where I said my good buys. I was heartbroken all alone and 30 miles to go. After getting a grip of the situation I looked at my computer and had averaged 27.3 mph. I could not believe it this was faster than I thought any human could go. Their team car/van came buy and he rolled down the window and told me what a good job I had done and that there was group of 5 about 2 miles back. He said not to try it alone and go slow until they cought up with me. I rolled at about 18mph for the next what seemed like forever until they caught up. We worked together at around 25mph to the finish line were I won the sprint for 18th place.


I finished 100 miles in 4:01:20 and at 39 years old finished 18th out of over 300 riders.

Here are my stats and yes it does go downhill (500 feet in 100 miles) as it follows a river. Ignore the coasting time as my batteries for the power/cadence unit died after 20 some miles.

Data Value Unit
Duration 4:01:20
Sampling Rate 5 s
Cycling Efficiency 20.4 %

Energy Expenditure 3050 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 37661 beats
Recovery 3 beats
Minimum Heart Rate 124 bpm
Average Heart Rate 156 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 184 bpm
Standard Deviation 9.4 bpm

Minimum Speed 2.9 mph
Average Speed 24.6 mph
Maximum Speed 40.9 mph
Distance 98.9 miles
Odometer 1958 miles

Minimum Cadence 34 rpm
Average Cadence 88 rpm
Maximum Cadence 105 rpm
Coasting Time 3:04:10 (76.3 %)
Coasting Distance 76.7 miles (77.6 %)

Minimum Altitude 833 ft
Average Altitude 1201 ft
Maximum Altitude 1490 ft
Ascent 1781 ft
Descent 2238 ft
Slopes 3
Grade % -0.1 %
VAM 443 ft/h

Minimum Power 2 Watts
Average Power 243 Watts
Average Power (0 W incl.) 58 Watts
Maximum Power 679 Watts
Pedaling Index Average 17 %
Pedaling Index Maximum 64 %

Please like my story as I still live in Northern Michigan and I need an excuse to go somewhere warm so I can ride my new bike. It is snowing as type. (going for the sympathy vote)