Nature Valley Fixed Gear Classic
Ryan Luttrell and I kicked off our race season with one of our favourites, the Nature Valley Fixed Gear Classic in Blaine, Minnesota. Due to the conflict between the UCI/USAC and the ACA in Colorado, we have had essentially no racing in our legs so a three day grand prix here would be perfect for us. Given our lack of racing and the fact that we have to get ready for the first Six Day of the year, we had one plan: forget the results; race as many events as possible and go as hard as possible.
This race is held on a 250m clone of the track in Barcelona built for the 1992 Olympic Games and NSC director Bob Williams and his crew do an amazing job with the program here. Not only is it a great field of racers but the atmosphere, camaraderie, and timing put it high on our list of priorities of races to do. This year, in addition to all of the great US racers here, the event also had the honour of hosting Franco Marvulli, four time world champ and Six Day star. Franco and I have been friends for a while and I sent him some emails about doing the race last year and this year, Bob Williams made it happen. It was really fun to have him in Minnesota, although a couple of times I did have to do a double take, as did others. Even Luttrell said “it is so strange seeing Franco here.”
Ryan Sabga throws 4 time world champion Franco Marvulli into the fray.
Friday night got off to a good start with both of us getting top 5’s in the Super Sprint to get into the Miss and Out final but shortly after the rain came and we called it a night. The next day would have a long schedule with most of Friday’s racing combined with Saturday’s schedule. Consequently, Saturday started with our racing our scratch race heats. Again, we didn’t have any problem blowing through these to get in the final, but the final looked like it was shaping up to be a good race. Next up was the Miss and Out final, in which we both rode okay. I made the dumb mistake of staying in the box at the bottom track one lap too long and getting 9th and Luttrell managed to stay in for 5th. Franco won but was later relegated to 4th for an inappropriate pass. Following that was the scratch race final where I rode hard to cover moves while Luttrell set up for a sprint finish. It worked out great with Luttrell taking 5th for another top 5.
Then we had the points race heats. Essentially, these are 30 lap mini points races with only 3 sprints so points are key. Luttrell was up first and while he didn’t take any points, he easily made the final. Mine was next and so I figured I would get a couple of points to be safe. I led out Dan Harm for the first sprint then ended up in 4 separate breaks that never got any points. And in our heat, unlike the one before, the points were spread out so you needed points and a good finish to make the final. So I waited for the final sprint, took 3rd, and ended up in the final with only minor drama.
Following that we had the madison kilometer. Franco had asked me earlier to ride with him in the madison events. Normally I ride with Lutrell but to ride with Franco is a great honour so, of course, I accepted. This was our first ride together and the madison kilometer is not something that I’ve done much of. We simply don’t do them here. We did them last year in the Six Day but were never fast enough to crack the top 10 but I knew that we could do a good ride here with one. So we decided that Franco would wind it up, I would do the first two laps and he could finish with the final two laps. The thing about this event is that it’s important to do only two laps per person. Last year, I did almost three laps and Luttrell did a little over one lap and we did a terrible time. This year, I was going to do two full gas laps. As we cranked it up, I was glued to Franco’s wheel. Finally, he gave a kick, moved down, and put his hand out for me. I reached out to grab his hand… and grab his hand… and…our fingers were stuck 3 inches apart. Here I am riding as hard as I can with one hand on the bar and reaching and reaching for hand of the best Six Day racer in the world and our hands are 3 inches apart – for like half a straightaway. Finally we connect and off I went. It was a late exchange but I was determined to make up for it. I did a blistering first lap and the second lap was looking good. I am coming to the finish of the second lap and I look and Franco is already in the turn. Because of the late exchange, the timing was way off. We didn’t make the exchange until well on the back straight, by which time I had lost the speed that I had at the end of the second lap. I threw him in and he went off to accelerate the gear. But it was a big gear and it was rough and we ended up about half a second off the time we needed and about two seconds off what Franco thought we would do if we got it right. But live and learn. We talked about it and got it sorted. Luttrell teamed up with US Masters Madison Champion and Minnesota stud Andy Kruse and they finished with the same time as us. Figuring out new madison partners can be rough!
The points race final was pretty fun. There were some hotly contested sprints early and Luttrell did a lot of really good attacks while I looked for some good opportunities. Finally, I saw a chance and went for it. Curtis Tolson joined me and we quickly had half a lap. I thought that maybe we might be able to pick up a couple of others and take a lap so I said let’s keep it steady and stay out as long as possible. We picked up the sprint points and started to push but there were some good riders trying to bridge to us and ultimately, it led to our getting caught right before the next sprint. As I took inventory and counted points in my head, I figured I would need to make another go after the next sprint. Right then, a few guys got a little way up the road and Franco controlled it to keep them out there as they would take the remaining points sprints and keep him in the lead for the win. And he was right. He ended up winning with the points he had earlier and the points the guys got in the break kept the other front runners from getting any more points. My 5 points and 6th place finish was only good enough for 9th overall. But I was starting to feel better and my legs were coming around. And that concluded racing for Saturday.
Sunday was a madison day and that was fun. The racing was helping me to get better and better as the weekend went on and I figured that I would get it done in the madison. We got to start with a 40 lap “warm up” madison, which was an exhibition. We had a good time with that and at one point, four teams were off the front and we sort of shut it down to bring it back together, as is the point with and exhibition race. The idea was for everyone to get used to racing together before the 100 lap showdown. It was good and Franco and I got a feel for each other’s exchanges and got an idea as to who was going to be solid in the final. Luttrell got to ride with Andy again and with it being Andy’s home track they got everything down quickly. Things were looking promising.
Franco Marvulli throws in Ryan Sabga as they lap the field
When the final came around, Franco and I didn’t really talk about the plan. I figured that we would be attacking in between sprints and getting a lap and defending it. Well, it turns out that Franco had the opposite idea – he wanted to win the sprints and had absolutely no desire or intention to take a lap by ourselves. Needless to say, the first part of the race was all screwed up for us: I didn’t set him up for the sprints and when I attacked in between and got us a gap on the chasers, he waited for them to catch up. Honestly, I have to own this one. Even if we were going for the lap, I should have set up for the sprints anyway but furthermore, should have made a point to have a real conversation about the plan. Anyway, after a bit we figured it out and started winning the sprints AND pushing the pace. I kept attacking over and over to see if we could get a lap on our own. As it turned out, we did break away but we had one other team with us. We ended up lapping the field with Dan Harm and Zack Kovalcik from Seattle and while I was winning the sprints, we were in such a point deficit from the first three sprints that we were unable to make it up. They took advantage of our confusion to build and insurmountable lead with the points. We ended up second. Very disappointing for me but a valuable experience. We had a conversation about it afterward to sorted it out. Again, I really blame myself for the confusion and it could have been easily avoided.
One of the cool things about the race was racing a madison with Luttrell in the actual race with me, instead of being my partner. It was a little weird because this is the first time since 2008 that we have raced the same madison with different partners. He kept looking for me and I kept looking for him and it took a bit to watch our actual partners. Watching him attack and seeing what it’s like to race against him gave me a whole new appreciation for his abilities. It was good.
So after the racing, we had a goodbye barbecue hosted by Andy, packed our bikes and departed. Ryan went back to Colorado and I headed to my next stop: Trexlertown, Pennsylvania and New York City for the Rockstar Games Skyscraper Classic.