April 27, 2013 (Athens, Georgia) – I always describe the Athens Terrapin Twilight as the Super Bowl of my cycling season. There is no other event that I have attended that gets the kind of attention and fan fare that this race does. Athens, Georgia is a party town and the streets are littered with college kids out having a great time. They pack the area and enjoy the Terrapin beer sponsorship as much as we do. We chase big prize money that comes with amazing sponsorship and they enjoy the cold flowing beer.

Two years ago I came down here for the first time. I was on a new team and travelling with new team mates. It was an incredible experience and something I enjoyed more than any of those guys can imagine.  I wanted to earn their respect and I wanted to see and be apart of what they raved about. They opened my eyes to a different level of racing. I entered something I might have been too scared to try if I wasn’t with them.  I came away with a new appreciation of what the top level racing in north America was all about and I have been trying to up my game ever since.

The Grid Qualifier is an event they hold on Friday prior to the big show for the racers to try and earn a spot on the front row of the Athens Twilight on Saturday night. Like an appetizer it’s the race before the race where eight riders go head-to-head in heats all day long. Then they hold the final for the top eight guys at 9pm in a beer garden full of a few thousand people. That first year I entered the Grid Qualifier without ever riding a Computrainer before. I had trained indoors on a stationary trainer of course but never on a Computrainer brand trainer.

In 2011 I snuck into the Grid last minute and won my first heat. I ended up 3rd in the finals and earned $400 in the process.  In 2012 I was a little better prepared but in the finals I was thoroughly beat buy a better rider. I was dying and he was whooping it up with the crowd. I left feeling that I could really win this event and I focused on it for an entire year. My 5-min power was my strength, I just needed to extend it two and half more minutes.

Opening up two RealDeal Performance Computrainer studios and training indoors for 4-5 months this past off season meant I was ready to go for the win. The other big difference was I worked like a madman the past few months trying to lose weight and not lose any power. This is easier said than done. I have failed at this in the past and always settled for big power and the big body to got with it. Being single digit body fat and trying to get leaner means a lot of sacrifice. To anyone who has a life or enjoys eating as much as I do knows how hard this is to do.

This year I weighed in a full 6 lbs pounds lighter and my wattage was identical if not a few watts more. That meant I knew going in to this event that I was prepared and I was actually excited to get on the scale. The first heat was perfect. I knew what I needed to do to make the finals and I rode it smart start to the finish. I let the foolish go out way to hard, held my pace and reeled them all in 90 seconds later. Doing these over the off-season and learning the software on the screen had me hitting the climbs harder than the descents and always keeping my leg speed over 100-102.

The course on the Computrainer is the six full laps of the crit course we will race on Saturday – 475 watts for 7 minutes and 27 seconds got me the win in the first heat. I watched a few other heats and followed the Twitter feed to find out that my effort would hold on to be the fastest time of the day and that I was going to the finals at 9pm. Last year in the finals I was a wreck. I didn’t want to do it again and my legs were toast.

This year I was calm and relaxed and felt like I never rode it earlier on. The nerves did kick in when we got on stage. I went from smiling and loose to tense and scared. I tried to warm up and relax but my heart was pounding. The race I had been gunning for three full years now was about to take place in five minutes.  I had focused on this specifically for a full year.  The event was here, the pressure was building and I was nervous. Then something just hit me.

I wave of calmness came over me. I was happy and just thought that there was no place I would rather be. Time stopped for a few seconds and I looked over the crowd, I looked to the riders to my left and right and I took a deep relaxing breath and stopped pedaling. I just stopped and relaxed and sat there just enjoying simply being there in the moment. I saw my girlfriend in the front row cheering me on, my team mates big beaming smiles clapping and yelling and a few amazing fans who made a crazy long trip to be there shaking a Canadian flag.  It was paradise. 3-2-1 GO!

I was 3rd off the start and then was passed to become 4th. I knew my plan and I didn’t care. One minute later I moved into second and at the 2-minute mark my 500 watt average had me in the lead. I tried to settle in as I knew I couldn’t hold 500 to the finish. I was riding away from the others who went out way to hard but one rider wasn’t letting me get away with it. I tried to relax and let off a bit but every time I did he would make up a few feet on me. Mike was yelling out the distance from the crowd. He knew what I needed to hear.

I would gain a few feet and Mike would keep letting me know (and everyone else for that matter) that the gap was increasing little by little. I wanted to let off and tone things down a bit but this rider just kept coming. He wasn’t going to let me have it so I stayed on the gas when my entire body wanted me to slow down. I got to the last lap and had a 100 feet on him. I knew it was over and stood up for the last 30 seconds to take it home.

I got to raise my hands and pump up the crowd.  I might have let out one of my biggest yells to date.  It was quite the moment. It was a dream come true.  Three years of dreaming about this event + one full year as the focus = dream come true!  This didn’t happen by chance and that makes it all the more enjoyable.  I know it was just a Comptrainer race.  I know it was only qualifying for the “real” race Saturday night but it was a big deal for me and was worth every second of sweat and sacrifice.  Thanks for reading I hope I have something great to report tomorrow!

Ed Veal is an Elite Cat 1 road racer based in Ontario and is a part owner of RealDealRacing Inc. which provides coaching services, indoor training, cycling trips/camps and also organizes cycling events including the Hell of the North.
Details on Ed and his business can be found here.