grolby

But a solid result!

Ygduf

yeah. current national champ went and double checked the start times were recorded correctly. He started two minutes behind me and I was worried about being caught. Waiting at the top I was starting to wonder if I had won, but he came in before 2 minutes passed.

rubiksoval

Had a 72 mile road race. Heat index was like 110 and my race started at 11. Brutal. Tried to blow it up the first hour, nothing really going. Just ended up shelling dudes on the hills and rollers until there were only 11-12 left. Think we averaged about 20 mph the 15 miles as everyone was so toasted they were just content to stare at the hubs in front of them. Finally we made it to the final ~1 min climb. Started the sprint too late and did it in my little ring like a dope. Ended up third but pretty irritated as I'd won this race two years ago and felt I had better legs this go around.

Crit tomorrow. Hope to sort things out better then.

aaronmcd

Here on the west coast those of us that do 4.7 for 20' only start hilly races for the training. Now in p12 I don't even think they are worth starting.

shovelhd

Grolby, it was great to see you and so many other BFers at Hilltowns. We had a great day in the back room with very few issues. This is as much a race of pacing as it is a race of attrition. Grueling, tough, soul sapping. You did all the right things, but you weren't on the same playing field. With all of the issues I've had lately with my SRM I've been riding the cross bike with 28mm road wheels and it takes a lot more effort on the hills, in all realms, to ride it. In a race like Hilltowns, it's going to have a significant effect. Get that road bike situation sorted.

mattm

Cascade - old guys crit. Was feeling good, sticking in the top 15 wheels (out of 92 in the field) when I hit a pothole and double-flatted!!

Got back in with pit wheels, but with only ~10 mins left in the race it wasn't long enough to move back up to the front.. sucks.

All I cared about/really had a chance in this whole stage race was that damn crit.. that's the problem with putting all your eggs in one basket!

Circuit race today.

rubiksoval

Ughh, that sucks mattm! Hope today went better.

grolby

Yeah. My frustration is really borne out of doing an all-time best effort that should've had me near the front - my teammate started the climb right in front of me, did very similar power-to-weight and was 6th wheel over the top, so I don't think I'm just being delusional - but the bike sucked up a lot of watts. Some of that being a very flat front tire, some of that just being a cross bike, and it's possible that there's another mechanical issue with one of my wheels. It'd be easier to let it go if I was satisfied with the rest of my season!

Anyway, though my race was personally a disaster it ran super-smoothly and you once again pulled off a great event. I'll definitely be back for more suffering next year. On a better bike.

shovelhd

The last time I did the race (M50+) I started East Hawley close to the front. I was doing 5w/kg on a light bike and the front group rode away. I was able to catch on the flat section before Watson.

dz_nuzz

So I guess I need to do two race Reports:

Hilltowns P12: I was glad this went back to the old course this year. I much prefer long climbs to short ones. I told my teammates the lie that I would sit in for the first lap (until we crested Rt9 the first time) but of course got caught up in the punching match between all the heavy hitters. On Rt9 the first time up, our Breakaway specialist managed to bridge to a small move that was up the road. Sadly that move didn't have the legs and despite my efforts at patrolling the front and shutting down moves the break never really gained any ground on us. This meant we caught them right at the top of Rt9 and rode to East Hawley together. That is where I got popped. I knew it was going to go nuts so as soon as I saw I had spent a minute or so in Z5 I just stared at my power meter and rode FTP as everyone whizzed past me. Luckily my gamble worked and I slowly brought people back over the climb and wound up in a chase group about 40 seconds off the back of the leaders. There was enough firepower to complete the bridge just after we turned onto Rt9 and we were back to being relevant.

That is where the fun started for me. I began to play the cat and mouse games with everyone even getting a chance to try and go solo about 10 miles to the finish. The pack seemed to not care for chasing and I was given the opportunity to go alone, that is until another friend from a different team decided to bridge and the pack decided they didn't like that mix so we got gobbled up.

Hitting Rt9 again blew me off from the leaders and made me need to just pace off my power meter again. Luckily it was another smart move and it let me slowly catch people on the way up the climb. Sadly despite that effort the leaders were still 20 seconds ahead of me at the last turn and one friend was wise to sit on my wheel and beat me for 7th place landing me in 8th and another teammate in 9th. Overall a great race, and i was glad that I could be there at the end and be a factor.

Wells Ave to be posted.

dz_nuzz

In general my legs feel tired after a hard race, but typically do pretty well with abuse on the second day. That is the same thing that happened at Wells.

Let me say that it was great to finally meet @Harlan and Mrs. Harlan at the race today. Harlan did a great job in the B race and got into an early break that stuck, with him taking 2nd. Congrats!

As for me I did the A race and followed a few people who sprinted for a beer prime and used them to launch my attack. One guy came with, who survived with me for about 10 laps but then eventually faded. Leaving me on my own. Over the course of another 20 laps I eventually succeeded in lapping the field and found that my teammate was in a small break about 20 seconds up the road from the field. So what do you do? You block. And it worked, teammate took second and I sat in the pack for 1st. Yay! Makes me feel better about getting pipped at the line yesterday.

globecanvas

Nice racing. With your winnings maybe you can buy a new 'S' key for your computer!

TMonk

lol

echappist

impressive work. out of curiosity, how did you guys manage the heat? 90+ miles in 90F weather is no joke

TheKillerPenguin

Lotta bottles! Many of us were carrying 4 of em, and we had neutral water handoffs too.

dz_nuzz

Haha, fair enough. I am doing this via smartphone. Lesson learned

grolby

Nice job dz and TKP! Good to see you have a good race, I was psyched for Kenny though obviously.

Heh, wow. I did gather another data point, where someone I know apparently did 5.1 w/kg while getting dropped. Not sure how to measure that against my friend who did (as best I can tell) 4.7 except that the top of the climb is drafty and I think this guy started from further back in the group. Or he actually did more than that. Overall, the whole thing really just confirms what a bunch of us have been talking about lately which is: New England racing, and Cat 3 NE racing this year in particular, is extremely fast and very hard.

shovelhd

Nutso that was some great racing.

TheKillerPenguin

Oh lol I sucked. Like I felt really great but I was super dumb at the bottom of Hawley and whereas nuzz paced properly I blew myself up. I can't say I would've made it back on if I paced it like he did cuz he's stronger than me, but it was certainly a "oh, don't do that again" experience haha.

Then I realized I had a slow leak at mile 85 or so and hitched a ride to the finish because I wasn't sure if the tire would have enough air in it by the time I rolled home. It was a really fun day though, a lot of little lessons learned.

canuckbelle

Will do a more full report when I'm less exhausted.

Finished up the Georgia Cycling Gran Prix today. My end results were: 3 wins, 1 second, 2 thirds...for 2nd in GC. I finished with a win...and it was a lot of fun.

furiousferret

Nice job @canuckbelle

mattm

Thx! Today was definitely better, but no win. Woke up at 5 (to eat early, before the 8:30 start) with a headache, probably dehydration-induced. Somehow it got better during the race, which was surprising.

Circuit race today, four laps of a rolling/hilly course. Three years ago I got crashed out 30 seconds into the stage, the year before that I got dropped two laps in (in the 2's).

Today I at least hung with the pack for the whole race (except for a brief stint that I think @hack witnessed, when I got gapped at the top of the ~4 min climb and had to chase back on).

Overall happy to finish better than I have before on this course, and glad for a day or two of rest now.

mattm

Wow, that's rad.

aaronmcd

2 tough curcuit races today in 90+ degree heat. Carried 2 bottles for each and still couldn't get enough water.

Lost lead group in 2/3 race a lap from the end, 15th of 20-something.

Almost didn't start P12, but figured what the hell, I already paid for it. So I went for a suicide attack at the start. Didn't get caught for 10 minutes, then the actual break goes and I witness the big team perform the most epic fail in race history. 6 of them, none made the break. They ALL sit at the front and chase for 30 minutes or so. They finally start to slow down, and every one of them gets dropped within the next 10 minutes. I got dropped soon after and came in 12th

hack

Cascade wrap up ... pretty awful performance on my part.

After the Friday road race cramp fest, I spent the remainder of the weekend with some severe digestion issues. We lost a rider to vomiting and nausea and had another dealing with some stomach issues as well. All not well in the house.

Cat 2 crit ... I hung in for a bit, stuck behind a crash, blah blah blah. Asked to leave the race about halfway in. Just didn't have energy or legs. Jr teammate got in a nice move with the winner for a few laps, but lost contact. Bummed because it's such a fun crit and great atmosphere.

Circuit race. 4x16 miles. Rollers with a couple solid short climbs. I wasn't feeling this one at all. Legs dead and energy gone. I figured I drove 8 hours, so might as well keep on. Ended up bailing out after one lap. Soft pedaled toward the car. Waved at @mattm mattm as his field went by and called it a day.

In the end, I carried awful mental and physical fitness into a tough stage race and paid the price. Never had anything close to a good day, but it is what it is. Time for a little break and then finish off with some fun end of season races.