my58vw

Before you read this thread note that I hope I do not sound too emotional because today was one of those types of days...

Domingious hills is one of the series crits held by CBR (California Bicycle Racing) where there are 5 races in the series. I use this as a guage for my fittness level. It is a fun crit because there are a few guys (Including TCR) who are from the forums... (so where is the bike forums team kit?! ). It is a fast four corner crit, 3 slightly uphill parts and a downhill part. All month I have been training for this race, and I wanted to make a good showing at the race itself...

The race starts at 7:00 am, way too early for someone who works until 2 am and has to drive 55 miles to the race, but...

I felt really crappy all morning, something I ate the night before did not work with my stomach and getting 2 hours of sleep when my body needs 8 - 10 before a race did not work. I felt real wierd on the bike, like someone had put a 50 pound weight on the front wheel... I was having trouble spinning the big ring... it was all better from the support that I got from a few guys from the forum.

The race started and someone crashed clipping in... I was on the outside and determined to sit in the front and finish the race with the pack, possible scoring a top 20 finish (out of 50). The pace was intense after the second lap, quite a few guys up front we intent on pushing the pace. What was great was even as we were pushing nearly 30 MPH down the back stretch I was right there, sitting in, not suffering as usual, only going anaerobic in the corners. Through the whole race I was recovering very well, and I was feeling very very good.

The cards came out and I was sitting about mid pack, but my lack of sleep and motivation began showing. With 3 laps to go, about 25 minutes in a went for water and missed the mass acceration and drifted off the back. By that time my concentration was shot from lack of sleep and I finished the last 2 laps by myself on the lead lap. I finished the race about 30 seconds back...

I learned something today... finally, I mean finally I can say that I can hang with fast cat 5 peloton. For 25 minutes I was not suffering, sitting in the pack at LT, no problem. That means I am finally at race shape, and with all the changes that are going on with me right now I only can look up. Finally after 4 months of fighting I am able to say I am a competative racer. When my body adjusts to the new influences it is recieving I wonder where I will be...

Oh and I also learned the bicycle racing is a contact sport. I was threading the needle between two riders at about minute 12 and some guy tries to push me out of the hole... well my 225 pound body is not going anywhere... I am glad the little 150 pound guy did not go flying... there was enough crashes in out race how it was.

Congradulations to TCR on a awsome 13th place finish. I remember when he was just hanging with the pack too... good job!

OC Roadie

Thanks for the report. I was going to race the cat5 today but my knee has been acting up the last couple of days. I probably shouldn't have been riding intervals 2 days after a double century last weekend. Last time my knee felt like this, it took a month to recover.

my58vw

That really is not good, sorry to hear about that. Interesting you are talking about knee problems, mine started acting up a little right at the end of the race... I need to drop the seat alittle.

The pace this race was unbelievable compared to what is normal for this race. Four months ago I would have been off the back so fast. When I learned it was ok to suffer a few things happened, and today was part of that... well next race will be a little better... I need to work on 20 minute LT intervals, 2x20 vs the 4x10 I usually do, more crit orientated...

Well I am still in pain right now at work, I slept for about 5 hours after the race... but I am very happy... hard work pays off!

TCR

Thanks my58! 13th is my best finish yet, and I'm happy with it, but I have to admit I was hoping for better. Next time!

my58vw

It will come... next time! Maybe I will be there right with you

bigdraft

"Maybe I will be there right with you"

Not if you get dropped as early as you did yesterday. I find it amusing that you took the small liberty of telling us that you got dropped when the lap cards came out, when you really got droppped close to halfway thru the race....sorry to blow your buzz dude, but when you post your race stories on here and edit the real story with statements regarding your performance (I was there watching your race) that aren't really true, you have to expect some A-hole like me to call you on them.

A couple bits of advice regarding your racing. Most of the time (before you were dropped) you were out on the wings catching way to much wind for a guy your size and fitness level. You need to stay protected (out of the wind) in the bunch more then what you are doing. It will save you a bunch of energy in the race, especially considering your height. Also you still quite a bit of physiological adaptation waiting to happen. Meaning you still have a bit of weight to lose and muscle to gain.

Keep on doin it My58, next year should see some good improvements if you keep it up.

jit2

Are you implying that his recounting of the race is not wholly accurate?

fujiacerider

Ah ha!! Who didn't expect this all along? It's nice to see someone backing up everything many of us thought the entire time.
The real 58iq has been exposed!!!

Cole

fujiacerider

So who's the troll now? Does it work? Do you really feel cooler because you play on the internet? Does it lift your spirits to tell stories to strangers? Do you feel like more of a man when you lie about your miserable races?

Just curious.

Cole

my58vw

I do not know what you are talking about because I did get dropped when the cards came out, not halfway through the race, maybe with 10 minutes to go max. By the time the cards were out (with about 10 minutes to go) I was about ready to drop, I dropped sometime after the cards came out, right in that first or second lap, I think it was the 4th lap so I said "with 3 to go", I do not remember though in the heat of battle. I was starting to fade after the second prime bell, on the back stretch.

I distinctly remember thinking, wow I have never made it this far with the pack when I saw the cards come out. I also distinctly remember going down the back stretch fighting to remain in contact with 6 or so guys behind me. I never did get lapped, I was on the lead lap, and I finished the race right on the lead lap. There was no way by that time I could have contested the final sprint anyway.

Yes I was in the wind too much, and I need to work on that more, but that comes with criterium skill building, or whether I got dropped with 5, 10 or 15 minutes or more to go. I was having trouble with the accelerations out of the corners which is why I ended up with a gap forming each time. What killed me though is when I went to get water, not realizing that I was so tired at that point, I put myself a little too much in the wind and that cost me, and when the peloton accelerated down the hill that is when I lost it...

Oh well, I guess the view is different from the outside than in the pack when you are hanging on... being very observant of what was going on. Rereading the original post, I think 25 minutes in is probably wrong it was more like 20 - 22 minutes maybe depending on how long the laps were, admittatly after the cards came out I stopped looking at time, which is irrevavent at that point. By the time I got dropped I did not care to chase, I could have very well gotten back on at that point, but my mind said no.

What really matters is I had my hardest race ever, I am still a little sore today from it, and that has NEVER happened before. If you would have been at the last say 2 or 3 this year then you will see that I have made huge improvements in my performance at this particular crit... and as you said in the last statement, that is all that matters at this point. I am satisfied on how I did, very happy, and the little minor details will not change that all that much...

But I was not trying to bend the truth at all, I have done several races that I have not even began to talk about because either I did so bad that I got dropped right away or just did not think it was very important.

bigdraft

dude, you came within 100 meters of getting lapped on the bell lap. Right as you were crossing the finish line the bunch was winding out the sprint. You managed to hang on and not get lapped, but it's an indicator of exactly where you were in relation to the field and if you had been dropped on the cards like you said, you shouldn't have lost that much time.

cheers

my58vw

In 3 - 4 laps when I went from 25 ish to about 18 - 20 ish you loose time real fast. I do not know how far the pack was back, but at that point I was basically done and was not pushing myself that hard anymore, I just wanted to stay on the lead lap. I was not even in TT mode, I was just trying to finish the race at that point. At that point my motivation was nearly gone as I was loosing all my concentration from being tired. All I was concerned about is getting out of the way if the pack was going to come around.

I have in the past been able to hold off the pack for quite some time, i.e. 5+ laps but once the motivating factor is gone it is over. Of course with the pack probably going significantly faster in the last few laps I probably lost more and more time. Losing 1/4 lap each time around is sure feasable. I have never gotten truely this deep into a crit with the pack, by time minute 20 came around I was just beat. Of course how I felt before was a good indication of how I was feeling at the start.

my58vw

BTW who were you at the race? I would have liked to chat with you after the race. I talked with TCR for quite some time (he was wearing the dark colored jersey with the yellow TCR Al bike.

Trust me on this one, I have spent lots of time thinking about the race. I am so close to actually being in the pack sprint, much farther than I could ever see myself this year out there at this time. There are so many little things I could have done better... but it is just a learning experience. Last time out at Rancho I ended up on the inside and almost getting pushed off the course a few times. I felt better on the outside.

Thanks again, you are so right, this year I am just getting to the point where I am learning the dynamics of the race and pacing ect. Up to this point I was just trying to get the basic fitness to even stay in the pack for a few laps. Now I believe I am close to the point where I can stay in without suffering too much, and I can focus on strategy etc.

Next year I will be much stronger and much faster than this year. It is this late in the season and I am at the point I should have been in January.

bikerski

dude, ease up. It is his story, let him tell it. We all got our perspectives, egos, dreams. Dissing others needs to be corrected, this story should be ignored.

my58vw

I do not mind seeing how people see the race, so that is fine. I find that watching a race, expecially photographing it, and talking to races afterwards or perspective can be changed slightly.

A good example is last domingous hills crit, know that I was getting really tired early I decided to just go off the front and go all out for 2 laps. I started right at the uphill between turn 3 and 4 and held off for something like 2.5 laps, making it around once, passing the start finish line once, then twice then getting caught right before the finish line the third time. I knew I had no way to stay away but a few people thought that I had a chance. Perspective can be way different...

But everyone can give their own opinion, that is there right, as a racer I do not see everything that is going on either. All that matters right now is I go out and do the best that I can. I am not a cat 4 right now looking for an upgrade. If that was the case then I am just racing for experience and at this point that is all that is important. I go and race my heart out, giving 100 percent for 30 - 45 minutes and get an awsome workout. It would be so easy to just can the season but I keep coming out, every race I do I am getting stronger and faster... and that is all that matters!

bigdraft

You're right of course, and I was feeling a tad guilty when I wrote that response. I really do wish him well with his racing. I guess it's a bit of a case of when someone starts tooting their horn and the evidence doesn't quite match the image they portry, brings out the critic in me.

MY58, no offense. Just a little observation. As to what I raced, I raced the 40+ IV/Vs. I race for a club called Sun Coast Velo (Excel) out of San Diego, even though I live in Pasadena. Like you I'm one of the bigger guys in the bunch.

Hang in there...it'll get better

my58vw

Ah, you raced that group of "old" guys that could kick our butts... ok, that is where you were!

Your group looks so smooth, alot better than the crazy cat 5 group for sure! So many people take chances in our group, I guess it is the not too much to loose group...

Good luck to you also... what is your next race? I was looking at the paramount crit next weekend... it is rated a 2.0 but it looks like the same course as last weekend?

Oh ya, and as to the race report, next time I will let the standing talk, for now I am not there, but soon I hope to be, it is only time. I bet in a year I will look back and threads like this and say, wow, I used to get dropped back then (I hope... with a good off season I am sure it will happen)...