fishmel

what the Mt. Tabor series race is to me. I raced at this last night for the first time. It is a 1.3 mile lap that goes up and down a loop i Mt. Tabor park. There was @ 50 riders in the 4/5 race. From the start you head up a fairly steep hill, then crest to start a nice little down hill, on to a straightaway, then back up the hill to the start/finish. This went on for 8 laps. My heart rate was so high that I didn't even realize the first 7 laps were done until I heard the announcer call for the final lap. My goal was not to get lapped/dropped by the leaders, which I didn't, but alot of riders didn't make it. I thought I was a fairly strong hillclimber, but last night I was shown the error of my ego. I finished mid pack (as usual pack fodder, describes my entire career which started this year).
* 8 laps
* @10.30 miles
* ave. 22.5mph
* max. 40.0mph
* ave hbm 158
* max hbm 204
* elev. @1060'

By lap 3 I noticed that I was having trouble getting my heart rate to come down on the descent. Recovery after the climbs was near impossible at this point, and it turned into one damn long high intensity interval workout. The final sprint ( if you could call it a sprint) is where my H.R. hit 204, and as I crossed the line I thought for sure I was going to puke. Makes me wish I hadn't smoked a pack a day for 17 years . Anyway, it was interesting to watch some of the other races as well, especially the fixed gear. Those guys are animals!
This was by far one of the most demanding races I have done, had an educational time of it ( I wouldn't say it was fun as self inflecting pain usually isn't), and would like to do it again if my schedule allows it.

Dabbo

Great job Fishmel, I tried to keep your wheel for a while, man that was the hardest bike riding I have ever done! You had a good spin going up at 17 mph. I lasted with the first group till lap 5 than I was dead.
I just rode along the rest of the race thinking I was last, I did not know we were more than 80 at the start so I kept getting passed and I thought they were the leaders....I guess next time I will follow the next group. Nice to see your stats since my speed dropped going downhill from about 35+ without effort to 30 and pushing and going uphill all I could keep was 13 mph. I ended up averaging 20 mph.
You are right about the no rest on the downhill, I could not believe it, and I was drafting!!
Totally different race than a flat one, and also very tight with all those people, did you see the car going uphill in the corner? Some scary stuff for sure.
Well I will be there next week getting schooled again, hope to see you there.
Ciao
Paolo

fishmel

There was 80 riders in that race? wow, then I feel alot better about my 24th place finish.

PedalMasher

You guys are a glutton for punishment. I wasn't about to spend my evening puking at the finish to keep up with you light guys. I might race it once or twice as a nice long interval workout. Congrats on the nice finish placing.

I hooked up with Jakey on the Salem ride last night and it was fun. There are some bulls down in Salem but I represented Portland and made em all suffer good! Out of the 30 or so riders, there were only a couple that could make you suffer Fish and Dabbo. One was a really young kid in a bike peddler uniform that was incredibly explosive but I time-trialed him into the ground after he tired out.

fishmel

Nice, P. Masher way to represent! Right now I feel that everything makes me suffer. Sounds like a good time with Jakey down there, how long was the ride?

PedalMasher

It was short. I think they cut off some miles and made it 35 cuz of the super strong west wind.

After getting out of town heading east, the average was 28-30 with the tailwind, not kidding, but coming back was humbling with the pack really split up. I didn't finish with the first group of 5 or 6 riders cuz I TT'ed for a couple miles out front causing pain and got gapped at a stoplight.

Almost pulled the rest up to them after getting back in town but got stopped at another stoplight or two so I gave up. I had an average of 20 with a ton of traffic lights.

Let me know if you're racing Tabor next week or week after.

fishmel

Masher, you riding this weekend?

PedalMasher

Doing the team ride out of Sunset cycles in Bethany Village west of Portland tomorrow morning. The crew will be there. I was gonna do the strawberry, but I need to hook up with the team for a few rides as I'm thinking about the elkhorn classic stage race 4/5's. Ron said it's the one to do if you're gonna get into it and he's got a suite in baker city. I need to find out more.

fishmel

masher, not able to read my pm's, what were ya saying?

PedalMasher

I couldn't read my PM's either up till this morning and just saw this... sorry. I was giving you directions to the team ride yesterday. It was a hilly sufferfest, you would have loved. Another time....

Dabbo

Ciao Masher, saw that you are thinking of going to Eugene, why not Tabor....did Fishmel report give you a bad impression? Hope to see you there. I will be towed by Fishmel this time, he was climbing like a mad man, spinning in his drops at 17 mph!
Ciao
Paolo

PedalMasher

I don't know about Tabor. I'm one of the bigger guys period. Hills are not a strong suit, but I guess a day of sufferring might be in the cards!

fishmel

Nice!

snoboard2

sounds just about like the race i did saturday. 4150 ft of climb in 40 miles. divides down to about the same (103 ft per mile). that race makes me want to drop 15 lbs quick. who says ohio is flat?

fishmel

Your race is much more brutal just due to distance. What kind of speed do you ave.? I did a couple races earier in the year that were about that long, but only had @ 2600', and I thought that was about as tough as anything let alone doing another 1500'.

cmh

I have a question for you guys that have raced at Mt. Tabor: What side are your numbers on for this race - right or left? It is a strange question, I know, but I will be rushing to get to the race in time to register and warm up after work. Pinning my number on before hand will save a lot of time.

Thanks,
cmh

fishmel

#'s should be on your left side for Tabor I believe, but don't hate/blame me if I am wrong . I usually leave a number pinned to both sides of the only shirt I wear for racing, cause I can never remember which way we are going at PIR from week to week.

cmh

Thanks, fishmel. By the way are you doing Tabor tomorrow night? I'll be in the 4/5s.

cmh

cmh

Thanks, fishmel. By the way are you doing Tabor tomorrow night? I'll be in the 4/5s.

cmh

fishmel

It looks like I will go, I figure I need another torture test after the Monday PIR race when it was @ 97 deg and I thought it was weird that my whole body felt cold @ mile 15 . I also will be in the 4/5.

Dabbo

Good job Fishmel, looking good at PIR, I did not stay for the end but saw you did sprint with the others...and well done at Tabor too, I could not go, leaving tomorrow morning for Colorado and was way too busy.
I guess I will suffer in two weeks....
PIR was hot, I got some cramps in my calf after the race, Novice was fun, 2 went away and me and another guy chased them and got them with 1 and 1/2 lap to go, 2 others got us just before the turns, it was fun and not too hard.
Ciao
Paolo

PedalMasher

Hey punks! I did tabor last week and got lapped. damn yankees. Or hippies. Or whoever lapped me. At least I got good pics on oregonvelo cuz I was alone on the damn course. Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes the nail. The nail averaged 21.8 mph those *****es suckya.

fishmel

Well did the race again last night, and it was just as brutal as the first time. They miss counted and added a lap, so instead of only 8 we did 9. Was able to hang with the lead group right up till the last hill before the finish, and 21 guys out of 50+ had more juice left than I did. I show that I picked up my pace by about .5 mph since the first race to 23mph ave. As usual, I came away feeling like I need to work on so much inorder to be more competitive.