ravenmore

Lol - Me, Waterrockets, UT_Dude, and Falco were all in a crit tonight. Waterrockets got 2nd! I didn't hear the announcement that they were having preems in this race (they normally don't for these) and mistook the preem bell for the bell lap. I sat up at the end of the lap and wondered "hey, where's everyone going?"...

I wasn't comfortable early on and was pretty tentative. I went off the back early but actually battled back and ended up mid - upper pack. I was one bike off of Watterockets wheel at one point and tried to move up twice. Both moves ended up being squirrelly and almost made me wreck so I backed off.

Anyway - lot of fun and I have to say we've got some great guys here on BF to race with...

ravenmore

Oh and on an interesting note Chan McRae was there watching - one of the head dudes at Chipolte Slipstream...

bikeM3987

that sucks... I was going to be there but I was helping the 'rents move out of their house. LAME

bostongarden

I was in the 5 race. I was looking for Waterrockets -- congrats on the 2nd place finish -- in the 3/4 race as he said he would be there. I couldn't make out who he was during the race. Then, in my race (last lap I think), as I was coming by the crowd, my peripheral vision (and I was wheel sucking to save up for the sprint) saw a Ritchey frame (with some green), which I associated with WR. I was going to come say hello after the race, but, he was gone after my cool down.

I had good fun tonight. Stayed with the pack for 6 or 7 laps (and did not get lapped during the race); the prime lap really spread things out. I then found a good group to work with; we rotated well. However, I was determined to save up for a good sprint; hammered it just before the steepish climb and left 4 in my wake and surprisingly hunted down 3 more in the short stretch to the finish from there. I'm almost starting to believe that it is the rider and not the bike; although, it is hard for me to imagine that I would not perform better with a more modern bike (rather than my 7-speed RB-1 with bar-end shifters). After a 10+ year hiatus from cycling, it is starting to come together a bit more.

As my son's soccer practice was canceled (but last night's hail storm didn't stop things at the Driveway, smile), I was able to hang for the entire open race. Three riders, including Sol Frost (not sure who the other two were), made a nice break hold. Very cool race. I think someone from Austin Bikes (he was wearing a white kit) had a blowout coming off the turn just before the puddle and very impressively kept it under control. Yikes!!

waterrockets 

Yeah, that was cool to see so many BFers in the same race in Austin (seems to happen in SoCal more often). Flaco and Ravenmore are doing great. I lost track of UT_Dude, but I was expecting him to be shadowing me

It was nice to get back to racing again. I haven't raced since the end of March. I tried one attack early on, but the pack was pretty responsive, so I just kept it cool. I helped haul the pack up to a couple break attempts just to keep things together while I figured out how I wanted to finish.

It worked out perfectly when a 2-man break got away with 3 to go. On the next lap, I attacked and bridged (which took half a lap, and I brought a Violet Crown rider - GH - with me). By the time I caught the break, we had half a lap left, and I tried to recover as much as I could, but I was in trouble. One of the two original breakaways hadn't taken a pull for a lap or two -- the other guy was doing all the work.

So, in the final sprint, I still had too much chase in my legs to beat that guy with his fresh legs, and he got a win on a well-played 3 lap break. I'm happy with 2nd (lost by about a bike length), and I'm ready to rock the crits in Houston this weekend...

Man, that bridge was tough! I can't download my power data yet, but I'm excited to see it in the morning. I just looked at it like a 1m interval. I wasn't even concerned about anyone chasing since it all happened so fast. Kudos to GH for not letting me get away. I think he held on for third (he was one of the final five at my win in Manda too -- I'll be seeing more of him).

ridethecliche

Awesome job the lot of you!

botto 

ravenmore

Rockets - GH then stayed and did the Open race (hr long race with P,1,2,3,4). Not sure how well he did there though. Next week I'll try the Open too.

ravenmore

He actually rolled the tire off the rim - it was a clincher too, not a bad glue job on a tubbie. I was right there where he changed the wheel out btw.

flaco

Yep, it was a fine evening for racing. I got my usual pack finish (15th?) but I felt strong and I think I will start to do a lot better once I start riding a little smarter and try to stay out of the wind early on. I will be more like Greg and stay on WR's wheel at all times. (Speaking of which, aren't you getting tired of towing him around during your races?)

waterrockets 

Yeah, that's what I did all last year too. It's really good training. After racing hard in the 3/4, just staying in the pack for the Open race is an incredible workout. This week I'm too tired from training, and I wanted to start to taper for Houston. Sol tried to talk me into the open race, offered to pay half my entry He went on to get 2nd -- not like he needed my help!

was he following me around for the whole race? I guess I saw him off the front for a lap or two early on. I don't mind at all as long as he continues to stay back when we hit the tape!

flaco

He wasn't on your wheel the whole time, but you did pull him up to the break. The guy is pretty wily about avoiding extra work until it counts. I was in a little group with him on Tuesday and he would not take a pull, but he did go for a sprint at the line.

waterrockets 

Wow, this is my first power data from a crit. Prepare for too much information:

The last 5m, NP was 446W, AP 375W.

My bridge was 1:32, averaging 538W.

My "sprint" was so tired (only 1m after the bridge ended) that I maxed at 1055W (871W for 8 seconds). 34mph. Weak, but understandable <---- note, this is what you do to sprinters... if we have to work before the finish, we're not sprinters any more

I think I should have attacked the break from 500m to see if I could get a gap. I had the juice to shake Greg at the line, so it may have worked at 500m.

Here's the final five minutes (two corners in the bridge):

UT_Dude

Hummmm.... Who are you, flaco?

I was just messing around in the 3/4 race, sat in fairly far back, then came to the front and played around for a few laps, then sat back in. I kept having trouble with the cracks in the pavement, eg, I'd get pushed into them.

I started the open.... It was probably the hardest Open of the year (I've had that confirmed, too). Some Wooly Mammoth guy took himself out rather impressively without touching anyone right in front of me, so I got gapped off after that and took a pass on the rest of the race, since I've been so dang tired as of late.

Good night, though! The weather was nice for once.

ravenmore

What's up with the Mammoth guys this year? They've been crash magnets. There was also that bad one at Pace Bend where the guy broke his leg - no one touched him in that crash either I don't think...

flaco

I'm the other Austinbikes rider that was in line with WR before the 3/4 race.

Yeah, those cracks are getting bigger every week. I think they will be patched soon. Another thing I learned last night: avoid leaving the pavement when the ground is wet.

UT_Dude

Haha, OK. I forgot who Ravenmore was last night . Then I looked at his bike and was like... OH! I felt kind of dumb, I literally went down the line of people waiting to register and introduced/talked to about 80% of them. It was weird.

Anyways, who's coming out next week?

waterrockets 

At Pace Bend, that was actually a Source-e guy who crashed with the Mammoth rider. He had pulled out of his pedal in the sprint and then it was all over. The Mammoth guy didn't go down that time.

flaco

Those guys have been in tons of wrecks. They seem like fine riders, just unlucky. Can you ruin a tattoo by scrubbing out on it?

UT_Dude

Yeah, I actually talked to him this morning. It was the Mammoth guy's fault. The Mammoth guys also caused a maaaaaassive pile-up at the Fayetteville finish. Mammoth accounts for more crashes in Texas than do all the rest of the teams combined, I'm pretty sure.

The worst part is, most of them don't have health insurance (OK, so that's all heresay)....

bostongarden

I don't think he placed (he was not one of the three in the break, but, maybe he got 4th), but, I'll find out on Sunday as I tend to see him on the Violet Crown's "Freewheeling" ride. He does look good on his new Crumpton!!

I'll have to look for you next week. Whatcha riding?

Flaco, are you the AustinBikes guy with the Fuji? It was the shaved head/bald guy who rolled the tire off the rim, yes? (Sheesh, that's even worse than a blow out in my mind.)

(I'd love to join you in the 3/4, but, I'm not quite ready to move up yet. I figure I first need to stay with the pack to the finish in the 5 race before I make the jump. Although, Don R. of Austin Tri strikes me as perty darn fast for a 5 in my book. I can stay with him for the final 5 laps or so after he laps me (smile), but not for more than 3 lap at the start.)

UT Dude, maybe I'll see you at commencement Saturday night. I'll be wearing a black gown and sitting in the b-school section on the stage

flaco

Nope, I am on a Cannondale and still have a full head of hair... knock on wood...

It is totally absurd that Don is riding in the 5s, the guy's extremely strong and shreds the group every week. I am actually finding the 3/4 race a little easier in terms of effort. It's certainly more technically challenging though.

waterrockets 

Yeah, it's interesting how a faster race can feel easier. I'll bet that most of why you don't feel as much effort is that the 3/4 race is smoother. Part of it also is probably because you're stronger

substructure

Mucho props guys.

UT_Dude

You go to UT?