jsutkeepspining

first race of the year today, ended up getting 3rd in the junior race then dnf the cat 4 race. i felt like crap today before during and after both races, and now i have a really bad headache.

Abu Jack

Brandon Twilight Criterium. Cat 5. My first race.
Goals:
1. Stay upright. Didn't happen, slid out on a flat front tire. I picked up a 1/4" screw after the first turn. I made it around the course and then slid out going too fast on the last turn. (The road rash thread came in handy.) (Bike is OK) That's right first race and didn't make it a lap.
2. Don't make any sketchy moves. I was so far off the back I didn't have to worry about this one. Although, when I got lapped by the field I didn't take anyone out.
3. Don't take out any other riders. Same as above.
4. Listen, watch, and learn.
- I learned that you need to slow down on curves when your front tire is going flat.
- I need to get faster in the corners I'm pretty sure I would have been able to hang with the peloton if I could have cornered faster.
- I got a wheel in the pits. One of the officials told me he would give me a push. I should have clipped in both feet. I wasted the push because I fumbled the right foot clip in.
5. Finish in the field. I finished.

Here is my question. After I flatted and couldn't catch the field. I ended up going around by myself for most of the race. When I got lapped by the field, I tried to get back on a wheel but couldn't keep my speed up around the corners and fell off the back after a couple turns. In a crit is it acceptable to slow down and wait for the pack to come back around and then get back on and give it another go?

chado445510

Bennington Race Weekend Time Trial and Crit, Juniors, 15-18


Time Trial. Went in kind of hard, as I had been warned not to do. Finally found a rhythm and did well. 4th Place, but down by 1 minute. Beat some kids I wanted to, and did my regular pace on a really hilly course, so all is well.


Crit. First few laps were lightning fast, attacks everywhere at 30+ mph, and I was getting a little nervous. Fast forward 20 laps, and it is the last lap. One kid attacked on the back half of the lap, an went too hard into a corner and crashed really bad. Thankfully ( : / ) it screwed up everyone for the sprint, and my skinny little climber ass found a wheel and sprinted to 2nd. Lost by less than a tenth of a second, and I was really happy.


Overall, good day. Better than I had thought x10. Just have to win tomorrow, hopefully I get into the GC.

ridethecliche

AJ,

When you have a mechanical, such as a flat, you can take a free lap.

You should have gone back to the start/finish, switched out your wheel, and then put yourself back at the end of the field.

kstryapko

Chantilly Crit.
2nd race ever for me!! 25 kids. Did the juniors 15-18 race, the race started out raining hard and it was incredibly cold. It was 11 laps and a total of 10.5 miles, So it was a short course with alot of turns. First 5 laps the pace was brutal with a semi-pro team pulling at front the whole way, they managed to break away. Me and my team refused to let them get to far ahead so we realed them back with 3 laps left. The sprint comes up after a 90 degree turn and I managed to get a sweet lead out from an unsuspecting rider and I took 4th.

Ohmannuel

That's the worst feel sick and racing brings back bad memories from the Boulevard road race, uhhh... But good job hanging in there.

Raced the Cat 4 Mark Reynolds San Luis Rey Road Race today and it was grueling. There must have been something in the air because people were cashing left and right and the course was not very dangerous to speak of. It was a 60 mile race with 2000 feet of climbing in four laps. The first 3 laps were easy enough with only a few surges here and there. Everyone was waiting for the final climb in the last lap... I made up the little time I lost in the climb ever lap on the descent so i was in good position most of the race. On the final climb I couldn't quite keep up with the attack and slowly started moving backwards but I held a consistent pace and was able to give a little extra at the end and pass up a few that had passed me up before I finally came in 23rd. Not happy with my result but it's my best in cat 4 so at least I'm moving in the right direction.

chicagogal

Depends on the officials, as that is their decision to make. In "training crits" it is often the norm to let lapped riders back into the field, but officials always reserve the right to pull dropped riders if they deem it a safety issue for those riders to be caught by the field.

esammuli

3rd place in the P/1/2 at San Luis Rey Road Race after being in the break for 70 of 103 miles. It hurt like hell. I cramped up a few times in the last 15 miles while the remaining riders from break attacked constantly, but I was able to hold on up the climb and sprinted for 3rd.

mattm

Holy **** nice man! Sounds brutal.

Ohmannuel

Awesome job, we only did 60 miles and it was tough, 103???!!! No thanks!

esammuli

Thanks. The race was on my local training roads and it was my first A race of the year. I'm extremely happy.

JandersUF

How I stayed in the pack and was about 10th out of 50
or
How I won the race

So I did the Wells Ave C race this AM (near Boston). 4th time doing that race. By far the largest field I've raced in there (they capped it at 50ish riders)... The last two times I've been in groups of 20-30, which frankly felt much easier to move around/between/inside of.

I pretty much just hung out in the pack for most of the race. BU and some local team had large groups in the field (6 or 7 riders) and they seemed to control the front pretty well. No significant breaks went at all. I had no problem staying with the pack, but I certainly wasn't great at easily moving up... it cost me a lot of energy to get near the front.

I spent some energy with 2 to go to get up around 15th wheel. I chose two poor wheels to follow, and spent a lot more energy on the back stretch of the last lap not moving up at all. Coming out of the final turn, I was around 12-15th, and easily moved up to 10th. However, it was clear I was too far back at that point to duke it out for the win, so I just pedaled in fast and controlled, staying about 10th.

However, a car was in front of the pack right at the finish line. We'd had a lot of cars in our race, and had self-neutralized a few times. As we came through the finish, the official was giving the "go around again" signal and "screaming go around again, one more."

At this point, I was happy because I still had some fire left, and was about 8th wheel with a very strung out field, and now instead of being done, we had one to go. As we came through the first turn, up the slight hill, I realized all of the leaders/sprinters were sitting up... too spent to go again. So I did what I learned on BF... I attacked. I looked back after about 20s, and one guy was halfway between the field and me. So I just tucked down and kept pedaling. In the finishing straight i looked again, and no one was near me. I went through the line alone.

Afterwards, I guess some people were complaining that either they felt the car didn't interfere with their sprints or they didn't know the race was going 1 more lap. I certainly didn't have the legs to win the real race... but I'll take winning the partially-contested-extra-lap

Sadly though, I didn't earn a muffin for this performance. Drat.

TMonk

What kit/bike were you riding?

I was in the black Humboldt kit on the black Cdale. I think I came in about 4-5 riders behind you.

I could have dug a little bit deeper on the last climb but wasn't motivated. I found myself in no man's land between an attack and the pack right before the last climb (dumbass) and subsequently didn't maintain good position going into the climb. If I was near the front I would have been alot more motivated to maintain a top posiiton instead of like 30th or something.

I need to work on my last-lap attitude in races if I ever want my 9 points to --> 20.

Ohmannuel

I was in the black ShoAir speed suit (never got around to buying the bibs and I'm just used to it now lol), on the black Trek with loud as hell edge rims. I did a lot of work for my teammate who saw this as a chance to get the points he needed upgrade. He ended up missing the poins he needed by a wheel length and got 7th.
Good luck in your next race and as for last lap attitude, I just don't stop no matter what on the last lap. Even if I'm 40th, at this point I'm not sprinting between people but I'm going as hard as I can. For me this helps so when I am in a good position I'm used to the pain that is going to follow haha.
I'm always in the speed suit even in road races so I can't be hard to spot, next time you see me say hello.

king-tony

Nice!

godshammgod

First Race. Also Wells Ave C like Janders above. (Nice work, by the way!)

Finished in the pack, didn't crash so I consider it a successful day. Even got bumped a few times which I really didn't mind. One of my friends ended up in the top 10. I shall be back. It was a blast.

Two big things I learned:

1. The importance of finding/following a good wheel. Luckily I found one early in the race and I was able to move up pretty easily by following his moves.

2. The physical limits of my bike/myself in terms of handling are much better than I thought they were. I felt surprisingly comfortable taking one of the corners at 27-30 mph and still holding my line.

bostongarden

That is intense!!

Congrats!! Smarts is part of racing!! It was a huge C-field and the finish was strange. Indeed, the car, while in front of everyone, was too close for comfort. It is critical to neutralize in situations like that because of what a car might do, such as suddenly slow, stop or swerve -- that could result in a serious crash!! Those in the front of the field were charging hard all the way through and did not neutralize. That is understandable -- not wise, but understandable -- given y'all are relatively new to racing. Appropriately, another lap was called. The finish was a little strange as it appeared that very few raced another lap and most everyone sauntered across the line. Good you for being smart!!!



Podium (3rd) for me today in the Wells B (3/4) race -- ah, to finally smell the sweet scent of green . As Maxwell smart would say, missed 2nd place "by this much."

I knew from the start that the race was for second as cdr's favorite racer was in the field (and he had finished ahead of Justin Spinelli on this course within the past month, so, that should tell you something). He actually went off early and I thought about chasing -- I did a half-hearted chase for a lap, but the field was happy to have me pull them around and not join in. So, no problemo, because I didn't think he could stay away solo and that he would come back. Sure enough, after about 5-8 laps this was the case.

I did go for one prime somewhat seriously after we were all back together. I had watched the eventual-race-winner and his two leadouts and how they formed their train (and the commands they like to call -- not that complicated, but, one should be observant). For a two-place prime, they formed it up and another racer hopped on 4th wheel and I was 5th wheel. Looking good coming into the final stretch and then time to put it down. I went by his leadouts, of course; then I realized I was not going to catch the leader, so, I shut it down. I forgot it was for 2 places!!! I'm not sure that I would have caught the 2nd place person, but, he was within reach. No problemo.

Coming into the final few laps, I refused to go for a bunch of primes as I wanted to conserve for the finish. With 5 to go, a smart rider rolled off slowly and got a decent gap. I knew that he could not sustain it and would not be a factor at the end. The winner went after him and they stayed away for a bit. I thought about going -- and maybe I should have -- but, I'm not confident or strong enough yet (due time), so, I hung back and watched. Sure enough, the fellow who rolled off the front was caught and the winner stayed away.

Heading into the final lap, I set up nicely, if I say so myself Got on some wheels coming out of the last turn and phase 1 of the finish was on -- 489w for 11". Then, time to jump. I was feeling good and charging hard. The form was decent and I felt somewhat comfortable/smooth -- lots of room for improvement, but, still decent. I was gaining ground and missed 2nd by about 6 inches -- 789w for the next/last 15" (which is pretty good for me at the end of a 71 minute crit). As it is often said, "were the race just another 10 yards farther...." No complaints here. My kids are going to get ice cream with my payout.

I'm due a rest week and that is what will be going down next week.

bostongarden

Sweet GSG, welcome to a new world!!

echappist

cheers BG and esammulli!

godshammgod

Yeah, hopefully this will be the first of many races. I'm glad I was able to jump right into a larger field like that. It was a good, er, crash course in bike racing. I think it also helped that this race didn't have much in the way of surges and attacks.

Grumpy McTrumpy

had the win in my pocket and the legs didn't want to keep pushing up the final wall. 4th

TMonk

will do.

DennisD

Not thrilled with my race results from this weekend's Tour of the Dragons in Bennington (yesterday's report here, and today's report here). However, I'm very impressed with course selections and the way in which the race was run in the inaugaral event. My guess is that if they hold it again next year, the fields will swell much larger, but hopefully only with riders who are slower than me, or at least riders afraid of Dragons.

hurley.girl

Colts Neck RR. I somehow earned the NJ Women's Cat 4 cup leader's jersey with decent placings in the first two races, so I got to wear it today. This is my fourth year racing, and the first year I didn't make the cup my goal, and sure enough, I get the lead. I was excited, to say the least. My goal was to keep the jersey and consolidate my lead. There were a couple of women within a few points of me, so I wanted to keep my eye on them.

Nervous start. I was out warming up with my team when we got a call from a husband that they were already staging the women. They held up the start for us, thankfully. I got to the line after almost time-trialing to get there on time. Phew! The women 123 went first, then the 4s. I ended up leading the first half of the first lap. Tried to keep my effort reasonable and knew someone would get impatient and come around me. I had two teammates in the race, and they were really at or near the front the entire time, trying to keep control.

Second lap (of 4), I watched a woman ride away from the field. I expected it, and know she's close to her upgrade. I didn't want to burn any matches chasing someone who didn't matter for my series. I saw a couple of women try to chase but eventually they got reeled back in. I tried to stay safe and smart, and was positioning myself better than usual (I'm a at-the-front or at-the-back kind of racer, usually).

Third lap I had a scary moment. I was about 1/3 back in the pack, to the far right. The woman next to me got hit. I heard bikes collide and saw her start to wobble. I knew if she crashed she was taking me with her. There was nowhere for me to go except into the trees. Luckily, everyone stayed upright. This helped split the field, and I ended up in a group of about 10. My teammates were there. One of my cup competitors was not. So that meant I really had to mark just one rider.

There is a small but steep hill, and on the third lap I found myself off the front of the pack. I decided it would be foolish to try to stay away so I sat up. I'm not a time trialer, and didn't want to burn myself out.

One of my teammates is a time trial specialist, and she worked her heart out. Especially on that final lap. She was putting the hurt on everyone left with our group, which was exactly what she needed to do.

Coming into the finish, there's a downhill, left bend, an uphill, then a long flat run to the line. I was trying to get momentum to get me over that last climb but had to ease up because we caught a lapped rider. I still started the hill in decent position, found my teammate and let her lead me out. I crested the hill in 4th place, passed another rider and then my teammate. And then I realized just how far off the line was. Ouch. I knew I wasn't catching the one in front of me so I actually sat back down because my legs were screaming. I finished 2nd in the field sprint, third overall. I consolidated my lead in the cup, which was exactly what I wanted to do. And I got some nice points towards my upgrade.

jwible

Broke my crankset 200 meters after the start of the Roswell 3/4 crit. The spider retaining ring snapped and backed off. The spider came off the crank spindle. Rotor 3D / Quarq carnage ensued. I did find the sheered off electronics module though.

Not faulting Rotor or Quarq on this. And I imagine Quarq will make good once I get in touch with them tomorrow.

Oh, and then I stupidly asked the SRAM neutral support guys if they'd lend me a bike for the Masters race. They did (a nice Tarmac SL3 s-works) and I attempted to race. Field was stacked with 1s. Dumb move on my part. OTB on lap 3.