badhat

now now

i just mean that in 4 you have a good percentage of people who are absolutely not bike racers at all. people who just wanna give it a shot cuz theyre the fastest guy in thier saturday morning ride and have no idea what theyve gotten themseves into.

not that theres anything wrong with that, but it does mean that most of the guys you line up with in 4 arent actual contenders and dont even regard themselves as such.

3 isnt really all that much faster or harder, its just that the distribution is a little different. most of the people who show up for a cat 3 race got there by being the pointy end of cat4 races, so theres more competent strong engines and youre less likely to win by brute force.

VT Biker

No offense taken at all, and I agree. Take a look at the CAT 4 results, and there is a consistency in the names at the top. I think you are absolutely spot-on. From my very limited perspective, it seems that there are a lot of guys in the SM4's who think they can race themselves into race shape, and are realizing that by the time they get into any decent racing condition, most of the season is going to be over. They also did not realize that those who did train in the winter, are also getting stronger.

I will say that the # of riders who no longer get lapped or OTB has increased substantially, but not many who have the engine to either go off-the-front or win a sprint. So now the deadweight kind of sticks together.

miwoodar

IMO, you have what it takes to hang in the 3's. Kudos for coming after me this weekend (I started that break with a full-on kilo attack BTW...and was crushed by errant pain until caught). Keep it up and the results will come. You have it, don't give up. When was the last time you got dropped from one of these races? The 3's are not much, if at all, faster on any given day.

VT Biker

Thanks Mike - and I can hang all day with the 4's no problem. But need to get to the point where I can make a break stick. I finally decided to take the plunge and get a Quarq. I am going to try to take some of Badhat's advice, and work on LT and reduce the interval work over the next month (save for races). I am not proficient at using RPE to train, and really want to dial in my training.

In terms of moving up, I would see no harm in staying in the 4's if there was an "A" race you had kind of focused on coming up, I think it would not be the end of the world to wait until after it (Morgal for instance) and then CAT up.

VT Biker

@badhat and @miwoodar:

Are you guys racing:
A) Hugo
B) Unihill Crit in Boulder this Sunday?
C) Sonic Boom race in Louisville next weekend?

miwoodar

My race schedule is in flux - It all comes down to logistics with the family and such. My father-in-law is flying out on Saturday so Hugo might be tough.

ACA granted the upgrade last night. I'm looking forward to not being able to get away solo and would really enjoy working with break mates on such attacks. Beyond that, you guys deserve the points anyways.

The Q is worth the investment IMO.

Hida Yanra

ah, like we talked about at Vance Creek?
You've got great power, but you've got to put in very select places.
I'm putting out just barely more power than I was last year, and I'm 15 lbs heavier than I was last year - and I'm in the points on uphill finishes (got close to a W on last week's PR race on the hard uphill)

no, it doesn't make sense from the math side - but that's the difference "smart" riding will be for you. You can do it, just work a little less and I bet you'll start getting really good results.
No Wenatchee? I'll see you at Enumclaw then - heal up!

badhat

what divisions are you planning to race? SM3 or age groups?

i'll be at hugo SM3, superior morgul SM3, possibly sonic boom. probably no uni hill

VT Biker

What is your impression of the Sonic Boom track? (Assuming you raced it in prior years)

badhat

i havent raced it.

brianappleby

Hey good job MW. Have fun at Hugo (f you go) and don't be afraid to try stuff. The 3's are just as unwilling to work as the 4's. The wind can play a huge role in the race so consider it when thinking about tactics.
B.

miwoodar

SB is a new course according to their web site.

No Morgul for me - I've promised the lady that she can dictate the holiday weekend.

I'll probably race which ever has more teammates on any given day.

Thanks Brian.

badhat

not to rub it in by the superior course is about the most fun RR course in colorado

VT Biker

I think I need to check myself at the door when a trip to Hawaii with the wife precludes me from a race, and I have some tinge of disappointment.

brianappleby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdbPTege7Cg&t=1m5s

It's the race from 1:10-1:40. They made a friggin movie about it. Pretty rad. The best shot for those of us who aren't climbers to win on a great course.

forrest_m

Thanks! Yeah, been here full-time since last September. But I'll be back in pugetopolis from the end of June through mid-August, so I'll probably see you at some races.

I'm starting to feel like I can probably work up to hanging in (at least on the rolling courses, the ones with a 40-minute climb are probably a lost cause), but I've got zero margin for stupid riding.

Stage race coming up this weekend, at least you can't get dropped in a TT...

GirlAnachronism

As long as there isn't a time cut...

bostongarden

I feel crispy after tonight's 82' Wompatuck 1/2/3 crit. There was representation from some good teams, such as MetLife, Embrocation, CCB, Pedros, etc. I don't know names of riders; I only can report on pain.

My objective was to increase my leg speed and I knew that Wompy would help me with that no matter how long I hung on. The pace is always fast on this course. My ultimate/ideal goal was to hang on for a pack finish.

We're off. I am still engaged after 1 lap (of 25). Near the end of lap 2, a break of 3 forms. I'm now near the front of the pack; instinct says jump and bridge; I make it and get in a break for a bit. Thank goodness we were caught as I don't have any VO2max, ftp, lt, or much of any of those cool sounding power-acronyms. I'm feeling some huff puff (after we were caught, I thought of the rematch scene in Rocky III where Clubber Lang is coming over to Rocky's corner before the fight and Apollo Creed says to Rocky "be cool," proceeds to go ballistic on Lang, and then tells Rocky that his actions were cool when Rocky says "I thought you said to be cool." In case your thinking "huh?" I thought of that because my goal for the race was to hang on and finish and there I was in lap 2 mixing it up -- ok, sorry for all the detail). I get back in line, recover and hope I can stick.

Laps are fast and I am sticking thanks to some regular spots where the pace would slow, allowing me to recover and collect. There were attacks here and there. But, generally, chill out opportunities in a timely manner for moi. Then, with about 16 laps or so to go, it felt like a relentless set of attacks took place until 8 to go. I felt like I was digging in a lot -- staring often at whatever wheel was in front of me, and thinking of getting that wheel! Along the way, I led out one counter and was involved in a couple of others -- I couldn't help it; when you're in a particular spot that calls for it, you do it. At 14 to go, I feel some pain; at 12 to go, I'm thinking "hey, making it to 12 to go isn't bad." I keep digging in and taking myself as far as I can go as tonight is about stretching out.

Soon after 8 to go, the pace finally slows a bit. Hallelujah. I let out a serious exhale -- the kind where you cup your bottom lip a bit and blow hard off the roof of your mouth, close to the shape and effort when one wants to do a loud whistle. I was also relieved to hear lots of other people making sounds or uttering words indicating that they were a bit cooked from that effort -- it wasn't just me!! (My power file has lots of mountains/spikes, one after another.) Also, perhaps amusing, someone from the very back shouted at people to move it out and counter when everyone finally took a break. The whole darn thing was probably about trying to catch a couple of riders who had broken away. I'm glad that the powers-that-be in the race decided that the race was on for third place, or so it seemed (no foreshadowing here, the break stayed away).

By the way, every time I passed the lap card from 10 laps to go and on/downward, I thought of the final race scene in American Flyers where David has crossed the line for the last stage, the Cannibal is charging to the line, and Kevin Costner is counting down the seconds 10, 9, 8.... For me, the count down was laps to go to finish with the pack.

The pace picked up again with 7 to go. With 6 to go I was hurting. At 5 to go, I kept thinking about getting to 4 to go; I also somehow found myself off the front and wisely slowed my pace and let folks pass me. With 3 to go, I figured the pace was going to be faster at 2 to go. At 2 to go, I thought about hanging on for one more lap, assuring myself a pack finish.

At 1 to go, I surprisingly found myself in a good position near the front -- if I may say so myself, I felt like I was finding some great lines during the entire race. Tired, but, near the front. Wut? (ok, just trying to be a hipster with that expression.) The final sprint starts early on this course; phase 1 is a straight, with some up and then down, of about 400 yards or so (Shovel, if you are reading, you know the course and can confirm; it might be longer) that preceeds a bend, and then phase 2, after the bend, is a straightish path of about 300 yards (? it's not short) to the finish. I was shocked that I was in good position for phase 1, in the top 7 or so.

As we are approaching the bend and the end of Phase 1, I'm working hard to stick, still in the top 7 or so; and then, I ran out of gas. I sat up and coasted in for about 18th and a pack finish (out of about 40). It was comforting to hear lots of people commenting on how tired they were and how hard the pace felt. I wasn't the only one feeling a bit worked over. Woof woof!

shovelhd

Nice work, BG. It's been decades since I've raced down there, but your description sounds familiar.

utahp8ntballer

Did the weekly Tuesday crit at RMR (C group) and missed the win by half a bike for the 2nd time in 3 days. Wound up 3rd again.
I'm happy with this though because I seemed to have turned a corner and find myself able to do things I never thought I could.

3 guys went off the front and the group just sat there. I waited for a little bit and no one went. After about 45 seconds I decided I wasn't going to let it go and chased them down. Got latched on and the 4 of us put a large gap on the main group and after about 4 laps 2 more riders joined us.

So it was just the 6 of us working together and keeping a pretty good pace and taking turns at the front. I picked the guy I thought was going to be the strongest and decided he was the one I wanted to be behind heading to the line. Unfortunately I went through the last turn leading everyone.

Now we are headed into the wind and I'm in front and the line is about 1/3 mile away. I went for it.

Put a gap on everyone and was digging as deep as I could. The wind and the long distance was killing me. I started running out of gas and could see a wheel creeping up. I dug a little deeper and pulled away again but started fading about 10 feet from the line.

1st place guy beat me by half a bike and 2nd just nipped me at the line.

Great race all in all and I'm starting to feel pretty damn good now.

VT Biker

Do you rock the mustache in honor of the movie when you race this?

topflightpro

Well, two weeks after logging my first win in our Tuesday night crit series, I didn't get to finish last night.

Two yahoos - who I had yelled at a couple of times during the race - finally collided with each other just as we crossed the finish line to start the final lap and took me down with them. Actually, they crashed right in front of me. I went straight into them, head over the bars. I remember the feeling of my helmet sliding along pavement, before rolling onto my shoulders and back.

One of the guys who caused the crash jumped up cursing and hollering about who caused the crash. I just looked at him and said "You did it." He denied it, but everyone in the field knew he did it.

Fortunately, I didn't suffer any major injuries. I've got a nice bit of road rash on the back of my shoulders - it feels like I've got a horrible sunburn - and my neck is a bit sore today. The bicycle is fine - other than a few scratches on the shifters and saddle, but the helmet is toast.

At this point, I'm more pissed than anything. I didn't get any points for the race series - I was in third at the start of the race - and I know I could have had a good finish again.

JohnKScott

Good job BG & utahp8ntballer Tough break topflightpro. Glad you are relatively ok.

echappist

Good job. I love it when the break suceeds.
Sorry to hear, dude. It's funny how the sketchy riders never know how sketchy they truly are. Heal up quick!

bostongarden

Thanks JKS.

Sorry to hear about your crash Topflight. Given that your helmet is toast and your neck is sore, perhaps you would like to get things checked out.