SpongeDad

A little background – almost exactly 4 years ago, I did my first race at Greenbelt MD, a local training series. The loop is 1.4 miles, starting with a long high speed descent, a short uphill into a 90 degree right hander, a fairly flat section and then a 0.4 mile moderate climb. The C / Cat5 race is 30’ plus 2 laps.

In 2006, I lost contact after 3 laps and was lapped after 6. Tonight, my goal was to make it 5 laps before getting dropped and if possible, not get lapped at all. So how’d it go?

First lap felt awesome. There was this squirrely guy (oh, I know what that means now) who was jumping back and forth, so I passed coming through the flats and led and then gapped the field by about 50 feet coming up the hill. A guy with green shorts bridged up and asked if I wanted to try riding away. Weee! Unfortunately, I was starting to realize that this was a mistake, so I told him that I had probably been a little over exhuberant.

Note to self. DO NOT LEAD THE FIRST LAP.

My rabbiting cost me but I still managed to hold on to the group well into the fifth lap and dangled off the back into the sixth. By eight laps, I was done and could tell I would be lapped in due course, so I pulled myself. I now understand the concept of “your race is done.”

A few things I noticed
– a lot of people are really not good descenders. I’m a giant chicken and I was passing people without even pedaling.
– everybody was pretty polite. I was told to hold my line at one point, which I appreciated. Guys passing on the right made an effort to let you know they were coming.
– a lot of people brake too much coming into a corner, leading to the inevitable yo-yo at the back. When you’re three abreast coming into a turn at speed, braking because the guy ahead of you slowed down is dicey.
- braking at racing speed messes up your balance, something I never experienced in training!
- By my estimate, the average speed of the lead group was about 22mph.

All in all, it was a blast and kudos to Route 1 Velo for running such a fun event. I can’t wait till next week, when I will hide in the peloton and do as little work as possible. Let’s see if we can hang on for 7 laps.

bitterken

Woot!

ZeCanon

So was this your second race?

Either way, congrats on meeting your goal!

SpongeDad

2nd race on the road. I did cross in the fall and enjoyed it enough to give road racing another shot.

The more I think about it, the more amazed I am at how much better the bike felt cornering with no braking.

Hida Yanra

that is great to hear!
keep it rubber side down and keep going!

MDcatV

good on you for getting out there. the course itself gives no reason to ever touch your brakes.

bdcheung

the ticks aren't reason enough?

SpongeDad

Did another C race tonight. Made it 7 and half laps in/at the back of the peloton before popping, mostly by not doing anything stupid, like going out real fast in the first lap.

Things I learned tonight:
1. Do not get stuck behind someone who yo-yos or jumps around at the back. There was one guy who was flicking between wheels, which I found a bit disconcerting and impeded my ability to latch on and hunker down.
2. Do not come out of hard corner in too tall a gear. I was getting severely gapped each time we came to the hard right. Then I had to work for 1/3 of each lap (with no draft) to get back on. Once I figured out that I needed to be in something light enough to spin up quickly, things improved.

I think if I can hold a stronger position towards the front and attack the corner, I should be able to hold on just by riding smarter. We'll see if we can pull that off next week. I stuck around to watch the A race to see how the big boys corner. I definitely have room to be more aggressive.

Average speed for the group was 21.8 mph and the temp was about 100 and humid for those that like to know such things.

Now to go look for ticks.

bdcheung

If you're tailgunning, it actually pays to let a gap open before the corner, and use the corner to close up the gap by not braking.

MDcatV

good for going out spongedad! gb is a fun place to go and learn. although 103 deg F and beltway traffic were enough to keep me away tonight.

heckler

Something I learned the hard way (not that I am even that good at it now), but between letting the gap open taking the corner at speed and being in the right gear. the back isn't all that bad.

Do not do this is you are not in the very back though or people will be upset

SpongeDad

I think I may try this next week. I definitely need to work on exiting that corner at speed. Catching up was burning more energy than the hill.

MDcatV

take the turn at the bottom of the downhill as far left as you can go, pedal up the rise, and go through the corner no brakes. aim for the yellow line on exit to stay narrow. it can be pedaled through unless you're going approx. 35+ mph, then your lean will cause a pedal strike.

timster

I usually shift 2 gears right before the turn, that way I don't end up in the wrong gear exiting the turn, or fumble a shift during the surge after it. In the B race it's pretty easy to string out the field if you just pedal through the turn.

SpongeDad

Well, I had hoped to end this thread tonight by announcing that I had graduated to pack fodder. No such luck. Much bigger, sketchier crowd tonight. Lots, and I mean lots, of puzzling braking. Unfortunately, I tried to tail gun the one hard right hand turn (going wide on that turn and pedaling thru definitely helped), but got caught behind some youngins, who gave it their all, but gapped the main group pretty early. After working my way through them, I spent the rest of the day gonzo time trialing to get back on. Came close by lap 4 but was spent. C'est la vie.

I'm lining up in the front rows from now on. I'm not strong enough to overcome the gaps that get created at the back. Definitely starting to appreciate what racing intelligently really means (and how ignorant I was/am).

mzeffex 

I wish I could get out there on time. I could get off at 6 from work, and then the 4/5 race is at 6:40. Considering it takes half an hour to get there in non-rush hour, I doubt I could make it.

Hida Yanra

no worries mate - keep working it - and always line up at the front if you at all can.

mike868y

Ride there.

mzeffex 

I don't think I could do 22 miles in less than 40 minutes.

mike868y

ride harder

Could you get off work an hour earlier and maybe put in some more hours another day of the week? Training crits are a blast.

SpongeDad

Probably did last crit for the year tonight (ITT coming up so focusing on LT efforts). Again, a learning experience. I missed accomplishing my goal of not getting lapped by about 50 feet (I let them pass and didn't sprint; overtaken riders are not pulled but we're also supposed to get the hell out of the way for the sprint.) Still, that's an improvement on where I started this year.

1. Do not line up behind riders you know will spend 2 seconds clipping at the start or gap on every minor uphill.
2. "Watch your line" means "let me through" at least 50% of the time. FU, no.
3. I need some short burst power to close gaps and stay in contact. I did a 30' time trial tonight because I couldn't get back on after some repeated gapping by riders in front of me.
4. My pack riding needs work.

tombailey

Good work

SpongeDad

Another year and more improvement - stayed with the pack until the last 2 laps. Got gapped and couldn't quite catch back up. Finished about 150m back of the pack. Last year, best result was 1 lap down (1.3km). Still need to work on power coming out of turns. Also, need club to beat on people who brake at the front.

RacerMike

It is the awesome new team that is making you better; pretty good rivalry going on between a few of us and no one wants to be "the" slow guy in the club. Good on you tonight. I plan on doing some of these on the nights that Glenelg gets rained out on Tuesday.

SpongeDad

True dat.