carpediemracing 

First race as a Cat 2 (and so far the only one). I suffered like never before, fought giving up for most of the race. At one point I was in the 3rd group on the road. But I grimly hung on, things started closing back up. I'll let the clip tell the rest of the story.


Enjoy,
cdr

Hida Yanra

you threw in my favorite cycling-specific quote of the last few weeks....
"Bridging slowly is like paying the minimum on your credit card – you’ll get there… eventually." (in my sig now)

what spot did you end up at the end of the race? I didn't list it at the end of the video.

GirlAnachronism

I think it said 4th, with a question mark.

Loved the music during that long bridging effort.

hammy56

great vid as usual! very inspiring. unfortunately I'll be suffering that way as a 4 not a 2.

carpediemracing 

Since the promoters don't score (to prevent stupid racing), it's uncertain how many were in front. Someone told me 3 were up the road, and the big guns missing numbered three - Aiden, the fast 274 guy, and I think Tim U. I think they're all Cat 1s. I think 274 is a current or former Masters crit champ.

Ken Gordy Ford - anyone know whose team they sponsor?

cdr

derek.fulmer

You have some good music choices in your videos. Sweet riding, too.

Grumpy McTrumpy

if they don't score then why the numbers?

Spring Water

Sorta. It would be cool if Cat 4's raced like that.

hammy56

no doubt. I was thinking the same thing. *sigh*

billh92109

awesome vid - thx.

mike868y

Love it CDR. I was watching it and my roommate came over and watched the whole thing until the end. He loved your captions.

carpediemracing 

all my brothers' music (two brothers). I really like their music - must be genetic. I listen to the same music all the time on the trainer, in the car... for years and years.

insurance/releases. crash? pull the waiver w/number.

winner gets a beer or soda, unofficially. primes too (soda, and if beer goes unclaimed, beer).

but no publication of places/winners.

dbikingman

Good job, I enjoyed it. Was this a 1,2,3 race? Is it the same folks you race as a 3?

Issaquatch

Nice job! What are those Cane Creek bars below your drops? When do you use them?

carpediemracing 

Race is P123 and sometimes 4. I basically never race against these guys except at Rentschler Field. I don't qualify for their races. Like the 1s, I can't do P12 or P1 races, and if there's a 3 and a P123, I'll do the 3 race (although Ron was a Cat 4 a couple years ago, so technically I probably raced against him at the time). Tim U got 3rd at the Elite RR one year, 5th I think as a Junior at Nats. So he's one strong mofo, but he gained, oh, 50 lbs this year. Real life intrudes.

The 2s are mainly Masters, but Kevin Y annihilated me in the CT Coast Crit (I have a helmet cam of that) before he upgraded to 2. Wade also was a 3 for a while before he upgraded.

I only race with the 3s since I don't do Masters. So my teammate SOC is a 3 and some of the unmentioned. Some of the guys leaving gaps are newly upgraded 3s or long time 4s trying to get in some speed work before getting shelled.

Cane Creek bars are called "Speed Bars". I don't have a picture of me on them, but they're mass start legal aero bars. I'm looking for "out of the box" major aero upgrades to my "bike/rider" system, and that's a biggie. I have to use them more though. One wily Cat 2 used to sprint on them (he sprinted seated).

leooooo

Another mesmerizing and useful video, good stuff!

Hendley

Enjoyed that one, thanks as always. Dare I say best yet? Think that's the first video where it really, genuinely looked hard.

carpediemracing 

First I had 15 minutes, not 10 minutes. That let me select many more clips from the raw footage - more detail, more of the race scenario. I distinctly remember thinking "Third group, oh no!". I tried to convey that in the clip.

I usually give up when I get crampy/twingy in my "non-target" races. But that day it was a bit different - motivation really high and a realization that everyone was hurting. Until that day I just assumed that I was an exception in my suffering. But I remember a moment where I'm following Kevin and realized, "Hey, he's tired too, and he usually kicks my butt in these races." Then I thought of Merckx - he would attack when everyone was suffering because even though he was hurting, he knew everyone else was.

You could see the difference in the field towards the end - the hesitation, gaps, and lower speeds. Ron, on another day, should have been able to go to the line. I was steeling myself for a "decided by a bike throw" sprint - I knew it would be hard. But as he admitted afterwards "I think going from the last turn was a bit optimistic", and you can see he never gapped me.

I knew I was totally on the edge, but that's how most of my racing is - at the limit, maxed, and hope for something in the finish. In this case I could sprint. At Harlem, Somerville, I was cooked at the finish, more so than at this race.

I was afraid that someone would attack hard. But no one did. I know that if I have anything left and it looks like that, I'll be launching attacks.

cdr