mattm

https://www.cascade-classic.org/

Who else is doing this??

Looking forward to NOT starting on the back of the 110-rider cat 2 field in the crit, ugh.. fun course though.

misterwaterfall

I wanted to give it a go, but it's a pretty far drive for me to go get dropped on those climbs at elevation

mattm

There are some great views though after you get dropped!! I know b/c it happened to me last year..

Also 5,000 ft isn't that much elevation. Sure I noticed it but I don't think my performance on the climb would've been much better at sea level. The crit didn't feel any harder than a regular sea-level crit, it's at only 3,600 ft or so.

And with a 20% time cut you'd have to have a mechanical or something to not make the cut.

Mostly I'm going for the crit, and also to do better than last year on the first and stages. It was a great experience, a fun race. I recommend it.

tetonrider

i'll be there! love cascade.

off to hood soon!

Andy STi

I'll be doing it!

uncreative

on the fence. not too excited about not having a 35+ field, and having to race in a 3/4 field. also was under the impression there was more climbing, looks like the road race only has 3K spread over 70 miles. it does look like all of that elevation gain comes in one climb at the end, is that right?

mattm

Yeah my experience in stage 1 was that it was basically a huge group ride for the first 65 miles, until the climbing starts and things split up.

See the profile here, on the "Maps" tab: https://www.cascade-classic.org/usac-.../usac-stage-1/

It's no Gila, but I think it's enough of a climb to create a selection if that's what you're looking for.

Andy STi

I'm excited about not having a 35+ field! It'll be great just being 40+.

Friday really does come down to the final hill and then it goes crazy. Matt described it correctly. Sunday is a tough circuit race though.

uncreative

thanks for the feedback. its kinda of interesting, i've noticed that in the 35+ field here in norcal most of the fast guys are 40+. gives me something to strive for.

Racer Ex 

I'm striving to be 55.

uncreative

is that because you want to live for another year, or because you want to get out of metcalfe's age group?

mattm

Sweet, the TT course is new for this year, no more climb! I'm sure many are saddened by this but I'm not.

https://www.cascade-classic.org/usac-.../usac-stage-2/

tetonrider

i'm of 2 minds about it. i liked the familiarity of skyliners, though the pavement was not great. i like comparing my times year-over-year on skyliners (though last year's different start made that less relevant).

new course should be more like 19' instead of 26-27'.

hm.

Racer Ex 

It's always good to be at the bottom of the age spread, especially when they go in 10 year increments. 10 years gets to be a much bigger performance spread as you add years BTW.

Lose Metcalf, gain Nolan and Thurlow. Thins the herd otherwise though.

Living another year...you have good years and bad years. If it's a year I spend in a diaper having some Latvian nurse blow smoke in my face while he blathers on about Lindsey Lohan as he's shooting my IV full of Chinese knock off painkillers that are really anti freeze...I'll pass.

Racer Ex 

Skyliners wasn't a climb. Climbing TT's have Mt. as part of the name.

I loved that course because it was technical and not a brain dead Computrainer thing. You actually had to turn the bars a few times. And I thought the traffic circle was an awesome bunny hop.

mattm

Yeah yeah. The point is that it's not (partially) uphill anymore!

Not that it makes a difference for me, I'm only really eyeing one stage out of the four anyway. The rest are about survival.

Racer Ex 

Think bigger. Channel the Tashkent Terror:

tetonrider

are you thinking of the masters nationals course from a couple years ago? skyliners was basically out and back up the slight hill. last year they added a couple more turns at the start. no traffic circle, no rolling through that golf course.

tetonrider

why go into it thinking that way? you've had lots of success this year, no? you're not suddenly jumping into the tour de france. there are multiple ways to win any of those stages (well, perhaps only one way to win the new TT).

be positive: you earned the right to compete in that category and you have a shot at all 4 stages!

mattm

Thanks. This was the thinking I had last year going into it.. that there was no reason I couldn't win any of the stages (minus the TT, that's never been my thing).

Then I got dropped on stage 1 (on the last climb) and came in about 80th place, came in about 80th place in the TT (as expected), started on the back in the crit and came in 27th, and got dropped a few laps into the circuit race and came in something like 60th (finished a few laps solo otb). So it was disappointing to say the least.

That's why this year I don't have high hopes for any of the stages except the crit. Considering my power numbers aren't much different than they were last year, I'm not sure how I can expect to all of a sudden be a better climber/etc. Part of it could be positioning going into the climbs for sure though, and I'm going to pay more attention to that this time around.

So, I'm focusing on the one stage that I actually have a chance in, and the rest would be nice but I'm not setting myself up for disappointment this time around. It's not that I'll be soft-pedaling any of the stages, just not expecting a lot out of the other ones.

Andy STi

The new TT course is so much different than Skyliner. Couple little bumps on the backside and a couple sharpish corners is all. Times will be in the 18s for sure Teton. The course was just used this last weekend during the High Desert Omnium and the top cat 1/2 time was 19:00.88.

Skyliner Rd is so bad right now, it gets worse every year. There are plans to repave it and make some wide bike lanes and I thought that was supposed to happen this year but nothing has started yet. It gets a ton of bike traffic so that will be nice.

Come on Matt - Attack going up Sparks. It's just the cat 2 field, not like your racing masters or anything

tetonrider

i don't always pay close attention, but i thought you upgraded from 3 to 2 this year. did you race 2s there last year as well?

there is a difference between expecting to win and keeping an open mind that it is possible. using terms like "surviving" has a negative connotation and is defeatist. perhaps you are just using it for effect here and don't really feel that way. i hope that is the case.

you may not have different power numbers (maybe you have better repeatability?), but i bet you are smarter. you know the courses and have more races under your belt. getting to that climb fresher may mean the difference between cresting it with the lead group vs getting dropped.

for reference, i finished 3rd on stage 1 in the 3s last year (after leading a chase to catch a break) but then got dropped on the same course for masters nationals. (of note, former national champions got dropped as well.) the latter race was just that much more violent on the way to the hill--and i did more work than i could handle. so, too, for you--if you are smart about your work you may achieve different results with the same physical ability.

there are ways to play stage 4, too.

at least be open to the possibilities.

mattm

Yeah I've been a 2 for about a year now, did Cascade as a 2 last year.

But you are right that I at least know the courses now and should be (hopefully!) a smarter racer than I was last year. That's why I do think positioning going into the climbs can help me out a lot.

Either way I'm looking forward to the overall experience!! What a fun race, even if you lose.

tetonrider

you ARE a smarter racer. doesn't mean you might not make mistakes, but course knowledge + a year of racing makes a big difference.

i believe we all have the power to exceed our own expectations. i hope you know that i said all the stuff above simply because you have a chance in every race you enter. sure, it might be a slim chance, but it is a chance nonetheless. that is what excites me about racing: at no time am i ever the strongest guy, but i still have a shot at winning.

bend is awesome and the cascade courses are pure fun. well, i could do without folks taking the inside line on turn 3 of the crit and, similarly with folks not using their rear brake exiting turn 4.

tetonrider

yep. just mainly wanted to illustrate that not only will there be a difference in the elevation profile, but the duration of the event will change.

18 flat would be >30mph; few amateurs are capable of that. 19 is more like 28.5 (maybe faster as i think the course is 9.2 not 9.0 miles).

regardless, it is a shorter effort.