echappist

you miserly scrooge, why can't you be in a festive Holiday mood?

d'oh, here's a better link: https://screen.yahoo.com/snl-holiday-...000000184.html

mattm

Early Bird Crit p/1/2 - I think I won it!!

It came down to two of us otf, a guy I was watching went with two to go, I bridged, we held everyone (all 20 of them) off.

Of course it wasn't long before we turned from allies to foes, with 1/2 lap to go (~2 mile laps?) he attacked, but I dug deep and got ahold of his wheel. I sat on him up to the last 200m, when he jumped and then I started to come around him.. photo finish.

But one of the officials said he thought I got it! Good times.

Racer Ex 

Piru TT. Gusts to 40, tailwind out. Gust to 40, headwind back. All the dust in the air didn't do much for my breathing. Legs felt flat. Passed a bunch of people. Did not get passed. Had a deli sandwich and watched the Niners when I got home. Fell asleep during the post game show.

hack

Nice work and great start to 2014.

I was in the 4 race in the AM. About 40 of us or so. A lot of solo fliers, but nothing stuck. With 1.5 laps to go two guys jumped hard and looked like they could hold us off and I was boxed in. Was able to find a gap and chase them down to find that they were pretty cooked and I was nearly cooked from chasing them down. So I faded back into the front of the group to recover. Big group acceleration with about half a lap to go and I had recovered enough to put in some kind of work and managed a 5th, got edged out at the line by a guy I didn't see coming up the inside. Fun race and happy with it.

furiousferret

Great Job Matt, lets us know when you know that you won it!

mattm

Thanks! I won't ever know officially, they don't score the 1/2's in this race on purpose, it's purely for training. (3/4/5's can use it for upgrades, but not 2's)

I'll ask my breakmate what he thinks next week, but for now I'm going with the official's guess! (that I took it)

echappist

is that car faster or slower than a toboggan?

aaronmcd

Early Bird crit, 2.2 km per lap, 3rd or 4th place in second race. Each race was so big they split them into 2 groups each and started them 1/2 lap apart.

Race 1, under 30:
Chilled out in front ~10 or so most of the race. All right turns, and for some dumb reason everyone chose to hug the right curb and swerve out before braking into the corners. Ugh. I pulled a lap here and there for the hell of it, and to TRY to show people where to ride. Each time, when I'd ease up, the group would pass - hugging the right curb. wtf. Ended up soloing through most of the corners because it was actually easier and faster than braking behind people. Got a flat in one of the last few laps. Oh well, just a training crit, but damn, I missed the fun part!

Clinic:
Single paceline, double paceline and breakaway group practice. The double paceline (if one can even call it that) was far and away the worst I've ever been in. Many times I honestly could not tell it was supposed to be a paceline. There was a crash behind me in the clinic. Holy ****, it scared me a bit to race with them. The breakaway practice also sucked, as people kept pulling for about 1.5 seconds, thinking it was the same paceline drill (we were supposed to trade actual pulls, not just rotate).

Race #2 , 30+:
3rd or 4th place (no official places, and it was close).
Similar deal as race #1 : everyone choosing to ride on the wrong side, slowing through corners, riding like snails etc. I pulled a lap here and there. I tried attacking a couple times, but knew it wouldn't do jack in this group on a flat, easy course and almost windless day. I'd get a gap for a half lap or so, and then someone would drag the field up and suck my wheel for another half lap.
Anyway, last lap, and the pace slows down. Seriously. Everyone was afraid of going OTF I guess. I managed to hold back. 1 mile from the end (2 turns to go) a few people pick it up and go hard. I resist passing (maybe 15th wheel at the time) and just stay on the wheel I had. At the second to last corner (last corner was more of a wide curve), I pull out into the wind to take a good line, and bonus was passing a bunch of people. Kept the gas on to pass a few more. Found a wheel to draft around the last sweeping curve, but that wheel wasn't picking it up so I jumped early (maybe 8th wheel). Passed a few people and was close enough to contest the sprint, but was in the wind too much and didn't have that "kick" that I usually have. Plowed in at 3rd or 4th place at a max of 1000 watts.

NP = 280 (~0.85 IF) for both races. Was at the front a lot, but it was fun.

mattm

I can never remember bf-speak.. "cadillac" means you won it right? Congrats!

Sounds like a strong start to the season, nice!

Another strong start.. don't worry too much about sketchy riders, it gets slightly better as you move up through the categories (and I have no doubt you will).

hack

Same set up for us, no one kept official score...basically, you finish where you finish and if you can figure out what number that was, then good for you. But, we all got half a point toward the upgrade.

hack

Thanks! I'm happy with result and happy that I was able to recover in time to get a sprint in. That's my kind of course, too...flat and non-technical (think RedKite). I prefer the drag races.

Racer Ex 

Yessir, and thanks. Good on you as well. Nice to start the season on a high note.

save10

I don't think the 3's can use it for upgrades...can they?

aaronmcd

According to the race info online, only 5s get upgrade points for the races, and none are scored. 4s and 5s get a half point for the clinic.

thechemist

Solid start to everyone this season! Congrats to all of you for doing so well. I hope it stays in the 33 water for the whole year

johnybutts

Saturday I did my second Excruciation Exam - 80 mile endurance mountain bike race.

1 mile run
8 miles singletrack
29 miles mix of dirt and paved road
16 miles singletrack
19 miles dirt and paved road
8 miles singletrack

I have done about 20 miles of riding in the last month - *maybe*. Started OK, didn't make the fastest group out of the singletrack, but was with the people who mattered, who pulled us up to the leaders on the road. After the first checkpoint, I had to go into the red to try and catch the leaders. I never recovered. Lights went out and stayed out, only 30 miles into the race. Needless to say, I suffered. After suffering a grand total of 6 hours 53 minutes, I cross the finish line in not last place. I consider that a success.

#instabase .

globecanvas

See post #22 , above.

mattm

What's bf-speak for "no, I won't watch a 7-minute video in order to decipher some lingo"? =]

rkwaki

Hello,
My name is garbear...

Beaker

Youtube's for closers only





;-)

hack

The half point is for the clinic?!? Did they take attendance or something? I thought it was for the race as we were still on our cooldown lap and whatnot when the the clinic was under way.

aaronmcd

Did you not attend the clinic? It was over an hour long...
But no attendance - they told us they assume we attend if we signed up.

"Upgrade points are available for the Early Bird Criterium Mentoring sessions (5 to 4). 1 point per training race, .5 points for each clinic. 7.5 points maximum, if all five weeks completed. (4 to 3) .5 points for each clinic completed. Category 4 riders are encouraged to attend the morning skills clinic after their training race."

hack

I didn't attend. It was about 10 minutes in when we finished our race cool down and debrief. I'll have to remember that for the next one....granted it's only half a point. That and your review wasn't exactly a seller I figure I watched some of the clinic while I was talking to the Leopard Bikes rep, so I completed it in spirit.

I did a day long training/learning seminar last year and the BEST thing we did was bumping drills (body to body, body to bike, bike to bike, adn wheel to wheel. Really makes you feel a bit more controlled and condident when your in a tight group. I don't recall seeing that drill on the clinic schedule, but it's highly recommended.

aaronmcd

I did some bumping drills while at Stanford, low speed. Also, some dude apparently wanted to do bumping drills with me during the under 30 race yesterday.

Racer Ex 

Happens. Guys are so freaked out about contact more people crash trying to avoid it than crash actually bouncing off someone.