echappist

update: his wife won the P/1/2.

merlinextraligh

Fl State Time Trial Champions, Tandem

shovelhd

Nice!!!

MDcatV

I think she won the P/1

gsteinb

like

globecanvas

Pie report: it was a dark chocolate, flourless pie with graham ******* crust. Our neighbor smokes bacon so we always have pounds of it on hand. She mixed bacon (good sized chunks, cooked but not crispy) into the chocolate. I can't give the recipe because she is one of those bakers who keeps all the recipes in her head. The pie was unbelievable, but as you might imagine, little goes a long way.

Now we await gsteinb's pie report.


[edit] come on with the autocensor. The crust was made with crushed crispy wafers made from graham flour. You know, *******s. Flatbread? Lembas bread? Figure it out.

gsteinb

bacon pecan pie was awesome.

here's the recipe


https://bacontoday.com/chocolate-baco...whipped-cream/

revchuck 

@merlinextralight - Awesome!

@globecanvas & @gsteinb - Awesomeness of a different flavor!

Wesley36

Clarence Rockland Classic - technically a cyclo-sportive rather than a race, but one needed a license or day permit to ride, there were payouts to the top 20. Did not finish DFL, but definitely straggled in. Total gong show.

Started okay, a bit cold (probably around 3 degrees Celsius) but sunny. Saturday was rainy, race day was sunny, most of the gravel roads were more like hard-packed dirt roads, which suits me. The roads were also still a bit damp, so there was some mud, but not much dust in the air.

I was doing well, holding my position in the pack. Each time we hit a hill I seemed to move up with relative ease, which was nice. Rolling along at a good clip on a gravel section about 30-40 min in and WHAM! I hit a rut the wrong way, and now my handlebars are rotated about 30 degrees down. While trying to come to terms with what is happening I lose touch with the pack.

I quickly learn that I can ride with my hands on the tops, or in a weird angle in the drops. Handling is a bit off, but I quickly get the hang of it and hook up with a group, even if I am cornering at less than 100% and having to surge to reattach. The paceline is working well, we are rolling along for awhile, but eventually I start to cramp up behind my left knee - I have literally never cramped there before, I wonder if it was related to the awkward riding position? Try pedalling gently through, but each time my left leg approaches the top of the pedal stroke, it starts to seize hard. I ended up coming to rest against a snowbank which was a perfect height for me to roll off the bike on top of the snow, and try to work out the cramp. Having lost touch with my chasing group, I take a couple minutes to readjust my handlebars (a bit too high, but I am not exactly in my workshop, close enough).

I am now chasing an imaginary group that I will latch on to and recover a bit. And chasing. And chasing into a headwind. And chasing some more. Finally, I see a group of two, I get within about 100 meters, and DAMMIT both quads start cramping on the inside, just above the knee. So I ease way off on the intensity and pedal through it. Feeling better, start to pick up intensity again, get close, start to cramp, back off. Did that for awhile, eventually I hooked up with them. Then dropped off the back again after we hit another exceptionally rough patch of pavement - like holding a jackhammer, constantly re-accelerating rough. Cramped up, had to fall off again.

Now, if that was not enough, I was doing this on my S5 (my other bike is attached to an XtraCycle at the moment, too bad, it has cantis). I am in the last 10km, and my bike is noisy but it is not the drivetrain, and I am struggling. I eventually stop, thinking my front wheel was gunked up - spun no problem. Try to spin the rear wheel. Didn't spin. Removed the rear wheel, cleaned out the rear cut-out, replaced the wheel, still didn't spin. Removed the rear wheel again, removed all the gunk from behind the BB and between the junction of the chainstays. Now the wheel turns again nicely - how long had I been riding like that, with the accumulated mud exerting braking force on my rear wheel?

Unsurprisingly, I rolled in as a straggler, but there was a surprising number of people behind me given how much time I spent off the bike cramping or dealing with mechanicals. Having said all of that, it was a beautiful sunny day, and when I was not dealing with mechanicals or cramping, we were often flying out there - solo and in groups, rolling on dirt roads, doing 35+km/h.

Hermes

Merlin,

valygrl

+1

waterrockets 

+2, congrats. I know you weren't happy with the field size, but a win is a win.

Gramercy

Cat 5 race, 4th total race for me. Middle of the pack finish. 18 mile road race, average speed was just under 23mph.

I find that every lap around the circuit (3 laps) I get pushed to the back of the field on the 5% incline that's a quarter mile long. People push up that hill so fast and then coast, so it's not an issue if I go from 3rd place to back of the pack because I can catch up on the downhill.

A few miles to go, I get to the front and ask the strongest rider in the pack (he later said he's bored and can't wait to upgrade) if he wanted to try a break with me, as I suck at sprinting and need to be in the front for a good finish. He didn't feel like it so I stayed in the pack. I moved up with a mile to go and I was second or third wheel, but then the pace went nuts. I think the average speed of the person that won was 30mph for the last mile and that includes an uphill finish.

I finished 11 seconds behind the leader as my legs gave out on the uphill sprint. Also, everyone goes all out for the sprint and there seems to be yelling and jostling in every field sprint. I actually don't mind coming in 20th or so out of 50 if that keeps me out of the squirrely riders in the front being too aggressive. I really need to get a break or go off solo in the last mile or two and see what I can do, but this week I didn't have the legs for it. Only rode my bike once in the past two weeks because I was on vacation and the weather was pretty bad.

Edit: This is the first cat 5 race where the race got strung out to pretty much single file for a decent portion of the race. It was the fastest cat 5 race I've done so far. The overall speed was the same as there was a lot of coasting before the field sprint and we all bunched together, but in the last lap people were really moving and it was hard to hold on to wheels.

rankin116

Anyone read about what happened to Adam Myerson? According to the internet, he finished 3rd but got relegated to 8th for moving off his line in the final 200m. Apparently he was on a wheel and moved around the person he was passing, the guy behind him had to move over and because of this filed a protest that the ref upheld. There are a couple videos on facebook, but hard to see.

https://www.facebook.com/adammyerson?fref=ts

globecanvas

In that vid it looks to me like Myerson (2nd wheel) jukes right and then goes left. The guy behind him committed left and suddenly had Myerson coming in from the right. I can see why that would freak the guy out but relegation to back of the 5 behind them seems ridiculous. That's like taking $500 out of Adam's pocket!

grolby

Next time, don't ask anyone about anything, just attack and see who comes with.

And work on your pack skills. The problem is your nerves, not "squirrely riders being too aggressive." It'll come with time.

Ygduf

You can only beat who shows up, and field size isn't noted on the jerseys!

mattm

Didn't watch the vid, but that sounds like a lame protest.

Ygduf

I did watch it, and do judge it to be exceedingly lame.

Inquisitor.

Thanks everyone. A while back a few of you suggested working on my sprint. The gains I've made in my peak power have made me a much more well-rounded cyclist, and allowed me to be where I need to finish races well.

save10

Topspot Stage Race
35+3s
field size 33-34

Stage 1 RR
Result - almost last
73 miles, 9 mile laps, some rollers, windy. dropped on the first lap. chased and caught on. dropped on the second lap. chased caught on. dropped on the third lap. chased caught on. dropped on the fourth lap. chased and did not catch on. finished the final 25 miles with another dropped rider who mostly pulled me along. probably should have said i 'flatted' and just taken the time penalty.

Stage 2 - Circuit Race
Result 5th
lots of breakaways and attacks mostly by people like me who were totally out of it. Half way through a break went up the road with the right mix of teammates from GC guys and bottom feeders. I burned a match to get across. A rotating paceline was already in progress. 8 man break, held it to the end and finished about 1 min ahead of the field.

Stage 3 TT
Result - Didnt crash
I had not ridden my TT bike in a year so mostly this was just going to be a practice experience. My worn out cleat finally had it and I came out of my pedal 1km in going almost 30mph. Then it happened again a few minutes later. After that i decided to soft pedal the rest of th way and yet still came out of the pedal three more times before the finish

Recap - Stage 1...another notch in terrible season. Stage 2....somewhat redeemed by making a breakaway and getting a top 5 for the first time in a year. stage 3....i changed my cleats as soon as i got home.

milmo

I had the same reaction (never, never, never again) after my first marathon, then again after my second, my third etc. You tend to forget the horror after a few months and remember the things that bring a sense of accomplishment...and then you're back. But I did have exactly that same thought as you driving back Saturday night, but during an easy Sunday ride with my daughter telling her about Battenkill she said "it sounds like you're going back", and she could be right.

It was my first B'kill, I noticed that of riders whose times I checked for both last year and this they were averaging 10 to 15 minutes slower this year. Was it all due to conditions or did the course change have a noticeable effect?

Anyway, Cat 5 55+, field 5L. A respectable 4th, I think. Four of us eased away early, had a definite gap by Juniper Swamp, I got dropped around 18, they eased up on the following downhill and I got back on. Stayed with them until Joe Bean Rd, about 28/65, and they pulled away there. On my own picking the detritus of earlier races all the way to the finish, which kept me focused. I'm consoling myself with the fact the 3 guys ahead of me were all either 9 or 10 years younger.

BTW dz_nuzz, still using that Zipp 404 tubby I sold you last year? You never called me for a refund so I assumed it was OK.

Ygduf

I had that reaction after "racing" a double century for time. 208 miles, 22k climbed in 13 hours. I said "never again!"


That was like 3 years ago and yeah, **** that, never again!

globecanvas

The course change was significant, there was a lot more climbing this year. That whole section of endless dirt kickers from mile 45 to 50 was new. Pre-riding the course I matched last year's race power but was 20 minutes slower.

Nice job by the way!

tetonrider

awesome! congratulations!