mattm

glad to see race results coming in.. jealous to see people able to race but it's fun reading.

official mechanicals don't include something where the rider is at fault, like forgetting to tighten a bolt.

Ygduf

I raced foothil p12. one of my attacks was countered and a move of 7 guys with 2 teammates in it got away. We took 4th and 5th, but my race was basically done. I sat 5-10th in the pack and covered every move for practice. Took a last lap flier, but only made it 2/3 of the way.

save10

Foothill Circuit Race - Cat 3 and 35 +123

course - 1 mile closed loop with some sweeping descents and several big ring climbs. actually a really fun course

temp - perfect move to Northern California weather

I had done a hard group ride on saturday (tss 200) and i'm generally allergic to going uphill so it was going to be survival mode for me today.

Cat 3 - (essentially pack)

Was able to hang in, but not really able to help my skinnier teammates. I almost got dropped 2 or 3 times. I was connected with one lap to go, but right before the main climb the two guys in front of me almost did a Gerrans/Cavendish/Talansky. They stayed upright. But i had to brake and started the hill 15 meters behind the field. I rolled in 100 meters behind the field. No biggie about the the last bit I was likely to never really going to be a factor at the end.

35+123 - I finished

cooked from the previous race and the day before, i was just hoping to make it past the half way point. A breakaway (the winning breakaway?) went away early. I was pretty much scrambling from the start. I somehow made it to lap cards. from 6 on i was finding myself in pain places I had not been to before. I finally got dropped with 1 and 1/2 to go. The judges wouldnt put me out of my misery. They made me finish....those bastards.

I'm pretty pleased to have finished both races considering my saturday effort. I work too many hours a week and often have evening obligations to not have a hard saturday. Next weekend will be similar - hard saturday then three races the next day. My biggest race of the year is in two weeks and I want to be the best I've ever been for that.

Side note - I looked at my WKO files for the race and there is an error. it says that my 20 min NP is 513 for the cat 3 race and 417 for the 123 race...that's not possible considering my previous best was like 340. The rest of the numbers seem plausible, but there is no way those numbers are right.

hack

I thought it'd have counted, guess not. Was talking to another Jr that just got back from Nat'ls and apparently one of the Jrs in the road race lost his whole seat and did the race standing. In comparison, I got off lucky.

The sig is pure fact

indigo

Foothill Circuit Race E4

Our plan was to protect Greg for the finale, and the rest of us would work on attacking the field, making people chase and getting ready for a lead out. We would try and get organized with 2 to go and then drill it as hard as we could. Personally, I really wanted to get off the front and make something happen.

Lap #2 I start moving up and coming up the climb, there are some attacks going so I join one with about 4 other guys. We have a gap, but people aren't pulling through fast enough, so the attack kind of dies after about a lap. I sit in to recover.

Lap #5 I decide to make another go for it and I attack up the left side on the hill. There are two riders up the road and I pass one and make contact with another (iRT-Reactor). We work together through the finish line where i here "prime on the next lap!". Aw crud, that means they are coming. We work together up the hill but we are running out of steam... on the top 2 other riders bridge across sprinting hard, clearly going for the prime and I try and hang on, but they are fresh and we are toast, so I meld back into the bunch and try and recover.

Next time I decide to make my attack just after the fountain before the hill so I can get a good line through the S turns. I've got a good gap and I can't see anybody behind me so I dig in to find some power and stay low. I kept the power up and made it back to the fountain, through the S, and back up the hill. I look back and I can see the field coming. Damn, there is no way I can keep this up solo for another 5 laps... I wonder about whether this was the right call, but I got caught without too much protest.

With 2 to go I find Greg and Kyle, they are close to each other, but we have no formation and I don't know how to get it to work. Greg seems in the zone. Kyle is trying to find a position. We are probably about 10 wheels from the front. We come through the finish line and it is bell lap time. Screaming down the descent, I see Kyle is coming to the front with Greg on his wheel. I see a gap on the right side next to the fountain and I give it a kick and move up to the front right in front of Kyle.

"Yes GO GO!" yells Kyle, and I put everything I have left into it. Coming through the S turns we have the lead out train all locked in and I hear "Oh my god, wow!" from the spectators. My thoughts exactly, how did we pull this off?! We hit the base of the hill and Kyle comes around me and just screams up the hill with Greg on his wheel. The field is completely strung out and I have no place to go but backwards. We hit the top and they are still going strong into the finish. Kyle is finished and Greg comes around for the final sprint. I hear the announcer shouting "San Jose! San Jose! San Jose!" and Kyle and I roll through the finish punching the air!

shovelhd

Because it's not a mechanical. Read the rulebook. Loose fittings, misadjusted derailleurs, loose skewers, etc., anything that's in your control and your responsibility to maintain, is not a mechanical. Crashes where you hit the ground are mishaps, where you get slowed down, are not. If you don't hit the ground but someone runs into your RD and bends the hangar, is. Flats are mishaps, rolled tires are not. See the difference?

ShutUpLegs

Had a weekend of ups and downs...

Saturday
Historic Marietta Crit
Cat 1/2/3 - First DNF!

I knew this was going to be a really hard and fast race. A lot of Cat 1 guys showed up as well as some boys that were part of the New Zealand national team. The course was pretty wide open and from the *** attacks were flying. This race was loaded with primes and almost every other lap they were ringing the bell. With about 13 to go coming around turn 1 someones back wheel slide and everyone in front of me reacted by hitting the brakes. Almost avoided the crash, but the rider in front of me went outside and I nailed the back of him sending me off the bike. Hit hard on my left side, but no road rash just bruises. Took my free lap and they started us from a dead stop as the group came by at 30+mph! I chased for a full lap and caught back on, but was gassed. As soon as I caught back on the group accelerated and I was done. Felt like I could have held on to the end had I not had to chase like that.

Sunday
JBN Criterium
Cat 2/3/4 - 4th

Goal was to get into a break and if that wasn't successful than I was a leadout man for a teammate. Course was windy with wide open turns and some small risers and 1.25 miles. Multiple attacks tried on the first lap and I went with each one, then at the start of lap 2 I got in a break with three Cat 2 riders and myself. We worked really well together and gained an advantage of over 2 minutes. With 5 to go one rider indicated to me he was attacking and for me to go with him. Right out of the turn he went and I stuck on his wheel, but when he backed off I had nothing left to pull through and the other 2 were right able to stick with anyway. half mile later he goes again out of the turn, I tried to close the gap and then see the 2 behind me sprinting up the side. I crossed over trying to latch on, but going up hill into a headwind I didn't have enough and got caught out. I put my head down and TT'd to try and catch them always keeping them within 10-15 seconds. With one to go I was within 5 seconds of the three of them, but couldn't quite close it, even it I did I wouldn't have enough left to sprint. Crossed 4th and still had a 2 minute advantage over the group.

shovelhd

Way to hang in there. Really nice racing.

echappist

well done

sijray21

Sadly, it was caused by that Porsche cayman lead car who swung a little too close to the front of the group after running late to the show... may have bunched a few riders at the front and likely caught a lot of people off-guard. I was shocked to hear about the crash in that race as I was sitting on the line for the cat3 race (actually two from my teammate's account).

nice work. saw you riding strong and watched the finish from the side lines after I got popped.

hack

Sure. But, being on the receiving end of the incident, I'll still contend that it sucked. Not that it wasn't a mechanical, but just that it happened. I probably could have made it work and would have pressed on if I knew it wasn't a mechanical, but we learn and move on.

Oddly enough, this was my first race on this bike and I went through and tightened everything pre race.

shovelhd

Yep, it sucks. Live and learn. I would never race a new bike without getting a bunch of shakeout rides in first. Did you use carbon paste and a torque wrench?

hack

Indeed...live and learn. That was the first race, but not first ride on the bike. I put about a hundred plus miles on it including a stretch of pretty rough road. So I thought I was pretty safe

Also, it wasn't the post that slipped (that is carbon pasted btw), but the saddle itself slipped (it was tight, but not torque wrenched). The seatpost is one of the Ritchey one bolt systems that when loosened allows the saddle to move front/back as well as rotate up/down. I was way up on the nose when I hit something and the nose just rotated straight down. I was able to push it back up, but it was still sliding and rotating quite a bit when I'd try to put power into the pedals.

Ygduf

was this the foil? the seatpost clamp is atrocious on them


**edit. ahh saddle clamp. never had that issue

hack

Yeah, Foil. The post stayed up, but the clamp came loose at the saddle.

aaronmcd

I've got a reversible seatpost that came loose in the last 5 laps of Santa Cruz Classic. Every time I stood up for the hill, the saddle would swivel around, and I'd lose position messing with it. Totally threw off my groove haha.

save10

how are you feeling?

Ygduf

yeah, did you need surgery for the clavicle?

Ygduf

Oh, I realized yesterday that the Foothill College race was the first race I have done in each category.

avg speed isn't everything, but it's an interesting aside.

cat 5 - 23.9mph - pack finish
cat 4 - 23.7mph - pack finish
cat 3 - 24.0mph - 5th, finished in a break
cat 2 - 25.2mph - pack finish

adds +1 to the N of "biggest jump is between 3s & 2s"

cmh

Do you have power data from all 4 races? That would be fun to compare.

echappist

Thanks! Sorry that i forgot if you raced for Bike Lane, Bike Rack, or another team with a similar name. I'm hoping to be at Page Valley RR. Swingby afterwards for a beer. I'll bring some good stuff (read, no IPA)

Ygduf

cat 5 - ap 290/np 315 30min
cat 4 - estimated power only tubulars, no powertap
cat 3 - ap 288/np 335 50min
cat 2 - ap 252/np 347 60min

shovelhd

So you're a beer snob too?

Tis the season for saison, however.

echappist

not a snob, just opinionated. i do not drink imitation piss ale; nor am i a big fan of lagers. Stouts are okay for occasions. Otherwise i like Bell's Oberon, Ommegang, etc. Trader Joe's actually make a few good beers, and i like their golden ales and Belgian blonde. Actually, their Belgian blonde ($1/bottle) is better than what New Belgium makes.

MDcatV

i like belgian blondes too.