"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Poolesville weekend is finally here!

YAY~! Sunny, very light winds, temps in the high 60s; a perfect day for a race. Don't forget your dustmasks for the gravel...hasn't rained in a bit so that's going to be fun.

Winds are supposed to pick up overnight so the Bunny Hop on Sunday is going to be interesting for sure; as if doing a master's race w/ Ramon and Super Dave isn't hard enough.

I just pre-rode the course on Tuesday, and the only really sketchy part of the course is the turn onto the dirt. I almost ate it trying to take it fast... it is pretty dry, though. If only we could get a tiny bit of drizzle tonight.

I'm in for the 4/5 race-- road races are NOT my forte, mainly because I just don't put in the hours on the bike to be competitive in the 3/4 race. We'll see, though. Depending on how the race plays out, I feel like I can do some damage in a 4/5 field.

The brain has plenty of ideas, but we'll see how the legs feel about executing them tomorrow. ;)

FWIW, I've decided to stick with my Mondo S-Works tires at 130psi mounted onto my PowerTap/DT RR1.1 bomber wheels. The dirt is smoother than I had thought.

Good luck to everyone, and I'll see you there!

I just pre-rode the course on Tuesday, and the only really sketchy part of the course is the turn onto the dirt. I almost ate it trying to take it fast... it is pretty dry, though. If only we could get a tiny bit of drizzle tonight.

I'm in for the 4/5 race-- road races are NOT my forte, mainly because I just don't put in the hours on the bike to be competitive in the 3/4 race. We'll see, though. Depending on how the race plays out, I feel like I can do some damage in a 4/5 field.

The brain has plenty of ideas, but we'll see how the legs feel about executing them tomorrow. ;)

FWIW, I've decided to stick with my Mondo S-Works tires at 130psi mounted onto my PowerTap/DT RR1.1 bomber wheels. The dirt is smoother than I had thought.

Good luck to everyone, and I'll see you there!

Good luck in the 4/5 Pete. One of my 'mates will be in that one. I'm doing the 3/4.

Just remember to do all your braking before the turn and keep your eyes on the guys who try to jump ahead on the right side of the entry to the gravel.

I rode the course 4 days over the last 2 weeks and i can say for sure that whatever plans i make for getting into the gravel go out the window when other people are around you.

Good luck folks. I'm not 100% that I'll make it as I had a family emergency this week that had my daughter in the hospital from Tuesday until last night. That = no sleep since monday for daddy, lots of negative stress, horrible food, and no time on the bike. A very bad recipe for the week prior to a hard road race.

Everyone's hyping the "attack on the dirt" strategy, but it seems like that would actually be pretty tough to do. The dirt isn't THAT bad, and there's still a steady climb back to the start/finish.

How often to breaks survive on this course? It doesn't seem like a lot would.

Good luck folks. I'm not 100% that I'll make it as I had a family emergency this week that had my daughter in the hospital from Tuesday until last night. That = no sleep since monday for daddy, lots of negative stress, horrible food, and no time on the bike. A very bad recipe for the week prior to a hard road race.

Sorry to hear that, MDCatV. I hope everything's OK with your daughter.

i think breaks get away very easy on this course.

Good luck folks. I'm not 100% that I'll make it as I had a family emergency this week that had my daughter in the hospital from Tuesday until last night. That = no sleep since monday for daddy, lots of negative stress, horrible food, and no time on the bike. A very bad recipe for the week prior to a hard road race.

I hope everything is alright man. stuff like that really put these races in the proper perspective.

Everyone's hyping the "attack on the dirt" strategy, but it seems like that would actually be pretty tough to do. The dirt isn't THAT bad, and there's still a steady climb back to the start/finish.

How often to breaks survive on this course? It doesn't seem like a lot would.

Almost always. great course for breakaways - tough, narrow, out of site, out of mind. IME, the "dirt" is a place where the race is lost, but rarely won.

I hope everything is alright man. stuff like that really put these races in the proper perspective.

Thanks, it puts lots of things into proper perspective. I hope to race though even if I get shelled 100 feet into it, just to get back to normal life.

Almost always. great course for breakaways - tough, narrow, out of site, out of mind. IME, the "dirt" is a place where the race is lost, but rarely won.

Good to know... (filing that one away)

Although I think the jumpiness of a 4/5 field will result in a lot of chasing relative to a 3/4, so I don't think quite as many will get away, but we'll see.

i think the potentially large fitness gap from newer 5s to older 4s adds to the probability of breaks getting away.

I also think this is a great course for people to blow up early on leading to more breaks making it.

Thanks, it puts lots of things into proper perspective. I hope to race though even if I get shelled 100 feet into it, just to get back to normal life.

Wow. best wishes to you and your family.

Pete, I think the section right as you exit the gravel is the place to make a go at it. The pace is going to be high through the gravel as everyone is eager to get out of it fast--just be careful of the weaker guys drifting backwards in that section as they can cause you to get gapped.

see you bright and early dr pete. i'll be pretty easy to spot, i'll be the only one in a purple/blue rails to trails jersey.

i'm pretty nervous about this. i should've been training with a team, but other obligations this spring have prevented it. hopefully this is a good enough experience that i'm encouraged to do so next year.

hope you're daugther's ok MDCatV, puts my nervousness issues in perspective.

ive been looking so forward to this race that I just know its going to end in heart break

Dr. P and *new* guy, et. al. - thanks for the kind words. Daughter seems to be fine aside from being very tired, but we had quite a scare this week.

Exiting the gravel, the "kicker" right after it are certainly good "go" points. Also, dont get complacent on Westerly road;)

Be safe and have fun, should be a perfect day for racing!

Good luck everyone! I'm not in shape for a road race right now, so I'm going to go suffer solo down in c-ville this weekend. Looking forward to the reports.

ive been looking so forward to this race that I just know its going to end in heart break

Haha... Isn't that always the way? Totally happened to me at UMD... :(

Haha... Isn't that always the way? Totally happened to me at UMD... :(

i was seriously thinking about you and that race while thinking about this race the other day. :(

i was seriously thinking about you and that race while thinking about this race the other day. :(

Whatever dude. We'll hang out, and if a break goes off I'm draggin' your azz with me. :beer:

only if i can get around 50 of your team mates :p

only if i can get around 50 of your team mates :p

Nah, we only have 12 in the 4/5 race. :D

Almost always. great course for breakaways - tough, narrow, out of site, out of mind. IME, the "dirt" is a place where the race is lost, but rarely won.

This is true:

Lost due to flats, lost due to getting behind some schmuck who is afraid of riding fast on gravel or some other schmuck who wants to change from one side to the other and falls trying...

The trick is to figure out which side of the gravel road is smoothest the first time through then ride that side every lap after. Last year it was the left side....or was it the right side????

people really have that hard a time changing sides?

people really have that hard a time changing sides?

A couple folks mentioned to me that the dirt section was much cleaner this year. I didn't find it too horrible to change sides.

people really have that hard a time changing sides?

Depends on how much loose crap there is between tire tracks at any given part of the gravel road and how adept the rider is at riding through loose crap....

There are some 'tricks' to riding the gravel section, of which some are easier said than done and for which experience generally helps. And, of course the varying conditions that come with any race play a huge part.

One thing is you have to be fairly comfortable at following somebody over a rough surface when you can't see the holes and undulations that are going to jar you. You don't have to follow as close as you would on paving but you still want to be drafting. Add to that if there is a lot of dust you can't see crap so you have to have a reasonable comfort level putting your wellbeing in the hands of the guy who is in front of you and at the front of your line. It's good to give a little extra space in case you have to do something crazy like dodge a fall because you are going to need room to do it. It's a good idea to try to ride 'loose', that is without a death grip on the bars. Riding a large gear and riding light in the saddle (sit, but sit lightly by supporting some of your weight on the pedals while pedaling) will allow the bike to move around under you and keep the big jolts from hurting as much.

Good luck, Gents!

Good luck, Gents!

Thanks! For I will definitely need some serious luck.....

So, No Racer, I bought tufo tubular clinchers to put on my wheels for this poolesville road race. I tried to mount them over lunch, after 45 minutes and several things I'll probably need to see a chiropractor for, I'm no closer to having them on the wheels than I was yesterday at this time. They dont fit around the rim.

What's the secret password to get these things on?

i am so looking forward to this that i almost shaved my legs!

i am so looking forward to this that i almost shaved my legs!

Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Do it! :D

Here's a quicky routeslip route that I made up of the circuit...

http://www.routeslip.com/routes/35804

i think i did 20 laps around that course these last two weeks. I have the map burned into my brain at this point.

i think i did 20 laps around that course these last two weeks. I have the map burned into my brain at this point.

Hehe... Well, I'm going to go take my -19.8 TSB and go for a half hour recovery spin. :o

i dont even know what TSB is but i just got back from a quick 45min ride myself. my chart thing says -17.1 is that good or bad?

i dont even know what TSB is but i just got back from a quick 45min ride myself. my chart thing says -17.1 is that good or bad?

That's bad. Supposedly you're at "peak" form when your TSB is a positive number.

haha awesome

You and me both, budday... :D

So, No Racer, I bought tufo tubular clinchers to put on my wheels for this poolesville road race. I tried to mount them over lunch, after 45 minutes and several things I'll probably need to see a chiropractor for, I'm no closer to having them on the wheels than I was yesterday at this time. They dont fit around the rim.

What's the secret password to get these things on?

Hey, MDcatV, did you get them on?

Btw, someone on the Team BBC discussion board stated that BikeReg had scheduling errors. You guys may want to check to see whether your race was affaected.

Btw, someone on the Team BBC discussion board stated that BikeReg had scheduling errors. You guys may want to check to see whether your race was affaected.

I'm sure everyone who is registered got it, but just in case for the waitlist crowd...


FROM: 2007 Poolesville High School Road Race
-------------------------------------------------

* * *IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT* * *

There was a discrepancy between the information on BikeReg.com and the
race flyer regarding the afternoon race times. The corrections have been
made so please re-check the correct time for your race.

The official starting times for the afternoon races are:

12:30 Noon - Men's Pro/1/2/3

12:40 PM - Men's 3/4

12:45 PM - Women's 3/4

Thank you,

NCVC

good luck everyone!

stay safe

^^^ +1. Rubber side down, everyone.

Cross your fingers for the rain to hold off till the end of racing!