"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - MABRA - Murad RR / Turkey Day - Who's going?

Checking out the Murad route this afternoon... heard that it is hilly but no climbs. And hearing that Turkey Day (Tradezone) is fast, fast and fun!

Anyone going to either of these? I plan to put my all into Murad (Cat 5)and then see what I have left to help out my teammates @ Turkey Day (Cat 5). It's my first race since Coppi in July, and I'm just getting over a knee problem, but I'm feeling good about next weekend!

I'll be at both, my team promotes Murad, so I'll be there ALL Friggin' Day.

I'm doing the 30+ at turkey day, hoping to get at least one teammate in it as well.

I will be.

























In 2008.

I'll be there.

I rode the Murad course yesterday... it felt like it was mostly downhill! Half of the course has a centerline, the other half does not.

Where do people usually try to break away on this course?

I'll be there as well, CAT 5. This being my second race and having no real idea of what my relative fitness is, I will most likely just turn the pedal thingies in circles as fast as I can.

Hey, I'm a 3 (soon to be a 2 if I can just find one more point...) and that's pretty much what I do :)

kukusz, we'll be in the Cat5 together. You doing both races?

kukusz, we'll be in the Cat5 together. You doing both races?

I wish I had known about it earlier, the 5's are full now. I'll be on a black and red Felt F55 at the race on Saturday, say hi. I'm not sure how my body will react to 8 am road racing, in MTB racing my ass falls asleep at the start.

I am gonna be hoping that 3 people don't show up for the Turkey Day Cat 5 race. As I am 3rd on the wait list. So I am gonna show up and warm up as if I am racing, and hope for the best.

I hope I get to race.

Calhoun, something tells me that'll happen! Good luck. At the very least you can snag a bagel :)

Well, I hope so. My wife is actually off of work that morning too (she works at a credit union). So I want her to see me race in my second mass start. With the race only 14 miles, it should be fun and not too bad. I may even be tempted to test myself and go off the front.

Gonna see how I feel. I am looking forward and hoping I get to race.

I wish I had known about it earlier, the 5's are full now.

Yeah, I went to sign up a while back and it was already full. That's one of the major downsides to cat 5 -- small fields fill up quick. Sure, there are waiting lists, but unless it's close by, that's a long way to travel just to hope you get to start. :(

I'll be at turkey day. women's cat 4.

Sorry to muck up this topic, but I have a couple of quick questions:

Is the course for this race flat?

And how often in CAT 5 crits does a break succeed? Would it be better to attempt a late break or go early?

And how many would I expect to see shelled from the pack? (most as it was in the 'C' race at Greenbelt on 8/22, or will it stick together much better since it is a race?)

^^^which race are you asking about?

Murad - course is rolling, not likely that you'll use your small ring, but might want to a few times depending on the pace. Cat 5 either ends in a solo/very small late break by a strong rider(s), or a parade and field sprint.

Turkey Day - industrial park crit. Flat and non-technical, cat 5 is almost a guaranteed field sprint. Some riders will get shelled, but not as many as greenbelt, greenbelt is a much harder race than Turkey Day.

Sorry, I was referring to Turkey Day. So flat as a pancake?

Then I would guess a break later in the race would have a better chance to last. I am tempted to try one to just see how I do. Can't know how it will turn out unless I try. And since my sprint tops at only ~31mph solo, I don't want to try to contest a field sprint

I'll be at turkey day. women's cat 4.

woohoo! awesome.

^^^which race are you asking about?

Murad - course is rolling, not likely that you'll use your small ring, but might want to a few times depending on the pace. Cat 5 either ends in a solo/very small late break by a strong rider(s), or a parade and field sprint.


That's what I'm hopin' for! :)

ill be racing the 4s at murad. not sure about turkey day yet.

Sorry to muck up this topic, but I have a couple of quick questions:

Is the course for this race flat?

And how often in CAT 5 crits does a break succeed? Would it be better to attempt a late break or go early?

And how many would I expect to see shelled from the pack? (most as it was in the 'C' race at Greenbelt on 8/22, or will it stick together much better since it is a race?)


No, not board flat. The run from turn 1 to turn 2 is a false flat and subject to crosswinds. The backstretch is the fastest part of the course due to prevailing westerlys. The run in to the line is down a 90 deg right sweeper that goes downhill but into the wind if its a westerly.

Breaks in Cat 4 and 5 races almost NEVER succeed at Tradezone. You'd be better off staying in the front 3rd and out of the wind. Stay to the inside before turn 1 and keep on the curb side to avoid the cross winds and the inevitable bunching up on the false flat between turn 1 and 2. The pack slows as the guys up front run out of gas and the pack fans out across the road and slows, be ready for the ripple effect of this. This is also where most breakaways start from and mostly after a prime. They almost always fail. The best way to win here is to take a flier on the backstretch 1k out while everyone is looking at each other before the last turn and power away to the line and pray you dont just pull the pack with you. If you can get a good gap before turn 3 and can keep motoring down the hill to the line, you might succeed. I doenst hurt to have teamates blocking if you have a plan.

There is less parity in Cat 5 so stay up front to avoid getting gapped off the back when the lesser fit riders start dropping away.

Tradezone is a great beginner race course. You almost have to be dead to not finish the race with the group. My own case in point - In 2005, the Cat4 race was the only race i did that year after losing 55 lbs, returning from a 4 year absence from racing and doing zero interval training. I didnt do squat but sit in, but i never got dropped.

BTW - I used to be the Tradezone Training series promotor from 2000 to 2004. If there is one D20 course i know, It's Tradezone.

I'm not sure if i will race. Im slated to be the pace car driver for most of the events at Turkey Day, but I might take a ride out to Murad and test myself on Saturday. If i can get in cat 4 or 40+.

Thanks John. I hope to be able to put that advice to good use. Is the course well marked before the start of the Cat 5 race? I plan on warming up by riding a few laps to get familiar with the course.

And I think I just may try that 1K flyer... And hope to get enough of a gap to hold it. Of course now everyone on here who is racing knows my evil plans...

Thanks John. I hope to be able to put that advice to good use. Is the course well marked before the start of the Cat 5 race? I plan on warming up by riding a few laps to get familiar with the course.

And I think I just may try that 1K flyer... And hope to get enough of a gap to hold it. Of course now everyone on here who is racing knows my evil plans...

The course is hard to miss. Its marked by industrial park buildings all around the inside. Consider taking off on your flier right about where you hit the Thom. Somerville building about 2/3 the way up the backstretch. You'll get a chance to do a warm up lap on the course, but when the race is going, warmups are in the opposite direction but around the course loop. The race loop is closed to traffic. Watch for pot holes and cracks in the pavement. The worst of it all is before turn 3.

The course is hard to miss. Its marked by industrial park buildings all around the inside. Consider taking off on your flier right about where you hit the Thom. Somerville building about 2/3 the way up the backstretch. You'll get a chance to do a warm up lap on the course, but when the race is going, warmups are in the opposite direction but around the course loop. The race loop is closed to traffic. Watch for pot holes and cracks in the pavement. The worst of it all is before turn 3.

Then that sounds like a plan. Only way I will know if it will work is if I try. And if it doesn't work, well it doesn't work.

I might as well go for it. Seeing as I am pretty sure I can sit in at the front third of the field for the majority and then go for that flier when everyone is gearing up for a late sprint...

A quick check of Bikereg shows no masters races at Murad and a full Cat 4 field. Seeing as its an 8am start and i hate getting up early to drive 1hr plus to race on a whim, I'm not going to bother with the wait list.

That leaves the choices of 30+, 40+, Cat 3/4 or Cat 4 for Sunday. I thinking the 40+ at 11:30. My legs wont be as dead from sitting in a car all day like they would be if i waited for the Cat 4 race at 3:20.

Hmmm the Turkey day race is Sunday. I might need to check schedules a bit more often. I could have sworn it was Saturday. I need to tell my second job I can work Friday night and not Saturday night now...

GOOD LUCK and have fun.

me and a teamate are coming down to Turkey Day for the 3/4 and 4 race...our last weekend for the year.

I'll be in my orange team kit on a Cervelo Soloist Team, yell at me when I'm sucking hard...curse at me, make me laugh, etc.

haha
-Dan

^&^&$*# Flatted with 3 laps to go in the Cat 5 race this morning. I was hanging in the top 5 for the whole race, the pace was easy and I was feeling good...

So I get a freaking DNF due to a flat and no free laps.

Oh well, at least I didn't crash...

what a gorgeous day for a race. team mate and i finished 6th and 9th in the 30+, netting paper grocery bags full of interesting prizes. my best items were some very nice alpaca cycling socks, a camelbak, and a nice pace cycling cap. the bizarre stuff included some compression shorts and hot pink MTB brake cables... now I just need some purple anodized bits to go with the cables/housing.

good times.

what a gorgeous day for a race. team mate and i finished 6th and 9th in the 30+, netting paper grocery bags full of interesting prizes. my best items were some very nice alpaca cycling socks, a camelbak, and a nice pace cycling cap. the bizarre stuff included some compression shorts and hot pink MTB brake cables... now I just need some purple anodized bits to go with the cables/housing.

good times.

Sweet! Good way to finish up the road season.

I really wanted to do the 30, but after the 3/4 a cranky baby and crankier wife already had the car packed and ready to roll ... I was in bird contention and didnt even get to stick around and get whatever my bag of schwag might have been!

Sorry to hear about your flat Jeremy. You fared better than me. I got popped in 10 laps in the Cat 4 race. My racecraft is not what it used to be. I found myself at the back too much. The interval training that this style of racing provides was nice, but that rubber band finally broke and I peeled off after 10. However, i am impressed at how fast Cat 4 is now. When i did the race 2 years ago after a 5 year layoff, I was able to hang for the whole race. The average that year was 24.5 mph. This year it was 25.5 mph. I hadnt done a race since Leonardtown 2006. Since i was the pace car driver for the 1/2 the day i keep track of lap times with my GPS. The Master 40 and the 50 plus guys were flying. They were turning 3:08 to 3:09 avg laps. The 2 junior kids that were on there own break in their race were only about 10 sec a lap slower than the masters and 10 seconds faster than the cat 5 race. The Cat 3/4 race was blistering around 3:06. I stopped driving for the day afte that, so i dont know what the other fields were doing.

Still, good times and i have all winter to work on myself to be ready for a full season of racing 2008.

we had a great time driving down there today from philly, did the 3/4 (got 20th..8th Cat 4) and the 4 (30th?)

The 3/4 race was quite fast and very smooth, I wish I could've got myself in better position near the front for the final sprint because as soon as I got room it was too late and all I could too was make up a few places. My last race I crashed bigtime and I've still got road rash up and down the left side of my body, so I was a bit too tentative. The last lap of the Cat 4 I got stuck behind the two idiots in the last corner who crashed into each other and started swerving all over the place, the entire race was just so twitchy so I give it a "meh"...I was hoping to get the last few points I needed for my upgrade, but it was good to have a fun last race weekend of the season.

We even got the chill with Super Dave and talk for a bit (really cool guy, wish there was more like him around), how did the Pro 1/2/3 race end up? We couldn't stick around.

Btw is it true that the guy who won the 30+ race (cat 1, forgot his name) went from Cat 5- Cat 1 in a single season? he seemed a bit unreal, incredibly powerful.

-Dan

The 123 race was quite exciting. A 5 man break with 2 Dc/Velo guys and Ramon had 30+ second and growing. They let it get away and the field came together for the last lap. It was also tragic. Huge crash at the back with 200m to go. Bikes and bodies everywhere. They amboed at least one guy out. The good news is that he was ambo'd and not Medicaved which means he probably didnt hit his head. That's happened there too. Luckily there were some EMTs on site and they responded instantly.

I heard about the Cat4 crash afterwards. I'm sorry to hear you got caught in it. I hope you heal up fast.

we had a great time driving down there today from philly, did the 3/4 (got 20th..8th Cat 4) and the 4 (30th?)

The 3/4 race was quite fast and very smooth, I wish I could've got myself in better position near the front for the final sprint because as soon as I got room it was too late and all I could too was make up a few places. My last race I crashed bigtime and I've still got road rash up and down the left side of my body, so I was a bit too tentative. The last lap of the Cat 4 I got stuck behind the two idiots in the last corner who crashed into each other and started swerving all over the place, the entire race was just so twitchy so I give it a "meh"...I was hoping to get the last few points I needed for my upgrade, but it was good to have a fun last race weekend of the season.

We even got the chill with Super Dave and talk for a bit (really cool guy, wish there was more like him around), how did the Pro 1/2/3 race end up? We couldn't stick around.

Btw is it true that the guy who won the 30+ race (cat 1, forgot his name) went from Cat 5- Cat 1 in a single season? he seemed a bit unreal, incredibly powerful.

-Dan

where did you come down from? Philly? NYC?

sucks that you got caught up in that crash. one of my former team mates went down as well and said it was close quarters coming into the last turn; he was leaning on someone before he went down.

SD is an asset to the local racing community and a real pleasure to race with. Ken J.... I don't think he went from 5 to 1 in a single season but I'm pretty sure he did in a calendar year.

^&^&$*# Flatted with 3 laps to go in the Cat 5 race this morning. I was hanging in the top 5 for the whole race, the pace was easy and I was feeling good...

So I get a freaking DNF due to a flat and no free laps.

Oh well, at least I didn't crash...


Calhoun, are you the guy that pulled out from the front of the field just before the Turn 1? I was up there with you most of the time, occasionally trying to keep the pace up for my teammate.

I felt the race was too slow... everyone waits for the end!

Ken Young moved up very quickly. See this Washington Post article for details:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/25/AR2007072500761.html?tid=informbox

The 1/2/3 race averaged somewhere around 27 or so, but it wasn't as steadily fast as we would have liked. I was moving up the left side of the pack when the crash happened- a guy tried to come out without looking, then saw me and my teammate at the last moment (he was coming out into us) and swerved back in. He caught the others up and then went down awfully close to my wheel. Fortunately for us, my teammate and I managed to dodge that bullet. It was a nasty crash, and one of the guys faceplanted- wore his nose down to the cartilage and broke some teeth- but in the greater scheme of things, it could have been a lot worse for the guys who went down.

Calhoun, are you the guy that pulled out from the front of the field just before the Turn 1? I was up there with you most of the time, occasionally trying to keep the pace up for my teammate.

I felt the race was too slow... everyone waits for the end!

Yea that was me. In the red long sleeve plain jersey. The pace was very slow. If I was in better shape I would have been tempted to push it up a bit to see who would pop off the back. But I wanted to go for the win and was trying to save myself for the end. I was sitting in the top 5 pretty much the whole race. Staying up where it was safe and just relaxing. My heart rate was 15-20 beats below LTHR (at least I think) so it was easy.

I am content staying on wheels and learning my way around. Were you one of the DC Velo guys?

Yea that was me. In the red long sleeve plain jersey. The pace was very slow. If I was in better shape I would have been tempted to push it up a bit to see who would pop off the back. But I wanted to go for the win and was trying to save myself for the end. I was sitting in the top 5 pretty much the whole race. Staying up where it was safe and just relaxing. My heart rate was 15-20 beats below LTHR (at least I think) so it was easy.

I am content staying on wheels and learning my way around. Were you one of the DC Velo guys?

Nope, Route1Velo.

Sorry that you had a flat... Bad luck!

It happens. I was pissed at the time. But have calmed down now. The photographer just past the line got a great shot of me walking my bike back with an extremely pissed look on my face...I hope I can find him.

Yea, you guys had 3-4 people in the race right? And seemed to be working pretty well together. Including chasing down the "break" if it can even be called that.

well. . . .let me just say. . .

that the cat 4 women's race kicked butt!! :p:p

I got beat out right at the line for the first *two* primes, which was a bit disappointing, but at least I was a contender! After I lost the first to Rte 1, I got stuck on the front for two laps til the next and then an Artemis girl came up on the inside at the last second.

Finished 6th, I believe. I had to get the zipcar back and couldn't wait for the results!! Anyone know if they're up anywhere? I couldn't find them online today.

Unfortunately, I only had one teammate out there, and I didn't see her for much of the race. Artemis had overwhelming numbers, as usual. The good thing is you can always let them do the work. :D

And I do want to find the photographer was just past the finish line for the Cat 5 race. He got a good shot of me walking back carrying my helmet after the flat.

calhoun1, Yeah I'd love to see those pictures! Saw your post on the MABRA listserv, I hope he speaks up.

DC_Emily, I feel your zipcar pain. I do the same thing to get out to races from Columbia Heights... it's a pain to have to choose between leaving right after the race or paying out more cash.

And I do want to find the photographer was just past the finish line for the Cat 5 race. He got a good shot of me walking back carrying my helmet after the flat.

Give him a week. He's a regular fixture on the circuit. They'll be up.

thanks John. I was hoping someone would say that.

And this race was pretty much the last for the DC area this season right?

And this race was pretty much the last for the DC area this season right?

CX starts next week.:D