Road Bike Racing - ncsu weekend: who was there?

Just wondering if anyone else was at the ncsu weekend. I won't bother to write a lengthy race report. Suffice to say that my teammate Evan and I got schooled in the RR and Crit. Although considering we had never raced A's before, and we both finished with the pack in both races, that isn't too bad. The main lesson I learned was to get in breaks with Virginia Tech riders! So does anyone else have a story to tell?

I were there for the RR. I had my vagina shattered within 0.10 miles of the start. (I measured the length of the first hill at the start on the second lap around) Overweight guys, no let me re-phrase, fat-assed sob's, have no business within 2 miles of any hill.

After settling in, I picked off a few stragglers and a couple juniors. Thank God for chipseal and gatorskins. A couple of other riders flatting improved my placement as well.
Not DFL. Hooray.

i was there for Wake...first race ever in D's....got dropped both races...but learned a lot and had a blast

I wish I coulda been there.

Q: How would you compare collegiate As to the local(ish) 1/2/3 combined races?

You know I was out there in the 1/2 field. RR was a good race. Fuentes and a few others got away early and picked up a several minute lead that we then cut down toward the end. He won, but only by a couple hundred meters at the line. I got into a break with help from a teammate, and it looked like it would stick, but Carolina Masters and DLP guys chased it down after 10 or 15 very painful miles.

I got into a break from the gun in the crit with two DLP guys, Dave Fuentes, a Nature's Path rider, and a few others. We picked up half a lap on the field, then one of the DLP guys took off on his own to complete lapping the field. The rest of the guys started attacking each other, which made things even more fun. Once the DLP guy got around, they put all 12 of the rest of their team on the front to chase us down and make sure we wouldn't lap the field as well, thus ensuring the win for themselves. Smart racing on their part. I was pleased to survive given the horsepower in that break- it was a good learning experience, and I know more about what I need to improve on as a result.

Snuff, I don't know how collegiate A compares, but the first "real" P/1/2 fields of the season are about three steps up the pain ladder from our early season speedway races. The collegiate A guys are pretty much all 1s and 2s, right (can 3s race A)? So that field is probably laying down the pain as well.

Snuff, I don't know how collegiate A compares, but the first "real" P/1/2 fields of the season are about three steps up the pain ladder from our early season speedway races. The collegiate A guys are pretty much all 1s and 2s, right (can 3s race A)? So that field is probably laying down the pain as well.

That's kinda what I figured - even if my knee recovery goes remarkably, exceedingly well and I'm able to put together the rest of the requisite points I'm not even going to think about upgrading until 2009. I want to win some more races before I submit to a career of packfoddering until I can race masters in 10 years :lol:

Hahaha, yeah. My race-winning days ended in October, when I requested the upgrade. (That doesn't count things like OCS and Ace, where there's a decent chance of winning still).

Snuff, I don't know how collegiate A compares, but the first "real" P/1/2 fields of the season are about three steps up the pain ladder from our early season speedway races. The collegiate A guys are pretty much all 1s and 2s, right (can 3s race A)? So that field is probably laying down the pain as well.

3's can race A's.

Collegiate A, at least here in the rocky mountain conference, is pretty close to the P/1/2 races. But just like any race, it depends on who shows up. There are quite a few pros who show up to races in the RMCCC.

My team was there to make our season debut... although most guys could race collegiate we raced 1/2/3 so we could race together... the report for the RR is here: www.blacksheepcartel.com (http://www.blacksheepcartel.com)
I didn't go to the crit, but I imagine one of the other guys will write it up and post soon.

Cavalao-

You guys looked good on Saturday. I got in a break with recneps and another guy from your team for a while (unfortunately we were reeled in, but we got a good workout in). Mark had a nice finish, as he usually does. He thought he was racing for 15th place as he didn't know how many guys we had brought in from the break up the road- 5th was a nice way for him to end the day.

Which one are you (what bike were you on)?

I wish I coulda been there.

Q: How would you compare collegiate As to the local(ish) 1/2/3 combined races?

Ditto to what truckin said about the pain ladder being ramped up. The ocs race was chicken feed compared to this one. At least that was true for the crit. The collegiate A peloton includes 1 2 and 3 riders as well as a few pros (Ben King from V Tech springs to mind, he won the road race). Virginia Tech and Lees Mc Rae had huge teams in a fairly small field (8 and 5 riders in a field of 35, respectively) so they basically shut down the road race once a break went up the road. The crit was quite fast, but atleast I got to put in some attacks. Even so, once again I failed to get into the right breakaway including Va Tech and LMcR riders which was allowed to win. Some might claim they employed 'negative' racing, that is, massing in front of the peloton and riding real slow, but that's loser talk. I think if I can figure out my timing better I should be able to get into some breaks this year. Of course I will get pwned in the sprint but that's ok. Those guys are just strong as hell.

I got to see some interesting tactics in the men's C races. The RR was a bit nervous. The pace was to and fro a lot, and that caused a crash (the B's crashed in the same spot and manner too). The course was much harder than last year, and I was chuffed to finish in the pack. 50% of UVA riders were on steel/Brooks combos, so we won the cool prize anyhow ;)

The crit was like last year.

Did anyone else thinkg Pfeiffer's tactics were interesting?

Which one are you (what bike were you on)?

Heh heh heh… cavalão = Mark… truckin = Keith? I saw you guys bridging and I was just glad to be sucking wheel in the pack… you guys were out there in no man’s land for a LONG time. That was very impressive to make it… I thought for sure you guys weren’t being brought back…

I of course was riding the stealth Soloist with Hed Jet 90 wheels… but that is because I like to handicap myself with heavy junk. My race bike is a weight weenie frame/fork with those new Mavic wheels with fat Carbon spokes and tufo tubulars… super light and therefore very fast. I will only ride that in my A races though. ;)

Mark- Yep, truckin=Keith. Jon and I had decided I'd play in the RR with his help to launch me into a break, and we executed that pretty well, but it just didn't work out. With as much work as Boykin, recneps, and I put in getting up to the group up the road, we were more than a little dismayed to see the pack reel us back in.

That stealth Soloist is a sweet ride whether or not you claim it handicaps you. I haven't seen any evidence of that yet... Too bad you weren't in the crit Sunday- you missed out on some suffering!

Our SystemSixes are supposed to come in soon, so I'm looking forward to that. Not as fancy as your weight weenie bike, but it should be a good bike for me.

Yeah that always sucks to get reeled in when you have invested so much into making it work... that happened to me too about 30 minutes before you checked into your own private hotel hell for a brief stay. I didn't plan to go to the crit... but even if I did I would've had to back out as I was totally cooked from the effort Saturday. From the crit race report I heard I would have been dropped in the first lap or two anyhow.

I was being facetious about the bike... I am an aero weenie and like to see people obsess about meaningless aspects of bike racing such as bike weight. ;)

That system six sure has a thick head tube... with that much extra frontal area you will never be able to bridge to a break again! :p

J/K it is the rider not the bike... besides, Cannondale makes a real nice machine.

Yeah, I know how you feel. The way I see it, at my size and even more so at yours, bike weight means jackall, especially at sustained higher speeds where aero advantage comes more into play. It's never been the bike holding me back (except possibly in TTs because I don't have aero wheels for my TT bike). A guy like recneps, on the other hand, maybe has reason to pay a little more attention to weight, since he weighs about 120 pounds :)

That said, I'd sure like to get on a set of wheels like you're running to see whether they make a difference for me!

The way I see it, at my size and even more so at yours, bike weight means jackall

Yes, because you're a huge fatty :lol:

Joking aside, bike weight is clearly a secondary concern to aerodynamics - especially considering there are next to no climbing races on the schedule around here.

aha the mighty Mark has joined the forum. i guess we'd better watch what we say from now on...jk.

I did the mens B RR, crit, and the 3/4 crit.

The RR was ok. I attacked because we were going so slow and I was bored. My teammate came with me, not sure what he was thinking. He brought the field up to me, so I grabbed his wheel and promptly sat up. He attacked, and no one came around me. He stayed off and won the race. I played teammate and got 12th.

In the crit, I got crashed out in the chicane. In a break. It was a prime lap, and I was going to counter after the prime. I did the 3/4 race, but I had wasted too much energy in the B crit, got a crummy 18th.

I must say, the navy riders are the worst bicycle racers I have ever seen. No ability to hold lines, no idea of tactics. They had 4 fairly strong riders in the B road race, and yet they couldn't bring my teammate back in from a solo break? They'd get within 100 feet of him and sit up. Absolutely horrendous. On top of that, they crashed me out in the B crit. In a break. This is seriously the first time I've crashed and wanted to pummel the dumb**** who caused it.

I was there. 3rd plus 4th and 1st in primes in the Wm B crit.

My RR could have been awesome, but with no teammates with me, I got stuck off the front too many times but without the assistance to really break away. I tried to jump on break-away efforts with another school, but they sat up the first couple of times. The third time, I was stuck in traffic and couldn't catch on. Too bad, too, because that break stuck. I had nothing left but cramped legs for the last hill, so my finish was near the back of the pack, for 11th. My frustration with that race wasn't so much about sketchy climbing or the fact that my pack let ONE GIRL block for her 2 teammates in the break. My frustration was with how I was bored to tears if I stayed with the pack on a descent or on the tiny rollers. The course was fun! Much better than the previous RR course. Very quick. It can be even faster and more fun when you use those things called pedals. But then if I got to the front, no one would let me move off. No sort of real paceline or rotation happening much at all. I could string the pack out some into more of a line, but then it would just follow me snaking all across the road as I tried to resign from my pull. I need teammates who go to races.

Phatman, my teammate had the same feelings about Navy in that race. That whole race seemed so frustrating.

acorn_user, Pfeiffer is sandbagging. I know they started pretty late last season, but dominating the lower categories gets old. Upgrade.

I was there, and had a blast for the first race weekend of my season. The rr and the crit course were really good.

You know I was out there in the 1/2 field. RR was a good race. Fuentes and a few others got away early and picked up a several minute lead that we then cut down toward the end. He won, but only by a couple hundred meters at the line. I got into a break with help from a teammate, and it looked like it would stick, but Carolina Masters and DLP guys chased it down after 10 or 15 very painful miles.

I got into a break from the gun in the crit with two DLP guys, Dave Fuentes, a Nature's Path rider, and a few others. We picked up half a lap on the field, then one of the DLP guys took off on his own to complete lapping the field. The rest of the guys started attacking each other, which made things even more fun. Once the DLP guy got around, they put all 12 of the rest of their team on the front to chase us down and make sure we wouldn't lap the field as well, thus ensuring the win for themselves. Smart racing on their part. I was pleased to survive given the horsepower in that break- it was a good learning experience, and I know more about what I need to improve on as a result.

Fuentes, I've been dropped by him before, several times actually. He's not a little guy, I'm amazed at the power he puts to the pedals. I'm hearing Dave Osbourne finished 4th in the Wolfpack RR. Next day I was in a break with him at the tradezone training race. He schooled me.

truckin' - you're a baddass. Nice race.

MD, thanks! I'm trying, but I have a long ways to go compared to a lot of those guys. How was Tradezone? I raced up there one weekend last year when I was up visiting my folks.

aha the mighty Mark has joined the forum. i guess we'd better watch what we say from now on...jk.

Heh heh... nah you can say whatever you want... I am pretty easy going so it takes a lot to offend me... actually I would be offended if I thought people didn't talk bad about me...:D

I think it is really cool that local guys are on here that I can talk to at races... sometimes I kill time at weight weenies and bike tech review... but it is rare to see posts by people you actually race with.

My frustration with that race wasn't so much about sketchy climbing or the fact that my pack let ONE GIRL block for her 2 teammates in the break. But then if I got to the front, no one would let me move off. No sort of real paceline or rotation happening much at all. I could string the pack out some into more of a line, but then it would just follow me snaking all across the road as I tried to resign from my pull.

acorn_user, Pfeiffer is sandbagging. I know they started pretty late last season, but dominating the lower categories gets old. Upgrade.

My teammate had the same frustrations with the RR. It was her first race, so she was a little unsure of herself. I watched your race with her the next day. Nobody was really sharing pulls. The UNCW rider did a multi-lap pull and tried to wave someone through, but no one went. I also saw one of the Pfeiffer riders on the front, chasing down two of her teammates (and 2*NCSU). Mind you, few in my field knew how to work together either.

The same Pfeiffer rider won both races. They would be smart to move up, because then they will get Nats points. She has a mean kick. Did you see her go round the NC State rider? Ouch!

I believe Pfeiffer's trying to compete with Lees-McRae insofar as offering scholarships for cycling, whereas in 99.9% of the rest of the schools in the US it's a club sport...that might explain some of the "sandbagging" in that they want results to maintain scholarships.

Then again, I'm talking out of my arse here, and could be totally off base.

No, that is a good point. Still, though don't you think it'd look better for them to get some nationals qualifying points by at least moving one (or all 3) of their women up to As and at getting the guys on their way and into Bs? But then, who knows. Maybe they didn't do much USCF racing last summer and are stuck where they are for now because of the new category matching business.

The new UVA girl looked strong in the RR. The UNCW rider in the crit was not that strong up the hill, nor was she in front very often on the backstretch of the course, I don't think. I didn't notice until I looked at pictures my teammate took, but for some reason, she was on the front for a bunch of laps down the homestretch. I didn't see the Pfeiffer rider outsprint NCSU. I just looked enough to see that I wasn't going to catch their break in time, and then I tried to hold steady enough to keep my gap to the line. I had gone pretty much all out the last 3 laps, so I didn't want to try to sprint unless absolutely necessary.

I was there. 3rd plus 4th and 1st in primes in the Wm B crit.

My RR could have been awesome, but with no teammates with me, I got stuck off the front too many times but without the assistance to really break away. I tried to jump on break-away efforts with another school, but they sat up the first couple of times. The third time, I was stuck in traffic and couldn't catch on. Too bad, too, because that break stuck. I had nothing left but cramped legs for the last hill, so my finish was near the back of the pack, for 11th. My frustration with that race wasn't so much about sketchy climbing or the fact that my pack let ONE GIRL block for her 2 teammates in the break. My frustration was with how I was bored to tears if I stayed with the pack on a descent or on the tiny rollers. The course was fun! Much better than the previous RR course. Very quick. It can be even faster and more fun when you use those things called pedals. But then if I got to the front, no one would let me move off. No sort of real paceline or rotation happening much at all. I could string the pack out some into more of a line, but then it would just follow me snaking all across the road as I tried to resign from my pull. I need teammates who go to races.

Phatman, my teammate had the same feelings about Navy in that race. That whole race seemed so frustrating.

acorn_user, Pfeiffer is sandbagging. I know they started pretty late last season, but dominating the lower categories gets old. Upgrade.


I agree, getting off the front can be a challenge. Ways to combat this:

1 - never be on the front in the 1st place.
2 - anticipate that you'll be on the front before you actually get there and either
2a - dont get on the front
2b - attack
2c - STOP PEDALING - they'll have to come around then


Someone who had forgotten more about racing than I'll ever know once told me there are only 2 things you should ever be doing in a race: 1) attacking; 2) planning your next attack. Otherwise, you're just along for the ride.

A few times I planned to go on the front for reason 2b. Getting back off was the challenge. The group dynamic was just weird. It was like riding with a bunch of tri kids. No one really had more than 1 or 2 teammates, yet those "teams" wouldn't work together ever. I seemed to find myself either in the back 1/3 of the pack, bored and frustrated, or as soon as I'd make it to a nice position in traffic, I'd either take an opportunity to attack when the pace was too slow or a couple of teams would figure out how to quickly rotate and stick me at the lead. I tried to get some girls to go with me on attacks. One team that could do it wouldn't work with me. Some others couldn't keep up.

The weirdest thing was even when I did pretty much stop pedaling to move back, it did me no good. Girls would pull up alongside me and sit there. Or follow me across the road as I sat up and moved over, to either side. At one point, I slowed down to about 13mph on a flat road. Still on the front.

I was royally pissed when I missed the break that didn't sit up 200m later. I was also pissed when one woman came up to me after the race and congratulated me on a great job pulling. Gah. At least I got some payback on day 2.

aicabsolut, keep in mind there's a difference between "riding at the front" and "attacking." An attack should be an all-out effort designed to get you away from the field. If you're going to the front and lifting the pace, you're wasting energy. (Edit: OK, I read your post more carefully, and it sounds like you're attacking, not just pulling people along). Unless you're a lot stronger than the rest of the field, lifting the pace and pulling the group along with you won't be sufficient to get you results. I'm guilty of doing this a lot, so take it from one who knows :)

When you are on the front and need to get off, I don't recommend just stopping pedaling because if you check up suddenly it can cause a nasty accordion effect running back through the line. I usually will bring the group all the way to one side or the other, then suddenly move to the opposite side while letting up on the pedals for a few seconds. When executed properly, this will bring the next rider and therefore the rest of the line up next to you before they can react. This way you get out of the way without creating a potentially dangerous situation.

noted. thanks.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll see a road race this flat for the rest of the season, so I doubt I'll be in that situation again anytime soon. I felt fantastic and fast, but I just wasn't quite strong enough to be successful solo, as I repeatedly found out :).

I hear you. Those days are fun but also frustrating. I felt that way at Orange County Speedway a couple of weeks ago- I could attack over and over again, and get off the front with ease, but I didn't have enough legs to lap the field on my own, and nobody else seemed to want to play.