"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Fayetteville fun!

First off, congrats to RacerEx, who I believe won the M35+ for the weekend.

'cuz I'm in the mood to for once, race report time!

Saturday RR: Best RR of my racing career. I didn't get a result out of it, but it didn't matter. Spent a good chunk of the first lap off the front with 3 other people. Started taking a few risks to try and conserve energy at the end of the lap and ended up overdoing a corner a bit. No crash, but a bit of off-roading ended my time in the break. They ended up getting reeled in a bit later at least in part b/c they were short a man. We had 1:30+ at one point, which was cool. I was proud of myself because I was able to stay up front for the rest of the rest, and control it enough to force a pack sprint, which I actually contested for once. Figured I'd go for one of the lower placings and some small time bonus. A crash in front of me ended those hopes, but I still got the same finish time, which is all I really wanted.

TT: My numbers in warm-up were way off, but I still went out and paced it according to plan. Ended up putting in a pretty bad ride and missed my power target by more than 20W (!), but still managed 10th, and 9th on the GC. I think I must have been a tad dehydrated from the morning, because earlier in the week I did loooong (almost race-length) intervals at above the power I held and did fine on those. Still, pretty much the most miserable almost 17 minutes of my cycling career.

Sunday RR: I was riding really strong, but what I thought was a saddle sore pretty much forced me to abandon. Hurt so much that I couldn't really pedal seated. Turns out I had torn some skin and it was all bloody and gross. Disappointing, considering one time bonus (even the small one) would have vaulted me up to top-5 on GC, but a good decision for my health I think.

Good weekend, though! Whoever rides in TX in the BF unattached kit was out there in the 4's, he went down pretty hard. Cracked frame and some destroyed shifters it looked like.

Hoping RacerEx and others will follow with their reports :)

Congrats on the top 10. Well done.

Still, pretty much the most miserable almost 17 minutes of my cycling career.



In my [admittedly limited] experience, that's the hindsight of any good TT effort.:D

I keep checking this thread (and many others) while I anxiously watch my inbox for email from the upgrade coordinator...

Ugh!

I keep checking this thread (and many others) while I anxiously watch my inbox for email from the upgrade coordinator...

Ugh!

3's upgrade?

3's upgrade?

Perhaps.

Perhaps.

have you fulfilled any of the requirements?


4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

Yeah, I'm a border case though. Only 21 points.

Chris, good job! Glad to here you kept the rubber side down.

Btw, do you ever see that Whareagle guy out there?

Yeah, I'm a border case though. Only 21 points.

border?

maybe you missed this part:


4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

Chris,

First, congrats on the good race weekend. Sounds like you are getting your mojo back! :beer:

Second, I thought Korioth won the M35+?

I raced Fayetteville in the 4/5 35+. Field of 75.


9th in Saturday Road Race. Got cramps with 5 miles to go and was glad to hold on.
4th in the TT. I had about 4 hours to hydrate and I got my legs back.


2nd in the Sunday road race and won the hill bonus sprint in the second lap. I realized the benefit of a well organized team as Pearland Cycles had 4 riders on the front controlling the finish. Luckily I was able to sneak through to win the field sprint. Unfortunately, their designated winner was able to ride off the front uncontested.


All of that translates to a 5th GC finish.

I thought Fayetteville did a great job in organizing the 3 stage race.

I keep checking this thread (and many others) while I anxiously watch my inbox for email from the upgrade coordinator...

Ugh!

My co-ordinator took at least a week.

Who's the whareagle guy? Not sure who I'm looking for I guess.

Botto - they *can* upgrade if you have that many (which I do). They aren't required too until you have 30 pts though.

Houston Biker - Nice on the 5th GC! Sounds like you had a bunch of great results! More reason to get out of the 4's before you get there to beat me :). Sorry I missed seeing you out there. You got lucky on the TT. My race finished and I was back on the TT bike within an hour and a half or so. 2.5 hours between race end and TT start :(

Racer X is a crusher of souls.

Yeah, I guess he was in 45+ or one of the other masters cats. He was definitely winning GC Saturday night.

Congrats to UT_Dude for getting your legs and your motivation back under you for some good rides!

Congrats to Houston_Biker for 5th on GC, and 2nd in the RR today. Yesterday was his 5th race ever, if I'm counting correctly. Certainly will be nice to have in the M35+ pack with me :)

Congrats to RX for his 1.5 minute ass-whooping on the 45+. Destroying everyone in the TT, snagging 12s of bonus points, and getting 2nd in the first RR. Looks like he was in a 2-man break for that one, and it looks like they were in a bigger break before that. Having been in a 2-man with RX, kudos to his breakaway partner too for hanging on :D

Yeah, College won the 35+. He's having a great season.

All I have to say is that wind was rough on Sunday. My heart was out of it after getting pushed off the road (5s) on Saturday. Just don't have the legs to bridge and there went any chance of GC hopes. Fun weekend though. A couple of my teammates placed high in the 3s and Juniors.

UT_Dude, I want your TT bike, but you're a midget. ;)

I raced the 35+ 4/5 also. 16th in the GC. Funny, I went in thinking I would be happy just to finish, now I am a little bummed not to have done better. Gotta work on the time trial. And start contesting the sprints one day.

I was surprised to see how effectively those Pearland guys controlled the race yesterday. Just imagine how cool if several teams were actually in contention and working together like that, not just the one. Anyway, it was big fun and I will definitely be back. Too bad for me I can't do Ft. Davis.

Just imagine how cool if several teams were actually in contention and working together like that, not just the one. Anyway, it was big fun and I will definitely be back. Too bad for me I can't do Ft. Davis.

Yep, when you start doing M35+ open, that's what you see. Two or three teams controlling everything after the break gets going. This seems to happen in every single race.

Congrats on a good race!

I have never seen a forced upgrade.... ever.

You can't be forced to upgrade (except in MTB stuff, I believe). Say you have 21 points, but they're from lesser races, though. Technically, they can refuse your upgrade. If, however, you have 30 points, they have to accept your upgrade.

PS... I'm not a midget :(

I raced the 35+ 4/5 also.

I was surprised to see how effectively those Pearland guys controlled the race yesterday. Just imagine how cool if several teams were actually in contention and working together like that, not just the one. Anyway, it was big fun and I will definitely be back. Regarding the Pearland team, I agree with your comments. You don't seem much "teamwork" in the 4/5 division. Those Pearland guys planned and executed flawlessly.

Let's see, Morgan won the RR on Saturday plus some hill points. Pearland was out front for him. on both of those. He didn't fare quite as well in the TT and dropped several places.

Pincas kicked butt on the TT and effectively won the GC with his TT performance. With that 1st place locked in, in set in motion the Sunday strategy.

Their strategy on Sunday (I'm guessing, because they didn;t share it with me :p) was to help Morgan win the hill bonus and the road race. I fortunately spoiled the hill bonus as I out-sprinted Morgan on that one. But, with effective teamwork, Morgan cruised in untouched for the Sunday RR win.

Watching this kind of teamwork is very cool. And the Pearland guys seemed like a good bunch of guys...

Great job to all, UT good luck on the upgrade and good seeing you at the race. Sorry you got caught up in that crash. And if anyone comes across photo links, please let me know.

My 45+ report:

Saturday stage one RR- Our team had four strong guys and started firing folks off right from the gun. Very early on the first lap one of our guys was doing the solo thing out there, I bridged up and we did the two man TTT till near the end of the lap when we got a little company. We were now 5 but at that point any organization went away and we were soon scooped up by the rest of the field. Another teammate then went on a two man rampage, his partner snap crackled and popped with around 7 miles to go. I bridged, we TTT'd to the finish line 1-2. Cell phoned our sponsor for the finishing order on the way. 29 second gap plus time bonuses. Lap times slightly slower than the P1/2 and faster than the 35+ (shorter race though). Attack of the AARP's.

Saturday TT: 5 guys beat me on a pretty darn hard and windy (though short) course. Fortunately they were all in the P1/2. I was first off so I had no rabbits to chase. Power numbers weren't epic (surprising after 2 hours at 283 NP that same day), but I've put hours of work into the new bike, equipment, and new position. Added a minute to my GC lead, with 1:39 to play with, we could focus on moving up our guys if possible. A great TT by the guy who finished behind me bumped our stage one winner to third on GC.

Sunday RR : First two laps I napped while the boys slapped the hands of anyone who tried anything. Third lap we started firing everything we could at second place GC to move our guy up, along with firing off other guys off to move them up. 2nd place was nails, and held on by 1.7 seconds thanks to some time bonuses and a great, strong ride. One of our guys nearly held off the chasing pack at the end but got caught with less than 100m to go. Team took 1/3/6/9, two of the 3 stages, and nearly the third.

Very nice race, well organized, and well run.

Mucho thanks to my TT consultants Doc and JRennie.

Great show there, RX. Your TT would have won you the GC in M35+ too :)

Amazing performance. I'll be watching for your wheel in the Geezers, when you're not racing Uber-Geezers.

:beer:

You can't be forced to upgrade (except in MTB stuff, I believe). Say you have 21 points, but they're from lesser races, though. Technically, they can refuse your upgrade. If, however, you have 30 points, they have to accept your upgrade.

PS... I'm not a midget :(


I think you're reading that wrong. 20 points and you're eligible for an upgrade (if you want it and apply for it). 30 points and it's a forced upgrade.

PS... I'm not a midget :(

To most common folk, probably not. Most everyone is a midget to me. :) It's great that I can see what's going on in a pack just by sticking my head up. It sucks when the winds blow you around like a sail and a bunch of little guys are huddling behind you.

Haha, yeah. Although, when I'm in my drops, my head's down at the level of most people's saddles. Yikes!

I think you're reading that wrong. 20 points and you're eligible for an upgrade (if you want it and apply for it). 30 points and it's a forced upgrade.

you're not alone.

you're not alone.

Yeah.

20pts in one (1) year. You ask, they give. Not conditional.

Yeah.

20pts in one (1) year. You ask, they give. Not conditional.

+1 Ask and yee shall receive.

Congrats to all the strong finishers from the forums at Fayetteville. UTDude - I raced your cat. From your description of Saturday's RR, I know who you are now - I'll introduce myself next time I see you...good work on getting away early and holding it as long as you did. Weekend went about as well as could be expected for a guy doing his second race of the year...at least I finished, though I was high 20's in the GC.

Amazing number of guys DNF'd yesterday. That wind was awful...especially when I got dropped near the end of the second lap and solo'd through the headwinds and crosswinds.

Nasty wreck at the end of Saturday's RR. I did see unattached rider at the start of Saturday's RR, but didn't see him the rest of the weekend - now I know why.

:) I'll be wearing different colors next time, but come say hi! Who were you racing for this weekend?


Congrats to all the strong finishers from the forums at Fayetteville. UTDude - I raced your cat. From your description of Saturday's RR, I know who you are now - I'll introduce myself next time I see you...good work on getting away early and holding it as long as you did. Weekend went about as well as could be expected for a guy doing his second race of the year...at least I finished, though I was high 20's in the GC.

Amazing number of guys DNF'd yesterday. That wind was awful...especially when I got dropped near the end of the second lap and solo'd through the headwinds and crosswinds.

Nasty wreck at the end of Saturday's RR. I did see unattached rider at the start of Saturday's RR, but didn't see him the rest of the weekend - now I know why.

I'm with GCCA (Gulf Coast Cycling Assn.) - one of the three guys in the red/white/blue kits (the same one that is currently gracing the front page of txbra).

Even if you are in a different kit, I might still recognize you. Hard to say when I'll be racing again - you guys in Austin have a ton of nice early spring races right in town.

Oh yeah. You guys were up at the front doing a lot of stuff with the race. I was following one of you guys around for a while on Saturday, haha.

:) I'll be wearing different colors next time

Pomegranite and Puce?

I got a fake ID for you and a gray beard....

! haha...