Masters Racing (All Disciplines) - Cleave Races

Hi,

This is my vanity thread ;) for my more interesting race reports. Of course, more interesting is in the eye of the racer. :p

Raced in beautiful Carson, CA this past Sunday at the California Bicycle Racing (CBR) Crit With No Name! (Yes, that was the name of the race.) Did my usual CBR trio of races: Masters 55+/60+, Masters 50+, and Masters 45+. First weekend criteriums since the middle of July -- a big break for me. Somewhat amazingly, considering how long I've been in this sport, one thing I've come to realize this year is that my mental confidence has a lot to do with my performance. This past Sunday it was OK, but not good.

In the 55+/60+ race, I hit the front early with an effort that didn't amount to much. I was able to hold a good position and when a group of 5 separated from the front I tried chasing into the break. A friend was on my wheel. Unfortunately, he wasn't too friendly and accelerated hard around me so that I couldn't catch his wheel. I chased a little longer but the pack was back on me and the break was coming back so I sat up.

It took me more than a few laps to recover from that effort. Heading into 4 laps to go another group of 5 went off the front. This time I tried jumping on the wheel of a different friend who went after them. I never could quite get his wheel but I was clear of the pack. I chased for almost a lap and caught the break (as did my friend) but a short time later the pack came up on us. I tried to hold a good spot heading into the bell but going into turn 4 a guy on the inside and a guy on the outside gave up and not knowing exactly what they were going to do I got out of it until I cleared them. According to the promoter's Facebook post, I was 17th in 55+. Don't know how many guys were out there.

The 50+ field was reasonably large and reasonably fast. Didn't do much because I wasn't sure how how I'd hold up with the pace. Ended up staying in easily and my total workload was probably less than in the 55+ race.

The 45+ race was very unusual because the field was smaller than the 50+ field and because it was slower. It ended up being about the same speed as the 55+ race. It was also unusual for me because I managed to hold a consistently high position in the field. (I am infamous for drifting to the back too often.) I was watching for something that looked like it might stick but I never ventured off the front. Had a good position going into the bell but didn't have enough nerve as we hit turn 3 and I lost a bunch of spots. Not sure where I finished but I finished upright and I wasn't totally dead after 3 races that totaled 51 miles with an average speed of 25.9 MPH.

Guess I'm as good as I'll be for natz.

Riding strong with Nats around the corner. You are in a good place Cleve.

I agree. You got a good workout. Fighting to stay at the front on the last laps takes a lot of work and determination.

In jest, you call it vanity, but I like this format. Everyone that has one of these threads are people I enjoy following. It makes it much easier to follow them in their own thread.

See you in Bend.

Nice going, Cleave. You guys are making me really want to be in Bend to cheer you on!

A wise man once said it is better to remain upright, than to embrace the wonders of Tegaderm.

PM me your phone #.

Nice prep for Nats. I was in Carson as well at VSC shooting pictures and looking for better lighting angles.

Nice work, Cleave!

I know how trashed I feel after 1 crit...can't imagine doing 2 more on the same day!

Nice going, Cleave. You guys are making me really want to be in Bend to cheer you on!

Me, too!

Cleave, you're a monster!!!

Hi All,

Thanks for the encouraging words. These 3-race-days started really started this year and grew from my best racing buddy's past enthusiasm for multiple races per day. Last year I could do the 50+ and 45+ races and get in about 42 miles of racing. With some changes in "standard" race lengths and moving up to Masters 55+, if I only did 55+ and 50+, I'd get less than 40 miles of racing which generally wouldn't be enough of a workout for Sunday, so...

This year I managed to do 3 races in a day on 8 different Sundays this year. I guess that really adds to my yearly race total pretty quickly.

While I'm typing, I raced my last Tuesday Night Worlds for 2012 last night. My legs were definitely tired from Sunday and the intensity and volume from this past month. I told my teammates that I had one good effort in me and until I tried burning those matches, I would hang out near the back. I did just that.

Interestingly, I made an embarrassing mistake for the first time EVER last night. For reference, our Tuesday races have almost always had two (2) points paying primes for 1st through 3rd (3-2-1 points) and points for the top 10 at the finish (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points respectively). Shortly after they rang the bell for our 2nd prime, the Pro-1-2-3 field caught and passed us. We neutralized our race as they passed and until they got a good gap. Unfortunately, that gap wasn't good enough because when we started sprinting, the lead riders caught back up to the pack of the Pro-1-2-3 pack. Most of us didn't know whether or not the sprint counted. It didn't matter for me as I was watching the sprint from the back of the pack.

It was getting near the end of our 1-hour race so I decided it was now or never and moved up to the front of the pack. I was on a teammates wheel when two guys attacked. My teammate accelerated and I stayed glued to his wheel. We initially had a gap but we got caught just before we got the bell for what I thought was the last lap of the race. I should say that I quickly rationalized that it was the last lap because the organizers typically give us a 2-to-go lap card and I never saw one. I figured I just missed it. I stayed near the front and amazingly I was around 10th when we hit the finishing straight so I sprinted. I actually passed a few people and counted back to 6th when I crossed the line. I stopped my computer and was coasting when the main part of the pack caught up and people started saying that the bell was for the re-do of the 2nd prime. What?!?!?! :eek:

So I was 6th in a 3-place prime. :notamused: This was the first time that I've EVER mis-counted (mis-timed?) the finish of a race. I guess it had to happen sometime. :o BTW, we did get the 2-to-go lap card at 2 laps to go.

Fortunately, I was able to hang in for what turned out to be an additional 3 laps (1.7 mile per lap). What is supposed to be a 1-hour race ended up being 1 hour and 8 minutes to cover almost 28 miles (according to my teammate since I'd stopped my computer).

Once again, my legs were pretty tired today (Wednesday). I did a real easy 17 mile ride on my TT bike this evening. Spin out the legs and stretch out the back.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Hey Cleave, it happens. Some kid at Bethel last year had a bell that sounded just like the prime bell and I went for it. I wondered why it was so easy. I know the feeling, though. You kind of slink back into the field and bury yourself. We had a guy (who is desperately trying to recruit me to his team for next year) put his hands up when he crossed the line, but he forgot that there was a solo rider up the road. I rolled up to him afterwards and asked him "Do you always put your hands up for second?" :)

I can't ever remember doing three races in a day, but we don't have too many races with 5 year increments out here. At most crits, I'll do two Masters races or a Masters race and the pro race, depending on the timing. Three has got to be real tough unless two are back to back. Warming back up after a hard effort can be physically and mentally straining.

We have both slipped into obscurity on the Nats Criterium start list. Teehee.

shovelhd, as of this afternoon, per the Race Predictor, 8 of the top 12 guys in the 55-59 crit are guys with whom I race most weekends. No wonder I can't catch a break (pun intended) at our local races.

We need to share notes. I can tell you all about #1.

Yes, we can definitely share notes. In general, all of the SoCal guys in the top 12 are pretty smart crit racers. <duh> Some are breakaway types and some are sprinters. Mark Hoffenberg is the guy who has been cleaning up this year as a freshly minted 55+. His MO is to breakaway early and then win the sprint from the break. He's a past Masters criterium national and world champion.

Do you know if Glenn Schneider is originally from NY? If so, we were Juniors together in the same club, Nassau Wheelmen, back in the 1970s.

Yes, we can definitely share notes. In general, all of the SoCal guys in the top 12 are pretty smart crit racers. <duh> Some are breakaway types and some are sprinters. Mark Hoffenberg is the guy who has been cleaning up this year as a freshly minted 55+. His MO is to breakaway early and then win the sprint from the break. He's a past Masters criterium national and world champion.

Do you know if Glenn Schneider is originally from NY? If so, we were Juniors together in the same club, Nassau Wheelmen, back in the 1970s.

Thanks. His MO sounds a lot like my MO.

Quid pro quo.

Aubrey Gordon is a former national champion. He's a big guy, linebacker sized, and pretty much a pure sprinter. He has multiple megawatt sprints in his legs from racing criteriums and going for the big money primes, then the win. His FTP is very low for his size and sprint power. He usually wins out of the field, but he will attack off the front for 300m-400m to try and get some breakaway guys to tow him around, increasing his chances. He may do that 5, 6 times in a race. Don't bite. If he gets in a break he will not work.

Hopefully we will be able to get together before Saturday. I arrive Thursday night.

Hi shovelhd, I'll send you a PM with my cell. I'll be up for a very easy ride on Friday to recover from the road race on Thursday.

Why do races where you are going slow hurt more or at least as much as when you're going fast? :o

My target time for the TT was anything under 45 minutes which would have been 40 Km/hr. I ended up with a 46:30. :( I actually caught my 30 second man before the turnaround and the guy who started 30 seconds behind me never caught me. I was pretty happy that no one caught me before the turnaround. A couple of miles later someone went by me but I was able to stay relatively close to him after he passed me. He'd pull away on the descents and I'd close up on the rises. Just as we got to the 5 Km sign the wheels fell off. Three(!) guys passed me in the last 5 Km and I couldn't stay close to any of them.

I ended up 26th out of 34. If I'd hit my target time I would have been tied for 23rd. How do these old guys ride so fast? :D

Tomorrow should be even more fun.

Great result Cleave. Good luck in the road race.

Sounds like you paced it pretty well and gave it all you had. Great job. Good luck tomorrow. I am going to do my openers on Friday but we can wheel around, too. I only go about 20-30 seconds for each one, and I will want to do a longer than normal warmup ride. I sent you my cell number.

Now you are all warmed up for the road race! Sounds like you dug deep...

Cleve, you didnt leave anything on the road. Great effort!

Cleave, wow! I can't wait to hear about tomorrow...:thumb:

Way to bury yourself, Cleave!

Maybe those other old farts are retired and can train full-time.

And now you have something for the road race, at which you excel.

Go, Cleave, go!

Hi, I finally finished my tome; aka my Masters Road Nationals race report. Since it's so long I put an executive summary at the front.

http://cleavesblant.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/from-the-back-of-the-pack-2012-usac-masters-road-national-championships/

Read it if you dare.

Nice write up. I know how you feel with the Sierra guy, I was limping in in the RR and pulled to the side to let a 55+ chase group come through, only to see a 50+ guy working in the rotation.

Some folks have zero class.

You got that right.

Nice writeup, Cleave. I enjoyed having lunch with you and Nina. Don't feel bad about the criterium. It was crazy fast. A total attack fest at the front with horrendous bike handling skills in the field. If you didn't get a good start you were doomed. Sounds like you did well in the road race.

You got that right.

Nice writeup, Cleave. I enjoyed having lunch with you and Nina. Don't feel bad about the criterium. It was crazy fast. A total attack fest at the front with horrendous bike handling skills in the field. If you didn't get a good start you were doomed.

I was DFL at the start of my race. I was doomed several days before in any case.

Cleave, You have a great blog and I liked the pictures and write up.

One (big) difference between me starting at the back of the crit and Racer Ex starting at the back is that one of us stayed in until the end. :o

It would have been one thing if the Sierra Nevada guy had done some work. I felt bad about jumping and was going to apologize to the other two guys but I couldn't find them after the finish. This was partly because I ended up talking for a while with Bill Watkins who won the 55-59 crit last year.

Bill was at West Point while I was at RPI and we raced against each other in intercollegiate races. Also he raced a lot on the east coast. Of course he was a Cat 1 who was on the national team in the 1970s and I was , well, a Cat 3. He claims he remembers me (which might be true since there weren't many other Asian-Americans racing back then) but I think he was being nice. What was funny about that conversation was he said something like, "I saw that Tom Officer [another former national team member] is here." Two minutes later Tom Officer walks up.

I'm telling this bit of a story because it relates to the genetics thread in the 33. Here I am, at my best, a slightly above average Cat3, racing against guys who were some of the best in the US when we were young. Back then, doping wasn't really an issue because the available drugs had about as much of a chance at killing you as they did helping you. These guys were good because they are genetically predisposed to be good. I, on the other hand...

Good thing I like this sport for a lot of reasons other than winning. :D

Good thing I like this sport for a lot of reasons other than winning. :D

Amen.

I'm glad I stumbled into the sport. I'm happy I've had some success. But I'm grateful for the friends I've made and that I've chopped down a bit of the family medical tree.

Amen.

I'm glad I stumbled into the sport. I'm happy I've had some success. But I'm grateful for the friends I've made and that I've chopped down a bit of the family medical tree.

+1. My family tree does not have good genetics.

Cleave, I race with Tom a lot. He's an animal in crits. Attacks like a rabid dog. He was going to be my coach for Nats until some other guy came along and offered. :) Tom is great. He coaches some of the best guys in my field, but I made the right choice. No doubt.

Keep your chin up, Cleave. You are a good strong rider.

Great write up Cleave. Between all the racing you do, the volunteering, writing, and, I assume, work, when do you ever sleep?

AzTR, sleep is highly over-rated. However, I'd probably be faster if I slept more. For now, I am fully employed. We'll see how long it lasts.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and kind words about my report.

Hi, started my season with a pretty standard CBR (California Bicycle Racing) Sunday. Even though I've ridden hundreds of races on this course I wasn't overly confident going into the race because: (1) I hadn't raced in over 4 months and my last race was a DNF at the natz crit; (2) My training has been sporadic in January with some very good days and some disappointingly missed days; (3) I had a small cold on Tuesday and Wednesday; (4) I barely managed to finish building my race bike yesterday. :twitchy: BTW, my annual first race goals are stay upright and don't get dropped.

Masters 55+/60+
40 minutes, 7:30a start! No respect for us older racers. :mad: Our race was wedged between the Cat 5A and Cat 5B races. I am not a morning person and even though I thought I got up early enough, by the time I got through registration I only had about 10 minutes to warm up on a relatively cold, SoCal morning.

One other thing that has been an issue this year is getting clipped in to my pedals. Two years ago I switched from "classic" Look Delta pedals to Look Kéo pedals. I initially had a lot of trouble with them but managed to figure them out. At the beginning of the year I switch to Kéo 2 Max pedals and I have been having a terrible time with them.

I had three teammates on the line and I was supposed to chase down dangerous looking breaks for our sprinter. We got the usual pre-race instructions and then the whistle. Fortunately I got my foot into the pedal without any drama -- good omen. The pace seemed pretty mellow and the accelerations at the front did not seem too long-lived. I got on the wheel of a big guy who has won a bunch of races and hung out there since he was close enough to the front that I could see what was happening. After about halfway, I moved up further and with 6 to go a good guy from a good team took off. His team was blocking and no one else was doing anything, so based on my role I went to the front and just started dragging the pack up to him. I closed the gap a bit and then pulled off. Of course, no one else wanted to pull and his teammates were happy to watch. So after a short breather, I went to the front again and closed the gap enough that finally some other guys felt like they could close the rest. Job done.

That effort was over the course of 1-1/2 laps and after that I started to drift back and I saw our sprinter moving up. I tried to stay near the front half of the pack but of course, a bunch of people figured they were great field sprinters and it was getting a little dicey up there with a people wanting to be near the front but not at the front. I rolled through the finish near the back. Our sprinter took 6th in the 55+. He thinks he was 7th overall. I was 19th out of 24 50+ guys and there were 19 60+ guys listed as finishers.

Masters 50+ 1/2/3/4
Now that I was awake and warmed up, I felt better for another 40 minute crit. The was about 30 minutes between races. Once again, I had three teammates on the line but with a bigger field and faster people, we had no plan other than staying upright. ;)

This time I had a little trouble getting clipped in but I was still about halfway up the 66 rider field. The race was faster than the 55+/60+ race but not exceedingly so. I kept trying to get to the front but with some of the newly-minted 50+ guys being pretty fast and my general lack of confidence and aggression, I never got there. :( However, for some reason, during the last three laps I got somewhere near the top 20 and was able to hold my position heading into the sprint. Somehow though I still have trouble sprinting hard for a place out of the money and I faded badly to finish 36th out of 62 finishers.

Masters 45+ 1/2/3/4
This time there were 67 guys on the line for this 45 minute race. I had one teammate (both of us were starting our third race of the day). I assumed I would spend the 45 minutes tailgunning the field but I think I was generally in the top 2/3rds of the pack. About halfway through my fastest race of the day, my legs started talking to me and I was generally starting to feel tired. This is where I start setting little milestones like, just make it to lap cards, just hang in until two to go, try taking bell lap with the field.

Amazingly(?), I finished with the pack. Didn't look at results but I don't think I was DFL. :o

Three races for a total of 55 miles in 2 hours, 8 minutes.

BTW, do as I say, not as I do. I finished building my new bike yesterday and rode it a total of 2.5 miles before racing it today. Fortunately nothing fell off of it.

Next week: Poor College Kids Road Race near Santa Maria, CA.

That's great work, Cleave.

Three races and 55 miles? I'd say you're feeling pretty good, and that you're in pretty decent form for this time of year. Congrats, Cleave!

Great racing Cleave for the first time out. I think the track sessions helped a lot.

Nice way to start the season, Cleave!

Hermes, the track sessions always help, especially this time of year. I hate trainers and rollers and can only get effective workouts or warmups when I'm VERY motivated. This velodrome and Roger Young have really helped my race fitness as the start of the racing season kept moving earlier and earlier in the year. I train at the track less when the daylight hours are longer but I've been averaging 45 sessions each year for the last several years (including one or two race days) -- almost once per week.

I have almost 6,800 miles on my (cracked) track bike and all of those miles are at VSC. That's a lot of laps on a 250m velodrome.

That's a lot of laps on a 250m velodrome.

That's for sure...

Masters 50+ 1/2/3/4
Now that I was awake and warmed up, I felt better for another 40 minute crit. The was about 30 minutes between races. Once again, I had three teammates on the line but with a bigger field and faster people, we had no plan other than staying upright. ;)

This time I had a little trouble getting clipped in but I was still about halfway up the 66 rider field. The race was faster than the 55+/60+ race but not exceedingly so. I kept trying to get to the front but with some of the newly-minted 50+ guys being pretty fast and my general lack of confidence and aggression, I never got there. :( However, for some reason, during the last three laps I got somewhere near the top 20 and was able to hold my position heading into the sprint. Somehow though I still have trouble sprinting hard for a place out of the money and I faded badly to finish 36th out of 62 finishers.


Good video of that one:


http://youtu.be/BDcU_Jjjy_c

Sorry I missed that one.

Nice shot of the winner skipping pulls.

Nice shot of the winner skipping pulls.

I noticed that, too.

Nice shot of the winner skipping pulls.

Wheel-sucking pond-scum SOB...

It looked like he had a teammate in the break.

Yes, I spoke with one of them and it was planned. Breakaway guy tries to make it stick. If not other guy wins. Other guy won.

Here's the video for the 55+/60+ race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Bh0qsTXxs&feature=share&list=PL7D11BDD442F0090C
At about 6:10 you see the solo break and then you see me leading the pack the 2nd time trying to make sure he doesn't get too far away.

At times I was further back than I thought. :o

Wheel-sucking pond-scum SOB...

That can sometimes be a good race tatic,... ;)

That can sometimes be a good race tatic,... ;)

Spoken like a true sprinter.. :)

Cleave - Just out of curiosity, around what speed was the pack holding? It looked somewhat...stately...but that could well have been due to foreshortening caused by the telephoto lens.

According to Stalker, I mean Strava, his average speeds for the three races were 24.8, 26.0, and 26.7, respectively.