gsteinb

thanks everyone

Cleave

Hi gsteinb, very nice! I dream of starting a season in that manner. I guess race details are in the other sub forum.

shovelhd

Ronde de Bethel M45+. 34 degrees with a cold wind on the backstretch, 8th. I felt like I went into this weekend without form of any kind. I had been struggling with my workouts lately, and stress off the bike has been through the roof. But this is Bethel, racing with Gary and the team, and it's go time. The race was pretty slow overall. My plan was to lay low and watch until halfway and then get active if it made sense. A few breaks with the wrong guys in them went but when the field lined out it didn't take long to catch them. I neutralized a few attacks later in the race that didn't look like they'd stick. With 3 to go I started moving up, looking for Gary, but he was nowhere to be found. On the bell lap one of our guys hit the front and crushed it. No Gary, and I was stuck around 15th after some shuffling. Then along comes one of the big guns in the Northeast and I grabbed his wheel. At this point I stopped searching for Gary and rode for myself. He took me up close enough to launch a sprint but like an idiot I was in too big a gear so I crunched it over the line for 8th.

I do the pro race for TSS and race practice. Sometimes I steal their candy and nab a prime, but I was pretty beat from the earlier race. I sat in and tried to practice my bike handling and energy conservation. I am running new tires this year and man are they twitchy. Plus I've spent who knows how many months on the trainer. So you could say I was a bit squirrely. I managed to hang with all the attacks. Around the halfway point one huge attack went off on the hill and I got trapped behind a split. I really wanted to finish this race so I buried it with all I had for a lap and a half to bridge back up. More than half the field would be blown off the back by the time it was over. I couldn't believe that I ended up 15th. I can top 20 in these races but it's been a while since I have.

So my confidence is up, my fitness is a bit better than expected, and I'm ready to try some new things next week. I will be racing in NYC on Saturday then again on Sunday. It's been a long time since I've done back to back days but I'm vising my son in NYC and he wants to see me finish a race in his town.

AzTallRider

Nice, Shovel... great to hear your form is better than you thought.

sarals 

Shovel, great report - savvy riding, as you usually do. Congratulations on some great racing and great finishes!

sarals 

Gary, what a great start to the season!! Fantastic, congratulations!!

Hermes

Shovel, Great results and I love when you race with the pro field. Stealing their candy seems so apropos.

revchuck 

With apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein...

I'm gonna race that job right outta my hair
I'm gonna race that job right outta my hair
I'm gonna race that job right outta my hair
And sent it on its way...

Sounds like great racing, shovel. Always fun when you surprise yourself!

carpediemracing 

You did a good race, really pushed hard at the front a few times (with Gary a few wheels back looking very attentive).

I was really uncertain of myself in the 3-4s. I felt really squirrely, not really good at super close riding (inside a foot). The wind wasn't even bad so I was really unhappy with my lack of smoothness.

I cramped just as I was jumping so I exited to the left. Ends up my 60 min power was 202 watts avg, about as high as I ever see. So I guess I was okay in terms of fitness, cramps notwithstanding, but I need to ride outside more.

AzTallRider

First crit's of the season. I don't have many years of experience to rely on, and the first few for me are definitely in the category of "Oh yeah... close and fast... at the same time... and I have to breathe... and think also? Damn."

Like Hermes, I love hearing reports of you guys mixing it up with biggest of the big dogs. I watch our P12 races and think "In my dreams."

Shovel, I'm surprised one tubie would be that much different in handling to the next unless one were a slick, but then I've just stuck with Vittoria Corsa Evo and not done any experimenting.

shovelhd

Thanks, CDR.

AZT, I'm riding Corsa Evo CX for the first time. Last year I rode Tufo S33 Special. They are completely different. The Tufos feel like a good clincher. The Vittorias felt a lot like the handmade cotton tires I used to race back in the day. Very responsive. The wind did pick up between the races, it was a lot stronger for the later race, and there was a good bit of grit on the road, enough that turn 1 needed sweeping after races concluded. Still, I'm sure most of it was my own lack of road riding in the offseason. Too much time on the trainer dulls the skills.

tetonrider

missed this. nice work! any details?

tetonrider

awesome read!

sarals 

Every time I ride in a mixed field with the 1/2's I come away thinking "what just happened?" It's tantamount to an explosion. Shovel, that you can ride with those guys and mix it up with them is really saying something!

Cleave

@shovelhd, nice racing and glad that you're doing better than you expected.

I guess gsteinb was hiding from you.

Have fun in NYC. I look at back-to-back race days as simulated stage races.

sarals 

Cleave, I get to attempt to survive a stage race this weekend. Oh, what am I thinking?

Cleave

You're thinking of having fun, right?

Cleave

(Formerly known as the El Dorado Park Twilight Training Series.)

Summary

Raced after being off the bike for 8 days due to bronchitis. Good turnout for all of the races. Stayed in the pack for 3/4 of the race. Attacked twice. No one came with me. Haired out at the end. Rode in solo OTB. Felt and rode better than expected.

A couple of Ex's teammates rode the Pro/1/2/3 race.

Very long report that even my mother wouldn't read:
https://cleavesblant.wordpress.com/20...k-race-series/

happybday29475

Great read.

I've learned that real-life-stress has a huge impact on my racing and training. (Ironically racing and training is an important tool for me to manage real life stress). To do as well as you did with the life changes your going through speaks volumes!

sarals 

I am! Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead! Or something like that.

shovelhd

Bombs away Sara!

Thanks, Tom.

My favorite national champion registered for my race Saturday. M40+/M50+, 30 minutes. It's going to be a barnburner.

AzTallRider

Sending fast thoughts your way, Sara!

Cleave

After several years of not having any business travel, I back to having regular business travel. I'll be in St. Louis Monday through Wednesday so no Tuesday night race. Thursday evening I guest lecture at an engineering class at CSU Long Beach so if I go to the track at all, I'll be late. My early season training is not shaping up as planned. I guess I'll be well rested for the TT next Saturday.

sarals 

Madera Stage Race, W4

Somehow I missed that the M35+ field was open for this race. Live and learn.

I was coming off a hard week emotionally and physically. I did not feel even remotely ready for this race series, and I frankly didn't know what to expect, anyway, this being my first ever stage race.

Saturday morning - Criterium: 30 rider field. Reasonably good road, no centerline in effect, flat course, light wind from the left on one leg. The advertised "railroad tracks" crossing was NO issue. My first race with my teammate. We were sitting on the line, behind the M35+ field, when the RD told us to let the M35+ ladies move to the line. A little voice to my right said "shouldn't you be up there with them?" Comedian. At the whistle, my team mate went right to the front to control the pace. I had decided I wanted to be mid pack, out of the wind ALWAYS, and on the inside - to the right. In the second turn, I was on the inside holding my speed and a young rider in front of me dove in and hit her brakes. I somehow missed her, the pothole at the apex, the curb, and the pavement. I marked her, and stayed away from her. I was able to maintain good to great position throughout the whole race, my legs felt REALLY good and it looked like I'd finish with the pack, and maybe even get to join in on the sprint! With what I thought was one left to go (there was a bell, after all!), I knew I was getting towards the bottom of my matchbook, but I had enough left to hang in and then kill it at the end. It worked, too, except that it was a PREME LAP and the following lap was the last one. I had no answer, so I cruised around for the finish OTB. Crap. But, I did well, much better than I expected, and I had a hell of a good time, in spite of the attempted murder.

Saturday afternoon - Sharon ITT: I did everything Ex told me to do between the races, and I felt good when I did the warmup for the ITT. The bike felt great, the tubeless tire on the front felt plush, my new Garneau helmet felt amazing and looked even cooler, and I was resplendent in my new skin suit. Oh, I just had to ride well! And I did. I arrived at the line three minutes before my start. When I went off, I was in a good place mentally (Gary - THANK YOU!). I was focused, not antsy, and I did what Ex had suggested and what I knew I needed to do. I ramped up slowly, went a gear higher than was comfortable, felt the lactate, and then shifted down and spun up. There was a left quartering crosswind on the first two legs, and a direct crosswind on the third leg. The last leg had a tailwind. I kept the power even, the speed up (not fantastic, only around 19 MPH average), and ended up 6 minutes off the lead riders pace but with the best ITT I've done yet under my belt. I really enjoyed it! My Garmin time was 32:28 for the 10 miles. USAC is still sorting things out. No matter, because I was no where near GC.

Sunday morning - Road race. I felt okay, but I knew I had not much in the way of reserve. I also felt a bit sluggish, and every time I applied power, I felt a burn that I shouldn't. The field had withered quite a bit from the crit. There were only 20 women left in it. We rolled off neutral for about four miles, and then went hot. The pace was okay, not bad. I was towards the back, way towards the back, and every time I stuck my nose somewhere, I'd get shut off or pushed to the left, where the wind was. My team mate and I decided to sit near the back, it was just the first lap, and try to stay sheltered back there. We made a right turn on to the notorious "bad pavement" section of the course, and some riders on the front launched an attack. Up went the pace, to a dead sprint, and I had no snap to cover that. I got gapped. I couldn't even catch the wheels going around me. Chasing on that bad pavement was NOT an option, so I slowed down and admired all of the water bottles that littered the next three miles of road. My bike had developed a noise in the front wheel that sounded for all the world like a wheel bearing (a motoref even noticed it), so I decided I was NOT going to ride by myself for two more laps with those legs and that wheel. Live to fight another (thanks, Cleave!). By the way, the noise was a brake pad that had turned slightly askew and was rubbing the front tire.

I didn't expect a lot for the weekend, in fact I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be great time! Fun racing, fun, FUN racing! The ITT was a high point, and the crit was just a gas! I like crits. I want more!!

gsteinb

That's great, Sara.