sarals 

You should have heard the commentary at the finish line when when Ex and Strong Guy (who is a team mate of mine) rounded the final corner for the sprint. They had been attached and were now way off the back of the field, so we all knew there had been some trackie cat and mouse going on on the back half of the course. They came around the turn and started to ramp up the sprint. I was thinking "they're going WAY early" (but I was thinking about my races!). Ex was on the inside, the left side of the road (our side) and Strong Guy moved over on him almost guttering him. Error, Ex was able to drop behind him and get on his wheel. They were full tilt boogie to the line when Ex came around on the inside and got Strong Guy with a punch and wheel throw - wheel length for the win. It was textbook! Exciting to watch, proud to have been in the race for a little bit with them, and the fist bump was well deserved!

Racer Ex 

Thanks. It's a different vibe in the 55+ races. My old teammate was there, really good guy that I hadn't seen in a while. We were chatting and it turns out he was coming back from prostate cancer. 7 months riding around with a catheter. More than a couple of folks bouncing back from this and that. Most of us are pretty happy just to be racing.

Passing on Saturday's race required some processing.

happybday29475

War and Peace, 50+/4's Edition

tl;dr: Saturday's "A" race: 10th: snatched defeat from the jaws of victory; Sunday's two "C" races: kicked ass, including my own, had a blast, learned a ton


Full Monte:



Saturday: "Koppenburg": 4 x ~15 minute laps. Laps start with gradual dirt road climb, culminating in 100 yards of 15-20% dirt two-track, followed by 1 mile mostly level or slightly downhill dirt, followed by general downhill (excepting one small rise) pavement to the finish. ~30 starters.

This was my "A" race for the season. All winter I trained with this race in mind. Friday night I was so excited I could not sleep. I tried everything...counting sheep, moving to the guest bed, reading The Economist, taking Melatonin...I estimate that I ended up with about 90 minutes of sleep. At race start I figured the lack of sleep might hurt me a bit but I was going to give'em hell anyway.

I was first or second wheel into the steep climb on 3 out of 4 laps (I made a mistake on the third lap and was well back, but no harm came out of it). Each of those 3 times I generally got a small gap by the top; on the first two laps I drove hard across the dirt road on top with the intent of causing mayhem behind me. Much to my surprise, the entire group stayed together despite my efforts. Hmmm...this is feeling like a very hard race to me, very different than all the other races this season...maybe I'm not on my best day?

On the fourth and final lap, I decided not to drive on the dirt road on top, as I thought it might be better to save energy for the finish. (Possible small tactical error?)

The end of the lap has a small rise, followed by a downhill to a tricky right-hander, followed by 45" to the finish. I thought be first into the turn, and 45" effort a la WR and I would win. On top of the rise, 20 all together, 4 abreast taking up the whole road, me in the front row, idling along at 200 watts, trying to pick my moment to go. Too late! bonehead from behind crosses the yellow line, advances in front of me, dives in, causes left side people to brake check, everybody on the right side of road moves up, takes the turn first, takes all the top spots. I hit the turn maybe 18th and finished 10th.

I was one of the stronger on the day, but I got screwed by a) bonehead cheating (he got DQ'd, but that doesn't help me); and b) by my own hesitating. I should have not worried about leading the group out, and just gone. Damnit. Often times I think myself right out of the game. It was an incredibly sour ending to a race in which I rode well until the last 90".



Sunday Lafayette Crit: Tough course with very big hill on it...big uphill then big downhill with a sharp turn and brief climb interrupting the downhill. No season points and poor marketing of the race meant predictably small fields.



Race #1 : 40+/4's: 10 starters
Rode as a group for a lap or two. For some reason some of the kids hammered on the brief uphill in the middle of the downhill; at first it seemed silly to me, and the group all stayed together.

On the third lap a solo guy rode off the front on the top of the hill. I saw it and could have latched on, but chose not to because a) didn't know these guys, not my normal category, didn't know if the guy was strong; and b) first race of two, I really cared more about the second race, so I thought I would just hang out with the pack this race.

On the next lap 2 more rode away at the same spot. My decision was the same. (You don't really expect IQ to go up mid-race, do you?)

On the next lap, just for entertainment, I started hammering through the small climb in the middle of the descent, was first into the really big downhill, got aero, and let all of my beer and ice cream storage hurt the other guys on the downhill. After the right-hander at the bottom of the hill, I noticed I had a 50m gap. What? Hmmm....something learned here. I thought about trying to bridge up to the 3 up the road, but they were out of sight, and I was still thinking about my second race, so I just motored along at FTP until I was caught by the rest.

I repeated this for the next 5 laps. On the last lap, there were only 3 of us together - my antics had shelled the others. We climbed the hill for the last time, and started to sprint. One guy exploded, the other dropped a chain, and I coasted in for 4th.



Race #2 : 50+/4's: 10 starters, including my nemesis.
3 laps altogether.

4th lap I started my shenanigans on the brief uphill as before. Same result: 50meter gap. Only this time, the first wheel back in the group was a teammate. Aha! I drove into the wind at FTP and was caught by the group in a few minutes.

5th lap same shenanigan, same 50m gap at the bottom, same teammate blocking. This time, I went at 120% FTP, and the gap grew. Self talk: "OMG what have I done. You do know you've already raced, right? Shut up legs..." Anyway, 1/2 lap solo, then 3 bridged up, including my nemesis, who hadn't done any work bridging. The four of us kept looking back but the pack was out of sight....weird! I've never seen a break stick in the 4's before...cool. The four of us worked well together for a few laps. On the final time up the hill, we were all together. One guy exploded going up the hill, another guy started out the sprint on top but my nemesis and I went around, and my nemesis launched and I had no answer...I coasted in for second. (For those keeping score for the season: Nemesis 2, home team 1).

All in all, a totally fun day. Both races I had really good power numbers (better than my "A" race the day before), I was active in both races, learned some stuff, cause a good bit of suffering in myself and in others, and earned a yummy beer and happy afternoon nap.

happybday29475

Congrats, Ex!

Here in CO in the 50+/4's there's also general acknowledgement that we're lucky to be racing. Many of the guys on the start line have a story..pacemaker, post-cancer, etc. etc. It is so much fun to be able to put life issues aside and just be 100% focused on an athletic competition, acting like kids, even if only for an hour or two.

globecanvas

I was thinking about this after racing both category and 40+ at Lime Rock.

In the category race I knew maybe a dozen guys out of 60, and some of those were like guys-whose-name-I-know-and-we-sort-of-glance-at-each-other, and some of them were like guys-I-know-but-don't-really-like. I was in a break for half the race, so stuff definitely happened, but I was butting heads with one of the guys in the break.

In the 40+ I knew all but a couple of guys, and I introduced myself to the stranger next to me. A friendly racer went off the front early and of course I wanted to get him back, but at the same time I was rooting for him as he ground it out all the way to the end, finishing 5 seconds in front of the pack (for 2nd place, he got bridged to and reverse-dropped the other guy). During the race I sort of allied myself with another team to help chase, because I'm friendly with their main guy (he races fairly aggressively but always says stuff like "excuse me, may I have this wheel?" which cracks me up), but at the same time I was sort of marking him and I wasn't going to let him bridge without me along. There was a team with 5 guys there that just wouldn't chase, but instead of guys yelling "WILL YOU ****ERS DO SOMETHING" it was more like "really? nothing? ok." A much more fun, tactical, interesting, and friendly race experience. It reminded me that bike racing is really just playing a game.

Masters rules.

shovelhd

Nice job Coach.

sarals 

Great job everybody!

revchuck 

Glad to see you're back in the groove, Ex!

RWT - Bummer about the bad luck, but it sounds like you had fun!

IBOHUNT

Well done everybody. Some great reads.
Ex - amazing comeback. I'd had liked to watch that race.
rpawithtom - a machine
valygrl - another great finish..
Sara; you've come a long way in a short time.

Racer Ex 

Good job all.

Tom, I have zero respect for the center line cheaters. Doing that stuff puts everyone at risk and encourages others to engage is the same behavior. Good follow up though. way to race your bike.

sarals 

IBO, thanks! It hasn't been that short for me, it's been three years. But, this last year has seen some pretty remarkable advancement. 90% of that is my attitude. It's just fun, you know?

LAJ

Good heavens, Racer Ex. Amazing, and well done. Picked a pretty swish Caddy picture, as well.

LAJ

Nice work, valygrl! That was a nasty little course.

LAJ

Super cool, Sara. I'm glad you had a good time! It sounded like a blast.

LAJ

rapwithtom, I'm sad the race didn't go as planned for you. As Racer Ex says, no respect for that clown. The innocent face and whiny "they forced me out", was enough to make me hurl. You'll be out of that mix soon.

That Lafayette course was nasty, and well done going twice on it!

IBOHUNT

I did race in a 30K TT this past weekend. Not much to write about.
Still racing CAT5 (one of these days I'll get some bigger britches) and got whooped by almost 3 minutes. Down in power, my pacing sucked and my knee is still complaining.
Managed a 4th/19
Next race in a month if I think the knee can deal with it. Doc says there isn't anything wrong and I'm resting it as much as possible per the doc and Ex's recommendation.

I'll live vicariously through another 3rd year cyclists fame... <cough cough Sara>

sarals 

4th of 19 is NOTHING to complain about, IBO. That's outstanding in fact! Well done!!!

Ummm....K U D O S

happybday29475

Wheels of Thunder 40+/4's Crit
4th of 40

TL;DR:
Last year it was an epic struggle for me just to hang in the pack. This year, it's completely different - I have the fitness to comfortably stay near the front of the field. This in itself is amazing to me. It's also very fun, as I can now watch the race develop and usually I can choose which attacks to participate in. If only I could choose better!


Time On Your Hands Version:
The Race Education Continues!

Heavy rain all morning at my house...but somehow the race venue, 30 miles away, reportedly escaped a lot of the heavy precipitation, so I headed out late morning for my 2pm start with the kids in 40+/4's. We ended up staying dry until the last lap.

The first few races of the year were attack-less snooze-fests. The last couple of races, including this one, were attack-fests! Hooray! So much more fun.

The ~4' laps include a moderate 30 second hill. Everybody charged up the hill the first time around; the second time around, 4 of us were off the front! I was stoked...we got 30" or so on the field...I was amazed. Then, everybody except me and a dude from Vail stopped working and we were caught. Such a shame, a great opportunity lost.

Our break was caught just before a prime, so I stayed near the front, watched the posturing, paced the others, sprinted from 100m out, won $20. Yay!

After the prime, 2 guys rolled off the front...I could have tagged along, I think, but chose not to, in part because I was tired from the prime, and in part because I was so frustrated from the last group's failure to work. Of course these two stayed away...

A couple of laps later, 5 of us off the front again on the top of the hill...big gap back to the field, but again only Vail and I working. Vail and I tried attacking the group a few times, both jointly and independently, in an effort to drop the others, but we just couldn't get away from them. Over a lap or two, we both got pretty frustrated by these guys! Funny how a bond can develop without verbal communication. At the top of the hill, I told my new friend to go, and that I would block. He didn't hesitate, rolled off, nobody chased, and he was away and we were four. Vail eventually bridged up to the 2, but couldn't contest the sprint and took third.

Back in my group: I didn't want to pull these guys around, so the pace eased and we generally leisurely cruised around the last few laps, I won the sprint out of our group as we rolled in about 30 seconds behind the winning threesome and 30 seconds ahead of the field.

In general, a fun race with a bit of frustration. I am totally stoked by my fitness, and am hoping I can learn to turn it into a few W's before I cat up.

happybday29475

Here in CO, the pointy end of the 5's is often faster than the pointy end of the 4's....so 4th of 19 is great! Good work!

happybday29475

Did you hear the guy try and state that it wasn't his fault? If so, wow, just wow...

You know, I've talked to him between races, and he has a very good attitude about taking criticism and is very apologetic. He is a very strong rider, and if he just mellows out a little, he'll make a very fun and formidable competitor.

The Lafayette course was awesome! It's the antidote for 95% Z2 group ride and a 5% hard race.

I'm missing you at the races...you doing Morgul TT? Anything else?

happybday29475

Thanks, and agreed.

I'm particularly sensitive to the yellow line rule. My first bike race ever was an MTB race in Moab that started out with a dirt road that wasn't closed to traffic. An oncoming pickup towing a 5th wheel had extended mirrors so as to be able to view around his trailer...and the left mirror struck a racer on the left side of the peloton in the head and killed him. This poor fellow was racing in the category that started before mine, so our category rode past the accident site a few minutes after it happened. The scene is forever etched in my memory.

Velonews: Samuel Hall Fatality

shovelhd

There's some learning going on in this thread.

happybday29475

The writings of yourself, and a number of others including CDR, Ex, and WR, have influenced my racing heavily. Thank you.

Racer Ex 

SoCal State TTT, 2 man 110+
Time 50:57
Finish: 1st

Hooked up with my old client and TT specialist to do some aero testing on Friday and the TTT on Saturday. 9 hour drive Thursday. 4 hours at the track (1:10 and 82 TSS for the test session) on Friday, drive 2 hours to Palmdale, up at 5:30 AM and head out to the course.

It's a 5 sided rectangle out in the desert with one kicker hill, buncha false flats, and choppy pavement. Wind was straightening out the flags when we arrived...gusts 20-30 MPH.

Managed a less than ideal warmup...only so much light and time when we started so early. Took off, and 1/2 way down the first leg my saddle nose tipped down when I hit a pothole, so it was tight hips and circus monkey pedalling with bad legs. The rest of the TTT was mostly me desperately trying to hang on, with the occasional pull thrown in, I think I was on the front only 2-3 times in the last leg. Barely made it to the finish. Some snafus aside from the seat; we had trouble staying tight because of the wind and my partner went way wide on one of the corners so, for once, I had to slow down for him, instead of the other way around.

Ended up winning by 10s. 2nd place was a very strong team and had the advantage of starting a minute behind us so we played rabbit. We could have done much better with practice and me having decent legs.

Hard, nasty effort. IF of 1.02, so at least I know on the circus monkey TT bike, my FTP is in the ballpark. More stuff in the training thread in a bit, but I'm feeling the 40 points I added to my CTL in the last 5 weeks.

shovelhd

Another jersey too?