Inertianinja

I entered my 2nd race on saturday, a 24-mile, 4-lap Central Park Race.
I felt very strong going into this one, compared to the first one when i was just thinking i'd get dropped on the first lap. I ended up screwing that one up on the 5th lap by attacking on a hill, getting a big leadout, but burning out. Noob mistake.

For the first three laps, I found it very easy to keep up with the ~24mph average pace. There were a few teams (i'm not on a team) at the front of the pack that would attack occasionally for short periods just to mess with people. I stayed with them, and it seemed to annoy them, but whatever.

By the end of the third lap i was just plain BORED. i forgot what i was doing for a while and had to remind myself i was racing. i caught myself whistling.

On the 4th lap, the pace picked up but it didn't get crazy. i felt like i hadn't been working hard, and i had a lot left. so planned to stay by the front until a good time (not that i have enough experience to know what a "good" time would be) when i would attack. the field got panicky and i ended up moving to the front, and things started to slow down, oddly.

soon i had a small leadout even though i wasn't trying. so i was like "oh well" and just went for it. you can guess how this ends - i burned out, got caught, got passed, got trapped on the inside unable to move back up, and had to struggle to finish in the middle of the pack.

Now, I'm overall happy with my performance, considering i haven't done anything physically competitive since high school, it's my first season riding a road bike, AND i have managed to avoid crashing.*

any insight is welcome



*CRASH NOTE: there was a big crash in this race. apparently one of the guys who crashed broke his arm, but was still sliding on the pavement down a hill, so he was just tumbling and screaming. eek.

umd

Glad you enjoyed yourself and didn't get hurt, but that word doesn'tmean what you think it means.

umd

Btw, good job on not getting dropped after blowing yourself up

vdek

As a NYC resident and racing noob, what race series was this? Curious.

caloso

How far out from the line did you go?

tagaproject6

Sounds like fun. Do more!

Inertianinja

right. i meant that i pulled away from the group a good distance. i'm my own leadout man

CRCA central park scratch race (championships for the higher cats)

not long enough, i suppose. got to the point where i couldn't hear them, i almost caught the motorbike that was ahead of us, then it was o-v-e-r. at one point i thought i should look back and see where they were, but then i'm thinking about Lance Armstrong's "Look" and thinking "oh then they'll definitely know i'm attacking and then rush after me." like i said - noob mistakes.

caloso

No, I mean, how far away from the finish line were you? It sounds like you weren't close enough.

Inertianinja

oh, definitely not. in retrospect, maybe miles away. i wasn't sure what was the "Right time" but then i ended up suddenly out front with the pack not trying to push past me. so i just pushed, because i was bored and i thought i had more left.

so, lessons learned: don't attack early, even if i'm bored.

the real question is how to compete with a team when you're solo :/

shovelhd

That's not why you lost.

caloso

It can be tough if they're disciplined and have a plan. But in the 5's, every breakaway gets chased down (as you found out for yourself), so if you are attentive you can usually hitch yourself to the train that's going to the front. Save your energy and resist the temptation to go on a flyer, unless you know you can get away and stay away until the end.

Inertianinja

right, but 4 guys working together in a paceline vs. one guy on his own against the wind....

they did have a plan, and in fact they were working with another team. i heard them being like "ok you guys put your strongest rider out here and we'll do this and that...'"

shovelhd

Hey, you did just fine. You didn't wreck, you didn't cause a wreck, and you didn't blow out the back. Triple win in my eyes. Did you ride the Felt or the Masi?

umd

If you aren't strong enough to ride away by yourself, the trick is to use the teams to your advantage. Get one of the represented riders to come with you and the team will help you out. That's the idea anyway, good luck executing that in cat 5

Inertianinja

Thanks, man. I'm pretty proud of myself just for that much. I'm about to turn 30 and i'm *racing.* woo
Rode the felt, but without the ridiculous SRAM poser wheels. I love that bike. I want to buy it Red for its birthday.

Inertianinja

This time i tried sticking with the teams as if i were one of them. For example - they were at the front. a bunch would break off and attack, and be in a rotating paceline moving away. i'd be in it. the guy in front would move back and try to get in in front of me. i wouldn't let him. for what its worth i did take the front for some parts.

EventServices

Its birthday is when it was shipped? Or fabricated? You'll want to get the date right because inanimate objects sometimes react funny.

caloso

The 33 is strong in this one.

shovelhd

Did they yell at you? If so, quadruple win.

Inertianinja

it's birthday is September When-I-Get-Paid-th, 2010

i'll take that as a compliment. maybe if i ride aggressively enough they'll invite me to join. either that or i'll be known as that idiot who wedges into team pacelines.

i saw grimaces. it's a W in my book.

shovelhd

You understand what they were trying to do to you, don't you? They were trying to wedge a teammate in front of you so that he could sit up and dislodge you from the break, or at least make you work hard to chase back on. This assumes that they knew what they were doing.

Inertianinja

Yea obviously. But to do that they'd have to go fast enough to open a gap. But I kept on their wheels like tween on Bieber

ultraman6970

Thought this posting was about ************ or something! "I played myself in this weekend's race"

pdedes

try that in some pro 1/2 races. you'll get beat on.

echappist

it ain't poseur in this case, and CP is the perfect place to use them. unless there are sections of the race that average over 7% for a mile or longer, aerodynamics is gonna be more important.


yeah, except, in most P/1/2 races, you also have teammates.

though this does happen