johnybutts

Wrong discipline - but some of y'all might read anyways.
Excrutiation Exam:
Distance: 80 mile race spread out like this - 0.5 mile run for a Le Mans start. About 5 miles of single track. 30 miles of mostly dirt roads. 20 miles of single track. 20 miles of mostly dirt road back to the ranch at the start then another 5 miles of single track.
Weather: 41-46F and rain.
Category: in these marathon Mtb races you don't race category, there's the open class, then the age groups. I am 19-29. It makes no difference though, because its a true mass start - everyone together.

How it played out:
I don't run. Mid pack to the bike pretty much locked me into mid pack through the first singletrack. One big thing is which grup you make it into for the road sections. Obviously my group was... Mid pack. Within the first minute I could see the total disfunction of my group. A couple guys were bridging up to the next group, so I hopped on. It wasn't meant to be, on the second or third hill I popped and dropped back to the disfunctional group.

I spent about 20 minutes trying to get a pace line going, but hard to teach mountain bikers such things. Sat in, a group of two went up the road, getting about a minute on us. Fast forward another hour and a half, we hit the next singletrack. The two up the road were caught on the first hill in the singletrack. It was me and another dude by ourselves after that. About 20 minutes into the 2 hours of singletrack, I hit a tree and went down, other dude road on. So I spent the next hour by myself, passed quite a few people, but this was getting into "survival" territory, rather than actual racing.

FINALLY, I hooked up with someone. We road along together for quite a while. Then got another one - someone in my age bracket - someone to race against. We hit a super muddy off-camber section and the two guys decided to walk. I slipped and slided, but kept it up and they were GONE.

I got on the road again (dirt/gravel mostly) with no one in front of me and no one behind me. This is when I finally got cold. 20 miles left, after already racing for about 4.5 hours. There's not much to say here. I rode the next hour and a half by myself. I don't keep a computer n my bike, so I had no idea how much was left or even how long I'd been riding. I couldn't grip the bars, was soaking wet, my back was beyond pain, shivering began, legs slowed, and by the miracle of little baby Jesus I didn't bonk or flat - which would have meant certain hypothermia.

I finished in 5:54, good for 8th place in 19-29 men.

Back at my car, I had to get someone to take my gloves, shoes, helmet, and camelback off - then had to get them to start the car. I sat in the car for 30 minutes before I could feel my fingers. People were still straggling in.

mattm

Sounds epic jb!

echappist

Why do I get the feeling that this is RX's way of making others ask him about the newest addition to his collection of Caddies? Don't be shy, on whom did you unleash your emetic powers as you crossed the line first?

Also, does Strava KOM count?

Racer Ex 

I spent the weekend in Vegas destroying my liver, and no, KOM's don't count.

mattm

Early Bird Training Crit, Fremont, CA - M/1/2/3's. Top 10, out of 30 or so.

First race in CA! Loving it so far.

For some reason I started on the front, and went with the very first move. Dumb. Calmed down and let others pull and tried to figure out who's who. I guess the Trek-Livestrong kid that went off the front early (and stayed away I think) will be someone to watch out for..

Fast forward to the last lap, the peloton had splintered and our group/breakaway/whatever was down to 7-8 people, I think. I think the break of two was still up the road, not sure.

Coming in to the final straight I was about 6th wheel, jumped, but didn't have the legs to pass anyone but the leadout guy. 5th in that group. Works for me!

Jandro 

Early Bird Training Crit, Fremont, CA - Men's < 30 Cat5. Neutralized finish due to crash coming into the last lap. 50 racers.

My first crit and second race of the year. Stayed at the front all race (top 10), took 3, 1/2 lap pulls. Around lap 7, people started to fatigue and get a little sloppy. Coming into the last lap, I decided to drift back to save some energy for the half-lap/sprint (and dudes were getting more nervous/fatigued/sketchy). Rolling out of turn 4 (more a sweeper) I noticed some slowing mid pack and then heard the crunch and saw bikes and bodies flying. I was in the rear outside an was able to just drift left (no sudden movements!) to avoid it. I took up the head of the pack, again, and pulled until corner 3, at which point the race was neutralized - no finish.

None of my friends were involved, I rode away unscathed and put in some good effort. No one was seriously injured.

Takeaways: be at the front as much as possible, dudes tend to be way more predictable/smooth riders. Ease off the last lap or two and let others make the mistakes as they get antsy/tired. Get comfortable in close-quarters racing, put in some work, and collect easy start points and get out of cat 5 asap.

Photo of one of my pulls along the front (finishing) straight.

TMonk

than it was a successful race.

Oh and RE: the front

The front is a tactical, safe and smart place to be, albeit more energy demanding. Keep these things in mind by not being too eager to be ON the front (stay top 10), conserving energy by taking moderate pulls instead of trying to string things out everytime so others can come around you, ect.

The user Carpediemracing has some excellent helmet cam videos you should watch, if not for anything else they are entertaining. Sometimes he will tailgun the whole race, move from the very back to the top 10 during the last 5 laps and take the sprint. I think he has more than a few video examples. Having said that, sprinting isn't the only way to win a race... Try to be a man and start some breakaways! Now is the time to try it all.

Jandro 

I think I've watched all of his races. Definitely entertaining and the 'narration' is fantastic. Dude is awesome.

TMonk

for sure

Racer Ex 

FWIW the 4's aren't a whole lot better, some of the same issues. But it's better there because of the mentors clinics than other places in the country.

Take advantage of both now.

Fat Boy

Definitely not the time to drift back too far. On the last lap you need to be at the pointy end of the stick (maybe not on the front, but at least near it) to avoid the crash that will inevitably happen.

Fat Boy

Burly ride.

johnybutts

Copperas Cove road race 3/4s 52 mi
A single 4-5 mi section of hardback gravel road
Downhill finish.


Relearning to race. I wasn't nearly as sketchy as I thought I'd be. I'll sum up the race quickly.


Mi 3-15: think finance (11 riders in 80 man race) send one up the road and block.
15-20: catch them, flurry of attacks. I start doing way too much work.
20-30 hard wind and gravel road section. I'm still doing too much work - at least this time it's to keep me safe from crashes.
30: 2 guys roll away, never to be seen again - racing for 3rd.
30-52: I spend way too much time in the top 5 places. Couldn't remember which hill was the finish hill so wasted a ton of energy covering stuff with no chance. Was in top 10 going into sprint, sprinted wayyyy too early on the unprotected side. Lots of peeps came around me.


11th in the field sprint. 13th overall.


Played it poorly, but regaining skills, and got a huge confidence boost knowing I can go toe to toe with these guys again.

grwoolf

Copperas Cove road race 4/5s 52 mi (same route as above)

Had 3 teammates, we pegged one guy as protected and I was planning to blow myself up as needed to help him and get some hard training miles in.

We stay near the front and then spent some energy chasing down a break that had no chance to begin with.

On the gravel section, another team attacks and I'm killing myself to stay top 5 to keep out of trouble. The high pace mixed with the bumpy dirt/gravel road was brutal. Our "protected" guy crashed out and one other teammate gets caught up.

A single rider goes off the front. We know him and he's capable of staying away 20+ miles to the end. It takes 5-6 guys working hard for the long time to reel him back in. The group is down to around 15 guys at that point and my last teammate drops with cramps.

The group whittles down to 10 and then I get cramps going up the last significant hill before the downhill finish (~3 miles to go). I lost the lead group and rode in as hard as I could. 2 guys passed me and I ended up 13th. I cramped very late in a road race last year as well, it's so frustrating when you are so close.

I liked the course, but it wasn't what I expected. It looked hillier on paper, but was more rollers/false flats with some challenging wind directions.

220 AP & 263 NP for 2:18. I felt pretty good given my lack of hours on the bike this winter, just need to get some longer rides in.

Racer Ex 

Where'd they throw the gravel?

johnybutts

Still on Hammond road. I think they're in the process of paving it again. Part of Hammond was paved pretty decent

mattm

I raced, I chased, I attacked. I lost.

Today's Early Bird Crit was fun! Sunny & mid-60's.. short-sleeves, getting my tan going!!

Sat in more this weekend, let things play out and see who's who.

On the last lap we were about halfway through the 2.2km course, and guys on the front were looking around at each other, so I attacked. Only this is January and not July, so I blew up about 200m before the line and got swamped by the field. Came in about a millionth place.

Good training!! Looking forward to the Cal-Aggie crit next weekend!!

Andy Somnifac 

Learned something invaluably important in the first practice race of the year this weekend: no matter how insanely cold and frigid you are waiting in the registration line, don't use that in the calculation you use to arrive at what to wear during the race... I over dressed big time, over heated and blew up pretty good. Was a shame, since everything else was going well up until that point...

TMonk

nice racin'

beatlebee 

First Criterium race this past Sunday:

1. Mens 30+ 4/5

15th out of 30
30 minutes on a course that didnt seem to allow any break away groups. There were attacks but they never went very far. It felt like a slow pace until the very last lap. I stayed in the front of the group most of the race, pulling only a few times. My rear wheel slid around one of the turns but I handled it well and had no worries. I also noticed that my roller work has been paying off in that my pedaling action was very smooth compared to many others I watched. The last lap caused a swarm of riders to bunch up half-way through. I was boxed in the middle of it all and that was my mistake. I also was in too high of a gear during the last sprint.

2. Men's 5 (40 minutes later)

13th out of 40
30 minutes of a faster overall pace and more attacks, with one being from yours truly. This race was not nearly as sketchy as racers were smoother and no one going much off their line. I wanted to be closer towards the front near the last lap. Again, I was in a bad position but things opened up near the line and I was actually able to get more into my sprint but still wished I started my sprint earlier.

Overall thoughts:

1. I need to warm up a lot more. I spent 35 minutes on the rollers prior and only after the second race did I feel really ready to go. That can be fixed.

2. My base fitness is fine. I didnt even sweat during the first race and there was no suffering at all. (Didnt get to sprint really that hard though at the finish.) Now, I will work more on my build phase so my training seems right on track.

3. I read some attacks pretty well and didnt follow ones that fell flat.

4. I need a lot of help with positioning during the end of the race. It seems that the last two laps were all that mattered and I am not used to that at all. Race more and learn more.

5. Most important: I had a blast! Especially the second race as it felt like I actually had a workout. I wish I had signed up for the third race (another cat 5) as I was just raring to go at that point.

Next race in two weeks!

Thank you all for the great advice.

caloso

Crashed out of the first race of the year. Luckily I landed in the soft grass. Bike was fine, body was fine, so yay.

beatlebee 

good to read that you and the ride made it out okay.

Monkeyclaw

Was it this race: https://youtu.be/BJhGG6SPIZg?

mattm

Sorry to hear.

The p/1/2/3's race was hard. Started fast and stayed fast. Fun course though!!

About 20-30 mins in a split happened and about 20-30 guys got dropped, I made that split at least. At that point I went from the middle of the field to the back of it.

But with only 10 mins to go we were strung out on the headwind stretch when a few guys ahead of me peeled off, creating a big gap I just couldn't close... damn. Dropped. Damn!!

I was sad about the result until I remembered it's January and I've got time to continue to race in to shape.. but still not the way I wanted to kick off the season.

caloso

Yeah, it seems like every year guys show up ridiculously fit and fast for Cal Aggie. I wouldn't fret too much about getting dropped in the P123.
I am still building for my first peak in March so I am not too concerned. Yesterday was the first high intensity since my last CX race. So, all in all, I cannot complain.