Shayne

.....it failed big time.

The course was very NON-technical. I think that was why I failed. Only one corner and then a big loop, nice wide and smooth pavement. We had 45 cat-5's start and by the last lap we had only droped 2 or 3 riders. With only one corner there was no stringing out of the pack, everyone stayed together. 45 cat 5's all in a bunch . There was a pretty nasty crash just past half way, right in the middle of a smooth, flat straight section. No reason what so ever for this crash. Someone must have lost focus and 3 guys went down hard doing about 28 mph. One gut snapped his collar bone, ouch.

Coming to the line on the last lap, I was forced to the outside and was in the wind. A 7-Hills rider was on the front blocking so his team could form up, there were 10 7-Hills guys in the race. So I thought why not give it a go, and went for it. I think I had a pretty good gap at one point and I figured I would at least string the pack out, that way if they caught me, I might still be able to get back in for a finish up front. Well, they caught me about three quarters of the way to the line, they were not strung out and no one was dropped. I think I came in around 35th .

Oh well, I'll just mark that off on my list of things to try once and then never do agian . The races I'm doing now and the rest of the season are just for gaining strength and experience for next year.

Shayne

merlinextraligh

Good on ya for trying. However, the fact that a team with 10 guys was organizing at the front definitely hurt any chance you had.

Lots of time taking a last lap flyer isn't really intended to succeed. Rather it's a move to set up team mates. (i.e. raising the pace, stringing out the pack, and allowing your teammates to get set up with a good leadout, and no obligation to chase.)

Next time if your solo, and there are 10 guys from another team, try identifying the rider that the team is setting up to lead out, and get on that guys wheel, or get in front of him and take the wheel of his lead out guy.

cat4ever

You MUST be kidding! Of course, blocking while no one was in a break seems about par for the course for them.
I read about the crash here https://www.7hillsracing.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=776 dude sounds messed up.


ANYWAY...tis better sometimes to go out in a flame of glory and end up 35th than to sit in to finish 20th. Get 'em next time!

daytonian

Too windy especially on flat before hill for anyone to get away. Man they sure kept trying every lap.

waterrockets 

Yeah, that flyer sounds perfectly reasonable in the situation. Good job fighting to make something happen. You also showed that you weren't there just to survive, like the guys that finished 34th and 36th.

cslone

Yeah, I didn't end up much better. I tried to go with a break about 2 laps in which was quickly brought back. Then we sent one of our strong TT'ers off the front with another strong guy. I ended up spending the rest of the race going with every single attack that tried to bridge to them. They had a good 15 second gap when his tire flatted. So then I had worked my ass off, and the breakaway was no more, guess what......harder and more numerous attacks..........that I went with most of. Ended up pack fodder in the high teens/mid twenties placing wise because I had no kick at the end.

I just kept thinking...........WWJD. What would Jens Do?

Man, I hate that course, but still do it every year.

cslone

That site is getting unreadable with all the damn nicknames they have.

daytonian

One of their guys is nicknamed Lil' Abner LOL.

fly:yes/land:no

no sweat shayne, i have tons of crap to learn too. and don't forget, most of the guys that you are racing with were training and racing earlier this year and are peaking about now. considering that, you are in a really good spot. most of the guys in your race probably wouldn't have even been able to launch when you did. and you certainly were much stronger yesterday than i was.

it was my first race in the 3s and i got crushed. second or third lap, the little guy from olympus breaks. i snap off after him after half a lap and bring two guys with me (unfortunately, neither guy was from team dayton). despite me trying to get out from behind him, my spot in the paceline is right after the olympus guy = no draft. 1 lap later, i am toasted and can't even hang with the peloton when it catches me. oh well, chalk it up to experience.

cslone: thanks for gettin my wheel, bro. you looked strong out there (more than 38% ready for 3's).

daytonian

Off topic - but I heard at PUR some dude said ohiovalleyracing is kaput but there may be a replacement. Looks like fallen leaf is cancelled and their website doesn't work. Anyone heard anything.

curveship

Worked in the 3s. Kudos to Dayton for some good blocking work. Negative kudos to the two riders from the same team (I won't name it) who kept not figuring out the situation. When you've got a Darkhorse on the front busting his @ss to bring the break back, followed by two Dayton riders (cluestick: they're blocking), followed by you, then YOU'RE next in the rotation. If you're not willing to work, then get out of the way and drop back.

And before anyone jumps on me and says why didn't I pull through, I did. 1 1/2 laps to go, 45 seconds on the front at over 500 watts. Given that I was solo with no team obligations, I'd say I fulfilled my community service requirement.

Rant over. I'm not upset, I had a good race for the first time in a few months, which was a nice confidence booster. 2nd place, first from the pack sprint.

curveship

Really? Aw, crap. I sure hope a replacement works out. Did Glen burn out? That's a shame. I really liked that series.

cat4ever

Hey, I know you. Your family sat in our tent I think.

cat4ever

OVR's website is working for me right now, but team Columbus is not.

daytonian

A Spring full of Tim Tyler races and stale Clif bars isn't motivation for good Winter base.

curveship

To the OP (didn't want to hijack his thread completely with tales from the 3s ): +1 to what merlinXL said. Another good strategy when you're solo and there's a big team in the race is to try and get into a break with one of their guys. That way you just gained 9 teammates, as they'll be blocking for him, which benefits you equally. I was in almost an identical situation as you a year ago in my last 4/5 race. 7HR had about 10 in the pack, but I got in a break with one of their riders. That made my odds 1:1 rather than 1:10, and I ended up getting by him in the sprint.

cat4ever

Looks like I would be doing Tym's cat 1/2/3 races instead of a million man cat 3/4 races so I can try to win a bottle cage.

curveship

Yep! Thanks for the shade! I think my little girl would have been toast otherwise. Yeah, I think I chatted with you a couple months ago before one of the Dayton training crits. I ride occasionally with your teammate Alex, since we both live in Oxford. He had a good race -- ataaack!