waterrockets 

nice work in spite of the setbacks

johnybutts

Sounds like you're on target for some GC action at FSR. I've never done a TT, FSR will be my first.

El Diablo Rojo

We'll see, there are some guys who are really flying in the 40+ right now..including two of my teammates...between them and MKV..Kevin Schafer if I can crack the top ten in the TT I'd be really really happy...

First TT at FSR? You picked a nasty course to pop your cherry!

Allegheny Jet

Raced the Frosty Toes Kermis near Columbus OH today. Did the Cat 4 40 mile race. Temps were mid-40's, windy and rain the entire race, 40 miles of yuk getting sprayed all over made my clothing weigh at least 15 lbs at the end. I was smart enough ride with a rear fender, at least the yuk didn't go up my butt like it did to most everyone else. I don't want any of thse Amish buggy road pancake parasites getting in me then being a featured victim on one of those Discovery Channel shows. Ended up getting 3rd place in a 5 man sprint for the win.

jaq524

Grant's tomb crit today. The weather was nasty: high 30's with wind gusts reaching 40mph (at least that's what I overheard...).

This was my second weekend racing. I raced collegiate D's. We had one crash that I'm aware of, on the windy section of the road. I have no idea what made the guy go down.

The field started off about 25 guys I think, but my coach told me they were pulling people left and right. My teammate finished around 8th, with my a couple spots back. I don't know how I made it the whole race without wiping out or getting pulled. I consider just finishing an accomplishment.

The course was quite basic, as anyone who's done Grant's Tomb will tell you. There are two turns, and two straight sections connecting them. One is slightly flat/downhill, and the other direction is a noticeable but still weak uphill. The uphill was shielded from the wind, so we moved MUCH faster on that section.

Riding into the headwinds on the flat/downhill slowed the pack considerably every time. It was ridiculous. The road is at least 2-3 lanes wide at that point, and I still witnessed a rider in the women's open race get blown into riding the sidewalk. Crazy.

echappist

i'd surmise you race for nyu?

also, the real course has five turns. today's is shortened to two because of the "window tunnel" of 120th street.

johnybutts

I'm beginning to see that =) - Im pre-riding the courses tomorrow.
I've got a road bike, skin suit, aero helmet, and some aero tubular wheels. We'll see how it goes...

So last year TT = GC for the cat4.
I know I won't be top20 in the TT, so Do you think I should just attack on RR1?

jaq524

Yep, NYU guy here.

That was a good call to shorten the course. People both walking and riding through that intersection at 120th/riverside were literally blown over by the wind.

fordfasterr

2010 Fastest Mile, Cat 4/5 result: 2nd place. !!! WOOT !


Time: 2:12.50


(winning time was 2:12.40) < DAMN>


edit: forgot to mention that I rode a borrowed (used) quintanaroo that was 1 size too small for me (52), should have had a 54, and I used my regular road wheelset with it.

Also, the fit was done solo and took about 5 minutes. lol =) Still, I was 2 seconds faster than last year.

mattm

Love reading all the reports - good stuff!

My report: Tour de Dung #1 out near Sequim, WA. Set off with about 50 other Cat 5's on my last journey as a 5. Goal: No crashes, top 10. Two teammates in the race, including one I met while racing.

Course was three laps, only about 12 miles each, a few small climbs but nothing steep. Field was much smoother than at Mason, so that was nice. Weather was great, and the Olympic Mtn range was topped with snow. During the race someone said "Are you Matt from bikeforums?" (who was that btw? nice to meet ya!)

Probably did too much work on the front for a little while, then tried to bridge up to a solo break in the last 2k or so, but couldn't hold it so went back to the pack. 10th in the pack sprint. We never caught the guy OTF but all goals were met.

Now races will count for something.. sweet.

NWchill

mattm- That could of been me. My name is Alan I was in the bikesale.com kit. Glad to hear you made it safely out of the 5s and into the 4s. I will be joining you soon as long as things go well.

Since I responded to the thread I might as well throw up a small race report.

Sequim #1, my second race ever and I ended up 2nd, winning the bunch sprint. I was completely unaware of a solo break that happened sometime during the last 5 miles before the finish. He deserved the win after the effort he put in!

Cheers

ntnyln

Round 2 of the Central Coast Cricuit Races in Monterey. Did the E4 @ 8:30 and the 35+ 4/5 @ 11:15. Except for a little wind for the second race, it was a great day to be racing. They changed the finish line from right after a right hand turn to before it. That meant that everyone was screaming towards the finish line at 40+ down a pretty long straight away. That made everyone a little nervous.

The actual races were pretty uneventful. As usual, nothing off the front stuck, so there were some big groups heading to the line together. Both races ended similarly for me. I had ok position, but not great and got blocked out at the end. 13 in the E4 and 8 in the 35+. I really have to get better about getting myself in the right place at the end.

CrimsonKarter21

Yes. When I was with the 260-some large group, the speed was around there. My max speed was 41mph, and there were no hills or false flats.

It was shameful when me and the other guys who fell off with me were chasing at a paltry 30ish mph and got pulled at the start-finish.

StefanG

First race of the 2010 season, 2nd career race: Perry (GA) - Roubaix Circuit Race; CAT 4/5; 40 minute duration; Racing as CAT 5, unattached.

Race Strategy: Due to the flatness of the course and short duration, my plan was to attack before the finish, as I'm 145lbs and suspect I wouldn't be able to compete with the stronger sprinters. In the week leading up the race, I had a couple of training session (on the indoor trainer) where I simulated my potential break away for a solo victory:

* To simulate sitting in the pack for first half of race: First 20 minutes averaging about 200w (80% of FTP) (including sprints @75% every 1 minute)
* To simulate a break away attempt: I'd sprint for 10 seconds (to get separation) then hold 300w for 3 minutes
* Recover for a minute (@175w)
* To hold off the pack until the finish: 105% FTP (which calculates to about 250w) and hold that for 15 minutes.

Note: I had no idea whether 250w on a solo breakaway would be enough to hold off a CAT 4/5 pack for 15 minutes, but I figured I had a better chance of victory with this approach then sitting in the pack and getting outsprinted in the end.

Race: Race started, was surprised at how slow the pace felt and confirmed by my gamin unit. After 4 or 5 laps my garmin unit was showing Average Power right around 200w. Wow, so far this was lining up pretty well with my pre-race training (see above). There were several attacks on each lap; however, none were able to get more than probably a 15 to 20 second lead, and none of those stayed off the front for more than 3/4th of a lap. A couple of the larger teams seemed to chase every break (pulling the whole pack with them on those chases). On the back stretch of the lap (~1/2 mile stretch), the race turned onto a highway which had a 20 mph headwind (by my estimates), which killed most of the breakaway attempts.

I decided there was no way I'd survive more than 1 lap off the front (due to that head wind on the back-stretch nor due to the fact that the pack wasn't willing to let anyone get away), so I stayed near the front and planned to attack on the last lap (fyi, lap pace was about 3mins per), so my new plan didn't align so well with my pre-race strategy. Mistake?

For the next 2 or 3 laps, I tried to hold my position in the front half of the pack (successfully). Average power increased a bit over the next few laps, but still under 210w avg. Btw, was surprised at how stable and predictable the rest of the races were, no scary moments for me, nor am I aware of any crashes. I didn't witness any "squirlyness" everyone always talks about in a 4/5 race, maybe that's just because I'm "squirly" myself, so don't recognize it . Field size was about 45.

With 2 laps to go, I jumped on the wheel of another rider moving up on the outside and positioned my self in the front 8 to 10 coming into the last lap. Still feeling really good. My moment was approaching...

We completed the first turn of the final lap (nobody off the front at the time), went down the only descent, I jumped on the wheel of someone moving past me on my left, was in about 3rd position at this point, as the road headed up (however, only slightly - maybe 2 or 3%), I attacked! I figured I had about 2.5 minutes to the finish. I sprinted for about 10 - 15 seconds which took me to the 2nd turn, coasted thru the turn, looked back had maybe 50 yards on the pack. Was hoping that another racer would follow so I'd have someone to work with, no such luck. Sprinted out of the turn, sat down in the aero position, put my head down, and mashed! Note: I was now on the backstretch with that strong headwind. 30 seconds later I had maybe 200 yards on the pack (with about half a lap to go), but started to feel seriously fatigued, power was dropping signifcantly. For next 30 seconds I was suffering and felt like I was going nowhere slowly. Looked back, and the pack was about 50 yards back and coming quickly. 5 seconds later I sat up with about 1/3 of the lap to go and the pack swarmed me and spit me out the back - I had blown up. Rolled in at 29th position.

Post Race Analysis: I don't regret the attack, although I feel like if I had sat in (with my good position) I could have sprinted for a top 15 , maybe top 10 finish, but no chance of victory. FYI, race ended in a field sprint. I figure why not take some risks when no points/upgrade is on the line (as a CAT 5) and might as well learn what my limitations are. I was bummed that I blew up so quickly. Why did I blow up after only 2 minutes? Interested to see what my garmin collected data looked like.

Entire workout (212 watts):
Duration: 36:54
Work: 423 kJ
TSS: 63.8 (intensity factor 1.078)
Norm Power: 259
VI: 1.22
Pw:HR: 6.61%
Pa:HR: 8.19%
Distance: 13.21 mi
Elevation Gain: 395 ft
Elevation Loss: 415 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-18 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 937 212 watts
Heart Rate: 104 193 170 bpm (this is inaccurate, reading was blank for most of race)
Cadence: 49 212 103 rpm
Speed: 0 38.8 23.7 mph
Pace 1:33 0:00 2:32 min/mi
Altitude: 285 349 325 ft
Crank Torque: 0 994 174 lb-in

Peak 1min (485 watts): during break-away
Peak 2min (362 watts): during break-away

So, I think that the 362w average during my 2min breakaway is the reason for the pre-mature blow-up. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to keep an eye on my power to make sure that I didn't go out too hard (too much excitement/adreneline). My 1min best power is 524w, my best 5min power avg is 325; however, both of those "best" were done toward the beginning of training work-outs. However, if I had kept my power under better control, I'm not sure I would have gotten the separation necessary.

Feedback/comments welcome.

Next race: next weekend Union City Ga (crit on Saturday, RR on Sunday)

fordfasterr

Rosewood Series 1, race #2 Crit cat 4/5

Result = 6th. Out sprinted at the line by a few people...

I fully recalibrated my iBike and it shows MUCH lower power #'s than before...

HERE is the link to the connect.garmin page with the race data.

Time:00:49:13
Avg Speed:25.3 mph
Max Speed:32.4 mph
Avg HR:179 bpm
Max HR:196 bpm
Avg Power:177 W
Max Power:1,101 W
Avg Bike Cadence:56 rpm (strange, I noticed my meter was reading zero cadence a lot, which also screws with the power readings, I need to find a way to set my cadence sensor better)...
Max Bike Cadence:116 rpm


# edit: I forgot to mention that I won the first sprint preem, and got (5th..?) on the second one.

mattm

It was nice to meet ya, and nice job on winning the field sprint! There's video of our finish, I'll have to send you a link or post it once it's uploaded.

There was someone else I talked to in the peloton, can't remember the name though. Anyway cool to know there are more WSBA peeps here on BF. I'll be seeing lots of you guys in the future for sure.

NickDavid

Did anyone race Central Park this morning? I was registered and intended on going, but my basement flooded last night. I was up all night carrying buckets of water out and the streets surround my apt. were flooded as well. Ended up emailing the promoter late and asking him to apply my credit toward next weekends race instead.

Such a bummer of a weekend.

Gios78

So this was my first race. It was a Cat5/Womens 4 Race 30 min. race. A non-technical course with 4 right hand turns and one slight elevation change after the 1st corner. Pulling up to the start I stopped short and settled for starting in the back. I was very nervous. Clipped in fine and started filling gaps in and moving up.

For the first 15 minutes I'm fine. I'm sitting in towards the front. I keep telling myself to make a move but after a couple of laps the slight incline after the 1st corner was starting to fry me. The front of the group really hit it hard on the incline to tire people out. It was starting to work on me.

At about 17 min., still towards the front of the pack, I was really having to work hard to keep a wheel on that damn incline. I was leaving gaps and people were aggressively moving into them. 20 min. and somebody can't hold their line going into the first turn so I find myself way outside and unable to counter the acceleration of the group. I"m desperately looking for a wheel to latch onto but I guess people were getting pulled or giving up because I look back and there is nobody there. I look up again and realize that there was about 10 people left racing. Crap what happened to everybody?

So I get shot out of the back like I'm not even trying. With maybe 7 min. left I'm 1:30 behind the group according to the guy giving out splits. I decide to just let it all hang out. I can see the group the finally and I'm only 18 seconds behind...But with 2 laps to go I pop. I've got nothing left and I watch as the group fades away.

I averaged 24 mph my best ever but the surges too their toll on me. In retrospect, I should of tried to dig deeper to hold wheels and I should of not let gaps form for people to slide in. I also learned that it hurts way less to just do whatever it takes to stay with the pack than it does trying to time trial it and bridge a gap. I need so much more fitness.

Overall, I had a blast met some cool people and can't wait to get out there again. Sorry so long

fordfasterr

Great report !!

and yes, we ALL need more fitness.

mattm

Nice. Sounds like.... a workout indeed.

fordfasterr

Awesome recap, looks like you are right where you need to be for a good result, now all you need to do is learn the timing & tactics to get that podium finish.

umd

Funny how that works

Prime

Grumpy McTrumpy

..

ZeCanon

Holy hell those are some long reports. Way too long for me to read. Here's my last two days, somewhat compressed:

CU Crit - worst effing course ever. Just a big loop, and yet it manages to be the sketchiest course all season. Went with a couple breaks, but I might as well have a giant neon sign over my head that says "Mark This Fool." Came together at the end, we set up a 3 man leadout for my teammate (who is our only pure sprinter, and a damn good one). Mesa State had more guys than us and did a better one, plus I had some idiot slam me from the inside on the last corner and we lost a bunch of momentum. Anyway, sprinter came around me for 2nd behind the Mesa guy, I held off a couple CU guys for 3rd.

Met BFer Eric Budd (spelling?) I think.

The real story of the race was simply had much CU sucked it up... they had like 20 guys in a field of 40 and didn't break into the top 3. Fail.

UNC Crit: New course, pretty fun. Cold today though. 75 minutes. Once again I was just acting as workhorse. Spent a ton of time ont the front killing myself to real in some dangerous breaks. Got our sprinter up into a good group with about 20min to go. Again, I barely bother to attack because I can't get 10m off the front without the entire damn field sprinting for my wheel. Anyway, break wasn't great for us with 3 from one team, our guy, and a CU guy, but we didn't have the numbers to real it in and then counter. I would have had to bring it back myself, our other two riders didn't have the horsepower. And I can't bring back a break of 5 and then counter it too. So we left it out there and hoped for the best. Predictably, our guy got worked over pretty hard and came in near the back of the break. I led the entire last lap just for kicks and came in 2nd or 3rd in the field sprint anyway. Pretty good day, all in all. And I'm still leading the conference I think.

fordfasterr

UMD: correction, thanks GMcT.