grolby

I really understated the seriousness of the rain in this race. Middle Tennessee is, pretty literally, up sh*t creek. Massive flooding here in Nashville, a portable classroom floated down the interstate and already one person has drowned where the interstate flooded. Scary stuff.

Scummer

Toed the line for a 35 mile cat 4 road race. Yeah, I know. It's short.
So, first of 5 laps of the race is done, pack is all together, KABOOOOM goes the mix of carbon, aluminum, steel and titanium on a road as straight as a f'n ruler. About 6-8 riders go down in a huge pile of bodies and bikes. It looked nasty. I was mid pack, crash was about 4 bikes ahead, I swerve into the ditch because of all the avoidance maneuvers in front of me , loose contact to the field and buh bye goes the pack.

Well.. at least I set a new all time PR for 20' power.

Alphalegacy

First Cat 4 race in Barrio Logan GP. Got dropped not even halfway in due to accordion effect and bad cornering (started in back). Quite a bit harder than Collegiate C's. I guess it's time to train harder

Cleave

Hi,

Nice.

forrest_m

After feeling really good all race - nice to be the hammer instead of the nail once in a while - I joined mattm on the ground in the big pileup. Thought I was going to slip past, but the guy to my outside started skidding and then I ran right into some poor guy on the ground and did a complete endo. Bounced off my head, cracked my helmet, got road rash on the back of my shoulder of all places. Killed my rear wheel, but not a scratch on my frame - rolled to my feet with my hands still on the handlebars! All things considered, I came out of the crash in pretty good shape, rode 12 miles back from the race (on a borrowed rear wheel) to the ferry and felt OK, planning to race tomorrow unless I wake up feeling way worse. I figure it's a good idea to get back on the horse ASAP.

I've mostly convinced myself that if you're going to race, your bike, accessories and clothing have to be considered consumables, or you'll drive yourself crazy with the inevitable attrition...

Cleave

Hello kensuf,

It takes me 35 years and a few dozen 40K TTs to go under an hour and you do it on your first try. I hate you.

Congratulations! Good job.

myclem

Missed this race. Family commitments. Sounds like an exciting course.

mattm & forrest_m: Damn. Sorry to hear you got caught in the crash. Glad to hear you're OK. Hope the bikes are still safe to ride.

johnybutts

Sugarland crits:

4/5 race: there was a prime for whoever crossed the finish line 1st the most number of times. I won it, for a shimano wheelset. I didn't do anything after that. ended up 18th i think, could have been much higher, but whatevs.

3/4 race: HARD. I hung on until the last lap. 2/3 of the field was pulled.

I totally wish I had a power meter to compare these things... but 4/5 averaged 24.7 mph, the 3/4 averaged 25.7 mph (and was longer).
What I lacked in the 3/4 race was the snap to close gaps quickly on long straights after turns. The cornering in the 3's is unbelievable, sooo fast. Things are also a lot more fierce, there's yelling and they fight for position rather than just sliding in, whereas in the 4's it's mostly quiet.

Also, the 3s speeds out of the corners were about 5-10 mph faster than the 4s.

Hida Yanra

mattm's bike is a no-go until the carbon layup gets repaired (or he may opt for a new frame)
forrest_m's gear seemed okay
that course was one of my favorite ones so far this year - it was incredible. Next year I hope to have decent legs and either a different team strategy or different results. All in all, a fantastic race.

Hida Yanra

yes, yes indeed.

Flak

First race as a 4.

It was a 1,2,3,4 combined field. Got in an early break with 4 guys; 3 man chase group of Cat 1s and 2s bridged to us with 7 miles to go. Dropped the Cat 3 who was with us, making our group 7 strong. The other 6 guys were all Cat 1s and Cat2s; and to make matters worse for me, were split up 3 each on the same team.

Missed the money by 1 place, but i cant be unhappy with the 6th place. Hoping to get my 3 upgrade soon.

kudude

uh....yeah.

apparently you've got legs. good job

Grumpy McTrumpy

Hollenbeck's 3/4

result : crap

fast race. 20 minutes faster than last year. even getting dropped I beat last year's winner's time by 10 minutes!

first time up the big hill I annihilated my PR for 5 minutes. 5.27w/kg (barely holding on to the pack)

second time, 4.4w/kg, result: OTB. did not catch back on. had no more matches to burn. figured 40th place or something. team leader managed 7th.

I am not pleased, but racing is my training, so I guess it's a step in the right direction.

recon455

Wow. Nice job.

swak

First Crit...
Did my first crit this weekend, and man did i blow it.
I thought id place pretty well (been training pretty good), but i attacked (didn't want to just sit in the pack the whole race), led the front for a lap, then blew up - the pack sprinted and i didnt have the juice to keep it up.

Rookie move.

GirlAnachronism

I had a great race today. Colt's Neck Circuit Race. Started out in kind of a crappy position, but my goal for today was to work on getting into/defending a good position throughout the race, and I totally achieved that. I found gaps in the middle, stayed on the wheel I had even when someone was bumping my knuckles, and took a good line through the turns.

I put in one pretty good attack (my teammate said it put the hurt on the field and judging by how slow they went once they caught me she was right--should've gone again!), it didn't stick, but it felt really good and I recovered well in the pack and probably should have tried another one, cause I had matches to burn.

I was near the front going into the final turn, started the uphill sprint, girl in the front went down and I slammed on the brakes, came to just about a standstill and somehow swerved around her without going down. Was way overgeared for the sprint by that point, but still passed someone for 7th. Very happy to be in the top 10 (and my teammate got 3rd!) and most of all happy that I raced smart and felt in control the whole time. Next time: more attacks!

NickDavid

Badass!

I took 3rd in the 4.

heckler

Damn, I wish I had gone out to Colts Neck now. How was the course itself?

Cleave

Hello,

Rode the Mark Reynolds San Luis Rey Road Classic. I say rode because I sure wasn't racing. Probably finished DFL, but I did finish. I am still not climbing well enough to hang with most of the 45+ guys that show up for road races.

I guess I need to lose a few more pounds to up my watts/kg ratio.

bostongarden

Overview:
Today was about riding and racing. Fun time!

Legs were dead Monday to Friday. On Saturday, they were not dead, but far from fresh. I forced myself to push a little on Saturday for 30 minutes in hopes that it would get the legs thinking right.

My move, when in trouble, is to shave the legs. And, so I did Saturday night.

Awoke this morning to find the legs not dead, although, not ready to put it down. Good enough.

First race of morning:
Blue Hills Classic Road Race, Cat 4 -- although, only 21 miles. 3 loops with a climb that can keep things honest. My goal was a pack finish.

Lap one was uneventful, aside from some folks breaking away for a bit. Not sure where climb starts in my data file, but, in about the right spot, I see 333ap for 2' 50". It felt ok and I was glad that I hung on.

Lap two was uneventful and I was glad to have hung on again as it appeared I would indeed get my pack finish. The climb did not feel as hard this time around. My data shows 322ap for 2' 35".

Lap three was about staying in contact. I was in the pack, but a bit back when we entered the climb. I eventually started to reel in some folks. Stood for final 200. Didn't feel too much in my legs at some point into it, but, I've learned to keep grinding away.

About 100 yards out from the line and about 20 yards in front of me, a crash, sadly, developed, taking down about 5-10 riders. I kept grinding away and by definition moved up 5-10 places; I also passed a few others, but, I was not sprinting for a place, just for the grind/discipline. Last climb data show 375ap for 2' 10". I'm guessing that I came in about 25th-30th of 75 in a pack finish. That's a good accomplishment for me in a road race.

Final stats: 49' 182ap/247np 25.5mph

I sucked down oreos and chocolate milk -- we know who to thank for that between race recovery meal I drove about 3-4 towns away, parked the car for my wife (who would be expecting it to be in a certain place when she returned from Cape Cod) and rode about 4-5 miles or so to race #2.

Second race of the morning:
Wells Ave A (1-4) crit.

They were a little bit behind schedule and then a crash in the sprint of the C race put them way behind schedule. This gave me more time to rest. I sucked down a bottle of G (still called Gatorade?) "03/Recovery" drink and helped out by serving as a marshal for the B (3-4) race. Traffic can come onto the course and I gotta tell ya, I was working hard at my spot (the Russian Math School parking lot for those who might be curious). I used my marketing skills to get cars quickly in and out of the lot, being sure to throw in as many "thank you" as I could -- ya want to keep good relations and the number of complaints down.

Finally, the B race ended; I turned in my walky-talky, took a couple of laps and headed to the line. The goal was, again, a pack finish.

Thank goodness the pace was decent today. Svelte Cycles riders aplenty, but, thankfully, no Justin Spinelli (who I believe is out at the Gila -- go EX!!); also, a ton of Boston University riders.

A group of about 10-15 broke off at some point, but, no one was chasing hard and the break was not pulling away hard. Eventually, a chase group of about 15-20 broke away. Still, it appeared that no one was working hard. I kept saying to myself "pack finish, pack finish, stay put."

I can't recall if we all got back together, or, we caught the chase group, or, blah blah blah, but, about 30' into the race, there were about 10-15 away and a chase of three formed; I joined them only because my momentum and tempo coming out of a turn brought me to them. I was fourth wheel, so that was cool. They slowed after a bit and I couldn't stop myself, off to the front I went. Hey, I was thinking, we're gonna get the break now. So, for 72" I turned at 363ap and got us close to the break. I knew we would get them.

About the fourth guy who passes me is yelling at me to close the gap. I thought about speeding up enough to veer over and knock him into the curb; but, I've learned to ignore those who appear to not have a clue.

Soon enough, the pack was all together again.

At one point, we're cruising down the homestretch and I'm filling a gap here and there. When I go by one guy, I flare out my fingers from the hoods and slightly touch his thigh (so he would know I was there). I then see another gap to fill. He yells at me that it is a dangerous hole to fill (I recognized the voice as someone who I had heard jabbering at others). Again, I've learned to ignore those who appear to not have a clue, and to trust my instincts. Bottom line - it was a great line to follow; within 10 seconds or so, I had moved from about 35th-40th to about 15th with no extra energy. See ya (I'm sure that UMD and some others would use more colorful language).

So, I made it to the bell lap and my pack finish appeared secure. I was able to set myself up for the sprint, although, not in a strong way. Still, I was able to turn a bit and came in about 15th-17th place.

Final stats: 62' 189ap/228np 26.6mph (34mph for final 20 seconds)

Rode 6 miles home and felt satisfied with a great morning of riding and racing.

umd

Raced agressively but stupidly... Felt good was in an early break but was caught right before the climb and blew up on some hard surges. Way OTB, pulled out.

kudude

so you got dropped after you pulled for a lap near the beginning of the race? I guess you won't do that again. it's not an attack if you don't get separation. check to make sure everyone's not on your wheel

swak

Definitely near the start of the race haha... But no i got OTF for about half a lap, group caught up, led the front in the top 5-8 or so... Pack sprinted i didnt have the juice from the aggressive plays, and got way behind, so just pulled off... No chance in hell of catching up.

EDIT: and on paper, i should really be ahead of what my performance was. Im pretty damn bitter about it still.

mike868y

wtf does that mean.

Flak

Sorry mate, paper doesn't mean jack.

I know i'm strong enough to be a 3 at least, but i expect to have to prove it. Until then, im cool with being whatever i am.