Grumpy McTrumpy

https://grumpyeatstheworld.blogspot.c...inghamton.html

don't quit.

wens

Nope, unattached this year. And yes, I'm kind of surprised no one crashed during the neutral rollout, it was that stupid.

Blackdays

Yeah, hopefully next week is better. I'm confident I'll get dropped again because I have zero fitness at the moment.

Feel free to come up and say Hi.

wens

Will do. Name's Bill, bike's a blue caad9, so you have some idea who I am.

bostongarden

Wells A today. Adam Myerson won it, and, someone said Jeremy Powers was there as well -- I don't know what he looks like so I can't confirm. Myerson got a big separation just before 2 to go with an explosive move. Someone went down hard about 5-6 minutes in, going for a prime if I recall correctly. The race started over after the ambulance left and about 30 minutes of downtime. Pace must have been harder than I realized. A group of 5-6 broke off and then there was the rest of us. I did a fair bit of work up near the front and this must have tuckered me out some as I was otb with 13 laps to go -- I was far from the only one who was otb today. I got a good workout in and weather was terrific!!!

Blackdays

Cool. My name's Ron.

godshammgod

I actually caught the beginning and end of this. I work at a TV station on Wells Ave and we heard police scanner traffic about the crash so I ran out quickly as the race was neutralized. I came out about an hour later to catch the finish...right as Adam made his winning move. I think Jeremy Powers finished second, assuming he was the only Jelly Belly rider there.

climber7

nice job! that princeton guy was me. had a minute lead by the top of the climb but i figured you guys hadn't really started pushing the pace yet. didn't think i'd be able to stay off the front for 30 miles, but i figured i'd just go for it...still new to racing so i'm trying out stuff to see what happens. besides, i'm definitely a climber and not a sprinter, so i figured the course suited me. legs didn't hold up, though, so i got dropped halfway up that climb on the second lap. lost 2 minutes on you guys before the finish but held it together for 11th place...and there was still a 5 minute gap behind me. pretty happy with how it went considering i haven't raced much. hell of a course, though.

we also won the men's C TTT, though...definitely took a lot out of my legs since it was right before the RR, but it was worth it. got medals!

and today's crit: started in the dead last row in another huge combined men's C (C1+C2) field. did a lot better than last time, though. moved up gradually for the first half of the race and finally got up near the front, then sat in and raced smart. i think 2 guys went off the front late in the race - didn't see the move happen, just noticed they were gone. moved into the front of the pack for the last lap and led out half of that lap...since i don't have a sprint, i figured i'd just start early. bunch of guys went around me, but if i had to guess i'd say i was somewhere in the 10-15 place range. results aren't up yet so i'm not sure.

had a great weekend, and thanks to penn state for hosting.

echappist

Mikey was in the break that got away.

Hope to see all of you racing in B's next year.

VT Biker

While my finish was not necessarily superb (24 out of 80), given it was only my 5th race, the way the race went for me was a positive.

A) I made sure to have a good position on the first turn-around on 34, and made the first split of the pack.
B) After turning north onto 217, a group of about 5 riders broke away and got probably about 200m ahead. A junior in our group started chasing, but no one else followed. I finally decided that this was a chance in the race to make a move, and chased as well. My chasing then caused about 15 other riders to join, as we were able to catch the break, and close the gap. This was the decisive move in the race, as the 20 of us stayed away for most of the race. It was the first time I have responded to an attack, caught back on, and was part of the decisive move.
Where the race went south for me was after that break.
1) I clearly need to learn to fuel more during the race, as I blew up right before the final route along 34.
2) Part of this was due to the fact that in the rear of the break, it was a constant surge/brake, surge/brake. I am not sure why this was, but I think it was due to a few riders in the middle struggling to keep the pace, and so they would fall off, then surge to catch back up out of the wind.
3) I was kind of stuck, as we ended up in a single pace line. So any chance to move ahead would have exposed me to the head wind, with no place to get safe, and the riders in the front were not interested in letting me in. So I stuck in the rear, with the constant surging/stopping action.

Once I dropped off the break, I solo’d it the rest of the way. A few other 4’s caught up with me, as they had worked together the entire way to try to catch the break. 6 minutes off the winning time, but still, in the top 1/3 of the race, and having held on to the lead group of the race for most of is a positive for me.

Ohmannuel

I did the Chuck Pontius Criterium cat 4 today. The weather was nice IMO overcast, slight drizzle but no real rain or anything to complain about. The course was near perfect; the exception being turn one that went from 4 lanes to 2 with a median. I didn't have any kind of warm up so the first few laps I was fighting to keep up. At one point I looked back and no one was there, eek. I noticed a lot of teams out today, none larger than ReMax with maybe 6 or more strong. After about 3 laps I got in rhythm and moved to the middle/front. I could tell I didn't have much left after Devil's punchbowl yesterday so I just used this as a feeler race. I moved to the front and saw a few guys take off I felt I didn't have much left so I went with it and bridged. After they caught me I made my way to the mid/back and got some rest. On turn one a few guys crashed (I heard no broken bones) right behind me and even the guy to my left went down. I just looked forward and kept pedaling hard. I made it out and I hope those guys are okay. I didn't contest the final lap but this was a great learning experience, my first cat 4 crit. I'll be back next year.

mike868y

Easterns Crit @ PSU
Started pretty far back in a field of about 50-70 so I made it a priority to move up as quick as I got. Got near the front and there was a 4 man break up the road. I tried to carry my momentum and bridge to them but I was too fried and had to drop back in the pack. Then a two man group got away so I bridged up to them super hard but when I got there they just sat up. So I sat in the field for a few laps. There was a prime and right as everyone was slowing up after the prime I moved towards the front and attacked on the most technical part of the course. Got a good gap and kept pushing hard. I looked back eventually and there was a UNH guy with me. Thankfully, unh had a big squad there so they were able to control the field. We worked well together and stayed away to the end. Ended up 2nd which I'm super pumped with. It was a great day and a great way to end the season!

GirlAnachronism

4th Place at the Quabbin Reservoir Road Race yesterday. Like shovelhd said, it was in the mid-30s, raining, and windy, which I should have known was a good omen for me, as most of my results seem to come when it's either freezing-ass cold and raining sideways or 110 degrees with 90% humidity.

As in shovelhd's race, the attacks started right after the neutral descent. Fortunately they were coming from my new teammate, who is ridiculously strong. I stuck to her wheel and five of us got away early. At mile fifteen I made a stupid mistake that cost me a shot at the podium--took a long pull right before a long climb, then got stuck on the wheel of a crazy girl that I knew was going to be dropped quickly. She got gapped and while I think I could have hung with that break I just couldn't accelerate to close that gap at that time and the three of them rode away.

The crazy girl was way back there, and the pack was nowhere in sight, so I figured what the hell and put my head down and pedaled like crazy. I knew that my one advantage being out there in the wind all day alone was my ability to descend (primarily because I am stupid and lack the appropriate amount of fear), so I went completely ballistic on the descents, never stopped pedaling, climbed at a power a little above what I know I can sustain, and somehow held off the pack for 50 miles solo.

echappist

that's awesome.

Ohmannuel

Good for you, going for it after the fact. 4th is still very good and if you had to solo 50 miles then DAMN! Great job. Live and learn from your mistake. Normally I'm the guy people don't want to be behind on the climb (eek) but I understand because that's how I feel when I get stuck behind someone descending.

GirlAnachronism

Thanks guys. I'm happy with the result. Oh, and my teammate won by riding away from the other two girls at mile 30, then catching and passing the women's 123 race that started before us.

SalsaPodio

Ken Woods Road Race - Collegiate A/B

Races usually start out pretty slow, so I was just hanging in the back. All the sudden a few Iowa guys attack and I get caught behind a bunch of people. Work with a guy from UNI and KU to eventually chase down the break after about 10 miles. My HR and power were through the roof trying to catch those guys. Once we caught on they pace slowed and we spent the next 50 miles attacking/chasing/dropping a few people. Longer climb right by the finish. Tried to make something happen, but got caught. Ended up 5th.

U of M campus crit - Collegiate A

Pretty uneventful. Sat in for the first 30 minutes. Launched some attacks and got into a break that I thought might stick, but got caught. Bad position into the last turn so I just pedaled in. 10-15 or something around there.

I only need 9 more points for my 2 upgrade, and I'm hoping to get them at an omnium this coming weekend.

ericm979

Congratulations Mike and GA. Sounds like both of you are doing well.

echappist

Salsa, congrats on the points. You've officially become my role model as you are juggling this cycling chemist thing pretty well.

out of curiosity, this does get you pretty close to a cat 3 upgrade, right?

SalsaPodio

It helps when some of the experiments you run take a month+ to complete . So there are always a few weeks of relatively little activity preceded and followed by many nights in the lab, which translate into rest days.

It's hard, but you can make time, and frankly, I don't really care if I graduate a semester later.

My major professor has actually said that sometimes he thinks I major in cycling and minor in materials science. I still come up with good results, so he is fine with it.

ridethecliche

Great job Mikey!

Nice to see you figuring things out. Go back and read some of your posts from a year ago and just look at how far you've come!

Congrats.

echappist

That's the word i expect my boss to say at any moment now, despite training for only 10 hours/week and 14 hours/week max.

mike868y

thanks rtc. this year has been amazing. once things start clicking it just motivates you to work harder.

jsutkeepspining

im coming out to the one this week. ill be in the team spin kit riding a cervelo, and may be using an aero rear wheel, if my training wheels spokes arnt replaced by then.

Racer Ex 

I'm starting to like you kid.

BTW, if Botto was still active he'd give you a grudging thumbs up.

Smart aggressive racing.