Deanoldo

Here's Ricky, I mean fishmel after he crossed the line.....

https://leonardjohnson.zenfolio.com/b...9e3c4#hbf9e3c4


Edit: Damn, I'm too slow..

carpediemracing 

Race report details from Bethel March 14th (the Ris Van Bethel, as opposed to the Ronde, Circuit, Criterium, and Gold - that's all for botto's sake).

https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...is-van_15.html

cdr

JohnKScott

Awesome! Love the photo

botto 

bless you.

mike868y

Somehow I missed this post.

I'm sure all the other guys would agree - you didn't disappoint at all. I'm disappointed I didn't have more to give in terms of chasing breaks. 3rd in the sprint is awesome, not to mention the fact that you had essentially no team lead out and no brakes for the whole race. I'm kind of annoyed that the leader didn't identify himself and wear the jersey. I know I'm new, but a lot of what this sport seems to be built on being gentlemen, and to race like that seems kind of low. Hopefully we can get you the W before the series ends. Lance is a monster, and once he learns to conserve a little more energy, he is going to be awesome. I also think we should save one guy to lead you out, someone who is designated not to chase any breaks and save their matches for the last lap. idk, just a thought I had.

gwchem

Seeing fishmel's finish was funny. Some guy comes coasting down the hill, swerving his bike side to side like he's on a sunday afternoon ride, making faces at everyone on the side of the road. Great job on the W!

I did the same race in the 4's. 2 or 3 guys got into a break on the last lap, about 20 tired looking guys left in the field up the final hill. I jumped at 1k going down the hill, got a good gap, and my leg cramped and siezed at the top of the rise with 200 meters left. Coasted in behind the pack for 20-22nd, something like that.

fatallightning

how'd you hold up doing the double? contemplating doing the 4 and 3/4 if the weather stays dry.

DrWJODonnell

Saw that you won. Great report. And great job! I was hoping you would stew on those points for a while. I thought I had gotten rid of you by leaving the 3's. :-)

carpediemracing 

I think it'll be better Sunday. The idea was to have a few guys start saving themselves for the end but they were all cooked. I mean, you guys worked so hard I couldn't believe that anyone had legs left for the second half of the race. I was hoping to have a friendly ally at the end like the first week but I saw said friendly ally dressed warmly in street clothes during the race. So no friendly ally. That said I played it too smart, rode too easy, and dressed too coldly. This meant I never warmed up well, I was afraid of being at the front like the first week, and I lost a lot of energy due to the wet cold. This weekend I'll be more careful. I'll also eat more since I didn't eat much the second week.

The first week, after the 3-4 race, I breezed through the P123 race, started thinking about sprinting. FWIW I've only placed in the 123 (no P at that time) once in my life, maybe 13-14 years ago, and I got 6th. I haven't finished it for 10 years or so, and I haven't thought about sprinting in it ever other than that one sprint (the other P123s I sit up on the backstretch and soft pedal in). First Sunday I only stopped because of the big crash - wanted to make sure things were okay.

The second week, due to all my mistakes, I was super cold in the P123s. I pulled out after what, like 5 laps? But my form/legs should have allowed me to stay in, had I prepared right.

So, Sunday.

carpediemracing 

That is the best.

mike868y

I didn't do the 4 race. Slept in and got their late. I'd like to do both races though sometime in the next few weeks.

tspek

Studying does no good if you don't show up for the test.

fishmel

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Dean/Hinda, thanks for the link (kinda). As I wrote to my team, that photo just proves that even complete goof can win once in a blue moon.

DrWJO, You never had anything to worry about from me. I won't be leaving the 3's until at least June, and since I am an "old man" I get to choose whether I get to let a bunch of younger P/1/2s kick my a$$ or a bunch of other old men have the pleasure .

Hida Yanra

@fishmel - you seem to be from the south end of the state - are you going to be up here for any races in the near future? How about frozen flatlands/walla walla/cherry blossom?

mike868y

haha, good one. All these early season races are still studying for me though. Battenkill, Killington, and maybe Fitchburg are the tests

fishmel

Hard to say Hida, I have never really raced in Washington unless its an OBRA event.

CrimsonKarter21

I raced in Wallonia today (on our warmup we rode into France), the Cofidis, QuickStep, and Omega-Pharma feeder teams were there, some learge AmElite team from Sweden and the Japanese Nat'l Team were in attendence, I think liek 170ish racers in all. 120km, mostly flat with a small 5ish% rise and a small 5% straight-forward descent on the opposite side. Five corners, fully closed to traffic, and some rough stretches of road.

I used some of my learnings from Sunday's kermesse, and got a good starting position. It was weird; one second we were all taking, sitting on our toptubes, then we heaqr the word "go!" and everyone stops, says "Woah!" and gets ont heir bikes and takes off.
One guy in front can't clip in, I manage to get past him, now it's my roommate who can't clip in; I have to wait for a rider to pass and I GO!

I start fighting for position in the field; getting to the front in a Belgian kermesse is nearly impossible, but I manage to do it. Instead of fight for position, I choose a strong wheel and follow him wherever he goes. Fortunately it works and I start gaining. Now the split.
The wind was 20ish mph, and when it was at our sides, there was a split. A big echelon up ahead, about 5 riders strung out single-file, and then another big blob of an echelon.
The split was short lived because the highway (yes, they closed a damn highway for us) turned slightly, and the wind was at our tails. I catch a glimpse of an official-looking Walloon waving frantically, and everybody starts braking and jockeying to be up front. I hear the familiar sound of carbon breaking up ahead in the 90* right-hander.
I have a choice; ditch my bike into the chunked up dirt full of God-knows at 30-some-mph, or brake and wait for the congestion to clear. My Guide decides to ditch it, and so do I. Unfortunately, a 53x15 isn't a good gear so acceleration out of dirt run over by tractors, and I'm forced to both sprint, hold my bike steady and change gears.
Another right hander; the crosswind is back. Now I'm fighting tooth and nail to hold on. Everybody is strung out. I look back, at least 20 riders are looking lifeless and hollow. A rider to the left of me (the windy side) falls 2ft back of his wheel and instantly gets sucked into the abyss.
Somehow I make it through this awful, awful section. I've changed guides; I'm now on the wheel of a Cofidis rider. We go up the small hill on the course; time for my teammate to gain ground. Unfortunately not. We were literally climbing with our brakes on. These guys recharge on hills, and block off all attacking.
A few more uneventful (at least the Belgian-style of uneventful) section and we're suddenly FLYING downhill. Like 50mph down a very shallow, almost false-flat. I'm on the rivent of my saddle, my rear wheel is jumping all over the place, and I'm passing people left and right. Now there's a right-hander. Another frantic-looking Waal is waving, I hear another crash. There is a traffic island, blocking the race to one lane. I bunny-hop onto the island and keep going hard. The accelerations out of the corners are killing me. I'm taking about 850-1000w out of each and every corner. Waterrockets would be friggin humbled here.
I'm starting to get the feeling that the worst may have come and gone and that I mgiht finish my second only race in Belgium, and my second only road race int he past 6 months.

Wrong.
We get strung out again in the same cross-wind we got on the first lap that nearly killed me, and killed my brothers. Racign stupid has taken its toll on me. My once circular pedalstrokes have become square, have become triangular, have become linear. I can hardly breathe, but my legs are screaming to go harder like Jenna Jameson. I drop 2ft off of My Guide's wheel. I know I'll never make it up, but I go hard. I look down. 730w and I'm not gaining. My legs say they can go better, but my lungs can't. I pull off so that the guys behind me have a fighting chance.
I softpedal for 10 seconds, and 4-5 ridrers later, I see an opening, I jump in. I start hammering. I'm not putting out enough power sitting down, so I stand up. My legs feel like soft dough, and I'm getting nowhere but further away.

I pull for good.
I come past the finish line, the announcer says something to me in French, I say "Non francaisse, monseuir".
"You are kaput?"
"Oui"
He writes down my number.
"It is hard, non?"
"Oui"
"Next time..."
"Merci, monseur"




The next lap my roommate Justin pulls. He's not getting anywhere in the peckign order, so he pulls to keep from damaging himself.
Our British friend (who is amazing, BTW) manages to break from the peloton, and chases down the break solo, but gets stuck in purgatory between the break and the peloton. He's swallowed up and places 6th in the field sprint. The race pays 30-deep, but he doesn't get paid.

I learned so much today, even more than on Saturday. I can't wait for the next race in a few days.

The Moral? Don't go to Europe.

El Diablo Rojo

Great read..thanks for sharing the pain..my legs are shot just reading this!!!

CrimsonKarter21

My two favorite things about Belgian racing?

1.) 8 Euro to start. They give you a vinyl number for your back and one for your bike. You get 5 Euro back when you give the numbers back.

2.) You don't have to leave the house until noon.

El Diablo Rojo

Dude I read your report and it makes me realize how weak the racing I do really is...

wanders

Good stuff CK.

jaq524

CK that was fun to read. I think I'll check out your blog, and maybe live vicariously through it.

CrimsonKarter21

Don't check out my blog, I've temporarily lost the will to post. I've got like 5 completed drafts done, but I'm not happy with any of them. I suck at writing.

mzeffex 

Great report. Next time.

El Diablo Rojo

I just looked...I now really really want to go ride there...If I'm lucky I could ride enough to offset the 7000 calories I'd be consuming a day...man that food looked almost as good as those roads!!!