The Race Report Thread 2009-2012
#4676
Making a kilometer blurry
I actually had a guy yell at me for going too slow up the corkscrew after the finish. Choice words went through my head, but I could not speak. I'm glad a tailgunner had the presence of mind to not slow down when the race ended. Riders like that fill a much needed void.
#4677
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Rose Festival Twilight Crit 4/5
Pace was slow. I mean really slow. At some points we were only going ~21mph on a fairly flat course. I attacked a few times. Got a gap with about 4 people. After I would pull for a whole lap (0.7 miles), I would wave the next guy through and they would just sit there. I was the only one from my team in the race so I decided to wait for another team to try and make a break because they weren't helping me at all. The next parts of the race were pretty uneventful, I stayed in the top 5 the whole time and won a prime. At the last lap someone dove into the last corner hard from the outside and crashed. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid it and ended up getting passed by a few people to take 10th. Kind of disappointed with the result, but there is always next time.
Pace was slow. I mean really slow. At some points we were only going ~21mph on a fairly flat course. I attacked a few times. Got a gap with about 4 people. After I would pull for a whole lap (0.7 miles), I would wave the next guy through and they would just sit there. I was the only one from my team in the race so I decided to wait for another team to try and make a break because they weren't helping me at all. The next parts of the race were pretty uneventful, I stayed in the top 5 the whole time and won a prime. At the last lap someone dove into the last corner hard from the outside and crashed. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid it and ended up getting passed by a few people to take 10th. Kind of disappointed with the result, but there is always next time.
#4678
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Purgatory Rd. Race Cat 4
3rd race this year, 2nd race in the 4s...this is essentially right by my house, I ride the course regularly, so figured I had a leg up....Plan was to cruise the two steep hills, and ride the false flats hard to try and get a gap. More a diesel than a sports car....didn't quite go as planned.
Hit a bump and punted a water bottle on the first lap....not happy about that. (mistake 1) Pack of 100 first time up the hill, and I wasn't near the front..(mistake 2). Passed a bunch of people up the hill, but a gap to the front group still. Worked with a few others to catch back on by the bottom of the big descent. Pace was good up the false flat section on the next lap, gapped again on the steep hill, caught back on again.
Pace a bit slower the third time up the false flat climb (perhaps should have made a break....missed chance), gapped again, caught back on again, but a bit quicker this time. OK position coming into the false flat climb, and two guys off the front, started moving up the inside, but door closed and then had a tough time finding a hole....(another mistake, need to work on positioning for spots on the course where I'd like to go)...tailed off again on the steep finishing climb...probably about 30 / 100...back of the lead group....
Next up is Hilltowns for me, then Tokeneke...feeling the longer steadier climbs might be more my thing than the short punchy climbs, but realize that I am still about 15 lbs heavier than I was in my prime 20 years ago....getting old is a *****.
3rd race this year, 2nd race in the 4s...this is essentially right by my house, I ride the course regularly, so figured I had a leg up....Plan was to cruise the two steep hills, and ride the false flats hard to try and get a gap. More a diesel than a sports car....didn't quite go as planned.
Hit a bump and punted a water bottle on the first lap....not happy about that. (mistake 1) Pack of 100 first time up the hill, and I wasn't near the front..(mistake 2). Passed a bunch of people up the hill, but a gap to the front group still. Worked with a few others to catch back on by the bottom of the big descent. Pace was good up the false flat section on the next lap, gapped again on the steep hill, caught back on again.
Pace a bit slower the third time up the false flat climb (perhaps should have made a break....missed chance), gapped again, caught back on again, but a bit quicker this time. OK position coming into the false flat climb, and two guys off the front, started moving up the inside, but door closed and then had a tough time finding a hole....(another mistake, need to work on positioning for spots on the course where I'd like to go)...tailed off again on the steep finishing climb...probably about 30 / 100...back of the lead group....
Next up is Hilltowns for me, then Tokeneke...feeling the longer steadier climbs might be more my thing than the short punchy climbs, but realize that I am still about 15 lbs heavier than I was in my prime 20 years ago....getting old is a *****.
#4679
Nonsense
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Empire State Games Qualifier.
3hr solo break, caught about 15min from the finish line by the pack. Then discovered I had a slow leak in my rear tire. Stopped to have it changed, and was OTB. A fun time, good workout.
3hr solo break, caught about 15min from the finish line by the pack. Then discovered I had a slow leak in my rear tire. Stopped to have it changed, and was OTB. A fun time, good workout.
#4682
Senior Member
Purgatory Rd. Race Cat 4
3rd race this year, 2nd race in the 4s...this is essentially right by my house, I ride the course regularly, so figured I had a leg up....Plan was to cruise the two steep hills, and ride the false flats hard to try and get a gap. More a diesel than a sports car....didn't quite go as planned.
Hit a bump and punted a water bottle on the first lap....not happy about that. (mistake 1) Pack of 100 first time up the hill, and I wasn't near the front..(mistake 2). Passed a bunch of people up the hill, but a gap to the front group still. Worked with a few others to catch back on by the bottom of the big descent. Pace was good up the false flat section on the next lap, gapped again on the steep hill, caught back on again.
Pace a bit slower the third time up the false flat climb (perhaps should have made a break....missed chance), gapped again, caught back on again, but a bit quicker this time. OK position coming into the false flat climb, and two guys off the front, started moving up the inside, but door closed and then had a tough time finding a hole....(another mistake, need to work on positioning for spots on the course where I'd like to go)...tailed off again on the steep finishing climb...probably about 30 / 100...back of the lead group....
Next up is Hilltowns for me, then Tokeneke...feeling the longer steadier climbs might be more my thing than the short punchy climbs, but realize that I am still about 15 lbs heavier than I was in my prime 20 years ago....getting old is a *****.
3rd race this year, 2nd race in the 4s...this is essentially right by my house, I ride the course regularly, so figured I had a leg up....Plan was to cruise the two steep hills, and ride the false flats hard to try and get a gap. More a diesel than a sports car....didn't quite go as planned.
Hit a bump and punted a water bottle on the first lap....not happy about that. (mistake 1) Pack of 100 first time up the hill, and I wasn't near the front..(mistake 2). Passed a bunch of people up the hill, but a gap to the front group still. Worked with a few others to catch back on by the bottom of the big descent. Pace was good up the false flat section on the next lap, gapped again on the steep hill, caught back on again.
Pace a bit slower the third time up the false flat climb (perhaps should have made a break....missed chance), gapped again, caught back on again, but a bit quicker this time. OK position coming into the false flat climb, and two guys off the front, started moving up the inside, but door closed and then had a tough time finding a hole....(another mistake, need to work on positioning for spots on the course where I'd like to go)...tailed off again on the steep finishing climb...probably about 30 / 100...back of the lead group....
Next up is Hilltowns for me, then Tokeneke...feeling the longer steadier climbs might be more my thing than the short punchy climbs, but realize that I am still about 15 lbs heavier than I was in my prime 20 years ago....getting old is a *****.
Course was 4 laps around a 10 mi loop. Rolling terrain except for the last climb which was a steep stair steep climb. Sketchy descent to start things off, but thankfully after the first lap, we shed about half the field and after that the narrow twisty roads were fine.
Like Mark, I got gapped on the first lab. Caught back on right at the bottom of the next climb, but I managed to stay with the group. After that I stayed with the group for the rest of the race. I had more success climbing the hill at my own pace as everyone hammered the bottom and then came back on the last kick. I just sat in the saddle and spun and my pace and crested the hill with the group. I, like Mark, finished at the tail end of the shattered lead group (I was up front coming into the last climb). I passed a Cl Noonan kid going up the climb and I knew he was sitting on my wheel going into the finish. I jumped too early and he got around me.
I felt good, finished with the group and had fun. For me, that's a victory.
This was probably one of my favorite races so far. Great course, well marshaled and it was run well. Props to Greenline Velo for putting on such a great race.
#4683
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New Bethlehem Crit (Cat5) this morning.
Felt pretty good through warm up and lined up at the front. Stayed 4th wheel through the first few turns. LOTS of braking though through the turns due to poor road surface. I took an outside line to avoid braking halfway through the first lap and found myself on front. They say attack when you're here so I jumped and brought another smaller guy with me. We worked pretty well together and held a gap for almost a lap until this gorilla sized guy bridges up and counter-attacks when he gets to us. I'm spent so I try to recover a bit in the pack. Unfortunately for me though this was your typical Cat 5 pack with people all over the place testing your brakes and your concentration. Sat in here for a while and eventually tried my up the outside move again. It worked, but by then I was burning pretty bad and was eventually dropped off this group. Suffered in no mans land until about 5 to go when a group that got split off early picked me up. Finished 26th out of 30.
Felt pretty good through warm up and lined up at the front. Stayed 4th wheel through the first few turns. LOTS of braking though through the turns due to poor road surface. I took an outside line to avoid braking halfway through the first lap and found myself on front. They say attack when you're here so I jumped and brought another smaller guy with me. We worked pretty well together and held a gap for almost a lap until this gorilla sized guy bridges up and counter-attacks when he gets to us. I'm spent so I try to recover a bit in the pack. Unfortunately for me though this was your typical Cat 5 pack with people all over the place testing your brakes and your concentration. Sat in here for a while and eventually tried my up the outside move again. It worked, but by then I was burning pretty bad and was eventually dropped off this group. Suffered in no mans land until about 5 to go when a group that got split off early picked me up. Finished 26th out of 30.
#4684
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2nd race of the season and career, first being last weekend, Cobb Park Crit
Lined up a little bit late so I was about 3rd row. 2nd turn of the first lap I hear squealing tires and prepare for an emergency stop. I had to slam my brakes like everybody else after somebody goes down, don't know what exactly happened as it happened at the very front. I hit the curb, but no damage done. Five guys went through unscathed, not even having to slow down. By the time everybody got moving again they had about a quarter lap on us. I was in the third chase group and was feeling really good so I went with one other guy and we bridged to the second chase group. After one lap with them, I went up with 2 guys this time to the first chase group. We failed to get back on the the lead 5, but we kept a really good pace. I popped on the bell lap and sprinted in to get 15 out of 40-45 riders, I forget the exact amount.
Race went a lot better than last week when I got dropped 5 laps in. I rode a lot smarter, staying out of the wind when unnecessary which helped a lot. Lesson for next time, line up early at the front so I don't get caught behind any stupid crashes. I think there were a total of 3 or 4 crashes in the race. Had a blast, overall a great race. Can't wait to continue racing and learning much much more.
Lined up a little bit late so I was about 3rd row. 2nd turn of the first lap I hear squealing tires and prepare for an emergency stop. I had to slam my brakes like everybody else after somebody goes down, don't know what exactly happened as it happened at the very front. I hit the curb, but no damage done. Five guys went through unscathed, not even having to slow down. By the time everybody got moving again they had about a quarter lap on us. I was in the third chase group and was feeling really good so I went with one other guy and we bridged to the second chase group. After one lap with them, I went up with 2 guys this time to the first chase group. We failed to get back on the the lead 5, but we kept a really good pace. I popped on the bell lap and sprinted in to get 15 out of 40-45 riders, I forget the exact amount.
Race went a lot better than last week when I got dropped 5 laps in. I rode a lot smarter, staying out of the wind when unnecessary which helped a lot. Lesson for next time, line up early at the front so I don't get caught behind any stupid crashes. I think there were a total of 3 or 4 crashes in the race. Had a blast, overall a great race. Can't wait to continue racing and learning much much more.
#4686
shaken, not stirred.
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Winter Series. 45km there and back. E grade.
About 10ºC and light drizzle. Lots of muck on the road.
First race in too long.
Medium pace out to the turn around pace. The pace picked up to the high 30s/low 40s (kph) on the way back. no one wanted to work in the last 5km. Tried a kilo attack at the last corner. Died a thousand deaths. chasers didn't get organised. I won.
I didn't really suffer enough today. Next week I'll see if I can ride with the "D"s.
About 10ºC and light drizzle. Lots of muck on the road.
First race in too long.
Medium pace out to the turn around pace. The pace picked up to the high 30s/low 40s (kph) on the way back. no one wanted to work in the last 5km. Tried a kilo attack at the last corner. Died a thousand deaths. chasers didn't get organised. I won.
I didn't really suffer enough today. Next week I'll see if I can ride with the "D"s.
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#4687
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My cat 3 career is off with a wonderful whimper. My second DNF of the season. 6 corner crit. Lined up in the back, never moved up. Half way through the race my headset starts to make a "crack" sound whenever I hit some bumps. Freeks me out because this was my first true crit after my crash and I "let the pack go." (I dropped my bars for TT practice and the bearings must not have set right. Hence the slight rattle and occasional crack.). Effing stupid.
In the pro 1/2 race Bahati absolutely killed it. It is amazing to see a guy go from the back of a 125 man field to the front in less than a lap. Impressive stuff.
In the pro 1/2 race Bahati absolutely killed it. It is amazing to see a guy go from the back of a 125 man field to the front in less than a lap. Impressive stuff.
#4688
nom nom nom
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My cat 3 career is off with a wonderful whimper. My second DNF of the season. 6 corner crit. Lined up in the back, never moved up. Half way through the race my headset starts to make a "crack" sound whenever I hit some bumps. Freeks me out because this was my first true crit after my crash and I "let the pack go." (I dropped my bars for TT practice and the bearings must not have set right. Hence the slight rattle and occasional crack.). Effing stupid.
In the pro 1/2 race Bahati absolutely killed it. It is amazing to see a guy go from the back of a 125 man field to the front in less than a lap. Impressive stuff.
In the pro 1/2 race Bahati absolutely killed it. It is amazing to see a guy go from the back of a 125 man field to the front in less than a lap. Impressive stuff.
I finished 17th after being gapped behind the crash on the hill last lap that took out two of my teammates and sent one to the hospital. Stupid race. Hopefully tomorrow goes better.
#4689
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colorado state TT championship Cat4: 38K of flats and false flats near the airport. good weather, some wind, hot, 80 some degrees...
put a lot of time into position and getting the most out out of clip ons and a roadbike.
it was my first "40K" TT, and my only scouting was the drive to the race which only covered about half the course.
paced well, worked hard. started to relax when i started passing guys on the first leg.
ended up 6th, missed the podium by 37 seconds, avg speed of 25.8mph. promising enough and enjoyed it enough that i feel like i want to invest in a TT bike.
put a lot of time into position and getting the most out out of clip ons and a roadbike.
it was my first "40K" TT, and my only scouting was the drive to the race which only covered about half the course.
paced well, worked hard. started to relax when i started passing guys on the first leg.
ended up 6th, missed the podium by 37 seconds, avg speed of 25.8mph. promising enough and enjoyed it enough that i feel like i want to invest in a TT bike.
#4690
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You race for wheel & sprocket, right? you guys always have a bunch of guys at Wisco races and I'm not sure which one you are! We'll have to meet up.
#4691
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colorado state TT championship Cat4: 38K of flats and false flats near the airport. good weather, some wind, hot, 80 some degrees...
put a lot of time into position and getting the most out out of clip ons and a roadbike.
it was my first "40K" TT, and my only scouting was the drive to the race which only covered about half the course.
paced well, worked hard. started to relax when i started passing guys on the first leg.
ended up 6th, missed the podium by 37 seconds, avg speed of 25.8mph. promising enough and enjoyed it enough that i feel like i want to invest in a TT bike.
put a lot of time into position and getting the most out out of clip ons and a roadbike.
it was my first "40K" TT, and my only scouting was the drive to the race which only covered about half the course.
paced well, worked hard. started to relax when i started passing guys on the first leg.
ended up 6th, missed the podium by 37 seconds, avg speed of 25.8mph. promising enough and enjoyed it enough that i feel like i want to invest in a TT bike.
#4692
Mitcholo
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Mitch's bad luck streak continues...
Raced outside of Gent yesterday at a kermesse. One of the big doper teams showed up with their two best guys, so we knew it was goign to be hard, that and the 120+ other guys at the start line.
The circuit if only 3.7 miles and flat with a good amount of wind and nice flowing corners, so I really liked it.
One thing about Belgians is that they're not used to pedalign through corners; they sprint out of them, wasting more energy than they need to. This is where I come in.
By the first turn, I shot from the middle to the front to make up a ****-load of positions. I was riding on the extreme right of the road when I hear "Links!". I make a little room and I see the black, red and yellow helmet of one of the heavy-hitting dopers, who used to be a Belgian nat'l champion, with his teammate on his wheel flying up the side of the peloton.
That was the last I saw of them.
Anyways, lots of fighting for position, a few stupid moves and lots of yelling...yadda, yadda, yadda.
There was a backstretch into the wind with a bunch of right hand 90* turns. I found that if I drilled it through the outside of turn #2 ont he stretch, it set me up perfect for turns 3-4 and I gained tons of room there, the only thing was that I was coming mm from pedal striking, so it was a big risk, but worth it, IMO.
At one point, on a wooded part of the course, I was on the extreme left, with a hard-right turn 150m up, there was a car parked on my side up ahead; I knew that I wouldn't hit it, but some asshat comes barreling through on my left and squeezes in between the car and myself. He pushes into my left hand and I in turn push into the guy on my right.
The guy then proceeds to brake hard in the turn and makes us all lose ground on everyone else.
What did I do? I open-handed him on his helmet and called him a "sh*t-for-brains". I became Belgian today.
A few laps later, I hit a pothole with some force and pinch flatted. I rode the rim into the ditch and proceeded to cry.
Average W: 253W , Average speed: 26.7mph
Raced outside of Gent yesterday at a kermesse. One of the big doper teams showed up with their two best guys, so we knew it was goign to be hard, that and the 120+ other guys at the start line.
The circuit if only 3.7 miles and flat with a good amount of wind and nice flowing corners, so I really liked it.
One thing about Belgians is that they're not used to pedalign through corners; they sprint out of them, wasting more energy than they need to. This is where I come in.
By the first turn, I shot from the middle to the front to make up a ****-load of positions. I was riding on the extreme right of the road when I hear "Links!". I make a little room and I see the black, red and yellow helmet of one of the heavy-hitting dopers, who used to be a Belgian nat'l champion, with his teammate on his wheel flying up the side of the peloton.
That was the last I saw of them.
Anyways, lots of fighting for position, a few stupid moves and lots of yelling...yadda, yadda, yadda.
There was a backstretch into the wind with a bunch of right hand 90* turns. I found that if I drilled it through the outside of turn #2 ont he stretch, it set me up perfect for turns 3-4 and I gained tons of room there, the only thing was that I was coming mm from pedal striking, so it was a big risk, but worth it, IMO.
At one point, on a wooded part of the course, I was on the extreme left, with a hard-right turn 150m up, there was a car parked on my side up ahead; I knew that I wouldn't hit it, but some asshat comes barreling through on my left and squeezes in between the car and myself. He pushes into my left hand and I in turn push into the guy on my right.
The guy then proceeds to brake hard in the turn and makes us all lose ground on everyone else.
What did I do? I open-handed him on his helmet and called him a "sh*t-for-brains". I became Belgian today.
A few laps later, I hit a pothole with some force and pinch flatted. I rode the rim into the ditch and proceeded to cry.
Average W: 253W , Average speed: 26.7mph
#4693
Mitcholo
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I was just getting ready for a ride after changing my front tube, and it turns out I double flatted yesterday. FML.
#4694
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I did purgatory 4s as well. What kind of kit were you in? I was the little kid in the red/orange Expo Wheelmen kit.
This was probably one of my favorite races so far. Great course, well marshaled and it was run well. Props to Greenline Velo for putting on such a great race.
This was probably one of my favorite races so far. Great course, well marshaled and it was run well. Props to Greenline Velo for putting on such a great race.
I'll look for you at Hilltowns / Tokeneke.
#4695
Look KG386i
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Tour of Washington County RR
Tour of Washington County RR
Lots of new challenges at this race, most of them being in the prep work than the actual race per se.
With a start time of 4pm and 90+ degree weather, I needed to make sure I had enough fuel in the tank while keeping my core temperature low. I gave it my best shot by eating predictable foods, hydrating like crazy and putting ice cubes down the back of my jersey (which makes you feel like you're riding around in air conditioning -- amazing!).
We began with a neutral roll out down a big hill, followed by a left turn, signifying the start of the race. We were to do 3 laps, then continue straight to the finish after two steep climbs.
The first lap had a few guys make half-hearted 15 second gaps on the main field, but none of them lasted. I noticed a guy in a Snapple kit next to me who had been pulling on the front for a while drift back slightly.
Me: "How are you feeling?"
Snapple: "Alright..."
Uh oh. This guy's about to make a move. Sure enough, at the beginning of the second lap, he slowly started to creep away from the field. So slowly, in fact, that I didn't think he'd last. But as time progressed, he put more and more time into us until he was 45 seconds ahead (and out of our sight).
Here's where I hit a bit of a dilemma. I wanted to chase him down. I didn't want to settle for second.
My thought process:
1) Stay in the draft, conserving energy for the final hills.
PLUS: Better chances of winning the sprint for 2nd place.
MINUS: No chance of winning.
2) Launch off the front and TT to the leader, possibly blowing myself up in the process, or soon after making contact.
PLUS: Chance of winning, or at least clinching 2nd place.
MINUS: Burning a lot of matches, possibly bringing the field with me.
3) Convince other guys in the pack to up the tempo and work together to bridge.
PLUS: Opportunity to conserve energy while gaining ground on the leader.
MINUS: Chances of strangers working well enough together and actually making contact would be slim.
I decided to go with option 1. I have a strong sprint, so I played to that strength. One guy tried to get a pace line going, but it proved to be fruitless. Everyone wanted to save their energy for the end.
I was at the very front as we crested the third-to-last hill. I could hear very labored breathing around me, so I decided to attack on the penultimate hill to cement 2nd place. I descended and recovered, preparing for a hard jump.
I jumped, sprinting up as hard as I could to snap the rubber band. I succeeded in dropping the field, except for one guy. He passed me at the crest of the hill. I tucked in behind him to recover as much as possible.
At the bottom of the final climb to the finish, he was about 10 feet in front of me. I had recovered enough to throw out another decent sprint, and rode past him, crossing the line about 20 meters later.
2nd place.
Lessons:
- Stay cool! Ice down the back, pour water over head on descents, etc.
- Know the course beforehand -- last lap some people went straight instead of turning?!
Unanswered questions:
- How do I stop the TTers from riding off the front? Or if they do, what's my best option to reel them back in?
- How do I manage my eating for afternoon races? With a start time of 4pm, I had a difficult time figuring out what to eat to not be too full, or too empty, when the time came. I decided to eat what I usually eat for lunch -- a foot-long turkey sub from Subway, because I'm usually hungry enough for a snack by 4pm. It didn't hurt my result, but might there be a better way?
Lots of new challenges at this race, most of them being in the prep work than the actual race per se.
With a start time of 4pm and 90+ degree weather, I needed to make sure I had enough fuel in the tank while keeping my core temperature low. I gave it my best shot by eating predictable foods, hydrating like crazy and putting ice cubes down the back of my jersey (which makes you feel like you're riding around in air conditioning -- amazing!).
We began with a neutral roll out down a big hill, followed by a left turn, signifying the start of the race. We were to do 3 laps, then continue straight to the finish after two steep climbs.
The first lap had a few guys make half-hearted 15 second gaps on the main field, but none of them lasted. I noticed a guy in a Snapple kit next to me who had been pulling on the front for a while drift back slightly.
Me: "How are you feeling?"
Snapple: "Alright..."
Uh oh. This guy's about to make a move. Sure enough, at the beginning of the second lap, he slowly started to creep away from the field. So slowly, in fact, that I didn't think he'd last. But as time progressed, he put more and more time into us until he was 45 seconds ahead (and out of our sight).
Here's where I hit a bit of a dilemma. I wanted to chase him down. I didn't want to settle for second.
My thought process:
1) Stay in the draft, conserving energy for the final hills.
PLUS: Better chances of winning the sprint for 2nd place.
MINUS: No chance of winning.
2) Launch off the front and TT to the leader, possibly blowing myself up in the process, or soon after making contact.
PLUS: Chance of winning, or at least clinching 2nd place.
MINUS: Burning a lot of matches, possibly bringing the field with me.
3) Convince other guys in the pack to up the tempo and work together to bridge.
PLUS: Opportunity to conserve energy while gaining ground on the leader.
MINUS: Chances of strangers working well enough together and actually making contact would be slim.
I decided to go with option 1. I have a strong sprint, so I played to that strength. One guy tried to get a pace line going, but it proved to be fruitless. Everyone wanted to save their energy for the end.
I was at the very front as we crested the third-to-last hill. I could hear very labored breathing around me, so I decided to attack on the penultimate hill to cement 2nd place. I descended and recovered, preparing for a hard jump.
I jumped, sprinting up as hard as I could to snap the rubber band. I succeeded in dropping the field, except for one guy. He passed me at the crest of the hill. I tucked in behind him to recover as much as possible.
At the bottom of the final climb to the finish, he was about 10 feet in front of me. I had recovered enough to throw out another decent sprint, and rode past him, crossing the line about 20 meters later.
2nd place.
Lessons:
- Stay cool! Ice down the back, pour water over head on descents, etc.
- Know the course beforehand -- last lap some people went straight instead of turning?!
Unanswered questions:
- How do I stop the TTers from riding off the front? Or if they do, what's my best option to reel them back in?
- How do I manage my eating for afternoon races? With a start time of 4pm, I had a difficult time figuring out what to eat to not be too full, or too empty, when the time came. I decided to eat what I usually eat for lunch -- a foot-long turkey sub from Subway, because I'm usually hungry enough for a snack by 4pm. It didn't hurt my result, but might there be a better way?
#4696
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i did all of my position tweaking w advice from the big TT thread, and trial and error on my morning commute, which isa pretty perfect TT course on county roads. Ze came by the house last week and looked at it and confirmed it was good, for a road bike mod, and offered a couple of small tips, most of which i incorporated, and ended up with what i think is a pretty tight position, and close enough to my road bike fit that i didnt feel like i was losing a ton of power or hurting new muscles (though my glutes are really sore today).
#4697
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Colorado State TT, "20k" for Juniors. Bigger than normal wind, 70 degrees, little hills. The course is kind of a zigzag out and back.
Because of the course, it went tailwind, headwind, tailwind, headwind, tailwind, headwind with hills at each of those parts. I passed my 30 second man pretty early, he seemed kinda new to the racing thing. I kept on motoring, and passed another guy. I came to the turnaround about 10s behind another guy, and chased him down for the 2nd half and caught him a few miles before the finish. The finish was an uphill headwind, and I was cranking hard. Crossed the line and it was done.
I got 5th for my age category, I got beaten out of 4th by .47 seconds! I did the math, 4th place was .02% faster over the course, crazy stuff. 75 seconds off of first.
Because of the course, it went tailwind, headwind, tailwind, headwind, tailwind, headwind with hills at each of those parts. I passed my 30 second man pretty early, he seemed kinda new to the racing thing. I kept on motoring, and passed another guy. I came to the turnaround about 10s behind another guy, and chased him down for the 2nd half and caught him a few miles before the finish. The finish was an uphill headwind, and I was cranking hard. Crossed the line and it was done.
I got 5th for my age category, I got beaten out of 4th by .47 seconds! I did the math, 4th place was .02% faster over the course, crazy stuff. 75 seconds off of first.
#4698
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So I have been racing juniors for two year now and my coach has been getting on me to start racing the 4/5s. I decided with the start of the Tour of America's dairyland i would do my first race. The first race went great. I was top 12 the whole time but ended up around 22nd outta 45 after the final sprint. Now for the fun part. Yesterday was the second race. It was a fast and technical six turn crit. The giro de grafton for anyone who knows of it. Going into the 20th minute we were picking up the pace for a prime. Nobody was sprinting but we were hauling at about 31 mph. I was sitting "comfortably" at 7th when two guys next to me went down. It was just like with Cavendish. The two guys were teammates too. The one outside veered left and right into his teammate. Since we were crossing over the start/finish line the boards were fairly narrow and we were about 3 inches apart. One riders wheel went into mine causing my wheel to go completly sideways. I went over the bars and slid/bounce about 15-20 feet. Had about 4 bikes bounce off my body to and a few guys land on me. In total 27 riders went down. I got up but couldn't find my bike under everyone elses for a bit. Once i did I got to SRAM neutral support and they put on a Zipp 404 wheelset. They were very nice. I'm banged up and have road rash on my knee, hip, back and elbow. My wheels are trashed but the bike is fine. I ended the day 42nd outta 66.
Question: Why was Sram neutral support giving Zipp wheels out? and Any help with a new racing wheelset would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Question: Why was Sram neutral support giving Zipp wheels out? and Any help with a new racing wheelset would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading.
#4700
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Ohhh alright. I know this is the race report thread but did Zipp have financial problems or something? And thanks.