First Race this Sunday.
 

Hi guys,

My first race, Hell's Kitchen, is this weekend. Just looking for some last minute advice.
there is one big hill that I'm worried about and I was wondering if I am in a position to do it and have the ability should I attack and try and get a lead because I think I'm going to get crushed going up. Or should I just sit in if I can and try and catch up after the hill.

I know in all likelyness I will be shot out the back but hey I'm trying to entertain my imagination of grandeur.

Do anything, but this.

mine is tomorrow, good luck!

Mine was last week. Best of luck!

Get up the front at the base of the climb (like 2nd wheel) and drift back as you climb. Hopefully you're still in the field at the top.

+1.

Trying to get a lead on the group before the hill usually costs too much energy, and in a Cat 5 race, they're going to chase you down anyway.

If you could get off the front before the hill without much work that would be great, but it rarely works that way.

I'll be in this cat 5 race this weekend too. This is my last race as a 5. I'll finally get around to upgrading to a 4 for the NWA Classic.

This is going to be a hard race if you're not a strong climber. Attacking will just soften your legs and you'll lose buckets of time on the stronger riders.

No way will this be a pack finish. In my experience a cat 5 field is blown to bits whenever hills are involved. More than likely you'll have a lead field of 6-10 riders and then various pockets of 2-5 riders behind them. If someone is exceptionally strong they could solo to victory on the last hill.

More than likely a selection will of already been made leading into the Hell's Kitchen climb.

Please either update this thread with the report or add the report to the race report thread rather than create another new thread like Razor did. It's not even so much about the number of threads, as it is that we are already subscribed to these threads so we can see how it goes.

Oh, and good luck.

that is what I planned on doing umd. Believe it or not but some people, other than your helpful self sir, on BF have the gift of reason and logic at our disposal and had already thought of this.

oh and JoyOk, I'll be on an allez in a white lg jersey and Black PI bibs. I'll be the one looking really jittery probably.

Don't be nervous; it will be fun, good weather, and only 20 miles so it will be over before you know it.

Since this is your first race I'll give you the most important advice that has nothing to do with racing. Warm up thoroughly. The 5's have a tendency to take off from the start line like a shotgun. If you're cold, you'll find yourself in pain, hanging on for dear life in the first couple miles.

Bon chance.

My advice to you on your first race: don't over-rev.

it's bonne chance!

Sorry. Buena suerte.

Veel geluk!

I'm also racing HK this weekend. Cat 5. I've only been racing since last fall. I've rode this course and it is rough. The first hill isn't bad but the HK hill is brutal. Be careful on the bridge before the HK hill - apparently several crashes there in the past due to the deep grooves in the expansion joints. Once you get over the "entire" HK climb (it doesn't end after the first steep part), there is a lot of downhill - all big ring. Should be a fun finish if a few people make it over the hills at the same time.

Good luck

I warmed up for about 20 min with a few 25 mph little kickers thrown for fun. Waited almost 40 min for our race to roll out, neutral start.

First turn where the race began someone slams on their brakes and I flew into the back tire before the race even started. managed to hold it together. next 3 miles were easy 14 mph pace, so i started to move up towards the front.

Somehow got off the front by like 50 feet. looked back and started to slow near the yellow line. few people passed me then i look back and the whole group just blew by me at mile 4. For some reason my legs didn't want to put anything out on hills so i was hurting and otb at mile 4, thought about hanging up the towel but i figured i payed my money and i might catch someone. went from first to dfl in the matter of half a mile.

group had about 20 seconds on me but i knew a really sharp hairpin turn was about a mile up the road so i figured i would grab back on there. Get to the turn the group scrunches up and i start to chase. Start the turn and they have about 5 seconds on me. To keep speed up I swept really wide but cut to sharp into the turn. I thought i had 2 feet of nice paved shoulder to use but it turns out it was pea gravel.

The corner official looks at me with mouth wide open as i go flying off the course. somehow managed to save it but i was stuck in a big gear and the few people I had caught went right by me as i fished myself out of the gravel. for the rest of the race i then worked on catching people.

I only caught about 4 or 5, probably 8-10 with people who had dropped or gotten mechanical failures. when we got to hells kitchen climb at mile 14 or so there was what appeared to be the shattered pack climbing, was really the hob alongs like me, there was a break and then small groups of 2-5 riders for the rest of the race. shifted to the lowest gear and spun my way up.

got caught by the women's p123 break halfway up but managed to hold near them. watched a few guys who didn't have the energy or power to make it hike the bike up the hill, also saw 2 guys bust their faces when they lost speed and couldnt turn the crank nor unclip in time.

the rest of the way i just pounded as much as my legs would let me for the next 5 miles. caught a few more people. would have caught about 5 more but they hopped onto a solo break from the p123 and sucked her wheel for the rest of the race.

It was for like 37-40 place so i didn't feel like complaining about them working with someone from another group. all in all a good experience and i had alot of fun, looking forward to the nwa classic. Oh and jayOk got 4th place. he did really good. Oh and in the 4's one of the guys I rode up with won the breaks sprint for second. First placed soloed for like 20 miles and had 1.5 minutes on the pack at the end. and the womens p123 soloed to a victory probably 5 minutes or so ahead.

Good job finishing the race and keeping the rubber down despite some chamois scrunching moments

If I'm not mistaken, that kind of stunt can get a rider DQ'd.

Wat.

Sounds like a fun race though, good luck on the next one.

Yes, but it's kinda depends on the circumstances and discretion. As far as this race was concerned, they're OTB, and just trying to finish, so really its a no harm no foul. At a certain point you're just doing a group ride back to the car.

Now the women's race could have a *****, the break if they're rotation is f'd up by the hanger ons; the chasers if the break is getting assistance.

good point.

I've kicked dropped guys out of womens' fields before (when I was moto "official"). If you're all dropped and just riding in, no problem, but if one field is racing, dropped riders from another field don't belong.

I was sitting on the back of the 35+ race at Pine Flat after the accident in the 3s (like an hour later). I just made to to stay completely out of the way and except for chatting with a few of the guys hanging out at the back nobody even knew I was there. I made sure not to affect their race.

Slow start. They had us line up at 10:00 AM but didn't start until 10:30 or a few minutes after. Temperature in the 40's and cloudy. Everyone was cold so a couple older guys went to the front and set a reasonable pace for a couple miles and nobody complained. I sat between 3rd and 4th wheel.

The hairpin turn 'lacking' is talking about is where the race really started (about 3-4 miles in). I went into that turn slow (I knew there was gravel on the outside) and hammered out of it. I was at the front. Bunch the field up and then make everyone scramble/sprint to get back on.

At this point the race ramped up fast. I attacked several times to wake my legs up but didn't commit allowing myself to be caught. Nobody was anxious to pull so I spent quite a bit of time at the front. Attacked on the first significant climb. Caught a few minutes later on the downhill afterwards. I have a habit of attacking climbs hard and then easing up on the downhills thinking I'm going fast enough. I need to keep at it downhill. I did this one more time with same result.

Enter the HK climb. Tough hill but all and all not that bad. I found it fun. The really steep part was short and sweet. I'll take that any day over a 5 mile gradual climb into a 25mph headwind. This hill was enough to shatter what was left of the pack trying to hang on. We passed a few shattered 4's. One guy was puking his guts out. Another standing in the middle of the road hunched over handlebars.

A small group of us finished together. I'm fine with 4th but really wanted 1st. Uphill sprint to the finish and there were some 4's OTB in the middle about 100m out. They didn't get over. After dodging around them we had a photo finish. One thing to note is that it's not 20 miles. It's 19. I actually planned on attacking the last mile so was surprised to see the finish.

Keep at it 'lacking'. That's a tough first race. I hope to see you at the NWA Classic in two weeks.