Helmet Cam: Criterium De Bethel, April 11, 2010 (5th of 6 week Series)
 

This is the second last race of the Series. Did an attack; the counter that went won the race. Tried to chase. Did a little show with the current Leader, Bryan.


Race report here:
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...ium-de_12.html

Next up, final race.

cdr

Can't wait to get home.


Hell, I can't even read about it. Work filters block video and blogspot.

Nice, cdr.

Would love to see power data along with the vid, but it's still a great watch!

That first bridge was pretty amazing too, but I could see how that might have burned the legs out a bit..

Gotta love HD and I also wish the data was in the video, thanks anyway. Jeez, that was a fast chase at the beginning. I guess there's a lesson in there. :) Keep 'em coming, much appreciated.

that first move was an amazingly fast bridge. did you DL your SRM file and check the wattage?

Lesson - don't go chasing after breaks unless you're going to make them work.

I didn't look very much at the data until just now - the race was ultimately a failure. But now that I look at it, it's semi-impressive for me. That minute of riding - 501 watts (record is 587 watts). 1277 watt peak (about the max I see in a race), initial jump of 15 seconds was 1100w avg (high for the 5th lap or so). Averaged 30 mph for the first minute, from the launch at 25.8 mph up the hill. HR went from 158 to 172, which is about my max before I explode.

By the end of the lap I was averaging 26.8 mph, 376 watts for 2 minutes, HR avg 167.

The minute following my bridge/break/move I avg 131 watts. HR avg 165, so didn't recover. 21.6 mph. Huge mistake on my part. Race went away then. I had only one teammate that could pull, and even with the friendly team (whose sprinter was marking me and therefore missed the move), we couldn't chase effectively. We started chasing after about 3-4 laps, when the break looked like it was "just up the road". After 10 laps of chasing, give or take, the gap had gone from 15 seconds to 35 seconds and went out of sight. We were losing 2 seconds a lap. I gave up multiple times.

I felt that IRSMedic (Bryan's team) was satisfied that we didn't sprint for points. To me this meant that they weren't as confident in a field sprint, so this gave me confidence for the following week. If I were the leader, I'd have gambled on a field sprint to gain more points, especially feeling the way I did initially. But without a team to chase, and without the ability to do it myself, it was no good.

Once I realized I was toast, I wanted the break to lap us. This way Bryan wouldn't get away and get points. I think he could have bridged at 20 seconds, but maybe not. I know his teammates include some of the stronger riders in the area, and some of them have been racing 20+ years, so they know their stuff.

cdr

Thanks, great video!

Unfortunately the series was over by the time i got to CT this weekend, would have been fun to race.

I don't understand why you stopped?

Once the pack is gone, there is little reason to continue. No difference between placing 50th or DNF. It's a race, not a charity ride.

+1

I was totally blown. I don't show it but I was pulling a lot on the backstretch (but for helmet cam stuff, seeing an empty road in front is pretty boring). I buried myself to get the gap down but it didn't work. Therefore I had to leave it up to fate - I couldn't influence the race anymore. I had no idea how far it was to the finish, but I sat up, stopped. Luckily it was only a couple laps to go.

I did start the next race (P123), realized I was done, did one big attack, dropped out after I got caught.

cdr

Awesome vid CDR. I envy your ability to move through the pack. Looking forward to seeing more from you (especially the one from the last week).

Or to kill them. (But that was a lot of matches to burn just to shut down a disorganized break.)

Great video. It shows that DNF doesn't always mean OTB and lapped.

I also loved how your teammate with the big diesel engine was still in the head of your rival. Often the threat is much more powerful than the thing itself.

Loved it!

My favorite moment: 2:20.:)

That was the last time you were in range of the camera. Heh. I don't know how you guys were doing up there (someone told me only a few guys were working?), but we chased pretty hard and got nowhere. Of course me chasing "hard" and some of the really strong guys chasing hard are two different things.

cdr

SOC is a beast. He was in the mix with some P12's in the A training races last summer. Once he actually gets enough time off from work to ride, he's a monster. And he's a really nice guy at that.

I forgot about that. 2nd in one of the final Tues Night races, beating some very good riders, 4 man break scattered everywhere in the last two laps, and he totally held his own.

I'm trying to figure out where/when I can race for these guys. First I need a bike with a BB 10 cm higher so that the guys have something to draft. Me way down there doesn't help much.

I should clarify that by the time Bryan and I attacked, the race was done. It was just a show, but we meant it to be just the two leaders. I was going to tell SOC when I pulled up to him but Bryan went at that moment. So I couldn't. He chased until I told him to sit up. I still feel bad about that.

cdr

I think a lot of guys are doing CTSR. They complain about my [lack of] draft too.

I'm doing something wrong.

I am amazed that you can have the discussion of the time gap and who is going to close it around 3:30. I can barely see straight while I'm racing, let alone carry on a conversation. Great stuff cdr.

lol. When I read your first sentence I thought of those various pictures that everyone posts and I wonder where the heck they found them.

Re: talking - you'll notice it's pretty curt. Also SOC is the guy doing much of the work, not me, although I'm helping. He's the one conscious enough to know the gap (and his wife was yelling splits to him, not me). And although I may have been at my physical limit, I was also really concerned about the whole tactical situation. Therefore I made myself talk.

When John rolled up to me we (SOC, me, one or two others) had been pulling for a while and then eased a bit. In other words we'd blown up. IRSMedic had started to bubble to the surface, marking moves, and since they weren't necessarily blocking, they were up there because no one was working. At that point, even though I was tired, I wasn't aerobically maxed. John lit the fire under our butts, got us to work a bit, basically committed us to chase until we blew. Since I blew, and I was the focus of Expo, I told SOC to sit up. He wouldn't, but eventually did. I edited it out but after he took the drink he started pedaling again and gapped me off his wheel. I yelled at him to ease up, then finally to coast. He got the message but was still going too hard for me (maybe 22 mph). I was totally cooked.

In the P123 race the "chases" are very, very different. One lap there's an attack. Next lap, they have a 20 second gap. Next lap we're going Mach 3 down the backstretch, I'm wondering who the EFF is pulling this EFFING hard because we're going 35-40 mph, pray that I can keep the gaps closed, and suddenly the pack is together. Repeat ad nauseum (not literally, hopefully). I was hoping for that but we had no P123 type legs in the field. Therefore we lost.

cdr

looks like soc is in form. imagine what that guy would do if he actually trained more than 6 hours a week.

btw - i've learned the trick to watching your videos: mute. ;)

SOC got sick during the Series. His basement got flooded (and it's finished... well, it was finished). Emergency session called one week. He drives 1.5 hours for another event each day before he drives the 40 min to the race. His bike was messed up from various incidents - bent der hanger, bent bars. He's returning after a broken shoulder in Oct - wasn't sure how he'd fare in a field, wasn't sure if he'd be okay in a pack. I didn't have the helmet cam on that first week but he spent 2.5 of the last 3 laps in first or second spot (I was glued to his wheel), just killing himself to keep me up there and the field semi-strung out. So, yeah, to see him with some training will be insane. I hope I can help him in some races somewhere - each time I've tried for the last year I've failed. Well, except for fitting him to his bike :)

YOU must be the one that thinks the music is "ghastly". I tell my brother (one in Wilton) this all the time and we all laugh. "Man, I can't believe that someone thinks this music is 'ghastly'". (Pause for a moment). "hahahahahaha". We love the word "ghastly". Awesome word.

I even turned down the music since the mic works on the ContourHD. Like from 100% to 25-30%, depending on the recording. The 4-track stuff from 20 years ago, recorded in a bedroom by a bunch of 16-20 year olds, transferred to tape, digitally copied, preciously saved, that stuff will always be poor quality, low volume. Some of it is good quality though and is so loud (and clear) that it shocks me when it kicks in. But you can hear us talk now. Maybe that's a bad thing.

cdr

nope, that wasn't me with the ghastly comment.

as far as the music, i'm just not much a fan of putting music to cycling videos. granted, they'd probably be boring without it, but silent works well, especially with your narrative.

and regarding soc, you need to push him to do more road races.

I was staying at or near the front of the break for the first half of our break, and we were working hard to pull away. After the last guys joined us, I drifted back a bit to catch my breath, and it looked like there was some disorganization up front. It never got bad enough to cause any problems (and this was one of the most consistently fast races I've seen) but it looked a bit messy.

No kidding. C'mon, guys, there are plenty of spaces left at Sterling!