Homebrew01

Anyone familiar with the Quabbin Road Race on April 23 ?
I was thinking it was too hilly for me, but the race flyer says:

"39x23 is all you would need. Most racers will only use 39 x 19"

I'm not sure I could escape the family that day, but I haven't done a road race in a while.

Thoughts about the race & the course ?

chado445510

It is pretty hilly, I'll be there. I have a 34x25, and I certainly couldn't do it in that 39x19. They have a course in there somewhere.

shovelhd

I live about 2 miles from the start/finish. It's my first A race.

I have never raced it, but I ride the course often. There are no long walls. One of the hardest climbs is the finish to the tower, because it's at the end. If you have an 11T gear, you will use it on the descents. In general the terrain is rolling. I will run an 11/25 with a standard, mainly to keep the chainline optimized.

Realize that it is not a USAC race this year and thus there will be no upgrade points.

DennisD

I agree with Shovelhd -- in general it is rolling. Even the last hill, which is the toughest, isn't very steep. If my memory serves me correctly, it is only tough because it is longer than the rest of the rollers, and it is the finishing stretch for the race so everyone is hitting it with whatever gas they have left in the tank.

pjcampbell

wonder why they didnt want to make is a USAC race?

shovelhd

Insurance.

GirlAnachronism

It's definitely more of a power climb kind of climbing race than a pure climb kind of course. My sprinter/power climber teammate did quite well there last year, while my pure climber teammate had a harder time. I had a hard time, too, but it was my first road race (and in an open field!) and I suck at everything. It was fun, though. I'll be there this year.

queerpunk

It's very hilly, but the hills are long and gradual - not steep at all. I did it as a 4 and I'm pretty sure my 23 stayed clean until the final climb, which was, iirc, the most challenging (especially after half a race of trying to get a break clear).

One of the roads about 2/3s through the race is a bit rough - be prepared for that.

carpediemracing 

The promoter really doesn't like USAC. I gather he thinks that USAC limits him, based on what he's said at NEBRA promoter meetings. It has to do mainly with insurance and Cat 5 fields, both of which relate to bottom line dollars (insurance costs less and he can have bigger Cat 5 fields). He's a bit more mercenary about promoting races than some of the others out there.

I don't know how the races count towards upgrades (personally anyone who does well there is very strong), rules (who has final say in things?), officials, etc. I don't think I've done the race although I might have way back when (there are two RR I did with long loops and I have no idea where in MA they took place).

queerpunk

^couple upgrade coordinators i talked to last year said there was no way they'd count QRR for upgrades.

Homebrew01

I don't care about upgrade points, just looking for a good race. There was enough family squawking last weekend when I was trying to get to a race 7 miles from my house that I said F-it, and stayed home, so Quabbin is probably not in the picture anyway .

Thanks for the feedback though.

GirlAnachronism

Oh, and last year, as I was considering doing this race, I was talking to my crazy teammate, before she was my teammate. I asked her about it, and if she thought it was a good idea for me to do it. She responded: "yeah, it's a REALLY hard race. Really tough. I won it last year."

chado445510

Oh, that's a bummer. Does it really count for anything then?

shovelhd

It counts as a road race for my club's racer rewards program. YMMV. I could care less about USAC upgrade points.