Grumpy McTrumpy

Stage road is make-or-break.

meolsen

That is interesting. I remember stage being pretty interminable, plateau and peak, plateau and peak. But looking at the map, I thought the 5 mile, 700 foot climb up from the Hudson on Wrights road could separate the packs.

Either way, hoping for mild weather, it will be a great time.

hubcio96

Any Tires recomendation? I will be getting Kenda, and thinking about 25c, but with their "Iron Cloak" technolodgy, I may opt our for 23C. Any recomendations? never rode on Kenda tires, but they sponsor my team, so I can get them cheap. I'm also on the heavier site - expected to get spit out the back on first roller, and drop hard on second roller, and than waititng for group behing me to get me to another rollers.... and so on, and so on...

meolsen

I am going with my 23c Michelin Race Pro 3. I will let a little air out. I think it will be ok.

gsteinb

good luck with that. that's a long drive to chance a short race

GirlAnachronism

I flatted last year on Conti GP4000s, and my teammate flatted on her Conti GP 4 Seasons, but she hit a rock hard enough to also destroy her rim, so that one probably wasn't the fault of the tire.

Matt2.8NJ

And I flatted on Michelin Krylion carbons last year, thanks to hitting a massive pothole. My race was done, 15 mins for our wheel truck to show (I was at the front of the race, and the truck was behind giving a bunch of other wheel changes) and get going again.

It's kind of a crapshoot, but you hedge your bets with sturdy tires. You're driving a long freaking way into the middle of nowhere, paying entry, hotel, food, etc. Why cheap out on good, durable tires you can use again?

DocM

I raced Vittoria Paves and they seemed to work well. They are a good in between tire--durable but still fairly light and fast. They also make great training tires, so I can switch them over to my everyday wheels after the race.

globecanvas

I rode the course recently with GP4000s 23's at normal pressure (old tires, too) and had no problems. I think the course is in much better shape than in previous years, there weren't any super-loose descents, or gaping potholes right in the middle of the road that I can remember. But it's a bit hard to compare because I rode it with a small group. In a pack your options for picking a line are more limited to say the least.

I'm planning to run GP4000s 25's on fulcrum 3's for the race and call it good. I could be off-base but I think it will be more like a bike race and less like a demolition derby.

gsteinb

dunno. If I was going I'd invest in these

notwist

my friend will running those open pave. I'll be using some Continental Grand Prix 4 Season 25.

DocM

Just bought a pair. The green will look awesome on my red bike, too.

Yep

I'm doing one of these Roubaix style races coming up next weekend, and it's the high likelihood of flatting that puts me off these kinds of races. It's a lot of expense as an amateur to go to a race only to flat out. I know guys that go to our Roubaix and have flatted 2/3s of the times they've gone.

meolsen

Well, fate has answered. Tear in the tire. Now on Specialized Armadillos. 6 lbs each.

GRVR6

Well, I wanted to finish, and I did. I came in 26th out of 36 with a time of 4:08.03.

Homebrew01

GRVR6

Thanks. There was a lot of good info on this thread, but I was nowhere near ready for this race.

globecanvas

GRVR6, great job to finish. I saw a lot of guys who threw in the towel.

I definitely suffered, but I have to say it was a total blast at the same time. I made the 12-man break over Juniper Swamp but got dropped out of the break just before the first feed zone. After about 5 miles I got caught by a 5-man chase group and we were together to the bottom of Meetinghouse Rd. I pulled away from them there and did the rest of the race in no-man's-land between the break and the chase group. I finished 12th in 3:16.

I was happy/surprised to discover I was the best climber in my field, but I wasn't strong enough in the paceline. I know what to work on for next year. It was a great experience, I would do it again next weekend if I could.

The Meetinghouse and Stage Rd climbs were just littered with shellshocked survivors from earlier fields, suffering through the last 15 miles of the race. Having seen people get destroyed by the race, my advice for anyone thinking of doing it would be to train by climbing, climbing, climbing. You don't need to go to the mountains, just find a steep 5-10 minute hill and climb it over and over. I guess I take it for granted because I live in a very hilly area.

As far as equipment, my GP4000s 25's were champions. Somebody said it's typical for about 10% of each field to flat, so whatever you can do to mitigate it is worth doing. The only other piece of equipment I wish I'd brought is endurolytes because I sweated out 4 water bottles and still started to cramp up at the end.

The event was spectacularly well run, especially for how huge it is. Kudos to the organizers. See you next year!

notwist

Around mile 33 I got dropped after taking a pull.. stupid mistake. I tried to sit in and recover but the group began hauling ass on a descent. A gap opened up, I got caught in the wind, and could not latch back on. The rest of the ride was the longest 30 miles ever. I can't say I was prepared for this race but at least I know what to expect next year. Overall, t was a blast!

island rider

I think you are actually describing my race. (Provided you add in the cramps that set in as soon as I started trying to turn myself inside out to catch back up. I was wholly undertrained for the race, no question. Probably also underfed.)

Kept hammering as hard as my body would let me though, unless you factor in some of those sand-pits where, in at least one case, I had to almost stop to regain my composure, I certainly chose the WRONG line through there. Some of those spots were downright terrifying on a road bike. How do you train for 3-4 inches of sand with 2-4 inch rocks on downhills at speeds north of the 20s? Ride on the beach?

GP 4000s 23s at about 105psi (versus my standard 110 on this bike), no issues.

globecanvas

Coming into one of those troughs of sand somebody near me shouted "cross race!" and it was actually good advice. I found that shifting to a harder gear and keeping a steady cadence helped keep the bike going in a straight line.

Similarly, the super-steep loose dirt climbs were essentially mountain biking. Keep your butt and elbows down and just grind, grind, grind. If you stand up you lose the ability to control where the bike goes.

globecanvas

By the way, I officially love these GP4000s 25's. I just went for a long road ride with them at 85 psi and it's super cushy. This is my new tire of choice for any ride that doesn't require maximum speed at all costs.

island rider

I generally found that I could stand on most of the climbs. There were one or two that I felt I was losing the rear tire and had to sit back down. Watched a few guys riding their way up standing with their rear tires skipping along the dirt.