thechemist

NCcrit series 8- cat4
pack finish ~50 people 23rd

Same course as normal but quite a big crowd last night. I had a rough start as some idiot couldn't clip in and I was the lucky guy behind him. Good news is I was able to surf through the 50 or so people and get up to the front in the first couple laps. I really feel like I have improved in bike handling and can take the corners well(atleast for a cat4). I felt fresh the entire race. It was a bit windy but with 5 to go I was wondering if I should attack. One of the guys thought the same thing and had a 10 second break around 4laps to go. That started the field going as the real race started. I ended up missing the small break on the last lap but felt for the first time in 4s that I could be in top 10 and my result was simply a matter of placement which was a great feeling.

rkwaki

Too bad I'm not riding anymore, we could meet up and I could push you around for a little bit to work on those skills as they take time to develop.

ttusomeone

Nice job. To add my report from the same race, for the first time in a few crit races I wasn't the idiot who couldn't clip in (finally figured out why I only was having trouble getting clipped in at races and no where else - my initial first half pedal stroke was too hard and it was causing my pedal to spin before I got my foot to it). Of course, when I can't get clipped in first try I just pedal like that to get up to speed and then clip in to not lose too many positions or screw up the people behind me. Back to the actual race, I sat in for most of the first half of the race staying within the top 4 or 5 positions. At halfway I saw a guy go solo and he stayed out for a few laps. Another strong guy (who just moved to 4s from the 5s where he was winning pretty much everything) bridged up to him and they started pulling away a little more. No one in the field was reacting and breakaways have worked before this year when it was windy like last night, so with 10 minutes to go I decided this may be the winning break so I bridged up to it. It was the hardest bridge I've ever done. It was solo with a strong wind and it probably took me two and a half laps to make it. Once there we started working together some and we had about a 12 second gap on the field from what people where telling us. We were all getting tired and our group of three started to fall apart some and I could see the field charging. We were caught with 2 1/2 laps to go. I was able to jump into the front of the field and was actually third wheel going into the last lap (on the wheel of the guy that's been winning all the cat 4 crits). When they went on the last stretch before the finish I didn't have the kick to stay with them and got gaped (the bridge took too much out of me). I was still able to manage 7th in the sprint though. There's just something about seeing a break and convincing myself that it's going to work that makes me bridge up.

rkwaki

Good job. Keep working on it and it will pay off.
Problem with that course is you can always see where everyone is so the field can see how far ahead you are. I many other crits there are building, fields, whatever that seperate things, sometimes if the field can't see you in a break they lose their sense of urgency and your lead grows.

Hida Yanra

"I'll take, 'Things that are unlikely' for $800 Alex."
If my form continues I'll be heading to CO for Collegiate track nats - that'll be bad enough.

Thanks - all the signs pointed to "you aren't going to get a single point tonight" for the two hours before racing started - somehow things came together.

thechemist

Nice work out there! Wind sure did make some of those turns fun. One of these days I will run into you and say hi

ttusomeone

Yeah I always see a few guys in the Nashville Cyclist kit and wonder if it's you. What kind of bike do you ride, maybe that will help me pick you out? I'm on an all black Tarmac with Real Design wheels, blue/black kit with blue helmet.

thechemist

Hmm, sounds familar. I am also on a tarmac(red/black) w/zipps. We actually have a few guys on tarmacs but I will try to look for you.

Racer Ex 

You have a B & B coupon from that Ebay purchase you could use. I'll shoot you the breakfast menu, though it might take a few months

rkwaki

https://nashville.craigslist.org/i/pe...s?category=cas

Creatre

Georgia Cycling Gran Prix - P12 (Omnium)

Stage 1 - Dropped
Stage 2 - Dropped

So far so good!

ttusomeone

Yeah, it does kinda sound like that

Are you the one with the Zipps with the yellow lettering?

ovoleg

Did some unsanctioned crit around a Church. Had the intent of doing both the A and B race but my quads just pretty much seized up at the end of the B race. Finished something like 7th or 8th(dunno). I got shuffled pretty hard to the back with 1 lap to go and couldn't get up front for the sprint.

Cruised around hoping my quads would feel good but at the start of the A race I knew it was futile. When I would stand they would feel great but sitting in the saddle it was hard to put out any wattage.

Dunno wtf.

Beaker

Thanks for coming out - that was my first outing as race promoter.

Hida Yanra

mmmm - I do like breakfast.
I'll get in touch with your maître d'

Tyrell

Driveway Shop House Loop, 3/4, Prime
An Austin Bikes guy attacked from the gun. No one reacted and the pack reeled him in after a couple laps. Immediately after he was caught, one of his teammates attacked and someone else went with him. After they were caught, I and everyone else was waiting for the next Austin Bikes attacker. After a few seconds, no one made a move so I decided to make my own luck. I got a gap and a couple others joined my break...one Austin Bikes guy and a 787. Our break lasted 4 or 5 laps before things came back together. 2 of the laps were primes and I ended up in front on the rotation for one of them. After we were caught, I rode a little more before pulling out with 10 min to go so I could catch my breath before the 4/5 race.

Driveway Shop House Loop, 4/5, 6th
I was feeling pretty good after my rest from the 3/4 race so I decided to try the "attack from the gun" move. Of course no one reacted and don't have any teammates so I didn't ride too hard and I was caught before the first lap was over. I rode aggressively - staying at the front, keeping the pace high, and inflicting pain. Near the finish line on a lap, I got bumped pretty good by a guy who swerved into me but I held my position. Unfortunately, I think that started a chain reaction behind me causing 2 guys to go down. I did pretty well navigating myself into position for the final sprint and ended up finishing 6th, earning an upgrade point. After the race I overheard people talking/whining about how hard the 4/5 race was. I like to think I played a role in dishing out some of that suffering.

waterrockets 

Sounds like a great night.

save10

i made the mistake of holding back for 4th at the top of the hill when i should have just gone to 2nd. pretty much the top of the hill is the race

JohnKScott

Consistency is a virtue

mattm

Comebacks are always tough, stick with it!

JohnKScott

Yeah...I'm there and I'm not even coming back. Just feeling weak. . So I make fun of Creatre

Creatre

Stage 3 - Dropped again

Good news is tomorrow is a TT so I can't get dropped (but I can get passed).

tetonrider

i'll try to write one up in the next few days. took some extra time traveling back from the race with my family (i've never stayed in a town POST-race...that was AWESOME!), and i've got a few hill climbs coming up this weekend.

globecanvas

Hunter Classic cat 4, 17th of 66. Big sprint finish of 32 guys after 77 miles / 4100 feet.


Hot and crowded. I've done all 4 editions of this race and there's been a crash in 3 of them. The problem is that the climbs aren't hard enough to drop everyone, but the race is long enough that guys get really gassed and wobbly by the end (myself included).


Stayed with the front group throughout. Dropped a bottle at about mile 20 and as a result was cramping pretty badly by the last climb.


With about 10 miles to go, somehow 2 guys snuck away and got in front of the pace moto. This led to a lot of conversation: "there's two guys away! " "no there's not, the moto is right there!" etc. In any event, we didn't chase and they stayed away.


With about 8 miles to go, cruising along at about 25 mph, the guy in front of me swerved, hit my front wheel, and my life flashed before my eyes. I unclipped both feet and made pontoons sliding down the road. By some miracle I didn't go down, although I'm pretty sure guys went down behind me. By the time I clipped back in I had gotten gapped by maybe 10-15 seconds. I hammered to get back on for what felt like about 2 hours. Looking at Strava it was about 4 minutes. I suffered greatly. Just when I was about to throw in the towel, the moto ref took pity and sort of paced me back, which might have been fun if I wasn't half dead and the motorcycle carburetor had been tuned recently. I was very psyched to get back on, but by this point I was cramping really badly and had burned an entire matchbook.


I tried something new that I have been thinking about recently: the more it hurt, the more I tried to smile. I actually think it helped, as stupid as it sounds.


Anyway, the sprint got all messed up because a guy tried to go at about 1k, was all over the road, and the moto ref sent him back. By the time that got sorted it was 300m to go. I sort of mailed in the sprint and finished in the middle of the group.

valygrl

Looking foward to that, Teton.

nice job staying upright, globe.

In other news, in my continuing (and highly successful) campaign to embarrass myself in front of hundreds of my peers I thought I won the sprint in my crit today, but it was the bell lap, not the finish. Fully gassed, I shot out the back of the pack and came in off the back. FML. I did win a $20 prime earlier in the race, though. so there's that.