Good work and great result! Were the Juniors from Limitless Cycling (black and sky blue kits)?

Awesome job! I like your explanation of attacking after a crash.

Yep - Rupert - 1st and Gabe 3rd.

How many points ya got?

25? 27? Trickling upward. Small fields, hill climbs, and top 5s combine for small incremental bumps.

I'm out of town next weekend, but in the 2nd half of February there are some real races and I should be able to officially start sandbagging. Current fitness is good enough that on the harder courses I should be fighting for wins.

First race of the year for me, 4/5 training race on an unseasonably warm day. I've literally only had time to do about 4 hours on the trainer each week for the last month or two, and I've probably put on nearly 10 pounds, yet once the race started I felt fine and beat the same people I was beating last year, and lost to some new faces. Maybe 14th out of 75? Not great, but at least I know I can still race, I've been down on myself for being out of shape lately.

@mattm
You w0t mate? Dropping chainz, thats what I used to do before going Di2. I would chain catcher your bike, people kept telling me about it for months but I never got around to it. Actually I don't shift the front ring at all in races because of my paranoia, even with my current bike lol.
@Ygduf

Great job dude, stop sandbagging bro, you're crushing souls! Cat up to the big boys !

nice job dude, how warm was it?

Probably 65 and sunny. We literally had 3 inches of snow in our back yard until yesterday, and there were piles of it around the course, but most melted just in time to get out there today. It's been a crappy winter in VA so far, but not today!

niiice!! Hopefully this race will motivationally jump start you into kicking ass going forward!!

It helps, I did better than I did in the same race last year (my first year racing), so even though I know I've lost speed compared to the end of the season when I was getting top 5s and snuck a win, it feels good to know I haven't lost all the work I put in last season, I just need to get back into a regular training pattern and I can start working on points for a 3 upgrade.

I figure doing it once every few years is ok, not ready to spend any money to fix the issue..

The stupidest thing about this instance was that the hill wasn't really small-ring worth, I was just being lazy and trying to save even more energy.

Awesome read and congrats on the #2 finish! What's the secret "we're done" signal?

Knight's Ferry RR
35+ 3's
field 45-50
result - somewhere in the pack

I was in a good position around the final turn with 6 miles to go, maybe 5th wheel. A guy went off solo and I consciously said to myself 'let him go, too far'. Well, he went all the way because he was super strong and nobody wanted to organize a chase. at the bottom of the final little climb i was maybe 10th, so pretty good spot. When everybody went there was just nothing there in the tank and i slid back and then shut it off after i got gapped.

I broke a spoke somewhere in the race so that probably didnt help. and i probably couldn't have stayed with the winner even if i went with him initially, but i'm a little disappointed in myself for not taking more of a chance.

good learning experience either way! Good job, looks like fudgy was killing it.

Oracle RR
4s
~20 out of 40ish

Was at the pointy end with 2 miles to go on a ~60 mile course with a brutal final 4 miles of climbing.
Simply don’t have the endurance right now and popped.
Blurry vision, etc. it was good.

Well done! I was down there for that race too. It was a nice course, but tough!

ygduf, congrats, and well raced.

Best to work it out with your teammates. If it's something obvious, others will get it.

Tour of New Braunfels 40+, pack finish. 54miles, two laps on rolling hills and a river valley descent.

<csb>
Rain, 25mph north wind and 34F at the start eliminated 1/3 of the field before they even lined up (including most of my teammates :notamused:). My main training partner, J, drove up with me, and we knew how it would play out, so figured on fighting as hard as we could, but knowing our options were limited. I'm not in shape yet, but still held to my off the front or off the back mentality.

At the gun, we both took off after the lead vehicle. Another guy joined us, and we stayed off for 3 miles. Being cold was no longer an issue. Spent the next 15 miles trying to get the winning break started, taking turns going off the front, bringing some with us, and hoping for the right people to bridge it. Finally, J bridged to a small break and one of the big fish went with him. Another big fish bridged, and they were off. Thank goodness, because I was running low on matches.

The last 20 miles were tough, just hanging on. J ended up shelled out of the break, but I hip-push-helped him accelerate into the remainder of the pack when we caught him on a big headwind hill. He and I finished DFL, but with the pack. 60 signed up, 40 started, 20 finished.

I learned:
1) I really like high winds. Just my thing this year
2) With 1), it follows that hills are pretty tough for me this year (weight can help with one, but not the other)
3) J and I are both within spitting distance of fitness needed to play in the break this season. 40+ RRs here usually have a tough first 20 miles until "the break" gets away. Shouldn't be long before I'm there again -- first time since the explody appendix/infection.
4) this race course is beautiful
</csb>

Red Trolley cat 3 - 4th place

had a super strong team for our first race of the season. came in with 9 guys and a plan to lead out the last lap for three of us trying to get our last upgrade points. wound up sweeping the podium and me also taking 4th.

Wow, can't ask for better Zitter!
@waterrockets solid report sounds like your on your way to a great season

we didn't work it out ahead of time, but his appearance, the eye contact, and a little cup-hand-at-chest and waggle (stop?) sign was what it was. I was near the back when he did it, so probably nobody else saw.

I can't find a pic, but if I did it you'd instantly recognize it. "cut it" maybe? I dunno.

Tour of New Braunfels, Cat 4, same 2 lap course as @waterrockets, 3rd.

Race started at 9am which was the warmest point of the day for racing. 43F and light misty rain being blown by 23mph NW winds. Temp would be 38F at the finish and we would get rained on in addition to the mist. Reg was full at 70 but I'm not sure how many actually started - definitely <70.

The beginning long headwind section with rolling hills was painfully slow. One guy got away from the pack (no one thought he would last long, many were making comments about IQ = ball count) and he stayed away the entire first lap and a good part of the second lap. I tried a move on the first lap to get a chase group going but no one else was interested in joining me. When my teammate tried to bridge up, he ended up dragging the whole field with him.

I tried a couple more breaks (initiating and bridging) on the second lap but nothing seemed to be working. Once we'd caught the solo break guy, one of my teammates and another guy went off the front. I wanted to chase on as well since I thought that was most likely the winning move but knew it would be better to let them go since the pack was chasing down anything with 2 or more team members. It was also in the headwind section which I didn't fare too well in solo when I tried a break there earlier.

I resigned to racing for 3rd (unless the 2 ahead blew up). I was 5th wheel in the pack coming onto River Road where I knew passing would be difficult. The 4 in front of me were all on the same team and they did marvelous work pulling everyone at a hard single file pace. After the 3rd guy peeled off, I opened a gap, forcing a couple riders behind me to close it and I hopped on their wheel. The 4th teammate guy finally peeled off and me and the 2 guys I let by were at the front. No one else wanted to do any work. The moto told us there was a 30" gap and I saw we had 5 miles to go. The other 2 guys didn't seem interested in working hard enough to catch the 2 up the road so when the moto told us 30" again at 4 miles to go, I went for it solo.

I got away clean (and seated) and continued to pour on the power to ensure I stayed away. I preferred my chances of pulling off the 4-mile TT rather than a pack sprint. I came across solo for 3rd with a comfortable margin and my teammate got 2nd.

Learned:
1. This particular field was really watching for potential team work in a break. Seemed like if team mates try to get away separately, the second guy had better really drill it to separate from a surging pack.
2. Eating/drinking in the cold/wet within the pack is tough.
3. I have a pretty good base from this winter. Time for a build block!
4. Attacking from what some may consider "too far" can be a pretty good strategy for me.

nice!

Nice work, and congrats :beer:

True, especially in yesterday's conditions with either nasty wind gusts or a wandering river road descent. Good thing to practice in training. If you're solo, get your snack eaten at threshold, while staying on a paint stripe. When it's warm enough to wear shorts, packets under your bibs' hem work great for easy access, but they aren't likely to stay put against leg warmers/tights.