tetonrider

it's a really fun course. it's only 25k (vs 30k for masters nationals). it's fairly flat (a few big ring rollers) and alongside a river. the road surface is pretty decent. winning times will likely be in the low 30s instead of 18-19. guess there will be more separation, but it's not like it's a 40k.

Racer Ex 

We did the 40 k at Nats. Big motor course. Liked Skyliner a lot more.

Tyrell

Driveway Shop House Loop 3/4, 17/85
Seemed to hop on all the wrong wheels and found myself getting shuffled to the back once I did make up a little ground.

Driveway Shop House Loop 4/5, pulled out on last lap...wasn't feeling it.

waterrockets 

^^^^ that's a damned big field for Thursday night, and that's full, right?

tetonrider

yes, the 40k was the tandem course. i'm still scratching my head as to why they didn't do a 40k as the course for solo riders. it IS a national championship course. the results from the 30k would probably be the same as a 40k, just bigger gaps.

the skyliner (nationals) course you referred to was longer than the cascade skyliner course. the cascade version, IMO, was one of those courses that could be faked -- one could blow up at the turn around and still coast in to the finish. that can't happen with the prineville course (25 (cascade pro/1 and now 2), 30 or 40k versions), nor can it with the new cascade airport course.

that 2012 skyliner nationals course was cooler -- ascent, descent, rollers, traffic circles. it certainly tested all aspects of time trailing.

Tyrell

Full is 100 for the 3/4.

Andy STi

I wish I could time trial like you all. I just try to limit my losses and go for the long break away. I've been working on it but I'm still behind. First stage race is in a couple weeks so we'll see where I'm at.

tetonrider

well, you clearly have the ability to dig deep for long periods, so that is a key element. i suspect it is more about lack of practice on that specific discipline vs you being unable to do it. for something that seems so trivial (ride as hard as you can in (generally) a straight line), it's remarkably complex.

Andy STi

So I can't just fall back on my experince winning the state champs as a junior in 1986? I won the senior 40km as a 2 one year too, think I got beat by a couple masters that year - how iroinc. Now I suck. Anyway, trying to figure it out. Then there are days when I really don't care and I'll just work for the guys in the race but they give me so much crap about my poor GC ability just because of a 10 mile TT. Fun sport!

jmikami

I have found for any length of TT under 30 minutes I need a 60+ minute hard warmup, and I have limited fitness and only ride 10 hours a week. Something about that second hour really gets my legs going, it seems risky, especially during a stage race with the emphasis on rest, but at least for me anything under 60 minutes of warmup is going to produce subpar results. You might just have a diesel engine like mine that takes a bit more to warm up.

Inquisitor.

I've cycled on and off most of my life, and did a few triathlons in my mid 20's. I was deployed in Afghanistan for 8 months, and took the opportunity to get back in shape, and registered for my first Half Ironman. Riding a piece of junk exercise bike about 8 hours a week, I quickly dropped from over 185lbs to 160lbs. I completed the Half Ironman after returning home last fall, and did a couple bicycle races. I also started doing fast group rides with sprint points. I quickly decided that I prefer straight bicycle races to triathlons. In the past year, I brought my FTP from an untrained 180w to about 300w. Also, in the past 4 months I brought my sprint from 800w to just over 1200w.

Hopefully things keep going well and I can win my local series, and go from Cat 5 to Cat 3 in my first full season. The great wealth of knowledge and advice on this forum has played a huge role in my initial racing success.

bmcphx

Mayo Clinic Crit
Cat 4
3/27

I did this race last year and it was a blast, great 8 corner downtown crit with a very good spectator attendance. The race started out pretty average pace and after a few laps two riders went off the front so I bridged up to join them. When I arrived, one guy was blowing up but I made it clear to the other guy that I was here for business so we continued on until a teammate bridged up later and then another guy making a total of 4 of us. We stayed out for 6 laps but the thing was borderline unraveling the whole time with guys skipping turns and just generally a poor break.

Once caught, I sat in and stayed patient and near the front until the last lap and then made my move. I knew that my best chance was to come out of the last corner first and sprint out the one block to the finish. I went into the last two corners first and I came out in the front. Apparently two guys had my wheel because I thought I was going to win and they both passed me at the line. I raced it perfectly and according to plan. I was able to read the race, make decisions, and follow through... perhaps I've had a breakthrough? This ended up being my second highest NP of the season so I feel good that I had a legit chance to win, and still podiumed, a hard race.

Bike Ride Profile | mayo clinic crit cat 4 - 3/27 near Mesa | Times and Records | Strava

cat 3/4
8/29

This race was a bit of a cluster**** from the start as they said first lap neutral, don't pass the lead car. I've never before seen a lead car in a crit but I was glad it was there to keep us from getting lost as I had places to be. The lead car took off at like 30 mph and four guys attacked off the front and we were all sorts of confused until after the second lap they re-started us (not neutral though) and the race was fairly uneventful from there. I was able to move up when I needed to, and even when guys attacked, they didn't get too far.

I remained patient until the last lap and made a couple of moves toward the front, but I definitely started too late as I couldn't quite get to the spot I needed to be in to sprint. All in all, I felt good.

Bike Ride Profile | mayo clinic crit cat 4 - 3/27 near Mesa | Times and Records | Strava

revchuck 

bmcphx - Good work!

shovelhd

+1!

globecanvas

Battenkill cat 4B. 7th of 116.


Truly epic conditions, this race lived up to its reputation this year. The dirt was mostly mud, the steeps were littered with bodies like Antietam, and it even snowed a bit.


I raced with my buddy Jim, who is a TT monster. (He won his field last year solo by 9 minutes.) My plan was simple: glue self to Jim's wheel. Jim did not disappoint and went as soon as the moto said "racing!" He pulled the field for the first 12 miles and I sat 2nd wheel. Presumably we lost a lot of the field but I never looked back.


We hit Juniper Swamp, the first very steep dirt climb, and it was a mud and bloodbath. There were shelled riders everywhere, trying to get back on their bikes or just running the hill. Being at the front was exactly the right place to be. About 12 of us got over the hill, kept going hard, and within 5 miles the moto ref told us we already had 1:30 on the field.


Jim kept hammering, and eventually "attacked" (which is in quotes because he was basically attacking the whole race) over the top of a dirt climb at about mile 30. He slowly pulled away over the next 15 miles, only breaking the elastic when we hit a brutal section of steep dirt climbs that never seemed to end.


The chase group dwindled to 3, and then I dropped off. I was riding solo, 4th on the road, for about 10 miles. Riding solo at Battenkill, it's hard to keep from having an off-the-back mentality. Eventually I got caught by a small group, we raced together until the last dirt climb, and a few of them got away. I rode solo for the last few miles, nobody in sight ahead or behind, and rolled in 7th place. Jim got caught with about 4 miles to go and finished 2nd.


I'm happy with the result but I do feel like I could have held 4th if I had kept my head in it after losing the first 3 guys. And now I think I have the points for my cat 3.


When I got home, my wife had made a chocolate bacon pie. An epic day from start to finish!

gsteinb

**** all the rest of that. say what now? details.

echappist

it sure aint kosher

aaronmcd

CCCX Circuit Race
E3/4, 10th place

I got my wife to wake up at 5:30 to come along. The plan was for me to race E4, spend 3-4 hours in Monterey, and then I race E3/4.

Got there, started unpacking my stuff... no shoes. ****! Wtf was I thinking. Asked around but no one had shoes I could borrow for cat 4. One very nice guy let me borrow his shoes and pedals after the cat 4 race so I could do the later race.

End of final descent, positioned myself behind mr diesel at the front, waiting... jumped behind Squadra guy as he passed on the inside... I was second wheel, coming around the final corner and then he slows down just as guys start coming around the left. Afterwards, I overheard him complaining about being in a bad gear. And I started kicking myself for not coming around earlier when I really should have. Oh well... at least I think I'm racing better than last month.

Very fun/hard race. 55 minutes, AP = 278, NP = FTP minus 5

Inquisitor.

Awesome job.

Inquisitor.

I don't know what chocolate bacon pie is, but I want some.



Also, nice job Aaron.

UmneyDurak

Might be good you missed 4. On final lap on back side there was a bad crash. One guy got a ride in the ambulance: massive lacerations to the phase, and concussion.

Anyway I got 6th. Found my legs for final sprint, but was still a tad too far back, just out of the money and points.

jmikami

An average power of 278 in a race for 55 minutes sounds very very fast indeed. I am glad the races in my neck of the wood don't require me to do that or I would never win a sprint.

aaronmcd

Yeah, I heard it was bad. He didn't know where he was, apparently.

Ha yeah... my final "sprint" - I don't think I even hit 800, and that was somehow good enough to hold my position. The field must have been fried.

UmneyDurak

Yep, that was the Stanford guy. The CAT4s average was only 235, I am 170 pounds course is all rollers, but with some fast accelerations. Overall faster then last CCCX. Posted a vid of last half a lap in the video thread.

dz_nuzz

I will never do this race ever again. Not paying 125$ to race in those conditions. That **** was downright horrible and scary. Never, never, never again.

Anyways: Bkill Cat 3

At first we were supposed to have 2 different 3 fields, then we got combined to a ~120 man 3 field. Stuff was going well for me till juniper swamp when I knew I was royally screwed when I was halfway deep in the field when we hit it. Cyclocross season started early and from that point (Mile 12/65) I was just bleeding energy left and right to bridge gaps.

I put in one really good dig around mile 38, managed to get away from the group for about 4 miles before I got bridged to by 3 other guys. They were well rested and were just hammering away and I wasn't able to match the pace so I went back into TT mode and trailed them for a long time slowly loosing ground.

Got caught on the "new" hill as the group broke up and that was more or less the race for me with me just hitting the TT mode for another 20 miles eventually joined by another guy.

30/96. It sucked. I am just overall pissed at the conditions and my poor performance.