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Just hanging out shooting the bull

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Old 03-24-12, 08:48 PM
  #2751  
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Way to go, Jet.
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Old 03-25-12, 05:55 AM
  #2752  
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Good job Bill! Which bike did you ride?
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Old 03-25-12, 07:32 AM
  #2753  
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John, I rode my cyclocross Trek XO1 with 34mm Conti Speed file treads. I also lowered the bar to its lowest position and put a compact crank on to get more gearing on both ends.
The bottle cages were necessary for the longer race effort.


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Old 03-25-12, 09:46 AM
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Great result in a tough race.
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Old 03-25-12, 01:56 PM
  #2755  
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Excellent result out of a big field AJ!

Originally Posted by Hermes
(Team Pursuit) Stronger riders take longer pulls. In putting together a team, it is unlikely that all riders will have equal ability. So to keep the stronger riders from blowing up the weaker ones by increasing pace, the stronger ones take a longer pull. Part of practicing as a team is to get the right order and duration of pulls to optimize time. Sometimes, there will be a lead out racer who takes 2 or 3 pulls and then stops when he pulls up. The remaining three complete the race. This is typical if one of the racers is more of a sprinter and does not have the endurance to last the entire race.
Yep, that's pretty much it. There's also the "death pull" where the weaker guy may just destroy himself at 3k or so then pull off.

I heard that the UK team would have Wiggans pull for around 40% of the race. And if you had Jack Bobridge in there you'd probably have him pull more also. The caveat is that being a good individual pursuit rider doesn't always translate exactly into being a good team pursuit rider. I averaged 50w less in the team event than I did in the individual, but my pulls were around 100w higher than my average in the individual. Much different power profile. Here's a snap shot of each from Elite Nationals, the spike/drop/spike right at the end of the IP was passing the other racer.

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Old 03-25-12, 03:06 PM
  #2756  
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Hey Ex, thanks for not showing the watts on those, thereby saving us the humiliation. :-)

Although, Golden Cheetah just told me my CP is over 300, at 301, and it never told me that before. Now if I could just get a lot slipperier...

How's the back feeling?

Jet - I've been trying to figure out how, given the way you workout, those two guys beat you. They must do planks on 8 balls at once, 60' z5 intervals, and Category 1 climbs on their fixies! But then; 80 guys in 55+? We'd have to add our numbers for 3-4 races to get that total.
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Old 03-25-12, 03:48 PM
  #2757  
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Nice work, AJ.
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Old 03-25-12, 04:04 PM
  #2758  
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Hi AJ,

Great result in what sounds like an incredibly hard race. Also very nice adaptation of a cross bike for "road" use. Me, I like paved roads.

BTW, I too thank Racer Ex for leaving the watts scale off the graph.
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Old 03-25-12, 05:45 PM
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Nice Job AJ.. Missed you at Mid-Ohio...
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Old 03-25-12, 06:31 PM
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How are you feeling, RacerEx?
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Old 03-25-12, 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted by shovelhd
How are you feeling, RacerEx?
Mopey. Bored. Pain when I move wrong is diminished, feels more like a really bad muscle pull now vs. hot lava. Can't do much but "old man" walk short distances in the house.

Trying to stay positive and set some goals for the remainder of the year. The healing time for something like this is all over the map given my age and prior injuries.

Really appreciated folks checking in on me BTW.
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Old 03-25-12, 07:41 PM
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Pissed off yet?
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Old 03-25-12, 11:50 PM
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Originally Posted by shovelhd
Pissed off yet?
Getting there.
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Old 03-26-12, 05:16 AM
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Excellent.

You hang in there.
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Old 03-26-12, 05:39 AM
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We all heal in time Racer Ex. Two December's ago I had my left ankle fuzed. I half thought that was the end of racing. In early March I did an early season RR, the following Friday my doctor gave me the OK to begin riding again.
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Old 03-26-12, 06:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Bootlegger
Nice Job AJ.. Missed you at Mid-Ohio...
Jeff, the Barry Roubaix is a race for you to do. Since you are racing Battenkill that would be a great WU event. I love racing on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course since it's sprinter friendly. How did you do? I think some of my 50+ teamates raced there this weekend.
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Old 03-26-12, 07:29 AM
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Thanks for the props guys. Got home last night with enough time for an easy ride but watched TV and fell asleep instead. Here is required race report.

It rained the day before making everything soaked for the AM start. The temps were decent with little wind and in the 50's. With 1,500 racers the site was a madhouse of cars, bikes and people walking around everywhere. It was organized very well and number pickup was easy and quick. They were even selling beer tickets for after the race allowing one to skip the lines.

The race started at 10 AM in 5 waves of riders with each wave starting 2 minutes after the first. My wave, the 4th, included the 45+, 50+, 55+ and women open races with a total of about 350 riders. We started in a State Park and were supposed to ride neutral for the first 1/2 mile out onto the road. I knew that was not going to happen and got near the front of the riders at the start/finish line. That was a great decision since from the get go the race was on. The first 4 miles of race is on paved roads that lead to a 2 mile rough double track road. That is where the separations occur. The first 4 miles on the pavement was a crit flying along in single line form. We were passing riders from earlier waves shortly into the race and weaving around them. When we got the turn leading onto the double track I was within 20 spots of the leader. There were people on both tracks walking their bikes and others falling in front that I had to weave around. I did find that I could ride off the double wheel track on Oak leaves which sorta of was a velvet carpet ride. It didn't look like a good line but it was a lot faster than dealing with rocks and unknown puddles. I did have to dismount and walk about 50 meters to get over one steep hill that everyone was walking on. Once over the hill the tracks got better and you could even find some room in the middle enabling me to pick up speed and go around slower riders.

Once out of the double track the gravel roads started. I could see some of the guys that I was chasing on the pavement and bridged up to a small group. There was no way to know whom you were racing since the numbers were cards on the front handle bar, mtb style. It was time to try to settle down to race pace after the first 20 minutes of hell on wheels. The terrain was rolling and I found that I was killing the hills and decided to back off the hill effort a little since I kept passing the few riders I was with only to have them catch back up on descents. About 8 miles into the race someone tapped me on the hip and it was my good training buddy who was racing the 50+ race. I thought I lost him in the double track forest since he was ahead of me going in. Jeff and I quickly got into race mode and were following other wheels. unfortunately at around 12 miles Jeff flatted. One of the guys we were following and trading pulls with was in my age group and I tied to hold his wheel but he decided to end that by taking a flyer, twice. I decided that it would be better to let him go. He had a neon green kit so I could watch ahead and sure enough once he was 15" ahead the gap didn't grow.

The next 10 miles was one gravel road roller after another and passing other riders from earlier waves was constant. I was always on the lookout for anyone passing me on a cross bike but it wasn't happening. My feelings during that part of the race was that I was being chased so there was no resting/recovery that we do in road races. I kept drinking and trying to eat some GU from my flask but it was hard because I needed to drive the bike and race all the time.

With about 8 miles to go we turned onto the sandy road that is new to this years race. The first miles was a pick and choose route while passing riders, puddles and sand pits. Then we turned onto a hill and there was a double line of racers walking their bikes up a long hill! Crap, not what I needed! I could see the neon green kit ahead and he was running with his bike. I dismounted and began pushing my bike then shouldered it cyclo cross style and walked the loose sandy hill as best I could with my fused ankle. The hill was about 1/4 mile long and it took forever to get to the top before I could get back on the bike again. The neon green guy was gone by that time. The decent of the sandy hill was true cyclo cross riding. I took many risks and almost lost it a few times but kept on pushing.

Finally I got to the end of the sandy road and when turning onto pavement the turn Marshall said "last hill before the finish". What a relief, no more sand a long paved hill up ahead then 4 miles to the finish. The start of the hill didn't go very well as I developed a cramp on the inside of my left thigh. Probably resulting from the walking/shuffling in the sand. I went OTS for a while then sat and put it into a high cadence gear and got it back together. Once over the hill I hooked up with two younger racers on cross bikes and we took turns pulling at about 24 mph. What a relief it was when we turned onto the park driveway leading to the finish.

All in all it was a very hard race and I gave it a very hard effort. I believe riding the fixie this winter really helped on the power hills and core work helped me not crash at least 5 times where I saved it.

AZTR, I don't know if the two guys who finished ahead of me can do 8 ball pushups. But I do know if we met behind the porta-johns, I would be the one to come back around first.

Last edited by Allegheny Jet; 03-26-12 at 07:35 AM.
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Old 03-26-12, 08:04 AM
  #2768  
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AJ,
Thanks for the report, sounds like an exciting race and that it was well done by the organizers. Glad you liked your day.

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Old 03-26-12, 08:42 AM
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Hi All,

Somehow I keep managing to move from one over-committed period to another over-committed period.

Also, my training has almost fallen off of a cliff this month. My only saving grace has been getting to the track once a week and racing on Tuesday evenings. This past Tuesday I got into a break with a strong rider and we were off the front for about 4 miles in a 17 mile race. I didn't feel good doing it though.

Early Thursday morning an extreme cramp in my left calf woke me up. It subsided and I fell asleep but when I woke up for work I couldn't stand on the leg. By the evening (after calling in sick) the calf was sore but I could basically walk so I went to the track. I rode with Roger's group and everything was working so I hoped that I would be good for this weekend's races (which I pre-entered).

I was looking forward to Saturday's race because it was a new course and it was described as having about 200 feet of climbing per lap. Someone posted a video of them driving the course and it looked like a course that suits my current abilities or lack thereof. It was the usual 55+ / 60+ combined field (scored separately) but it was one of the smaller fields that I've been in this year -- about 40 racers total.

The 45+ field started a few minutes before us on this 3.7 mile circuit so we had the added incentive of not getting caught by them and potentially having our race shortened. The course was a on a road that was two lanes wide with a shoulder in each direction. There was a U-turn at each end and the finish was at the top of a longish 2.5% grade. A former teammate from the 1980s has been winning a bunch of races this year and I got on his wheel at the start. Coming out of turn 1 he attacked and I followed. For a fleeting moment I had visions of Racer Ex and AzTR floating through my head. We got caught before getting to the other end of the course and turn 2.

On lap 2 at turn 2 someone else went off the front and I went with him. Unfortunately there wasn't a prime at the end of lap two or I would have won it. We got caught shortly after and then I sat in while there was long break that never got too far away. Then there was a split in the pack and I was in the front group but it didn't last very long. Just after two to go, two guys got off the front and even though we got close a couple of times, we never caught them.

I was back a bit as the sprint started and back in the day this was the kind of finish that I used to love. I started sprinting, not expecting much but I kept passing people (made easier by the somewhat diminished field and wide road). When I crossed the line I thought I must be in the top 10, knowing that a couple of 60+ guys were ahead of me. I ended up 7th (5th in the field sprint) which is my best result in a "normal" USA Cycling race in decades.

Sunday was a 10 Km hill climb on Palos Verdes peninsula. I know the road extremely well which isn't necessarily a good thing. Given the previous day's race and my recent lack on uphill training I was targeting something just under 25 minutes. I probably went too hard on the bottom half and the last mile was torture. Looking at my effort, my heart rate was matching my perceived effort. The legs just weren't willing. I ended up 4th out of 6 at 26:14. However, even if I had hit my target time of say 24:45, I still would have been 4th.

No racing next weekend as I need some miles and climbing.
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Old 03-26-12, 08:47 AM
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Hey, nice work Cleave!
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Old 03-26-12, 08:58 AM
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AJ, fantastic! Great race report, tough race - I could feel the bumps and the mud! Congrats, my friend!

Cleave, way to go!!!!!

Me - I ran a 10K yesterday and finished first in my age group. By over five minutes. 165 out of 1252. Hmmm...

Next - Sea Otter, three weeks, two races. Base training starts today. I'll be putting on the miles....
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Old 03-26-12, 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Allegheny Jet
<snip> AZTR, I don't know if the two guys who finished ahead of me can do 8 ball pushups. But I do know if we met behind the porta-johns, I would be the one to come back around first.
I guess 50+ racing needs its own version of RKWAKI. Big powerful riders do well in races were the terrain is rough. Very well done in very tough conditions with little information about your competition during the race.

Last edited by Hermes; 03-26-12 at 09:12 AM.
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Old 03-26-12, 09:14 AM
  #2773  
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FWIW I put my race results in the 33 race results thread. I don't know if it makes sense to duplicate them here.
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Old 03-26-12, 09:17 AM
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Wow Sara! Nice job in the run. Ever think about duoathlons?
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Old 03-26-12, 09:17 AM
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Cleave: I am glad your leg is better. As a BA shareholder, I will give you a pass on calling in sick and then riding at the track. I think it was great physical therapy.

It sounds like your racing is improving even with the schedule conflicts. Congrats!
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