Steve - That was a good, strong ride. Kudos!

Steve, that was a race. You're not kidding me! You rode really well, that was a great average speed (I pored over it on Strava). Like a crit? Maybe, but really, it sounds like it was more like a road race. Anyway, strong ride, and kudos to you (especially on the money raised)!

sad race report here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post15778269

Read my reply. And how my weekend went.

Your take away from this should be as a learning experience. Stage races, if you're going for a GC finish, are unforgiving and require focus and prep. You don't get a bad day or a do over. I've won a lot of them and usually finish high in them, but that didn't happen overnight. You need to make sure you control the things you can control, like riding off the course. I once missed the turn in a TT and rode to the next town before I realized I made a boo boo. It happens.

I'd keep working on the TT BTW. If you're good at those you can make up and take time a lot more easily than in a road race or crit. A friend of mine scored a major "W" this weekend at Hood doing just that. And that's how I've won most of my GC's.

You'll get a do over.

Thanks Ex. I did read your weekend, I get it, it happens to everyone, even the big dogs. Hope you are not too injured.

I'm definitely looking at all this as a learning experience. Going to review my training plan with my sort-of-coach next week, see if I'm leaving any FTP on the table for those climbs, and go to a pulmonologist and see if I can get my EIA under better control because that feels like part of the problem. As for riding off the course - not sure how to control or learn from something I don't understand. Thinking about it now, I have a few theories I won't bore you with, mostly involving focusing too much on the plan and the future instead of what is going on around me at the moment. (oh holy crap... time to start a Zen practice - other bits of my life have been telling me this too.....)

I'm happy i was able to put it aside and ride a good TT.

I know I write pretty long and detailed race reports - writing it helps me try to understand what happened and sometimes I have an "ah-ha" moment and come up with something to do differently next time - and sometimes one of you guys helps me out with that.

So, thanks for reading. :)

valygrl, I guess it is possible to zone out in a criterium if you're not 100% focused or you're redlined. I've passed out in a criterium. I've made dumb mistakes that caused other riders to take evasive action. It's all part of racing. Don't be too hard on yourself.

I read it, too. What was too long and detailed about it? Nothing. Why was it sad? You made a mistake? No worries, we're human. No one went down, you live to race another day. Hey, you did GREAT on the TT, and that's saying something. You know that. Valygrl, you're too gritty, determined, and talented to get down about this. Bad race, put it behind you, and focus up the road. Now, I know you've told me that! I believe in it, too - now. My take? Good weekend, good job, you got your team mates some great finishes, and you got yourself some really valuable experience.

Jug Mountain MTB Race Cat. 1 50+

Another Cat. C race and Natz. qualifier. This course is way fun, and some recent rain made for "hero" dirt conditions. It had small fields this year for some reason, and there were only 4 50+ Cat1s. I got a good start and settled in at a fairly fast pace, and just like last race, started cramping. Cool temps., lots of water, plenty of salt and whatnot................ WTF????

I was able to back off just enough to keep from locking up, and still keep a fast enough pace to finish second. The winner smoked me by close to 15 minutes, so even without the cramping, a win was not in the cards. BTW, he won the last race I was in, and was fourth at Natz last year.

Sorry I haven't been participating in BF much(any) lately. Been hiking with a pretty girl who has amazing wheels.



p.s. Congrats to the BF crew that cleaned up at the recent Senior Games.........Well Done!!!

Sorry I've been MIA lately. I have a lot of things going on that includes racing. Did the Ohio State Master's Track Championship on Sat. Raced very well and got PR's in all three events. My 2K Pursuit was a little disappointing as I really felt that I gave a quality effort. Once home I discovered that my rear wheel shifted some time during the race, probably at the start, and rubbed against the chain stay. I was aiming for a 2:40 and felt that I gave the effort. I was pleased with the 39.234 time in the 500TT. My times in the 500TT and Flying 200 put me at 4th overall in each race. Beating Cat 1 roadies at anything is rewarding, beating them in 2/3 events is even better.:thumb:

I raced the 20K Road Race at the State Senior Olympics today. Got away early in a group of 5, then won the sprint for gold. Tomorrow I'm doing the 5K TT using my track bike with a fixed gear, then following up with the 40k road race.

Great racing all the way around!

We'll talk 2k soon. As far as 500m I'm so erratic that you might as well talk to a midget about slam dunking. I've gone 35.5. Then I've gone 38. (shrug)

I have an old buddy who is moving to Cleveland and wants to take up track. We'll be talking bikes this week. I'm wondering if they are running anything the week of the Senior Games?

Looks like there's a couple of Cat1's in my SG field...

Strong work, AJ! It's good see you're your old self! How about an ExtraNormal?

Nice job Ajet. Gold is great. You should be flying this time next month. It will be great to meet you.

Exeter Metallic Poutine M40+ twilight criterium, 42nd, in the field. There were so many things about this race, I could write a tetonrider novel, but I'll try and keep it short. I came up to do it because I love twilight criteriums on technical courses, to test my shoulder in dicey situations, and to work for Gary who came up with Noah. The warmup on the trainer sucked. Rolling around I was loose. Lined up, only to have the start delayed by a half hour while they towed cars off the course. Then they shortened the race to make up for it to leave time for the pros. I missed my clip in and almost went OTB if not for a Skofield rider who pushed me up the hill until I got in. With a prime every lap I fought, fought, fought to get to the front. I wasn't confident out there. I took few risks. I would work super hard to move up a few spots and lose it by cornering tentatively. I could not get the spectre of crashing on my shoulder and having season ending surgery out of my mind. So I had to try and time my efforts. After the 9th lap prime the field slowed a bit with a break up the road that had four teams in it, including one team that had six riders in the field. It looked pretty dangerous to me so I hit the front for a lap and a half and pulled them back. I spent the rest of the race trying to get back up front. With 1 to go the field slowed at the top of the hill in turn two with Gary and everyone else looking around. I nailed it up the right side and drilled it down the back stretch to get things set up. Turns three and four are technical with only one good line at speed. Slowing to avoid crashing would negate all the work. I didn't trust myself. I nailed the line through turn three and was still on the front. They started to come around me out of the saddle before turn four. I slid over to the outside and sat up, work done. I heard some crunching behind me. Don't know what happened. There was no friggin' way I was putting my hand up on that minefield of a course. If they didn't figure out what I was doing behind me, well, what can I say.

Gary takes fourth. We have a nice dinner afterwards. I looked at my power file this morning. I can't remember ever seeing one of mine quite like that. Insane surges throughout, and I had a lot at the end. So that's the good part. The team with six riders in the field? One in the money. The two man team with a 56 year old pulling the field down the backstretch? Fourth. That made it worth the drive.

tldr

fooyoo

shovel - sounds like an epic ride, completely understandable about the tentativeness in the corners. Sounds like your body actually appreciated the rest!

Shovel: Glad you are back racing and feeling better.

A'Jet, Congrats on the three wins. Always remember that most racers self select defeat and do not attend championship events. They conclude they will lose and do not show so many events have tiny fields.

Also, the 160 meter track is going to be difficult to ride and achieve great times. You have to make a lot of turns which creates the chance to make more mistakes and there is always a spike of power in your legs into a turn even on the black line. These surges play hell with the time. And if you go up track just a little, it scrubs speed. Well done on the efforts.

He kicked butt and looked good doing it! This is a buff 35-year-old, right?

tired. looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.

nice work shovelhd. good to see you out there again.

Too bad BY pinched you in the sprint. You had it going, man. I got home at 11:45pm. Thunderstorms and road work with no crews working. I had a great recovery ride this afternoon.

Nice to see you and your son. Next time lets talk less about bike racing and more about life. He seems like such a good kid.

[QUOTE=VanceMac;15786104]He kicked butt and looked good doing it! This is a buff 35-year-old, right?

[/QUOTE

Aw shucks, thanks Hermes for the kind words.

thanks!

Hide the children and cover the women's eyes! The world must be coming to an end! I won a TT today and was 4th over all, and I rode my pursuit track bike. A windy rolly course must have played to my strengths.

Way to go, AJ! :beer:

Don't peak to early!!!! :)

Congrats! Time?