Racer Ex 

Expanding on my 33 report:

Good weekend for Racer Ex, the legs are firing and I'm seeing signs that Road Nats might go well.

Saturday: Took Friday off so I rode in the morning hoping to knock the crud out of my legs. They didn't feel great in the morning but the wife and I drove down to San Diego for the Elite State Track Championship anyway. My plan was to ride the 4k, then go have fish tacos. Even with a jacked up position fighting a nasty wind and kinda wooden legs I squeaked out a 1 second victory.

Last minute gear change and a good front wheel choice made the difference. The devil is in the details.

Fish tacos taste better when there's a gold medal in your pocket BTW.

Sunday:

Wow. I felt good. 50+ race I was in all but one break including the one that stuck. Played the team tactic thing with two to go and sent my teammate up the road with two guys I knew he could beat. And he did. I launched a couple of minutes later figuring on 4th or maybe sneaking by one of the two guys sitting up for 2nd or 3rd, but it didn't work out, a team with two guys in our break tried to set their field guy up, they ****led up everybody (I got caught with 800m to go) only to misfire and get...not much. See below.

Nice getting our guy the "W", he just missed a jersey the week before.

The 45+ I ended up in a break with 9 guys from one team and a few solos. Big team launched a guy with 2 to go, I waited till one to go then launched; I figured it was 50/50 getting to the solo guy, but I want to win rather than sitting in for 2nd or worse. I calculated that the big team wouldn't chase down there own guy when he had a good gap, and no one without a teammate could possibly be tactically obtuse enough to drag 8 guys from a sprinter team up to me with less than a lap to go. I mean, that would be incredibly dumb.

But of course that's exactly what happens. Obtuse guy gets crumbs . I pretty much sat up and rolled across at the back of the break.

There's actually a lot of good tactical consideration in the narrative above.

a) Team first: I was 100% sure my guy would win the sprint out of that group. So I was fine with giving up a possible podium or maybe win.
b) Look backwards and think..."is this to my benefit" if you're dragging people along. Sometimes it is, but not if you're dragging along guys that can beat you in a sprint. And think about what happens when you get there. Obtuse guy set himself up for a perfect counter once he caught me, and that's EXACTLY what happened.
c) I believe in honoring the effort. If the the obtuse guy had actually been able to podium by pulling me back, fine. But don't shut down someone's attack if it just means someone who's been wheel surfing is going to get the glory.
d) Do the math. A sure 2nd and 5th is better for your team than a maybe 2nd and nothing. Or nothing and nothing.
e) Plan. See "b" for one thing. I was constantly running scenarios during both races. If you're in a sprint, you react. If you're in a break, you plan.

Anyway:

Hello legs, nice to have you back. I was attacking hard well into the end of the 2nd race after riding the 4k the day before. Can't tell you how long it's been since I've been back at this level.

Also really nice to say hello to Learnmedia and get to meet Kaneako (sp?) who came up and introduced himself.

chasm54

Great report, Ex. Congrats on the win, and on the returning form.

As for planning, I find my IQ varies in inverse proportion to the amount of physical stress I'm under. The nearer I am to being on the rivet, the less clearly I think... . Terrific advice, though.

VanceMac

Good stuff, Ex. Will you and/or your team be doing 45+ Brentwood?

Racer Ex 

My last SoCal race till Nats will be San Marcos, but I'm sure we will have a presence at Brentwood.

Hermes

I am speechless and MEA said multiple times. "I cannot believe it.. that is amazing". Beating the elites at the 4k at their State Championship is a monster accomplishment. Well, the 40 laps 2 on and 2 off seemed to work.

Allegheny Jet

Great finish on the weekend of racing Ex. Winning jerseys is the ultimate Most of the race reports were way over my sophomore understanding of racing.

AzTallRider

Amazing is right. Wow. If anyone starts whining about having to race against younger riders, I'll point them to this result.

AzTallRider

I for one am curious how you got your teammate off with the guys you wanted him with. Shutting breaks down until that combo went off, or was there some coordination?

Kaneko

Racer Ex, It was an honor to meet you. I so wanted to talk to you, and I hope I did not take up too much of your time and mess up your warm up routine. As I said yesterday, I really appreciate all the advice/suggestions/information that you have given in this forum. Thank you and have a wonderful week!

Racer Ex 

We had 8 guys in the break including my teammate and I. When two guys took off we let them get a bit of a gap; we both knew that we could bridge so it was just a bit of a waiting game to see if the other guys would work. When they wouldn't my teammate went a second or two before I was planning on going. My guy was the strongest sprinter in the break so letting him go and shutting the others down was a no-brainer.

To that point we kept everything in check.

Prior to his making it up to the break we were slowing down. I knew I had good legs and had a good shot at burning the rest off at the end so I took some stronger pulls to give us some distance from the field, my teammate made a perfect jump to bridge that the other guys missed.

Next race they were on him like glue so I was on my own.

Racer Ex 

Didn't interfere at all, no worries. Good to meet you too and glad that you found some things helpful. Don't be too impressed BTW, most of what I learn I pick up by doing something really stupid. Like forgetting my shoes.

AzTallRider

So it's a case of getting into the right situation (the break), knowing the competition (especially the few who might have a better sprint), recognizing the key moment, and having the skill/strength to take advantage of it. Simple. Anyone can do it.

sarals 

Ex, wow. Am I ever (as I always am!) proud of you. Congrats!!

Racer Ex 

San Marcos circuit race. Leading the charge up the hill. Not a great weekend.

Hermes

Great shot.

Racer Ex 

I look fat.

Hermes

They (whoever they are) say that the camera adds 10 pounds.

shovelhd

You're not.

Kaneko

Ex, You look great leading a pack(as usual..). I, on the other hand, died on that hill...tough course!

Racer Ex 

To quote Pee & Pee..."indeed"

I managed to attack myself right out of the 35+ race trying to bridge up to the break with legs of mud.

Keep after it. Hard courses build character. Not just saying that BTW. I've been shelled a bunch of times. You learn what you can and can't do and how big your shovel is when you need to dig.

Kaneko

Thank You! At least, I now know how to prepare for this course next time. It was a good experience nonetheless.

Racer Ex 

Given the choice between a T-shirt and 3 days of recovering from cramps and heat related stuff, or ending my race early and continuing a sensible hard training regimen for Nats, I choose the later. Avoided another 2 hours in 100+ degree heat breathing in an air quality alert and inhaling mosquito spray from the night before (West Nile issues). Did tear the field up a bit before I turned around though. Big climbing ride on Sunday. Things are progressing.

Hermes

I read the reports coming out of Dunnigan Hills and the weather sounded horrible. You chose wisely.

Racer Ex 

Stayed off in some type of break for all but 2-3 minutes of this weekend's state crit. Goal was to help an eligible teammate get the "W" and a jersey. Rolled in after a huge dig on the last lap to set up my teammate, he lost to a 4x Nat'l crit champ by a wheel. Close, so close.

Good ride overall as a team for the most part. My legs were quite good despite a lot of training load to this point.

shovelhd

That is great work, Ex.