This is the May 2nd running of the 2007 Greenbelt Training Series. There were 25 people in the field for this criterium race. This is the "C" race.

I made a few mistakes, namely:

- not staying out of the wind
- pulling the pack about 3 times
- not being energy efficient
- no, the race isn't almost over until you hear the bell for the last lap

I did get to practice:

- finding the line that is moving up
- wheel swinging (sometime unintentionally as I started to fatigue) to make more room around me
- high speed turns with many others around during the turn

Duration: .41:17
.Work: .438 kJ
.TSS: .49.4 (intensity factor 0.847)
.Norm Power:.229
.VI: .1.29
.Distance: .14.041 mi
.Elevation Gain: .1015 ft
.Elevation Loss: .1024 ft
.Grade: .0.0 % (0 ft)
..Min.Max.Avg
.Power: .0.911.177 .watts
.Speed: .0.38.1.20.6 .mph

Due to my stuborn efforts to pull the pack, in the end, I fell out the back coming in nearly dead last (I think there may have been one other person behind me who was hurting more than me.) As I crossed the line, I asked the head referee for a bottle of oxygen.

One thing that I and another team member noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of braking during the race. An example of what I'm referring to, is that the pack dropped down to 17 MPH after coming off a hill at nearly 40 MPH, instead of utilizing some of that speed to carry them thru the corner.

Also, it seemed like every time that the road started heading up, the pack sat up, waiting for some fool (me ) to jump out front and pull them up the hill. BAD NORACER! BAD! BAD!

WTG, NoRacer!

You were right about "more hills, more intervals." If you stayed to watch the A's and B's, those races got strung out pretty bad because both of them had a lot of attacking on the hill.

And if you have it in your legs, you'd be amazed how much time you can put into the pack in the turn. A couple times I got on the front and went through without braking and I had to sit up and wait for the pack to catch up. If you attack while people are resting at the top of the hill, haul a$$ down the descent, and go no-brakes in the corner, you can open up a decent gap.

Grats on your first race. I am seriously gonna get out there soon and watch some of you BF.net racers honest. It sounds like tons of fun to watch as well as ride in.

-D

It is fun watching. Timing gaps can be interesting, but sometimes difficult when they overlap starts like they did for the "B" and "A" race, if you didn't realize that they did that. Both groups raced the route at the same time, except the second group to start is delayed a couple of minutes.

It's also fun being a roadguard and trying to explain to an Italian family that speaks almost no Engligh in a rented RV that there's a bike race going on and they need to stay on the wrong side of the road. And then, once they got in, they came back out because they needed to go to the grocery store. Many cones and signs fell victim to that RV, lemme tell ya.

Well, I think I'm going to try and make it out next week. I need to get it right at least once before going out on the weekend forays.

Good stuff. It's a great series for getting your feet wet, for sure. I wouldn't necessarily hold off on the weekend races, though--every course is a new experience.

Way cool, sounds like something I should check out. Is there a map to the race course? Also, is there masters level?

Nope, no Masters level. The three classes are:

A (P/1/2/3), B (M4/5, W1/2/3) and C (M5, W4, Junior)

The course is a 1.4 mile circuit with a fast descent, one 90-degree turn, and a big-ring climb to the finish. Pretty nice course.

My team's website has more info-- www.route1velo.com, then click on the "Greenbelt" tab, and "General Info."

Well done on your first race! And let me also congratulate you on making the same mistake I made when I first started racing--pulling! I would also agree with others who say don't hold off on weekend races. I'm a big fan of weekly series to race yourself into shape; you just have to make sure you view the races as such and don't get discouraged if things go poorly.

Congratulations on getting out there. Now you have to change your screen name though.

When I finally got strong enough to hang in the pack and duke it out for the sprint, I was the dumb goon at Greenbelt who led everyone out up the hill and thought he was winning.

Yea I can't wait to start watching some live local racing. I enjoy it enough on TV. Reading these forums certainly gives you the "bug" but I expect I will be just a spectator still for awhile.

-D

NoRacer, sounds like you have some potential if you're able to go faster than others up the hills. Next time, just try to see how lazy you can be (i.e. what's the LEAST you can do to stay in the top 3rd of the field). Once you're able to do that without any difficulty then you might try making a move on the hill--with the idea being to put some separation between you and the field rather than simply moving to the front to pull everyone.

--Steve

+1

It was only about 6%! But, after 10 laps, my legs acted like it was 20%

Congrats. Welcome to the brotherhood.

(Misery loves company!)

;-)

Bob

+ 1 on congrats and + 1 on the rest

that hill definitely gets longer and steeper with each lap

Thanks guys.

I'm jealous! Will hopefully make it out to my first race soon, too! Congrats to you, NoRacer.

Thanks, if you can get to Greenbelt, do so. It's a great little course, yet there's plenty of challenge.

NoRacer - congrats on getting out to Greenbelt to give racing a go. Great place to learn the differences between riding your bike, riding your bike with a group (even a fast one), and riding with a number pinned on to jersey and a start/finish line. Wish I'd have started my racing over there, but didnt know about the series until well after I was demoralized by my 1st race experience.

I always tell folks not to worry much about placing or even finishing at Greenbelt. It's a training race, so use it to practice stuff. I'll use it to work on weaknesses or hone in on things I do well. For instance, I'm a pretty aggressive racer (impatient) and have a tendency to go with every move that goes off the front, or start my own. Result is I burn too many matches early. I'll go to Greenbelt and tell myself that I'm not leaving the pack until Mr. X does, or until we're 8 laps in, etc. Alternatively, sometimes I just want to attack on the hill or out of the sharp right turn every time through until I pop. Either way, if you can get there, it's a great way to spend a wednesday evening.

We're "two peas in a pod". That's me.

Thanks.