Seward Park Season Ender

[this race was 8/29/2010, still catching up]

I've been racing at Seward on Thursdays all year, about 15 times in total this year I think. The 6 PM race is a Cat 3/4's race, so it's pretty competitive. But it's only 45 minutes so not a super long race. Today [8/29] was a Cat 3-only race, 60 minutes long.

The rumor was that last year they had a $5 prime every lap, which would be... interesting. Then I heard $1 per lap, which would still make the race pretty fast, and also hopefully burn out a lot of contenders for the finish. Turns out we just had the usual 3-4 primes, I was kind of glad they didn't do the prime-per-lap thing.

The Race

Not a very big crowd, as it turns out not everyone actually like racing at Seward?! This was seriously news to me that some in the local peloton think Seward is 'boring', 'sucks', etc - don't tell anyone, but my theory is they happen to 'suck' at racing Seward..

So with only 34 riders in the pack we set off. Some people spectating, and the announcer was calling out prime winners and stuff. And of course bad music blaring that I never hear during the race, luckily.

There were attacks, of course, but I've never seen a break actually stick at Seward in the 3's or 4's, so I wasn't too concerned. Though I should have been concerned, since I'd heard they have in the past and indeed that was what happened this time around too.

Eric on my team set off some initial attacks, as usual, but was brought back every time. A WWU guy (turns out he's actually Bikesale?) went off the front and never came back, I don't even remember him sneaking away!

Before too long there were 3-4 off the front, with up to a 45-second lead on us. Not wanting to sprint for 4th I tried to bridge once, towards the end of the race, but it was all for not. The closest we got was about 25 seconds, if only we had more time we could have brought them back.

Fast forward to the last few laps, and I'm sitting on the front trying to chase. Since I didn't know WWU guy was actually Bikesale (so I heard) it makes sense none of the Bikesale guys wanted to chase. And everyone else seemed content to let me do the work..

On the last lap were shifting positions and I rode up next to Josh, a strong team mate, and said, "Let's go!", as in, get on my wheel, I'll lead you to the final sprint. But he said, "No man, I don't have it today.." OK. Plan B. Me.

My team mate Mike was up there too (he always is, super strong), and he had me on his wheel, heading for the front of the pack. We came down the hill, and as we came up the backside he was leading me up the right side of the pack.

In a split second he was squeezed to the outside/left, along with 3-4 other riders, and this gave me a small hole to shoot through. And shot through it I did..

In the sprint for the 140-degree turn, I came into it so damn fast I almost hit the curb on exit! But I came out of it in 4th, and spun hard as I could to hold it. At first scared people were about to come around, but then confident I had it.

My first top 5 in the 3s! More importantly my first Cat 3 points! Two down, 23 to go!! Huge thanks to the team for riding great as usual, and for a bunch of other cat 3 racers for coming out to have fun in the sun.

The sprint for 4th:


More photos on wheelsinfocus.com.

A great video of the race can be found on vimeo.

Unfortunately this meant the end of the season for me, as cross is too..... obscure for me at this point. It's all about road for me!

Though cross is entertaining to watch, that's for sure. We went out to Starcrossed this weekend and Kira got some great shots of a bunch of the 3-4 PM racers.

Carnation Circuit Race: Attack!!

[catching up on the last few races of the season]

A few weeks ago was the final race in the three-race circuit series, a flat 4-mile loop out in the fields of Carnation. Views of the Cascades, scattered clouds, and about 66F - what more could you ask for?

Oh, about 54 other cat 3's to race against, that's what.

Ride to the ride

Took the bus from downtown to Redmond, just to save time and not have to leave super early like the ride to the Gig Harbor race a few weeks ago. From Redmond I rode Novelty Hill Road out to Snoqualmie Valley Rd which was part of the race course. Some hills but nothing too bad, and some nice views along the way.

The ride was slow and pleasant. Didn't get there in time to see the end of the 4/5's race, but saw all the usual suspects after the race. Jeff won again, that seems to be a repeating theme in that field!

The Race

I had four other Recycled Cycles team mates in this Cat 3 race, and one of our guys, Eric, loves to attack. And he did so just after the lead car sped up, ending our short neutral rollout. I used to be kind of nervous when the neutral rollout would end and the pack would speed up at once, but now I'm more excited and ready for the race to play out. And hopefully have an effect on the outcome..

The backstretch of this course was a narrow one-lane farm road, but we had had the center-line rule, so (in theory) you can't move up on the left side since cars might be coming the other way. But people still did it anyway..

It was a decent size field of 54 riders, enough to pack a lane and make it really hard to move up. For some reason I started in the back with a few of our guys, while two of our guys started up front. I should have just started up front, but instead had to slowly work my way up in the turns and the sprint.

Last year I had a really hard time hanging on when we came down the final straightaway, especially when at the back. Almost got dropped.. but this year I made sure not to be on the back there, and at least have a wheel to hang onto while coming through there.

That section was much easier for me this year, I didn't feel like the elastic was going to be snapped for me even during the sprint lap. So while I was trying to move up, Eric was still putting on attacks, one after another, I loved watching that!

Mid-way through the race or so, our field was neutralized and we had to come to a stop on the finish stretch, there had been a crash in the final sprint of the women's race. When we were re-started we passed some riders still down from the spill, I saw some skinned elbows, torn kits, ouch.

Later that lap we were stopped again, this time while sprinting out of a corner on the backstretch. They were still clearing riders from the road and had to bring in an ambulance..

The refs said they were shortening the race, and that there would be one to go after this, when there would normally be two to go. Shortly after they changed their mind, and re-started us, the race was back on.

I was sliding back somewhat during this lap, just not paying attention, and Carl on my team reminded me I should probably move up if I wanted to contest the finish at all. Good point! We moved up through the pack but there wasn't much space at all.

On the backstretch where everyone broke the rules and left the left side to move up, I did the same and hopped into 20th wheel or so, a decent position for the sprint.

It was pretty windy, with what felt like a cross-wind on the backstretch, and a headwind on the finish straight. I didn't want to be on the front of the pack coming out of the last turn..

Attack

On the last lap, the pack was all together and I was about 20th wheel, thinking about how the sprint was too long for me, 300-400m, so I needed to approach it another way. I gained some speed and came up the side of the pack, and lit up an attack. Went all out and held it for about a minute, then just tried to ride it out to the finish with one mile to go..

I went over the bridge with a decent gap, but I hadn't looked back yet, it was too early, though I could tell from the silence behind me.

Came around the penultimate turn hard, hoping to build on my lead. With an attack like this you can't commit 90%, you've got to give it everything. All or nothing. Gave a quick look back and the pack looked small!!! I was surprised. Maybe I'd caught them off guard and this was the winning move?!

Two riders warming up for the 1/2's race cheered me on as I hammered towards the final turn, off the front. 500 meters from the line and the race is mine.

It was starting to hurt if it didn't already, and looking at the data I spent about 2 minutes at 194 bpm (heart rate).. and averaged 28 mph for this last mile.

Came around the last turn, into the final straight, 300 meters to go, and the race is mine!!! (maybe, maybe, I'm hoping)

The headwind is evident as ever and my legs are turning into slush. Burning slush. Looking down I'm doing about 30 mph, giving it all I've got, but I know that's not enough to hold off the pack, which surely must be gaining by now.

A quick look back and I see a First Rate Mortgage kit on the left, damn. Up until that point I thought the race was mine, guess I got ahead of myself!

200 meters from the line, and 35th place is now mine. But it was one of my best Cat 3 finishes, even if my worst result so far. In some of the photos you can barely see me in the background, just hoping not to get hit by riders coming around me, wondering where my legs went.

Maybe next time I should go with 1km to go instead of 1 mile.. it was a great race though.

Post-Race

Hung out with some team mates after the race, checked out results, and got ready for the ride back.

I went back to Redmond via Union Hill road, took it really slow since my legs were kind of tired and there was a race tomorrow, the last of the season: The Seward Park Season-Ender.

Gig Harbor Circuit Race+ 2010

The main goal for this race last Saturday was to survive. Last year, I survived up to the last lap, then I got dropped. Came in outside the rolling enclosure that race, first time ever in my race career to come in to the silence of off the back.

In addition to surviving the race, I wanted to get in some extra miles in addition to the ~30 mile event. So I rode from Capitol Hill to the Fauntleroy ferry, then from Southworth to the race start in Gig Harbor. About 32 miles extra each way, not much, but the ferry adds a ton of time to the round trip!

The 3's race was at 11 am but I had to leave way early to catch the 7:30 ferry, since the 8:30 ferry would be cutting it close, with the 22 mile ride from Southworth to the race. And of course there are short but steep hills out there on the peninsula. Luckily most of them were steeper downhill on the way there, with a few big "rollers" too.

Got to the race a way earlier than I wanted to, but it was better than getting there too late. Was going up to the start when the 4/5's pack came shooting by in the opposite direction, with a few familiar faces in there.

Got registered and went back to watch the end of the 4/5's race. Was yelled at by the officials when crossing the road, even though the pack was a good 500 meters up the road, but that's their job I guess. But dammit I wanted to see the final sprint!

As the sprint became more clear, I saw a Second Ascent rider in blue/white leading the pack with a nice gap and good speed. As he gets nearer I see it's my friend Rob!! I give him a good shout and am really glad I'm filming this at this point.

The pack is extremely strung out behind them, and later we learn there was a crash at 1k to go.. yikes. No wonder they're all spread out..

And then Chad from Hagens rolls up with a broken handlebar, and blood splattered on his white shoe. Looked like his fingers hit the road and took some of the grinding on chipseal, damn.. and there I was sitting with no gloves at all (lost a pair and have been lazy about replacing them), really wishing I had some long-fingered gloves to use.. oh well.

Chatted with Rob, the race winner, and JC from my team, along with a few others after the race. Can't wait until they're in the 3's...

The Race

Suffering all around, on a nice summer day - 39 Cat 3's doing 7 laps:

(source)

I had two team mates in the race, but I told them up front my plan was just to survive, I had no intentions of going off the front or doing anything spectacular, due to last year's failure on this course.

And it felt weird to watch Eric P. go off the front about 4-5 times in the first two laps of our race, and not be able to try a counter-attack.. but it was great watching him put on a display of aggressiveness while it lasted (he ended up having to DNF due to a plastic bag getting in his rear derailleur of all things).

The hill on the backside near the 1k sign was still there, and still hard, but it did seem a tad easier this year. Was it the 18 lb bike instead of the 22 lb bike? Or the fact that I'm probably 5-10 lbs lighter as well since last year.. or all the training over the winter/sprint/summer? Perhaps all of the above.

But it wasn't easy by any means. I soldiered up it n the 53x25, and once the 53x23 for some reason, holding my spot in the pack or sometimes drifting backwards a bit. Only 45 seconds or a minute of suffering, but oh did it hurt. And it flattens out a bit at the top, then has one last up before you get over the top. Ouch. Would have been some good pictures from there..

On the first few laps a small dog (chihuahuah?) was running out of a driveway on the left, and yapping at our heels from about two inches away... that was interesting. People were yelling "DOG!! DOG!!" and swerving to the right a bit, pinching others on the right. Quite the scene.

But the dog was at least smart enough not to cross the center-line and dive into the pack.. but I figured if it came down to it I could bunny-hop it. Luckily it didn't come to that..

Besides the dog the race was pretty normal. There were attacks, and more attacks, and I watched them all with no response. Not the way I usually like to race but I just wanted to save energy, not waste it.

The downhill was fun, but a little scary - we must have been doing 40-45 mph in the pack, taking a wide right turn and just hoping the guy next to your doesn't decide to move into you, or randomly crash, which would take you out. And people are depending on you to keep a straight line as well, to not do anything drastic. Lots of trust, and it all worked out. Even with little divots/potholes on the left side that could really wake you up.

On the backside I realized that last year I hammered up the little riser before the flat section to the bigger climb, wasting energy. This year I took it only as hard as I needed to, no harder.

The final bell lap came, and it was time to lay it on the line. I was glad to still be in the race, and not be totally red-lining, though I was definitely close. On the climb near the end I was sliding backwards, and eventually found the wheel-car on my wheel, e.g. I was at the back of the pack! No!

So I made an effort to move up, and did. But there were still 15 people ahead of me and a lot of ground to make up.. the 1k-to-go sign came and went, and I didn't have enough gas in the tank to really get up front and have a go at 4th place (at this point there were two guys up the road, and one bridging to them).

The 200-meters-to-go sign came, and I'm in a pack, but too far back to really do anything useful. 20th place... oops, I kind of let that one slip by, wasn't up front like I should have been, guess I was more gassed than I thought. But it was fun..

The Ride Back

Was slow.. took about three hours (including stops) instead of the two it took to get out there. And it was hot. Like 95-degrees hot, which is a lot for the Seattle area! And it seemed much steeper going north on Crescent Way, one section had to be 15-20% for a good 1/4 mile.. good times.

But I made it. 97 miles total. What a day.

Skagit Flats Cat 3 Circuit Race - Breaking Away

A few weeks ago I made it up to Silvana with three team mates, for the 1st in the Lake Wa Velo Circuit Race series. The first of a three-race circuit race series.

Last year I did horribly in circuit races, coming in 49th at Gig Harbor, and 45th at Carnation.. some of my worst placings all year! At Gig Harbor I remember finishing outside of the "rolling enclosure" of the race, getting dropped on the last time up the hill - not something I want to repeat this year.

I didn't make it to the Skagit Flats race last year, so this was a new race for me. All I knew about it was a few keywords: flat, fast, windy, crappy roads, crash-marred finish. What else could a budding Cat 3 ask for?

On the way up we planned the race a bit, and my "role" was to stay up front, cover breaks, and generally ride for Josh, our sprinter who's also a new Cat 3. He's a 2 on the track, and has been killing sprints so it made sense for him to be "the guy" for this race.

We made it out to the farmland of Silvana, and found a parking spot in the gravel lot in front of the old grain silo. It had been wet all morning but was drying up.

While getting ready in the parking lot, Rob, a 4 from Second Ascent, came by and said he crashed out! Sounds like there was one problematic corner, that took someone out in every lap of every field so far... yikes. Rob was OK, luckily, but it was nice to have the warning about this corner.

But luckily it dried up by the time we raced at 11 AM.

The Race

After an OK warmup of riding around the country roads, we lined up in a small-ish field of 35 riders. Only my 5th Cat 3 race, but already some of the faces of other competitors are becoming familiar.

We'd been warned many, many times about "the corner" where everyone was crashing, but it was drying up and never was a factor.

The course was on flat farm roads, and even featured a few squeezes when we went under a few railroad trestles, complete with big wooden posts and a tight space to get everyone through.

The wind was out, to be sure, and some decided to spend the next hour+ in the comfort of the pack, others like me, decided to go for better odds in the sprint and go off the front.

On the front, part of my role was to cover breakaways that looked promising - so that at least someone from the team would have a chance of winning should the break stay up the road.

Josh, the guy we were riding for, decided to take a few flyers, looking very strong - probably just getting warmed up. He upgraded to the 3's a few months before me, and is a great team mate to have since we're almost always riding well together, finishing pretty close to each other.

Eventually it was my turn to cover a break, and was sitting about 10th wheel when I saw the two riders up the road, about 200m ahead. I turned on the gas and stayed in the saddle, just riding by everyone on the front not with a race-winning sprint like I usually try, but just enough to do 30 mph instead of the 25 they were doing.

After 30 seconds of hammering, not looking back at all, and just focused on the group ahead, I found their wheels. They were working well and taking short pulls, a good sign.

One of them was Jennifer Wheeler, a super strong Cat 1 Hagens-Berman racer who was using our race as a warmup for her later Women's 1/2/3's race, the other from Second Ascent, I think. I was hurting once I made it, and sat on for a bit and announced that I was here, let's do it, etc.

The speed was good, doing 27-28 mph pretty well, taking super short pulls. We made it about a lap (6 miles) before a strong UW guy bridged up, but by this point I was hurting a lot and already skipping pulls again. Not because I wanted to get an advantage on anyone, but because I just couldn't sprint through every 30 seconds for that long. After all it was only the 3rd lap or so out of 5.

Jennifer said after a while that we needed someone from Team X, a big team not represented in the break, I think it was IJM perhaps. If they weren't in the break, they would chase us down, was the thinking - and she was right. I was hurting too much to think much about strategy at that point, so it was good someone was.

We got brought back in eventually, and it was kind of nice to do a leisurely 20-25 mph instead of the grueling 27+ we were pushing out in the wind.

Not too long after there was a sprint lap coming up (for series points), and I was sitting about halfway down the pack. Carl, a guy on my team who is also more experienced than me, said I probably wanted to be further up for the break that will inevitably go after the sprint. He was right, so I moved up to 10th wheel or so and got ready. Here we go again..

Holding on to the group of 4-5 that were going for the points was enough to establish a small gap coming through "the turn" and the straight section through the finish. Sure enough, once the sprint was complete, a group of 2-3 went.

We had a good group of 3-4 for a little while, but the organization wasn't as good as before, and we only stayed out there for maybe half a lap if I remember correctly.

The final lap eventually came, and we were chasing one guy off the front. As we came up to the final turn we were back in a big group, jockeying for position for the final sprint. I was sitting 20th wheel or so, and made a move up the side of the pack and slotted into 5th wheel, though looking back I wish I'd been more like 10th coming out of the turn, it's a long 300-400 meter sprint..

We lit up the sprint and I see the pack of 5-6 ahead, but I don't have enough to hold any wheels and start to slip backwards. We had maybe a small gap on the rest of the pack but before too long I'm getting swamped and am ready for it to be over, and roll in knowing I'm out of the top 6 (for upgrade points), damn. I hate those long sprints like that.

Ended up 11th, Josh got 8th. A lot of work for no real result for me or the team, but it was fun! And a great workout.

Photos

Josh coming into The Corner, with a nice gap on the field:



A sequence of the final sprint:


The buy in yellow (bikesale.com) and the guy in white (NWCC) are Mike & Ryan, both new 3's. And killing it. And killing my legs..


It was a pretty close sprint, but Mike took it - nice job!


Of course, I don't think anyone in the top 6 spent any time in the wind at all during the race, which was the winning strategy of the day. But sometimes, the break sticks.. and when it does, I want to be there!

Photos from wheelsinfocus.com.

Derby Days Cat 3 Crit 2010

The 70th annual Derby Days criterium out in Redmond is the longest running bike race in America! Yes this was the race last year that featured a mountain bike in the 4/5's crit. I heard this year a cruiser of some sort showed up for the Cat 5 race this year... yet another reason I'm glad to be in the 3's. I think it's great that people want to start racing, I just don't want to race with them in their first few races!

In the Cat 3's you actually have to try pretty hard to maintain position, nothing comes for free. In the 4's I felt stronger than a lot of the pack, and could just about choose my position and hold it pretty easily. But in 3's crits you lose positions that much faster, and the sprints are that much harder. It's like everybody is at least as strong as me or stronger. At least it feels that way.

My race wasn't until 5:15, but I left the house at about 2 PM to ride out early and see the end of the Men's Cat 4 race, in which at least one Recycled Cycles team mate was riding in. I stupidly decided to take the bus from Montlake, barely missed the 545, and had to wait 25 minutes for another bus to come.. it was late. Lucky for me the race was running late too.

Got there late, but in time to see the last two laps of the 4's race. I heard the announcer say "Second Ascent has been on the front of this race a lot, let's see what happens now." Was hoping my friend Rob on Second Ascent might place well, but when they came around the final time I didn't see any blue/white plaid up front, just yellow (bikesale.com) and orange/white (Byrne/Invent). The guy who won has got to be a 3 soon.. I've seen him win three or four races this year!

With $300 up for 1st place in our 3's race, and payouts for top 5, I had heard people might "do dumb shit" for the win.. but what else is new. People will take risks for a bag of tubes if you put them on a bike in front of a crowd.. bring it on!

The Race

Even though I'd gotten to the race so early, I ended up at the staging area in the center of the venue later than most, so was at the back of 50 guys jockeying for position for the lineup. But it was wide enough that everyone spread out, and I got in the second row. Looking back I should have just gone out to the side to get a front spot, but gambled on the guy in front of me being able to clip in.

When I started racing last year I used to be so shaky, almost dreading the starting whistle or gun shot as much as I was looking forward to getting the race on. But now I feel much calmer, and am excited to get rolling, a much better feeling.

Phil shot the start gun and we were off, though the guy in front of me couldn't get clipped in (of course). 50 minutes to catch up though, after starting in 40th place it felt like.. I don't remember if there were many attacks at first but Randy from Arrivee was riding aggressively as usual, and went on an attack or a prime or something. Later on a guy from UW won a few primes by a good deal, and Blake from Cucina was off the front for a while too. Impressive for what felt like a pretty fast race - Cat 3 crits are definitely more animated than 4/5 crits too, which makes it fun.

I just worked on positioning in the pack and eventually moved up on the outside out of turn three, one of the few places on this course that it was pretty easy to do so. Pulled the pack for 3/4 of a lap; was hoping to have my team name called out by the announcer (success) and maybe getting my name mentioned too (fail). After all, my mom was in the crowd so I wanted to put on a decent show!

With 10 minutes to go, I still felt good and was mid-pack at worst, even moving up on the back stretch in the gutter once. Another time I found myself in the gutter when trying to pass Mark from Starbucks on the inside of corner three. When I did that I heard a young spectator standing there say "Whoa!" as I probably came closer to them than expected. I love the gutter.

With 3 laps to go I was sitting in great position, 3rd wheel. I should have just stayed there....

But they'd just announced a $50 prime and I was surprised nobody had jumped yet coming out of turn one, given all the earlier attacks. I guess the smart thing to do here would be to ignore the prime, as it would be hard to recover in time for the finish..

Coming out of corner two, I was thinking well if nobody else is gonna take this money, then I will. So I gave it a kick and left the pack, and entered turn three first. But after taking a few more hard strokes I started to feel gassed already (not good), and could see someone on my wheel (uh oh). All of a sudden I saw why it was a bad idea to go for this prime. I let up and succumbed to the IJM guys behind me, one of them taking the prime.

Two laps to go, but recovery time. Damn. I found myself in 10th place or worse, and by the time we came around the penultimate corner we'd been swamped by riders on the outside, and now I'm 25th or so. I can see the spots slipping away..

The final corner comes, but I'm watching a bunch of guys sprint up the road, and from the sound of the screaming announcer and crowd, I really wished I was up front to see the close sprint. Instead I'm putting in a dig to at least pass a few guys in the back, ended up 19th out of 52. Could be better, could be worse.

Randy won it, nice job man!

Success

In the end it was a fun experience, and having my mom finally watch me do this crazy hobby was great too. No crashes in the 3's race, though there were a few close calls from sketchy guys, but nothing too scary.

Much thanks to the organizers and everyone for keeping this race going! I'll definitely be back next year for this one.

Rest?

The Bellingham Stage Race is next weekend, but I'm thinking of skipping it and taking a week or two off from racing. This amateur racing is tough stuff!

Thinking of doing a little ride with my old randonneur friends on the 24th, though I really wish that ride started within riding distance.. I haven't done a ride over 80 miles this year, unlike last year when I was doing 200-600k's, and riding to Ramrod.. all that stuff was fun but it took so much time!

Still, the nature of a long ride against the clock, without the need to keep a specific pace, is alluring. Sounds relaxing even..

Speaking of long rides, good luck to all those doing the STP this weekend!

Hello Cat 3! (Capitol Crit & Boston Harbor CR)

This weekend marked my entrance into the Cat 3 field in Wa bike racing. (Cat 1 is the highest amateur category in the US, and you start out as a 5 and move up from there - rules are here)

Well you have to jump into a new category at some point, and this was my chance. No reason in waiting until the end of the season to upgrade, I had the points, and upgrading was in fact the point of racing in the first place. When I first started watching local races a few years ago, the Cat 3's seemed so sleek, so slim, and so fast. They were half-way to pro for all I knew.

Fast forward a few years later, and they don't look so tough any more. (Well, a few of them still do!) And now I'm one of them!


The Capitol Crit Cat 3's, 50 minutes - Saturday 6/26/2010

It was a rush to make the ~1 hour drive down, and we left a tad late and got stuck in traffic... it was a close call, but there was no way I was going to forfeit the race just from being late. I'd rather get dropped from a race than be late to it!

Anyway we made it down with minutes to spare, 10 to be exact, barely enough time to sign up, do a lap, and line up. Upon lining up I noticed the pack was tiny... wtf? I thought this was a big annual race (at least, I think it used to be), but the word on the street is everyone is burned out from the racing season and taking a break. Or something. Screw that, at least a few of us showed up!

The course is interesting, right in front of Olympia's capitol dome, a slight uphill, some snaking turns, broken up pavement, and a little uphill sprint finish.

Only 15 racers, but it'll have to do. I didn't have a goal of getting a good placing for upgrade points, just wanted to hang on and see how it went. They say Cat 3 races aren't actually that much faster, just longer, smoother, and more animated.

And indeed, from the gun, attacks went up the road. I figured they were all doomed, as it was so early in the race! But after a while they were still out there, and guys were bridging up, or trying to. I thought about going as well, but was already at >180 bpm and didn't want to get dropped from my first Cat 3 race.

More people were going up the road, and it was all I could do but watch. At first the gap was around 10-20 seconds - a manageable gap so early in the race. I was this close to jumping on a wheel to try to bridge as well, but held back so as to not overdo it. Just hang on, see how it goes.

After a few more minutes the gap had grown to 30 seconds, then 40. And somehow 4-5 others had made it up there, leaving 10 or less of us behind! The race announcer even threatened to pull us towards the end, if we didn't close down some of the gap. And here I was thinking they were they break and we were the race, but maybe they were the race and we had been reduced to a chase group?

I also had no idea which teams had guys up the road, meaning I wasn't sure who was trying to "block" the chase and who was trying. Looking back it seems obvious, but at the time it was confusing.

But no way I'm getting pulled in my first Cat 3 race! So I got on the front a few times, though it hurt a good deal, and pulled. Or tried to. When I did so, it sent the heart rate way up (e.g. over 190) and I had to back off... ugh. There's just nowhere to hide in a group of 7-10 riders on a windy-ish day.

There were points where I thought I was going to have to pull myself (read: get dropped), but I kept on pushing. That's the name of the game, keep pushing on, don't give up. The finish is out there somewhere. (This idea works well in the rando world too)

Finally I look over to see they've stopped the count-down clock and switched to the lap count. 10 laps to go. I can handle that, just hang on..

5 to go. Still in there. Time to start thinking about the finish, and my positioning in the "pack." With 1 to go, I tried to get in the top 3-4, and did so.

Coming out of the final turn, there were 3 guys ahead of me. One took the turn a bit wide, so I passed him on the inside. Then he finished his wide turn, while sprinting and apparently looking down, and came back into the lane, where I was. Luckily I was ahead of him by enough that his wheel just hit my frame (or something), and I cringed a little, waiting to hear that sound. (of bikes & people hitting the ground)

After the dust settled I'd gotten 3rd in the "field sprint," for 8th overall. Not too shabby for my first Cat 3 race!

On the cool down lap the guy that almost ran into me came up and said, "You did this and that, yada yada yada..." and I replied, "hey file a complaint with the officials, I held my line!"

Later after we'd cooled down a bit I said I was sorry, even though I'm still pretty sure I was going straight at that point, and he came to the right into me.

Had I made a crazy move in that last 50-100 meters, the USAC officials would have relegated me or DQ'd me, or something. That's what they look for, it's part of their job. But nope, there I was in the results, scored as 8th, proof enough for me that I didn't do anything wrong in the sprint besides lose. Maybe next time I'll just yell during the whole sprint so people that aren't paying attention will at least know what's around them...

Boston Harbor Circuit Race - Cat 3, Sunday 6/27/2010

6 laps of 6 miles each, on rolling hills north of Olympia. Not very long of a race, but it'll do. Last year I had a rough time with the circuit races, placing 30th or worse in all of them. Dunno what it was about them, but they always hurt, bad.

Having survived the crit the day before, I had a little more confidence coming into this one. Plus I was gonna have some team mates in the race! They say team tactics don't really start until the 3's, so I was excited to see what the talk is all about.

And I was glad to see 50 or so other Cat 3's show up, so we had a decent field. Cool. Too bad we all had to be packed into one tiny lane... there isn't a ton of space to move up in these types of races!

Anyway we set off and did a 1/2 mile neutral lap, where people jockey for position for when the race really starts. We went down the hill, a sweeping right turn, then a slight uphill. The race was on.

In a big pack like this you can stay protected, and dare I say relax a bit! Instead of the 182 bpm I averaged for the whole 50 minutes of Saturday's crit (yes, ouch!), I looked down to see 130-150. Ahh, this is like a group ride around the lake!

Well, only for so long. In the first lap the attacks started, and there were many. Adam on RCR went off the front, but was reeled in. Groups of 2-4 would try, and maybe last 1/2 lap, but get pulled back in.

About halfway through a group of 4-5 was up the road maybe by 50m, and it looked promising. I was on my team mate Mike's wheel, and was going to try to bridge if he didn't, but he did. And once he did I tried my hand at "blocking," so I got on the front and went slow. But I didn't do it right, it was way too obvious, and a guy behind us (there was another guy from another team blocking as well) yelled, "C'mon guys, there's blocking and then there's blocking."

So I scooted over and let him through, he just wanted to bridge up. Maybe that was the last of the big teams would bridge up and the pack would be happy with the combination of riders up the road, and let them go. Which I'd be happy with since Mike was up there.

Of course you don't want to chase down your own team mate in a break-away, so once people starting amping up the pace I just let them do their thing. No need to break wind for anyone and make it easier for them to catch my guy up there!

The group got brought back though, and we were only about halfway through. Still plenty of racing left.

Later in the race I joked with Josh, "Hey man when are you going off the front?!" And he replied, in a serious voice, "Soon." Sure enough, within minutes he was heading up front, getting ready to make a move. In the beginning of the last lap he moved up the right side of the pack and rocketed off the front, solo.

By the time we hit the right turn leading to the first big-ish downhill, only maybe 30 seconds later, he had what seemed like a huge gap. "Fuck yeah, go Josh!" I yelled with glee. But 5-6 miles can be a long time when you're trying to average 25 mph or so, solo.

He stayed off the front for almost the whole lap, getting caught on the slow riser leading up to the 2nd biggish downhill. It was a great attack though, I enjoyed watching it. I thought about countering once he was caught but figured it would be a suicide mission.

So I waited for the field sprint, along with everyone else. The last mile features a little climb, then a flat/almost-downhill section leading to the finish line. Alex had told me this race usually ends in a big field sprint with a big crash, so I was up front to hope to avoid the chaos. Mike, a team mate who's been racing for 10 years or more, also advised me to stay in the top 15, at least, for the finish.

I was fearing the sprint in fact, not because of crashes, but because of the hill that led up to it. Lucky for me most others seemed to have the same thoughts, and the whole pack took it (relatively) easy from the 1k mark at the top of the hill to the 200-meter mark. A breather at the end of the race, last thing I would have expected! (Looking back, that would be the time to attack, though it's tough given the previous hill)

Anyway we hit the 200-meter sign, and everyone went at the same time. From 30 mph to 35 mph, and then....

CRASH, BANG, BOOM!

Right in front of me guys started falling. At 35 mph no less... bikes and bodies flying, and that sound. Quite the view I had, that's for sure. Went left around the carnage, ran over a bunch of shattered plastic (sunglasses perhaps?), and saw a bike with big aero wheels cartwheeling towards me from the right.

Ok, that was close! After making it around the crash I pretty much sat up, given someone had already won and the top 6 was spoken for, the results didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that I made it out unscathed! Pretty sure I came in about 20th, but never saw the results so it's hard to say.

After the race we talked to Sean, one of the guys who went down. Shoulder had a quarter-size hole in it, but worse was that his back was covered in road rash, as if he'd been clawed by a dragon. Ouch.

Patrick, a nice guy I'd just met the day before, also got caught up in the "action" and looked about the same, if not worse.

At least they were walking around, but will certainly need to take a few weeks off to recover. Could've been me, it was so close.. but hey that's racing.

You don't get rewarded without taking some risks.

All in all it was a great weekend of racing! Next up is the Joe Matava crit on the 4th, one I did last year. Can't wait! Let's see if I can avoid the carnage... with more confidence I hope to start animating a bit more in these Cat 3 races. Time will tell.