North Bend Crit 2012

The last few weeks of racing have been fun, and good training too.
Two Sequims (both had crashes - and they say Mason is dangerous?!), neither race went all that well for me though I stayed upright. Then there was Indy Valley, which I at least made it through with the pack, unlike last year..

But finally a crit came along, in March! Some grumbled it was too early for one, but it sounded great to me! And this was a new one on the calendar, out east in North Bend right up against the Cascades.

A flat four-corner deal, sounds a lot like Ballard! Seemed a little shorter than that, but still great training for one of my favorite races. The pavement was mostly smooth, with just enough broken-up pavement on the backside to make it interesting.

Our Cat 3 field was doing only 40 minutes, and a small field. No rain either. Perfect! I had three teammates in the race, ready to throw down.

The Race

I was on the second row at the start, and of course got stuck behind someone who couldn't clip in, and had to go around while not running in to anyone else - ahhh, crits!! The we all jammed together for the first turn, with brakes screeching and people grumbling, oh crits. I guess people need to get the cobwebs out anyway, better now than at Volunteer Park coming up!

It was great to see teammates on the front, and going off the front too. I tried to stay up in the pack to avoid any crashes in the middle/back, and the accordion effect too. Overall it was a pretty clean race, though I did see a UW guy in the grass out of corner one, not sure what happened there.

Off The Front

With about 15 minutes to go there was one guy off the front and another dude jumped out of the pack to bridge, so I grabbed his wheel to bridge too. Before too long we made it up to the guy, and I was off the front! Breaks are hard..

Usually in crits I try to sit in the pack, or chase on the front/speed things up when necessary. After all if it comes down to a field sprint, it really helps to rest (coast) as much as possible, so I usually can't do both.

We stayed off for a few laps, but I eventually ran out of gas and decided to just sit on. Of course my break-mates weren't happy with that, but what can ya do. Then I started to think that a field sprint suited me better anyway, so demoralizing the break might actually work out, or so I thought.

The End

We eventually got caught by the field and before I knew it there were 5 laps to go, with everyone together, sweet. Time to get set up for the sprint! My team came up front and we started trying to speed things up, keep it safer and make it harder to move up.

But we started the leadout too early and couldn't hold it for 5 laps, so on the last lap someone else was on the front, damn. This is what training is all about - dialing in the experience so you can get it right next time.

The last lap came and my legs felt good, but I wasn't as far up as I wanted to be. Maybe 8th wheel or so, pretty happy with how things are going, but not in a great spot. I started to jump on the backstretch before the 3rd turn, but then for some reason I sat and coasted (actually my legs probably gave out!) and some guy jumped around everyone on the inside of the corner. Ah, crits. Love it.

Some yelling and two corners later and we're coming down the home stretch, and I have to pass Mr. I-like-to-jam-on-the-inside guy on his right, having to go around his wheel with not much space. Overtook a few guys in the final 100m, making ground slowly on 3rd place, but couldn't do it in time. 4th, I guess I'll take it for the first crit of the season!

As usual, better positioning at the end would have made the different in the result, but that's what practice is for.

Seward Park is starting up next Thursday, and then Volunteer Park on Saturday. Can't wait!

I Won The Ballard Crit - Again!!

Last year I won my first race ever, The Ballard Crit, Category 4/5's.

This year I won my second race ever, The Ballard Crit Cat 3's!!

After upgrading last year, being hit by a car in December, and getting dropped in my first races this year, it was an extremely rough start to the season.

But with determination and training the legs came back around, and I could tell that fitness was close to where it was before.

The Race

Rob & I rode down from Capitol Hill, taking our time and not wanting to waste an ounce of effort. We got to Ballard with tons of time to spare, and watched some of the earlier races and got ready for ours. Changed into my skinsuit in an alley, talked with the team, warmed up, and tried not to let the nerves take over. It is the Ballard Crit after all..

We rolled around on side streets for 10 minutes as a warm-up, pretty weak - but I felt nice and loose and ready to race! After some decent results at Seward Park lately I figured I could do something useful in this race, and had the team riding for me so I was really hoping to make their work worth it.

We (Recycled Cycles/Raleigh Racing) had five guys in the cat 3 race: me, Spoonie, Steve, Jeff, and Nick. So with four of them putting in work so that I could rest in the pack, it was great fun watching Steven win primes, Spoonie go off the front and attack for a few laps, Steve attacking at will, etc. All of that was in hopes that our competitors would then have to chase down those attacks and primes. Make them work that much harder. (and if the attacks stuck, then it was still a win for the team)

In the cat 3's the main difference is that teams try to work together, and actually get stuff done more often. Trying to organize a team in a crit is tough, but with team mates ready to sacrifice their race for yours, it does work out.

Spoonie & Steve on the front, stringing it out: (that means we're going fast)


With about 3 or 4 laps to go, I got on the front and was concerned that we'd lost control of the race; if we ever had control is of course debatable, but now was the time that it really mattered. I'd been resting up the whole race, so I had a little to spare even though I was saving most of it for the end.

Two to go, and I'm still on the front, trying to keep the pace up - but not going fast enough. Don't want anyone to come around, unless it was a team mate..

Luckily a team mate came to the rescue - Spoonie got on the front and strung it out, with me sitting 5th wheel ready to pounce! Ideally I would have been right on his wheel, but that might have been too predictable in the end.

What you can't see in any of the photos or video of the race is how I won it - we held the formation above on the back straight, which had a tailwind leading into the 3rd corner. And since it was a tailwind my plan all along was to attack in this section on the last lap, knowing that the strong tailwind would make it so that nobody had much of a draft, and that we'd all have to work the same. (meaning if someone is behind you, they aren't getting much draft from you)

As we straightened out from corner two, I was in 5th wheel and happy that Spoonie was keeping the pace up - must've been around 30 mph at least, though I didn't use any data during this race so I have no idea!

I got the feeling everyone was just waiting for the exit of corner four to start the sprint, but I decided to start it a bit earlier. I saw an opening, had speed on those in front of me, and jumped as hard as I could. It was a race-winning sprint and I put everything into it. I had to.

The tricky part is that I had to hold everyone off out of corner 4 to the line.. slightly uphill and in to a slight headwind.

Leading the pack out of corner 4 on the last lap - I felt like I had a bigger gap than what appears here, but it was just enough.


A team mate on the sidelines got a great shot of me coming out of turn 4, gunning for the line:

Eventually the guys on my wheel start to fan out to come around.. my legs are on fire.. want to give up but it's not time just yet..

But they can't come around!!
[photos from wheelsinfocus.com]


Yup. I did it again! I could only half believe it after it happened, and all I could do was let out a "FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YEAH!!!!!"

Video of the race:

Second Ascent Criteriumnt Twilight Cat 3 Men-Ballard , Washington 2011 from RideITLikeUstoleIT!!! on Vimeo.

For my troubles I got $80 cash and a set of SRAM S40 wheels! And of course bragging rights for the next year..

We won the Ballard Crit!!!

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!

Joe Matava Cat 3's Crit 2010

Last year this was my 2nd "real" crit (besides Seward Park), got 11th, and was of course super happy with that result.

A fun 4-corner course with the start on a downhill, two left turns leading to an uphill backstretch, two more lefts and then the downhill to the finish. Classic crit format. In Burien.

The Ride Down to Burien

Unlike last year, when I was racing the 4/5's and had to get up super early to ride down in time to register, this year the 3's were racing until 12 PM or so, giving me plenty of time to rest, and take my time on the way down. I averaged about 13 mph down there.

I still left around 9:30-ish, hoping to catch some of the racing and was afraid the 3's field would sell out, as it supposedly did last year. Overcast and a little windy, but not too bad. Took Delridge to Ambaum to get down there, much to the delight of a few drivers.

Watched some good racing from the juniors, the women's 1/2 field, and rode around with Mark from Starbucks, Karl from Keller-Rohrbach, and Mike(?) from Garage, all nice guys but we'd be racing against each other soon. We rode in circles in a closed off block, an OK warm-up but I need to start bringing a trainer to races..

The Race

Upon signing up for the 3's race, a woman at the registration table said "Cat 3 means you're good! I learned that this morning." I laughed and said well I'm getting there, but enjoyed the idea that I'm something special. Works for me!

Took a few practice laps and lined up in the back, but there were only 35 or so other racers, and only a few rows of people. The Capitol Crit a few weeks ago was fun, but with so few riders and a tougher course it didn't have the feel of a straight-forward criterium, something I've gotten pretty good at. So this was my first bigger 3's crit.

The pack:


We started and a strong team mate Josh, who just upgraded to the 3's a couple of months ago, set off some early fireworks and launched an attack from the whistle, in our 45 minute race. Sweet.

I sat back and watched as he hammered in the distance, actually building quite the lead for a few laps:


He came back into the pack after a while, but it was a good effort. I'm still a little timid about attacking in a 3's race, but I'm getting there. And crits are so fast that I don't feel like I can last very long anyway..

I ignored all the premes, even though some were $10, $20, or $50, saving energy for the final sprint. Not ready to try for premes and the win or top 5 placing, not yet anyway.

Even so, at one point there was a break of 3 or so up the road, and I attacked the peloton from 3rd wheel coming down the straigh-away finish. A little camera time, if you will.

Later in the race Jordan took off on an attack for a preme and held off for a few laps, and Josh was out there again, if I remember correctly. Damn those kids are strong! Jordan he won $60 in the race too! Nice man..

There were more attacks here and there, but we were all together for the final few laps at least. And that's when people really started competing for the corners, and I had to back off a bit coming into the first corner on the last lap, there just wasn't any room, and people were getting way frisky (e.g. swerving a lot).

I remember at the time thinking, "Well there goes placing in the top 10.." as I watched 10 more people swarm around me. Sometimes you just know when you've given up spots that will cost you in the end.

In the 2nd corner a UW guy slid out, Jordan said he ran over the guy's bike! (and kept going)

Then in the 3rd corner, I'm sitting 10 wheels back or so, and a guy up ahead all of a sudden bucks his back wheel up a foot off the ground, and I'm thinking, "Yup, he's screwed!" But not a second later, my own pedal lightly touched the ground... maybe a little too early to gloat.

Coming out of the last corner I was about 15th, and looked up to see the riders fanned across the road. Well, maybe I can gain a few spots here? There are cash payouts for top 10 after all..

The Field Sprint

Hard to tell who's going to take it from about 150m out:


I put in a good dig but coming from 15th I was gunning for 10th at best. Actually passed a few guys that sat up near the line, or just couldn't hold their sprint long enough. Ended up 11th. (Just like last year no less!)

Patrick from Second Ascent took the win in the end, he was actually in the big crash in the Boston Harbor Circuit Race a few weeks ago. Helluva recovery! Good for him:


Photos from Wheelsinfocus.com.

The Ride Back

Ride back was slow, and traffic was heavier at 3 PM. But it felt great to have done decent in the crit, and kept it upright, ready to race again.

Next up: Derby Days in Redmond! $300 up for grabs for 1st place..

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.

Tacoma Crit 2010: Cascadia Crit Series Finale

(so yeah this is about two weeks late, but here you go - enjoy! Coming up next are Cat 3 reports from the Capitol Crit & Boston Harbor Circuit, so stay tuned)

A few Saturdays ago was the last race of the Cascadia Crit Series, and I went into it in 1st place, wearing the Leader's #1 number. A little pressure, but not much since I had a good deal of points ahead of 2nd place, and was feeling good. And I can corner like a mofo, which is what crits are mostly about.

A few shots from the scene:

View from the beer garden:


The Race

After 20-30 minutes on the trainer, we did a few practice laps with other racers. The 4/5's were going first so they were still setting up the course when we got there, and at one point they put a big red inflatable banner across the course, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I thought it must be a joke. Only 20-25 feet across, I imagined parts of our peloton bouncing off the inflated thingy and causing epic crashes..

Luckily they thought twice about the plan and put the red inflatable rainbow thingy off to the side, where it belonged. There were enough turtles in the road to look out for without having to worry about that monstrosity.

Anyway we got to the race and did call-ups, I got to get called out as 1st place overall once again. Not something I could get tired of, I must admit...

We got off on the first lap and I put in a good effort (looking at power data, the peak 5-sec/30-sec/1-minute/5-minute/etc for the whole race!) from the gun, hoping to hit the pack hard and soften if up for Kyle, who was gunning for a spot on the top 3 podium, sitting in 4th place.

One junior from Rad Racing and I somehow ended up with a gap between us and the pack on the first lap - not the plan, but for my last 4's race why not? I just needed to get another top 15 or so and I'd keep 1st in the bag.

But once you're out there alone (or with one other you can barely hang on with, in this case) you realize how hard it is to maintain that. I can only do 190 beats per minute for so long..

We got reeled in before too long, maybe a lap or two out there, but it was fun. I guess the warm-up was good, because I jumped right back in the pack when we got caught and got ready to snatch up points premes if they came along (on Kyle's behalf, I didn't really need them).

Sure enough a points preme came along and I got 2nd in it, enough to get 3 more points.

The pack was a little.. squirrelly at times, if you will, and while there were a few close calls on the slower backside (4-5% uphill), I think there was only one minor crash in the race. I came through a few gaps that weren't very big, but luckily kept it upright.

In the final lap I sat back a bit and watched Kyle move up and take 3rd, I got 7th. Success! Kyle moved up to 2nd on the podium, and also got some more points towards his 3's upgrade.

Winnings

As a reward for holding on to 1st place overall I got showered with all kinds of gifts. A trophy (pictured below), a wheelset (seriously!), a leader's jersey, and $125. Never thought I'd get anything but a challenge from racing, but it's been that and then some I guess.

1st overall leaders' jersey!

A cool trophy from the Chihuly institute:


More photos

AJ & other rider off the front in the 3's race:


The pace car for the 1/2's:


More photos on flickr, as usual.

Thanks to Rob from the ride down, and to everyone for racing & not crashing too much, as well as to RT and the whole Cascadia Crits crew for putting on such a great series. Looking forward to next year's edition!

Goodbye Cat 4, it's been fun. Hope to see some of you guys up in the 3's soon!

Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium 2010

Last Saturday was the Brad Lewis/Boat Street Crit, the annual race held in the U-district in front of Recycled Cycles. The 5th race in the Cascadia Crit Series, and I had a pretty solid lead in the 4/5's.

As a part of the RCR team I worked the race all day, helping set up before-hand, sweeping the corners, etc (starting at 6 AM!). Also worked registration later in the day, and enjoyed a great day of racing - even though it rained a little.. but it was some great urban racing.

The Cat 4/5's start, with a few of us in blue n' gold up front. Kyle & I got the call-up so we got nice spots up front.



Heading into the first corner, a little uphill into a one-lane section. That's Adam on the front, in 2nd place overall, a strong dude:


Another shot of the first corner:


Heading into the second corner:


Second corner:


The 3rd corner:


Leading the pack through the finish straight - notice the big cracks in the road, love it:


Leading again, a little further down the road:

(thanks to JC for taking those photos during my race)

At another point, attacking and/or going for a prime:

(thanks to Todd for taking that photo)

As you can see from the photos I spent a good deal of time of the front of the pack, perhaps too much. But with my 26 points I actually didn't want the points you get from winning, which would force a mandatory upgrade (at least in theory) so I sat up on the last lap and let everyone duke it out. I still came in 7th overall, so I guess I sprinted but I made sure to do it from 10th place or so, not from the front of the pack. Seems silly now to try not to win, but with one more race left in the series I didn't want the five points you'd get from winning this race.

After our race the women's 4's race went on, and then the 3's race - usually the 3's are thrown in with the p/1/2's, but they at least got their own race. Unfortunately not many women showed up due to the rain most likely, but I thought it was great the organizer at least did that for once.



The 1/2 women raced as well, along with the Cat 3's, juniors, and the kid's race. Eventually it was time for the p/1/2's. I was working the registration booth when many of these racers sign up and I can attest that they seemed mostly human, quite surprisingly.


Video of the 1/2's going through the second corner, chasing a breakaway most likely.


The 80 minute p/1/2 race was certainly more animated than our race was, with a breakaway of five or so off the front for one half of the race, then a different set of 4-5 off the front for quite a while. In the end there were two off the front (I if recall correctly) who got to sprint for the win together.

It was a great day of racing, watching racing, and working the race. Glad I finally got to do this race!! Thanks to Recycled Cycles and the Cascadia Crit Series for putting it on. Already looking forward to next year.

Tomorrow is the Tacoma Twilight Crit, looking forward to it! I'll be in the money no doubt tomorrow, and should be able to hold on to 1st place overall. Then it's time to move up to the Cat 3's!

Woodinville & Fremont Crits 2010

Saturday - Woodinville 4/5 Crit

The first crit in the 6-race Cascadia Crit Series.

Rode 20 miles to the start up the Burke-Gilman, but got there way too early so it wasn't the best warm-up. Got there with 45 minutes or an hour until the race, so the course wasn't even all the way set up yet. Signed in and said hi to a few familiar faces: Rob, Alan, Chad, Tim, and even met a guy from the East Coast here for the race! I wonder how racing out here compares to over there..

Took a few practice laps in the wet, and got a feel for the course. 3 corners, almost flat. The word on the street was some man-hole cover and (slick) crosswalks in a few of the turns - and indeed they were there but weren't really a factor. The third/final turn kind of pinched from three lanes to two, so that made things interesting. And a gazillion white "turtles" in the middle of the lanes to boot.

Lined up in the front row for the first time, which I actually didn't like; our bars were so close it seemed like we were doomed to crash in the first few feet. Luckily I got off the line faster than most of those around me, or close enough, so it wasn't too chaotic.

Avoided all the turtles & man-hole covers in the corners, and generally just tried to stay in the top 20 from the get go. There were some prime laps, but the only ones I cared about were the (omnium) points primes - 5, 3, and 1 points for the top three on that lap.

We stayed together until the prime attacks came, and a Counterbalance guy eventually got off the front, and stayed out there solo! A few guys including me tried to bridge at one point, but couldn't hack it... he was generally unknown to the peloton, and we all thought he'd just come back. Never did.

Went for a omnium points prime and squeezed out one point from it. I think on that one I attacked before the third turn and got a little gap going into the third turn. Held off all but one Bikesale guy who came around me for 2nd place for points.

That gave me a good feel for just how long the final sprint was, and how fast I could go. Time to set up for the finish! And ignore any other primes that came along, no matter how tempting they might be.

The course was nice and wide, so when you wanted to move up you pretty much could, except for the final straight that was only two lanes wide and not so much space. But still enough to move around. I would essentially drift backwards over a few laps, then move up after the 1st turn on the inside before the next turn. Slight uphill there and people went pretty slow on that section.

It was at least 300m and slightly downhill from the 3rd corner to the finish, so I felt like I had no chance with a field sprint out of the corner... and also didn't want to fight for the apex of the turn with about 20 other people - I wanted to enter that final turn solo. The Counterbalance guy was somehow still off the front solo! He had at least a half-lap on us and was eventually out of sight.

On the last lap I lit up my sprint in an all-out 1k-attack of sorts, in between the 1st & 2nd turns. Didn't look back, just concentrated on going as hard as I could.. on the next leg of the course, which was felt slightly downhill, I already felt like I wanted to give up but didn't hear anyone behind me so I coasted for two seconds and kept on grinding.

And sure enough I went through that turn alone, though I figured guys were closing in from behind. I felt like I wanted to go into it much faster but since it was wet I just did the best I could.

So at this point I'm already turning myself inside-out, and the 300m+ sprint was about to start.. two guys came around me about 100m from the line, and I was just waiting for the rest of the field to come around.

But as you can see in the photo below we had a decent gap! Came in for 4th place.






An image of the power output for that last minute or so - as you can see there was an initial jump (at 1000+ watts), another little one after the next corner, and then another sprint after the final corner.
(yellow = power, red = heart rate, orange/brown = elevation, blue = speed)

4th place, lots of omnium points, 3 upgrade points, and my first real winnings in a race: $35 gift certificate to a bike shop!! I might just frame it.

Huge thanks to Rob for giving me a ride home after the race! Even though I brought another kit for the way back my shoes were soaked and I really didn't feel like doing the BG Trail again. Gotta save energy for tomorrow's race..

Sunday - Fremont Crit Cat 4/5's

Another 3-corner affair, but flatter and on "city streets" in Fremont (read: cracked pavement, some nice gaps, reflectors, man-hole covers, etc). When I got up early in the morning it was sunny and I thought this was going to be a more comfortable affair.

But by the time I rolled out towards the race there was a light drizzle. So be it.

Got there with enough time to sign in and do a few warm-up laps. The race was right next to the outdoor movie theater & close to the Fremont Market, a great setting for a crit.

The first turn was indeed interesting, kind of like the 130-degree turn at Seward Park. The back stretch was long-ish, and featured some nice old/wet leaves or something in the right lane that looked nice and slippery.

Turn two had a manhole cover and led to a hugely-cracked short stretch that led to the final turn and a short sprint to the finish line. Cool.

More familiar faces & got to chat with the Counterbalance guy that won our crit the day before. Congratulated him on holding us all off, and he said he was surprised by it! Also said it put the hurt on his legs and when I asked him if he was going again he laughed and said probably not. I told him I'd be on his wheel if he went this time..



Kyle & Ian were there and we lined up together in the third row or so. I joked about how not many in the field will clip in well and how we'd have to dodge lots of them, and sure enough it seemed like most guys were still fiddling with their cleat while I was ready to get it on. (I'm using Speedplays, very easy to get into, no need to look)

Eventually we got up to speed and hit the first turn. I was probably in the back half of the pack at this point (out of 60 or so starters), and just hung on for a while to see how the course was and figure out where to move up.

After a few laps I made a little jump up the right side on the backstretch (ironically where all the dirt/leaves/slippery stuff was), and slotted into the top 10 or so.

Pulled for a lap or two, and when on the front I made sure not to push too hard, since people will always come around when you start going too slow. I used to hammer once on the front, which is OK to do sometimes, but can be a big waste of energy sometimes too.

A points prime lap came and I found myself going for it, and getting 3rd in it for one point. Not surprisingly it was the Counterbalance guy and Dave Z that beat me out for 1st. Seemed like not long after that the announcer said it was time for another prime and I wasn't quite recovered yet from the last one, so I shook my head in mock disgust. The announcer saw this and said "Even if you shake your head!" or something, kinda funny.

I let people go for that one and just hung on, losing spots but knowing it would cool down a bit after the prime was over. Sure enough we came back together and I found my spot back in the top 5 or so.

At one point I attacked coming through the final straight, and held it for a bit, and the Counterbalance guy bridged up. But I could barely hold his wheel, and knew I just didn't have the legs to stay off the front at that speed. Had to drop back to the pack.

Soon after Ian, another strong guy on my team, went off the front in one of his favorite moves: attacking.


Later on in the race the Couterbalance guy was off the front with Kyle, a strong youngin' on my team. They stayed out there for a while, but they eventually came back. It seemed like the Coutnerbalance guy was stronger than all of us, and was in every break attempt.

Towards the end of the race it seems like I heard about three crashes behind us in corner one, that's where most of the action was.

In the final few laps I was in decent position (top 5 or so), and when the final lap came I was setting up for something good. (weren't we all?)

But coming into turn two, a hothead came up on the inside (yelling "INSIDE!!!" as if that really makes a difference..) and jammed our three or four-person paceline to the outside, causing commotion and yelling/cursing. Coming up on the inside out of nowhere in a turn is a common tactic that commonly causes crashes.

Coming out of that turn the guy in front of me started get really bad speed-wobble, so bad he even unclipped and I figured the race was over and we're going down. Dammit. Somehow he save it(!!!) and I came around him, but had to slow down if not brake a bit, ruining any chances of a top three in this one.

Coming out of the last turn the race winners were far up ahead, but I wanted to at least get some upgrade points out of all this. So I put in my best effort, and just barely passed Adam from Arrivee before the line. It felt like a good effort but I was but I was sprinting for 5th instead of 1st. Got 5th, not bad but not what it should have been...

Kyle from my team won it! He just barely beat out the Counterbalance guy at the line: (click for sequence)


So now I sit 2nd overall in the Omnium points standings! Won some socks, my second-ever item won from bike racing. I'll call that progress... next step, cash!

Oh and 5th earned me two more upgrade points, so that's five for the weekend and 15 overall - if my calculations are correct. Cat 3 used to seem like next-to-pro, but it's starting to seem less intimidating. I always thought it would take me years to get there, but it looks like I should be able to get there by the season's end or early next year. The upgrade will probably send me to the back of the pack, but I'm thinking racing with faster/better racers can only make me faster/better.

Before I do upgrade I'd like to get a win though! Let's see if I can do that at Seward on Thursday, Ballard on Saturday, or Boat Street on Sunday.

(photos by wheelsinfocus)

Coming Soon To A Corner Near You: 2010 Cascadia Crit Series

Starting this weekend is a 6-race Criterium series centered on Seattle. What else can I say but, YES!!



In years past most of these races already existed but were run separately and in different times of the year. The Brad Lewis Memorial Crit was in April last year (I think) and it rained a ton, turnout was low. But holding them in late May/early June should yield much better turnout.. (though nobody would be surprised if it does rain on at least one or two of these races - indeed it's wet here on the morning of the Woodinville crit)

These races are also being run as an Omnium, so you can accrue points be doing each race and placing well. I'm hoping for some omnium points and upgrade points during this series - so many points for the taking! Even some cash in a few of our Cat 4 races. But more than cash, I'd like to add to my 10 points (out of 20) on the we to the Cat 3 upgrade.

Anyway here are some notes about each race in the series:

Race #1: Woodinville Twilight Crit, Saturday May 29th 2010

Wide, fast and flat .8 mile, 3 corner course with approximately 15 ft of elevation per lap. Surface is good to excellent blacktop with some traffic marking turtles. Race will run clockwise on the course.

From looking at the course map & description I feel like this isn't a nasty tight crit that I excel in - sounds like a open & flat course, wide sweeping turn in lieu of turn 4 and a looong sprint from the last corner - not my kinda course . But I can't wait to do kick off this series in a few hours!

Race #2: Fremont Twilight Criterium, Sunday May 30th

Fremont Criterium is a 3 corner fast criterium. Direction will be counter clockwise. See map for more details.

This one seems more up my alley - what I imagine/hope are broken up roads, and there are two tight turns, ahh yes, this is where those of us without huge power/speed, but better handling skills, can succeed. I hope.

Race #3: Seward Park Classic, Thursday June 3rd

Located inside the Seward Park this .8 mile of a loop features smooth wide roads with one 140 degree turn and a hill approx. 200 meters long. Course direction will depend on weather day of event.

A classic indeed - in my 1+ year of racing I've done this course almost 40 times! I just hope we go clock-wise, when I seem to do better. We'll see.

Emerald Sprints, Friday June 6th

400 meters of roller racing: flat, fast and one gear!!

If (Cascadia Crit) racers can beat someone in a roller race, the next three races are free! Or if you can beat out a racer, you get $$$! I'll probably just rest though.

Race #4: Ballard Twilight Crit, Saturday June 5th

1 Kilometer - 4 corner Criterium course on city streets. On a slight side hill.

To be honest this is one of my "A" (e.g. priority) races, something that's been in my mind since racing it last year. Broken and/or uneven pavement, four 90-degree turns, this is one I want to do well at. Should be able to do better than last year's 13th placing.. then again a lot of luck goes into finishing a race like that (89 starters, 29 finishers last year!)

Race #5: Brad Lewis Memorial/Boat Street Crit, Sunday June 6th

A 3 corner technical criterium located near the University of Washington. The course distance is approximately 1K and goes in a clockwise direction. Racers will be starting on N.E. Boat St turning right onto N.E. Pacific St then turning right onto Brooklyn Ave N.E. before making their way back to thr start/finish line.

This is one I've wanted to do since about 2004, even before I started racing. I've gone and watched it a few times, including in 2008, and it's always a blast to watch. The laps are pretty quick and you get to see lots of action.

The 2010 BLMC is also the race my team (Recycled Cycles) is putting on, so I get to volunteer in my first race! Actually kind of excited to get a chance to "give back" to the racing community, as well as looking forward to doing the 4/5's race without much of a warm-up.

Race #6: Tacoma Twilight Crit, Saturday June 12th

This is an exciting 8 corner course going in a counter clockwise direction. See course map for details!

A little further outside of town, but the end of the series and eight corners?! I'll try to be there, sounds like a blast.

So yeah, crit season is here and now's your chance to get in on the action! In the words of former president Bush: "Bring it on."

See you on the road!

Tour of Walla Walla 2010: 3 races, 2 days, in the Big Ring

The Tour of Walla Walla stage race - apparently a big deal in Northwest racing, though I'd never heard of it until last year when I started racing. All the big teams from WA/OR/ID/Canada send people (8 per team per Category max) to this race, as there is some serious money up for grabs - over $10,000 in cash overall.

And with over 90 Cat 4's alone, the races were sure to be challenging and risky - just what we came here for.

What's a Stage Race?

In cycling, a stage race is when you compete in a number of events over a number of consecutive days, and a leader emerges based on finishing times. The overall leader is the "General Contender" or GC rider.

And besides adding up your cumulative time, you also have to deal with "time cuts" - if you are more than 20% behind the GC leader in your Category, then you are pulled from the whole over race. Of course, nobody wants that but it happens. And depending on how fast the winner was, it could happen all too easily if you did really bad in the TT.

The most famous stage races being the Tour de France and the Giro - so instead of a few weeks of racing, us Cat 4's just did two days worth. The 3's were doing four days with a 75-mile RR, while the 1/2's did four days with a 95-mile RR. Wow.

My race schedule:

• Saturday 9:10 AM Walla Walla TT start - 9.3 mile course, with a little climb in the middle. I'm not a fan of TTs, but your "GC" position pretty much hangs off of this.. so I wanted to do well of course, but didn't have any aspirations of really cracking the top 10 at all.
  
• Saturday 4:05 AM 25-minute Walla Walla Criterium (with photos) - .59 mile course (I think this is the one we did, the "old" course), 6 turns, my kind of race. 25 minutes is not very long for Cat 4's, so it was going to be a fast race for sure. I'm not a sprinter but I can hold position up front and seem to be able to pass a lot of people in corners (e.g. handling). And with all those turns, positioning would be key (it always is in crits anyway, but in a technical one like this especially)
  
• Sunday 8:05 AM 58-mile Waitsburg Road Race - featuring a 3km-long climb finish on a steady 5% grade. But like I've been saying a lot lately, "I used to think I was a good climber, then I started racing." That finish was sure to hurt, and we were actually start the race on it (neutral, ~8 mph), then going to do it during the race was well (on the short loop), at the start of the second lap, then do the "long loop", then of course the finish after 56 miles..
  
• Local race lore says that Cat 5's have been popped off the back of that neutral climb start! Ouch.
  

The great thing about stage races it that it awards consistency rather than specialization. There may be people who can TT really well, or sprint really well, or do road races really well, but can you do all three better than you competitors?

I didn't have plans on taking the overall GC, I'm more concerned about points for the Cat 3 upgrade. (have 3 out of 20 needed so far) I knew I wasn't going to do all that well in the TT, but that I had a fighting chance at points in the crit & road race. (top 6 needed in the crit, top 9 in the road race - no points available from TTs for the 4->3 upgrade)

With my randonneuring background I hoped that recovery - key in a multi-day race - would be to my advantage.

Stage 1: Saturday Time Trial

After failing hard at the Frostbite TT earlier this year, I wanted to at least not get cut from the overall race.. I thought the winner would be closer to 20 minutes, so I would need to get in under 24:00.

You don't have to have a dedicated TT bike for this event, though it certainly helps. And many in the 4/5's are rocking nice TT bikes with aero wheels, TT helments, the whole deal. I just threw my clip-on aero bars on the Raleigh (w/ Open Pros), scooted the seat forward, put on some "aero" booties, and got ready to suffer. The TT is really about how long can you sustain the pain, right? Can you meter it out correctly, or will you fizzle too soon? Or not go hard enough?

I figured I needed to put in a good dig on the uphill section, but that I needed something for the way down. You can't just coast down in a race like this, you've got keep pushing, and sometimes that can be harder than pushing hard uphill (in terms of power). You've really got to spin fast in order to get much power when doing over 30 mph.. but I know that my strength, if anything, is on the uphill, so I would put in my work there, and hope for the best after that. Perhaps a bad plan but it was enough to get me through the race.

Got in a decent 30 minute warm-up rolling around up and down a local road near the start at the community college, though I wish I'd just brought the trainer I never use (was too lazy to pack it). I had put on some Conti "Supersonic" tires that are light and thin for the crit, but forgot I'd have to use them in the TT too. They weren't super worn but the trade-off is of course puncture protection - get a flat in the TT and it's over. But by the time my start rolled around, I'd forgotten about any tire worries, it was all about pacing and suffering.

The First Rate Mortgage guy in front of me looked strong and had some decent aero gear, so he was a good "carrot" to chase. Each rider starts 30 seconds apart, so you at least have someone to go after (unless you started first), and have someone chasing you - both great motivators.

I tried to get off to an easy start, and save something for the hill. We drove the course the night before, and got an idea of the layout/grade, but the hill of course seemed more looming when I saw the climb in the daylight, on the bike, in the race, heart pumping hard. My carrot was just in front, perhaps 30 meters up the road.

Overtaking can be tricky though - you don't want to have to do some hard acceleration to get around the carrot, since that will cook you and you'll slow down as soon as you pass, and probably get passed. I just kept it in the big ring, cross-chained at 53x25, and jammed up the hill out of the saddle. It hurt.

Passed the guy, tried to say something like "I hate TTs, this hurts!" but I doubt he heard it through my heavy breathing and drooling. Kept turning over the pedals, even though the pain was growing, and knew that I could have some sense of recovery - if only a little - on the downhill side.

As I crested the hill I felt the hurt from that hard climb, and was just happy to be over the top - the rest was downhill or flat from here, in theory. The only problem was that I needed to recover, and probably coasted too much (a running theme lately) here and there. Felt like I was spinning out the 53x12 and that just might have been the case, especially when tired.

After a minute or two I heard the sound of a bike behind me - oh no! My laziness had come back to bite me, and I was now being caught by someone, maybe the guy I'd passed earlier? Nope, this was someone that started behind me somewhere, and was in a full aero setup with a good, low, position. I was doing 30-something and he flew past me! Better aero, obviously good fitness, and probably perhaps 55x11 to boot.

But this put a new wind in my sails, and once again I had someone to chase. Of course you can't draft in a TT like this, but you can give chase after they've passed you. But he was gaining distance on me and getting smaller and smaller. The 3k sign came, I think it was, and all of a sudden I look back to see the First Rate Mortgage guy closing in. Dammit! Pacing had failed, because now I was going too slow. But again good motivation to keep on pushing.

The last 500m had a little riser, but I hit it hard (or tried to), took the right turn at 200 meters to go, and gave it really all I could. For some reason all those seconds I lost while resting/costing/being lazy during the TT all of a sudden mattered to me, the results sheet with split-second differences flashing in my mind. It hurt but I put in a sprint and came in decently fast.

But in the end my time was 23:55 (22.57 mph average) - 38th place out of 82 riders. Not too hot. Pacing is definitely something I need to work on, along with the aero position, and of course overall strength endurance. A pretty low bar I should be able to raise next year..

The winner did a time of 21:04, a good 30 seconds in front of 2nd place! (25.6 mph avg)


Saturday Walla Walla Cat 4 25-minute Crit

So with the flat technical course, 80-something Cat 4's (you could call us beginners), I was expecting a huge crashfest like the Ballard Crit was last year. Rolled around local streets with Josh, a good sprinter on our team, and got ready for a what promised to be a snappy race. Set in downtown Walla Walla, with lots of spectators, there was a little pressure too.

Since it was only 25 minutes long we all knew that the contenders in the race were really going to make it hurt for everyone else. (In the 4's, this is plenty of time to do so)

The lineup was funny - after the Women's 4's race was done, the officials said, "Cat 4 men, take a practice lap!" But instead all 80 guys except me did a 10-foot sprint/run for the start line. I was actually looking forward to seeing the course, as I had no idea what it really looked like yet - but the pre-race for the line caught me off guard. Talked to a Cycle-U guy (was it Jed?) that said he and a few others really did take a warm-up lap, and ended up lining up at the back of the pack.

Here's the pack, getting ready for the race in downtown Walla Walla:



Unlike a road race, starting position in a crit can matter a lot, depending on how good you are at moving up in a fast and tight race. Some people don't have the speed, some don't have confidence, some don't have either. Also, you have to be able to clip into your pedals quickly in a crit; you'll find that at least 30% of the field in any race can't actually do this. Many are found looking down and fumbling with their pedals while everyone else is sprinting away.

Josh & I started in the back, but really only one or two rows back, I wasn't too worried. I've gotten pretty good getting into my Speedplays quickly, so when we started I passed probably 30 people in the first 10 seconds.

Here's a shot of the 4's rolling out - GO GO GO!!



We got up to speed and got ready for the first turn, and 90-degree right. Nice and quick, you could really dive around it with a good line. The turns came so quick that you were barely getting upright out of one before you were entering another. And somehow I seem to have some kind of magical cornering skill, where I can pretty much pass people at will on the corners.

Once I got up to the top 10-15 of the race, I just tried to hang on to that position.



Here's the front end of the pack, with me hiding a little further back - checking out how much time was left - easier to look to the left and see the big clock than the tiny one on my handlebars.


Closing a gap at some point after a prime, I think - the great Raleigh Prestige under me, transferring power to the road efficiently:
(disclaimer on bike fit - I forgot to put the seat back in normal position, it was jammed way forward after the TT earlier in the day)

A helping push from a team mate? Sometimes that's all it takes to stay in the race.


Josh was really strong, and at one point about half way through the race he got on the front and strung it out. (e.g. went fast, turning a "pack" into a huge paceline) - in the end this would be crucial to our placing in many ways - he's got good handling skills and was taking great lines through the corners, allowing those of us just behind him to ride nice and smooth.

The less braking you do, the less work you have to do to get back up to speed, and the less gaps you have to close. Resting is key, as it always is.

The primes in this race were cool - helmet for 1st place, cash for 2nd, etc - but I as usual ignored them. You might get bragging rights and even cash from primes, but you don't get upgrade points from them and that's all I'm after here.

In the last 5-10 laps we sat in the top 5 positions or so, Josh and I pretty much sitting pretty and waiting to pounce out of the last corner. In a race like this with not much space between corners, we knew that the final placings would be more or less the same as it was coming out of the last corner (or last few in this crit).



When the last lap came I expected more fireworks, but we just held the quick pace and since it was fast enough nobody could, or wanted to, come around. For some reason it didn't feel like a final sprint - I think I was confused since I felt somewhat rested - and when the final turn, we all stood up and gave it our best.

Sure enough, our positions more or less held, and I came in for 5th place! Josh got 4th right in front of me, and Jordan almost passed me (as I was coasting a bit once again in a sprint, no lie), coming in for 6th. I must be "aiming" my bike throw for the line and am just quitting to early - hopefully a little racing on the velodrome this summer will help iron out my inefficient sprint.

Still, even without a great sprint, I was able to place well based mostly on bike handling skills combined with some power. Sweet. Points!! (this gave me two more, so now I should have 5 out of the 20 required)


Sunday Waitsburg 58-mile Road Race

This was the "big one" for us - 58 miles and a decent amount of climbing (we did two loops: short, long) after a day of racing.

The neutral rollup on the big hill wasn't too bad, and at 8 or so mph I wasn't hurting at all, just chatting and it was a good warm-up. Which I needed, since I didn't get there with enough time to really get one in.

It was nice to be able to get a feel for the climb without having to race it just yet - and I chatted with a guy who said this was his local "training hill" and was gunning for a win today. Nathan Banner(?) I think his name was - younger guy, but apparently plenty strong. Lots of strong juniors in the 3/4/5's this year for sure, always impressive. (I see now he won the Cat 5 GC here last year, and also has an mtb/cross background)

After we got over the climb the race was on, and we sped it up a good deal. A nice downhill followed by some flats. I started in the middle of the pack or so, and decided to move up after a few minutes of cruising. The pace was pretty easy and I wanted to scope out who was up front today.

The pace seemed pretty relaxed and I sat about 10th wheel, and decided in a split second that I was gonna attack. The guy to my left gave some space, and it allowed me to get out into the open, but still about 5-10 riders back from the front, and got out of the saddle and wound up a decent sprint (1000-something watts for 5 seconds) to get away.

Off The Front - My First Real Breakaway

So I went - at first the plan was to do a "fake" jump, just enough to get people to chase and animate the race a little. But before I knew it I was in the middle of "real" jump, and saw 1000+ watts flash on the screen. So yeah I gave it my all, and combination of factors allowed me to get some distance on the pack:

• I'm a generally unknown rider in the peloton, almost 3 minutes behind GC
  
• I went only 9 miles into a 58 mile hilly race - this was probably the equivalent of the no-name French riders way back on GC in the TdF breaking away from the gun on a 200 km road race. Maybe get a little camera-time for the sponsors, get your name known - and who knows, sometimes these things work!
  
• I had good enough speed to get off the front - looking back I held 28.x mph for a minute, way faster than usual! When I got away it was on a 1-2% downhill and there must've been a tailwind.
  

So based on all those factors I found myself pegging it, laying it all down, way early in the race. The phrase, "you never know unless you go" came to mind a bunch. Put in some good work and didn't look back for minutes, got into the zone.

The moto referee came up beside me, to my surprise, giving me a time check! Cool, my first time check this must mean I'm doing it right. "25 seconds, and no response from the pack." Only a few minutes into my solo effort and the pain was there but manageable, and getting time checks helped a ton with motivation, and just knowing what was going on with the race.

It was just me, a lead car, and sometimes the moto ref, surrounded by brown and green fields, and blue skies, riding over rolling hills. Kinda surreal. Just kept looking down at my faux-pro white booties and telling the legs to keep on going, let's see what happens. Don't give up until they catch you, that's the only way this will work. Don't look back, it doesn't matter how close they are, just keep chugging. And don't think about how long to go..

Moto guy came up and the time check was "35-second gap, still no attacks." I gave him a thumbs up and kept pressing on. Wow, my gap was growing!

There was a medium-size hill along the way, and I really had to jam up it, but felt like the 16-ish mph I was doing wouldn't match the pack's 18-20.. but I kept going, to see if I could make it over the top. I did! The downhill was fast at 35+ mph, but I figured the pack would be doing a good 40 mph here.. but I kept going.

To my surprise the pack was still a small blob behind me a few minutes later.

I then went into a cycle of pedaling hard for a minute, sitting up, looking back, giving up, then getting a 3rd or 4th wind and attacking my own attack, as they say.

The pain would kick in again, and I'd sit up. There were 3-4 times were I literally sat up, stretched, took some sips of water, and looked around. Nobody bridging, pack not strung out, and they're still way back there. Then the moto guy would roll up and the time-check was still 45 seconds, and I told him I was done. But he said I was looking good and I might as well try, or something, and it was just enough motivation (combined with a little rest) to get back in the drops and start hammering again.

Then we took a few turns and entered what had to be Main Street in Waitsburg, with a few scattered buildings, people, and volunteers lining the street. Rolling through this little town with a lead car and a nice big gap felt just great - I think a little kid cheered me on, which was fun - and I hammered through the left/right corners, hoping my lines were going to be faster than most of the pack's.

And they might have been great lines, but the pack had closed a good deal of space coming out of town, and I looked back and thought I saw someone trying to bridge up. I slowed a tad and waved them up, but it was to no avail. (Or did I imagine that part?)

I knew the break was about to end, and the big 3km climb was coming up (this is only about 21 miles into the 58 mile race) - but I still wanted to give it my best, and I hit the climb solo, with the pack not too far behind.

Surviving the Climb?

When I started the 3km climb I had thoughts of just maybe making it over the top alone, or with a small group, and getting a nice gap back - you know, like how the pros do it!!

But my legs, heart, and lungs had had enough, and the pack consumed me. After about 38 minutes and 12-ish miles, my breakaway was done, but I couldn't rest just yet. Still 2.5 km to climb and a 36 more miles to go.

I tried to blend in about 10 wheels back, and the pack was getting a little strung out already. The usual characters were at the front, putting the hurt on the pack and me. At this point I wished I'd been caught before the climb, instead of on it, but that's just the way it happened.

Had to fight the hardest I've pushed it in a good while, and thanks to some encouragement (read: yelling) from a strong team mate Ian I was able to maintain contact, though he could tell I was hurting and going backwards.

Looking back I wish I'd just rested altogether once I was caught, and caught back on during the downhill. But instead I fought so fucking hard and stayed in the big ring the whole time, just looking forward to the 1 km mark where it gets slightly easier, and then the downhill. Besides the finish this was easily the hardest part of the race for me.

The Rest of the Waitsburg Race (big loop)

This was a really cool course, and we had something like 36 miles of it left. After the descent, I got a chance to eat a gel and recover in the pack. Ah, the draft, I was glad to be back.

The race wasn't over, and before long someone else attacked and got off the front (a grey kit, either IJM or an eastern-WA team) and the race was getting more animated.

The Crash

Unlike the crowded crit the day before, where there were no crashes, this race did involve a bad one. We were on a descent doing at least 30-35 mph, and all of a sudden a few rows up I hear strange noises and see a bike upside down in the air amongst a mix of other bikes.

Then there was a Cycle-U guy tumbling across the left lane - and it seemed like before he even stopped rolling I looked over and saw his torn kit and him wincing in pain. Not good. In addition to him 3-4 guys went down in the middle of the right lane - I was right next to them as it seemed like two of them piled up on top of someone already on the ground. More nasty sounds, including yelling.

Had to swerve to avoid it all, and then chase back on. Then something kind of cool happened - who ever was at the front slowed down a good deal, I guess to actually let people chase back on, which I think some might have done. Sometimes at the end of road races when there's a crash, the opposite happens - people attack.

But the Cycle-U guy broke his collarbone & separated his shoulder in the fall. Damn. I hope he can get back out there before too long. It was such a nice day before that, and then to be staring up at the blue sky in pain must be a really lonely feeling. (photo of the crash scene)

The Rest of the Race

Actually I don't recall too much after that, except getting into the last 5km or so when the pace really picked up. Coming back into Waitsburg we had a nice huge lane to move around on, and Ian made a great move, with me on his wheel, to move up the side of the pack and gain 10-20 spots in one fell swoop, doing 30+ to get around people already going pretty hard. Cool.

We hit the left/right turn and then the straight away that led to the final climb. The pace was speedy but we hung onto our positions, getting ready for the big climb ahead.

Final 3 km Climb

Was in the top 20 or so starting out on the climb, feeling alright but pretty taxed after a hard day or two of racing. Nobody went too early, we all knew the climb pretty well by now, but the pace was hard enough that I couldn't stay under 182 bpm or so, when I really start to hurt.

Maintained contact with this lead group for a little while, though I could tell there was no way I could match this pace the way whole up, much less the acceleration closer to the finish. Looked back and saw that we'd opened up a good 10-20 second gap on the rest of the pack. Selections were being made every moment, the pool of possible winners was getting smaller and smaller.

But I was one of those about to pop, and at least with the pressure of the rest of the pack all but gone at this point, I let up a little and let them duke it out. I was pretty much done, put a fork in me. Ian had been trying to "coach" me up the hill but this time I did the yelling, and told him to
go for it.

Except there was still 1.5 km or so to go, and the climbing wasn't over. I looked back and saw a Starbucks guy closing the gap, along with 1-2 other riders. I wanted to protect my "spot" in the back end of the front group, so I had to step on the gas a little. The race was already way up the road, I finished a good 40 seconds off the leaders for 14th place. Another top 25 but no points. Still, a good day of racing.

20th in the GC standings overall, which I was surprised with given my sub-average TT. Had I done a decent TT a top 10 GC standing might have been possible.. still, I did the best I could.

Data

Will post some stats later - I do remember that we averaged 26.1 mph in the crit! And something like 21-22 in the road race.

The fun average was off the charts.

Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers - it must take an army of flaggers, drivers, registration people, moto drivers, etc, to make an even like this happen. The Tour of Walla Walla isn't an NRC (National Race Calendar) event or anything, but for PNW racing I say it's pretty damn cool.

It was great racing with my team mates Todd, Ian, Kevin, Josh, Tyler, JC - as well as friendly competitors Jordan, Rob, Andrew, Dan, Nathan, Jed, Forrest, and anyone else I can't think of right now. Good racing out there!

Maybe by next year I can do the Cat 3 four-day stage race: 64-mile race with 5,000 ft of climbing, TT & 40 minute crit on Saturday, then 75-mile race with 5,000 ft of climbing. Not sure I can handle that but I've got plenty of time until I'm there..

Thanks to Kira for driving out there with me, and taking pictures! I couldn't have done any of it without you.


More Stories & Photos

• Thoughts on ToWW from a team director
• Race report from Cat 1 Lang Reynolds
• Photos by IJM
• Photos by Wheels in Focus
• Cat 3 finish sprint at the Waitsburg RR
• Any other photos? I swore I saw people taking shots of me in the solo break, those would be some cool shots to have..

Volunteer Park Crit 2010

Ahh, the Volunteer Park Crit. I originally found out about this race a few years ago when we were randomly in the park on the same day and happened to see it. At the time I had no idea about what categories were what, who was who, etc, but it looked like fun and I had a road bike. That was the beginnings of me wanting to race. Took years to actually do it..

Back then I had dreams of dropping everyone in the race on my 1980's Miyata 312 with down-tube shifters (I wanted to be "that guy") - funny how things don't quite work out that way..

Then last year I watched it again, and was this close to jumping in - but advice from more experienced racers said that course (especially on a rainy day) was not the best course for your first criterium. With some interesting turns and a winding downhill/uphill section, I think that advice was right.

Anyway, it's a year later and I'm racing now. Time to see how I'll do at this local crit. I did OK at Ballard, Joe Matava, and Derby Days (well, top 20 anyway), so I seem to be better at crits than other races. I think a lot of it comes down to handling skills less than pure power or endurance - in a crit to save energy you want to use your brakes as little as possible. Going through corners in a tight pack without touching the brakes is scary at first, but slowing yourself down is a great way to get tired, quick. Coast through those corners instead and you'll have the energy needed to sprint out of said corner and get ahold of a wheel to follow.

Warming Up, Watching the 5's

Before the race Chris from Recyled Cycles, Jordan from Starbucks, and I rolled down to Interlaken Blvd to do a little warm-up climb. Chris had forgotten his helmet but scrounged one up just in time for our race. It happens.

We came back to see the Cat 5's still chuggin' along, and Kyle (also on Recycled Cycles/Raleigh Racing) was looking strong! On the final lap he attacked through the finish line (here's a shot of said attack), and coming around the last turn he was still in the lead. He finished well ahead of the pack on a solo breakaway! (photo) (His second win via a breakaway - look for this one in the 4's soon!)

The Cat 4 Crit

Here is the pack of 77 riders lining up. You can't see me because I'm in the back, not paying attention.

(from teampics)

Lined up at the back on accident, had both feet on the ground when the whistle blew... off to a bad start. And the first 50m lead to a big sweeping right turn followed by a quick left, which strung out the pack. So I started probably 50 riders back from where I needed to be.

Here's a shot of the initial squeeze leading into the turn around the tower:

(From teampics)

A shot of Recycled Cycles very own JC rounding the corner - looking good on his new Raleigh Team bike:

(From teampics)

Here are some riders coming through the little bend at the bottom of the hill. You can imagine how someone can easily be squeezed going through there in a pack...

(from teampics)

So I decided I needed to put in some work and get up to the top 20 in the next few laps. Done. The announcer said something about primes but I ignored all of them. While I'd love to take a prime one of these days (to win something) I knew I didn't have the stamina to try that and be there at the finish. (Unlike Jordan, who likes to win both in races!)

There was a comical situation coming through the final turn - a spectator, who must've known someone in the pack, kept yelling "MOVE UP!! MOVE UP DAMMIT!!" in our ears as we passed. And at this point we were all in the top 10, sitting pretty near the end of the race.

What is he talking about? After four or five laps of this same thing being yelled in our ear, I think someone yelled back at him, "Dude shut the fuck up!" once as we came through. The next time around, I think I heard "Good job guys!" from the spectator instead - hah. (Hard to tell who he was talking to, perhaps whoever it was really did need to move up - but if I had to guess they would have loved to have been able to move up. But they couldn't..)

A Little Crash Yields Opportunity

5 laps or so to go sitting in the top 20 when I see a gap on the left open on the 5% uphill and I'm taking it to gain positions. At the same time in the middle of the pack someone's rear derailleur gets caught up in someone else's spokes... not a good sound! Then I hear people crashing, and someone yelling "DON'T LOOK BACK!! GO! GO!"

Never did look back, since this put me in 3rd wheel with just a few laps to go. Pretty much perfect, at least it felt that way.

Here's a shot of us coming through the finish for the last lap (that's the chief referee indicating one to go)

(from teampics)

I remember now giving the wheel in front of me to Max, a strong junior on Bikesale.com. And come to think of it, giving that wheel away so close to the end of the race was like giving away a spot at the end... should have fought harder for that one.

Lost a few spots in the next few laps (some not on purpose) but coming out of the last turn I was way up in the top 10, and in good position for the slightly uphill 2-3% grade sprint. Just how I'd been visualizing this finish for the last few months.

Thing is, I can't sprint... ugh that seemed like a long 200 meters to the line, and though I passed a few I was just about coasting (in fact I did a bit, see video below) when we hit the line. Gave it a throw but to no avail - was 2/3rds of a wheel away from 6th! (saw the official photo finish afterwards)

Damn, one spot out of points for the Cat 3 upgrade, but a top 10 and a strong finish in a big local crit. Mission accomplished.

Here's a little sequence of our sprint finish! That's me on the left with those pretty white booties (sequence starting here)








And here's a video from the Cat 4 race! You can see me coasting a bit in the last few meters of the sprint - ugh, with 20/20 hindsight it's so easy to think "why didn't I push a little harder, pedal longer, etc?" The legs were dead, that's why!

Jordan took the win, nice job man... makes sense that he's almost a Cat 3 (or will be one soon)

Stats

Duration: 41:05
Work: 579 kJ
TSS: 68.4 (intensity factor 0.999)
Norm Power: 290
VI: 1.23
Distance: 16.827 mi
Elevation Gain: 1806 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 895 235 watts
Heart Rate: 121 197 174 bpm
Cadence: 22 145 82 rpm
Speed: 2.9 49.4 24.6 mph
Crank Torque: 0 1772 238 lb-in

Photos

• Teampics is posting pics from all Cats - that's a lot of photos!
• Tu was there getting shots of the Cat 4 Women's race
• Thumbprint racing (IJM) was there taking pics of the race
• More photos from the 4's & 5's races
• Cool video compilation from our Cat 4 race. Including the sprint finish at about 5 minutes in - I'm on the left, with not even enough energy to pedal much in those last few meters..

• 4/13 update: more photos! Kira posted her pics from the races here - I love seeing the detailed suffering on people's faces!
  
• Men's Cat 4/5 race
• Women's Cat 4 race
• Masters C/D race
• Men's p/1/2 race
• And I posted some photos (and video) I took later in the day with my little point-n-shoot:
• Women's Cat 1/2/3 race
• Men's p/1/2 race
• Men's Cat 3 race
• Masters A/B race
• Update 2: Good lord there are a lot of photos from this race! Makes sense, it's a beautiful course..
• Here are some more shots from most of the day's races by Shekinah Photography
  

Hopefully everyone can find great shot of themselves suffering during the race!!

Huge thanks to everyone for coming out and cheering us on, and to Cucina Fresca for putting on this race. A true Seattle classic. Can't wait for next year's edition..