The Open Pro is one of the standards of road bicycles, a simple but sturdy wheel - 32 spokes front and rear, more or less a "box rim," e.g. no aero profile. I like the ceramic ones so the rims last forever.
Contrast that with the popular deeper, lighter, stiffer wheels seen in amateur (and pro) racing - some costing upwards of $2,500! You could say I like overcoming such technological advances with simple, proven - if not dirty - equipment. It started with Ballard 2010, continued with Ballard 2011, and now the Mason Lake Road Race (Cat 3's)!
First off I have to admit I didn't win this race - just the field sprint - I got 2nd. The guy that won the race was about 15 seconds ahead of the pack, solo -he'd taken off a mile or two from the finish.. just like last week in fact!
Mason Lake!
Love or hate it, Mason is what it is: raw road racing in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, some people hate the scenic tour of some of the area's nicest chipseal roads and windswept views. It also has a history of raining a ton, being cold, and of being a little chaotic at times.
Combine narrow roads, nervous riders, and chipseal and you've got Mason! Love it.
The race for our wily Cat 3 pack was a relatively short 60 miles, 5 laps of a 12 mile loop around Mason Lake (on the peninsula). After scoring a top 10 last week at Eatonville but having a shitty race (legs fell apart), of course I wanted to make it up with something better this time around.
With three strong teammates in the race, and some decent training over the winter, I figured I had a shot at something in this race. I've always been more of a crit guy (at least based on results), but I'm looking to branch out in to real racing: road racing.
Only problem is that a bunch of other dudes trained over the winter, and so did their teammates..
Erik from my team took off from the gun, in his usual fashion, holding off the field for quite a while. Of course he attacked as soon as he was caught, and continued to attack over and over again. No way I can do that..
When he was off the front we did our best to keep the pack at a reasonable pace, while of course being reasonable. And we took turns off the front as well.
Off the Front
I followed an attack about halfway through the race for some reason. A few minutes before that I was thinking about just sitting in and waiting for a sprint, but that can lead to a boring race. Plus I had a friend/teammate telling me it was my turn to do some work for the team shortly before that.
When this attack went off it looked fast, and I followed. And it was fast. In fact the guy was going so fast it seemed like it took forever to catch him. And then of course once you catch you're dying, gasping for air with legs on fire, thinking why am I out here on this guy's wheel doing as close to 30mph as we can?
He was nice about it and let me catch my breath before pulling through, and was probably glad to have company. Unless you're just that strong, you'll probably need help to ride away from 50+ riders who all paid to race today.
I pulled through and tried to keep the pace - though I have to say that without any data (most notably speed) it's hard to know if you're doing a good pace besides the way your legs feel. And if the pack is catching you..
We took off before the third turn on the course, and coming through the start/finish line we got a timecheck of 40 seconds. We were out of sight, and it started to click. My legs actually hurt a little less than they did when we started this breakaway! Then again, there were two laps to go, which could be a long time if you're already hurting.
Here I am, what passes for a Cat 3 sprinter in a breakaway and trying to hold the wheel of someone who seems to be good TTer. I'm a terrible TTer. What am I doing here again? Doing something different I guess. When I get up to the Cat 1/2's I'll need some more tricks up my sleeve for sure.
Once we made the turn up the slight hill/in to the headwind on the backside of the course things got REALLY hard. We continued and still had a gap, but it wasn't getting bigger for sure. At one point I looked back and saw the pack waaaay back there, and a solo guy trying to bridge. Hmm. He's out there alone, and it's windy.
I was hoping it'd be the HSP guy and we could all ride off in to the sunset, but instead the guy never made it up, and we got caught soon after. So it goes.
Caught, Counter
Of course Erik attacked as soon as we got caught, which was good. But hard to jump on wheel when you're trying to take a rest. Things settled down and we rode around for a while, only now I was more towards the back than I wanted to be.
Moving up on this course is tough, the roads are narrow and with 54 riders starting things get tight. And on the last lap everyone wants to be somewhere near the front.
A few attacks went off in the last half of the last lap, but I couldn't see since I was on the back, talking with Rob on how we needed to move the F up. Where to go? Gravel on the right, center line, on the left.. and I'm in the middle, boxed in.
Moving Up
It looks impossible at first, but you can do it. People move around and leave you a tiny spot to edge forward in to. Of course you can't be dangerous about it, but it's only dangerous if people go down right? Not like we bounced off people like a pinball, we gracefully made our way forward and to the left, to the center line.
From there people give just enough space for you to edge forward, and Rob moved over giving me the reins and a chance to get forward. Still at least 30 people back at this point, with the pack all bunched up and less than 10k to go.
A little yellow-line surfing, gap closing, and not-giving-up and eventually I found myself 20 guys back, things are getting better - light at the end of the tunnel. But not there yet.
Apex was on the front, not quite chasing (there's one guy a few meters up the road), and I knew there was at least one guy further up but that was it. We weren't racing for 1st at that point, but why not keep racing? Apex was setting up some kind of leadout train, with at least six dudes hammering on the front. I'll take it!
Looking back, had I known who was up the road, I might have chased, but looking back is always all too clear.. and all too easy.
Instead of attacking and trying to bridge I saw the 1km sign go by, and had figured out the course enough to know that it goes by quickly, and we'd probably be doing a pack sprint for the finish. Cool, I love pack sprints!
Pack Sprint!
Especially when sitting about 10-15th wheel leading up to the 200m sign. Apex guys were down to two by that point I think, peeling off faster than they'd planned most likely. A bunch of guys on their wheel and me seeing 10-15 wheel, salivating.
Unlike last week I didn't get too anxious and go at 300m, I waited until the virtual line drawn by that orange 200 meter sign that for some reason we wait to sprint for.
And at Mason that 200m sprint is uphill, a slight uphill at 3% or so. Something that suites me.
Anyway we finally get to the 200m sign, and everyone jumps. Let's do it. I'm on the left side of the road and pack, waiting to go in to the left lane since we get both lanes in the final sprint.
Guys are on the right, I'm gaining, and nobody is ahead of me, this is good! I'm out of the saddle, hammering my brains out. I can see to the right that there's one or two guys left and one has a little gap. But I'm gaining. Gaining. Jeez this sprint is taking forever, when is it gonna end?!!
The tent, clock, lap counter, and officials come in to view and I can see the white finish line. I'm still out of the saddle, going all out. Getting really close to the line, nobody is under my left arm, and I'm overtaking the guy on my right just before the line, BOOM! Did it, took my first field sprint in a road race!! Finally.
There are no prizes at Mason except bragging rights, which is awesome. There were no crashes in our race, which was awesome.
Yeah so some other guy actually won this race, and I gotta give him credit for that.. he's strong and obviously on my list of wheels to keep an eye on! But I'm pleased with the result so early in the season.
All those town-limit-sign sprints paid off I guess! Next time I just need to make sure it's for first place and not second.
Wheels
The irony of this post about Open Pros is that I recently placed an order for some fancy Zipp tubular wheels. We'll see how they feel! Maybe I can coast across the line next time using those..
Points
With 54 in the field, my placing in this race netted me 8 points. Add that to the 18 I have from last year, and that puts me just over the amount you need to upgrade to Cat 2.
Oh shit! Cat 2?! You mean the guys that race with the 1's, and the pro's if they show up to wreak havoc? Yeah, those 2's.
I need to learn how to time trial before I get up there and run with the big dogs.. and also help out some teammates on the way out of the 3's. But before too long I'll make my way further up the rungs closer to the upper end of amateur road racing.
It's a good thing I have a day job as a backup plan!
Next weekend Sequim & Mason are coming up! Can't wait. See you on the road..
Monday, March 5, 2012
Mason Lake #1, 2012: Still Winning Sprints on Open Pros
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Ballard Criterium 2010: First Win!!
The Ballard Twilight Crit has been on my calendar since last year, as an "A" race. That meant my whole training plan (when I had one anyway) was centered around this race. It's the atmosphere there that made it great to race there, and probably makes it an "A" race on most people's calendars too.
Getting 13th in the 4/5's last year, after about a month of racing, I figured I could at least do better this time around as a Cat 4, after about a year of racing.
And going into this one I was the overall leader in the Cascadia Crit series 4/5's, even though I hadn't actually won any of the races (placings were 4th, 5th, 3rd - being consistent was paying off, along with the fact that the top guy dropped out after Seward).
In fact I hadn't won any races up to this point - and isn't that why one gets into racing, to win? Getting fitter & faster is fun too, but winning is the ultimate goal.
Getting Ready
Kira & I drove over to Ballard and parked close to the course, behind a building where others were parked (we figured it was safe to park there, but nope we got a ticket after all!) I didn't have to worry about getting into the race like at Seward, I was pre-registered and just had to sign in. Plenty of time.
Warmed up under our team tent, a Cat 3 let me use his trainer for a few minutes, sweet. And in fact it was for only a few minutes; after getting signed in, waiting in the porta-potty line, etc, there were only about 20 minutes until our race time!
Riding the trainer was so much better than my warmup for Ballard last year: rolling around the streets east of the course, just riding back and forth on the .5 mile stretch before Fred Meyer. I don't ever use the trainer we have at home, since I like riding outside, but for something like this it was a great way to get the heart rate up and get sweaty. I've always heard you should be a little sweaty when you get to the line, and even though the warm-up was only about 10 minutes long it was enough.
Got to take one or two practice laps of the course, and it was familiar from last year, though there was cardboard held down by duct tape over some 2x4" cracks in the pavement in corner one, and a set of hay bails blocking the apex of turn two, which was a little different.
The Race
One of the great things about being on the overall podium in the Cascadia Crit series is the "call ups" you get to do before the race. Once everyone is lined up they call up the top five people in reverse order, so I got to go last. It gives you some recognition and also gives you a good starting spot.
The whole pack of 75 lined up and ready to go - but only one can come out on top:
After some announcements from the official we were sent off, and I was excited! I used to almost dread the start whistles of these big crits, now I can't wait for them. Another chance for points, another chance for a win. Another chance for fun, and to gain more experience racing.
Got lined up in the first 10 or so riders in the first turn, and loved how much more smooth this race is from the front of the pack than from the back, where I raced it last year. Last year I felt like I really had to dig to maintain contact coming out of turn two, but this year we were coasting into a nice fast backstretch with a tailwind, and not having to jam it at all.
It felt a lot easier than last year overall, though the average speed came out to about the same. Guess I've just gotten stronger. Actually I know I've gotten stronger, I can see it in the training numbers and more importantly results. I was just surprised how different this race felt this year.
Before the race the announcer explained premes to the crowd, and said that "racers can used them to gauge the sprint and get a feel for it" or something along those lines, something I'd never thought of. I always thought of premes as a waste of energy or for those who were super strong, if they could win a preme and then take the race too. So I usually ignored them.
But this time when a points preme came up, I was on the front and went for it. Just kept the pace high and led the pack out (from what I remember). It seemed easy, was nobody else going for it or what I thought? Only 5 points to add to the ~800 I already had in the omnium, but for me it was more about figuring out that sprint. And winning that preme probably gave me the courage/confidence to really go for the final sprint (something I never thought I'd win).
Other premes came and went and I just made sure not to drift too far back, stayed in the top 20 pretty much the whole time. Some people like to ride the race from the back, and "tailgun" it, but it seems to me that just sets you up to have to deal with gaps, crashes, and the accordion effect. F that.
The Crash
About half way through the race we come into the finish straight and we're being waved around a First Rate Mortgage racer lying on the ground in the middle of the course near the finish line. Doesn't look good.
Next lap we come through and there are more people waving at us, and at first we're getting ready to go around the injured rider again but soon realized they wanted us stop completely. I wouldn't have thought it was possible to stop a crit, but it was done pretty smoothly. The officials had the chasing pack stay about 20 feet behind our lead pack, as the field had split into two groups at this point.
They had an ambulance come and take the guy away. Heard later he was knocked out at first, probably broke his collarbone and might have separated his shoulder as well. Along with a concussion, as his helmet was supposedly smashed as well. On the one hand that's a scary image, but I guess that's what helmets are for..
I heard about three different versions of how/why he crashed, ranging from he was along and went down out of nowhere, to the version where a lapped rider took him out on accident. Either way it didn't look good but he was conscious and gave a thumbs-up on the way out.
Hope he's doing alright - anyone have updates on his condition?
Race Restart
The officials set 15 minutes on the clock, and restarted us. I looked around and the front line was almost the same as when we started, lots of points leaders: Dave Z., Chad, Adam, Rob, and me.
After a little while they switched from time to 8 laps to go, and the countdown began. A Lenovo guy went off the front, but couldn't get much distance. Pretty hard to go off the front in a flat crit like that, but he lasted a lap or two I think.
With about three laps to go the pack was back together and my team mate Kyle came around the front and started to light it up. I could see what was happening (he was leading me out for the win!) immediately, so I jumped on his wheel. This was the time that would decide the winner, I figured.
One guy in an orange or red kit was between Kyle & I, but on the backstretch he dropped out, couldn't hold the pace. I could barely hold the pace myself but yelled "GO!!!" at Kyle, making sure he kept the gas on. We were doing close to 30 mph, or maybe more, and it was all I could do to hang on. I could only hope our high speeds were stringing out the pack, and setting everything up for a win.
Looking at the photos, the pack sure was strung out! Perfect.
This effort hurt, a lot, but I knew that there were only minutes left in the race. Time to empty the tank.
One lap to go, and it's still Kyle & I on the front, and he's turning the screws as they say. In the back of my head I'm just hoping we can hang on to this, and see what happens coming out of the last corner.
Sure enough we come into the final turn 1st & 2nd, and as we get into the finish straightaway I'm hoping people don't start swarming around us. Wasn't sure how much of a gap we had on the field, if any, but I know my sprint isn't award-winning so it was going to take a little gap to get me to the line.
Switched all the way to 53x12, and ground out the sprint up the slight uphill towards the line. Felt hugely over-geared and as if I was doing 60 rpms, but just held the gas as much as I could. Nobody was coming around yet!
I could hear the announcer calling the sprint and my name, and it certainly helped as motivation. Since Kyle is so fast I was almost afraid I wasn't going to be able to come around him, but slowly gained ground on him and finished with space between us, his hands in the air in celebration of our team's win.
(as a side note, I promise to buy these photos!)
(from the GCRacing FinishLynx camera)
Thanks a billion, Kyle! Couldn't have done it without your leadout. Team work in the 4/5's, who would have thought?
After crossing the line I closed me eyes and thought "HolyshitIcan'tbelieveIjustwonBallard!!!!!", then sat up and gave my victory salute: arms down but slightly out to the side, as if I were ascending into the sky at that very moment. I like to think of it as my "Cat 3 birth" in fact, as it give me the points I need to upgrade to the 3's!
After the race we did a cool-down lap I got to give a little interview over loudspeaker, that was pretty surreal.
If all this description of the race isn't enough for you, someone from the Bikesale.com team made a great video of the 4/5's race! (and a bunch of the other races too)
Race #4: Second Ascent Ballard Twilight Criterium Men Cat4/5 2010 from David Hose on Vimeo.
Won a Thompson seatpost & stem, along with some more free socks (I'm starting to get a collection of these). And of course bragging rights for the next year..The other thing I got from the race was seven upgrade points, giving me 26 total! Since you only need 20 points to get to the Cat 3's I can upgrade now, something I thought would take years. (Some never get out of the 4/5's at all) I became a Cat 4 back in March, so it's taken about three months, I can't believe it. I think the whole "build/base/peak/race" training plan has worked out well! (7-12 hours per week these days, for the record, as I've been asked a lot about this lately)
Since I want to finish out the Cascadia Crit series as the 4/5's points leader by doing the Tacoma Twilight Crit next weekend, I'm going to be a "sandbagger" for that one race and stay a 4 for now. $125 goes to the overall winner in our category and I want that person to be me!
A message to Rob, Ian, Chad, Dave Z, Tim, Kyle, Jed, Adam, and everyone else I know in the 4's: get your asses up the 3's soon! I'm gonna need the company. But I'm looking forward to longer races that start later in the day, and "Cat 3" certainly has a nice ring to it..
From what I keep hearing it's not that much faster in the 3's, it's just that the surges are faster and the fields are deeper, and of course the races are longer (crits are one hour, road races are 60-90 miles). The worst it can do is make me faster.. also looking forward to racing with Jordan R., Mark, and Jordan L. that I've raced with previously. See you guys soon!
Stats
Ballard Crit 2010 (minus stoppage time)
Duration: 31:10 (38:18)
Work: 463 kJ
TSS: 51 (intensity factor 0.991)
Norm Power: 287w
VI: 1.16
Distance: 13.071 mi
Elevation Gain: 855 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1004 247 watts
Heart Rate: 121 198 182 bpm
Cadence: 16 121 81 rpm
Speed: 0 37? 25.1 mph (a tad faster than last year I think)
Crank Torque: 0 1695 243 lb-in
Thanks to all the volunteers & the Second Ascent team/shop for putting on this awesome race, and all my friends (Liz/Dennis, John, Rachel) that came out to race or watch! And of course to Kira for coming out and cheering me on. I'm so glad you were all there to see it.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Cascadia Crit Series: Leader!
I was sitting 2nd place overall in the Cascadia Crit Series coming into the Seward Park race yesterday before this race. The third race out of six, Seward is a course I've done about 25 times since last season, so nothing new, but a big crowd and lots of motivated riders ready to tear it up.
I've been racing the 6 PM race there this year (the 3/4's field) which has provided extra challenge, so I was hoping doing a 4/5 field would be a tad easier. Maybe, but not by much!
The Race
Team mates Kyle & Chris were there, and Chris even went on a flier during the race, hoping to draw Counterbalance guy into a failed break, or something. Kyle later did the same later on, trying to wear out those eager to win from a break. And the whole time, I just sat up front and watched with glee.
As the final laps came around I made sure not to leave the top 10, but that was easier said than done, and coming into the final downhill I was probably about 15th. As we got to the flat-ish section the pack was together, waiting for someone to pounce. If nobody pounced most would happily cruise up to the top of the hill, and then light up the sprint.
But I've raced here enough times to know that the ones that win the sprint start before the climb, to get a gap on the field. A guy led me up the left side of the pack and then pulled off, and that's when I took my chance. I pounced. Already red-lining but the finish line is close, so I emptied the tank.
As I took the soft left on to the climb, I looked down and though to myslef, "Holy shit! I'm in first, and nobody has come around yet! I won finally!"
But it was too early to celebrate, and not long after cresting the hill at least one guy had already jumped beyond me, and I could hear others behind. The rest is kind of a blur but one more guy snuk around me towards the line, and I just held on the gas up to the line. Here are the three of us sprinting around the bend towards the line. (Note: I didn't coast in the sprint like I used to, that's for sure!)
Congrats to Jeff that took the win, he also beat me out in one of the points premes and is obviously strong. I looked around to see how Aaron on Counterbalance did, since he was 1st overall and leading me in points. Nowhere to be seen?? Later on someone said he had to pull out due to a mechanical issue or something. Sucks! Not the way I wanted to get on top of the overall podium but that's racing I guess.
On to the podium, where the top 5 in the race got $20 cash. Then the overall podium, and guess who's on top? Me!
In addition to a nice pair of socks and a water bottle & nuun tablets, I was also presented with a Leader's number to wear in the next race! Pretty sweet:
But it's not over yet, there's still Ballard & the Brad Lewis Crit to contend with this weekend!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Wenatchee Omnium 2010: First Podium!
The Wenatchee Omnium had been on my calendar for a few months, and since it was a relatively big regional event I made it an "A" race, e.g. one that I targeted specifically. Besides planning to crush souls there I also trained for it by building up in the weeks leading to it and then tapering off a bit in the last few days before it.
I figured an overall win was out of my reach since the TT isn't my strongest race, and I'm not so hot racing up a 5-mile climb either. But I figured I could squeeze some points out of the criterium by getting a top 6 in it.
Saturday AM: 9 mile Time Trial
Josh & I had ridden the out-and-back TT course the day before, which was great so we could see just what we had in store, given it wasn't completely flat, but instead featured some rolling hills. And wind. He pointed out the tailwind on the way out and how it's apparently always like that around here.. while this makes for a fun out-leg, the return trip is a bit slower..
A shot of the road out to the TT:
It was about 10 miles outside of town, and since Josh's Cat 3 race wasn't until way later in the day, I just rode out to the start for a good warm-up. It was a perfect day, not too hot, and sure enough the same wind out of the west was there.
Got to the start with plenty of time, and went to the parking lot to find Todd & JC, along with other team mates. After some chit chat I went back out on to Malaga-Alcoa Hwy and got in an OK warm-up, but I've really not been giving them enough attention, especially when it comes to TT's.
Noting that it was close to start time for me (9:18) I somehow got there with about a minute to spare, jumping in front of the line of riders waiting to go off. Just in time, that'll get the heart pumping!
After an OK start I was off, not having any power data since the batteries were out and I'd yet to replace them, just going off of heart rate. I felt pretty good on the way out, and kept the HR around 171 or so, though looking back I should have paced harder on the way out given the downhill-ishness of the course and the tailwind.
I had my 30-second man in sight, and was gaining on him as I went. As we came to the turn-around cone at 4.5 miles I was perhaps only a few bike-lengths behind him! But as we turned around the headwind and uphill slopes hit and I no longer felt like I was putting in good time. In fact, I wasn't! Whether or not pacing was good on the way out, I just couldn't push hard enough to gain on my guy without red-lining. Probably due to bad aero (only using clip-ons) and not enough (functional) threshold.
In the end I lost contact with the 30 second guy and was never passed, passed a few others, which pretty much says it was an average TT. It was. 23:51 or something for 25th place... lots of room for improvement there! (the winner in Cat 4 was 21-minutes and some change)
Saturday PM: 25-minute Criterium
For me this was the real chance for points and maybe even a win. Our hotel was a few blocks from the downtown crit course so I got a chance to check out the Cat 5 race, and get a feel for the course which I hadn't seen before.
The marshal at corner 2 said he'd specifically requested that corner since it's "where all the action is" - and by action he meant crashes! I could see why, it was all cracked with two sewage-covers with nice big tire-size holes in them. One guy at the corner, who was apparently also one of the race organizers, was giving me tips on how to come through tight in the corner - which was not what we were watching the 5's do. They were taking a slower, perhaps safer, outside line that sent you over the same cracks anyway. Something to think about when I raced later at 4:25 or so.
Here's a few shots of corner 2 so you can get a feel:
And a shot of the broken-up pavement & manhole covers...
Actually the races were running behind, which made me think I had more time than I did to warm up, which put me at the back of the pack. Lined up next to a team mate JC, and we joked about how bad our TT times were, and I told him that's OK, this is the race for us! He's also pretty good at crits and I was happy to have him in the race.
The whistle was blown and we were off - well, some of us were. A few rows up at least one guy couldn't clip in, and was stuck looking down at their feet, fumbling to clip in. The opposite of a good start in a crit, but I've gotten pretty good at going around them at the start of crits.
Settled into the middle of the pack or so, and got a feel for the course. The 5% downhill leading into corner 2 gave you plenty of speed to just jam over all the cracks and stuff, but boy did our bikes make some interesting noises there! It took confidence in your equipment and cornering ability to make it over that corner without slowing each lap.
In fact that nasty corner was where I made up the most ground each time, taking the inside line just as the organizer had earlier suggested. Then on the (also rough) back stretch we would jam at a good 27-30 mph, hitting the 3rd turn into a 5% uphill that had its share of cracks in it.
Coming up the hill on the backside into corner 4 my rear wheel was skipping around almost every time, looking bad I should have just stayed seated there. And I liked taking the outside line there, instead of jamming up the inside and coming into the turn slower.
After the uphill and fourth corner, it was on to the home stretch, a slight 1% uphill grade. I just hung on for the first few laps, since my warm-up wasn't quite good enough and the start of this race hurt more than it should have.
After recovering a little, I decided it was time to move up - only 25 minutes of racing to be done here, so there wasn't a ton of time to set up for the end. So about halfway through the race I used the wide-open home stretch to jump and move up to the top 10 of the pack. Looking back this little effort was enough to set up for the later podium, and without it I would have had to work harder later or come in 10th place.
Now in the top 10 I even found my way to the pointy end of the race a few times, leading our pack through the finish straight. When that happened I would make sure not to do too much work, since there was a headwind there and there was no point in doing a bunch of work to make us all faster for that little stretch. Sometimes it felt ridiculously slow at the front, but I reminded myself it was about me resting and being in a good spot, not looking strong.
The last five or so laps came, and I just maintained my spot in the top 5-10. One guy tried to get a break-away going, or something, but nobody wanted (or could) go with him.
One lap to go, and we're all still together. Turn three comes, and I'm in the top five! In pain and at or above 185 bpm, but I remind myself there's less than a minute left, how bad could it be? Turn four comes, the final turn, and it's time for the straight-away. The home stretch!
The announcer was yelling of course but I didn't hear anything, it was all I could do to keep the pedals turning and just shoot for the line. Passed one or two guys (I think) on the way to the line, and saw the guy in front of me let up a bit, but it was too late.
But I came in 3rd in the end! Yay for me, all this training and racing finally paid off, though it wasn't a win.. that's next on the radar, and well within reach I think.
Was sitting 5th overall GC after the TT/Crit, but knew the RR the next day was gonna be tough.
Sunday AM: 44-mile Road Race
Oh boy, what to say here? There was a five-mile climb (5.5% avg. grade) and I got dropped going up it the first time (we were only doing two laps). Great views, but dammit it hurt going up! Pretty fun going down, but could only get up to 45 mph or so, no real super speeds on the way down. Rode with some stragglers and chatted a bit, finished the ride to not get a DNF (don't have any so far).
Came in 34th (out of 55?) overall somehow, minutes behind the finishers.. not my day, that's for sure!
But was happy with the crit placing the day before, so not too big a let down, or even a surprise.
Came in 10th overall GC.
Photos & Videos
(sorry for getting this post out a week late, I've been lazy!)
