The scene for the last 2010 installation of the annual "Tour de Dung", named after the nearby locality of Dungeness, closer to the more famous Sequim, Wa - with the Straight of Juan de Fuca to the north and the Olympic mountains to the south:
Compared to some of the pics I've seen of training crits in industrial parks on the east coast this is like riding in heaven. But we weren't here for the scenery, it was time to sweat.
The "Tour de Dung": a road race on a 12-mile loop with a few ups and downs, but nothing to really slow us down all that much. Nice and smooth and fast. Really fun racing, but a bit of a trek to get out there with the ferry and all.. still worth the trip even with a long day for a two-hour race.
I hitched a ride in the team van, along with a bunch of other Recycled Cycles racers - some in the Cat 3's, some in the 4's, and some in the 5's. Other RCR (Recycled Cycles Racing) people drove out separately.
My trusty Ciocc alongside the van:
This was my first race in a Cat 4-only field, and while I'd done Cat 4/5 crits & circuit races last year doing Sequim in both the 5's and the 4's allowed me to see the differences between how the two categories ride.
As you can imagine the 4's are a tad faster - but in addition the race is a bit faster, there are more breaks/attacks, and it's actually kind of smoother. Oh and you race longer, so one more lap or 12 more miles of racing in the 4's. I have no problem with that, it's more mileage for the money! Gotta say this was the fastest 48 miler I've ever done.
Took a few photos & videos throughout the day, and posted a few here.
The registration line was long but we had time:
The Race
After a quick change in the van (you can stand up in it!) I lined up with other 4's getting ready to get it on. Saw Rob M. from 2nd Ascent who also just recently upgraded. Didn't see Mark M who is about to upgrade to the 3's, but I knew he'd be here and gunning for another win.
Recycled had decent numbers in this race: Five in total! Three racers that have been 4's for a while now, and at least one of them is close to getting to the next category (based on wins/points), and then two brand-new 4's including me. The plan for this race was to just keep it together for the final sprint.
The race was off and the first thing I noticed was that there was no real 15-mph neutral rollout like in the 5's. The lead-moto just took off and we were gunning up the hill.. so much for a warm-up! Nothing too blistering but I was a bit surprised. Sometimes there are inconsistencies in local amateur racing like this (even in pro racing I'm sure), and it's just part of the game.
The weather was great, clear skies and a tad chilly. My new team kit was great - bib shorts, short sleeve jersey with just arm warmers felt perfect. Added the white "belgian booties" from Castelli for that Faux Pro look.
Looking back at the stats somehow the first (of four) 12-mile laps was one of our fastest! Everyone feels fresh in the beginning I guess, and thinks they'll muscle through the whole race. Then on the second lap things tone down a bit (e.g. 23 mph average instead of 24). A few riders went off the front, but nothing really threatening, and it all got reeled back.
It was tempting to try an attack of my own on the short-ish climbs, but I really just wanted to save it for the final 200 meters. Every time I get out in front of the wind off the front of the peloton after about 30 seconds I feel like I'm cycling through molten lava - the legs are burning and barely moving in slow motion. Must be a pacing thing, e.g. I'm jamming it too hard to make the separation and having nothing left to keep it up.
Maybe one day I'll perfect the solo attack... and since sprinting doesn't seem to be a natural talent of mine I might have to start thinking about The Attack a lot more. What it will probably take is a group of riders going up the road from different teams.
The race was relatively uneventful, and I just tried not to half-wheel too much (sometimes it seems like you can't fill a gap without doing it) and keep it smooth. The course is tight but the turns are wide enough that they're pretty safe.
After the left-turn-to-downhill-to-right-turn everyone mini-sprinted out of the turn, naturally; but somehow one guy was all of a sudden dancing on the asphalt, no longer clipped into the pedals and the bike's rear jumping around like a bronco. Must've done the "I'm a pro so I look down while I sprint" thing and probably turned the front wheel too much. Or something.
I rode by and yelled "nice save!" as he somehow kept it upright after all the scary stuff.
Final Wind-up
I made sure to stick in the upper 20 or so riders on the final lap, which might have been somewhat a waste of energy but moving up during a one-lane road race can be... challenging. So I prefer to stay up front and not have to battle through the pack when the time is right.
Two other team mates and I are up in the mix in the final wind-up (Josh had flatted out the last lap, Todd had done a lot of work on the front and was tired, I presume). Cool. Not exactly lined up for any kind of lead out, but at least most of us there in terms of not crashing out or blowing up.
Last weekend in the 5's race I ended up 10th in the sprint and felt like I could have done better if I'd gone to the outside (left) of the road, since the wind was coming from the right. But this time the wind felt more like it was coming from straight on... I'm not sure if anyone really likes sprinting into a headwind but I really hate it!
Even though the wind was different this time around I tried to line up like I wanted to for last time, I guess just to see if I could hold a position in the final 1 km. Well I held the position but that didn't really do me much good..
The 200-meter sign came and people starting winding up, a few started going full-on. Team mates and I were all seemingly in position for a top ten, if we could hold position to the line... Which I could not do. My sprint only lasted 150-meters, or something, because near the line Chris & I were swamped and lost what seemed like 10 spots in a split-second. Then I was still trying to at least overcome the bike in front of me, but couldn't do it.
I must have been too far up front initially, since I don't have enough power/speed to lead out the pack the whole way in the final drag race. Or something.
Anyway in the end I came out in 25th place, out of 60-something starters. No points, not one step closer to the Cat 3's, but another notch in the experience column. JC got 9th place, and Chris came in 21st, so RCR did pretty well overall.
I hear the winner has been training hard since last year and this was the first race he's won - congrats, Bart!!
After the Race
The Recycled Cycles Cat 5's were still racing and since we were all riding back together we stuck around and cheered them on. We heard over the radio that Kyle, a strong junior, was off the front of the 5's pack! When he came by we cheered him on, and were impressed with the distance he had on the peloton - later on he said it was reported at 1 minute 45 seconds - you couldn't even see the riders behind him, and were talking about how Joe Parkin said something like, "the best way to win is to be the only one in the picture." We were sure of an RCR victory, and it was only a matter of time before he came around again since it was now his final lap.
The field came by and didn't look like they were really chasing hard, so then we really thought it was in the bag. But we had to wait about 30 minutes to find out...
In the mean time we were invited into the GCRacing (FinishLynx cam) tent, to see our sprint photo finish.
In addition to the crazy finish-line camera they also have a cool computer setup - I believe this was the Cat 3's finish picture.
Some Cat 5's coming through:
Eventually the results from my race, the Cat 4's, were posted. The preliminary results included time splits, which I'd never seen before in a RR! (calc'd via the FinishLynx cam, each pixel represents some fraction of a second) - the top 25 riders all came in within one second - a small consolation:
More Cat 5's coming around.
The staging scene:
Eventually we heard over the official's radio that the lead car was coming around the final corner, so 1 km to go. Would we see Kyle crest the hill and approach the finish line solo as expected? It was not to be - the pack appeared instead, and Kyle wasn't in it! We were baffled but he said he just blew up eventually and they overtook him. Excellent try though! I think he had the best result out of all of us that day.
Video of the Cat 5 peloton coming through: pack #1, pack #2
Video of the Cat 5 finishes: pack #1, pack #2
Cat 4 Race Stats
Final (weak) sprint for 25th:
Duration: 0:25 seconds
Distance: 0.23 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 248 816 588 watts
Heart Rate: 182 188 184 bpm
Cadence: 99 116 109 rpm
Speed: 28.3 34.4 32.4 mph
Crank Torque: 207 682 454 lb-in
Looking at the speed & torque values, I feel like I was under-geared to really get the speed up.. and that I also needed to spin it up faster.
Only hit 34.4 mph max... no wonder I lost! I heard Bart, the guy from Starbucks who took the sprint, hit 37 to take the win.. gotta work on my sprint for sure. Or maybe I should forget about sprinting and just think about break-aways? Time will tell.
Stats for the entire workout - 24.2 mph average for almost 50 miles! I must admit that's the fastest long-ish ride I've ever done. And that's pretty slow as far as bike racing goes.. Now I really can't wait to do one of those 30-40 minute crits this summer!
Entire workout (183 watts):
Duration: 1:58:06
Work: 1296 kJ
TSS: 136.8 (intensity factor 0.834)
Norm Power: 238
VI: 1.3
Distance: 47.68 mi
Elevation Gain: 2861 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 995 183 watts
Heart Rate: 117 189 152 bpm
Cadence: 30 142 84 rpm
Speed: 3.4 49.4 24.2 mph
Crank Torque: 0 1774 175 lb-in
Peak 5min (293 watts) - last 5 minutes of the race - not wasted energy in the middle of the race - good.
Duration: 5:00
Work: 88 kJ
TSS: 11 (intensity factor 1.15)
Norm Power: 328
VI: 1.12
Distance: 2.138 mi
Elevation Gain: 162 ft
Elevation Loss: 152 ft
Grade: 0.1 % (10 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 925 293 watts
Heart Rate: 151 188 171 bpm
Cadence: 38 116 94 rpm
Speed: 5.5 34.4 25.6 mph
Crank Torque: 0 1199 268 lb-in
Peak 20min (229 watts) - the last 20 minutes of the race, so I at least got that part right:
Duration: 20:00
Work: 274 kJ
TSS: 29.6 (intensity factor 0.942)
Norm Power: 268
VI: 1.18
Distance: 8.317 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 925 228 watts
Heart Rate: 130 188 162 bpm
Cadence: 30 131 87 rpm
Speed: 3.7 48.3 24.9 mph
Crank Torque: 0 1271 220 lb-in
Thanks to all the volunteers & organizers for putting on this event! I'll certainly be back next year.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Tour de Dung #2: Hello Cat 4
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tour de Dung #1: Goodbye Cat 5
The scene near Sequim for the "Tour de Dung" #1 road race this Saturday:
Crisp late-winter/early-spring air, no rain, good turnout, nice views of the mountains (though I never saw them during the race - too many wheels to pay attention to), and nice wide roads. What a venue for racing!
This was my final Cat 5 race, so the goal was mostly to stay upright. Of course, a win wouldn't hurt, and like many others out there that day of course I felt like maybe this was my day for a "W"..
Confusion before the race
Waited in registration line for 20 minutes, then when I'm almost there they say "Cat 5 is full!"
And then they say, "We're running another Cat 5 field, but it's in about two hours."
****! We drove 2 hours out there, including a 40 minute ferry, and this is what happens?
Later on we hear "Odd-numbered Cat 5's are going first, Evens second, in 1 1/2 hours." Now that I can deal with, I lucked out..
The Odd-Numbered Cat 5 Race
So eventually I line up with another team mate, Kyle, who is pretty new to racing but pretty strong as well. A few words and we're off on the neutral rollout, which seemed to take forever. Guys up front were yelling and waving at the lead car to speed it up.. After a kilometer or so the car speeds up and we're on!
The pace was a bit higher than at Mason, which made since given the wider road and smaller pack. With only about 50 of us it wasn't super crowded, and even felt like a small pack at times. Some Cycle U guys (or was it just one) was setting the pace at the front a lot, along with an unattached guy. The unattached guy at the front seemed to pull forever, and pull hard, which was great for all of us resting up for the end of the race.
It was like having a team mate up front putting the hurt on the pack for you - totally sacrificing themselves for your glory. Except, they probably figured they were "racing strong" and "setting the pace" - which may be true, but those two things don't always win bike races. Sometimes racing smarts come into play and the smartest (e.g. the most rested) racer might win.
Before too long I moved up the side of the pack, and spotted another Recycled Cycled kit up ahead - rode up and introduced myself to another team mate in the pack. Cool, that makes three of us!
The course goes something like this: a little gentle climb that isn't too long, a turn, a little downhill, a turn, a longer uphill that's still gentle, some more turns, two steep-but-short "sprinters hills" and then a flat straight finish. Twelve mile loops.
Only three laps for us 5's, so this would be another roughly 1.5 hour race like Mason last week. Could I go for a breakaway, and go out with a bang in the 5's? If it wasn't for the wind I might have thought harder about it, but I was ok with just surfing the pack and basically waiting for the finish.
On the front? Sure.
Though I usually don't really spend much time on the 'business-end' of the peloton that often in races, I guess I got bored at some points in this race and decided to do just that. Cycle U was still setting a good pace up front, and I rode up front and started matching the pace and sometimes upping it slightly.
On the second lap Kyle, a strong new rider on our team, started slowly riding away from the pack on the longer uphill, and before too long had 10 meters or so on the field. An RCR attack, nice. Being used to racing unattached my first instinct is to chase, and at first I think I did speed up a little..
But I eventually settled in and watched Kyle ride away from us, getting smaller and smaller. Given his nice result at the TT a few weeks ago I figured he might have a chance to stay away. And stay away he did for a few minutes, but once we took a turn and got the nice tailwind we started gaining on him and swallowed him up. Nice try though!
One interesting thing about being on the front was how challenging it can be to get off the front! In a training ride or most other rides you just swing off when you're ready to rest. But when pedaling into a headwind with 52 people on your wheel, and nobody wants to work, swinging off may not be enough to shake them.
Apparently if the pack is comfortable with your pace they'll just swing with you and stay on your wheel. Once I swung off, thinking I was safely out of the way, and slowed down only to hear a bunch of people yelling "slowing!" behind me.. ooops, well at least I didn't hit the brakes or anything.. a learning experience though.
To 'break the elastic' I just sprinted off the front for about 10 seconds, and then sat up. Then the pack came around and I was able to get in 10th wheel, just where I wanted to be in order to rest but not be too far back. (But it sounds like next time I should just be more patient, and the pack will come around eventually)
Last Lap!
The last lap comes and we're all antsy, and the pace picks up. One rider took off somewhere in the last 5 miles or so, and I figured it was "too early" and the pack just let him go. So many times I've seen people go off the front only to be reeled back a minute later - hell it's been me a few times.. though this guy is holding a nice pace, and gaining ground on us.
Breaking Away?
The solo guy is way off the front, and I'm holding in decent position up front - and as we get in the last few miles I decide maybe this is my chance to bridge up to him? So I launch an attack off the front, though I didn't really give it everything.. I didn't want to blow up early so I was putting in about 90% of a true break effort, hoping I could somehow a) hold off the pack and b) not blow up.. but in reality I'm not sure anything besides a 100% break effort will work.
About three strokes into my "attack" I'm looking down at my burning legs and thinking "what the fuck am I doing??" They're on fire but I press on, just trying to keep the gas on. A quick look back and they look smaller than normal, cool.
Once out there alone in the wind you realize (yet again) how hard it is to go fast solo. Soon I let up and the pack was quick to come around, and fast too - it took quite an effort just to grab a wheel while recovering from my attack. What was probably only 20-30 seconds off the front felt like a micro-eternity.
I was just barely recovered when we hit the first hard riser, and those of us up front were standing and going all out - it seemed like a "selection" was being made. So I dug deep and found something and hung with them. We crested and the solo break is still up the road, fending us off.
Final Wind-up
The 1 km sign is here and now we see it's just a field sprint for 2nd place. The pack is fast and fluid, and I'm smack dab in the middle of the mix, just hoping nobody in front of me crashes for no good reason.
An unattached guy in red got DQ'd for going over the yellow (center) line near the end - ouch. It was weird having an official in a moving car next to us yelling at someone in the pack, and a tad distracting at about 30 mph, but those are the rules.
Bikesale.com (yellow/black kits) guys are out in full force with 4-5 guys up front. My team mate Erin seems to be a good sprinter and is in front of me. We're all poised, ready for the 200 meter sign and ready to sprint it out.
Going through my mind are "Cat 5 pack-sprint horror stories" so I'm just hoping it's a clean sprint and nobody does the "I'm a Pro looking-at-my-feet-while-sprinting" thing and ends up riding off the road (it happens).
The 200 meter sign is here, and.... nothing happens. !!!!
Someone behind me actually yells "GO!!!!!" and finally those up front open up. The sprint seemed to go by quickly and I felt like I was gaining ground on a few people next to me, but not close enough to the front. Crossed the line somewhere in the top 10 I figured, so I was happy. (Official result was 10th)
Prior to all the chaos at the end of the race I had a plan for the sprint - since the wind was coming out of the east, this meant a cross-wind from the right on the final sprint. So jumping from the right side of the road to the left, from the pack, and then shooting around the pack was my plan of attack. But in the end I was surrounded with nowhere to go.
Nice job to Alan from Bikesale.com for taking the win! It was a fun race. Now on to the 4's!
Photos
The Masters C/D field rolling out:
Cat 5's rolling out:
Cat 4's roll out:
Cat 4's rollout (part 2/3):
Cat 4's rollout (3/3) - look at all that RCR blue & gold!
Cat 5's rollout:
Cat 5's rollout (2/2):
Women's Cat 4 rolling out:
Men's Cat 4 peloton - with Mark M. from SCCA/Starbucks leading the charge. (He won the race! Nice job Mark! Can't wait to sprint against you...)
Second wheel in the Cat 5 peloton - loving every minute of it, except when the HR goes above 190 bpm or so.
The Women's Cat 4 field:
Finish Video
Check out the finish video from my Cat 5's race. If you look closely you can see me coming in for 10th! Nice job to the solo break away for holding us off!
Race Stats
Sequim Cat 5's race (no neutral rollout):
Duration: 1:33:27
Work: 1150 kJ
TSS: 120.7 (intensity factor 0.88)
Norm Power: 251
VI: 1.22
Distance: 34.918 mi
Elevation Gain: 2697 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1017 205 watts
Heart Rate: 98 189 165 bpm
Cadence: 31 146 87 rpm
Speed: 3.5 46.7 22.4 mph
Crank Torque: 0 1550 193 lb-in
Final windup/sprint:
Duration: 1:43
Distance: 0.786 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 941 330 watts
Heart Rate: 160 182 173 bpm
Cadence: 39 112 92 rpm
Speed: 15.5 37.4 27.5 mph
Other blogs/videos of this race:
- A racer in the Men's Cat 4 race
- Another writeup from Sequim
- A writeup from the Cat 5 "evens" race
- A racer in the Men's Cat 1/2 race - the best part is Todd (Herriot I presume?) doing a trackstand waiting for people to bridge up to him, during the race.
