Ygduf

figured out how to raceshape my two times from the weekend.



As speed goes up my time gap goes up. I guess the TT bike is slightly more aero after all.

Tyrell

Thanks for all the kind words! Still smiling about it.

Do it! I definitely recommend getting out there a few days early to pre-ride a bit and get some altitude acclimation in. Being able to climb is pretty key but if you can descend well, you can get away with spending less effort climbing.

Creatre

Not necessarily. Your road bike was the second TT right? You gained time back on the beginning of the descent. Looks to me almost like that's a fatigue drop off. You almost doubled your time gap in the last 2 miles.

rideaz

Thanks! I like climbing Getting away from home for a stage race will be hard enough, not sure I'd be able to get there early. But maybe? I'll be sure to hit you up for some more info if I decide to do it.

save10

my vote for performance of the year so far. prestigious event. stage race. upgrade earned. report concise, but descriptive. well formatted with just enough bold font.

Ygduf

I'm no scrub. I don't have fatigue drop offs.

vs.

That's the data for the last 2.3 miles where the gap grows. Both power marks are just over the AP. I did the road bike second, but I knew the course better, also had the clock as my friend as no one had done a <24min merckx.

waterrockets 

Driveway: pack finish, with a few really deep digs on attack/bridge efforts that didn't bear fruit

I had two people bounce off me during crashes last night. First guy was next to me, overlapping a rider who swept his wheel. He landed hard on my left foot on his way down, which leaned my bike a bit, but I kept it straight. I think I saved him a much harder impact, although from his viewpoint, I kicked him hard on the way down.

Then, on the last lap, a sharp lefthand bend sent a rider outward into my bars really hard. I'm not sure how, but this started my rear wheel sliding pretty badly (I was banked pretty hard). Of course, someone was overlapped on my wheel, so he went down, but lowsided so not too nasty. I rode through the slide and kept the pace.

shovelhd

Nice riding WR.

bmcphx

South Mountain TT - Cat 4 - 2nd
mother ****.
I planned on winning this race all year, this was the only thing I gave a ****. Every crit, road race, yeah I'd be happy to win them, but they were all training for this ****ing tt. It's a 5.5mi 1000ft climb. My time last year was 21:50 and last month I set a new PR of 21:23 so my individual goal was to be under 21:00, and I accomplished this today so I feel really happy, and I'm like 28/1600 on the strava leaderboard for that segment. Yeah, it's super fast in the big scope and I'm satisfied.
There was a pro triathlete with little bike racing experience in my cat 4 field so I knew he was who I would have to beat. He set the cat 4 record today with 19:50 and I got second, just like last year. I'm pissed and ecstatic at the same time, and while I timed my explosion perfectly for the finish line (got dizzy and whatnot) I was just not fast enough. Oh well, I beat everyone else.
20:17 was my time, 4.5w/kg for 20 minutes, ow.

I'm in the Haus kit. https://www.strava.com/activities/139623585

beatlebee 

Nice job bmc!

jsutkeepspining

RATL
4th

I lost.

mike868y

Poolesville Cat 3 - DNF
Flatted in the gravel on lap 3/6 (which was shortened to 3 anyway). No wheel van, no neutral support. Was with the main group when it happened and was feeling good, physically, so I’m happy with that. On the other hand, my pack skills in the cross winds were bad enough to warrant me a downgrade to the 5s, and it’s a bummer having another weekend with nothing to show for it.

shovelhd

Good job bmc, especially for staying in your kit for the podium shot. Sponsors appreciate that.

aaronmcd

Berkeley Hills Road Race
Top 20 out of 76 starters... field limit 75, wtf?

This was a great race for me, because I stayed with the pack on all the climbs! Course was 2.7 laps for 54 total miles and 4500 ft of climbing. The main climbs were a sub 2.5 minute climb, followed by a 4 minute climb with about 5 minutes between.

First set of climbs felt good, 110% for the first climb, 105% for the second. A guy was off the front the whole lap, and no one was chasing hard so I attacked (gap ~45 seconds) - I got about 75% of the distance covered in 3 minutes, but the pack decided to chase harder and caught me. So I had to see how I fared with the pack on the second set of climbs. First climb felt pretty horrible - started out very fast and eased up but I was hurting bad. Field split slightly but bunched up again in a minute or two. Second climb was pretty tame - I think most guys were hurting as bad as I was; at this point I thought I might have a chance to stick with the pack the whole way - pace picked up too fast for me to try to get away anyway. Shortly before the final climbs, the pack started slowing and resting up... I think guys were afraid to go out too hard on the climbs and the pace was manageable. Finish was at the top of the second climb - pace picked up gradually (or I got tired gradually...) toward the top and I couldn't quite stick with the top 10, but was only a few seconds back. Out "sprinted" (a few hard pedal strokes at the end) one guy ahead of me.

Results only showed top 11 - I was somewhere between 12 and 20. Hard to count guys when your delirious lol!

Great race - I'm very happy I was able to stick with the pack all the way to the end of a hilly race!

Ygduf

Did the same race, Berkeley Hills in the 12s. Finished with the front-half selection.


I crashed into a downed guy (uphill, basically fell onto the dude and some bikes) but made it back to the pack. Next lap I was dropped on the 3rd of 3 climbs, chased for 20 minutes and made it back on. Did the final 1.7 laps. Through some **** at the wall in the final 5 miles but nothing stuck. Fireworks on the uphill finish = back third of our group for me. Don't know my actual place. Don't care. Was a good race for me. At least I finished with A pack this time.

spdntrxi

sprinkle a little crack on him ! I miss Dave

revchuck 

At least you raced, Mikey. Quit yer *****in'.

MDcatV

it was brutal out there today. our race was decimated. a group of 3 went before we got out of neutral, it included a guy with world champ stripes, a pro, and another strong regional guy. our first time through the gravel, I got behind a tentative rider and the field was big enough I couldnt get around him for half the trip through, then there was a massive pile up when someone hit the deep gravel, I was behind it and it took an all time max 2 minute effort to catch back onto the field, who was going for broke at the time. then it was head wind, i thought i was getting dropped, fortunately i was able to find good pockets and recover a bit. several groups split off the front, then reintegrated in the next lap. after that, we hit the gravel again and were flying. more groups off the front, then back together again, then a group of 8 that included a teammate got about 10" and the guys in the main field chasing couldnt close it. I should have been in that group, but was tapped when it went and just couldnt go. It looked like we could close it again any time and I considered trying to jump across, but decided it wasnt realistic, and they started rolling away.

going through the feedzone, which is about 300M from the finish line, we were told "you finish this lap", we were kind of going wtf then I decided to sprint. two guys beat me to the line, so 3rd from what was left of the field and 14th overall. a respectable finish (for me) in this race, but i'm bumming that I missed the move of 8.

Mike - sorry you got the flat, did you use the rubinos? getting back on after a flat would have been a tall order today.

mattm

Nice man. If you hadn't gone down in the crash it sounds like the race might've been a bit easier!

Ygduf

Meh. Crash was a quick 3-4 min chaseback. Getting dropped was 20 solid minutes of chaseback. It would have been easier if I were faster!

rbart4506

Grey County RR

This is a special one for us up here in Ontario since it's not a circuit race and finishes with a nice climb. The course itself had over 1300m of climbing which would hopefully allow me to perform half decently.

Spent a good portion of the front half of the race at the pointy end riding in the top4-10 spot. Moved forward at the first climb, or really did not fall back as many other riders did. Tried getting in a break or two, but realized that wasn't going to survive in our group due to the winds. As we neared the 2nd climb I started to drift back fearing that I was burning too many matches for the final climb, but probably got myself too far back. Actually got detached from the group at one point, but as the commissairs vehicle was starting to pass me I yelled over 'I'm not done yet!' and dug deep to latch back on. I knew that if I didn't do this the race was over and I was not going to let that happen.

Hooked back up with the group and settled in until the final climb. On the climb I set a steady pace that I knew I could maintain. I started picking off riders as I went and had the lead group of 8-10 riders in my view. I had thought the climb was longer or I would have attacked it a bit harder, also did not realize the last 500m or so was flat. I was expecting another pitch up so I did not attack this section as hard as I could have. A pre-drive of the climb would have been wise.

Ended up finishing 13th out of 50 riders. Best finish ever! Got my first ever upgrade points and OCup points. It's been a long 4 years of getting dropped, but I kept coming back and finally I have a race I can be proud of.

Looking forward to the next race in Niagara next weekend!

mattm

Awesome!

There is something great about this moment when you basically decided your race isn't over, and you make it so.

mike868y

great job, and thanks for the advice about the course!

first lap through the gravel for us was brutal, bottles, bikes, just a war zone. gravel was definitely worse than when i did it prior. i felt pretty solid through it though, i really need to try cross, i think my motocross background would translate really well. had to put an effort in after the gravel both laps to reintegrate into the field as i never went through top 10 or so, but I never really felt in danger of getting dropped. you were definitely right about the 3s easing up on that kicker. i can see how it would be brutal in the elite race.

i did run the rubinos, but i think i was a little too optomistic with how low of pressure i could run on these wide rims. they handled superbly, but pinch flatted. then again, some pot holes are big enough that they'll pinch flat anything, so you never know.

i feel bad for the head official yesterday. definitely a tough decision to make calling the races (esp. the p12 field) early, but it's nice to see them err on the side of caution - at the end of the day, it's just bike racing.

ShutUpLegs

Smoketown Airport Crit (PA State Championship)
Cat 4 - crashed and rolled across last

First A race of the year. Nice wide open course on airport strip with a false flat downhill into a big 180 to a false flat uphill to the finish.

I spent the entire race towards the front and tried to go with some breaks but nothing stuck.

Last lap a guy attacked and coming into the downhill I knew if I was one of the first through the 180 I could open a gap out of the turn, close the gap to the leader and manage to hang in for the 450 meters to the line. I sprinted on the downhill and was leading into the 180 closing in on the lone leader.

I was passed the apex in the turn and next thing you know my front tire just washes out from under me. Don't know what caused it, I had the perfect line and it seemed to be just a freak crash and bad luck. I hopped back on my bike and pedaled across the line.

Thankfully aside from my left side having some good road rash, nothing is broken and bike was fine. Can't wait to check out the GoPro video.

valygrl

cross posted from the old folks home:

Wheels of Thunder

MW45+ 2nd/11
SW4 - 1st/33

Long course, wide open roads, non-technical with 3 left turns, one of them a little narrow, and two short climbs, including the finishing stretch. Somewhat windy, with threatening rain that didn't happen.

First time I ever raced 2ce in a day.

The first race was the masters 45+ women, 45 minutes, one team mate, small field. My plan was to sit in and sprint, my teamie was going to lead me out. But the field was small and there were a couple of people I didn't want to be near, so I spend a little extra energy staying in front of them. There were a couple of solo fliers, and then one counter looked threatening, and I went with it, but the woman (S) who was the biggest threat wouldn't pull through, so I didn't either and we were caught.

Last lap I was in the position I wanted, but my leadout teamie went way way way too early (she didn't like the unhill finish part) and I didn't go with her, it would have been suicide. My plan was to wait wait wait for the sprint, but someone went early and I got suckered into going too (doh!)... I went really hard and got a good gap, but it was too early. I almost almost held off the pack but got passed right at the line by S, and her teamie was right behind me. If it had been 5 meters longer I would have been 3rd, 5 meters shorter I would have been first. Sprinting is so tricky!

Second race, though, I got a do-over.

20 minutes in between races - just enough time to do one spin around the course, switch jerseys and bottles, and get to the line.

30 minute SW4 mentoring race - the mentoring and non-technical course brought out all the inexperienced gals, and it was a fairly large field (33). As soon as it started I was like, whoa, this is a sketch fest, and even though my legs were tired and I wanted to sit in, it felt too dangerous to be in the middle, so I stayed near the front on the edge of the pack, even though I had to work harder than I wanted. This turned out to be a good decision, lap 2 had a big crash right at the S/F line, I heard something and looked over to see someone's legs pointed up in the air. (3 to the hospital, 6 dnf). I spent the next 2 laps, considering dropping out b/c I was shaken by that image. at 2 to go the pace increased a bit and the pack got smaller, which was nice. I was able to be in the position I wanted - top 5 most of the lap, 3rd wheel after the last corner (took a good line and slingshotted onto the lee-ward side of the group), and was more patient this time. Someone jumped just a little before where I was planning to go, and I sat on her wheel until she started fading a little, then jumped myself. First over the line by a bike length.

My first W in a real race!!!!!!!!!!!!