misterwaterfall

Finally got a W in our mid week training crit in the 1/2/3s. Me and another team mate were in the field of 25-30, with one team who always launches attack after attack being pretty well represented with 7 or 8 guys. I went with an early move that ended up only being two of us on the second lap which lasted for about 25 minutes. I dropped out killing it as the other break mate kept accelerating like he was trying to drop me with an hour left to race. I sat in the field for a while, and at about the 45 minutes mark I launched again taking 2 others with me. One from the well represented team, and another from a team that had 4 guys in the field. We ended up staying away until the line(race was an 1:10 long). One rider was gassed, and the other went early with like 500m to go. I jumped on his wheel and just sat there until I launched with 150m to go. Won a couple bucks and finally got the monkey off of my back after always coming close.

grolby

Nice!!

waterrockets 

nice work mwf, congrats

valygrl

Sweet!!!

sijray21

nice work! how soon did that other early break mate get caught? or did he sit up when you did?

furiousferret

Congratulations @misterwaterfall

misterwaterfall

Thanks guys. Funny what a decent result will do to your motivation levels. Legs look to be finally coming around

mattm

sweeeeet!!

gsteinb

Thursday world crit: third. Sprinted a hair late, but remembered why I like crits.

waterrockets 

I freaking love bike racing. Had a blast tonight even though I was matchless at the finish. (Driveway 35+)

Strong break went up the road with a teammate. Everyone in this break has won several races this year. It took me about a mile of road at full-on 5' power, low tuck, but I caught them and worked with them for another few miles. I was disappointed and surprised that we got caught, but it was good fitness validation to run down this break and have the headroom to work in it. Didn't have it for the finish though -- more threshold needed.

Tyrell

Driveway 3/4 - Bridged up to a break only to get caught about 1' later. Hopped onto what I thought would be a good lead-out train for the finish but I chose poorly. Stayed safe which is always a victory in itself.

furiousferret

Ontario Criterium
Category 5
15 / 35

One of my better races, but I lost it before I even lined up. Showed up late, so there was no warm up and I didn't have any water (its a 7 am race) which put me off just a tad at end. Stayed in the top 10 for the beginning of the race, and watched a few breaks go but nothing stuck. Bridged one that was dying and ended up at the front for a lap, with the field content to let me die out there. Finally I went slow enough to frustrate them and sat back in. With two to go, I was still in the top 10 and placed my hopes on the wheel of an 18 year old kid who jumped to the left of the group. By the time I noticed he was gassed, we were in the back. I navigated my way up the pack and got back towards the middle, fought it out and in the last half lap couldn't quite stay on a wheel which would have gotten me into the top 10.

Next time I just need to use a tad less energy. The first few laps are typically easy (220 watts) and you expend energy forgetting how hard that final lap (300 watts) is going to be; by the time I hit the beginning of the final lap my HR was at max and my legs were screaming. Still I didn't concede the race and just sat up so I guess that's a positive.

I'll have a video up in a few days. I'm sure the recovering wounded (which seems like 90% of this board) would sure appreciate a 20 minute time killer.

MDcatV

giro di coppi. 123. 70-something mile hilly road race.

i'm not sure what was the most awesome part of this race for me.

-riding my bike to the start, it's located 15 minutes by bike from my house
-the big crash during neutral roll out (I did everything except hit the pavement, but someone did run into my back - ouch)
-the field sprint up the finishing climb (still during neutral roll out!) only to come to a complete stop at the top - more falling down - woo hoo!
-that we rode the first half of the race like it was a crit, hard.
-or when my hamstrings cramped so badly that i fell over into a ditch, that was coincidentally beside a house that had 3 rotweiller/doberman/pit bull/mastif/some other kind of killer dogs that were thankfully trained not to eat leetle cyclists who are writhing around on the ground under their frothing growling mouths
-my ride back to the race staging area and having a beer with chappy
-riding home

I'll let you guys decide :-).

echappist

where's that local cat-1 blowhard who was claiming that cat-1's don't make stupid mistakes

good to see you out there as well, and i'm glad you banished the notion that you are a teetotaler

echappist

okay, i'll eat crow. actually quite liked it this year. Always did appreciate the fact they provide refreshments after the race. Nothing better than slices of watermelon after having both the competition and the heat beat up on you.

shovelhd

Results?

echappist

8th out of 49, best of the rest after a 7-man group stayed away. one place and/or two starter away from getting at least a single upgrade point


Looking at what happened last year, the way i approached this was to unleash on the last hill, which would then require a 10min+ effort before hitting the finishline on the top of a minute-long climb. Goal was to keep my powders dry until the last lap, and this may have cost me. Last year i was not as strong, and a mid-race effort did me in, leaving me with not much left by at the finish. The approach was then a bit more on the conservative side. I was marking a few people, and the goal was to move when they attacked.


Started out midpack, and managed to move to the front first time i went past the finish line. nothing really eventful, though there was a somewhat unswept corner that kept things a bit interesting. By the second time past the finish line, people were getting antsy and started pinging off the front. I perhaps was foolish to be so close to the front as it meant i either had to put in a dig or go with the moves. As the pack was still fresh, it often meant the latter, which probably cost a bit of energy. None of it really amounted to anything at this point, though.


Things started to get a bit interesting on the third lap, and a few people i was marking were getting active. A break rolled away (can't remember where) on the third lap, and a few dangerous people were in it. In retrospect, i should have bridged up. But one of the person in the break (who eventually got second) had done quite a bit of work in the race setting tempo and attacking, and another was a triathlete who had attacked a few times as well. The field seemed to have kept tabs on them, and i was content not to do much. They got a 20 second gap before we hit the main 2-min long climb, and as i was near the front, i saw that they had a 10-15 second advantage at the top. It was definitely a bridgeable gap, and as i rode in the slip stream on the climb, i wasn't too red-lined to bridge.


The field also seemed to be working well enough, and by the time we got the bell lap, they were merely 15 second ahead, if that. Then something happened and they begin to roll away. Can't quite pinpoint it, but a bit of deft blocking and who knows what else, they started getting away. I was sitting near the front at this time and actually tried to bridge up to a break or two, but they all seemed to lack the firepower and i was content to be dragged back. By the time we were at the bottom of the 2-min climb for the last time, the break had probably 30 seconds or more. I was near the front and took off on the climb. I was getting a decent gap, but started to hurt a bit at the top. Another rider went past me near the top, but he sensed that a two-person group is probably better, and slowed enough to let me get on.


We had a third straggler who had teammates upfront, but he promised not to contest the sprint. We did a two-person TT the whole way to the finish, and i contributed maybe slightly less than 50%, though not by much. We could actually see the break up ahead, but a 20 second gap is sorta insurmountable at this point. When we hit the bottom of the finishing power climb, i went onto the leeward side of the road, then we were 3-across on the road. The other guy who was working with me technically is a better sprinter, but we were all pretty gassed by this point. When i saw that he didn't accelerate, i jumped and held it to the end. 8th place, which is a significant improvement from last year as i was a nonfactor. Just wished i was thinking a bit more as i could have been up the road.

One thing i didn't take into account is the fact that there really wasn't a dominant team this year. Last year, the local ginormous team (NCVC) had 9 of the 56 starters, and i think they probably helped to pull things back. Definitely something to think about for the next road race of the year, which is the district championship race. Incidentally, the same team had 9 of the 48 starters in the district championship race, and they probably contributed to tempo setting in that race as well. Something to keep in when i plan for my next race. Also should have realized that when enough strong people go off the front, the chase gets accordingly weaker...

shovelhd

Nice job.

furiousferret

Ontario Criterium
Category 4/5 30+
back of pack / 50

I just really consider this one a victory in that I stayed up. Out of any group ride or race, this one by far had the most touches and close calls. I had to Cavendish touch a dude that randomly crossed into my line, Had a guy go down in front of me on the final lap and pretty much everyone caught behind it just cruised in. One of the larger SoCal teams brought about 10 dudes and I some were all over the place.

I did get a little shot of nerves after the crash, almost like Cougar did in Top ***, but looking at the video it wasn't that bad.

lsberrios1 

I'm waiting for one of the tdf guys to come here and post results "good day today. Stood behing talansky during the col du *** and got wiped out by sagan on the descent.."

lsberrios1 

Also, 2nd place Georgia games criterium cat 5.

furiousferret

echappist

grazie. the methods of the old cranky guy is really working wonders this year.

hack

Lodi Crit E3, DNP.

Was feeling great and bridging up to solo rider when I hit a bump and my seat just slammed/rotated down. I tried to do a quick fix while riding, but it was sliding quite a bit. I went over to the pit and got it fixed. Didn't realize this was NOT a free lap mechanical issue and was looking at chasing 1.5+ laps down. Wasn't happening. Still wanting to ride, the official let me sit on as the group came around as long as I didn't contest for primes or the sprint and stayed at the back.

On the plus side, Jr teammate just upgraded to Cat 3 and won today's race with a huge solo bridge effort to a group of 3 with about 6 laps to go.

save10

that sucks. i'm surprised they didnt count that as a mechanical. Also your signature is ridiculous