globecanvas

Rockleigh DNF. Very fast from the start, attacks on top of attacks. The first 20 minutes there are multiple groups of 2-3 otf, catches and counters, high speed mayhem. 6 guys finally link up into a coherent break. I try to bridge with another guy and get within 5 seconds but blow up. 2 guys counter & bridge making 8 otf, not including the series leader who is now isolated & the break's teammates shut the field down (meaning 26 mph instead of 29). I dutifully get up to the first few wheels with 2 to go but am not inspired to sprint for 9th so I filter back and roll off the course at the bell.

globecanvas

And, see, this is why I don't like thinking about upgrade points. At best racing is about focusing on each moment and as gsteinb might say trying to be the best racer you can be in each moment. But if your head is in upgrade point mode, with all the places up the road the experience is pointless.

Incidentally the race was won by the same ex-pro ex-doper who has won literally every race I've done with him this year. The guy is crushing it this season. Generating some ill will inevitably but damn the guy's on form.

Also I brought a cat 5 teammate down for his first urban crit. He's super strong and a great bike handler but he still got humbled in the 4/5. Rockleigh has had full fields this year and the level of racing is really high across all categories.

Racer Ex 

@ Track Nats.

Two down, two more shots at a jersey.

Ygduf

just post the picture and let people think they are gold!

saw this on facebook posted to a group you're not a member of, btw. Congrats!

Hermes

I like that visualization.

rubiksoval

Elite Nats Road Race. Got crushed. It was fine, fine, fine, and then it was off the back. Got dropped at...mile 90, same way as last year. Gapped off on the first climb, chased back on by the bottom of the feed zone climb, totally pegged, and watch them ride away. Difference is this year it was a split and the front split only had 29 guys in it, and the second split had about 20. Of course, 5 mins later I got dropped from the second group, too, and doodled in all by my lonesome. Which was fortunate (maybe?) because they pulled me and placed me 48th, and then made that group do another 2 laps so they could sprint for 30th. Sucks for them.

Totally destroyed. My whole body hates me. The whole front of my bike is brown from brake pad dust. I went halfway through a new set of pads, and I thought I was being decently smooth.

First hour only did about 318 np versus 330 last year, but still hit 3 hours at 297 vs 300 last year. And by 3.5 hours I was blitzed.

Holloway won again from the front group of 25. Smoked the sprint. He was looking back at 50m to go to start posting up. Nuts.

globecanvas

@rubiksoval ... damn.

mattm

now that's a race report!

TMonk

Awesome stuff @rubiksoval!

revchuck 

+1!

Ttoc6

SBR Cit 3/4. 7th out of 12.

75 minutes on a race track. This is about as far away from an actual crit as it can get. No corners that mattered, wind was the only factor. Field was 4 from team SBR, 4 from team Z5 endurance and 4 solo riders. Anytime any combination of riders went off the front that was not 1 SBR and 1 z5 it would immediatly get brought back. And I don't think there was permutation of any of those riders that the teams would ahve been happy with. Super frustrating racing in fields like this. There was also a couple of riders that kept trying to attack into the tail wind. Cool, let me just hang out for 1 minute and you'll come back because we're all doing 32 mph...

Any ways, I jumped with 1 mile to go at the end of a headwind section, into a crosswind and felt strong. Went about 800m before i looked back and I thought I only had one guy with me. Really faded at about 200m to go and everyone came around me. No way I was winning a tailwind sprint, so I guess I did the best I could. Just.... frustrating.

Jumped into the 1/2/3 field as well as it was only 5$ to do so. Thought I was actually going to be able to hang in. Made it to about 30 minutes, split opened about half way up the field and my race was over. After the efforts earlier and the increasing heat, I was through.

Went and got some free ice cream and dr. pepper from the race promoter and then drove home. Stopped and got a HUGGE smothered burrito at a little family joint outside of Ogden. One of the best I've had and it only cost me 7$ with tip.

aaronmcd

Ouch. 285 TSS in less than 3 hours of racing.

CCCX Fort Ord Circuit Race
11+ minute laps of rolling hills, wind, false flats and a 40 mph descent. One of those courses that just wears people out; what feels like an excruciating attack toward the end is the same pace as the moderate digs on lap 2. Awesome course, too bad the fields are so small.

2/3 race we did 7 laps. As usual we roll around fairly easy for a bit (but like I said, it still wears one out to hit 30-40 rollers in 80 minutes).

4 laps to go, I rolled up the road solo. But after a lap the group chased me down with about a dozen riders remaining. I'd recover and wait til later when I can afford to dig deeper. Last lap at the start finish hill I attack again and get a sizable 30 second gap. However, there were a couple teams with riders willing to spend last lap effort, and they caught me at the final turn 3 minutes from the sprint. Sat on the back and came in 8th. Teammates got 4th and 5th.

After a little over an hour of rest, lined up for the 1/2/3 race. Super fast cx dude was there and everyone was marking him even though everyone knew he was gonna win anyway. Most of us had already raced, and most of the 15 or so guys got dropped. I had put in a ton of work in the 2/3 race and lasted 3 laps in the 1/2/3 race. Dropped back and rode around with another dude 5 more laps where I lost out little 2 up sprint and got 8th again.
Fresh cat 1 teammate initiated the break from the 6 man lead group and got 2nd.

Yep

+1 on the bit about points. I've been going for my UK cat 2 this year and I'm sure it's diminished my enjoyment and my chances at better placings in individual races. Because I've been concerned with snatching some points in every race, I've raced more negatively and found myself counting the riders ahead of me at the finish. Much less willing to roll the dice because in the back of my mind I'm worried I'll get 0 points if it fails.

Points expire at the end of the season (not after 12 months), so I'm going to try and see this through, but whatever happens I'm just going to race each race next year.

topflightpro

Did my first Masters Track Nats this week.

It was an interesting learning experience. There were definitely events when I was completely over matched but then other events where I made poor tactical mistakes or was too tired from previous events. One thing I can honestly say is that I feel I am a lot closer to being truly competitive on the track than I am on the road.

Ex, I think I heard your name called at various points. I should have tried to say hello.

Hermes

Which events did you do? I like track racing a lot since it favors my strengths as an athlete. Nationals and worlds tend to favor specialization i.e. sprinting versus endurance.

rubiksoval

In a tailwind, the draft effect is a lot less, so anyone sitting on your wheel/or trying to bridge in a draft is working harder in relation to you than they'd otherwise be. Versus in a headwind, anyone sitting on your wheel is working quite a bit easier than you are.

Of course, in a crit where you're constantly changing directions, that gets sorted out a little, but in road races and such, if you know there's a blazing tailwind section and you can get a little gap or get in a break right before that, you have a much better chance of staying away with a chase going on.

So that may be why they were attacking in the tailwind.

As for the sprint, same thing. You want to jump early with a tailwind and really late with a headwind. 1 mile was obviously a bit much, but if you curtailed that just a bit to 1200m-1k, you may have been right there at the finish. Of course, they may have not let you go in the first place from 1k out...!

Sounds like good racing anyway. Nice job.

topflightpro

Match Sprints, Scratch and Kilo.

So, I was kind of mixing the two, but I figured I was there, I'd do the scratch since it was a few days between the sprints and the kilo.

Ttoc6

Yeah, let me correct what i said. He was attacking IN the tailwind. Also this course was not a prototypical crit course. Was a car race track, like 2.5 mile laps with no corners. Not a circuit race, not a crit, kind of a bastardization of the two.

Racer Ex 

Track nats: 4 races, 4 podiums...we missed the jersey by 1.1s in the team pursuit against a team with two WC's and a multiple nats champ and record holder. We weren't firing on all cylinders, if we all show up at 100% for world's, who knows?

Tired. Long week. Time for some rest.

Ygduf

"worlds" tho

Racer Ex 

I can ride with those guys. Things fall right, who knows?

mattm

Davis 4th of July crit, p1/2. Pack finish/missed the break.

This race has a special place in my heart, given that I got crashed out really bad here in 2014 (five broken ribs, collarbone, two vertebrae), it's a local big race, and there are always crashes here. Always.

But I can't just shy away from it, so I keep going back! Last year, I almost got caught up in a pileup:
This year, I almost made the break.. but failed. Lucky for me/unbeknownst to me, I had a team mate up there anyway. My plan was to avoid a sketchy field sprint and go for the break, waiting about 40 minutes (out of 70 total).

The break went at 35-40 mins in, I tried to bridge at about 45 minutes.. made it about 3/4 of the way there (maybe 15-20 second gap at that point?), and just couldn't do it. After ~3 laps otf solo I sat up and went back to the pack.

Turns out the break was where all the sketch was; six out of the 11-12 in the break got crashed out in the last few laps, in a few separate crashes I guess. #f-ingbikeracing

UmneyDurak

and one of the guys from the break had a huge tire blow out. Luckily after crossing the finish line.

TheKillerPenguin

Orange kit dude is a g, flicked his rear out getting around the crash and saved it

Ygduf

sorry - making a stupid reference to a stupid guy casting legitimacy concerns on the depths of competition at Master's Worlds - ostensibly because not every cyclist on earth is in the field.