my58vw

Lessons learned...

Today was the Ontario California midseason criterium, the 4 corner .7 mile fairly flat crit... fast and fun... well it would have been if I would have gotten to race the full race... things went wrong from the time I woke up this morning... ahhh! Well at least there are some valuable lessons to learn for all of us here coming out of it... read on.

I worked last night until 1 am... first wrong move, but that is fine because my race was at 2:40. Well I had to go into work in the morning... at 8 am... that means I got 4 hours of sleep... mistake. Then it was about 90 degrees in the morning and I had to direct cars for some parade... and my boss would not let me have more than one bottle of water ... so I dehydrated, bad news. I ended up back in the office under some fans drinking a ton of water to come back to normal (remember we wear dark colored uniforms, bullet resistant vests, etc). We had an incident at work and I did not leave until nearly 1:30 pm... bad again. I got to the race 30 minutes before time to go... bad again, and I only had 2 bottles of water.

I decided since I was late to throw the bike quickly on the trainer and go, mistake again being I was out in the blazing sun. After 20 minutes I still was feeling crappy but I put on the carbones and with about 10 minutes before race tried to pump them up... well that did not go well...

I did not have the proper adaptor and the pump would not work. Once I finally got my small pump on the stem the rear tube poped as everyone was lining up. Not having backup wheels and not relizing that the wheels on wheels people were there I quickly tried to fix the tube. I ended up fixing the tube but I missed 2 laps of the race... I was only able to get 90 and 80 pounds in the tires also... another bad move. Once on the course I was able to catch to pack (basically just a workout at this point) butthe bike would not corner because the tires were so low on air. I hung about 8 yards from the back of the pack and just held 26 - 27 MPH in the wind, by myself, I was flying... but

I nearly crashed twice in the same corner... the tires would not hold low on air. After the second 25 MPH corner I gave it up and went it... by that time I did not have a chance to even place so I just stopped... no need of crashing and causing many more problems... the whoole day just went crappy...

But it was not for nothing...

I learned...
1. I can hang with a cat 4/5 group (mostly 4's) now and even with 40 PSI low tires can hang in the wind at race pace. That means that I can be competative in a cat 5 and even run a cat 4 once I work on my sprinting power. It does not mean though that I will never get dropped but it means that I am nearly in race shape now.

2. Always arrive at least 1 hour and possibly 2 hours ahead of your race. That gives you plently of time to check equipment, get fluids and food ready, inflate tires, deal with computer magnets, etc. It also means that you can have a good solid warmup before going out.

3. Know how all your equipment works before race day... expecially with things like new tires, equipment, etc. My fault was not knowing I needed a schredaer adaptor for my wheels before going out.

4. When it is hot forget the trainer unless you can get shade to use it in... only about 10 people were using trainers today and I now know why (92 degrees at race time).

5. Make any final adjustments at least 15 minutes prior to going to the line and ride around a bit to make sure race wheels, etc are ready to go.

At least today did not go without something learned... I still get credit for the race because I was out there for about 6 laps... that makes it 8 races now towards the 10 needed for the upgrade. Maybe it was ok that I did not race... I do not think my body was ready for a 45 minute fight...

Oh well... there is always next week... that is racing!

Colorado

first thing, i have never heard about tires not being able to race well at 90 psi, maybe that's an issue, but i typically race at 100 psi and have never had issues at all.
second, yeah, sounds like you definitely have planning issues, or at least did on this particular day.
third, take off that damn bike computer before the race! speeds/times mean nothing whatsoever in a race, only places, at least in mass start ones

my58vw

We have talked about the computer thing before... I know but I use the computer for time only... but since I had no contention today I just looked at the speed a few times. I use time because it gives me an idea of where we are in the race... and how much energy I should expend at that time, i.e. chasing, moving to the front, etc. Once the cards come out everything is off the table...

I could probably not use the computer though...

Remember I am 225 pounds... I do not know how much you are but at anything less than about 105 PSI I have trouble...

Next time my boss schedules me on a Sunday of a race I am going to call in sick! (Well if I am working a new job in 4 weeks than it will not be an issue)

zing28

Whats with your boss and the 1 bottle of water? Its 90 degrees and you wear all that gear. Whats he an idiot?

my58vw

Exactly... that is why I am leaving ASAP...

my58vw

Wow, 4 hours later emotions run rampent...

I am upset at myself for not getting their quicker and dealing with the wheel situation earlier. I am more mad at work because they scheduled me to work on trhe day of a race after I was told I was getting the day off.

Oh well... that is racing... now I can go out and pound for the next week and do it all again next Sunday... which can not come any quicker.

socalrider

I can tell by many of your posts that you are a very analytical person.. The best thing as a racer is to not make any excuses for a poor performance.. This is just an indicator that you need to work harder.. You have come a long way in a short period of time but if you plan to move up in categories you will need to take responsibility for the good as well as the poor performances..

I remember a saying that was at the Olympic Training Center:

If you plan on racing, train hard: If you want to win, train harder..

my58vw

Thank You,

I totally agree with you, today was just a mess. I know I need to work harder, the last few weeks have not been all that great. I am coming back strong this week, starting well today now and will see how things go this weekend.

We all have good and bad days I have come to relize, things will not always go our way but that is life. I will not make excuses for stuff, that is not the way that it works, I just do not make the same mistake twice. I know if I want to do well in this sport it is going to take additional dedication, and I am willing to put in the effort to get there...

(Of course that may entail killing my boss first... just kidding )

TRAVISD

My Questions Is, Why Are Your Worring About Changing To Carbon Tires Any Way. Just Race What You Ride. You Are Only In Cat 5. Dont Worry About Saving Grams, Sounds Like @ 225 Lbs You Need To Worry About Pounds. And Maybe Just Maybe, Log Off The Computer For A While And Go Out And Ride, Just Ride. Thats What It Is All About Riding. You Think Way To Much Here.

my58vw

Carbon tires?

I use carbon wheels because they are for my tt bike but since they are such a multipurpose wheel it would be stupid not to take advantage of them in a crit, road race. They are actually 20 grams heavier than my race x lite aeros so the weight is not the issue. If I wanted light I could have gone with some zipp 404's for about the same price. With someone my weight strength and flex resistance are much more important than weight.

Plus the wheels are redicously fast (i.e +1.5 to 2.0 MPH at times) which is a huge advantage in crits. Plus many people are using these types of wheelsets so it is a disadvantage to not using them.

I wish I could go ride right now... I am sitting in class for most of the day

tprtodanelli

Forgive me for asking. So are you implying that you are an officer, reservist, explorer, etc...? Just wondering.

redal

I really need to quit posting today. Good thing I don't have to ride. The reason I am posting is because I just checked results from the Mid-Season criterium. The winner of the 4/5 race was the guy who played Zack on Saved by the Bell and was later on NYPD Blue. I found that to be amusing.

my58vw

Security officer...

Enough chatting... only 3 hours to ride before work... better go

TCR

What? Are you serious? What race?

redal

He was the winner of the Category 4/5 race yesterday at the Mid-Season criterium. Apparently he rides for Veloworx.

goldfish

wow, well that guy just went up a notch in my book