mattm

Did two crits this past weekend: Barrio Logan p/1/2 in San Diego, then the Dana Point Grand Prix Pro/1.

I flew down to LAX Sat morning, figured I'd have plenty of time, even with traffic.. but no. Got to the venue with 50 minutes until the whistle, needing to reg, pin #, and put my bike back together. Luckily @wktmeow found me and saved the day, pinning my # while I rushed to take my bike out of the bike bag and put it back together.

Somehow made it to the start with about 60 seconds to spare. The first few laps were spent wondering if I'd tightened everything down ok - not a great feeling. It was a fun technical course, with potholes and a little hill. Pretty standard racing, no breaks and a strong field. Ended up 12th on the day, some Jelly Belly guy won.

Then Dana Point was Sunday - the big one. 90 mins of racing, $12k payout. 88 pre-reg'd, I think 108 starters. Nice smooth roads, perfect weather. Long story short there was a huge pileup three laps in, that ended my race. Gashed my finger pretty bad, have nine stitches in it now. One guy had his foot stuck in spokes or something, so I was pretty lucky. Missed my flight out due to the ER trip.

Bike seems ok, but I'll be out of racing for a week or two while I heal. Damn, it's hard to type my finger all wrapped up!!


Huge thanks to @wktmeow for hosting me and showing me around town!

ntnyln

Great job on the first race. Heal up quickly.

donnaeastman

Awesome story, A great star for the season! I hope you could post more.

topflightpro

Matt - Did you mess up the same hand or the other one?

And I hope you heal up soon.

mattm

furiousferret

Sorry to hear that @mattm. I thought for sure you'd have some easy money racing in this trash district. All the real SoCal athletes auditioned for Michelob Ultra commercials that weekend.

tetonrider

sorry to hear. i avoid flying into LAX at all costs. LA traffic one any day fo the week/any hour is a real problem.

amazing you made the 1st race and did so well. that's a lot of stress to build a bike and feel confident enough to ride the way you'd need to in that kind of pack.

sorry about the stack-up and injury.

topflightpro

Well, I guess it's good that it's the same hand. As someone who has broken many fingers and been without the use of a hand, it would suck to have both hands injured.

mattm

tetonrider

if only i knew you lived so close to SJC... i was nearly there last night and bailed on a trip for tomorrow.

aplcr0331

First race of the year, our local criteriums series. Down to only 4 this year from 16 last year. Road racing is dying here in the Inland Northwest. Anyway, last year was my first year but I only did 4 races. I felt good and strong in this one, got stuck out on the front for a half a lap into the wind. Did a pretty strong pull, my wife was there so I guess I was showing off so she'd see me. Her smile was worth it!

Anyway, there were about 30+ racers in this B pack (mix of Cat 4/5 and a few older Cat 3's). Some early attacks but nothing could stick, I stayed near the front like many people suggest. But with my afore mentioned turn on the front into the wind I did not have the legs for the finish. I finished about midpack, and I'm super pumped about that! Easily my best result in any of my races so far, so I'm excited to see what I can do in the upcoming races.

I have a RR coming up in 10 days that I'm really looking forward to and I hope to see big improvements over last years time. It's only a 34 mile road race for Cat 4/5 but there's about 12 miles of dirt roads and the finish is on a hill. I placed 21/26 last year. I'm really hoping to finish much higher. I doubt I'll ever get a high result in any of these races, but I do enjoy it and I really like seeing the improvement in myself.

Probably the best thing is that my wife really likes to watch me out there and she's so proud of me which I guess seems corny but I'm telling you I got a good one and to have her proud of me means the world. Back on her 40th birthday (2.5 years ago) we had our picture taken. She's smiling, beautiful and radiant and I'm sitting there sunken faced and fat. At that moment I weighed 295lbs. She didn't deserve to have a fat **** for a husband, and I sure didn't want to look so....disgusting. Anyway, we bought a couple of bikes that spring and started riding. I tried a couple of races last year, but I was still over weight (and sadly I still am). Anyway, sorry to ramble, I started training with TrainerRoad and over the winter dropped another 40lbs. I'm at 205 right now, still way over weight but I look and feel much better. So I guess my point is that, I'm very happy with my midpack "result" from the race, and even more happy to be healthy and feel like I have earned a sweet smile from my wife.

And, I appreciate all the knowledge you guys lay down on this forum it has helped me a great deal.

jacksonhandy

furiousferret

Good job aplcr0331! Keep at it with the weight loss. I'm down 40 myself and its a grind. I always tell myself, 'Trust the Process'. You can steal that if you want, I don't think anyone else uses it....

rubiksoval

Ha! That's the exact race I took my first ever last-lap flyer in! All I wanted to do was be in the top 20 or 30 or whatever so I could race in the finals...

And then the entire field went by with 1/4 lap to go as I completely blew up.

I've only tried a last lap flyer twice more after that in 200+ races. Suffice to say it is not an effective strategy for me!

wktmeow

Barrio Logan 3/4 -

Short figure 8 course, mostly cornering, one small hill. We had the numbers, and there were two other teams that had a decent turnout, so we thought a break had a good chance of sticking. Our plan was to just patrol the front and launch attacks to try to set up either @TMonk or one of our other guys for a good counter. I had a much easier time than last year on this course, and was able to hit the front often and tried to throw down an attack every couple of laps or so. Stayed out in the wind for a decent amount, and think I succeeded in making it hard, but unfortunately none of the counters really stuck. @TMonk threw down a couple of gut punches on the field but seems like no one wanted to come with, or work together. We had about 10 guys in the field of 60, but seems like a good number of them were stuck in the mid-pack washing machine, which is understandable on a technical course like this one. None of our guys were in good position for the sprint, and I'd spent all my matches, so I rolled in 19th and I think our best placed guy was 13th. Best laid plans of mice and men and all that, I suppose...

Dana Point Cat 2/3 -

We were racing for our cat 2 sprinter, and the plan from the cat 2 guys was to control the front and keep it hard and safe. I managed to help with that for the first 15 minutes or so, chasing down some breaks and taking some half lap to full lap pulls, but then after a while I went back to the pack to recover and let myself drift too far back, and had to fight to move up again. Finally made it back up to the front 10 or so, but suddenly it felt like my bike slowed down as if either my brake was rubbing or I had a flat. Tried to bounce on the tire a bit and it seemed a little low, then took a corner really carefully and I was sure it felt a little looser than usual, so I decided to stop before I crash myself and anyone else out. Turns out there was no flat. I'm like a bike hypochondriac. And since you don't get a free lap for being dumb, that was my race. I tried to chase for a lap but with an average speed of 28ish for the race, it wasn't happening. A break of two got away with around 8 to go, and a few of our guys were at the front trying to reel it in, but it was too little too late. I think the others were stuck in the pack again. These types of courses are really hard to get to the front on unless you're really determined and willing to burn a couple of matches or take some risks through corners. Our sprinter managed 3rd overall, winning the field sprint, and 2nd in the 2's, so not a bad result, but he was frustrated at not bringing that break back. Personally, I think we should have chilled for the first half, and then done work at the end, but then it may have played out entirely differently too.

Anyway, those were my last two races as a cat 3, and my upgrade was approved Monday. So, time to get my teeth kicked in as a 2 . Think my first P12 will be the Victorville Road Race, hoooo boy.

Nice hanging out with @mattm this weekend, super bummed about the crash AND it happening so early on in the race!

TMonk

I missed Dana Pt, haven't raced it since I got crashed out two years ago. Maybe next year!

Barrio Logan was just hard - there was maybe only one or two laps where it wasn't lined out going up the hill crossing the S/F line. @wktmeow and I (but mostly him) attacked here and there but they were short lived. That 3/4 race was harder than most of the cat 3 only races I've done!

furiousferret

Grats on the upgrade. A lot of the heavy hitters skip Victorville because its so far away and hot. Should be a good introductory!

ntnyln

Awesome! Congrats on the upgrade!

MDcatV

congratulations!

spectastic

college nationals road race
DNF. dropped on the first of four laps. altitude is really screwing with me. colorado kids wiping the floor with everyone. it's ridiculous

Radish_legs

I noticed when I went to CO my heart rate would not go up to normal levels.

tetonrider

where is home for you?

when did you arrive?

what did you do in the days prior to leaving and in the days after arrival but before the race?

ntnyln

Raced 3 times this weekend. First was the Bunny Hop Crit, a .86 mi technical loop on an autonomous car testing course. Last year was the first year using this course and I went off early and got caught with one to go. This year, no one got away. I did the 3/4 first and in a repeat of almost every other race report, I blew it on the technical turns and lost too many positions going into the final and ended up 13/46 after a half hearted sprint. Next up was the 35/45+ open field. Raced together but scored separately. This was just a lot of horsepower and when it came to the finish, the 1's and 2's dominated. I was the first 3 over the line in, wait for it...13th. My coach happened to be there for these races and we talked afterwards. He gave the obvious, but correct feedback that fitness isn't the issue but if I'm going to keep blowing the finish then I need to find another way to win and not worry about placing last if it doesn't work.

So fast forward to today and Ride Sally Ride Crit. I was going to race the 35+ 3/4 and then 3's later and use this weekend as a big training block for A race and stage race in June. The course is a .86 mi 3 corner circuit with a very small rise heading to a turn about 200m from the finish. Rather than timed, the race was 32 laps (20 mi). We started out easy enough and a few laps in 3 guys got about 10 sec on the group. On lap 5 two guys decide to bridge up and no one reacted, so I went too. Gotta find a different way to win. They had closed the gap and started easing up as I got to them and I went straight to the front and put in a big dig to try and keep it going. The gap opened and we were off. By about lap 10, we were 4 and by lap 12 or 13, we were 3. We just kept at it. Soon we had 35 sec (laps were about 1:25) and someone was trying to bridge. We just kept going but then the gap times were getting smaller and we started thinking we were going to get caught. We realized that they were now counting down to us lapping the field. By about lap 20 we could see them and we caught them by lap 26. Two of us went straight to the front to keep out of trouble. It was kind of cool that some of the guys realized who we were and let up get up there. The breakmate that was in front of me went to the front and started pulling with 2 to go. On turn 2 of lap 31, someone hits me from behind and almost pushes me through the corner, but I stayed upright and made it through the corner but not without my heart pounding out of my chest. As we head towards the final turn, the pace really picks up for the field sprint and my breakmates get left behind. I roll across the line with a modest sprint, my first W in ages and my first lapped field. Needless to say, I was cooked and just went home.

rubiksoval

Raced crits on Friday and today. Got 7th in both. Got popped out of the winning break in the closing laps in both.

Racing is good, fitness is sucky. CTL has plummeted from 97 to 84 in the last three weeks as haven't been able to train much. Hope this weekend gets things rolling and I can get some proper fitness in the next couple of weeks before a few big weekends of racing in late May and June.

MDcatV

fantastic! well done! I was in a small group that lapped the field during a 35/45+ at RSR a few years ago, it got really confusing about who was with what etc., good on you for keeping the gas on and grabbing the W! go off the front and lap the field = strategy is simple :-)