nycphotography

i just went and looked, monson wasnt the calorie burn i thought, only 1800.

army classic was also 1800 but in only 41 miles. thats the pace that will bonk me at 64 miles.

so i should be ok so long as i drink.

topflightpro

Skratch doesn't really offer that many calories. IIRC, it's like 80 calories per scoop, which is comparable to two gels.

grolby

The thing about Quabbin is it's not like a lot of people are getting dropped halfway through. What's hard is doing all that climbing, and you think you're doing great cause you feel ok and you're still there. And then you get to the steep climb out of town with maybe 4-5 miles to go, the field absolutely nukes it and dudes just fall apart. And that's not even the final climb.

FWIW I do think the lower cat fields have gotten a bit deeper since I started racing. Pretty much everyone has a power meter, now. Not the case in 2008. The fast guys were always fast, though. So it's an excuse that only gets you so far.

grolby

Oh, on feeding for Quabbin and RRs of that length: I've done the liquid nutrition thing in a race, once, and it worked fine. But it was longer than Quabbin and I could ditch a bottle every ~20 mile lap and exchange it for water. If I'm not able to swap out a calorie-heavy bottle for water on a reasonable schedule, forget about it. Gels or other snacks for food, water for hydration. I'm not a big believer in "hydration mixes" like Skratch. I'll also never, ever buy Skratch unless it changes ownership, but that's a different matter.

mikey and Harlan are right. The caloric demands for a race like Quabbin aren't that intense, if you're not eating a heck of a lot more on a solo 90-mile ride than a road race in a big peloton, you're doing something pretty weird. That said, if you don't have a lot of years and miles under your belt, erring on the side of taking more food and eating early and often is a safe bet. I used to have a real problem with bonking on relatively short rides and races, and that was my solution. Years of endurance training cause your physiology to adapt. I haven't bonked in a road race in a very long time, and these days for Quabbin I would probably pack a banana and a couple gels. I might bring a third, but that would basically be an insurance policy just in case. But while that works for me, it won't necessarily work for someone who hasn't had the years of base miles I have. I can go ride 40 miles on nothing but water now, there's no way in hell I could've done that when I was a 4. I'm a different guy than I was then, so it would be pretty stupid to give advice to someone else on what they "should" be able to do based on what I'm able to do today.

mike868y

yeah i only did like 1500 kj at quabbin today. averaged somewhere around 150w for the entire course before the turn into the park, then set a 3' PR at the finish. pretty sure we came into the park with 75% of the field.

grolby

Sounds like it needs to be a couple of laps to winnow the field down a bit.

tetonrider

It's actually 80 for TWO scoops. The bags used to say ONE serving was for 8oz of water (1 scoop). Many people messed up and inadvertently filled bottles with half the calories they wanted.

Nothing wrong with a lower calorie drink mix -- but that is a part of a nutrition strategy not something to be solely relied upon.

dz_nuzz

Jesus christ that race was F-ing hard. Water was definitely the biggest factor there.

mike868y

there are a lot of times in life i want to be a cat 2 (for example, fitchburg). this is definitely NOT one of them.

Harlan

I thought a gel was ~100 kcal but either way, I guess I couldn't pound what little there was from the Skratch as quickly. Also I'm undertrained for that kind of distance. Anyway.



A quick Strava stalk yields the 3s did the same speed as the 4s if that matters.

The 4s did 1/2 mph faster than last year, and I most certainly should have sat in more. It was looking like the field was going to split up the whole race, and it did. I killed myself to stay with the front 15-20, but then they'd slow down after going bananas up a hill and everyone would just catch up. Not my best racing moments.

Also the W4/5 race was neutralized for 10 minutes halfway through the race "due to traffic", they were stopped in a parking lot. Lots of racers that were dropped were allowed to join up with the field. Name me one other field that would allow that to happen and not lose it.

globecanvas

I'm entering the "want to race all the time" part of the end-of-spring cycle.

What's on your calendars for the next couple of months everyone?

Orchard Beach
Bear Mountain -- haha I would literally not last 10 minutes
Hartford Kermis
Battenkill? Does anyone do that any more? Not me
Rockleigh!
Cyclonauts Crit?
Somerville weekend -- thinking I might do this
White Plains
Binghamton Circuit Race?
Harlem Crit



BTW if anyone here MTB races, the Williams Lake Classic is almost literally in my back yard and is an amazing race. Hit me up if you're thinking about it.

Also BTW our forum-retired friend gsteinb won the series jersey at Branch Brook and won yesterday at Prospect Park. He even did Quabbin but apparently forgot how road races work and did not win.

mike868y

lol battenkill.

off the top of my head:
myles standish
bear mountain
ccns kermis
ksr
ken harrod
purgatory
i feel like i'm missing something?
new england crit week (greenfield/exeter/new crit in thompson??/leominster/fitchburg)

Harlan

Tokeneke, Hilltowns, and did anyone do Cream Will Rise last year?

notwist

turkey hill RR
bear mountain (or poolesville RR - anyone done it?)
wilmington grand prix
KSR (anyone have an extra bed? friend might flake)

haven't planned anything after KSR but would like to do Millersburg and GMSR later in the year

Harlan

I'm angling for a house this year, we'll see if I get it.

globecanvas

Hey Bear is finally not on mother's day! Good work CRCA!

dz_nuzz

Yup. Anything you want to know?

mike868y

poolesville is great, any specific questions?. if you like climbing, do bear, if not do poolesville.

topflightpro

Good catch. That explains why I was thinking 35 cal in my head before looking it up. I always use less than instructed because I find the flavor/sugar content to be too intense for my stomach.

tetonrider

that's interesting because skratch has one of the lightest flavor profiles out there.

running it at half strength (or double strength) affects the absorption of the solution. for something like skratch where they've paid particular attention to this balance, it's important, but it can be important for any drink mix.

it's worth researching, especially for those with sensitive stomachs. if you take in any other calories while you are also drinking these mixes, that will have an impact.

hubcyclist

Looks like there's a new crit in the area, the Fall River Crit on Aug 26, https://www.facebook.com/events/367751400278096/ I may just have to do it, given the proximity to my folks down there

edit: looks like the page isn't working, it's on usa cycling as an event

mike868y

^is that the one in haverhill? should be fun. there's also allegedly a new one in thompson as part of crit week but I've seen precisely 0 info on it.

hubcyclist

fall river is way down on the south coast of MA, pretty close to providence, you'd just take rt 24 south

mike868y

oh, i should probably know that. i just saw "new crit." there's another one in haverhill then as well.

grolby

Everything old is new again, I guess?
No idea if this is the same race, but there was a Fall River crit for a few years, not so long ago.

Edit: some quick detective work shows this is indeed a resurrection of the old Blount Seafood Fall River Crit. Location is the Blount factory (as before), same organizing club. From what I can tell, you should be prepared for a hot day. Looks exposed. 4 corner course. Might have a bit of elevation.