rkwaki

watching a tennis match.....

Sommando

FSU Daulton RR Cat 4/5-48 miles, 3 16 mile loops

I really didn't know what to expect from this race going in. Coming from San Diego, I had no idea who to mark, what the course was like, but I really wanted results to offset the time it took just to get here (and back). Luckily, I came up with some UCSD riders the night before, and "previewed" the course by helping set up the feed zone for the longer collegiate races. The course is the same as the Madera County Stage Race, which didn't mean much to me, but I was able to talk to a few people that mentioned a "rough" section on one of the back sections of the course, and that one should bring extra tubes/CO2. Boy were they right! The collegiate races were marred by flats and lost bottles (bounced out in the rough section) and races ended in clumps of riders usually no larger than three or four racers. In addition, the winds were fairly strong (10-20mph) and provided a stiff headwind, tailwind, or crosswind in every section.

Seeing all this, it looked like I was going to have a tough race ahead of me, and I was a bit worried about racing with 5s again, even with a relatively small mixed field (30 or so). This fear was reaffirmed in the three mile neutral roll out where some of the riders were incapable of holding lines, especially when they looked anywhere but straight ahead. I decided immediately that I would be off the front in the rough section, as off the back wasn't an option for this race.

Once the race started, the pace barely picked up, and I was hoping to identify a strong/safe/smooth rider as a good wheel to follow. A mile and a half into the race, I found one. Off the front. I waited a little bit, expecting the field to immediately chase him down like a pack of dogs chases a cat, yet they sat on their haunches. I really wanted to join him, but heard the phrase "Breaks don't stick in the 4s" in my head from the many racers I've heard in from prior. So, I bridged up immediately.

I reach the other rider, and he says he's just trying to warm up his legs since the pack was going so slow. I was a little disappointed to hear this, but figured it was my best shot to get through the rough section unscathed the first time around. We worked together pretty well, and by the rough section (12 miles in) we couldn't see the pack behind us. Now, I was expecting potholes, and some gravel, obstacles easily avoided if you're looking forward. Instead, it felt like I was using a jackhammer or driving on a washboard dirt road. My bike was screeching and groaning (I was too, likely) and I noticed all the bottles that littered the course. We were both fortunate enough to escape with intact bikes and both of our bottles, and as we finished the first lap, we realized just how much work we had ahead of us.

We decided to try and keep the break, as the pack still hadn't made any progress, and quickly settled in to short, quick pulls. Rinse and repeat, we somehow made it through the second lap, and the rough section and head wind portion were taking their toll. I recovered a bit in the rollers and slightly downhill leg, but was really feeling it as soon as the wind hit me again. Unfortunately (looking back) I made a pact with the other rider saying if he could get me through the next two sections (headwind and rough road from hell) I wouldn't challenge him for 1st. I didn't know that we had a gap greater than 6 minutes at this point, and he still looked pretty strong. I hadn't been in so much pain, my entire body, for a long time. But I really wanted to finish this race on a high note.

Long story short, we both survived the pavé for a third time. We crested the first roller on the back straight (finish), and could see the finish line half a mile away on a smaller hill. Although my legs came back, or I was just excited to be finished, I kept to my word and rolled in a bit behind the other racer. I was happy to have beaten the odds and survived a 46 mile break with only one other. Oh, and I got $5. I thought I was getting a medal, so it was disappointing with how small the prize was, but I learned a lot and had a great time this weekend. Hopefully, I can keep getting results like this and the 2 upgrade points from 1st to 2nd don't come back to bite me!

And maybe I'll get better at writing these reports, too.

jaredcasper

Thanks for reading and for the advice/stories. I guess to learn how to make sense of the chaos in sprints there is no substitute for going out on the weekends to get the experience in, and then have a bit of luck.

Monkeyclaw

Thanks, nice job to you too! Good job catching and holding the group on the RR. It was tough to catch anybody with the headwinds picking up.

Lots of people from out of state for the race, and they were good! Then again if you're not that strong, it seems like a long way to travel. Our San Tan Racing tent was near the Faster! tent, I should have stopped over. Things are always so hectic after a race and stuff escape my brain (ever since the crash.... now I have an excuse!).

Good luck at TBC, that should be my last Cat 5 race. I'm going to miss the small Cat 5 fields, but hopefully the skill will be slightly better in the 4s. The TT there is really short, and ends uphill. I've heard that a TT bike isn't as much of an advantage. Looking forward to the race.

Cleave

Hi learnmedia, good job staying upright and having the perseverance to chase back on. Also glad to hear that you stayed to watch. You can learn a lot by watching a race with a critical eye. I would say that Thurlow "Turbo" Rogers, Steve Gregorios, Steve Strickler, Roger Worthington, Racer Ex, etc put their pants on one leg at a time, but sometimes I'm not sure.

When I started racing Masters 50+ after a lifetime of Cat 3 racing, I managed win a prime occasionally and sometimes planted myself in potentially good breaks. After a lot of those guys "aged-up" a few years ago, I try but am pretty much limited to pack fodder. Now that I can race 55+, I am going to try to make the most of it before those guys get older.

Hey Racer Ex, I'd say that once you get your legs back under you, you'll be doing more than annoying them. Thanks for the pro comment because I think other believe I am just whining when I talk about who I have to race against in SoCal Masters fields.

Though I get a great workout hanging on , I still think that former Pros and those who were Cat 1 for more than two years, should have to race no higher than 10 years below their racing age until they turn 65.

echappist

good stuff. if you can drive a break that long, you shouldn't need to be in want of 2 upgrade points

carpediemracing 

I just had a discussion about this at work, the perceived slowing of time in stressful situations. Early on, in my racing life, sprints were this wild jumbled confusing mess. Later, as I started getting more comfortable on the bike, as I started getting more experience and strength, they started "slowing down". I'd debate internally what gear to jump in, where to hold the bars (for many years I tried to train a conditioned response so I'd get a shot of adrenaline when I held the drops just so), whose wheel to follow, if I was clear left/right, etc.

For a few years I realized that in really intense races I'd finish and my eyes would be dry - I was blinking much less frequently. I probably looked like a wide-eyed kid on the bike. I think this was part of the "taking in the whole situation".

Finally, and this was after 5-6 years, I was getting quite aware of where guys were, what they were doing, etc. It made racing a lot more interesting because it wasn't just going balls out, it was very judicious use of what strength I had.

Now it's exciting but in a much more controlled fashion, like "this is a lot of fun" exciting, not "holy crap what's happening" exciting.

Cleave

Hi,

I was at VOS too. I was in the 55+ race with AzTR. It was my 2nd 55+ race and my 1,423rd race of my life (JK, I don't keep track that carefully).

My TT was OK (35:35), faster than last year when I was in the 40+ field but slower than my target of 35 flat. Stayed mid to low Z3 throughout. I started last so I didn't have to worry about anyone catching me.

The road race did not go well. I was shocked at the slow pace of the race leading to the hill on the first lap. I positioned myself well on the climb and when the race leader attacked I went with him. I was third wheel when my physiological wheels started to fall off. AzTR eventually came by and offered me his wheel, which I took, but could hold for more than 30 seconds (or some other eternity).

Over the top of the climb, AzTR's group was still catch-able, but 2 of the 3 guys with me weren't that interested in or couldn't chase hard. I tried a couple of solo efforts but I could tell it wasn't happening. Eventually our group was 2nd on the road and we had about 10 people total. As we approached the final climb, 2 from our group got a gap and I started fighting cramps in our group of 4. I beat 1 of them to the line.

Kind of disappointed with my crit performance. I never felt stressed but didn't have enough confidence in my fitness or the cornering capabilities of some of those around me to be real aggressive. I felt like I wanted a legitimate finish so I wasn't willing to risk much and my results showed it. Meaning I was never at the front dictating the pace. Crossed the line on AzTR's wheel. I wasn't getting much of a draft because I am pretty much completely below his body and his legs are relatively thin.

After we were done I felt like I could have raced again. Not good.

Ended up 15th overall. It was great to meet AzTR in person and I guess he is about a foot taller than I.

learnmedia

Hi Cleave. Thanks. Yes, I watched the remainder of the 50+ race with my coach who helped me make sense of all that was occurring--the teamwork, those covering breaks, those slowing the pace because they had teammates in the break which were basically the Breakaway from Cancer guys and Pinnaclife (my coach's team). So much more organization than a cat-5 race. Also, the serious pace that they took that downhill sweeping righthander to carry speed into the uphill section leading to the corner before the finish at the Millikan crit. Man oh man.

The 45+ race was also very fast and yet, seemed quite safe. Everyone in control. I was really impressed with the efforts I witnessed in both races. Hard racing. Love it.

You can mix it up with 'em still. I can only hope to at this point. Look forward to see you out doing your thing this year.

mollusk

The weekend before last I did some 50+ Masters races. One of the races was a TT as part of an omnium. I would have placed WAY better if I signed up for the 30+ Masters race instead. If all of the Masters times were put together (30+, 40+, 50+, and 60+) the podium would have been all 50+ racers.

I was not standing on any of those boxes.

AzTallRider

Not sure it would work any better the other way around, Cleave! But hey, I'm working on building up those legs...

Andy Somnifac 

Go Fast Turn Left (outside Richmond, VA) Report:

Event was on a 450m oval track. I'm a new cat5, so I rode in the 4/5 race.

3rd practice race of the season. Goals this time (in addition to a pack finish):

- Line up towards the front at the start of the race so I don't have to start in the back.
- Stay towards the front of the pack.
- Don't get bullied out of position.

Mission accomplished on all 3 items. I was able to line up on the line, and was sitting 3rd wheel as we started making our way around the track. I took some turns at the front, which was definitely a bit new in a race situation. I was mostly able to keep myself in the front half of the pack, so I wasn't strung out in the wind half the time like I was last race.

Only issue I had was it was hard to get back into the pack coming off the front. I finished a pull with 2 laps to go, and as I was coming back I couldn't get in to grab a wheel, so I got stuck on the outside in the wind as the speed was turned up a little bit. It didn't get crazy or anything, but it would have been nice to get a wheel to recover a little bit. Maybe I would have been able to move up a couple of spots (still would have been mid pack) the last lap if I had a brief respite from the wind.

My only complaint from the day was how brief the race was. It was supposed to be a 45 minute race, but it was shortened down to a little under 40 minutes (I had 37:44 moving time). The officials stated they'd post laps about 10 minutes into the race, but it was maybe 5 minutes in before they posted 50 laps on the board. Had they waited another 5 minutes and then posted the 50, it probably would have been closer to the 45 minutes advertised.

Strava link: https://app.strava.com/rides/4280407

Next week is a little closer to home. I'll be happy to not have to drive 2+ hours to a race.

tombailey

We started out pretty slow (22-23mph for the first part of the race vs. 24-25mph for the rest). In case you didn't know: the officials take the time of the first few laps and calc the number of laps we'll do in 45 mins (or whatever time period). They can't assume we'll speed up.

Good job on achieving your goals.

Andy Somnifac 

Oh, definitely. No argument there. I was just figuring a slightly larger sample size would have been nice.

Thanks. Every race is a learning experience.

Creatre

First race of the season for me today in the Greenville Spring Training Series. The only intensity I have done in about 3 months is a FTP test two weeks ago, so I had no idea really how my top end was going to deal with racing again. I felt like my legs were above average, and I should be able to have some fun in these early season road races. I figured in the least, I would cause as much pain as possible for the group.

Cat 4 RR - ~35 miles

Going in, I saw the specs of the course was pretty flat with a couple rollers, and was really fast according to strava times. It was a 7 mile loop that we would do 5 times in the Cat4's. There was a LOT of people in this race, just a bit of a shock after riding solo base rides for so many months I guess.

The whistle blew, and off we went. I was about mid pack the first lap and was just taking a feel for the group, the speed, and how my legs were going to do. I felt like we were going pretty slow, and there was not much action going on at the front. I'm used to seeing a few guys go for a flier on the first lap to warm up their legs, which in the end gets the group going at a pretty good pace. I sit in the rest of this lap and wait for the action.

The action was just not coming. So, I decided to attack. And attack I would. I attacked and got a breakaway started about once a lap until the last lap. They were just not sticking though. We would get a few guys in a group and start rotating, but were disorganized and eventually get caught by the group after a few miles of dangling in front. I actually got partially dropped from one of the breakaways because a guy was pulling through so hard and put me in the red. On the 4th lap though, we got a great breakaway started. I actually didn't start this one, but was one of the first people to get off the front following an attack. We had 3 or 4 guys originally, and then got a couple bridgers every couple of minutes and at one point had about 8 people. This breakaway had some of the riders I had marked for being strong, and there was no reason for it to not succeed. But, we could just not get a great paceline going, and eventually we got ourselves caught once again.

On the bell lap (7 miles to go), my legs were shot. By this point in the race I had attacked 3 or 4 times, along with following 1 or 2 other attacks. I was dangling at the back end of the pack trying to get some blood flow back in my legs. They were still feeling good, but I could tell I had definitely burnt too many matches and was beginning to pay for it. My legs were cramping a bit from overstretching myself in breakaways. With about 80 people in the group though, there was a lot of sketchy guys, and a lot of on throttle/off throttle at the back end of the main group. Even with the pain, I knew I had to move up and I just kept telling myself to move up. Slowly but surely, I moved up 5, 10, 15 guys up while continuing to recover.

With about 2 miles to go, I had finally moved up into the top 15 or so and began to just wait. I was stuck in the gutter on the right side though, and I knew I wanted to be on the left so I could take advantage of the double yellow rule becoming void at the 200m line. At the 1k sign, a team picked up the pace at the front, and I knew one of their riders was super strong and I stuck myself on his wheel. At this same time, I was able to get on the left/center of the field right where I wanted to be. I was sitting about 5th wheel overall at this point. When the 200m line hit, a couple guys launched from the strong guy, and I launched along the yellow lines on the left. I passed a few guys and knew the guy currently in 1st had it locked in, he just got a great jump. At the end of the sprint I wasn't able to keep the power up because of the attacks earlier and got the podium nipped away from me at the line by a guy that came from a while back. I finished 4th/~77.

All in all, a great start to the season. Some great racing finally in my legs, and a good result in a field sprint for a non sprinter. Now I get to do it all again tomorrow, same course and everything!

Strava:
https://app.strava.com/rides/4270930

TMonk

My race today was pretty wack.

2-man break stayed away for the 2nd half. Turns out it was largely driven by one rider, some rand who barley spoke english with a swamis kit. Turns out he is a jr on the Dutch National Team and has UCI license. One hour later he went on to ride in a succesfull breakaway in the P/1/2/3... Asswipe.

With 5 to go it was apparent we were racing for third, which made me less than stoked. Right as the field wound up for the field sprint, a rider moved up on my right and dived in front me to get in the draft, nearly chopping my wheel and causing me to grab the brakes. Lights out.

I did win a prime for a tire and a tube atleast.

Hope tomorrow is better.

merlinextraligh

Saturday, Ferndale Cirucit Race. First lap and a half we averaged over 28 mph. I didn't have it; ended doing a 45 minute individual time trial, rolling up a few stragglers to avoid DFL.

Sunday, Lake Mary Crit. 13th Masters 50 plus. Got caught nappig coming out of the last turn, and missed any chance for a reasonably high placing. Still better than Saturday.

agoodale

The Simple Green rider that came in second rides with us during the week. When I congratulated him on 2nd he just smirked and said he jumped on a good wheel. Now I know what he meant.

fify.

I raced like a wimp. No result. Where is the Race Failure thread?

Fat Boy

Me today.

Creatre

Race recap for day two of Greenville Spring Training Series:

Near freezing windchill cold, epic crosswinds, and pouring rain.

Most miserable race ever. Just glad I finished and enjoyed a nice long hot shower when I got home.

Creakyknees

Pix from Mineral Wells SR are starting to come in... glad I was sick and unable to attend... 40F and pouring rain... several categories had their crit and tt cancelled.

king-tony

Congrats on showing up. I looked at the weather and decided to not even give it a shot. 4 hours round trip drive to ride in that stuff did not sound like fun.

crazyarm07

I did the Mineral Wells SR Road Race today (CAT 5 - my crit and TT were canceled yesterday, not cool). This was my first road race after doing a handful of crits so far. It was awesome. I was able to stay at or near the front, and at the beginning of the second lap (the race was 2x 24.6 mile loops) I attacked for some reason I'm still not sure of and hung out off the front for about 5 miles before I got reeled in. I finally got dropped for good on the last big hill and rode in with the stragglers. Did a nice sprint for about 35th place at the end. Again, I had a really great time (I liked this much better than riding crits) and can't wait to do it again.

TMonk

Join the club.

The finishes aren't fast enough; it's elbows flared, chop or be chopped kind of racing the last two laps of an easy crit course.

I did some good work on the front and helped reel in the break so atleast I kind of feel like I raced.

Handelfan

Dinuba Criterium - Dinuba, CA - Cat 4/5. They told us it would be 26 laps of an L-shaped, .7-mile course. We actually did 30 (like last year.) The last of three VeloPromo races over this weekend.

First of all, are a lot of Cat 5's on teams? It looked like I was the only unattached rider in the whole pack. Maybe I was just racing with all 4's. I'll pretend that's true.......

Anyhow, got a good spot at the line, and rode the first few laps near the front. However, a 3-man break went almost immediately from the whistle. My wife got some good shots of me on the front of the pack for a bit, though. For the next bunch of laps, I moved around the pack a lot, trying to stay in the draft the best I could. I ended up tailgunning for a while. One lesson I learned today - if you ever say to yourself "I'll drop back a bit and let the other guys pull" and let a few guys by intentionally - they will ALL go by, and soon you will be at the back. I did that twice today. Oh well, I'm still new.

Approaching the end of one of the laps, the pack stalled a bit, so I decided make a move. I sprinted on the inside, and took a sharp line on the next right turn. I really just wanted to move up from the back, but the next thing I know, I had blown past the entire field (save for the breakaway, which was still half a lap ahead of us.) Now, I know BF Cat 5 wisdom would say "attack!", but there were still like 11 laps, and I wasn't feeling like I had that left in me. I would have been stuck in no man's land. Instead, I did the next stupidest thing and towed the pack around for the next couple of laps.

Ended up peeling off the front eventually, and finished with the pack. We caught one guy from the break, but the other two stayed away, and went 1st and 2nd.