sarals 

Heh heh!! Thanks, guys!

AJ, if I was to write a resume....

Spiduhman

Sara world track saga, best bike read in a looong time, thanks for sharing.

sarals 

You are very welcome!! Thank YOU!

Heathpack 

Well, I haven't been posting much lately because there's been lots of "stuff" going on- life stress spilling onto racing but also training issues. Mountain bike distraction in the fall, which is hard on me physiologically. Then I hurt my back (pulled a muscle I think) in Sedona over Thanksgiving and it was probably 3 weeks until I felt good again. Started putting up good numbers in training. And then I got sick on Christmas eve, a chest cold that kept me from doing much work for another couple of weeks. Missed a race. Just got back to real training in the past 10 days. Then a planned trip to Disneyland. Oy, seems like there's been a series of things tripping me up consistently for the past 5 months. I expected to roar in to my third year of racing building on the first two years and instead it felt like I stalled. And then it seemed like a bunch of first world complaining and excuse making when I contemplated writing about it. I've made peace with the idea that mountain biking must mostly wait until summer, I like the TT stuff too much to just do it half-assed.

This season there have been 4 of us racing the SoCal Series and a 5th racing at Piru. Everyone is a TT specialist and its a pretty impressive group. If I don't bring my "A" game now, I'll wind up 3rd or 4th or 5th, instead of second behind Nemesis. When they sent start lists out last night, I saw the four of us were all registered, plus 2 other women. One a 30yr old cat 4 racer, with pretty good results in 2017- 2 wins, 2nd in the Santa Barbara Road Race, 4th GC in VOS and 4th in the VOS TT. She was my 90 sec woman. Yikes. My 30 second woman was a 34 year old racer, pretty mid-level results and not very good TT times. Beatable, I thought- at least I probably wouldn't come in last, lol.

We were out the door by 3:50am and it was cold with temps in the low 40s when we arrived. No issues with my warm up, got to the start line uneventfully. Temps had risen to the upper 40s, with light winds 4-6 mph. Held start, I thought I was going to lose my chain in the first few pedal strokes but then it settled into place.

I had my splits worked out to PR the course by 5-6 seconds, but I knew from how I'd been doing in recent training that my plan was a bit optimistic, heck you might as well assume you'll have a really good day. I didn't. I had about the kind of day I could have expected based on recent training efforts- not terrible but not smashing it either. Ie "on track," its the start of a very long season.

Knowing going in that I might or might not be able to live up to my game plan, I wanted to at least execute well and keep my focus. That I did, I rode it pretty well, just a little sub-maximal as evidenced by power and HR. Nice negative splits, no significant lapses, VI of 1 for each lap and for the overall TT effort. About 3/4 of the way through my last lap, I passed my 30sec woman. Sweet. She's solid and I'm spotting her 20 years.

I didn't stick around for the awards or even really talk to many people, I just have a bunch of stuff to get done and by the time we were all packed up and ready to go, they still hadn't started the post-race hooplah and still had a 2.5 hour drive to get home. But results have been posted. New Kid on the Block won today and Nemesis was 3rd. I was around 1:30 out of 1st, 50 sec out of 2nd, and 37 sec behind Nemesis and about 1:15 slower than the time I was trying for today. Record numbers of people raced, 17 total women in the 20K TT and a few more doing the 40K ITT and 20k TTT. I was the 7th fastest woman in the 20k ITT field. Not great, but not bad all things considered. Honestly I'll take it. Looking forward to getting deep into the TT mindset over the next 6 months, its so much better when your head is really wrapped around it.

Cheers. No @Cleave at today's race, but I know he did a crit, so maybe we'll get a race report from him today. @Hermes, when are you and the Mrs. planning on a TT next? As long as you don't give me pink eye, it would be great to see you. March Fiesta perhaps?

Hermes

@Heathpack Well done report and race.

Well, we are typhoid Mary and Andy. I am recovering from chest / head cold plus pink eye. The pink eye is gone but Mrs has the same crud... no pink eye yet. She is in the coughing, sore throat stuffy phase and I am day 20 into mine and I still have congestion albeit much better and abating.

I am in the dog house i.e. guest bedroom due to coughing and being contagious. It seems like awful punishment and I have not even dated a porn star.

No TT for us this AM. We slept in and did a 1.5 hour coastal ride with much expulsion of crud and hacking.

I have to check our racing calendar. Our plan is to do all the Fiesta and LAVRA TTs that are not in conflict with other stuff. I will advise on the March TT.

Next week after next is our ski week at Park City and Deer Valley.

Heathpack 

I have just returned from the land of crud expulsion and hacking. Couldn’t do TT work on account of the snot.

Right now we’re planning on a day or two in Mission Bay prior to the next Fiesta race, maybe we can get together if so...

sarals 

Hey, @Heathpack, glad to see you back! Good race, you settled into to your current level of, well, life, and rode a smart race. You're a strong one, and that showed, in so many ways.
@Hermes, missed you at LAVRA yesterday, but I now know why. Hope you and MEA are feeling better!
@Cleave, a Roger's Session one day!

sarals 

Date: January 28, 2017
Venue: VELO Sports Center Velodrome, Carson, CA
Event: Los Angeles Velodrome Racing Association (LAVRA) Time Trial Series 2018, Race #1
Races: Flying 200M Sprint; 500M Time Trial; Team Sprint; 2K Pursuit
Athlete: Sara

Uh oh, Sara went racing, for the first time in 2018, so that means we're going to start getting her long winded racing reports again!

This was my first race on the track, or anywhere, since UCI Masters Track Worlds in October. I've been respecting my fitness, trying to maintain a good level. I've also been healthy and uninjured, which has been a great help. I have gained weight, not so good, but that will be whittled away.

My legs weren't at their best. I spent two full days walking around at Disney and the NAMM Convention in Anaheim earlier in the week, plus two sessions at VSC on Friday and Saturday. I was hardly fresh, and to top that off, I was doing four hard events in one day, events that would have taken four days at Worlds or Track Nats. No matter, let's see where we are!

Race Day

The track was scheduled to open for warmup at 8:30, with racing to start at 9:00. I arrived at 7:00 to get set up. I decided on a split trainer/track warmup, with some time on the track to check out the bike and to check out my fitness. On the trainer I did a 20 minute warmup, using my track bike. I did three spinups to 160 RPM along with a lot of tempo. My legs felt just okay. I then readied the bike for the track, putting on my five spoke front wheel, FFWD disk, sprint bars. My coach and I decided to stick with what I used for gearing at Worlds rather than gear up. That will come. I took to the track, did five laps, and then one effort. Ready.

Flying 200M Sprint

I was tenth to roll off in this event. This is a three lap event on a 250 meter track, the first two laps being the windup, and the third lap being the effort. I did my windup as I done it at Worlds, staying relatively shallow on the track, not going to the balustrade until the start of the last lap, and then only going up there in turns three and four (to save energy). My entry was decent, and I hit the 200 meter line at speed. My legs felt a little sluggish at the top of the entry, but by the time I got into the sprinters lane I was spun up to cadence and in the effort hard. I stayed in it hard all the way to the line, and rode a respectable 14.807 (I rode a 14.772 at Worlds). Not bad.

500 Meter Time Trial

I reconfigured the bike for pursuits, putting the aerobars on it along with a different saddle and seatpost (different height, different position), staying with the 86 inch gearing. Since Worlds I had lowered the adjustable stem to the full down position in an effort to gain just a little more aerodynamic efficiency. I was curious to see if I could still make "normal" power in the more aero position. I had only twenty minutes between the 200 and getting into the start gate for the 500, which is hardly enough recovery. The 500 is an all out sprint, and you need everything you have to have a chance at a good result. The race staff was using this event as a training race and they were allowing riders plenty of time to get into the gate, get settled on the bike, and giving a little coaching to the many new riders who were present. They were starting the countdown clock at ten seconds to go. When my turn came, I walked up track behind the gate, watched the staff put my pike into the gate (making sure the pedals were in the right position), and then I climbed aboard, clipped in, and started my focus. The clock started at ten, then the tones at five, four, three, two, one - GO. I got a good start, timing the gate right on the money. However, my first three pedal strokes were "soft", I didn't have the punch I wanted or expected. That was the 200 still in my legs! A good time in the 500 is based largely on the first 100 meters, and my start was lagging. I got up to top speed and held a good line, low on the track, through the first lap. Coming out of turn two on the second lap I felt my energy start to go. Into turn three I was suffering. Out of four, I was well into the pain cave and digging for all I was worth. I hit the line and posted a time of 44.898, almost a second slower than my 44.07 at Worlds. I'll take it, though.

Team Sprint

I put the bike back into sprint configuration, sprint bars and different saddle/seatpost for the team sprint. Barb and I decided I'd be rider two, and she'd lead out. We lined up on the pursuit line, side by side. She rode from the gate, I rode from a held.start. At the tone, we hit it, drag racing to turn one. I dropped into the lane behind Barb, right on her wheel, and we got up to speed quickly. Our exchange in the box was just about perfect, and I rode a fast, solid second lap. We posted a really good time. We were both pleased, and we had so much fun!

2 Kilometer Pursuit

A break in the action for lunch, and then the afternoon session started with the team pursuits. The 2K pursuit followed that, so I had a little time to get some food into me and let it settle, plus get a good rollout on the trusty foam roller and some recovery. I was fourteenth in line for the 2K. When my turn came, I once again watched the bike get placed into the gate, made sure it was right, climbed aboard, clipped in and waited. The starter asked if I wanted a vocal count or the clock. "Oh, the clock!" I said. The countdown went from ten seconds, and I got another good start and and rolled off for eight laps of pain! I'm not an enduro, but the 2K is considered a "threshold event" between a sprint and true endurance event. My coach is convinced that I have the ability to ride a good 2K, and over the course of last season, they did get better and better as I learned to start properly and pace. I rode a 3:13 at Worlds, at this LAVRA I rode a 3:23. Not bad for having everything in my legs that I did that day. I rode even splits, got a good start, emptied the tank on the last lap, and left most of what I had out on the track.

LAVRA was better than I expected in a lot of ways. My 200 was good, the team sprint was really good, and the 2K was promising. The 500 is "my event", I have potential for good things in that race, and I was a bit disappointed to see the amount of time I did loose in it, but I know the reasons why. I have specific goals for the season, and I'm off to a good start.

I did wear my new Castelli Body Paint 3.3 speedsuit, and it looked great, fit beautifully, and I flew the P/V colors proudly!

Thanks for reading, and have a GREAT 2018 Season, everyone!

Cleave

Hi, very very busy these days trying to finish and get into our Green Dream Home AND train for Valley of the Sun Stage Race. Did a Piru TT and a CBR crit in January. Otherwise working on the house and training. Leaving for VOS on Thursday. Since all I have to do while I'm away (with a teammate) is drive, sleep, race, and eat, I'll try to get in a few race reports.

If anyone else on the forum will be there, please let me know.

sarals 

Good luck, Cleave!!

Heathpack 

Had a pretty good race today. My goal was to focus on form, especially trying to keep the head out of the air. Not sure how successful that was, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Still adapting to the new position.

But of course, I worked out my splits to PR the course. I was planning on 14 min on the outbound/downhill/slight tailwind leg and 18:30 on the return/uphill/slight headwind leg. I figured 105% going out and 110% coming back would do it. The forecast last night at bed time was for steady light winds.

No dice though, the forecast changed over night. Now they were calling for building winds, still a tailwind out and headwind back. And then the reality was winds even higher than forecast, I’d say 10mph.

So I wound up riding 105% out and 111% back. Pretty happy with it.

Chain came off twice on bumps, got it back on just fine. Slow turn on account of it being unclear if a car coming up to the turn was going to stop. But otherwise it went well.

Hermes

Excellent result and execution. Did you have to get off your bike to put on the chain? #beastmode

sarals 

Outstanding, @Heathpak! Great start to the season. Here's to the new position showing dividends (maybe it did with that wind). Congratulations!

F16F22

First race of the season for me today. Sat out the previous three weekends of racing due to cold and snow, crazy midwest spring! Race was a 16 lap crit run as a points race, with sprints every 4 laps. The course is essentially a half-mile long rolling straight-away, with 180 deg turns at each end. Finish line is midway between the turns. This is a training series new to the area this year, and this was the 3d of 4 races.

My goal was to stay upright and stay with the field as long as possible, expecting I'd get spit out the back at some point due to the dreaded accordion effect twice each lap. I was able to stay with the field, working my way to the front whenever possible to smooth out the turns. Luckily for me, the field slowed after each sprint and nobody really wanted to break away. I sat up after the last turn, with about 300m to go. I wasn't in contention and at that point was happy with my effort.

Two race possibilities next weekend, both crits. I'll either race this one again Saturday or make a 2-hour drive and race on Sunday. I'll let the weather decide for me!

sarals 

Great efforts, @F16F22! Those dogbone courses are SO tough. You executed well, it seems! I'm happy you're pleased with your result, that's most of the battle right there. Hopefully you can get back out there next weekend. Fingers crossed for the weather!

Racer Ex 

Whoot whoot.

First race since my injury in September, local TNW. Did not get dropped, though I tried to drop myself with a couple of big pulls. Forgot that I was missing 200w and 5 secs on my sprint, but still finished 6/30.

revchuck 

Great to hear. Ex!

Heathpack 

sarals 

Holy crap, Ex! That's great!! Of course, my sources in Reno told me you'd raced, and the word was "yeah, he did really good!" So glad to hear!!

sarals 

So, no one reads this any more, but in case it's like a time capsule, and it gets unearthed in say, 100 years, I'll write this.

Last week at the 2018 USAC Masters Track National Championship at Trexlertown, I met @IBOHUNT, @gsteinb, and I raced really hard. Meeting those two has been a six year long dream, and what a treat it was! Don't ever let IBOHUNT tell you he's a "dumb redneck" - ever!!

@Racer Ex took really good care of me. I had brain fade in one of my match sprint matches, and it caused me to loose the match and the jersey, and I know disappointed him. We had beaten the World Champion in the first match, no one had ever done that, and I was close to the top step and jersey. I just had to stay engaged and focused. That's all I had to do. At Worlds, I will, Ex - promise.

My results? 500 M TT, third/bronze medal with a PB time of 43.7, to the world record holder's 43.6, and the winner's 43.1. We were fast! In the flying 200, I rode an awful line coming off of the banking and matched what I did at Worlds, a 14.72. I was shooting for the 13 second range and I had WR on my mind. In the subsequent match sprints, I won one of three, for a silver medal. In the Individual Pursuit (Ex didn't want me to ride it, but I insisted) I cruised to a silver with a (slow) time of 3:24. In the Team Sprint, BJ and I rode a perfect race and laid down a 58.2, and we had thought we had won the Championship until the team who did ultimately win was allowed a reride after we assumed they'd been DSQ'ed for having improper equipment on their bikes. They were ten and twenty years younger and only beat us by 1.5 seconds. The silver was a bitter pill, but it was a hard lesson, too. And I am so proud of how we rode.

It was a great week! Three silvers, one bronze. I'm knocking on the door of the top step.

Bandera

Well done @sarals on an excellent season, not just the great race results but the Old School grit to not let a bad wreck put you out of getting done what needed to get done in preparation for Natl's.

-Bandera

revchuck 

Way to go, Sara! I followed this on FB and was thrilled for you!

Heathpack 

sarals 

@Bandera, @revchuck, @Heathpack - thanks, folks! It's nice to know our old Forum is still read. Maybe some new (old) blood will come along and revive it? Anyway, I appreciate it! And, you all know that it was the socks that @Heathpack gave me which gave me the power to do so well, right?

Bandera

Magic socks!
Timing, speed, situational awareness and acceleration cannot match the race winning Ju-Ju of a pair of properly imbued enchanted racing socks.

-Bandera