save10

I almost ran you or the other guy over.

I crashed as well - 4 miles from the finish. I was 15th wheel approx. everyone was fighting for the front because we were aware the finishing kms were on narrow roads. I got caught in a bit of an overlap and then got bumped on my right shoulder. Wheels touched and I hit the deck around 30mph. Fortunately no one else went down. Lots of road rash, no broken bones and fortunately by body took most of impact so my bike appears more or less ok. I declined a ride from the follow vehicle and hobbled my through the finish. I didn't ride 80+miles to DNF.

I'm not really mad about crashing or getting bumped, that's just part of racing. I'm just really disappointed because I was riding top 10 and I had better 'sensations' at 82 miles than I did at 22 miles. I really thought I was gonna win that damn race or at least getting a really nice placing.

I did a coffee shop ride today and I seem to be able to peddle better than I can walk. Also if and when you get road rash - do NOT use regular gauze...use non-stick dressing. The gauze seems to have permanently adhered to my skin.

chado445510

I just got back from Tokeneke. I raced in Juniors 15-18. we started out with about 20 or so guys and i forced a selection on the first series of climbs and it narrowed it down to about ten. This was the group we finished with. we rolled pretty well for a lap then pretty much dicked around because we knew we weren't going to be caught. I pushed the pace some more on the climbs just to keep my legs warm. it was pretty darn cold and wet so i did not want to cramp or anything. on the final climb i figured if i did something like a ftp thing, i could suppress any attack. this worked until the last k where a mccormack son attacked. i didn't follow because he is 17 and racing in the 17-18 category. when another 18 year old junior followed i figured i would too and just stay away from the other 15-16 year olds. i had a gap on the 15-16s so i had the title for that category in the bag but i was going to see if i could come in second. john harris, the 18 year old had a much better sprint so as soon as he started i realized i wouldn't get it. i rolled in for 3rd. and i made $10, which just about covers 1/3 of the registration cost. whoo!

caloso

Ooh, that's really frustrating. At least I only had to ride one lap for my DNF. And thanks for not running me over. I think I actually rode over the other guy that went down. Penvelo rider, I think.

ZeCanon

Quick driveby, because I actually did a bike race. Still stalk here, a bit

Met esammuli (super nice dude) and raced with his Herbalife 24 squad at the Leadville 100 over the weekend. Got invited to join them about 2 weeks ago. Been doing pretty consistent 60-90 min lunch rides all summer, maybe 3 times a week, and have raced to a few top 10's in the pro class at local XC races. But I spent 3 weeks off the bike for the Tour and got back from a few days Switzerland on Wednesday. In other words, not exactly ideal prep for a 100 mile mtb race...

Used the Herbalife connection and my old pro mtb license to get an up-front start slot, in the first corral. #145 out of 2000+ I think. Good thing, because it stacks up pretty bad on the first climb but I never had to slow down once (often wished we could, though). First 2 hrs were very quick, not too far off XC race pace. I was on pace for a 6:45 at the second feed - oops! Got in a good group with Herbalife teammate Menso and stuck with them until Columbine, which goes up to 12,600ft. At this point I was at my longest ride of the last few months so I just stuck it at tempo and left it there. Eric caught me about 2/3 of the way up, but then my altitude acclimatization started to pay off (I live at 6k, he lives at 0) and he fell back again.

Entered survival mode all the way home. Rode all of Powerline, barely. Came in completely wasted at 7:42:48, right about what I thought I could do but a solid 30-45 minutes off what I could do with some training, I think. Most importantly, got meself a huge ass belt buckle!

save10

needs to be moved to the 'pictures of suffering thread'. also congrats.

Fat Boy

Burly ride Z.

Forza

WSBA Lake Washington Velo Series #2 (Gig Harbor)

Short version - Mediocre finish...missed the sprint after spending the race up front due to a crash in front of me..

Verbose version:

Hadn't ridden a lick since Boston Harbor due to a work conference (a week). After a number of warmups and delays (nearly 2 hours)..we got started. Jumped on the start and pushed the quickest pace of the race after the downhill with the goal to be the first to the hairpin....This would be a 2 mile effort...for practical purposes...nailed it. next move...drop back a little and recoup out of the headwind logged by the pre-race recon.

Lap 2 - Felt a little tight but then it was all good. Started loosening up.

Lap 3 - nothing special, getting tired of the peloton yo-yo and random riders on the course.

Lap 4 - focused on holding position and working my way back up to the front for the descent on lap 5 and ensuing hairpin turn...not going to get caught by the apex bombers.

Lap 5 - Jumped after the downhill again on the final lap, Bikesale guy came around then slowed the pace down and I got jammed behind him and more people went by than I would have liked. Worked my way back into good position for the final 1k.

Mid lap - Feeling good. Tried lining us up for good finish just after the "chicane"/switch pitch.

My plan was to avoid the yo-yo on the final 1k climb by sitting back and shooting around them using the slight descent to carry my momentum and push me for an attack. The last four laps I found myself running over people on the climb and wanted no part of that at the end. I was timing it for an all out effort and leaving nothing on the table

Everything was going as planned, rolling hard to the 200m and then, a nasty crash right in front of me that caused me to slow down and I got jammed between two others. Lost my momentum and consequently the sprint field...mediocre finish/Cool Vid.

Racer Ex 

Crashing at Dunnigan Not Really Hills is like drowning in a hot tub because a fat guy had a heart attack and fell on you.

MarkSch

Ah yes...you were riding at the front of the pack....first crash I was aware of was on the first long downhill to the dam....heard the smash and crash behind me....second was on one of the short downhill section on the back side, with mayber 3-4 guys hitting the deck. Third was on an uphill on lap 2...guy just rode of the lip at the side of the road.

Too, there was one dude who rode about the first 5 miles completely over the yellow. Moto-ref did drop back, so expect he got DQed....

Weight is a tough thing....I'm at about 170 right now....back in the 80s when I was doing a lot of triathlons I weighed about 150...of course I was training about 30 hours a week then, vs. 5-7 hours now. Age might have something to do with that too, but not yet sure I'm willing to admit that.

hurley.girl

Tokeneke. First time I've done a race like this. Not my terrain. I signed up because I'm only a few points away from my upgrade but they are discontinuing several women's fields here in NJ so I have to travel if I want a chance to get points. Why did I pick this one? I'm not a climber but have made improvements this year.

Lessons learned:

Glasses are important in the rain. I went through a season where it rained almost every race, and I started going without the glasses because they would interfere with my vision. Well, that's fine until you are descending fast. Then the raindrops hurt and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. This was first lap, and I just hung off the back so I wouldn't be a danger to anyone. The rain stopped after that.

I'm a really good descender. Once the rain cleared and we were descending on the back end, I managed to catch and pass a group of dropped men that had passed me on the previous hills. I was with 3 other women at this point and they were on my wheel following me through the blobs of men. Other times, I managed to drop a few women on the descents.

I'm still not a climber, but I'm better than ever. I was okay on the shorter steep climbs and the longer, gradual climbs, but lost it on the longer, steep climb that's second after the damn.

I'm injured and need to stop denying it. I've been having trouble with my left hamstring for about a month, and on the longer rides it creeps into my hip. I've been taking advil before races, and have been trying to hit it with a foam roller on and off, but I really need to stop pretending that everything's ok. The last 7 miles of Tokeneke were pure pain. That's where I got dropped from the small chase group I had been with for many miles.

DennisD

As they say, ignorance is bliss! I was teasing a buddy of mine for backing out of the race. He feared that things wouldn't be safe yesterday, and I basically told him he made a big mistake by skipping what I had thought was a really safe race. Once again, BikeForums proves how little I know when it comes to the full race experience...

FormerBMX'er

I saw two of them; I chose to start and the back of field for the downhill...the first one was odd. Some guy just seemed to go down all by himself on the downhill portion of Lap 1. No one else in the pack seemed to be involved at all. He could have touched the yellow line and tapped his breaks, but who knows. My teammate took 4th, so when we spoke to a volunteer, they mentioned that he might of had some sort of heart condition. He looked pretty limp sliding down the hill into the oncoming traffic lane. I think he hit/slid on his face as well...hope he's alright.

The 2nd crash was after the stair-step climb of Lap 1, the right side of the road. I think a rider got too far into the gutter and lost it. He fell to his left and took at least another rider with him. I went over the yellow to avoid any further chain-reaction crashing. Overall the I think everyone was well behaved, the weather didn't help though. I suspect the odds of incidents are further reduced with the ability to make each and every selection. We probably dropped half the field after Lap 1.

FormerBMX'er

I'm sure age has something to do with it, but I wouldn't place too much stock in that. I just turned 40 this year and I'm stronger than I've ever been. I firmly believe I can be stronger next year. Last year I raced at 146~148 lbs all year long. This year I've been in the 149~152 range due to adding muscle, upper body and lower.

I think you know what you need to do...train a bit more to get your weight down. Perhaps focus on a slightly shorter season if time doesn't allow for more training hours.

Don't put too much into the age thing.

GirlAnachronism

Saturday: CRCA Points Race. Sprints on five of the six, six-mile laps. I usually work for the team in these races but we have the team and individual competitions secured, so they let me play third sprinter this week. It was all right, not great. I was able to hold my own and stay at the front, but finished 5th, 4th, 8th, 7th, and 10th, and made a really dumb decision on the last lap that cost me top-5. Oh well. Teammates went 1-2, no thanks to me.

Sunday: Tokeneke. It was raining, windy, and cold, so it was my kind of day. Broke away on the first climb at mile 9 with three others and stayed away. Didn't play my cards quite right on the final climb and finished second.

shovelhd

Nice work GA.

FormerBMX'er

We're both in the same boat really. I have 10 points, however the Regional Director says I need to do 5 more races regardless of points. At this point I'm just putting in strong finishes and not really chasing points. I rode the final climb at my own pace and simply let the leaders go. I also started getting hits of cramps towards the end, long gradual climbs are not my bag.

I'm better at the steep-short punchy stuff

ridethecliche

Respect.

Respect respect respect!

Racer Ex 

I love racing in nasty conditions, especially in a break. You didn't have to eat tire spray in the pack, nice job!

Second is a good result. Enjoy the steak knives and think about tactics for next time.

rbart4506

Niagara Classic, Pelham Ontario...

Day was warm and humid with a light breeze....
Course is fairly flat with one major climb on Effingham St. (300ft @ 4.5% w/13% kicker at end) and downhill after 1st corner. Finish is at the top of the climb.

Did a good job getting there and getting a half decent warmup in. Legs still felt cooked at the start of the warmup, but did loosen up as I went. Still wasn't sure how I would go today. I think Catskills and the Sydenham repeats were still lurking in there some where

Went to the start line and made sure I was near the front, probably within the first 10-15. As we started I was in the pack nicely, sitting near the front. I was taking a bit of wind, but the winds were light so I wasn't really concerned at this early stage. The legs actually felt ok, but the corners started causing a problem. Like usual the guys weren't pedaling through them and slowing leading into them....Then attacking coming out...With every corner I'd slide back about 3-4 guys. I just didn't seem to have the top end to hang on. Once we hit the bottom of the hill I was probably mid-pack now. Once we started climbing I made a few places up, but as the hill kicked up a couple guys slid left and jammed me up screwing with my rhythm. I continued working up the climb, but gaps were forming everywhere as we crossed the start finish line.

As we rounded the first corner the route went downhill and things got strung out. I worked like hell to try to get back onto the main group, but just couldn't close the gap. I was stuck in no man's land, no wheels to latch onto to work with. I chased for a good half lap and got back in with the pack just in time to start getting ready for the climb again. I knew at this point I was probably done since I would not be able to survive another chase like that again. We hit the climb, I slid back a bit, gaps formed again and I chased. This time the legs were done. I could see a few guys ahead and I worked on catching them. We ended up getting a group of 6 together and worked on getting back to the pack. We never succeeded.

Hit the climb again and the group blew up. I was either 1st or 2nd to the top and after the downhill section it was me and the other guy. Before the next corner a third joined us and we set up a rotating paceline for the rest of the race. The 3rd guy who joined was pretty strong on the flats, but could not climb. He pushed the pace on the flats and made me and the other guy suffer, but we returned the favour on the climb. I made sure that when I was climbing I was not overdoing it since I wanted to keep these guys with me to share the work.

On the last lap I made the decision to hit the climb as hard as I could and see what the legs could do. I wanted to come 1st in our little group. I was happy that I was able to put almost 20secs into the other ride that could climb at a half decent pace.

Feeling like I can hang with these guys, but when they go I just can't seem to dig deep enough to stick...I had hoped to do more today...

Ended up finishing 33rd out of a group of 47...

UGH...

JohnKScott

Sweet! Nice job!

miwoodar

I enjoyed reading the reports.
Grats Z - that's a studly time.
GA - well done.

Race 16: Raisin Hope Crit, SM3's, DNF

This was my first time racing at the Colorado State Patrol training facility on top of South Table Mesa in Golden. (They have 2x/week racing up there through most of the summer but I've not been able to make any.) The pavement was perfect and the corners were wide. On paper it didn't seem like a track conducive to breaks but the course rides much different than I expected. There are no landmarks to queue the turns. Riding blind while waiting for the riders ahead to begin their turns is a tough way to race. As such, there was a surprising amount of braking and it got dangerous a handful of times. The pace was slooooow and my HR dipped below 150 somewhere around mid race.

This was the cleanest course of the year and somehow I flatted. It happened a few hundred yards past the finish line so I tossed the bike on the shoulder and walked it in. I was there to help get a teammate on the podium - sorry for not being there for the leadout train.

waterrockets 

Just back from a long trip. Nice work zecannon! Crazy.

Huge congrats GA. Very nice. You'll continue to see these kinds of results, and the Caddy isn't far away...

Way to capitalize on conditions that favor your twisted side. I love that stuff too (my win % goes way up if it rains).

bostongarden

Lots of great reports/stories, vids (someone's getting artsy) pics (oozing with feeling) and results!!! Woohoo Chad, GA, Ze, Hurley

Creakyknees

Rockwall (Dallas) crits. 8th in the 35+ 3/4, pack sprint, a bit sketchy.

In the 40+ open (my second race) there was a guy solo a bit OTF, they rang the prime bell and I heard "muffled garbled sixty five dollars" so I killed myself getting across to the solo guy and pipped him at the line for the prime.

We ended up in a 3-man break for about half the race, till the eventual winner came blowing by us. I finished 8th, in the money.

Covered my entry fees plus a bit of taco money... and I won The. Best. Prime. Ever:

mattm

Nice report/vid!! I like that course a lot, even if that hill is kinda tough.

My report: Gig Harbor Cat 3's - 7th place, meh, not set up well for the sprint and was boxed in. Picked off a few spots in the last 100m but could tell it was all for not..

But the ~30 mile ride out to the race (plus ferry ride) was nice, even if there were some decent-size hills along the way. 100 miles for the day, good training!