2016 - Race Results
05-30-16, 12:35 AM
#801
Senior Member
Why do I keep doing climbing races?
Mt Hamilton RR E3
Climbed 12 minutes with the group at 110%, got dropped, climbed another hour solo (8 minutes slower than last time up this climb a year and a half ago). ITT the rest of the way, passed some guys, 25th of 39. Terrible race. 3.5 hours at 85% in some pretty damn hot weather.
Mt Hamilton RR E3
Climbed 12 minutes with the group at 110%, got dropped, climbed another hour solo (8 minutes slower than last time up this climb a year and a half ago). ITT the rest of the way, passed some guys, 25th of 39. Terrible race. 3.5 hours at 85% in some pretty damn hot weather.
05-30-16, 05:25 PM
#802
Nonsense
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TKP's adventures in mediocrity continue, this week featuring the Killington Stage Race
1) Mediocrity on a rolling fast circuit in very hot conditions. 73 miles, a "climb" on each of 4 laps that was more a few miles of rolling uphill than anything. Legs = 8 out of 10. Flat on the 2nd time up the climb, chase back on pretty quickly and survived what felt like a series of attacks for the next 6-7k but I was probably just needing recovery from chasing. Then I got another flat on the fastest part of the circuit and waited for sram for a bit cuz of traffic and stuff, and they gave me a 10spd wheel cuz there had already been so many flats that day that they were out of 11spd. There was like 35 miles left at this point and I really didn't feel like softpedaling forever so I flogged myself for most of the rest of it, stopped in the feed zone the last time up the climb to snag some water, and rolled it to the finish. Meh, luck is luck.
2) 75 miles of mediocrity featuring odd climbing that isn't quite climbing but isn't rolling, with a very long uphill finish. Legs = 7 out of 10. I was fine until I wasn't, and when I wasn't I really wasn't. Dnuzz went flying by and tried to get me to ride his coattails (he rejoined the bunch) but I was empty until I was able to soft pedal and regain composure on a downhill, but it was far too late to get back to the pack. Found my way into a chase group, became the ****** that suddenly has energy again and pulls too hard. We were mixed up in the long line of cars stuck behind the peloton for like an hour but never quite got back. Then I died again on the final climbs, and cramped so hard at the finish that I collapsed onto my bars and almost fell over. But an official caught me, which was nice.
3) solo aero mediocrity. 11mi ITT. Legs = ? out of 10. Think tuna salad, or coleslaw. If you order that at a diner you never really know what you're going to get. Power 20ish watts lower than last year, time ~10 seconds slower than last year. So at least I was aero, but at what cost? AT. WHAT. COST?! I will be practicing on a TT bike 1x/wk from now on and taking the time to dial in a decent fit, because this is ridiculous. I still have no idea how my legs felt because I'm not sure i was using them correctly?!
If I were a flavor of Ben and Jerry's this weekend, it would have been Vanilla. I was the bike racer embodiment of Lipton Onion Soup mix. It was a lot of fun and I learned a bunch and I understand that to level up yer gonna get yer ass kicked at bigger events... So I guess mission accomplished? I just wish it was more pistachio or mint chip than vanilla or that I could've been an effective teammate. Fortunately I'm still in the I'm a baby cat 2 honeymoon phase where you're like zomg Jeremy Powers acknowledged my joke!!! and then he kicks OTF and you suffer until he forgets you exist because you're miles behind.
On to the next one!
1) Mediocrity on a rolling fast circuit in very hot conditions. 73 miles, a "climb" on each of 4 laps that was more a few miles of rolling uphill than anything. Legs = 8 out of 10. Flat on the 2nd time up the climb, chase back on pretty quickly and survived what felt like a series of attacks for the next 6-7k but I was probably just needing recovery from chasing. Then I got another flat on the fastest part of the circuit and waited for sram for a bit cuz of traffic and stuff, and they gave me a 10spd wheel cuz there had already been so many flats that day that they were out of 11spd. There was like 35 miles left at this point and I really didn't feel like softpedaling forever so I flogged myself for most of the rest of it, stopped in the feed zone the last time up the climb to snag some water, and rolled it to the finish. Meh, luck is luck.
2) 75 miles of mediocrity featuring odd climbing that isn't quite climbing but isn't rolling, with a very long uphill finish. Legs = 7 out of 10. I was fine until I wasn't, and when I wasn't I really wasn't. Dnuzz went flying by and tried to get me to ride his coattails (he rejoined the bunch) but I was empty until I was able to soft pedal and regain composure on a downhill, but it was far too late to get back to the pack. Found my way into a chase group, became the ****** that suddenly has energy again and pulls too hard. We were mixed up in the long line of cars stuck behind the peloton for like an hour but never quite got back. Then I died again on the final climbs, and cramped so hard at the finish that I collapsed onto my bars and almost fell over. But an official caught me, which was nice.
3) solo aero mediocrity. 11mi ITT. Legs = ? out of 10. Think tuna salad, or coleslaw. If you order that at a diner you never really know what you're going to get. Power 20ish watts lower than last year, time ~10 seconds slower than last year. So at least I was aero, but at what cost? AT. WHAT. COST?! I will be practicing on a TT bike 1x/wk from now on and taking the time to dial in a decent fit, because this is ridiculous. I still have no idea how my legs felt because I'm not sure i was using them correctly?!
If I were a flavor of Ben and Jerry's this weekend, it would have been Vanilla. I was the bike racer embodiment of Lipton Onion Soup mix. It was a lot of fun and I learned a bunch and I understand that to level up yer gonna get yer ass kicked at bigger events... So I guess mission accomplished? I just wish it was more pistachio or mint chip than vanilla or that I could've been an effective teammate. Fortunately I'm still in the I'm a baby cat 2 honeymoon phase where you're like zomg Jeremy Powers acknowledged my joke!!! and then he kicks OTF and you suffer until he forgets you exist because you're miles behind.
On to the next one!
05-30-16, 11:03 PM
#803
Senior Member
Raced today, just for fun cuz it's my teams race and it's close. Memorial Day Crit, cat 3.
Nor sore, but unresponsive legs after Mt Ham yesterday. 5 of us and 6 of one other team. None of us felt great at the start and it was down to me and our kilo guy if it came down to a sprint. Luckily our junior sprinters legs came around halfway through so it wasn't a total loss.
My plan was race normally but conservatively. Chris was planning on a midrace break. Other big team sent off solo riders early, and when one of them was gonna be caught soon with 20' to go, I drifted back to let Chris know it was his time. We made the catch, he went with 3 others including other big team. They really went hard, but the pack went all out chase mode and I couldn't get up to slow it down. 2 laps later they were caught.
So then there's a lull, and stupid me attacks on tired legs. A couple guys follow, a guy passes, field closes, guy on my wheel jumps, I don't think it'll work, he gets a gap with the other dude. 3 laps to go. I put in a few big efforts to keep the gap semi short, then 2 to go teammate kilo guy puts in a massive 30+ mph lap to the bell.
The field takes over, we make the catch in turn 3 of 4. I have good position but absolutely zero legs and roll in midpack. Junior sprinter around my position managed a 5th place. Pretty bad result for so many teammates, but fun challenging race!
Nor sore, but unresponsive legs after Mt Ham yesterday. 5 of us and 6 of one other team. None of us felt great at the start and it was down to me and our kilo guy if it came down to a sprint. Luckily our junior sprinters legs came around halfway through so it wasn't a total loss.
My plan was race normally but conservatively. Chris was planning on a midrace break. Other big team sent off solo riders early, and when one of them was gonna be caught soon with 20' to go, I drifted back to let Chris know it was his time. We made the catch, he went with 3 others including other big team. They really went hard, but the pack went all out chase mode and I couldn't get up to slow it down. 2 laps later they were caught.
So then there's a lull, and stupid me attacks on tired legs. A couple guys follow, a guy passes, field closes, guy on my wheel jumps, I don't think it'll work, he gets a gap with the other dude. 3 laps to go. I put in a few big efforts to keep the gap semi short, then 2 to go teammate kilo guy puts in a massive 30+ mph lap to the bell.
The field takes over, we make the catch in turn 3 of 4. I have good position but absolutely zero legs and roll in midpack. Junior sprinter around my position managed a 5th place. Pretty bad result for so many teammates, but fun challenging race!
05-31-16, 05:57 AM
#804
Tyrannosaurus Rexitis
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I'll pile in on the KSR mediocrity. Obviously we were committed to go with being signed up and having housing booked but I had nasty day-long headache/dizziness/possible fever Thursday/Friday so that didn't bode well.
And then it was about 100 degrees in the sun during the first (circuit) race. And I felt like death. Wasn't sure I'd finish during the first time over the KOM (which isn't very steep) but I hung on for dear life through that and being superaero for the long, fast finishing section helped. Chugging water and food like no tomorrow. The field slowed big time before the second time through the KOM so I recovered, and was able to roll in with ST. My wife flatted first time through the QOM and chased back on after a few miles, but wasn't recovered enough by the time the field absolutely sent it the second time through the QOM. She lost a minute or so. She got stuck in one of the ruts and I guess it punctured a sidewall.
The RR seemed fun until the first KOM section where the hills kept on coming. I started the climb in the front to try to mitigate being dropped but it didn't help. Got into a chase group, tried to whip them into a paceline, then got promptly dropped on another climb (the dirt section) with a couple other dudes. That dirt descent was crazed. 40mph on smooth dirt? Not my bag. The three of us pacelined back on to the chase group but I was toast, and was in the back when everyone decided it would be a good idea to ride through a huge pothole and I double flatted. At least I had company. A guy I was riding with from the Boston area also flatted there. We were behind our support car therefore no help was coming. Hitched a ride back to the finish. DNF. Why do I do this again?
My wife also flatted two miles beyond where I did, also behind her support car (no SRAM for our fields) but was tenacious and started walking in her socks until a SRAM car for the P12 men helped her (they were stuck in traffic anyway). So she finished. Casualties of KSR include: one tire, four tubes, my wallet, and my pride.
And then it was about 100 degrees in the sun during the first (circuit) race. And I felt like death. Wasn't sure I'd finish during the first time over the KOM (which isn't very steep) but I hung on for dear life through that and being superaero for the long, fast finishing section helped. Chugging water and food like no tomorrow. The field slowed big time before the second time through the KOM so I recovered, and was able to roll in with ST. My wife flatted first time through the QOM and chased back on after a few miles, but wasn't recovered enough by the time the field absolutely sent it the second time through the QOM. She lost a minute or so. She got stuck in one of the ruts and I guess it punctured a sidewall.
The RR seemed fun until the first KOM section where the hills kept on coming. I started the climb in the front to try to mitigate being dropped but it didn't help. Got into a chase group, tried to whip them into a paceline, then got promptly dropped on another climb (the dirt section) with a couple other dudes. That dirt descent was crazed. 40mph on smooth dirt? Not my bag. The three of us pacelined back on to the chase group but I was toast, and was in the back when everyone decided it would be a good idea to ride through a huge pothole and I double flatted. At least I had company. A guy I was riding with from the Boston area also flatted there. We were behind our support car therefore no help was coming. Hitched a ride back to the finish. DNF. Why do I do this again?
My wife also flatted two miles beyond where I did, also behind her support car (no SRAM for our fields) but was tenacious and started walking in her socks until a SRAM car for the P12 men helped her (they were stuck in traffic anyway). So she finished. Casualties of KSR include: one tire, four tubes, my wallet, and my pride.
05-31-16, 06:41 AM
#805
Ninny
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Sorry to hear the less than ideal reports from KSR. In nasty hot weather it's easy for bad experiences to compound.
I see that the W3 GC was won by the high school girl who won the last Gunks 10,000, continuing the string of major race wins by former G10k winners. It's almost like climbing 10,000 feet faster than a bunch of other people is correlated with success in bike racing.
I see that the W3 GC was won by the high school girl who won the last Gunks 10,000, continuing the string of major race wins by former G10k winners. It's almost like climbing 10,000 feet faster than a bunch of other people is correlated with success in bike racing.
05-31-16, 06:48 AM
#806
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Also, Giraffe, dang. Who needs aero when you can do 450+w for 22 minutes?
05-31-16, 07:18 AM
#807
Senior Member
ahhh KSR, the story of getting kicked in the guts by a junior with 2% BF. 35/67 finishers in GC i think. something like 95 pre-reged, though. the attrition was real.
Stage 1 4 Lap Circuit Race: blew far too many watts on what is supposed to be the "easy" day. grolby (teammate) scored KOM points on lap 1, so on lap 2 i pulled him to the front at the bottom of the climb and did what i could to set tempo up the climb to discourage attacks. people started coming around me with like 500m to go, but I did what I could. grolby didn't score any points that lap so we gave up on KOM hopes after that. lap 3 up the climb a strong group of 2 were OTF. I tried to bridge but it was a pathetic move (undercommited, which I know is dumb) and I got no where. lap 4 before the climb a guy takes off, no one chases, another guy goes to bridge and i jump after him. didn't get his wheel but someone came with me and we worked together. the 4 of us came together on the climb and were eventually caught by two more, one of which was the eventual winner of GC. i really put what i had into that move thinking if we could just get over the KOM we'd have a shot. we got caught 3km from the top of the kom, though and i was blown. rolled it in for the finish with the pack and narrowly avoided one of the worst crashes i've ever seen in a bike race.
stage 2 RR: basically all downhill for the first 25 miles then a kom climb then a bunch of headwindy flat then a brutal climb to the finish. was in the second large group on the road up the second KOM. thankfully it swelled to about 20 guys or so and we easily closed the gap to the main group through the feedzone. i was feeling beat so proceeded to stuff my face full of all the processed race food. we hit the final climb and i lost the wheel of the lead group after the first couple switch backs. just kind of put my head down and did the best effort i could. ended up 38th on the stage. not great, but a massive improvement from last year when I was just about dead last.
stage 3 TT: I've never been a good time trialist but on paper i should be decent as my threshold is my "strength" and I'm relatively aero, even w/o a tt bike, so I was cautiously optimistic going in. all that went out the window rapidly when i missed my start time because i was being an airhead. thankfully only missed it by ~20 seconds, but still less than ideal and the first couple minutes were all about getting my head back in the game. settled in and put down what for me was a good effort. pretty close to my max recorded power for the duration (which ironically was set riding in a break with the guy who won the TT), although I was hoping to beat that considering i've never done an all out effort this long in training. was also happy not to blow up and even though I didn't negative split the effort, the second half wasn't a total mess either. i just don't have the pure watts to compete in a tt like this.
all in all i'm content with the progress made over last year, but am reminded once again how frustrating this sport can be. i look at where i'm at and where i would need to be just to be competitive in the 3s and it sometimes feels like an unattainable goal. just gotta keep plugging away at it, i suppose.
forgot to mention, it was great to see tetonrider and all the other BF dudes!
Stage 1 4 Lap Circuit Race: blew far too many watts on what is supposed to be the "easy" day. grolby (teammate) scored KOM points on lap 1, so on lap 2 i pulled him to the front at the bottom of the climb and did what i could to set tempo up the climb to discourage attacks. people started coming around me with like 500m to go, but I did what I could. grolby didn't score any points that lap so we gave up on KOM hopes after that. lap 3 up the climb a strong group of 2 were OTF. I tried to bridge but it was a pathetic move (undercommited, which I know is dumb) and I got no where. lap 4 before the climb a guy takes off, no one chases, another guy goes to bridge and i jump after him. didn't get his wheel but someone came with me and we worked together. the 4 of us came together on the climb and were eventually caught by two more, one of which was the eventual winner of GC. i really put what i had into that move thinking if we could just get over the KOM we'd have a shot. we got caught 3km from the top of the kom, though and i was blown. rolled it in for the finish with the pack and narrowly avoided one of the worst crashes i've ever seen in a bike race.
stage 2 RR: basically all downhill for the first 25 miles then a kom climb then a bunch of headwindy flat then a brutal climb to the finish. was in the second large group on the road up the second KOM. thankfully it swelled to about 20 guys or so and we easily closed the gap to the main group through the feedzone. i was feeling beat so proceeded to stuff my face full of all the processed race food. we hit the final climb and i lost the wheel of the lead group after the first couple switch backs. just kind of put my head down and did the best effort i could. ended up 38th on the stage. not great, but a massive improvement from last year when I was just about dead last.
stage 3 TT: I've never been a good time trialist but on paper i should be decent as my threshold is my "strength" and I'm relatively aero, even w/o a tt bike, so I was cautiously optimistic going in. all that went out the window rapidly when i missed my start time because i was being an airhead. thankfully only missed it by ~20 seconds, but still less than ideal and the first couple minutes were all about getting my head back in the game. settled in and put down what for me was a good effort. pretty close to my max recorded power for the duration (which ironically was set riding in a break with the guy who won the TT), although I was hoping to beat that considering i've never done an all out effort this long in training. was also happy not to blow up and even though I didn't negative split the effort, the second half wasn't a total mess either. i just don't have the pure watts to compete in a tt like this.
all in all i'm content with the progress made over last year, but am reminded once again how frustrating this sport can be. i look at where i'm at and where i would need to be just to be competitive in the 3s and it sometimes feels like an unattainable goal. just gotta keep plugging away at it, i suppose.
forgot to mention, it was great to see tetonrider and all the other BF dudes!
Last edited by mike868y; 05-31-16 at 08:32 AM.
05-31-16, 07:47 AM
#808
Senior Member
Ugh KSR.
Stage 1. Hot, hot, hot. Cautiously optimistic, took a go at the KOM sprints (definitely more slightly uphill sprints than real climbing). Lap one, had a good go, felt okay, snagged third, feeling optimistic. Lap 2, hmm, I'm not recovering as quickly as I'd like. Uh, am I cramping? WTF. Not featured in KOM sprint results. Lap 3, dropped 3k before the KOM point because hey LOL I can't pedal harder than low tempo, that makes sense. Spent remainder of lap forming grupetto/strugglebus with a couple juniors and some other dude. Lap 4, oh geez, this junior is coming down with heat stroke. Pulled him over to the side of the road, under the shade, flagged down a dude in his truck going boating, got us back to the finish (and EMTs). Kid was OK after that but I was worried. Hamstrings (my cramping muscles): ruined.
Stage 2. The officials, in their infinite mercy, agreed to reinstate me w/hilariously large GC penalty. So I'm allowed to be really sad for three hours. Legs were still hopelessly ruined from the day before, so dropped immediately on North Rd KOM. Formed gruppetto with race leader, among others. Chased really, really, really hard for... 20 miles? 200 miles? 200 million light years? A long time. But we made it back to the peloton, somehow. Maybe 10K before the final climb. Got dropped 1k before the actual turn onto the climb, on the slight drag up toward Skyeship. Turned onto the climb and, oh, haha, yeah, we're climbing at the border between Z2 and Z3. That's pretty great. So I went pretty slow. And got slower, too. On the last pitch, I couldn't go over 170W (way below Z3 now) without cramping, so I inched up at about 5 mph to the finish. Got passed by the top 6 in the P/1/2 race. Good times. Hamstring status: actually more ruined than yesterday, somehow.
Stage 3. Aero gear: a Lazer aeroshell, my San Remo and those lace covers for the Specialized S-Works sub6 shoes. Sounds legit. I felt really sick all morning, but managed to not give up and just Z2 this thing. Pedaled 13W below threshold for 29:17 to finish a glorious Not Last Place in the TT and hold my second-to-last spot on GC albeit with the dudes ahead of and behind me having swapped places. Spent the rest of the day with lower hamstrings so tight and sore that it was agony to straighten my legs.
And then crazy real life **** started going down when I got home. So that's all for now. Need to figure out WTF went wrong when I get a chance to look at the data, cause I was expecting a tough race but this was kind of absurd. Hoping things turn around.
Stage 1. Hot, hot, hot. Cautiously optimistic, took a go at the KOM sprints (definitely more slightly uphill sprints than real climbing). Lap one, had a good go, felt okay, snagged third, feeling optimistic. Lap 2, hmm, I'm not recovering as quickly as I'd like. Uh, am I cramping? WTF. Not featured in KOM sprint results. Lap 3, dropped 3k before the KOM point because hey LOL I can't pedal harder than low tempo, that makes sense. Spent remainder of lap forming grupetto/strugglebus with a couple juniors and some other dude. Lap 4, oh geez, this junior is coming down with heat stroke. Pulled him over to the side of the road, under the shade, flagged down a dude in his truck going boating, got us back to the finish (and EMTs). Kid was OK after that but I was worried. Hamstrings (my cramping muscles): ruined.
Stage 2. The officials, in their infinite mercy, agreed to reinstate me w/hilariously large GC penalty. So I'm allowed to be really sad for three hours. Legs were still hopelessly ruined from the day before, so dropped immediately on North Rd KOM. Formed gruppetto with race leader, among others. Chased really, really, really hard for... 20 miles? 200 miles? 200 million light years? A long time. But we made it back to the peloton, somehow. Maybe 10K before the final climb. Got dropped 1k before the actual turn onto the climb, on the slight drag up toward Skyeship. Turned onto the climb and, oh, haha, yeah, we're climbing at the border between Z2 and Z3. That's pretty great. So I went pretty slow. And got slower, too. On the last pitch, I couldn't go over 170W (way below Z3 now) without cramping, so I inched up at about 5 mph to the finish. Got passed by the top 6 in the P/1/2 race. Good times. Hamstring status: actually more ruined than yesterday, somehow.
Stage 3. Aero gear: a Lazer aeroshell, my San Remo and those lace covers for the Specialized S-Works sub6 shoes. Sounds legit. I felt really sick all morning, but managed to not give up and just Z2 this thing. Pedaled 13W below threshold for 29:17 to finish a glorious Not Last Place in the TT and hold my second-to-last spot on GC albeit with the dudes ahead of and behind me having swapped places. Spent the rest of the day with lower hamstrings so tight and sore that it was agony to straighten my legs.
And then crazy real life **** started going down when I got home. So that's all for now. Need to figure out WTF went wrong when I get a chance to look at the data, cause I was expecting a tough race but this was kind of absurd. Hoping things turn around.
05-31-16, 09:43 AM
#809
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I thought I was a light rider at ~150lbs until this last month of racing in hillier races where I've consistently been getting beaten by juniors that (per their unsolicited admissions) weigh-in in the 120s and 130s. Last week at Battenkill I finished 9th behind 6 juniors. This week at KSR 5th on GC and the climbing day behind 3 juniors. My wife isn't going to be happy if I start dropping more weight, and I'm not really sure how I would do it, so I'm going to have to figure out a way to squeeze out some more watts.
05-31-16, 09:54 AM
#810
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Some SoCal P123 women feeling your pain in Sunday's Elite SoCal Crit championship.
14 year old Megan, wins Cat 3 in the AM, then wins WP123 in the PM (2nd place is age 17 junior). First adult is age 43 in 3rd.
If she like's money she will stay a Cat 3.
14 year old Megan, wins Cat 3 in the AM, then wins WP123 in the PM (2nd place is age 17 junior). First adult is age 43 in 3rd.
If she like's money she will stay a Cat 3.
05-31-16, 09:58 AM
#812
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That was very kind. You should feel better about yourself than winning (poorer, but better). Juniors have a significant disadvantage dealing with heat it appears. Thank you.
05-31-16, 10:03 AM
#813
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The USAC rules do not force juniors to upgrade. So staying in as low of a category that you can and still win when you can also compete in the big categories allows two category races (crits) a day.
In recent SoCal seasons many women's P123 field to have the same purse as the men's P12, as do the Cat 3s. Cat 3 fields may have single digit number of riders.
So a teen girl like Megan could bring home near a grand on a good race weekend.
In recent SoCal seasons many women's P123 field to have the same purse as the men's P12, as do the Cat 3s. Cat 3 fields may have single digit number of riders.
So a teen girl like Megan could bring home near a grand on a good race weekend.
05-31-16, 11:52 AM
#814
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At least I wasn't the only one with KSR Woes.
Day 1: Play it too aggressive, burn too many matches.
Day 2: Pay for matches burned on Day 1. Kick self for not being in a position to join the break because I knew exactly when they would go. Get popped second time up KOM climb. Latch back onto field. Sacrifice myself and all my remaining matches to try and bring some time back on the break for my teammate who I seem to forget is a worse climber than me. Cramp on climb.
Day 3: Pay for all those matches burned and have a ****-tastic TT.
Gonna go re-evaluate the next few days before I get back on a bike. I need to learn to sit in more, but I also need to learn how to make teammates aware that just sitting in does nothing for anyone else on the team. I play it too aggressive because it feels like very few of the guys I ride with are willing to take risks (TKP is specifically excluded). This is me more venting than anything. The entire team had a crap race, everyone but me was either caught in a crash or got a flat on Day 1, so maybe I expected too much.
Day 1: Play it too aggressive, burn too many matches.
Day 2: Pay for matches burned on Day 1. Kick self for not being in a position to join the break because I knew exactly when they would go. Get popped second time up KOM climb. Latch back onto field. Sacrifice myself and all my remaining matches to try and bring some time back on the break for my teammate who I seem to forget is a worse climber than me. Cramp on climb.
Day 3: Pay for all those matches burned and have a ****-tastic TT.
Gonna go re-evaluate the next few days before I get back on a bike. I need to learn to sit in more, but I also need to learn how to make teammates aware that just sitting in does nothing for anyone else on the team. I play it too aggressive because it feels like very few of the guys I ride with are willing to take risks (TKP is specifically excluded). This is me more venting than anything. The entire team had a crap race, everyone but me was either caught in a crash or got a flat on Day 1, so maybe I expected too much.
Last edited by dz_nuzz; 05-31-16 at 12:29 PM.
05-31-16, 01:07 PM
#815
Nonsense
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Gonna go re-evaluate the next few days before I get back on a bike. I need to learn to sit in more, but I also need to learn how to make teammates aware that just sitting in does nothing for anyone else on the team. I play it too aggressive because it feels like very few of the guys I ride with are willing to take risks (TKP is specifically excluded). This is me more venting than anything. The entire team had a crap race, everyone but me was either caught in a crash or got a flat on Day 1, so maybe I expected too much.
05-31-16, 01:33 PM
#816
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From my desk it reads like KSR was absolutely brutal. Sorry to read about all that, especially knowing how much effort (and lets be honest, $$ too) people put into this. I had a less than ideal race this weekend as wee, hoping someone here had some success for us to live vicariously through.
05-31-16, 01:45 PM
#817
Senior Member
If it makes anyone feel better:
Snake Alley Crit - Cat. 4
Started on the second row. Failed to clip in, fell almost to the back of the pack. Couldn't really make up any spots on the climb, too crowded. Going downhill the rider in front of me took a horrible line through the first turn which made me take another horrible line to avoid him. Couldn't line up properly for the next turn so I had to also take a bad line through it. By that point I was way back and without many riders around me. Pulled at the end of lap four, twelve minutes into the race. I was trying to not go too hard up the alley in order to not blow up. Had I known they would be pulling people so quickly (I was nowhere near getting lapped, I think the next lap they pulled eight riders or so) I would have gone harder on those initial laps. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Snake Alley Crit - Cat. 4
Started on the second row. Failed to clip in, fell almost to the back of the pack. Couldn't really make up any spots on the climb, too crowded. Going downhill the rider in front of me took a horrible line through the first turn which made me take another horrible line to avoid him. Couldn't line up properly for the next turn so I had to also take a bad line through it. By that point I was way back and without many riders around me. Pulled at the end of lap four, twelve minutes into the race. I was trying to not go too hard up the alley in order to not blow up. Had I known they would be pulling people so quickly (I was nowhere near getting lapped, I think the next lap they pulled eight riders or so) I would have gone harder on those initial laps. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
05-31-16, 02:03 PM
#818
Senior Member
From my desk it reads like KSR was absolutely brutal. Sorry to read about all that, especially knowing how much effort (and lets be honest, $$ too) people put into this. I had a less than ideal race this weekend as wee, hoping someone here had some success for us to live vicariously through.
05-31-16, 02:22 PM
#819
Senior Member
This is key.
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"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
05-31-16, 02:45 PM
#820
Rides too much bike
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I think that in the interests of the team I should've conserved energy on Day 1 instead of chasing fairly hard even though I was basically positive I had no chance of catching back on. I'm in a weird position where I think I need to bury myself to gain real legs but also gotta balance that against the needs of the team; maybe if I hadn't done that I would've been there for the second half of Stage 2 and could've chipped in with you at the front, so that is my b. Feel free to give me marching orders and I'll do the things if my legs let me.
I think we all just need to get better at learning how to ride as a cohesive team, myself included.
05-31-16, 03:37 PM
#821
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05-31-16, 03:42 PM
#823
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I've got you all beat!
Raced a local RR on Saturday. Was doing the 1/2 race instead of Masters. Course was about 12 miles long and 1/2, 3, and Masters fields were out at the same time. We had about 5 miles left of our 65 miles and were about to catch the break when they neutralized our race and then cancelled it. Big crash at the finish of the Masters race blocked the road and ambulances and fire trucks were there. The cat 3 race was about 2 miles out and was cancelled too. Turned around and rode home.
Raced a local RR on Saturday. Was doing the 1/2 race instead of Masters. Course was about 12 miles long and 1/2, 3, and Masters fields were out at the same time. We had about 5 miles left of our 65 miles and were about to catch the break when they neutralized our race and then cancelled it. Big crash at the finish of the Masters race blocked the road and ambulances and fire trucks were there. The cat 3 race was about 2 miles out and was cancelled too. Turned around and rode home.
05-31-16, 04:20 PM
#824
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I wasn't on the jury but I made sure they knew you were the kind of person who would have taken that action in the past and in the future.
05-31-16, 04:26 PM
#825
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But what else were you going to do on Day 1? You would have been no help if you didn't make the time cut, and you never know if you might get back to the pack. What I think matters more is that people are willing to try to affect the outcome of the race. Chasing down a break, joining one, leading someone out, chasing back on (or trying to). Those are the things that hopefully make a difference. Not to bring up crappy memories but I was pretty impressed with that attempt you made on covering a move at ToPC where you got burned when we hit that long drag of a climb. It didn't work, but you tried something. Similar to that I feel most proud about my Day 1 efforts. They were wastes of energy, but they were risks, one of which came close to paying off.
I think we all just need to get better at learning how to ride as a cohesive team, myself included.
I think we all just need to get better at learning how to ride as a cohesive team, myself included.
The only field where a break got away and stuck on Stage 1 was a two up break in Cat4/5 where they attacked at the start of the descent and never got caught. Every other men's field was a field sprint. You gotta conserve on Stage 1 and roll across same time. This race had motorefs in every field. We are there not just to enforce the rules but to support you. We are taking splits on breaks all race long and are glad to relay them to the front of the field. We aren't staffed enough to have time boards but we can yell the split time at you. No break in any field got to one minute. There is no sense In chasing a break under a minute.