Sunday, April 25, 2010
upgrade: reapplied for pending approval
No race report or stories until I receive word on my upgrade. . .
88 klicks of racing . . .
Well I had another interesting week that just ended. A strong build week, hectic week at work, awesome training on my loop setting a new fast time and some unfortunate news, all followed up by one kick ass Saturday racing.
With over 15 hours this week of training my are feeling a few recovery days coming up in anticipation of Wintergreen Ascent TT. On Thursday I had another opportunity to go take the day off and invited Chuck Hutch out for a ride on my training loop through Chantilly, Centreville and mainly through Clifton. Well that should be a separate story in and of itself but I ended up pulling him for about two hours until his legs felt good and my like garbage and him taking off the last twenty minutes. I tried to stay on his wheel as much as possible with him encouraging me to dig deep and this is where I needed to train, pushing the last few miles of a long ride. We did 51 miles in 2:20:27 with 21.9 mph average. We did run into Joe D. of Haymarket/Homevisit and Chuck introduced me to him as they joked I was competing in the Cat 5 world championships .
Which leads on the to unfortunate news. I a long with a teammate submitted for our upgrades Monday, with a very similar race resume, we both had nine, all the same races except for one which I did in a previous season. Well his was approved and mine was denied for lack of experience, although it wasn't mentioned I can only assume that was the reason because why else would a 5 to 4 upgrade be denied.
At first I bummed out, I am not going to lie, this is me being honest, as I was scheduled to race in the Farmersville Road Race this weekend as a Cat 4, a course that suited my riding style, hilling, very technical turns, and of course longer than a crit ;) . But as the saying goes when one door closes another opens, in this case two. I immediately got in contact with the race director and switched my entry to the later 11:35 Cat 5 race, he said no problem and did so.
This meant I got to sleep in an extra three hours before I had to make the trip to PA, sweet. But at looking at the confirmed riders page I saw the first race only had 34 riders in it. If figured if I drove up an hour earlier I could try to get into both races, would give me 11 total races, hopefully more than enough.
So off I went for the boring drive up there, and first time going solo to a race this season. I did have another teammate racing the first race and two in the second race and no real game plan except to have Lance do well in his race has it was his hometown.
I arrive, say hello to my teammates and register. The folks at registration were great, the understood my story and were more than happy to work with me. I was able to get into the early race as well for only four bucks more, not bad two races, 44k each for 40 something bucks. On top of that the weather was prefect up there, mid 60s, sunny, and a little breezy at the start but that died down by race time.
With no time to warm up and barely enough time to get kitted up make my way to the start area. There Luis finds myself and teammate Bob and tells us about the course, very technical turns and try keep away from the pack as there is a lot of braking, he also mentioned there was a guy who managed to get away but the course marshal directed him in the wrong way and he had to fight to come back.
Well off our race went, I could from the get go the turns were going to be interesting as the race started out with a tight right hand and then a left about a hundred meters down the road. Almost all of the turns were tight right handed turns, many in a chicane like fashion hitting the apex in one and setting yourself up the for the next was imperative to navigate this course correctly and efficiently. I start noticing after every turn I was gaping the group and they would have to sprint to catch back up or I would lighten up and the let them reel me in so I would burn myself out at the start of the race.
On the second lap I pickup the pace a bit and start hitting the turns even fast, and have a gap form of a few seconds. Well then there were more turns followed by a false flat into a head wind. I pick up my pace here and have a good lead on the pack, which for the most part is still together. Well I take the left turn and there is a course marshal a just down the road for the turn pointing for me to turn right, so I turn right. Before the first turn I could no longer see the lead car, it went off in the distance so I had to listen to the course marshal.
Well I know in the end is the riders the responsibility to know the course. Well it turns out I went off course. Over 4 tenths of a mile before I turned around and the trailing ref caught me and asked me what happened. I said the course marshal told me to turn. I can only imagine he thought I was one of the riders warming up on the course and wanted me out of the way as he could see the pack approaching the turn. At this point I didn't know what to think, should I case back, should I finish this lap and call it a race, should I just do a work out, I don't know.
I thought back to some advice or a story Chuck told me, it was about one his Cat 3 races. I think he said he got a flat, changed it, chased the group caught them and still won the race. I was thinking how bad ass would it be if I had a similar story, but in reality after being back almost a mile on a hilly course I didnt think even catching them was possible. I just start my time trial.
There were times where I was feeling like I could catch them, and there were times where I felt like I should sit up and just finish the race, I have my excuse I went off course. But I continued to bust my ass to try and catch the group. I started to see the trailing car at the start of the final lap. I picked my pace up and worked to get closer and closer, making up most of my time in the turns and keeping as aero as possible.
I caught up to the ref and let him know that I was the rider that went off course and I just caught back on. He was surprised he said thought I was done for. I worked my way though the group, trying to optimize my lines through the turns trying to get what little rest I could before the last mile which had some complex turns. I know in these I could get some distance and try and fight for a placing if only my legs had any energy left in them.
In the last kilo I was in the front, I was hitting my lines, and the last turn I hit it well, a sharp right turn, up hill and banked at the apex. Every one else took it wide and sprinted to catch up to me. At this point I get out of the saddle and into the drops and pick up my pace. With an up hill finish and the sprint to catch me the turn my goal was to wear them out before they could sprint for the finish.
Well there was one rider who was approaching on my left. He was a bigger guy making some massive power, his front wheel passed mine yet I kept pushing, I saw I was catching back up to him, I pushed until the line, gave it everything I could, missing first by what was probably just mere inches it felt like. Luis who watched the finish said had the race been a few more feet I would have taken it, oh well. I was just happy I was able to catch back on to the group and work my way up to contest the sprint, that part had me feeling the happiest, in a way my own personal victory.
The race was suppose to 26.95 miles, my first race was 27.77 miles, .82 mile handicap and still get second.
On to the second race, not as eventful. Lance helped me change out my number, and Luis was kind enough to give me some water out of his bottle as this race was suppose to start right after the finish. I told me story of the last race and all of the other racers in the second race just stared at me, they could tell I was exhausted and I told them I didnt have much left in me.
As the race started I stayed in the pack, infact at the back of it, just taking my own line through the turns as they slowed down I was able to keep with them. There were a couple surges but nothing too bad. I did end up making my way to the front a few times some how and again started to separate myself from them.
Most notably on the second lap shortly after the start of it, I had a good gap, then 6 riders bridged up to me, Lance being one of them. He encouraged up to work together to get it to last. We did, short pulls and sprinting up hills. At that point we pretty much shattered the pack as everyone attempted to sprint up to us, a few made it as I began to fall off. Two other guys and myself try to work together but some how in a downhill descent before the highway one of the guys goes off into the gravel. I am not sure how as he was behind me and not right on my wheel as I felt he was getting burnt out from the pace.
Soon enough the other guys fades as well and I am by myself. I have no clue where the rest of the field is, I know there at 6 guys in front of me. The next two laps again became a time trail. I get down and low and keep hammering. Every time I got out of the saddle my calves began to cramp and I could feel it in my quads as well.
I would look back every now and then for other riders, but no one, I was in no-mans land soloing between the break and pack. My only hope at this point was to hope some one would fade from the break away but with the race almost over I was happy with 7th.
In the last turn I was able to see 6th finishing and I just finished on my own. At my own pace, another great work out digging deep and earning another top 10 spot.
At the end I caught up with Lance who finished fifth and Bob, who dropped out because of cramping, I dont blame him as it was getting painful for myself. With a quick check of the official results I made my way home. 10 races so far this season, 11 total, hopefully enough experience to satisfy my requirement for my upgrade.
With over 15 hours this week of training my are feeling a few recovery days coming up in anticipation of Wintergreen Ascent TT. On Thursday I had another opportunity to go take the day off and invited Chuck Hutch out for a ride on my training loop through Chantilly, Centreville and mainly through Clifton. Well that should be a separate story in and of itself but I ended up pulling him for about two hours until his legs felt good and my like garbage and him taking off the last twenty minutes. I tried to stay on his wheel as much as possible with him encouraging me to dig deep and this is where I needed to train, pushing the last few miles of a long ride. We did 51 miles in 2:20:27 with 21.9 mph average. We did run into Joe D. of Haymarket/Homevisit and Chuck introduced me to him as they joked I was competing in the Cat 5 world championships .
Which leads on the to unfortunate news. I a long with a teammate submitted for our upgrades Monday, with a very similar race resume, we both had nine, all the same races except for one which I did in a previous season. Well his was approved and mine was denied for lack of experience, although it wasn't mentioned I can only assume that was the reason because why else would a 5 to 4 upgrade be denied.
At first I bummed out, I am not going to lie, this is me being honest, as I was scheduled to race in the Farmersville Road Race this weekend as a Cat 4, a course that suited my riding style, hilling, very technical turns, and of course longer than a crit ;) . But as the saying goes when one door closes another opens, in this case two. I immediately got in contact with the race director and switched my entry to the later 11:35 Cat 5 race, he said no problem and did so.
This meant I got to sleep in an extra three hours before I had to make the trip to PA, sweet. But at looking at the confirmed riders page I saw the first race only had 34 riders in it. If figured if I drove up an hour earlier I could try to get into both races, would give me 11 total races, hopefully more than enough.
So off I went for the boring drive up there, and first time going solo to a race this season. I did have another teammate racing the first race and two in the second race and no real game plan except to have Lance do well in his race has it was his hometown.
I arrive, say hello to my teammates and register. The folks at registration were great, the understood my story and were more than happy to work with me. I was able to get into the early race as well for only four bucks more, not bad two races, 44k each for 40 something bucks. On top of that the weather was prefect up there, mid 60s, sunny, and a little breezy at the start but that died down by race time.
With no time to warm up and barely enough time to get kitted up make my way to the start area. There Luis finds myself and teammate Bob and tells us about the course, very technical turns and try keep away from the pack as there is a lot of braking, he also mentioned there was a guy who managed to get away but the course marshal directed him in the wrong way and he had to fight to come back.
Well off our race went, I could from the get go the turns were going to be interesting as the race started out with a tight right hand and then a left about a hundred meters down the road. Almost all of the turns were tight right handed turns, many in a chicane like fashion hitting the apex in one and setting yourself up the for the next was imperative to navigate this course correctly and efficiently. I start noticing after every turn I was gaping the group and they would have to sprint to catch back up or I would lighten up and the let them reel me in so I would burn myself out at the start of the race.
On the second lap I pickup the pace a bit and start hitting the turns even fast, and have a gap form of a few seconds. Well then there were more turns followed by a false flat into a head wind. I pick up my pace here and have a good lead on the pack, which for the most part is still together. Well I take the left turn and there is a course marshal a just down the road for the turn pointing for me to turn right, so I turn right. Before the first turn I could no longer see the lead car, it went off in the distance so I had to listen to the course marshal.
Well I know in the end is the riders the responsibility to know the course. Well it turns out I went off course. Over 4 tenths of a mile before I turned around and the trailing ref caught me and asked me what happened. I said the course marshal told me to turn. I can only imagine he thought I was one of the riders warming up on the course and wanted me out of the way as he could see the pack approaching the turn. At this point I didn't know what to think, should I case back, should I finish this lap and call it a race, should I just do a work out, I don't know.
I thought back to some advice or a story Chuck told me, it was about one his Cat 3 races. I think he said he got a flat, changed it, chased the group caught them and still won the race. I was thinking how bad ass would it be if I had a similar story, but in reality after being back almost a mile on a hilly course I didnt think even catching them was possible. I just start my time trial.
There were times where I was feeling like I could catch them, and there were times where I felt like I should sit up and just finish the race, I have my excuse I went off course. But I continued to bust my ass to try and catch the group. I started to see the trailing car at the start of the final lap. I picked my pace up and worked to get closer and closer, making up most of my time in the turns and keeping as aero as possible.
I caught up to the ref and let him know that I was the rider that went off course and I just caught back on. He was surprised he said thought I was done for. I worked my way though the group, trying to optimize my lines through the turns trying to get what little rest I could before the last mile which had some complex turns. I know in these I could get some distance and try and fight for a placing if only my legs had any energy left in them.
In the last kilo I was in the front, I was hitting my lines, and the last turn I hit it well, a sharp right turn, up hill and banked at the apex. Every one else took it wide and sprinted to catch up to me. At this point I get out of the saddle and into the drops and pick up my pace. With an up hill finish and the sprint to catch me the turn my goal was to wear them out before they could sprint for the finish.
Well there was one rider who was approaching on my left. He was a bigger guy making some massive power, his front wheel passed mine yet I kept pushing, I saw I was catching back up to him, I pushed until the line, gave it everything I could, missing first by what was probably just mere inches it felt like. Luis who watched the finish said had the race been a few more feet I would have taken it, oh well. I was just happy I was able to catch back on to the group and work my way up to contest the sprint, that part had me feeling the happiest, in a way my own personal victory.
The race was suppose to 26.95 miles, my first race was 27.77 miles, .82 mile handicap and still get second.
On to the second race, not as eventful. Lance helped me change out my number, and Luis was kind enough to give me some water out of his bottle as this race was suppose to start right after the finish. I told me story of the last race and all of the other racers in the second race just stared at me, they could tell I was exhausted and I told them I didnt have much left in me.
As the race started I stayed in the pack, infact at the back of it, just taking my own line through the turns as they slowed down I was able to keep with them. There were a couple surges but nothing too bad. I did end up making my way to the front a few times some how and again started to separate myself from them.
Most notably on the second lap shortly after the start of it, I had a good gap, then 6 riders bridged up to me, Lance being one of them. He encouraged up to work together to get it to last. We did, short pulls and sprinting up hills. At that point we pretty much shattered the pack as everyone attempted to sprint up to us, a few made it as I began to fall off. Two other guys and myself try to work together but some how in a downhill descent before the highway one of the guys goes off into the gravel. I am not sure how as he was behind me and not right on my wheel as I felt he was getting burnt out from the pace.
Soon enough the other guys fades as well and I am by myself. I have no clue where the rest of the field is, I know there at 6 guys in front of me. The next two laps again became a time trail. I get down and low and keep hammering. Every time I got out of the saddle my calves began to cramp and I could feel it in my quads as well.
I would look back every now and then for other riders, but no one, I was in no-mans land soloing between the break and pack. My only hope at this point was to hope some one would fade from the break away but with the race almost over I was happy with 7th.
In the last turn I was able to see 6th finishing and I just finished on my own. At my own pace, another great work out digging deep and earning another top 10 spot.
At the end I caught up with Lance who finished fifth and Bob, who dropped out because of cramping, I dont blame him as it was getting painful for myself. With a quick check of the official results I made my way home. 10 races so far this season, 11 total, hopefully enough experience to satisfy my requirement for my upgrade.
Friday, April 23, 2010
new title and a reason why
Ever since I started this blog, which was originally for family and friends to keep up with and know the excitement that can go on in a race, I try to pass the feeling of the race on through words as best as I can describe and offer a little peak into the world of racing when it is you and 49 others making your way around a small course at high speeds with only millimeters of lycra protecting your skin from hitting the ground in a descent, sprint etc.
In the course of my writings I have been carried away with some of my feelings about how others ride. I am confident in my ability to handle a bike well, even though I have ridden for only two years this May 1st I have ridden just under 18,000 miles this includes time riding in the city in rush hour traffic to riding Skyline Drive or at training camp in the hills of West Virginia. This also includes riding in all types of weather, as a year round bike commuter I havent driven to work since July 13th 2008 and only 5 times between and when I first started May 1st 2008. Snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, everything, I have ridden it all, the hottest day 102F and the coldest 0F.
I would like to apologize to my teammates, my team and our sponsors for any misrepresentation, ill publicity or any other negative attention I have brought to them. Yes this is the internet and I should feel free to write my feelings as I did toe the line and stand with an M16 after 9/11 to defend such freedoms but I also have the responsibility to everyone I race with to show them an equal respect as a cyclist.
I was recently told my upgrade to Cat 4 could have been denied because of a possibility that there were complaints lodged against me as a rider. I am not sure how true that is or if there is any weight that could be held to that statement, as others who I have raced with completed the same number of races as I have, to request and receive their upgrade in an extremely quick manner. If my racing style or my writing style has any affect I apologize for that as well. From now I will focus more on being more courteous and more sportsman like.
see you on the tarmac and keep the shiny side up.
-jeremy
In the course of my writings I have been carried away with some of my feelings about how others ride. I am confident in my ability to handle a bike well, even though I have ridden for only two years this May 1st I have ridden just under 18,000 miles this includes time riding in the city in rush hour traffic to riding Skyline Drive or at training camp in the hills of West Virginia. This also includes riding in all types of weather, as a year round bike commuter I havent driven to work since July 13th 2008 and only 5 times between and when I first started May 1st 2008. Snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, everything, I have ridden it all, the hottest day 102F and the coldest 0F.
I would like to apologize to my teammates, my team and our sponsors for any misrepresentation, ill publicity or any other negative attention I have brought to them. Yes this is the internet and I should feel free to write my feelings as I did toe the line and stand with an M16 after 9/11 to defend such freedoms but I also have the responsibility to everyone I race with to show them an equal respect as a cyclist.
I was recently told my upgrade to Cat 4 could have been denied because of a possibility that there were complaints lodged against me as a rider. I am not sure how true that is or if there is any weight that could be held to that statement, as others who I have raced with completed the same number of races as I have, to request and receive their upgrade in an extremely quick manner. If my racing style or my writing style has any affect I apologize for that as well. From now I will focus more on being more courteous and more sportsman like.
see you on the tarmac and keep the shiny side up.
-jeremy
Sunday, April 18, 2010
It isn't a matter of if but a matter of when. . . that and people learn how to freaking corner
After yesterday I awoke with my legs feeling on empty, yesterday's pace really put a hurt in the legs and I tried anything I could to get them to recover some for a descent showing today, after we had an 8am Cat 5 race and the Cat 4/5 race at 2:15, our final Cat 5 race.
Luis arrives a few minutes late after having a random nose bleed and not getting it to stop. But after that we are on our way, it was chilly, mid 30s with surprisingly little wind. We arrive on time and start setting up and get registered.
You know I thought the Ipod printing off the registrations was neat that we had yesterday and thought we did a great job of hosting the event but man I really have to give it up to DC Velo, these guys put on a top notch program. The course was marked excellently, with 1km, 500m, 300m, 200m, 100m and i think 50m signs up the hill. Also they had every single little manhole spray painted with arrows leading up to them so you knew where they were. They had a tent with breakfast, for all racers, coffee, bagels, nutella, cream cheese, the works. Superb jobs guys.
With the wind staying calm I decided to put the deep section wheels on as I didnt have to worry about the wind as much today. I then get on the trainer for about 15 minutes just to get the blood flowing my legs were still feeling relatively numb and my HR was low, a sign that I could be exhausted, which I knew I was feeling from the moment I woke up. While on the trainer he I yelled over to Luis, 9 and 10, all we have to do is stay up right, he said yup, but I would love to get another top 5. Honestly I was thinking the same thing, it would pretty sweet but I knew there were some fresh legs and being a circuit race it wasnt suiting my long course style.
As we go to line up I caught up with a Matt from NCVC, I have talked with him at previous races and he said he has read the blog. I was joking with him how I just wanted to sit in and not do anything he kind of laughed it off as other times I have said that I always went off the front. Well the whistle was blown and the race was off. Luis attacked right off the line, I lead out the group keeping a cautious pace as I wasnt sure what Luis had in mind. We made our way around the course and as I was pushing on the pedals it seemed like my heart didnt want to respond, hard to describe but just wasnt feeling it.
As we rounded the course we came to the downhill part, again people part of the title learn how to corner, watch some freaking F1 races, rally car, ALMS, speed world challange, rolex, anything besides NASCRAP learn how to hit an apex of a turn.
So I was leading the race at this point, I had no problems as I was told that some people dont like to take this turn at speed or take it at the wrong angle. Well jesus people it doesnt take much rocket science for you to follow the man in front (me) who is obviously taking the turn the fastest as any one in our race. It honestly seemed like I was putting a gap into the field every time I took this turn and people would have to sprint to catch back up to me, no issues I was honestly wasnt trying anything today I just dont like wasting energy and time.
On the third lap I think it was, Matt Davis from NCVC goes off the front, the same guy that won yesterdays Chantilly crit, and he rides solo for a few laps until our teammate Lance decided to bridge up to him. We kept them in our sights for most of the race but Luis and I along with a couple other NCVC guys kept the field under control and letting them stay out there. There would be a few attempts but they would all get reeled back in within a lap.
So it comes down to the final lap, approaching the start of the lap my legs werent feeling it, every lap we had to do the climb they just werent putting out like they usually do and the entire field would pass me on the up hill as I would just take my time, although its kind of funny how I made my way back to front at the end of every lap for the turn.
Well the pace definitely picked up the last lap it felt like, we pretty much knew that Lance and Matt were away for the race and there was one other guy in a light blue jersey who tried to go off but couldnt last and we caught right before the turn.
At the start of the hill I watched Luis climb up the hill and make his way all the way up to third then all of the sudden I heard a crash. Well as I crested the hill I saw the silver seven laying on the ground and I could tell it was Luis' bike I got up there to see him laying on the ground. I put my bike on the curb, get his bike, and the other guys, as the medic and plenty of others had already surrounded the two laying on the ground.
After moving the bikes I make my way over there and Luis was getting checked out by the medic after saying his hit his head, and he wanted to be cautious not to move any more. He retained all of his feeling and we help him on his feet. We gather the bike and make our way back to the car slowly.
What I had heard from witnesses was this racer was spent and pretty much slammed his wheel in to Luis' rear triangle taking him out. Luis said all the sudden he felt only his front wheel on the ground and knew this wasnt going to be good so he just fell with it.
Upon inspection of his gear, the bike appeared to be ok except for scuffed saddle and brake lever. His helmet did its job and took most of the impact and busting, he did get some road rash on his arms, collar bone and I think he said hip.
As the old adage goes, it isn't a matter of if but a matter of when in racing. We hung around for the awards to see Lance get his second place trophy and then headed home shortly after. What a weekend, now just to submit my request for an upgrade which hopefully gets approved in time for Farmersville this weekend.
Luis arrives a few minutes late after having a random nose bleed and not getting it to stop. But after that we are on our way, it was chilly, mid 30s with surprisingly little wind. We arrive on time and start setting up and get registered.
You know I thought the Ipod printing off the registrations was neat that we had yesterday and thought we did a great job of hosting the event but man I really have to give it up to DC Velo, these guys put on a top notch program. The course was marked excellently, with 1km, 500m, 300m, 200m, 100m and i think 50m signs up the hill. Also they had every single little manhole spray painted with arrows leading up to them so you knew where they were. They had a tent with breakfast, for all racers, coffee, bagels, nutella, cream cheese, the works. Superb jobs guys.
With the wind staying calm I decided to put the deep section wheels on as I didnt have to worry about the wind as much today. I then get on the trainer for about 15 minutes just to get the blood flowing my legs were still feeling relatively numb and my HR was low, a sign that I could be exhausted, which I knew I was feeling from the moment I woke up. While on the trainer he I yelled over to Luis, 9 and 10, all we have to do is stay up right, he said yup, but I would love to get another top 5. Honestly I was thinking the same thing, it would pretty sweet but I knew there were some fresh legs and being a circuit race it wasnt suiting my long course style.
As we go to line up I caught up with a Matt from NCVC, I have talked with him at previous races and he said he has read the blog. I was joking with him how I just wanted to sit in and not do anything he kind of laughed it off as other times I have said that I always went off the front. Well the whistle was blown and the race was off. Luis attacked right off the line, I lead out the group keeping a cautious pace as I wasnt sure what Luis had in mind. We made our way around the course and as I was pushing on the pedals it seemed like my heart didnt want to respond, hard to describe but just wasnt feeling it.
As we rounded the course we came to the downhill part, again people part of the title learn how to corner, watch some freaking F1 races, rally car, ALMS, speed world challange, rolex, anything besides NASCRAP learn how to hit an apex of a turn.
So I was leading the race at this point, I had no problems as I was told that some people dont like to take this turn at speed or take it at the wrong angle. Well jesus people it doesnt take much rocket science for you to follow the man in front (me) who is obviously taking the turn the fastest as any one in our race. It honestly seemed like I was putting a gap into the field every time I took this turn and people would have to sprint to catch back up to me, no issues I was honestly wasnt trying anything today I just dont like wasting energy and time.
On the third lap I think it was, Matt Davis from NCVC goes off the front, the same guy that won yesterdays Chantilly crit, and he rides solo for a few laps until our teammate Lance decided to bridge up to him. We kept them in our sights for most of the race but Luis and I along with a couple other NCVC guys kept the field under control and letting them stay out there. There would be a few attempts but they would all get reeled back in within a lap.
So it comes down to the final lap, approaching the start of the lap my legs werent feeling it, every lap we had to do the climb they just werent putting out like they usually do and the entire field would pass me on the up hill as I would just take my time, although its kind of funny how I made my way back to front at the end of every lap for the turn.
Well the pace definitely picked up the last lap it felt like, we pretty much knew that Lance and Matt were away for the race and there was one other guy in a light blue jersey who tried to go off but couldnt last and we caught right before the turn.
At the start of the hill I watched Luis climb up the hill and make his way all the way up to third then all of the sudden I heard a crash. Well as I crested the hill I saw the silver seven laying on the ground and I could tell it was Luis' bike I got up there to see him laying on the ground. I put my bike on the curb, get his bike, and the other guys, as the medic and plenty of others had already surrounded the two laying on the ground.
After moving the bikes I make my way over there and Luis was getting checked out by the medic after saying his hit his head, and he wanted to be cautious not to move any more. He retained all of his feeling and we help him on his feet. We gather the bike and make our way back to the car slowly.
What I had heard from witnesses was this racer was spent and pretty much slammed his wheel in to Luis' rear triangle taking him out. Luis said all the sudden he felt only his front wheel on the ground and knew this wasnt going to be good so he just fell with it.
Upon inspection of his gear, the bike appeared to be ok except for scuffed saddle and brake lever. His helmet did its job and took most of the impact and busting, he did get some road rash on his arms, collar bone and I think he said hip.
As the old adage goes, it isn't a matter of if but a matter of when in racing. We hung around for the awards to see Lance get his second place trophy and then headed home shortly after. What a weekend, now just to submit my request for an upgrade which hopefully gets approved in time for Farmersville this weekend.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
You get out what you put in. . .
What a week... with two days off work; I met Chuck Hutch, and we did an awesome ride, set a new high hour FTP and was able to get in some nice hill repeats before work on Wednesday, all of which you can read about in previous postings. With all that done I took it easy Thursday on the way to work and Z3 on the way home, same with Friday except I had some leg openers planned for the afternoon.
Well Friday morning after getting to work my boss told me I needed to go to another site to go work on some servers. Well not only was it software but hardware, we ended up having to move quite a few severs and equipment around, not my idea of taking it easy but oh well. I am trying to find words to describe the ride home but am coming up short. The wind we have this weekend came in Friday afternoon, and I was headed southwest, well the wind was blowing from the southwest, it was a head wind the entire 18 miles home. There were times I had to check my wheels to see if a brake was rubbing or if i had a flat, it was horrible.
After getting home using more energy than I had planned my legs were actually exhausted. With a combination of hard riding all week and that ride this was definitely going to be a C weekend for me, just survive and be safe.
When the alarm went off this morning I hopped out of bed and did the routine, pretty much everything was ready just had to take it down to the car. My wife then told me she felt like she was having another kidney stone. This would be her 8th one, and third in the last 12 months. I asked if she wanted to go to the hospital but she declined saying we can go after the race if need be. Although she did tell me she wasnt going to be able to make the race because the pain was pretty damn bad. I was a little sad because this being a local race I wanted to see her and Christian there at the finish line, but I knew she was in a terrible amount of pain.
I arrive at the course at 6:30 so I can help setup and volunteer as our team was hosting this race. I helped with the setup and the first hour or so of registration, holly cow I never realized how hectic it is. I generally always try to make it to the table with everything ready but for some that doesnt seem to be a priority for most and the line grew very quickly as we had to wait for people to unscrew themselves.
After that I made it over to the car to start my warm up, planned on doing close to an hour or so but only managed 25 minutes after deciding to swap wheels and use my aluminum wheels with the Conti Supersonic tyres, mainly because of the wind and the deep section wheels being prone to getting blown around.
At the start it was Evo all up front, since we were hosting out title sponsor paid for our entry and we had 15 Evo riders in the cat 5 field, that was almost a third of the field right there, NCVC had a big presence along with WWVC with Nick Taylor. We've been keeping an eye on him lately as he has proven to always be there at the end.
We didnt have a real strategy in this race except to do well and with the wind and past experiences racing into the the wind no one really wants to do much work, everyone wants to sit in. This happened last week at Walkersville and odds were it was going to happen again today. I kept that in mind and let all of my teammates know that.
From the bell, horn, or whistle whatever the hell it was we were off. Luis off the front like a bat out of hell, he was saying he wanted to do well and he was certainly putting himself in a position to for that. One thing about this course, it is short, .85 miles and dead flat, 14ft of elevation gain per lap, this didnt suit our body style as most bigger guys can produce more raw watts than us which matter in this type of race. Also being so flat and short it is very rare for a breakaway to stick on this course especially in the Cat 5 since no one wants to work together.
Shortly after Luis took off I was up front, a little freaked out by the people riding next to me and not being able to judge their handling skills especially in turns I wanted to get the hell away from them. On the second lap I think, I cant remember I took off and caught up to Luis and passed him, he was exhausted after his lap. I spent the next 6 or so laps riding by myself, setting my own pace and taking my own lines at speeds I was comfortable with.
I was then caught by two NCVC guys and Luis who bridged the gap as well. The two NCVC guys and myself worked to keep the breakaway alive and I kept Luis in the back so he didnt have to tire himself in case he need to sprint. At one point one of the NCVC riders let a gap form from the lead and we had to sprint to catch back up, he was toast, used everything he had. From that point on we knew we had to work together for this to last. Later I was told it was Matt Davis who we riding with, the dude was a freaking power house. On the back straight with the tail wind he was crushing almost dropping us and then we would rotate every 20 seconds or so, Some how I usually ended up pulling down the front straight into the wind, never really getting a chance to recover.
As hard as I would try to take my lines through the turns Matt would always seem to be in front and I would have to slow down or not be able to hit the apex. Again it is crucial to always hit the apex people learn how to corner / turn what ever the hell you want to call it, read about how race car drivers drive. Time and energy can be saved in the turns it is crucial. After a couple close calls with Kristopher it came down to the last few laps.
My legs were burning with every pull but I knew if I didnt bust my ass out there and put in a good effort it would be all for naught. I used the same mindset at Walkersville last week, if you give it your all you will get results, it may take time and it may not be first or hell even top 10 but if you truly give it everything you have it will pay off. With that in mind we kept the breakaway alive.
In to the last turn Matt in front goes off and I standup to go after him trying to give Luis some sort of a lead out but he was gone before I knew it. Luis came around me and sprinted to catch him almost at the line but no dice he got second and I rolled across in third.
I was very satisfied with the result, and even happier that our breakaway lasted on a course we were told odds are it wont, I love being able to prove the normal wrong. Right now my legs are killing me and fatigued but that is all apart of the game.
With a quick look at the roster for Carl Dolan tomorrow it appears that there will be a lot of fresh legs and the forecast looks to be just as windy as today, should make for an interesting showing. With no real ambitions for tomorrow except to stay upright as my final weekend as a Cat 5 closes. I just hope my legs get in the car with me tomorrow.
Congrats Luis on your second place, I am glad you were able to hang in there as I was about to fall off myself.
Heather, I hope feel better and thank you for watching Christian this morning as you guys continue to put up with my obsession. Love you guys.
Well Friday morning after getting to work my boss told me I needed to go to another site to go work on some servers. Well not only was it software but hardware, we ended up having to move quite a few severs and equipment around, not my idea of taking it easy but oh well. I am trying to find words to describe the ride home but am coming up short. The wind we have this weekend came in Friday afternoon, and I was headed southwest, well the wind was blowing from the southwest, it was a head wind the entire 18 miles home. There were times I had to check my wheels to see if a brake was rubbing or if i had a flat, it was horrible.
After getting home using more energy than I had planned my legs were actually exhausted. With a combination of hard riding all week and that ride this was definitely going to be a C weekend for me, just survive and be safe.
When the alarm went off this morning I hopped out of bed and did the routine, pretty much everything was ready just had to take it down to the car. My wife then told me she felt like she was having another kidney stone. This would be her 8th one, and third in the last 12 months. I asked if she wanted to go to the hospital but she declined saying we can go after the race if need be. Although she did tell me she wasnt going to be able to make the race because the pain was pretty damn bad. I was a little sad because this being a local race I wanted to see her and Christian there at the finish line, but I knew she was in a terrible amount of pain.
I arrive at the course at 6:30 so I can help setup and volunteer as our team was hosting this race. I helped with the setup and the first hour or so of registration, holly cow I never realized how hectic it is. I generally always try to make it to the table with everything ready but for some that doesnt seem to be a priority for most and the line grew very quickly as we had to wait for people to unscrew themselves.
After that I made it over to the car to start my warm up, planned on doing close to an hour or so but only managed 25 minutes after deciding to swap wheels and use my aluminum wheels with the Conti Supersonic tyres, mainly because of the wind and the deep section wheels being prone to getting blown around.
At the start it was Evo all up front, since we were hosting out title sponsor paid for our entry and we had 15 Evo riders in the cat 5 field, that was almost a third of the field right there, NCVC had a big presence along with WWVC with Nick Taylor. We've been keeping an eye on him lately as he has proven to always be there at the end.
We didnt have a real strategy in this race except to do well and with the wind and past experiences racing into the the wind no one really wants to do much work, everyone wants to sit in. This happened last week at Walkersville and odds were it was going to happen again today. I kept that in mind and let all of my teammates know that.
From the bell, horn, or whistle whatever the hell it was we were off. Luis off the front like a bat out of hell, he was saying he wanted to do well and he was certainly putting himself in a position to for that. One thing about this course, it is short, .85 miles and dead flat, 14ft of elevation gain per lap, this didnt suit our body style as most bigger guys can produce more raw watts than us which matter in this type of race. Also being so flat and short it is very rare for a breakaway to stick on this course especially in the Cat 5 since no one wants to work together.
Shortly after Luis took off I was up front, a little freaked out by the people riding next to me and not being able to judge their handling skills especially in turns I wanted to get the hell away from them. On the second lap I think, I cant remember I took off and caught up to Luis and passed him, he was exhausted after his lap. I spent the next 6 or so laps riding by myself, setting my own pace and taking my own lines at speeds I was comfortable with.
I was then caught by two NCVC guys and Luis who bridged the gap as well. The two NCVC guys and myself worked to keep the breakaway alive and I kept Luis in the back so he didnt have to tire himself in case he need to sprint. At one point one of the NCVC riders let a gap form from the lead and we had to sprint to catch back up, he was toast, used everything he had. From that point on we knew we had to work together for this to last. Later I was told it was Matt Davis who we riding with, the dude was a freaking power house. On the back straight with the tail wind he was crushing almost dropping us and then we would rotate every 20 seconds or so, Some how I usually ended up pulling down the front straight into the wind, never really getting a chance to recover.
As hard as I would try to take my lines through the turns Matt would always seem to be in front and I would have to slow down or not be able to hit the apex. Again it is crucial to always hit the apex people learn how to corner / turn what ever the hell you want to call it, read about how race car drivers drive. Time and energy can be saved in the turns it is crucial. After a couple close calls with Kristopher it came down to the last few laps.
My legs were burning with every pull but I knew if I didnt bust my ass out there and put in a good effort it would be all for naught. I used the same mindset at Walkersville last week, if you give it your all you will get results, it may take time and it may not be first or hell even top 10 but if you truly give it everything you have it will pay off. With that in mind we kept the breakaway alive.
In to the last turn Matt in front goes off and I standup to go after him trying to give Luis some sort of a lead out but he was gone before I knew it. Luis came around me and sprinted to catch him almost at the line but no dice he got second and I rolled across in third.
I was very satisfied with the result, and even happier that our breakaway lasted on a course we were told odds are it wont, I love being able to prove the normal wrong. Right now my legs are killing me and fatigued but that is all apart of the game.
With a quick look at the roster for Carl Dolan tomorrow it appears that there will be a lot of fresh legs and the forecast looks to be just as windy as today, should make for an interesting showing. With no real ambitions for tomorrow except to stay upright as my final weekend as a Cat 5 closes. I just hope my legs get in the car with me tomorrow.
Congrats Luis on your second place, I am glad you were able to hang in there as I was about to fall off myself.
Heather, I hope feel better and thank you for watching Christian this morning as you guys continue to put up with my obsession. Love you guys.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
New FTP and hill repeats at 0430am
So just like Chuck said on Monday my upper body was going to be sore after all of the off road riding we did, I woke up not feeling 100%. I noticed my arms and back were a little tender and it took some time to get going as I needed to get a move on it to drop off my son at daycare and get a ride in before his dentist appointment.
I headed out shortly before 830 with overcast and 50F and knew I had to go quickly to get my 49 mile loop in and be ready to go at 1115. I didnt have much of a warm up just went out there and started spinning and riding, I was feeling good, hitting great times at all the usual points. I did start to feel some rain and knew if I continued this effort there was no way I could make my time as I would blow up, so I decided to cut my distance in half and do 24 miles which still has some decent rollers and usually takes me about 1:10 or so when I use that loop for leg openers before a race.
Well I hit the 19 mile mark at a record time, almost 2 full minutes quicker than previous efforts. As much as I wanted to coast after that I felt like I should keep pushing to get the most out of the workout. I kept going pushing hard and focusing on staying in pain. In the end I did the 24.2 miles in 1:02:58 with an average speed of 23mph, I think 4 minutes faster than I had ever done that loop before. At home I uploaded the data and check out the numbers and sure enough new 60 minute power record. I was pretty surprised as I was not rested, legs still were feeling it from the two climbs up Blue Mountain and my upper body was rather sore.
And then this morning I woke up early to get to work to make up for some time the past few days. I check out the HRM right before the ride, nice low HR, legs actually felt really good so off for work I went. I started out strong and just kept going, sprinting up the hills and then keeping the power on for the descent or for the flats then resting a bit before the next hill.
Then approaching my office park there is a nice hill that I have done hill repeats in the past on and figured I am feeling good and early so why not. I did five repeats and the last two were just painful but that is the point. After that there is still one more hill not as big but still a pain in the ass when just did repeats and I managed to push my self up that hill and kept the power on all the way to last 1/4 mile to my building.
Nothing to wake you up better than doing hill repeats at 0430 while most people are still sound asleep.
I headed out shortly before 830 with overcast and 50F and knew I had to go quickly to get my 49 mile loop in and be ready to go at 1115. I didnt have much of a warm up just went out there and started spinning and riding, I was feeling good, hitting great times at all the usual points. I did start to feel some rain and knew if I continued this effort there was no way I could make my time as I would blow up, so I decided to cut my distance in half and do 24 miles which still has some decent rollers and usually takes me about 1:10 or so when I use that loop for leg openers before a race.
Well I hit the 19 mile mark at a record time, almost 2 full minutes quicker than previous efforts. As much as I wanted to coast after that I felt like I should keep pushing to get the most out of the workout. I kept going pushing hard and focusing on staying in pain. In the end I did the 24.2 miles in 1:02:58 with an average speed of 23mph, I think 4 minutes faster than I had ever done that loop before. At home I uploaded the data and check out the numbers and sure enough new 60 minute power record. I was pretty surprised as I was not rested, legs still were feeling it from the two climbs up Blue Mountain and my upper body was rather sore.
And then this morning I woke up early to get to work to make up for some time the past few days. I check out the HRM right before the ride, nice low HR, legs actually felt really good so off for work I went. I started out strong and just kept going, sprinting up the hills and then keeping the power on for the descent or for the flats then resting a bit before the next hill.
Then approaching my office park there is a nice hill that I have done hill repeats in the past on and figured I am feeling good and early so why not. I did five repeats and the last two were just painful but that is the point. After that there is still one more hill not as big but still a pain in the ass when just did repeats and I managed to push my self up that hill and kept the power on all the way to last 1/4 mile to my building.
Nothing to wake you up better than doing hill repeats at 0430 while most people are still sound asleep.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Ditching work to go for a ride, you never know who you may end up riding with. . .
After going out to the Tyson's Corner Crit yesterday and looking at the course and then cursing myself for not signing up I wanted to ride some kind of bad yesterday. Weather was perfect, mid 70s little to no wind I am sure it would have been great except I had some other things to take care of. Anyways, congrats to Luis who got his win in an uphill battle to the finish with Nick, not sure of his last name but we have been in some races earlier in the season.
Well with a peek of the weather before bed I knew that the first part of the week was suppose to be very nice, add that to with not sleeping well, when the alarm went off at 4am I really didn't feel like getting ready to head to work and wanted to go for a ride instead. So back to bed I went for a few more hours of sleep and the got up and took Christian to daycare. I had planned on doing my regular Clifton loop but with this kind of weather I made the decision to put that off until tomorrow for a pre dentist ride. So I got everything ready to head out to Marshall to do my regular Naked Mountain / Mount Weather ride, hoping to go sub 3 hours solo...
Well after not leaving as early as I wanted I ended up arriving around 1030, it was starting to warm up and there was a light west wind, which meant a headwind out tailwind back. As arrived to the parking lot though I was looking to see if anyone else was there out for a ride on a perfect day as well. Well I noticed some one getting ready so I walked over to introduce myself and ask what route they were taking. I recognized the kit he was wearing, Batley Harley Davidson, I knew most of their riders Cat 2 and 3's so I ask him if he raced and what cat, we he did and replied Cat 1. He then went on to explain the route he was doing, a lot roads I was familiar with with some climbing, and about an hour longer than I had originally planned to be but thought what the hell this an opportunity to ride a top notch racer.
As we started down Rectortown Rd we started some small talk and he introduced himself as Chuck Hutcheson and went on to talk about his racing background as I asked questions and picked his brain. I am sure that it was getting annoying having a cat 5 n00b like myself ask all the questions I did, but he seemed totally cool about it. We ended up heading down Carrs (sp?) Rd which had a ton of a gravel, no idea how long it was but damn it was almost like rocks instead of gravel in some spots, but Chuck kept insisting that riding on this type of terrain would improve my bike handling and reaction skills as all of the big races have something similar to this.
We eventually made our way to Leeds Manor to head over Naked Mountain, down to 55 and over to Feezeland Rd to go up and over Blue Mountain. I had never been over this way, as the first 1.5s or so was going to be gravel on the descent with some hairpin turns. Going up the mountain the first time Chuck said that he wasnt that good of a climber and more of a crit guy he sure as hell could climb, but I suppose he wouldnt be a cat 1 if he wasnt above par in everything. Well I didnt want to go all out on this climb because we coming right back over it and he didnt either, the climb up was about 3.5 miles he said.
The descent down was quick the gravel wasnt too bad as I was getting more comfortable with my handling on such surfaces. And then the descent on pavement was awesome makes the climbs worth it. We stop at a store at the bottom to grab something to drink and eat, and after a few minutes we head back up the mountain. We started a little quicker as he said after this climb its pretty much downhill from there, we would just be taking an off road route that cross the Appalachian Trails at times.
Well Chuck set the pace pretty high going up and I was with him most of the way but then he just took off and I would try and hang and he would just pull away again as I would get closer there would be times where I was sitting and spinning and he standing and I would think I could catch him. As we approached the top he waited for me and said that he said no matter what he wasnt going to let a cat 5 beat him up that climb and then complimented that I can climb pretty well.
We then head down this grass, rock, dirt, rut filled, branches thrown all over the place, thorn vines road for the next 20 minutes or so. We had to jump a couple fences to make our way down there but I swear part of me thinks it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. He kept looking back to make sure I was still upright and would then ask me if I was having fun. I tell you what I was, it was scary as hell but it was an eye opening experience in handling skills. I mean he was flying down this hill just riding around huge rocks and boulders in the ground and I was following his trail. We eventually made our way down, we got to route 50 right at the bottom of route 601 which goes up Mount Weather.
With our climbing done we head down 50 to Paris and back over to Carrs rd. Again more gravel, yay. I was actually feeling very confident in my skills at this point. Even though I was cringing as I totally didnt have the right wheelset for this, riding carbon wheels, I had a good clip going then all of the sudden ppppssssssssssssssssssssss. Front flat after I hit a rock. Well Chuck offered to change it for me and did a hell of a job in a very fast time.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful as we headed back to Marshall and he kept giving me pointers and sharing his experiences in racing. Truly awesome, one of the best rides I have done and right up there with training camp.
Heh the interesting thing is, he actually heard of my blog, not sure if he read it though but hey, just pretty cool how quickly the word can spread in a couple weeks. Well Chuck it was nice riding with you today and thanks again for putting up with all of my questions, hope to see you on the tarmac.
Well with a peek of the weather before bed I knew that the first part of the week was suppose to be very nice, add that to with not sleeping well, when the alarm went off at 4am I really didn't feel like getting ready to head to work and wanted to go for a ride instead. So back to bed I went for a few more hours of sleep and the got up and took Christian to daycare. I had planned on doing my regular Clifton loop but with this kind of weather I made the decision to put that off until tomorrow for a pre dentist ride. So I got everything ready to head out to Marshall to do my regular Naked Mountain / Mount Weather ride, hoping to go sub 3 hours solo...
Well after not leaving as early as I wanted I ended up arriving around 1030, it was starting to warm up and there was a light west wind, which meant a headwind out tailwind back. As arrived to the parking lot though I was looking to see if anyone else was there out for a ride on a perfect day as well. Well I noticed some one getting ready so I walked over to introduce myself and ask what route they were taking. I recognized the kit he was wearing, Batley Harley Davidson, I knew most of their riders Cat 2 and 3's so I ask him if he raced and what cat, we he did and replied Cat 1. He then went on to explain the route he was doing, a lot roads I was familiar with with some climbing, and about an hour longer than I had originally planned to be but thought what the hell this an opportunity to ride a top notch racer.
As we started down Rectortown Rd we started some small talk and he introduced himself as Chuck Hutcheson and went on to talk about his racing background as I asked questions and picked his brain. I am sure that it was getting annoying having a cat 5 n00b like myself ask all the questions I did, but he seemed totally cool about it. We ended up heading down Carrs (sp?) Rd which had a ton of a gravel, no idea how long it was but damn it was almost like rocks instead of gravel in some spots, but Chuck kept insisting that riding on this type of terrain would improve my bike handling and reaction skills as all of the big races have something similar to this.
We eventually made our way to Leeds Manor to head over Naked Mountain, down to 55 and over to Feezeland Rd to go up and over Blue Mountain. I had never been over this way, as the first 1.5s or so was going to be gravel on the descent with some hairpin turns. Going up the mountain the first time Chuck said that he wasnt that good of a climber and more of a crit guy he sure as hell could climb, but I suppose he wouldnt be a cat 1 if he wasnt above par in everything. Well I didnt want to go all out on this climb because we coming right back over it and he didnt either, the climb up was about 3.5 miles he said.
The descent down was quick the gravel wasnt too bad as I was getting more comfortable with my handling on such surfaces. And then the descent on pavement was awesome makes the climbs worth it. We stop at a store at the bottom to grab something to drink and eat, and after a few minutes we head back up the mountain. We started a little quicker as he said after this climb its pretty much downhill from there, we would just be taking an off road route that cross the Appalachian Trails at times.
Well Chuck set the pace pretty high going up and I was with him most of the way but then he just took off and I would try and hang and he would just pull away again as I would get closer there would be times where I was sitting and spinning and he standing and I would think I could catch him. As we approached the top he waited for me and said that he said no matter what he wasnt going to let a cat 5 beat him up that climb and then complimented that I can climb pretty well.
We then head down this grass, rock, dirt, rut filled, branches thrown all over the place, thorn vines road for the next 20 minutes or so. We had to jump a couple fences to make our way down there but I swear part of me thinks it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. He kept looking back to make sure I was still upright and would then ask me if I was having fun. I tell you what I was, it was scary as hell but it was an eye opening experience in handling skills. I mean he was flying down this hill just riding around huge rocks and boulders in the ground and I was following his trail. We eventually made our way down, we got to route 50 right at the bottom of route 601 which goes up Mount Weather.
With our climbing done we head down 50 to Paris and back over to Carrs rd. Again more gravel, yay. I was actually feeling very confident in my skills at this point. Even though I was cringing as I totally didnt have the right wheelset for this, riding carbon wheels, I had a good clip going then all of the sudden ppppssssssssssssssssssssss. Front flat after I hit a rock. Well Chuck offered to change it for me and did a hell of a job in a very fast time.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful as we headed back to Marshall and he kept giving me pointers and sharing his experiences in racing. Truly awesome, one of the best rides I have done and right up there with training camp.
Heh the interesting thing is, he actually heard of my blog, not sure if he read it though but hey, just pretty cool how quickly the word can spread in a couple weeks. Well Chuck it was nice riding with you today and thanks again for putting up with all of my questions, hope to see you on the tarmac.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Struck a Nerve
Yesterday morning was the start of a series of unfortunate events that happened at work. Most of which I wont mention here except for the one that really affected me physically. After I arrived at work from a moderate ride in I grabbed my bag and headed over to the gym to get cleaned up, but as I leaned over I some how managed to pinch a nerve in my back. In excruciating pain I pretty much dropped to my knees and had to struggle to stand up. My first thought was how in the hell was going to get home and how was I going to race tomorrow.
I head over to gym and sit in the hot tub and then take a nice long hot shower and there was some relief but unless I was sitting straight up or standing up any position that required balance there was a sharp pain shooting all over my back. I put some biofreeze (great stuff for fatigued legs) on my back and took a motrin to help with the pain. Later in the day I would get a bottle of frozen water and put it on my back. When it came time to head home I was nervous, my back was hurting and knew I wouldn't be able to my leg openers like I planned in preparation for today.
On the way home I was able to spin, but anything that required real power really hurt my lower back, you'd be surprised how much you use you back muscles. Every time I would try and and stand up on the pedals (how I like to climb) the pain would appear and wouldnt be able to do much.
I let my teammates know how I was feeling and that I wasn't expecting much, so the goal became show up pinup, clip in and stay in the pack as long as possible, after all we did sign up for two forty mile races.
With everything prepped the night before I leave at 5am to pick up Tods and Luis and we head to Walkersville, about an hour for Luis' place, this race seemed like a local race compared to Morgantown last week. We arrive early, roughly around 7am, we register for our first race, and head back to the car to get squared away. With not knowing how much time we had between races we asked if we could get our numbers for the second race as well. With not much time for warm up and 40F at the start we started getting ready for the race.
Not sure why or what I was thinking I when I saw on Monday that they added a second 4/5 40 mile race at 8am and suggested we do it. I mean we just started racing and that was going to be two 40 mile races in a day with only 45 minutes or so between them at most. But if anything it was good for races 6 and 7 on my count to get 10, so almost there.
We knew this race was going to be windy with a very stiff West wind we knew this would make it difficult for a break to stick unless there were quite a few people in it. Plus with my back the way it was, I was planning on just sitting in. The start of the race was very pedestrian, almost too slow it seemed from sitting in the pack. Last week I learned that at the beginning of the race let other people do the work plus we didnt know the course.
While sitting in the pack I started chatting with Brian, not sure what team his on or if he is on one, but he was the guy that I talked to last week in Morgantown that I refered in my previous post about him suggesting I was sandbagging. Well I took what he said the wrong way, he didn't mean that at all and understood that I needed to do my 10 races like everyone. Plus he went on to say that my blog was linked to a website with quite a following well guess that means I will be watching what I post now ;) no more power numbers.
On the first part of the course that is where the fierce headwind was, a single file line quickly formed as no one wanted to do much of the work, and then approaching the first turn about .5 out there was a crash, I just heard it and didnt turn around to look as I was near the front and didnt want to cause another. A teammate Rob, who I had just met rode up to tell Luis and I that Tods was involved and was out of the race. This was a real bummer as he is a strong rider and good for a nice string out to wear people out.
The pace for the rest of the first lap was rather slow, I suppose people was wondering who was willing to do any work and get used to the headwind. After a lap or two I was getting used to the pain in my back and it wasnt bothering me as much. At this point I started to get a little aggressive as no one wanted to do anything. I would take some pulls then try to get off and they would literally just sit on my wheel it was frustrating to say the least.
Whenever some one would attack a huge rider from SynFit would go after them, very strong guy but unfortunately this kept the pack together as he was following any attack and drafting him was like riding behind a semi truck.
On the forth lap after being frustrated with the pace and lack of initiative from some of the fellow riders I got up and pulled. I got as low as I could and just hammered it for almost an entire lap. There were some rollers where I would put a little more speed into and stand on the pedals a bit and then try and pick it up some even on the descents, was willing to do anything to drop some riders just to thin the field. After the lap though I felt like I had done all I could at that point and no good deed goes unrewarded I thought to myself, maybe just maybe if I bust my ass out there I can possibly get a good result.
Well on the last lap the pace picked up some, I sat in the top 10 and tried to focus on who's wheel to follow, mainly the SynFit guy. The stair climb wasnt nearly as tough as I thought it would be and any one in descent shape had no issues riding with the pack up it or even catching back up. So it was even hard for anyone to try and break away there. But out of nowhere about 2/3 in to the last lap a guy in blue vests comes up the outside and goes off the front. I saw him go and no one went after him, guess they thought he was going to get caught. After pulling a total of almost a 1/3 of the race I was fed up with doing all of the work and just let him go. In fact I remember after the last turn some one asked if the guy in the blue vest was with us and I heard, no just a dropped rider. I kept my mouth shut until about a mile out. I yelled he is with our group get him.
Then all of the sudden people wanted to go for it, the pace picked up drastically and with my back hurting it made it hard to stand up on the pedals to hang on to the wheels in the sprints so I had to sit and spin. I stayed with them, mainly behind the SynFit guy, but also kept an eye on him as the little rollers he would fall back a little and then noticed him running out of gas. I kept on it. We were catching the blue vest. I was still in the top five with 200m out.
At this point I pretty much got rid of the whole mentality I am not a sprinter so I cannot contest a finish. I did my damn work, I deserved to be up there. So I did it. I gritted through the pain of my back and stood on my pedals and went for it. The last little roller I think really gassed some people as they were loosing momentum, not sure were Luis was I just kept going. I really wanted him to do well in this race but unfortunately he was a little far back and was blocked in because of the center line rule.
In the sprint I caught up to 3rd guy and 2nd was approaching, I wasnt sure how much I had left in me or if I had enough road to the line to pass 2nd. I just kept going got as low as I could in the position and pushed as hard as I could, I caught 2nd now all I had to do was just get in front of him somehow, didnt need much, just a couple inches. I saw the blue line I think it was in the road and just focusing on 2nd wheel, I inched out in front and made it to the line just in front of him, at that point we had almost caught all the way up to the blue vest, but he had won it, and to be honest, not to brag, I let him. I was tired of me doing all the work on the front. I could have bridged the gap but most likely in doing so probably would have brought the entire group with me and then I would have been spent and then shot out the back.
Honestly at that point this was a lesson in know when to hold'em and know when to fold'em, because I truely could have just used what little I left in the tank to make the bridge and then be spit out the back or just hold off let some one else attempt to make the bridge and attack from there, which is what I did and I think worked out well. In the end I finished 2nd and Luis finished 5th. I think we had an excellent race aside from Tod's crash and did really well in a 4/5 race racing as 5s and finishing in the top 5 with half the field still together.
Once I caught up with Luis on the way back to the school we began to discuss the next race, we had just over 45 minutes until that start. With Tods out for that race because of a broken handle bar, derailuer hanger and rear derailuer I honestly didnt want for him to have to sit around for another 3 or so hours, I felt horrible for him. So Luis and I made the decision that we will start the second race and after a lap or two, pull off mainly to get credit for the start, because unfortunately that is all we needed.
We got back to the car and checked out the damage done to Tods' and his bike, we cleaned out his road rash and refueled. Wasnt sure about Luis but my legs were pretty shot after that first race and wasnt sure how I would even do in the second one if we had to last the whole thing. We informed out teammates that we werent going to be in the whole race and wanted to try and lay down a couple attacks to maybe even attempt to weaken the field with getting people all riled up.
The race started on time and unfortunately Luis and I were near the back at the neutral roll out. The pace was a lot quicker, I mean we were almost off the back just taking it easy and these guys started from the get go. We made our wat towards the front, Luis went off first and four or five guys went after him right as planned, the whole groups pace picked up a bit. I then worked my way from the inside over to the outside and as we approach a little riser I saw the perfect opportunity to go, I hammered it and just took off. I heard people yelling, on the left on the left. I caught up to the front and yelled to Luis to sit up, that way the other riders would have to go around him and sprint to catch up to me. It worked like a charm, they did it. I held it out there as long as I could and the with the descent into the stairs I down shifted and spun up the climb. At this point I was caught and swallowed up by the pack and my legs were completely spent. With all of the speed of the pack every one passed me as I slowed down and even heard a crash behind me as people were still descending quickly in to a part of the group that was ascending and going slower.
Luke eventually passed me and told me that Luis was back there and didnt think he was caught the crash. I sat off the back and just wanted to finish the lap. I did my work, just wanted to get home now. I saw Luis G falling off I caught up to him and told him to grab my wheel as I catch back up to the pack, I guess he didnt as I made it back to the pack by myself.
I rode with the pack back to start finish line and afterwards just stopped wondering what happened to Luis. Another group passed me as I pulled over and the rear reff passed as well, I told I was done and to keep going. I eventually saw Luis and we headed back to the car. Evidently he was right behind the bikes that crashed and avoided it by going off into the field and then back onto the road, good save and quick thinking.
Back at the car we chatted about how things went with some 3 racers that were waiting around. We took our time getting ready, collected our prizes from the first race and then went to find some other teammates.
We stumbled across Turtle, Dan, Mike, DJ, Vic, and Brent I think. We shared with them the news of the first race and they were excited to hear about the results. I am sure some people will judge us for our actions of basically doing one lap of a race to get credit for it, but well unfortunately according the rules thats all we need to do. If results really mattered and we could get cat'ed up finishing in the top X number of times trust me I would have busted my ass out there a lot more.
I was happy with the way the race went, come the third lap I knew it was either I do something or this is going to be a cluster fuck the entire race. I did something, I dont pay to come out and sit in group ride with people I have no idea how their handling is. So if that means I need to go on the front to pull I suppose that means that I need to do that, its safer, I can take my own line in the turns, and I ride the pace I want to ride and if its too slow for everyone else, well get up there and do some work. In the end I would akin this to a good workout with a nice sprint finish.
Again, really sorry to have what happened to Tods' bike and glad he is ok with minor road rash and happy with my result and great job Luis to sprint up to 5th.
And as always I appreciate all of the support from my darling wife and son for dealing my problem.
Next up, Chantilly Crit number 8, and Carl Dolan numbers 9 and 10.
I head over to gym and sit in the hot tub and then take a nice long hot shower and there was some relief but unless I was sitting straight up or standing up any position that required balance there was a sharp pain shooting all over my back. I put some biofreeze (great stuff for fatigued legs) on my back and took a motrin to help with the pain. Later in the day I would get a bottle of frozen water and put it on my back. When it came time to head home I was nervous, my back was hurting and knew I wouldn't be able to my leg openers like I planned in preparation for today.
On the way home I was able to spin, but anything that required real power really hurt my lower back, you'd be surprised how much you use you back muscles. Every time I would try and and stand up on the pedals (how I like to climb) the pain would appear and wouldnt be able to do much.
I let my teammates know how I was feeling and that I wasn't expecting much, so the goal became show up pinup, clip in and stay in the pack as long as possible, after all we did sign up for two forty mile races.
With everything prepped the night before I leave at 5am to pick up Tods and Luis and we head to Walkersville, about an hour for Luis' place, this race seemed like a local race compared to Morgantown last week. We arrive early, roughly around 7am, we register for our first race, and head back to the car to get squared away. With not knowing how much time we had between races we asked if we could get our numbers for the second race as well. With not much time for warm up and 40F at the start we started getting ready for the race.
Not sure why or what I was thinking I when I saw on Monday that they added a second 4/5 40 mile race at 8am and suggested we do it. I mean we just started racing and that was going to be two 40 mile races in a day with only 45 minutes or so between them at most. But if anything it was good for races 6 and 7 on my count to get 10, so almost there.
We knew this race was going to be windy with a very stiff West wind we knew this would make it difficult for a break to stick unless there were quite a few people in it. Plus with my back the way it was, I was planning on just sitting in. The start of the race was very pedestrian, almost too slow it seemed from sitting in the pack. Last week I learned that at the beginning of the race let other people do the work plus we didnt know the course.
While sitting in the pack I started chatting with Brian, not sure what team his on or if he is on one, but he was the guy that I talked to last week in Morgantown that I refered in my previous post about him suggesting I was sandbagging. Well I took what he said the wrong way, he didn't mean that at all and understood that I needed to do my 10 races like everyone. Plus he went on to say that my blog was linked to a website with quite a following well guess that means I will be watching what I post now ;) no more power numbers.
On the first part of the course that is where the fierce headwind was, a single file line quickly formed as no one wanted to do much of the work, and then approaching the first turn about .5 out there was a crash, I just heard it and didnt turn around to look as I was near the front and didnt want to cause another. A teammate Rob, who I had just met rode up to tell Luis and I that Tods was involved and was out of the race. This was a real bummer as he is a strong rider and good for a nice string out to wear people out.
The pace for the rest of the first lap was rather slow, I suppose people was wondering who was willing to do any work and get used to the headwind. After a lap or two I was getting used to the pain in my back and it wasnt bothering me as much. At this point I started to get a little aggressive as no one wanted to do anything. I would take some pulls then try to get off and they would literally just sit on my wheel it was frustrating to say the least.
Whenever some one would attack a huge rider from SynFit would go after them, very strong guy but unfortunately this kept the pack together as he was following any attack and drafting him was like riding behind a semi truck.
On the forth lap after being frustrated with the pace and lack of initiative from some of the fellow riders I got up and pulled. I got as low as I could and just hammered it for almost an entire lap. There were some rollers where I would put a little more speed into and stand on the pedals a bit and then try and pick it up some even on the descents, was willing to do anything to drop some riders just to thin the field. After the lap though I felt like I had done all I could at that point and no good deed goes unrewarded I thought to myself, maybe just maybe if I bust my ass out there I can possibly get a good result.
Well on the last lap the pace picked up some, I sat in the top 10 and tried to focus on who's wheel to follow, mainly the SynFit guy. The stair climb wasnt nearly as tough as I thought it would be and any one in descent shape had no issues riding with the pack up it or even catching back up. So it was even hard for anyone to try and break away there. But out of nowhere about 2/3 in to the last lap a guy in blue vests comes up the outside and goes off the front. I saw him go and no one went after him, guess they thought he was going to get caught. After pulling a total of almost a 1/3 of the race I was fed up with doing all of the work and just let him go. In fact I remember after the last turn some one asked if the guy in the blue vest was with us and I heard, no just a dropped rider. I kept my mouth shut until about a mile out. I yelled he is with our group get him.
Then all of the sudden people wanted to go for it, the pace picked up drastically and with my back hurting it made it hard to stand up on the pedals to hang on to the wheels in the sprints so I had to sit and spin. I stayed with them, mainly behind the SynFit guy, but also kept an eye on him as the little rollers he would fall back a little and then noticed him running out of gas. I kept on it. We were catching the blue vest. I was still in the top five with 200m out.
At this point I pretty much got rid of the whole mentality I am not a sprinter so I cannot contest a finish. I did my damn work, I deserved to be up there. So I did it. I gritted through the pain of my back and stood on my pedals and went for it. The last little roller I think really gassed some people as they were loosing momentum, not sure were Luis was I just kept going. I really wanted him to do well in this race but unfortunately he was a little far back and was blocked in because of the center line rule.
In the sprint I caught up to 3rd guy and 2nd was approaching, I wasnt sure how much I had left in me or if I had enough road to the line to pass 2nd. I just kept going got as low as I could in the position and pushed as hard as I could, I caught 2nd now all I had to do was just get in front of him somehow, didnt need much, just a couple inches. I saw the blue line I think it was in the road and just focusing on 2nd wheel, I inched out in front and made it to the line just in front of him, at that point we had almost caught all the way up to the blue vest, but he had won it, and to be honest, not to brag, I let him. I was tired of me doing all the work on the front. I could have bridged the gap but most likely in doing so probably would have brought the entire group with me and then I would have been spent and then shot out the back.
Honestly at that point this was a lesson in know when to hold'em and know when to fold'em, because I truely could have just used what little I left in the tank to make the bridge and then be spit out the back or just hold off let some one else attempt to make the bridge and attack from there, which is what I did and I think worked out well. In the end I finished 2nd and Luis finished 5th. I think we had an excellent race aside from Tod's crash and did really well in a 4/5 race racing as 5s and finishing in the top 5 with half the field still together.
Once I caught up with Luis on the way back to the school we began to discuss the next race, we had just over 45 minutes until that start. With Tods out for that race because of a broken handle bar, derailuer hanger and rear derailuer I honestly didnt want for him to have to sit around for another 3 or so hours, I felt horrible for him. So Luis and I made the decision that we will start the second race and after a lap or two, pull off mainly to get credit for the start, because unfortunately that is all we needed.
We got back to the car and checked out the damage done to Tods' and his bike, we cleaned out his road rash and refueled. Wasnt sure about Luis but my legs were pretty shot after that first race and wasnt sure how I would even do in the second one if we had to last the whole thing. We informed out teammates that we werent going to be in the whole race and wanted to try and lay down a couple attacks to maybe even attempt to weaken the field with getting people all riled up.
The race started on time and unfortunately Luis and I were near the back at the neutral roll out. The pace was a lot quicker, I mean we were almost off the back just taking it easy and these guys started from the get go. We made our wat towards the front, Luis went off first and four or five guys went after him right as planned, the whole groups pace picked up a bit. I then worked my way from the inside over to the outside and as we approach a little riser I saw the perfect opportunity to go, I hammered it and just took off. I heard people yelling, on the left on the left. I caught up to the front and yelled to Luis to sit up, that way the other riders would have to go around him and sprint to catch up to me. It worked like a charm, they did it. I held it out there as long as I could and the with the descent into the stairs I down shifted and spun up the climb. At this point I was caught and swallowed up by the pack and my legs were completely spent. With all of the speed of the pack every one passed me as I slowed down and even heard a crash behind me as people were still descending quickly in to a part of the group that was ascending and going slower.
Luke eventually passed me and told me that Luis was back there and didnt think he was caught the crash. I sat off the back and just wanted to finish the lap. I did my work, just wanted to get home now. I saw Luis G falling off I caught up to him and told him to grab my wheel as I catch back up to the pack, I guess he didnt as I made it back to the pack by myself.
I rode with the pack back to start finish line and afterwards just stopped wondering what happened to Luis. Another group passed me as I pulled over and the rear reff passed as well, I told I was done and to keep going. I eventually saw Luis and we headed back to the car. Evidently he was right behind the bikes that crashed and avoided it by going off into the field and then back onto the road, good save and quick thinking.
Back at the car we chatted about how things went with some 3 racers that were waiting around. We took our time getting ready, collected our prizes from the first race and then went to find some other teammates.
We stumbled across Turtle, Dan, Mike, DJ, Vic, and Brent I think. We shared with them the news of the first race and they were excited to hear about the results. I am sure some people will judge us for our actions of basically doing one lap of a race to get credit for it, but well unfortunately according the rules thats all we need to do. If results really mattered and we could get cat'ed up finishing in the top X number of times trust me I would have busted my ass out there a lot more.
I was happy with the way the race went, come the third lap I knew it was either I do something or this is going to be a cluster fuck the entire race. I did something, I dont pay to come out and sit in group ride with people I have no idea how their handling is. So if that means I need to go on the front to pull I suppose that means that I need to do that, its safer, I can take my own line in the turns, and I ride the pace I want to ride and if its too slow for everyone else, well get up there and do some work. In the end I would akin this to a good workout with a nice sprint finish.
Again, really sorry to have what happened to Tods' bike and glad he is ok with minor road rash and happy with my result and great job Luis to sprint up to 5th.
And as always I appreciate all of the support from my darling wife and son for dealing my problem.
Next up, Chantilly Crit number 8, and Carl Dolan numbers 9 and 10.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
If you're going to preview the course make sure its correct. . .
What a week it has been. After my first win at Jeff Cup I was floating on cloud nine, first win in a bike race, meant a lot more than the three wins I had in triathlons, mainly because in tri's most are just competing for personal bests and not racing against the pack. With a good three hard weeks of training and almost 1000 miles for the month March I needed a recovery week, and my legs were telling me so as well. Every morning I went to start my commute my heart rate was low which was good, but my legs felt very tired, power numbers were low and legs felt like they needed a break. So a recovery week it was, although I wasn't planning on it lasting a whole week so I could get some spinning in before Morgantown on 4/3.
It seemed every morning the juice wasnt there, every afternoon the juice wasnt there, I had nothing and come Thursday afternoon I was getting a little concerned, I wanted to get something with some decent numbers in before the race to know I was good to go. Nothing, Friday morning nothing, but then like magic Friday afternoon everything clicked. I did about 4 or 5 90 second full out efforts getting my heart rate up and getting my climbing form down as Morgantown was going to be a beast of a race with 7 climbs.
Morgantown is about 4 hours away on the boarder of WV and PA, although the race is called the Morgantown Road Race it took place in PA, starting and finishing in small town called Mount Morris. Luis asked me about this about a month or so go, immediately I dismissed, too far away and on Easter weekend. But with some convincing and the approval from the better half I signed up. Luis and I knew this was going to be our type of race with all of the climbing, our third musketeer Tods was going with us as well to do anything could to help us. Also new member Jeff Eure joined us and this was his first race, and he picked a hell of to do, being a great sport he wanted to anything he could to help us get away and get the win. Also another teammate Luis was joining us there, we had not met before this but it was great to have 5 deep in Cat 5 race. Lots of support and with 4 of us having a strategy we had a great chance of doing well here.
Lots of planning went into this race, with 7 climbs of at least 400ft of climbing each most being about a mile long we knew could separate the field quickly and potentially get a group of good climbers to stick, but were concerned about the descent with people making up time. That concern ended up being unfounded as when we did scout the course the descents were very technical with lots of sharp turns especially at the bottom at the end of almost every descent.
The goal was to sit in the pack until the first climb and then start shredding them off one by one. We communicated a lot, Luis and I sitting there in the first few miles talking so everyone could hear us, keeping Tods informed as well as Jeff, we knew we had to do this to get anything to work. We werent worried about others over hearing as most were racing unattached or with no support from their team.
When the race started Luis and I stayed near the front, and if we ended up leading we just sat up and let some one else take over after having no warm up at all because of issues trying to scout the course we needed to go in easy and conserve energy. As we approached some rollers leaving town a couple guys tried to get away, no one was going after them because after a few minutes they were caught and spit out the back. We then asked Jeff to sacrifice himself and block the wind for us as no one else wanted to pull, he did so.
He got low and we lined up behind him as we approached the first hill, like most cyclist everyone wanted to attack it, sprinting up it but knowing we had 6 more i let them go, I knew I could catch them especially when the pitch went up and they were shot. And exactly that happened, about 1/3 mile in to the climb I just passed five by five they were falling off like crazy. Then in the hairpin turn when the pitch went up some one fell over, in what? who knows, how? who knows, rookie cat 5 move? most likely.
Well this separated the pack as he took 5 or 6 people with him. I didnt look just kept going. Luis leading the slaughter concerned I was near it, was yelling for me to make sure I was ok and didnt get caught up in the mess. I caught up to him shortly afterward and with two others, we agree to work to get something to stick. Then came the descent this one was particularly technical with two sets of S turns being very tight, but from my days of karting I knew how to hit the apex just perfectly and was even pulling away for the breakaway group so I had to slow it down some.
We were working together really well, rotating pace line we had a good rhythm going. Then came the second climb, obviously the group we had were probably the best climbers as we all stuck together on climbs and were putting even more time in to the main field. This climb being a little longer it was more my style and I had an excellent pace going, Luis telling me to slow down a couple times. Nick from WWVC was next to me, wanting to get to know a local team rider I started chatting with him, I was in Z2/3 not pushing too hard I began asking him questions about his racing, why he is a Cat 5 now, what other races he had done. In fact he raced at Vint Hill three weeks ago in the Cat 5 that we controlled most of and he took the win. So i knew he was a smart racer knowing when to sit in and when to attack. I then asked him about Wintergreen and TTs, to which he replied he had no desire to any type of TTs as they arent his thing.
Reading into this I knew this how to get rid of him. As the climb leveled out a bit and Luis still yelling for me slow down, I kept my pace going, upped it to Z4 power and kept going. Sorry Nick, I blew him up on the climb as I knew he didnt have the capacity to hold it with me as I continued to accelerate and the climb pitched up again, I broke away around minute 42 of the race. I saw him falling back, and Luis and the other guy catching him quickly, this is where my tri training comes in to play, ability to hold hard efforts for long periods of time.
Keeping training camp in mind I kept applying good amounts of power into the descent and saw the distance growing and the lead car pass them and come up to get in front of me. From this point on I knew I was going to by myself for most of the race, and most likely get caught on the rollers to the finish line. The winds were strong, from the south, which is unusal but it made for a great help on the stretch of highway that we were on. It was a a TT effort, keeping it in Z2/3 I have no idea about speed, dont worry about it but I knew I was flying. I got as low as I got, chin on the handle bars and resting my arms on the bars, this type of riding aero is more important than power because I can save leg power if I stay aero than try and sit up and hammer out massive watts.
As I began attacking the rest of climbs it seemed as if there was a tail wind up most of them as I passed numerous riders from categories that started minutes before us. It was like being a tri all over again, do what you can to not get passed at all. I told Luis that in the planning phase of this race. I didnt draft any of them as I passed them quite quickly and mostly on the climbs. Lots of paper boy type riding up the hills. By myself I was able to ride my own pace up the climbs and didnt have to worry about Luis sprinting up them to kill everyone off, one good thing. Because I would try to keep up and then end up popping myself off.
The descent were technical and always had a lot of cross winds, and with 58mm deep wheels there were times where handling was very difficult and scary, especially since some hairpin turns had wire fencing and a good 100 foot drop to the road below. I tried to go quickly but also let the legs recover as much as possible. The weather hot and I was going through water a lot quicker than expected.
My first bottle was gone before an hour in, and I was keeping to a sip every five minutes, and I popped a gel about 1:20 in so I would be digested in time for the finish. This made me even more thirsty with the sugar. I just wanted my second bottle to last until two hours, I knew there wouldnt be much time after that and could survive back to the car. As the miles went on and on, I did get lonely wanted to sit up, but having no idea where any one was and the fear of getting caught in the rollers I knew I had to keep my pace moderate but still conserving just in case I got caught I could keep up with them.
With the last climb approaching I caught up to two teammates that started in the 45+ group I believe, they were shocked to see me and encouraged me to keep kicking ass and going hard. I did so, I got up like I was in the freaking tour and just danced up the hills, passing more and more, and they were getting younger, I was passing the Cat 4s which started 15+ minutes before us.
From driving the course I knew there was a mile marker sign and I was looking for it around every bend, having no idea on the course length I prayed for it to be soon, my quads were feeling it, and I was thirsty as hell and had no water left. I saw the sign. I upped the pace a bit, past more guys. Irritating part is they would draft me so I upped it even more to get them off my wheel. I kept my lead car insight and just kept pushing. Saw the 200m sign, I zipped up my jersey in case there was a photog there and just cruised in to the finish. I knew I had won, but by how much, no clue.
After the finish I was chatting with a cat 4 racer that finished behind me and he start asking about my riding and racing experience, not sure if he was implying I was sandbagging or not but thought it was annoying. Trust me if I could upgrade to the 4s and do this I would have no problems with it, I dont want to be a 5 but according to the rules everyone has to do it.
I went up to the car and then back down to the finish line to look for Luis and Tods finishing, I had no idea how far back they were. I caught up with Luke who did well finishing in what he thought was 4th earning even more points towards his Cat 3 upgrade, awesome job man. A few minutes later Luis finished, he came back to me to tell me he flatted out there. He hit a rock in the road and got a pinch flat in the rear tire.
When he pulled over he yelled for Jeff, Luis and Tods to stop and help him. He changed the tire very quickly and the team work Jeff, Luis and Tods did to get Luis back to the pack was amazing and he was able to catch all the back up to the two other breakaway guys and sprint for 3rd but ended up with 4th. That right there is an amazing effort by him and the team work by Jeff, Luis and Tods.
It took forever to get the results not the typical 20 - 30 minutes, I am talking over two hours. We were back to the car before 3pm and they didnt start handing out awards until 5:15 or so after a long protest period. Lets just say things were as organized as they could have been. Overall the race was awesome, I loved it, the terrain was perfect for my style and cant wait to race it again next year hopefully as a 3 or 2.
Here is the WKO+ data from the race:
Lap 1 (2:12:16.48):
Duration: 2:15:03
Work: 1852 kJ
TSS: 150.8 (intensity factor 0.819)
Norm Power: 000
VI: 1.13
Pw:HR: -1.92%
Pa:HR: 2.01%
Distance: 44.589 mi
Elevation Gain: 3374 ft
Elevation Loss: 3428 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-51 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 000 000 watts
Heart Rate: 125 190 171 bpm
Cadence: 40 162 93 rpm
Speed: 0.2 46.6 20.2 mph
Pace 1:17 321:52 2:58 min/mi
Altitude: 909 1466 1129 ft
Crank Torque: 0 000 000 lb-in
Regarding the title about the course, the organizer posted a new race course for the race and then updated it without posting anything on the website. We were able to drive about 2/3 of the course after going the wrong direction we turned around and drove it properly and got a really good look at the technicality of the descents and the turns that await us.
Again, awesome display of teamwork Jeff, Luis and Tods to get Luis back up to group and what an awesome effort Luis did to get all the way back and get 4th.
Thank you Heather and Christian for your continued support and encouragement.
It seemed every morning the juice wasnt there, every afternoon the juice wasnt there, I had nothing and come Thursday afternoon I was getting a little concerned, I wanted to get something with some decent numbers in before the race to know I was good to go. Nothing, Friday morning nothing, but then like magic Friday afternoon everything clicked. I did about 4 or 5 90 second full out efforts getting my heart rate up and getting my climbing form down as Morgantown was going to be a beast of a race with 7 climbs.
Morgantown is about 4 hours away on the boarder of WV and PA, although the race is called the Morgantown Road Race it took place in PA, starting and finishing in small town called Mount Morris. Luis asked me about this about a month or so go, immediately I dismissed, too far away and on Easter weekend. But with some convincing and the approval from the better half I signed up. Luis and I knew this was going to be our type of race with all of the climbing, our third musketeer Tods was going with us as well to do anything could to help us. Also new member Jeff Eure joined us and this was his first race, and he picked a hell of to do, being a great sport he wanted to anything he could to help us get away and get the win. Also another teammate Luis was joining us there, we had not met before this but it was great to have 5 deep in Cat 5 race. Lots of support and with 4 of us having a strategy we had a great chance of doing well here.
Lots of planning went into this race, with 7 climbs of at least 400ft of climbing each most being about a mile long we knew could separate the field quickly and potentially get a group of good climbers to stick, but were concerned about the descent with people making up time. That concern ended up being unfounded as when we did scout the course the descents were very technical with lots of sharp turns especially at the bottom at the end of almost every descent.
The goal was to sit in the pack until the first climb and then start shredding them off one by one. We communicated a lot, Luis and I sitting there in the first few miles talking so everyone could hear us, keeping Tods informed as well as Jeff, we knew we had to do this to get anything to work. We werent worried about others over hearing as most were racing unattached or with no support from their team.
When the race started Luis and I stayed near the front, and if we ended up leading we just sat up and let some one else take over after having no warm up at all because of issues trying to scout the course we needed to go in easy and conserve energy. As we approached some rollers leaving town a couple guys tried to get away, no one was going after them because after a few minutes they were caught and spit out the back. We then asked Jeff to sacrifice himself and block the wind for us as no one else wanted to pull, he did so.
He got low and we lined up behind him as we approached the first hill, like most cyclist everyone wanted to attack it, sprinting up it but knowing we had 6 more i let them go, I knew I could catch them especially when the pitch went up and they were shot. And exactly that happened, about 1/3 mile in to the climb I just passed five by five they were falling off like crazy. Then in the hairpin turn when the pitch went up some one fell over, in what? who knows, how? who knows, rookie cat 5 move? most likely.
Well this separated the pack as he took 5 or 6 people with him. I didnt look just kept going. Luis leading the slaughter concerned I was near it, was yelling for me to make sure I was ok and didnt get caught up in the mess. I caught up to him shortly afterward and with two others, we agree to work to get something to stick. Then came the descent this one was particularly technical with two sets of S turns being very tight, but from my days of karting I knew how to hit the apex just perfectly and was even pulling away for the breakaway group so I had to slow it down some.
We were working together really well, rotating pace line we had a good rhythm going. Then came the second climb, obviously the group we had were probably the best climbers as we all stuck together on climbs and were putting even more time in to the main field. This climb being a little longer it was more my style and I had an excellent pace going, Luis telling me to slow down a couple times. Nick from WWVC was next to me, wanting to get to know a local team rider I started chatting with him, I was in Z2/3 not pushing too hard I began asking him questions about his racing, why he is a Cat 5 now, what other races he had done. In fact he raced at Vint Hill three weeks ago in the Cat 5 that we controlled most of and he took the win. So i knew he was a smart racer knowing when to sit in and when to attack. I then asked him about Wintergreen and TTs, to which he replied he had no desire to any type of TTs as they arent his thing.
Reading into this I knew this how to get rid of him. As the climb leveled out a bit and Luis still yelling for me slow down, I kept my pace going, upped it to Z4 power and kept going. Sorry Nick, I blew him up on the climb as I knew he didnt have the capacity to hold it with me as I continued to accelerate and the climb pitched up again, I broke away around minute 42 of the race. I saw him falling back, and Luis and the other guy catching him quickly, this is where my tri training comes in to play, ability to hold hard efforts for long periods of time.
Keeping training camp in mind I kept applying good amounts of power into the descent and saw the distance growing and the lead car pass them and come up to get in front of me. From this point on I knew I was going to by myself for most of the race, and most likely get caught on the rollers to the finish line. The winds were strong, from the south, which is unusal but it made for a great help on the stretch of highway that we were on. It was a a TT effort, keeping it in Z2/3 I have no idea about speed, dont worry about it but I knew I was flying. I got as low as I got, chin on the handle bars and resting my arms on the bars, this type of riding aero is more important than power because I can save leg power if I stay aero than try and sit up and hammer out massive watts.
As I began attacking the rest of climbs it seemed as if there was a tail wind up most of them as I passed numerous riders from categories that started minutes before us. It was like being a tri all over again, do what you can to not get passed at all. I told Luis that in the planning phase of this race. I didnt draft any of them as I passed them quite quickly and mostly on the climbs. Lots of paper boy type riding up the hills. By myself I was able to ride my own pace up the climbs and didnt have to worry about Luis sprinting up them to kill everyone off, one good thing. Because I would try to keep up and then end up popping myself off.
The descent were technical and always had a lot of cross winds, and with 58mm deep wheels there were times where handling was very difficult and scary, especially since some hairpin turns had wire fencing and a good 100 foot drop to the road below. I tried to go quickly but also let the legs recover as much as possible. The weather hot and I was going through water a lot quicker than expected.
My first bottle was gone before an hour in, and I was keeping to a sip every five minutes, and I popped a gel about 1:20 in so I would be digested in time for the finish. This made me even more thirsty with the sugar. I just wanted my second bottle to last until two hours, I knew there wouldnt be much time after that and could survive back to the car. As the miles went on and on, I did get lonely wanted to sit up, but having no idea where any one was and the fear of getting caught in the rollers I knew I had to keep my pace moderate but still conserving just in case I got caught I could keep up with them.
With the last climb approaching I caught up to two teammates that started in the 45+ group I believe, they were shocked to see me and encouraged me to keep kicking ass and going hard. I did so, I got up like I was in the freaking tour and just danced up the hills, passing more and more, and they were getting younger, I was passing the Cat 4s which started 15+ minutes before us.
From driving the course I knew there was a mile marker sign and I was looking for it around every bend, having no idea on the course length I prayed for it to be soon, my quads were feeling it, and I was thirsty as hell and had no water left. I saw the sign. I upped the pace a bit, past more guys. Irritating part is they would draft me so I upped it even more to get them off my wheel. I kept my lead car insight and just kept pushing. Saw the 200m sign, I zipped up my jersey in case there was a photog there and just cruised in to the finish. I knew I had won, but by how much, no clue.
After the finish I was chatting with a cat 4 racer that finished behind me and he start asking about my riding and racing experience, not sure if he was implying I was sandbagging or not but thought it was annoying. Trust me if I could upgrade to the 4s and do this I would have no problems with it, I dont want to be a 5 but according to the rules everyone has to do it.
I went up to the car and then back down to the finish line to look for Luis and Tods finishing, I had no idea how far back they were. I caught up with Luke who did well finishing in what he thought was 4th earning even more points towards his Cat 3 upgrade, awesome job man. A few minutes later Luis finished, he came back to me to tell me he flatted out there. He hit a rock in the road and got a pinch flat in the rear tire.
When he pulled over he yelled for Jeff, Luis and Tods to stop and help him. He changed the tire very quickly and the team work Jeff, Luis and Tods did to get Luis back to the pack was amazing and he was able to catch all the back up to the two other breakaway guys and sprint for 3rd but ended up with 4th. That right there is an amazing effort by him and the team work by Jeff, Luis and Tods.
It took forever to get the results not the typical 20 - 30 minutes, I am talking over two hours. We were back to the car before 3pm and they didnt start handing out awards until 5:15 or so after a long protest period. Lets just say things were as organized as they could have been. Overall the race was awesome, I loved it, the terrain was perfect for my style and cant wait to race it again next year hopefully as a 3 or 2.
Here is the WKO+ data from the race:
Lap 1 (2:12:16.48):
Duration: 2:15:03
Work: 1852 kJ
TSS: 150.8 (intensity factor 0.819)
Norm Power: 000
VI: 1.13
Pw:HR: -1.92%
Pa:HR: 2.01%
Distance: 44.589 mi
Elevation Gain: 3374 ft
Elevation Loss: 3428 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-51 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 000 000 watts
Heart Rate: 125 190 171 bpm
Cadence: 40 162 93 rpm
Speed: 0.2 46.6 20.2 mph
Pace 1:17 321:52 2:58 min/mi
Altitude: 909 1466 1129 ft
Crank Torque: 0 000 000 lb-in
Regarding the title about the course, the organizer posted a new race course for the race and then updated it without posting anything on the website. We were able to drive about 2/3 of the course after going the wrong direction we turned around and drove it properly and got a really good look at the technicality of the descents and the turns that await us.
Again, awesome display of teamwork Jeff, Luis and Tods to get Luis back up to group and what an awesome effort Luis did to get all the way back and get 4th.
Thank you Heather and Christian for your continued support and encouragement.
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