Winter

It's winter. There's not much to blog about. Certainly no races. I'm more interested in photography and short updates right now, so I'm trying out Tumblr. It looks a lot more slick than blogger and is easy to update. Not sure if I like it for race reports yet. I'll decide that come race season. Here's the link:

jtheskier.tumblr.com

2010 Josh Billings Triathlon

Road season is over, cross season is heating up, and perched perfectly between the two is The Great Josh Billings Triathlon in the beautiful Berkshires. What a great event that has a little something for everyone. The first leg is a 500 person mass start 27 mile road race with a couple of moderate climbs. It attracts anyone from pro’s, to mtb’ers, to cruisers. Although come to think of it I’m yet to see a hipster here. That would be something. Paddling is just fun whether you have a kayak, fishing canoe, or a 20 lb carbon fiber racing boat. And runners? Well, I don’t run and have trouble appreciating what makes it fun, but being the final leg of a three leg team event has to help. (just kidding runners)

Per usual I was part of my family’s team, although this year we did have to mix it up a bit. Todd is normally our runner but he lives in Cali and couldn’t make it back for the event. So about 2 months ago Shawn decided to come out of the canoe and take up training for the run. Dad opted to paddle his Cobra Eliminator one-man kayak (K-1). Both canoes and kayaks are OK in the family division.

There were two other teams that my buds put together. The first was Erica cycling, Pat and Jamie paddling, and Pat running. The second team was Andrew cycling and his buds Bob and Greg paddling and running.

"the barf bike"

Since my Tarmac seatstay cracked at GMSR I had to build up my old Six13 in a hurry (which is also has a minor crack). I did everything I could to better my chances of getting in the breakaway and ran my carbon tubulars as well as my skinsuit. That presents some logistical challenges. I can’t repair a tubular flat on course and there’s no wheel car, so my plan was to call my high paid soigneur (THANKS MOM) if need be. Well that presented problem #2, which was that I didn’t have a pocket in my skinsuit to carry my cell phone. We got a bit creative and ended up pinning a plastic zip lock bag underneath my race number, and you couldn’t even tell it was there. Great idea Pat.

Naturally we get to the start later than I want, about 40 minutes before the start. Warmup was a bit rushed and I got to staging late. I line up at the back of the USCA racers and when the first rope dropped (think GMSR criterium staging) I was able to get to the front row although on the far left side. Nice.

On the line I finally have a chance to look around and start sizing up the competition. What do you know, the guy behind me is wearing an aero helmet and an Indy Fab kit. I think it might be Robbie King because I’m a pro results stalker and do race against him from time to time, although it’s usually a p123 race and I’m going off the back while he goes off the front. Turns out it is him. Our conversation went something like:

Me: Should I be concerned that you’re wearing an aero helmet?

RK: No, not at all. Should I be concerned that you have Edge wheels and pink handlebar tape?

How witty. We shook hands, wished each other good luck, and I was blessed with his pro/cat1 roadie power and it was awesome.

Actually it turned out that there were a few more fast guys than usual. Will Dugan (who also had an aero helm!), Josh Dillon, Josh Lipka, Chris Fischer, Todd Roberts, Dieter Drake were some of the other upper category racers. No Jamey Driscoll or Nat Faulkner this year. OK that’s enough name dropping, but you get the idea, a few more fast people here than usual.

me and a girl in pink leading out robbie king with 27 miles to go

I was too busy posing for photographs and wasn’t paying attention when they dropped the rope for the start. Somehow in a panic I clipped in right away and off we went.

The start through Great Barrington seemed faster than usual to me. 500m in I thought I even saw 3 or 4 guys with a gap and thought that would have to be some sort of new record for the earliest break ever. But that may be too early even for riders of this caliber and we booked it through town as a big bunch like usual.

I rode the right side of the pack and it was one of those days when I just couldn’t get in a good spot. I was sliding back too quickly and kept having to come up the outside taking more wind than I’d like. When we hit the right hand turn to the first hill I was about 20 back on the inside.

I may just be stronger than the last time I did this race for real, but I’m pretty sure the pace up the hill was way slower than usual. No power meter to know for sure but about two-thirds of the way up the climb I was barely under pressure and we were super bunched up. The fastest guys tend to dictate the pace, and with so many new fast guys I think there may have been less of a plan than usual.

Attacks came near the top I was boxed in ~20 back and couldn’t respond immediately like I wanted. A few holes opened up as some of the people in front of me reached their limits and I started riding like a madman. 9 riders had gapped the rest of us by 50 meters already. I really did not want to let this move go and dug as deep as I could like it was the finish of the race. Another BCA rider was in the same boat. When we weren’t able to catch them at the top of the climb I gave up. I’ve fallen trap before to chasing down groups on the descent that immediately follows. With so many cat1’s it seemed like suicide.

However, the BCA rider was more spirited than me and he continued to chase. I really thought he didn’t have a chance. I watched him chase and chase and chase in no man’s land as I settled in to what would become the first main pack. He must’ve been riding alone for nearly 5 minutes, but he did actually make it onto the breakaway group. I was really impressed.

Our first pack was HUGE after the first hill. Like 40+ huge. In 2008 I think we were only 20 at this point. And we were motoring too. The breakaway group was going a lot slower than I expected and I’m pretty sure we were slowly reeling them in, all the way to the second climb, but we never did catch them. The gap was probably down to 10 or 15 seconds at the minimum though. I did nothing to contribute because I couldn’t. I had really spent myself trying to claw back on to the breakaway group over first hill and went deeply anaerobic. My legs were shaking, my breath short, and just recovering in the draft was difficult. The second hill that was coming up is usually the hardest of the day for me and I needed a good recovery.

In 2008 our smaller first pack hit the second climb at what I considered to be an easy initial pace. It seemed much harder this year. With the breakaway group still in sight, two or three people attempted to bridge. They didn’t make it, but it was a darn brave move that really made me suffer and you have to respect that they tried. A lot of people were sag climbing or blowing up at the last little kicker of this second hill and I think there may have been some additional selection.

With the 2^nd hill behind me I was recovering well and confident about not being dropped. I contributed a small bit to the pace making including a long pull on the big descent of the day. I hoped my aero toys would let me go fast so I really drilled it like we were on an uphill. I may have given a little too much on that downhill and actually had trouble getting back in the group.

Around the time we went through West Stockbridge one of the Battenkill United guys made a crazy move across the bunch and just missed chopping off my front wheel. That really shook me up and made me especially irritable for the next 10 minutes or so. I didn’t have many nice thoughts during that period, and I don’t really want to write about them, so let’s just skip ahead.

starting to move up along the false flat after stockbridge

Things were pretty uneventful until after the Stockbridge hill, other than more stupid riding and near crashes. I was sitting on the very back of the field going up the steep parts of the Stockbridge climb, but on the long false flat after that I went straight up to the front. That was refreshing; less people to worry about.

Some dudes were drilling it along the fast rolling downhill section just before the Stockbridge Bowl causeway and the final climb of the day. I was being a pest wanting to stay at the front but not contribute much to the pacemaking. I knew people would attack the last climb of the day and wanted my legs to be ready.

Sure enough, people attacked the second the road kicked up. Actually, several people attacked on the false flat just before the climb really begins. I remember thinking, yeah right, good luck holding that pace. Sure enough they didn’t hold it once the road got steep, and that’s when the counters came.

I was all over the counterattack and we held a fast pace all the way to the top of the climb. My legs were screaming but the course was packed with spectators and you can’t stop pedaling. I heard the guy in the Cherry Picker call off my number, 168, also motivating. Four or five of us had a little gap, and someone had the legs to keep drilling it even at the top when it flattened out. I was totally at my limit and could never have been pulling at that speed, so I was surprised when some people were able to reattach to us on the flat.

There were lots of punchy little moves the rest of the way to the finish, and I don’t think anyone really got ahead by much. I generally stayed within the first 3 to 5 wheels, just hopping around as I could.

Like everyone else I was almost in a sprint as we pulled into the finish where all the paddlers awaited. I was right with the front of the group and was beyond anxious to hand off my wristband to my Dad so he could run over the chip timer that would stop my cycling split time. He had a humble position far from the front of the masses and it took him maybe FIVE SECONDS to take my handoff although to me it felt like FIVE MINUTES. And when I finally did see him I thought it was a good idea to toss the wrist band to him. You know, so he could save 0.5s from reduced running distance. Of course I tossed it poorly so he couldn’t catch it and ended up costing us more time.

By the time I finished clowning around I was scored officially 14^th place, 1:07:13. The guys that I remember finishing with were in 11-12^th place, 1:07:02 to 1:07:05. A few seconds isn’t a big deal in the overall picture even those it’s an eternity in a road race. I can’t knock on the handoff too much though, it was probably pretty average overall. One of the other guys I finished with is scored 10 seconds behind me. And I heard Robbie King threw his wristband deep into the mass of paddlers that were standing around and that it took a good minute for anyone to find it. Another paddler was in the John when his cyclist came in. Yea, so it could’ve been a lot worse.

Erica finished in 1:19:53, 5^th bike split for woman I think, and Andrew did a respectable 1:23:26 after getting dropped from his pack due to a dropped chain. Who built that bike anyways?!

The paddlers had a slightly longer day in the water than usual (see below). Dad finished in a respectable 1:06, Pat&Jamie in 1:09, and Bob also did a 1:09.

Shawn did a 46:02 10k to get us finished in just under 3 hours which is always a big target. Solid split for a 230 lb’er too. I wish I had a powermeter on him! Pat did a 44:46 and Joel a 48:25. All real solid splits. I don’t think I could get under 50 minutes. That course is hilly!

We were happy to finish under 3 hours and got 4^th in the family division. Really exciting considering we were a man down this year. Results are here. Great pics here.

bike splits plot

You can really see a lot about the race when you plot time and place. The cycling plot is the most interesting because you can see the different groups. The 10 person breakaway group split into 3 and 7. The 3 finished very fast while the 7 weren’t particularly fast for a breakaway. The first pack was the biggest that it’s been in years (23), and it also finished fast too (the two probably go hand in hand). The second pack was quite large as well. Beyond that, things were pretty typical.

canoe splits plot

Here’s the same plot but for the boats. Like the cyclists, the very fastest boats are abnormally fast. Generally the fastest boat time doesn’t vary much either. This year’s fastest boat time was nearly 44 minutes, which is really slow for a winner, and they beat out 2^nd place by over a minute. Times stay slow pretty much all the way out on the placings. Having not paddled in several years I don’t know if this is due to wind or buoy placing or what. Assuming that the race isn’t any less competitive (more entrants this year), the trend seems to be that the boat leg is getting longer.

GMSR, cat3

Since when is it September? What happened to June, July, August? Cyclocross has already started for the real lunatics. For me, all I’ve been thinking about is GMSR and what a weekend that was. I trained my butt off in July and August and went into it fit and ready.

I targeted the points competition. That plan basically eliminates the TT and last 50 miles of the road stage from my weekend since there’s no points there. It seemed like a good plan since I still can’t seem to be competitive on long steep climbs. I like to blame it on Boston since the longest local climbs are less than 5 minutes long, but then you get local guys like Stephen Pierce that fly up the mountains. Maybe I just don’t like to suffer.

Stage 1 – Warren Store ITT

This is the same TT as 2008 and 2009. The course climbs 500’ over the first 2.5 miles, then drops about 200’ of that vertical over the next 3 mile with a technical 10%+ dip with 500m to go. The average gradient of the climb is mellow but it kicks up to 7% or more in places. Equipment rules are mass start legal equipment only, so aero helmets and disc wheels are OK, aerobars are not.

Wind direction makes a big difference on this course. 2008 and 2010 had a favorable wind while 2009 did not.

In 2008 I got smoked here and I think it was my flat pacing strategy because my average power wasn’t bad. My plan for 2010 was to go 100% to the top of the hill, which would be 8 or 9 minutes, then hold on the best I could. I was thinking somewhere around 330W for the climb and 250 or 300W or whatever I could muster after that.

I got 45 minutes of warmup in rolling up and down Rt 100 and somehow that still didn’t feel like enough. On Thursday I was on my feet all day at work which made my legs feel like bricks. What can you do though. Doing 60 or 90 minutes seems like overkill.

And just like that, 5,4,3,2,1, GO GMSR had started. I punched it hard in the little ring, get up to speed, take the turn, and up we go. I went with my Edge wheels and not my Powertap so I was pacing on feel. 400W always feels like 200W in a TT so I tried to keep my effort reasonable.

However, this TT is supposed to hurt with all the elevation gain being early. When the grade kicked up a bit just a minute or two in I ramped it up. And as the road kicked steep for the second time I was already breathing hard, and couldn’t really punch it like I wanted to. I was a little annoyed that my 30s man seemed so far away (he eventually put a minute into me), and I was really deflated when the dude 30s behind me made his pass just before the top. To make matters worse, the 60s behind me guy also passed me on the start of the downhill.

I shouldn’t be surprised though because I never got that feeling like I was really crushing it on the climb. I’m not a strong time trialist. If I’m not on the verge of blacking out it’s not going to be a great ride. And after I got passed twice, I just had no motivation to really go.

The two people that passed me didn’t really put much distance on me on the descent, and I was taking it easy especially right before the dip. I sprinted hard enough up the dip that I caught the two of them and held on to the finish. Sprinting up that steep grade brought back a 10 or 15s gap in no time. I think it was well worth backing off enough to really hammer the dip.

Finishing time was 16:22 which was 62/80 for the 3’s. Placing was not so good but I was actually pleased with that time. Given my effort was far from stellar I was surprised to still sort of be in the mix. Sure, I was +1:55 on leader Victor Taomina (Seaside Cycles) but I’m pretty sure that dude clicked the cat3 box by mistake instead of cat1 when registering. His winning time of 14:27 would be solid for the 1’s. So compared to normal 3’s I was only +1:30 on 2nd place and a minute out of the top 20. I’ve had TT’s that have been far worse.

Stage 2 – Bridges Resort Circuit Race

The 3’s did 3 ½ laps for 72 miles total. Each lap has a 700 foot climb and sprinter’s points paying 4 places deep on every lap. I wanted to get as many of those points as possible. My teammate Oscar was in the race and our plan was to approach this one aggressively. I checked out the course after the TT on Friday to get familiar with the finishing section and feel out the climb.

Two guys snuck away on the little Rt 2 hill on the first lap and stayed away to snag the points. That left 3^rd and 4^th place points available. Before the race I decided I would sprint for 3^rd place points but not for 4^th so it was time to play. With 1k2go Oscar was drilling it on the front but it was a strong headwind so it was a longer effort than it appeared. Sweet Open Roads’ Cosmo starting drilling it Renshaw style after Oscar was done. He was leading out his sprinter Patrick Barter and I was on his wheel. I was ready to go to the inside of the slightly left-bending downhill turn and Patrick went hard to the outside with 200m. He got a great jump and absolutely crushed me and I took 4^th place points uncontested.

For whatever reason it was hard to recover after that. I was out of breath before the climb even started. I took my feed from Erica then had to dig super deep to get over the climb. I was worried. This climb wasn’t supposed to hurt this much. But, I was still with the field and ready to sprint some more. I thought a few other people may have been dropped but it looks like they clawed back on.

No breaks got away on the Rt2 hill although people did try. The pack was ready this time and the same move didn’t work twice. With max points up for grab the field was packing in tight. Much more interest in the points than on lap 1. 3k out I think someone hit a pothole that crashed out 2 racers. Luckily, I wasn’t affected and was in excellent position, sitting 2^nd wheel on the left side of the bunch all the way to 1k to go.

Turns out there was a problem with this position. Sweet Open Roads lined up their train again, this time with a 3^rd man added for more horsepower, and they were on the far right side of the bunch. So, when they started drilling it with 1k2go I was boxed in, scrambled and still missed the train, torching my legs somewhat in the process. I watched 4 of my competitors sweep up the points just up the road.

I didn’t think that lap 2 effort was too deep, but I was in trouble when we got to the climb. It comes up surprisingly soon after the sprint, especially considering the counter-attacks that ensue after the finish line. The trouble for me is that my anaerobic juices weren’t recharged when we got to the climb. I rely on anaerobic power a lot for these shorter ~5min climbs. If I can do a max of 100kj of work in 5 minutes, but only have 25kj out of 35kj max anaerobic capacity available, I’m down 10% on my 5min average for the climb. That means I can do 340W average instead of 380W, which is a huge difference.

So when we got strung out single file, I assume because the KOM sprint was on, I got dropped. I just couldn’t dig into those reserves to go harder; there was nothing there.

Three of us tried to get back on during the descent but the gap was too much, even with the caravan of traffic that had built up behind the field. Our chase group grew and ended up finishing about 12 minutes down, but more importantly I had missed out on the sprinter’s points.

This stage was more of a learning experience than I had expected. I thought I was perfectly suited for this stage but it ended up being my worst of the entire race. The extra work required for the intermediate sprints was far more taxing than expected. I expected this race to be similar to the KSR circuit race. The elevation gains on the KOM hills are similar, but KSR seems to be longer and more gradual, requiring significantly less anaerobic power.

Stage 3 – Mad River Road Race

This is the queen stage of GMSR and I can’t think of a better road race in New England. There have been a few variations of this course over the past few years, but the general idea is to have lots of climbing and end on App Gap 60 or 70 miles later. This year we started at Mt Ellen base lodge, went through Waitsfield Center and did the TT course backwards, adding a pretty significant 500’ climb to the stage. After that we took the usual route over Middlebury Gap, a slightly different route through Bristol, and once again up App Gap. Sprint points were available paying 3 deep, 23 miles in at the bottom of Granville Gulch.

That new climb right after Waitsfield had me nervous after being dropped in the Circuit Race. I figured the field could shell me pretty easily if I weren’t careful, but we ended up just crawling over it as if we were warming up. It was actually a really beautiful addition to the course, going through the covered bridge, by Round Barn Farm, all with spectacular views of the valley that you don’t appreciate during the TT.

Attacks ensued over the top of this climb, likely sprinters trying to get away for the points. We descended pretty rapidly and I was able to get right to the front. We bombed through Warren Center in full on chase mode. Onion River Racing had the green jersey and were leading the chase, keeping the attacks within reason.

As we turned onto Rt 100 and started ascending Granville Gulch there were still 2 guys off the front and we were going hard, still strung out. I was dreading this pace, thinking it’d make for a brutally hard day. We still had 55 miles to go that included Granville Gulch, Middlebury Gap, Notch Road, and App Gap.

When Onion River eventually reeled the last escapee in I prepared for a counter attack to come, but it didn’t.

I figured everyone probably felt like I did: a bit winded and ready for the pace to mellow out a bit. So, I decided to do a counter myself. Instead of sprinting like a mad man, I just gradually picked up the pace while hugging the gutter and slowly rolled off the front. I kept looking back, checking to see if anyone wanted to come with me, but no one did.

At first the gap was 10m, then it slowly increased to 20m, and a bit later 50m. There was a headwind going down Rt 100 and I’m sure no one wanted to work into it. Eventually my gap stretched out to 200m or so with only a very minimal effort, and when the gradient got a little steep I started hammering and got out of sight.

I felt strong, but I was a lot further from the top of the climb than I realized. Closer to 10 or 15 minutes than the 5 or 10 minutes I was thinking. Partially because that headwind was brutal. Eventually I realized I was getting caught and I backed off since I knew I was still a few minutes from the top.

When I got caught Oscar was the first to pull up alongside me. He asked if my legs were toast and I said that they were not. The green jersey wearer started yelling a whole bunch, and at first I didn’t understand why. It turned out that the bunch hadn’t caught me. Instead a group of 7 had bridged up to me and I couldn’t see the main field behind us.

This breakaway got organized around the top of Granville. Oscar and I were both there for NEBC, Sweet Open Roads had two including their sprinter, the Green Jersey was there, so too was Chris Wood (Sound Solutions sprinter), and Nevin Rallis (Bikeman sprinter). It was like a big sprinters’ party and this was definitely the move I wanted to be in.

Sweet Open Roads attacked on the descent and Oscar immediately chased him for me. Everyone else sat on. We were ripping down this descent and I knew the sprint well. The line is hidden and doesn’t come into view until 200 meters out which is exactly where I went after Oscar led it out. I launched on the left side just as Nevin went to the right. I felt like I had all the snap in the world, but Nevin still pulled away from me, and then I also got nipped on the line by Barter and Wood. So zero points for me despite having everything go nearly perfectly. Dang. I just got straight up beat.

We sat up and chatted for a minute after the sprint. Two guys charged ahead showing their intent to keep the breakaway alive. Then Oscar went up to them so I did too. Before long we had 6 guys and shortly later we had 2 new faces that bridged up.

A motorcycle told us we had 3 minutes and I liked the idea of having a head start over Middlebury Gap. We had a pretty decent paceline going and worked well through the feed zone. When the climb got steep we broke up, with 5 guys going up the road from me and 2 going back. Oscar went backwards, having been struggling with a stomach issue. The last kilometer was miserable for me, grinding out a cadence of like 50 with my 40x26 gearing.

Oscar and another guy weren’t far behind me at the top of Middlebury, and there were more guys just up the road. We formed a chase group that kept growing and growing, and before long we had 8 again.

At the bottom of Middlebury the situation looked like this: 43 miles down, 27 miles to go. Lead group of 3 was up the road, I was in Chase 1, a group of 8, and the peloton was chasing us.

When we started heading north on 116 we got a tailwind, which I really thought would favor us. However, when the motorcycle started giving us time gaps I was kind of shocked to hear that the lead 3 had 5 minutes on the peloton, and that we were only a minute ahead of them. Those 3 had to have been absolutely drilling it if the 8 of us were losing ground to them.

As the time gaps got less and less favorable we lost more and more people. When the peloton got really close we even got a few new faces. I eventually disconnected from our group on Notch Road. That road is so ridiculously steep, I didn’t have a chance. In fact, I was so slow going up it that the peloton caught me just shortly after getting on the dirt section. My 40 miles of breakaway glory were over.

Speaking of the dirt road, boy is that section miserable. This is coming from someone that generally likes flat, selective courses. I’d be OK with it if it were smoother like Battenkill’s dirt roads are, but those sharp potholes are deep, sharp, and plain nasty. It’s more like a game of avoiding flat tires than anything else.

The pace ramped up as we got to the Baby Gap turn. The motorcycle informed us the peloton was still 5 minutes behind the leaders. Those 3 guys must’ve been crushing it. As we strung out single file I realized just how shot my legs were. When we came to the turn onto Baby Gap I just let everyone come by. I didn’t want to screw up anyone else’s day by getting gapped.

Despite being pretty shattered to start the climb, it was actually the easiest it’s ever been for me thanks to a wicked tailwind. However, 40x26 was still too much gear and I should get something smaller if I ever want to try and compete on that sort of gradient. I finished a whopping 15 minutes off the leader who came from our breakaway.

There was some controversy about our break because the main field got neutralized when the master’s group passed them. The complaint was that our break didn’t get neutralized as well. I’m not sure what the rulebook states but after having been in that break for so long I’m pretty impressed that the stage winner was able to hold on. The fact is he did 50 miles in a breakaway and still had enough left to stay away on App Gap. That’s impressive.

Stage 4 – Burlington Criterium

This is the 1km, 6 turn, super technical downtown criterium that keeps some climbers away from the stage race altogether. Cat3’s do 34 laps and there are sprinters’ points with 30 to go, 5 to go, and on the finish. I would have needed to win pretty much everything to get the green jersey so I gave up on that goal. I just wanted a decent result.

A ton of people get dropped in this race compared to most criteriums. It’s hard to say why exactly, but a lot of it has to do with super strong people drilling it at the front while nervous bike handlers get sloppy at the back. The race gets so strung out right from the start that it’s impossible for even the stronger guys to avoid getting dropped if they have to keep closing gaps.

That being said, this race is all about the start, and the start is totally unique. Top 10 GC and jersey wearers get a call up. The remaining 70 people in our field go through a staging fiasco. We line up on a side street as much as 30 minutes early. When the time comes the officials drop a rope and we sprint like madmen to a second staging rope that’s on the course. Then that rope gets dropped and we again sprint like madmen to the real start line, behind the people that got a callup. It’s a race before the race.

I nailed it this year. I lined up super early and sprinted to the spot behind Stephen Pierce on the first rope-drop. When he got a callup, I took his spot in the first row. On the next rope-drop I got out in front which let me chose which of the top 10 GC and jersey wearers I wanted to start behind. The obvious choice there was the green jersey who would be going after the lap 4 points and needed a good start. After getting behind him I was please to see he had speedplay pedals, easy to clip into. When the whistle blew for us to start, he clipped in instantly and so did I. I moved up slightly before turn 2 and was on the front of the race, right behind the pace car. Perfect!

If only I could have raced well on the first few laps of the race. For some reason I lacked any confidence and handled my bike in the turns like a total idiot. There were only 2 people in front of me yet every single turn I let a gap open. Then I’d have to close them. This went on for the first 2 laps. I was surprised it took 2 laps for anyone to come around me. I would have passed myself in a second.

Victor (Seaside Cycles) came by me when I was still at the front and sort of just rolled away, and I knew I needed to go with him. He had lost the yellow as a result of the breakaway in the RR and I expected him to try and lap the field. I thought if I played my cards right I could ride his wheel most of the way. But I was too gassed from closing up gaps and essentially watched the race ride away from me. He took a few others with him and eventually there were only 3 that would lap the field.

I did settle into the middle of the field as my cornering ability improved. The gap to the 3 leaders stretched out every time we came around but I figured there were stronger people than me to chase it and was pretty content to sit in.

With somewhere around 15 to go I was right in the middle of things. On turn 1, I was on the outside lane when someone came flying around me on the outside at a ridiculous speed. There was very little space for him and I think he ran into the curb on the side of the road. After that, all I can remember is his bike being sideways in front of me and plowing into him. I went down on my right side and somehow the 20 or so people behind me managed to avoid piling up. I tried to get up but my tailbone was throbbing in pain and I couldn’t do it without help, so that was it for my race.

Summary

Back home I talked to my doctor about my tailbone but passed on doing x-rays after being told there isn’t much that could be done for a break anyways. If the pain gets worse I will get them done, but hopefully it won’t come to that. Unfortunately the seatstay of my Tarmac was also cracked in the crash so I need to look into a repair job.

Despite the crash, this was still the most fun I’ve ever had at a race, probably in part due to the long build up to the race. The time trial was OK, we had some great sprints in the circuit race, the road race was amazing between being in the long break with my teammate and throwing down for the sprints there too, and the criterium was cool too until my crash. My roomie Colby won the green jersey in the 2’s and it was fun to be part of that. Erica made great food all weekend long and we love soaking in the central VT atmosphere.

I have lots of pictures to add and will hopefully get around to that soon.

Fall River Criterium, cat3

Fall River Criterium, I think this may go down as a race that few people love but few people dislike. It’s a great closed course: 4 turns, semi-technical, a fast downhill, and a moderate uphill to a long flat finishing straightaway. The fastest strong man will win a sprint. Weaker sprinters will be too gassed from the hill.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to get very excited about racing in an industrial park. Especially when the entrance has an arrangement of toilet bowls set up artistically with letters on them spelling “Industrial Park.” I was going to snap a photo on my way out, but we ended up leaving in another direction so no photo.

That being said, I was really looking forward to a good competitive crit with the 3’s. It seems that these are a rarity compared to p123 and 4/5 races. Mostly because I don’t want to travel to southern CT, so it’s my own fault.

Boy did I feel lousy the morning of the race. Dehydrated, shaky, high pulse, hungry. Not at all ideal. Possibly the result of being at the tail end of a high volume training week. Or maybe the previous night’s wine was a big stronger than I’m used to. Or maybe both. Who knows. The 3’s didn’t start until 1pm so I had a lot of time to eat up, relax, and get ready.

Actually, the morning flew by and I didn’t even get to the venue until 12:30, 30 minutes before the start. So much for a warmup, and my legs felt like rocks. I also just glued a new tubular the morning before. It took me a week of prep and I was anal about every last detail but I still hate riding things untested. Especially after reading a story like Jonny Bold’s at masters nats. You want to make sure everything is perfect when you’re running tubular.

So per usual I rush the reg, kit up, Erica makes me Gatorade and pins me up, and I’m on the line. But it’s all good because I have a sweet new s/s skinsuit formally worn by NEBC legend Todd Rowell. His sweat, tears, and chamois creams have surely saturated the lycra threads with empowering upper category awesomeness. Actually I was just happy to have a kit without any holes and working zippers that fits me right (it seems I’m a medium now) but either way it was cool.

The whistle blows and we’re off. We had 30 pre-reg’d but it looked more like 50 on the line to me. Lots of tired masters were doubling up for the day. I took an outside line on the first several turns, thinking if I were to roll my tubular it would be good form to only crash myself. We hit some turns fast early on and by mid race I was pretty confident that it was going to stick.

An early break of two got up the road, I think Wheelworks and some younger guy in mostly black with yellow lettering, something “.nl”. Kind of cool looking in a Livestrong sort of way. They dangled about 10 seconds up on a relaxed field until the first prime, which was probably a third or more of the way into the race.

After they came back a few much shorter lived moves went off. I was trying to stay within striking distance of the front, waiting for the right move to go with.

Nothing seemed to be a winner though. Green Line Velo (GLV) only had 3 guys in the race, including a seemingly unbeatable Sam Rosenholtz, and I suspected they were banking on a sprint finish, similar to Norwell. I decided I would only attack if one of them were in the move, or if the going got really hard making the race too hard to control.

With about 8 to go it was announced that there would be back to back to back primes. The first two were $25 and the last was $50. I stuck to the front hoping that I could snag one with minimal effort, but all three ending up being won on mini-breaks. GLV did get off the front for one but I ignored it thinking it was a pure prime effort.

By the end of the third prime I was chomping at the bit to attack. I was hoping that these 3 primes would really lift the pace and launch a winning move. Tom Stevens (Gearworks) countered when the final mini-break came back, but he was alone. And the pace still didn’t feel too hard somehow. I passed again on attacking in order to contest the bunch sprint. There were only 5 to go so attacking would mean playing all your cards.

Paul Curley also came out of hiding around this point, moving very near the front. I didn’t even know he was in the race. If all else failed he would be a good wheel to follow to the finish.

The pace seemed to back off significantly after the Stevens move. I found myself on the front barely pedaling for nearly a lap. I couldn’t believe no one wanted to come around but I didn’t really care, soft pedaling is soft pedaling.

That all changed with 2 to go. We came out of the turn 2 downhill and there was a full on rush to the front. There was a tailwind on the section which made it extra fast. Mike Norton seemed to be starting something off for his Cyclonauts team and took over the pacemaking. I was swarmed on either side and lost all sort of position, and the pace was too hot up the hill to get it back there. We came through for the bell lap and I was lost in the middle of the pack.

I needed to get move up. I was under very little stress and in great condition to contest the sprint. On the downhill I went to the outside and picked up a few spots. The bigger opportunity was between turns 2 and 3 where the road is wide and the tailwind helps. Just as I went to sprint up the side a few others did as well, which I believe was a Cambridge Bicycles (CB) duo. I got to within 10 wheels of the front before making a scary fast lefthander up the hill for the final time.

This point of the race is tricky. It’s roughly 600m out, but it’s slow with the uphill and headwind on the finishing straight. At 10 wheels back, I could potentially be in a very good position, but it’s risky. If someone in front of me cracks and a gap opens, I lose. If the pace eases off and I get swarmed, I lose. I think you have to sit in and if the pace feels too easy for a half a second you move up. Before the top of the hill too.

Stephen Pierce (CB) was on the front setting the pace up the hill. I know he’s super strong when the road tilts up but I didn’t feel under pressure. I came around the outside and moved into third wheel as we approached the top of the hill.

It was an awesome position but I burnt a serious match in doing so and I knew it. Any anaerobic juice I may have had was now gone. I needed the pace to back off for just a few seconds to re-energize. We did ease off shortly after making the final turn when Pierce called it a day. The Wheelworks rider (I think it was WW) behind him had no interest in going hard, and I can’t blame him. If I had anything at all good left in my legs for the sprint I would have gone then, albeit being a long 300m into the wind. But I stayed tucked away, hoping I could ride wheels to the finish.

And that’s exactly when Rosenholtz went, to the narrow ride side that was only wide enough for one racer. Boy is he fast. His acceleration was too fast for WW to get on his wheel and I had no room to maneuver being passed on both sides. Not that I could have grabbed his wheel either. It turned into an awkwardly long in the saddle sprint of trying to hold wheels.

For a moment, at about 100m to go, things were looking OK. Somehow I was still in about 5^th place but I was about to move back fast. My legs were toast. I got passed by so many people in those last 100m it’s a wonder I didn’t get crashed into. I ended up in 14^th.

I probably spent more work being towards the front than I should have if I were planning on sprinting for the finish. That’s the problem when you race with no plan and just try to do it all. You don’t do any one thing really well, and unless you’re silly strong for your category, you need to do one thing really well in order to win. I did get a good workout though, and it was a good experience before GMSR.

Beverly Grand Prix

this is what my evening looked like. 30 miles in 2 hours, you do the math

i got a new camera (Sony NEX) for my birthday

break of the day lapped the field

coming up to the bell lap, dylan nearly knocks my camera out of my hands

winning move

ken wins the 4/5, podium girl, and awkwardly large podium prizes

Norwell Circuit Race 3/4's & p123's

Ahhhh Norwell, it seems like just yesterday that I entered this race for the first time. And now I’ve done this race 4 times. Where does the time go? I like this race. One relatively short sprinter’s hill and you get the whole road to race on so none of that yellow line cramped feeling. It’s also close to home. Good stuff.

I registered for the cat3/4 field and doubled up with the p123 race since it was only $10 (another plus). Pre-reg for the 3-4’s was big, but the phenomenal weather brought in huge day-of numbers. We had a full 100-man field in the 3-4’s and 45 in the p123’s.

Cat3/4

The 3-4 race went first. NEBC had Bernie (who is making a late start to his season), strongmen Chuck and Jerry doubling up after their master’s races, a new racer that I’m yet to meet, and myself. Ken was there too. There were also a whole bunch of faces that I didn’t recognize.

Last year I was warming up with Ken when he got a flat at the school a little ways down the main road. And wouldn’t you know it? The exact same thing happened to me this year. My tubular burst and I was left running back to the car 5 minutes before we start. Great!

Unlike Ken I was lucky enough to swap out my race wheel and get to the start line in time. Unfortunately it did put me at the back of this gigantic swarm of racers which would end up being the race’s major challenge.

Our race was 10x 2.3-mile laps for 23 miles total. It took me 5 full laps to go from the very back of the field to the front. Why? Because there were 100 dudes bunched up the entire width of the road every inch of the way. It was hard to tell from my “obstructed view” seat, but there couldn’t have been much, if any attacking. I finally got to the front by going hard up the hill when a lane opened there. It may have just taken a few laps for a little attrition to set in.
Once I was in the top 20 or 30 it was much easier to move around. The front of the peloton was arrow shaped and not the entire width of the road. Lots more room to work with.

There was very little action though. A few little attacks here and there, but nothing with enough commitment to get a real gap. I tried ramping up the pace myself on the back-side roller but didn’t do anything beyond string out the field.

Approaching 3 to go Stephen Pierce (CB) commented on how nothing had really gotten away. He also noted that a lot of the strong riders may have been at the front.

I agreed, and when we came up to the turn before the finishing hill I went again. This time I attacked hard and didn’t look back until the top of the hill. I’d hoped that a few people would come with me but it looked like absolutely no one moved. Oh well. I settled into a TT position and started thinking about how long of an effort this would have to be. 7 miles, probably somewhere around 20 minutes. I was going to need help.

Around the bottom of the downhill someone in a red/blue kit that I didn’t recognize bridged up to me. He was strong and was ripping my legs off. I may have just been tired. When I pulled off I swear I was working harder just to stay in his draft. That’s not supposed to happen!

The field swept me up right before the hill. It looked like they were working hard at least. I think my breakaway mate surged again to stay away a bit later. He must’ve had a lot left.

Getting swept up at the start of a hill is awful. It was especially bad this time because I wanted to avoid floating back too far in the field with 2 to go and miss the sprint. I dug deep but was able to keep it in the front 20 or so.

We were at 2 to go and a car was parked on the course right at the bottleneck section where the cones take us down to 1 lane. Brakes were screeching and we came to a standstill as we went around the car. I lost all sorts of position and ended up in the thick of the bunch. Stupid. I should have done anything I could to keep towards the front.

After that it was like being in jail. I couldn’t move. Everyone around me was gunning for position but we weren’t doing much more than passing each other over and over. I was in a terrible position when we hit the final turn.

A lot of people popped really early on the finishing climb, like not even half way up. I ended up sort of sprint/coasting, powering through holes then easing off to find the next hole. Pretty bizzar, I probably should have just sat up altogether but my legs felt great. Oh well, that’s bike racing. I think I finished up 28th or which means I probably hit the final turn in at least 40th. Ouch.

Pro123

Luckily there was still the p123 race. I felt like I hadn’t even really raced yet so I was eager to get out there again.

The contrast between the two races was huge, right from the beginning. People actually attack in the 123’s! Good hard attacks too, none of this rolling off the front stuff.

Each lap going up the hill a group would attack. Seemed like it was all new faces each time too. The breaks would generally stick each lap until the long false flat uphill to the finishing hill. Then a new group would go.

My legs felt great after the first race and I had enough left to go with two or three moves early on. None of these moves amounting to anything though. The pace wasn’t hard enough yet.

About half way through the race there was a crash on the right side of the finishing climb. I saw someone go down, and then another guy to his left. It was an awkwardly slow crash. The second guy to go down was barely moving, and he seemed to just sort of tip over to his left side. When he tipped over he rolled, causing his bike to go even further to his left.

I saw all this happening right in front of me. My immediate reaction was to go left, then go left more, and more, and awww darnit… no more road! The dude was on his back, his bike up in the air, and I think his pedal or something got caught up in my bike. I didn’t actually crash, but I came to a screeching halt when our bikes locked together and I had to unclip. Banged my shin on his chainring and drew some blood too.

The mechanic said I needed a new wheel and by the time I got one the field was gone. No free laps in this race. The officials said I could hop back in but that I’d finish a lap down. At least I’d get a workout.

I think I missed the most selective point of the race on the lap I missed. Before I rejoined the bunch there were a whole lot of people that came by me looking like they were just TT’ing on their own. Made it hard to know where to hop in actually. Gavin and Skip were motoring away.

So I finished up the race and thrashed the heck out of my legs each time going up the hill. I was starting to weaken a bit by the end but hey, it’d been 50+ miles of racing at that point. And that's the whole point right?! Boy that was a fun race.

2010 Keith Berger Cat 3 Video

Sprinter della Casa makes some very sweet race videos, especially with his insightful commentary and editing, and they're even10x sweeter when you're in the same race. In this one I enjoyed reliving the final lap terror at the end of the Keith Berger (check out the back straight action), and then getting totally owned by Luke Fortini in the sprint.