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.