Sunday was the same course just run in reverse with the addition of a killer headwind blowing down the front straight. Just to make sure I maximized my pain and suffering I signed up for the Cat 5 and Masters races.
The Masters race went off first. My goal was just to finish with the pack and I almost made it.
The first ten minutes were tough. The pace was high and on the short .55 mile course that means a lot of corners to accelerate out of. After that things slowed just a bit to a more reasonable pace. The biggest difference I noticed from the Cat 5 race was that the speed through the corners was much higher. I also found that following the guy in front of me through the corners, sometimes he could pedal through and I would strike a pedal. I am not sure if this has to to with crank length (I run 175s) of technique. After a few turns (with 7 every mile you get a lot of practice) i had started leaning a bit more and coasting when I had to.
I tried to stay a few spaces up from the tail end just to keep from yo-yoing off the back and it worked well for a while. Then the pack started to split. The first time someone in the back half went to the front and pulled it back together. The second time I moved up and pulled the few of us off the back back up. That broked my rule of not doing any work in the wind, but it seemed worth it to get back to the pack. And I was able to recover and hang on so I was happy with that.
Not long after, a break finally managed to get away. The pace in the pack then slowed even more and I was feeling pretty comfortable (well, relatively). Everything was good for a few more laps until with about 10 to go the break lapped the pack and things sped way up. We were now sprinting up the little hill on the back stretch. Then on the next lap they rang the bell for a prime and things sped up again. That is when I hit the wall. I popped off the back and rode the last 4 laps solo,, finishing about a half a lap down. Still I was pretty happy to have hung in for 45 minutes with those guys.
After the race I had 2 hours to eat and relax. I drank a pepsi and some water and rested on a blanket in the parking lot with my feet up on a chair. After about an hour I got up, ate and drank more and then got ready to warm up again.
The wind had really picked up by the time the Cat 5 race started. It held the speed down and the pack together as the fast guys from yesterday marked each other and no one wanted to work on the front. My goal was to stay in the pack and then attack with 1 to go. I did well, staying 3rd - 7th wheel the whole race without ever getting to the front. Whenever I got close I would just work to the outside in the next turn and let an eager beaver or two pass inside of me, then back in line.
After the short hill on the backstretch on the second to last lap, the pack slowed as no one wanted to lead going around into the headwind the last time. I wsa paying attention to this and not what I should have when I heard someone yell, "Inside, Inside!" and sure enough there went one of the strong guys from UNC off the front. There was yelling but no one went so I jumped after him. I dove into the corner and made up about half of the 50 foot lead, pedaled a few strokes then dove into the next corner.
This is the corner they had warned us about before the start because the gusting wind had taken a few people out. And just as I started pedaling again, the wind stood me up a bit, then dropped my down on my pedal. My rear tire came off the ground and I slid a bit on the pedal, but somehow the tire hooked back up and it was back to pedaling. This cost me some momentum and I now gave everything I had to catch that wheel in front of me. I knew if I could catch him it would come down to the sprint and if I didnt I was done.
Down the front stretch into the wind I closed the gap more but could not shut it, By the next corner, another strong rider (the guy who won the day before) had caught and passed me. I tried to grab his wheel but couldn't. Around the next turn and into up the hill I looked back and w I had about 30 meters on the pack, but I was done and quickly overrun by all but the stragglers.
All in all I was happy with the result. I learned a lot and I got beaten by a stronger and smarter rider. Maybe if I hadn't done the Masters race I would have had a little more gas in the tank, but I don't think so. Next time I just need to be go for it half a lap earlier.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Uptown Greenville Crits - Sat
This past weekend I finally got to race on the road again. I did my first crit at this race last year and would have done my second except for the incident that is best summarized by the advise, "don't forget your shoes."
So this year, with shoes and everything else I could think to bring packed up in the car, the wife and I headed to Greenville. My friend Ben was also coming to race and he followed us up in his truck.
We got there in time to sign my life away in exchange for a number and get in a decent warm up. The course is a rectangle 3 blocks long and 1 wide right downtown for a total of just over a 1/2 mile per lap. As usual there was a headwind down one of the long stretches, on saturday it was blowing down the back stretch.
Last year it was raining and the field was small - only 13 riders. With no idea what to expect I was sitting 5th or 6th wheel (as I had been advised) when the field split on the second lap. The three guys at the front accelerated, another guy came out of the pack to join them, the guy in front of me did nothing, and before I knew it they were gone. So less than 5 minutes into the race and it was essentially over. The rest was like the worlds most disorganized group ride.
So this year my goal for Saturday's race was to go with the split. Simple enough. And on the second lap I got my chance. A couple guys went off the front right after crossing the line on the second lap. I didn't hesitate and accelerated up the inside of the riders in front of my to join them. Coming into the first turn it was nearly a disaster as the guy in the lead crashed for no apparent reason. Luckily further carnage was avoided as everyone else managed to pick a line around him.
The crash did halt the momentum of the break, but before long we were rolling again and off the front. It being a cat 5 race, the officials were not pulling lapped riders so things got a bit confusing as our lead group lapped the field mixing in with other riders who were still permitted to rejoin the pack and do work, something that would not be allowed at higher levels.
The pace was relatively high, but not as bad as some of the Tuesday night Worlds I have done with much more experienced riders driving the pace. I did a decent job of staying out of the wind on the headwind side and sometimes pushing the pace on the downwind leg. At one point we had whittled the break down to three and in retrospect I should have put in some work to maintain this advantage. As it was, no one, myself included, wanted to pull down the back stretch so the pace slowed considerably.
Everything went well until the last lap when in the confusion of passing the main pack (again), the other 4 guys who had lapped the field caught us right before the second to last corner. We were also passing a clump of lapped riders so with a dozen people going through the urn I lost a bunch of places and had nothing left for the sprint to get them back.
Overall I was happy to have the fitness to stay with the winners for the whole race, now obviously I need to work on tactics
So this year, with shoes and everything else I could think to bring packed up in the car, the wife and I headed to Greenville. My friend Ben was also coming to race and he followed us up in his truck.
We got there in time to sign my life away in exchange for a number and get in a decent warm up. The course is a rectangle 3 blocks long and 1 wide right downtown for a total of just over a 1/2 mile per lap. As usual there was a headwind down one of the long stretches, on saturday it was blowing down the back stretch.
Last year it was raining and the field was small - only 13 riders. With no idea what to expect I was sitting 5th or 6th wheel (as I had been advised) when the field split on the second lap. The three guys at the front accelerated, another guy came out of the pack to join them, the guy in front of me did nothing, and before I knew it they were gone. So less than 5 minutes into the race and it was essentially over. The rest was like the worlds most disorganized group ride.
So this year my goal for Saturday's race was to go with the split. Simple enough. And on the second lap I got my chance. A couple guys went off the front right after crossing the line on the second lap. I didn't hesitate and accelerated up the inside of the riders in front of my to join them. Coming into the first turn it was nearly a disaster as the guy in the lead crashed for no apparent reason. Luckily further carnage was avoided as everyone else managed to pick a line around him.
The crash did halt the momentum of the break, but before long we were rolling again and off the front. It being a cat 5 race, the officials were not pulling lapped riders so things got a bit confusing as our lead group lapped the field mixing in with other riders who were still permitted to rejoin the pack and do work, something that would not be allowed at higher levels.
The pace was relatively high, but not as bad as some of the Tuesday night Worlds I have done with much more experienced riders driving the pace. I did a decent job of staying out of the wind on the headwind side and sometimes pushing the pace on the downwind leg. At one point we had whittled the break down to three and in retrospect I should have put in some work to maintain this advantage. As it was, no one, myself included, wanted to pull down the back stretch so the pace slowed considerably.
Everything went well until the last lap when in the confusion of passing the main pack (again), the other 4 guys who had lapped the field caught us right before the second to last corner. We were also passing a clump of lapped riders so with a dozen people going through the urn I lost a bunch of places and had nothing left for the sprint to get them back.
Overall I was happy to have the fitness to stay with the winners for the whole race, now obviously I need to work on tactics
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