The Tour of the Hilltowns was my first road race ever. I rode Cat 5. Figured that I would do well, since I was an expert mountain biker. I WAS WRONG.
I came back 2 years later, as a stronger rider, in Cat 4. I figured that I would do well. Was I wrong? Let's find out!
We talked a bit about this being a Back Bay team race, but eventually attendance whittled down to me and newly-upgraded-Cat-5 Harrison. We had some discussions about tactics, but mainly I used my "vast" experience to tell him that planning in advance was pointless, it all comes down to who isn't cramping on the hills at the end.
The field was full, 100 guys, and the first 20 miles of rolling downhill saw absolutely no action. This led to a lot of tight riding and no less than three Cat-4-tastic crashes, at least one of which resulted in a free ambulance ride. First we accordioned into an uphill so hard that some guy got taken down and half the field went through the grass to get around. Ok, whatever. Then, on the real 35+ mph downhill, some guy decided that a 6-foot lane change was the appropriate way to deal with a crack in the road, and that led to absolutely nothing funny at all. I was right next to him and I decided that I would never lap wheels with anyone on a downhill again, after seeing the result.
Finally, with a mile before the real racing starts (East Hawley Rd), a guy went off into the sandy shoulder, tried to ride back on, got his front wheel up, not his rear, and caused a crash that blocked off half the field. Harrison was caught behind this, which was a pretty bad deal for him with a monster climb just four minutes away.
I was surprised how easy it was to roll up to 2nd wheel right as the climb started. A UVM kid led it out and then exploded completely after a minute, and lo and behold I'm leading the field up the climb. I was about to break out the Chris Anker Sorensen pain face when guys started coming up next to me. Wait, 350w isn't good enough? Shit.
So I was 2nd wheel, then 3rd, then 5th, then 8th, and I started to have not much fun at all, riding 7mph in blazing sun with high humidity at threshold. My powertap started showing me numbers beginning with "2", and gaps started opening ahead of me. Danger, danger!
Out of nowhere, some guy rides up next to me, breathing really hard, and says "whew, this is tough!" It's f-ing Harrison, back from the dead! He had just climbed from off-the-back position at the start of the climb, through the entire field, up to me, in 10 minutes. And he wants to talk about it. Amazing.
We hit the next steep pitch, the one with the switchback, and he rode off ahead, because there were still ten people in the race he hadn't passed on the climb. Meanwhile, my face was on fire and I was praying for death.
So after 18 minutes at 300w, I got over the top, in what could either be considered "Chase 1" or "Chase 2." Harrison was in chase 1, which made contact with the three leaders so fast it could barely be considered a chase. My group, meanwhile, grew to five people, and I got some practice for cross season by dying a thousand deaths to stay on a wheel while we chased.
Suddenly I realized why I felt so terrible, now that my HR was down to a pedestrian 182 bpm -- holy crap did I have to pee. So I decided to execute the saddest sixty seconds of my bike racing career:
I took a pull and swung off. I stopped pedaling and peed my shorts. I couldn't pee fast enough, so I got gapped off the back. I started chasing, tipped my head down, and my sunglasses fell out of my helmet and onto the pavement. I did not stop for them.
So, in the name of bike racing I have just soiled myself and cost myself $100 in equipment. Beautiful.
Eventually our chase group caught the leaders and it was time to start trying to recover. I was AMAZED at how bad I felt anytime I wasn't coasting. Recovering from above-threshold efforts is not something I practice. This should probably change.
Soon after, Shane from Threshold pulled the Matt-Green-trademarked-demoralizing-midrace-conversation on me. I was trying to figure out how to ride 30 more miles with cramping legs, while hanging precariously onto the draft, and he wanted to have a pleasant conversation about cyclocross. I was not pleased to find out how chipper he was.
Luckily I was not going to be hanging around him, or anyone else in the lead group, much longer. We turned the corner into the feed zone, I shifted to my little ring, and the friggin chain jammed between the rings. Did you know it's possible to put your inner chainring on backwards? Yes? Well, I didn't. Until now.
I jumped off and ripped the chain out with the fury of a thousand Andy Schlecks. I leapt back on, ready to chase, and it went right back in. Or maybe it never came out? I have no idea, but this broke my spirit. I stopped, ghost-rode my bike into the ditch, and sat down to feel sorry for myself. Because bike racing is serious business.
Keep in mind this is all 50 yards before the feed zone, and Linnea (along with everyone else) is watching me. At least I didn't soil myself again.
After a few minutes of sadness the Cat 4 grupetto rolled by, and I jumped in with them to ride 20 miles back to the finish. Near the end it started pouring rain, and then I cramped up and got shelled by them on the last climb, just in case there was any doubt that Hilltowns totally owns me.
Harrison was 13th, and Bret Bedard dominated me in yet another sport by winning it, so good for them. I will be going back to the mountain bike scene with my tail between my legs, once again.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tour of the Hilltowns -- Fun in the sun.
It's been an interesting road season. Things have moved rather quickly. After a good time at Fitchburg, I put in for (and received) my Cat 2 upgrade. So yeah, Tour of the Hilltowns, sounds like a great place to start. Last year this race was somewhat frustrating in the 4's. This time around I didn't expect anything special, just to get the hang of big boy racing.
I spent most of the first half of the race hanging out near the back, keeping an eye on the front to keep from getting spit out in a surge. A break went up the road and stuck for a while. The pace of the peloton was such that I figured it wouldn't stick, I just spent that time hoping it would come back so I could be nuzzle the glorious neutral support safety cushion a bit longer.
The first feed zone came in at mile 20, though I remember the organizer saying not to grab anything there on lap 1 and I ended up doing that. At the end of lap 1, I graciously accepted two neutral water feeds because it was bitchly hot and I felt a bit warm. Yeah, I got a little bit nervous about hydration, but at least I care about nutrition.
The break came back together shortly after the second feed zone. The pace stayed decent, though eventually things got serious. Jeremy Powers found his way to the front, and the climb hit hard.
So, if anything can really categorize this race, it's East Hawley Road. Nothing really matters until this climb. I was still near the tail end of the group when the climb hit, and things began to shatter.
East Hawley Road - Welcome to Earf
The field began to split up, and I climbed and climbed but could not bridge up to the group ahead of me. This was apparently the Bradshaw group. With them in sight, it began to rain a bit and I cooled off some. The climb finished up and people began to re-group, I found myself with Colin H. Murphy, Ryan Kelly, and I think Owen Pope and Amos Brumble (by my vague recollection of team affiliation and actual results). The five of us spent a while pace-lining together, we'd pick up a dropped rider along the way, but they would not get into the line for pulls. I grabbed my bottle from the lovely Bethany at the feed zone, and felt wefweshed.
This went on for a long time. I started to lag behind on getting back in the fast lane, could feel myself fading a bit. Toward the last big climb I ended up putting out the parachute and finishing on my own. My knee was giving me some trouble and and was relieved to get a break. I finished up in 21st, 10 minutes down from the leader.
It's been a tough 3-4 months of racing and my body is definitely ready for some rest. Time to put the legs up for a minute, and then start building for The Great Coming of Cyclocross.
I spent most of the first half of the race hanging out near the back, keeping an eye on the front to keep from getting spit out in a surge. A break went up the road and stuck for a while. The pace of the peloton was such that I figured it wouldn't stick, I just spent that time hoping it would come back so I could be nuzzle the glorious neutral support safety cushion a bit longer.
The first feed zone came in at mile 20, though I remember the organizer saying not to grab anything there on lap 1 and I ended up doing that. At the end of lap 1, I graciously accepted two neutral water feeds because it was bitchly hot and I felt a bit warm. Yeah, I got a little bit nervous about hydration, but at least I care about nutrition.
The break came back together shortly after the second feed zone. The pace stayed decent, though eventually things got serious. Jeremy Powers found his way to the front, and the climb hit hard.
So, if anything can really categorize this race, it's East Hawley Road. Nothing really matters until this climb. I was still near the tail end of the group when the climb hit, and things began to shatter.
The field began to split up, and I climbed and climbed but could not bridge up to the group ahead of me. This was apparently the Bradshaw group. With them in sight, it began to rain a bit and I cooled off some. The climb finished up and people began to re-group, I found myself with Colin H. Murphy, Ryan Kelly, and I think Owen Pope and Amos Brumble (by my vague recollection of team affiliation and actual results). The five of us spent a while pace-lining together, we'd pick up a dropped rider along the way, but they would not get into the line for pulls. I grabbed my bottle from the lovely Bethany at the feed zone, and felt wefweshed.
This went on for a long time. I started to lag behind on getting back in the fast lane, could feel myself fading a bit. Toward the last big climb I ended up putting out the parachute and finishing on my own. My knee was giving me some trouble and and was relieved to get a break. I finished up in 21st, 10 minutes down from the leader.
It's been a tough 3-4 months of racing and my body is definitely ready for some rest. Time to put the legs up for a minute, and then start building for The Great Coming of Cyclocross.
Pat's Peak 2010
So, you may have heard that a pile of us trucked up to Henniker, NH a few weeks ago to race up and down a ski mountain at Pat's Peak MTB Festival. The B2C2 team went all solo this year - we had three in the 6 Hour (Lori, Hannah, and Skip), me (Lauren) in the 12 Hour, and 2 (Mike, and a peer-pressured Taylor) in the 24 Hour. We also brought along team friends Tammy and Steve as crew (thanks, guys!) and a neon-kitted Geekhouse straggler (Joshua) caught a ride with us at the last minute. Needless to say, we put Mike's years of band touring to the test when it came to packing up everything and loading all the people in early Saturday morning. Tents, sleeping bags, chairs, repair stands, tool kits, bags and bags of food and, of course, lots of bikes were piled up along the sidewalk of Franklin St when I rode up that morning. After (somehow) getting everything stowed (somewhat) securely in Mike and Tammy's car and squeezing ourselves in as well, we were off!
The forecast was less-than-great for the weekend, and my one mental wish was that we could get the tents set up before any serious rain hit. We arrive and everything is looking good, register and grab our race packets, and start scouting out our campsite. Mike had gotten a pass for a tent in the Tech Tent area but it became apparent that this wasn't necessary, seeing as how the "Solo Campground" was strategically placed at the Start/Finish area (along with some very loud speakers that played very terrible music for hours on end). We decided that the best thing to do was to start staking our tents and hope that, after a few hours, maybe we wouldn't notice the music anymore? The sky became threatening and it started to rain, but nothing too heavy was coming down and we were rushing around to set up camp and get as much as we could ready before the obligatory Race Meeting.
After the meeting, the rain eased up but things got even more hectic. I was having an issue with my front tubeless tire on my hardtail and was debating ripping it, glued and all, off the rim to stuff a tube in it, using CO2 in the hopes to get it to seat properly and stop leaking air, or to use Caitlin's bike (who generously let me bring her Stumpjumper when mine didn't make it back from the shop in time), which I had never ridden and didn't know what the set-up was like. I opted for the "attempt to seat with CO2" option as time was running out and we were all scrambling around in a frenzy trying to get our food in order, all necessary bits on our bikes and in our pockets, etc etc. Mike did, however, find the time to stand around half-naked discussing the race with Cycling Dirt
Gun fires, mayhem ensues as everyone sprints for their bike, rain is starting to hit, aaand we're off up the first gravel fire road. Now, I had plenty of teammates who had raced at Pat's Peak before and I had always heard that you go up, and then you go down. No joke. There is very little horizontal movement. You go up a fire road, around this little pond thing, up/through some woods, weave back and forth/up and down through the woods a bit, hit a narrow dirt path that just goes up until you get to the top of the ski lift, bomb down some dirt roads and through some more woods, hit a fire road climb that takes you into soft, sandy singletrack that is still going up, then down and through some more stuff, hit another steep climb...and you're about halfway. The second half, at least, didn't have any more obvious climbs but was mostly winding singletrack that still had a lot of "up" to it. There were also some fun rock wall features as you went along (which is also about the part where my "BLAST IT FULL OF CO2!" plan ran out on lap 1 and I had to stop to, well, blast my tire full of more CO2...) that were apparently new to the course due to some necessary restructuring. You finally get towards the end after weaving around in a fast singletrack woods section and hit a veritable rumblestrip of slope that you tear down almost to the base of the mountain (wet gloves + bumpiest descent ever = intense callouses and hand pain by the end of things) before doing a short uphill past some campsites and then head to the Start/Finish tent. Mike's computer said the course was ~7mi (Race officials claimed 5.1 using GPS units, which apparently can cut out closely overlapping sections of trail when calculating distance).
My race went as such: aim for 12 laps in 12 hours. Flat in the first lap, swapped for Caitlin's bike in the second. THIS BIKE DOES NOT FIT ME, DEAR GOD! We both ride smalls but between a higher stacked stem and jacking up the seatpost to my leg extension, it resulted in this horribly uncomfortable weirdly bent over climbing position on a very climby course that my back did not like. After the first real climb I realized I was going to have to make my hardtail work for the rest of the race because, although I really appreciated her letting me use it, it just wasn't comfortable. Before lap 3, I fix my flat, switch number plate, etc back to my hardtail and go back out. Lap 4, 5, feeling good, rain tapers off at some point, burritos are surprisingly excellent endurance race food (thanks, Boloco!). Readjust my goal to account for flat fixes to 10-11 laps. I come in from my 5th lap around 6.30pm and decide that I'll do one more lap before changing out of my rain-soaked shorts and grabbing my lights. By this point the 6 Hour racers are done and Lori offers to let me use her FS bike. I opted to go back out on the HT, though, because my back was still iffy and I didn't want to risk another uncomfortable lap on an unknown bike. Well. Instead, I snapped my chain on the fire road climb leading into the sandy section about a quarter of the way into the lap and took off running. I got 3/4 of the way around on foot before I found someone with a chain tool. Then I spent too long sitting on the side of the trail being mosquito food and trying to make a chaintool-in-a-multitool work well. I realized after a bit that I was close enough to the end that I probably would have been almost out of the woods had I kept running so I gave up on trying to keep my gears and made the jankiest SS, hopped on, and spun furiously/coasted out of the woods.
I get through the Start/Finish knowing that I have to switch my number plate, pedals, baton, etc to Lori's bike now, go to the bathroom, change into something less soaked, eat, and get my lights together. When I realized that the people who I was hoping could do all the other stuff while I changing were with the "Jagerettes" at the bar and that my back was in pretty rough shape...I gave up a little inside. I ate some food, stretched, and foam-rollered the crap out of my back before swapping my stuff over and dragging myself off for final 2 laps. I finished 45 minutes after midnight, taking a very leisurely last lap, with a total of 8 laps in 12 hours. By this point Mike, who had suffered a bad crash at Fitchburg (if I remember correctly, it wasn't the crash itself that took him down - it was a wayward bike of a crashed person flying up and whacking him in the head that took him down, which resulted in a scuffed head and a pretty battered knee and hip) , came to the conclusion that racing wasn't the best thing for him and opted out. Taylor, who had only planned on doing the 12 hour, was looking pretty sad himself and decided to take a rest. I wandered off to, quite possibly, the best shower of my life before I headed to my tent around 1.30am (passing Joshua asleep in the trunk of Tammy's station wagon and a groaning Taylor wrapped in a tarp on the ground - who needs tents?) and had a pretty uncomfortable night with a locked-up, painful back.
I was blasted out of bed by loud music starting at promptly 8.05am and shuffled out of my tent into blinding sunlight. Apparently the thunderstorm that was supposed to hit went over the back of the mountain and we avoided torrential downpours and crazy lightening all night. Hooray! Everyone else was shuffling around too, with the exception of Taylor. Lori got him out of his tarp around 6am, passed him a coffee and his bike, and told him to put some clothes on and get back out there, and pedaling away "out there" was where he was when I got up.
I did some sitting and some snacking before shuffling off to the 12 Hour Solo awards ceremony. I liked the course and I liked the that the camping area for solo racers let you be AT the Start/Finish, but I did NOT like their scorekeeping - or rather, utter lack of knowing how you were doing in relation to your field. I knew that I was one of three women in my race and figured, after flats, swapping pedals/bikes a few times, broken chains and running, that I was firmly in third place and didn't want to go around harassing the scorekeepers to find out that I was, in fact, losing a three women race. It wasn't until I got to the podium that I found out I had tied the 2nd place woman with 8 laps, but that she finished closer to midnight and placed ahead of me. Had I known I was that close during the race, I maybe would have been able to pull out another lap. I can't say for sure, my back was pretty roughed up by that point and the last two laps hurt a lot so maybe that's all I had left. I certainly would have tried to get my stuff switched over and onto Lori's bike faster. Finding out afterwards that I had been that close to second stunk, but oh well (the Racer X woman on a single speed beat both of us with gears, finishing with 10 laps!). The really crappy thing that happened with scoring was that when Taylor was going out for his last lap they told him he had third unless the guy in 4th passed him on the course. Turns out, they had miscounted and he was in 4th, which they told us a few minutes after he went out. He came in so ecstatic, only to be told he wasn't on the podium. Although he did a great job and finished strong, he was understandably bummed to think he had gotten 3rd for a whole lap and then be told otherwise. Real time scoring and being super high-tech isn't necessary, but if each table had something simple like a white board where they were tracking even just the top five or ten racers it would be a lot more helpful and, I think, would lead to some more competitive races. Also, double-checking their counting before they confirm someone's place would be nice to prevent let-downs like what happened to Taylor.
Anyway, we managed to load all our gear and our tired selves into our respective vehicles and headed back to Boston. In addition to my 3rd place, Taylor and Lori both got fourth in their races, Skip did well in his race, and Hannah did a great job at her first endurance XC event. Mike is still mending from both the Fitchburg crash and from his strong performance at Pat's Peak until his swollen/road rash covered limbs had their say, and Taylor and I are both hoping for a little more relenting course for our 24 Hour Solo races at Great Glen coming up in mid-August.
The forecast was less-than-great for the weekend, and my one mental wish was that we could get the tents set up before any serious rain hit. We arrive and everything is looking good, register and grab our race packets, and start scouting out our campsite. Mike had gotten a pass for a tent in the Tech Tent area but it became apparent that this wasn't necessary, seeing as how the "Solo Campground" was strategically placed at the Start/Finish area (along with some very loud speakers that played very terrible music for hours on end). We decided that the best thing to do was to start staking our tents and hope that, after a few hours, maybe we wouldn't notice the music anymore? The sky became threatening and it started to rain, but nothing too heavy was coming down and we were rushing around to set up camp and get as much as we could ready before the obligatory Race Meeting.
After the meeting, the rain eased up but things got even more hectic. I was having an issue with my front tubeless tire on my hardtail and was debating ripping it, glued and all, off the rim to stuff a tube in it, using CO2 in the hopes to get it to seat properly and stop leaking air, or to use Caitlin's bike (who generously let me bring her Stumpjumper when mine didn't make it back from the shop in time), which I had never ridden and didn't know what the set-up was like. I opted for the "attempt to seat with CO2" option as time was running out and we were all scrambling around in a frenzy trying to get our food in order, all necessary bits on our bikes and in our pockets, etc etc. Mike did, however, find the time to stand around half-naked discussing the race with Cycling Dirt
Visit beta.cyclingdirt.org for more Videos
before finishing up getting dressed, and then Taylor also took the time to talk Cycling Dirt about how he was bullied into doing the 24 Solo over the 12 as well as proper nipple protection for endurance events while standing around for the LeMond start. Visit beta.cyclingdirt.org for more Videos
Gun fires, mayhem ensues as everyone sprints for their bike, rain is starting to hit, aaand we're off up the first gravel fire road. Now, I had plenty of teammates who had raced at Pat's Peak before and I had always heard that you go up, and then you go down. No joke. There is very little horizontal movement. You go up a fire road, around this little pond thing, up/through some woods, weave back and forth/up and down through the woods a bit, hit a narrow dirt path that just goes up until you get to the top of the ski lift, bomb down some dirt roads and through some more woods, hit a fire road climb that takes you into soft, sandy singletrack that is still going up, then down and through some more stuff, hit another steep climb...and you're about halfway. The second half, at least, didn't have any more obvious climbs but was mostly winding singletrack that still had a lot of "up" to it. There were also some fun rock wall features as you went along (which is also about the part where my "BLAST IT FULL OF CO2!" plan ran out on lap 1 and I had to stop to, well, blast my tire full of more CO2...) that were apparently new to the course due to some necessary restructuring. You finally get towards the end after weaving around in a fast singletrack woods section and hit a veritable rumblestrip of slope that you tear down almost to the base of the mountain (wet gloves + bumpiest descent ever = intense callouses and hand pain by the end of things) before doing a short uphill past some campsites and then head to the Start/Finish tent. Mike's computer said the course was ~7mi (Race officials claimed 5.1 using GPS units, which apparently can cut out closely overlapping sections of trail when calculating distance).
My race went as such: aim for 12 laps in 12 hours. Flat in the first lap, swapped for Caitlin's bike in the second. THIS BIKE DOES NOT FIT ME, DEAR GOD! We both ride smalls but between a higher stacked stem and jacking up the seatpost to my leg extension, it resulted in this horribly uncomfortable weirdly bent over climbing position on a very climby course that my back did not like. After the first real climb I realized I was going to have to make my hardtail work for the rest of the race because, although I really appreciated her letting me use it, it just wasn't comfortable. Before lap 3, I fix my flat, switch number plate, etc back to my hardtail and go back out. Lap 4, 5, feeling good, rain tapers off at some point, burritos are surprisingly excellent endurance race food (thanks, Boloco!). Readjust my goal to account for flat fixes to 10-11 laps. I come in from my 5th lap around 6.30pm and decide that I'll do one more lap before changing out of my rain-soaked shorts and grabbing my lights. By this point the 6 Hour racers are done and Lori offers to let me use her FS bike. I opted to go back out on the HT, though, because my back was still iffy and I didn't want to risk another uncomfortable lap on an unknown bike. Well. Instead, I snapped my chain on the fire road climb leading into the sandy section about a quarter of the way into the lap and took off running. I got 3/4 of the way around on foot before I found someone with a chain tool. Then I spent too long sitting on the side of the trail being mosquito food and trying to make a chaintool-in-a-multitool work well. I realized after a bit that I was close enough to the end that I probably would have been almost out of the woods had I kept running so I gave up on trying to keep my gears and made the jankiest SS, hopped on, and spun furiously/coasted out of the woods.
I get through the Start/Finish knowing that I have to switch my number plate, pedals, baton, etc to Lori's bike now, go to the bathroom, change into something less soaked, eat, and get my lights together. When I realized that the people who I was hoping could do all the other stuff while I changing were with the "Jagerettes" at the bar and that my back was in pretty rough shape...I gave up a little inside. I ate some food, stretched, and foam-rollered the crap out of my back before swapping my stuff over and dragging myself off for final 2 laps. I finished 45 minutes after midnight, taking a very leisurely last lap, with a total of 8 laps in 12 hours. By this point Mike, who had suffered a bad crash at Fitchburg (if I remember correctly, it wasn't the crash itself that took him down - it was a wayward bike of a crashed person flying up and whacking him in the head that took him down, which resulted in a scuffed head and a pretty battered knee and hip) , came to the conclusion that racing wasn't the best thing for him and opted out. Taylor, who had only planned on doing the 12 hour, was looking pretty sad himself and decided to take a rest. I wandered off to, quite possibly, the best shower of my life before I headed to my tent around 1.30am (passing Joshua asleep in the trunk of Tammy's station wagon and a groaning Taylor wrapped in a tarp on the ground - who needs tents?) and had a pretty uncomfortable night with a locked-up, painful back.
I was blasted out of bed by loud music starting at promptly 8.05am and shuffled out of my tent into blinding sunlight. Apparently the thunderstorm that was supposed to hit went over the back of the mountain and we avoided torrential downpours and crazy lightening all night. Hooray! Everyone else was shuffling around too, with the exception of Taylor. Lori got him out of his tarp around 6am, passed him a coffee and his bike, and told him to put some clothes on and get back out there, and pedaling away "out there" was where he was when I got up.
I did some sitting and some snacking before shuffling off to the 12 Hour Solo awards ceremony. I liked the course and I liked the that the camping area for solo racers let you be AT the Start/Finish, but I did NOT like their scorekeeping - or rather, utter lack of knowing how you were doing in relation to your field. I knew that I was one of three women in my race and figured, after flats, swapping pedals/bikes a few times, broken chains and running, that I was firmly in third place and didn't want to go around harassing the scorekeepers to find out that I was, in fact, losing a three women race. It wasn't until I got to the podium that I found out I had tied the 2nd place woman with 8 laps, but that she finished closer to midnight and placed ahead of me. Had I known I was that close during the race, I maybe would have been able to pull out another lap. I can't say for sure, my back was pretty roughed up by that point and the last two laps hurt a lot so maybe that's all I had left. I certainly would have tried to get my stuff switched over and onto Lori's bike faster. Finding out afterwards that I had been that close to second stunk, but oh well (the Racer X woman on a single speed beat both of us with gears, finishing with 10 laps!). The really crappy thing that happened with scoring was that when Taylor was going out for his last lap they told him he had third unless the guy in 4th passed him on the course. Turns out, they had miscounted and he was in 4th, which they told us a few minutes after he went out. He came in so ecstatic, only to be told he wasn't on the podium. Although he did a great job and finished strong, he was understandably bummed to think he had gotten 3rd for a whole lap and then be told otherwise. Real time scoring and being super high-tech isn't necessary, but if each table had something simple like a white board where they were tracking even just the top five or ten racers it would be a lot more helpful and, I think, would lead to some more competitive races. Also, double-checking their counting before they confirm someone's place would be nice to prevent let-downs like what happened to Taylor.
Anyway, we managed to load all our gear and our tired selves into our respective vehicles and headed back to Boston. In addition to my 3rd place, Taylor and Lori both got fourth in their races, Skip did well in his race, and Hannah did a great job at her first endurance XC event. Mike is still mending from both the Fitchburg crash and from his strong performance at Pat's Peak until his swollen/road rash covered limbs had their say, and Taylor and I are both hoping for a little more relenting course for our 24 Hour Solo races at Great Glen coming up in mid-August.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Attleboro Crit 3/4 Race Report
One of the most exciting things about being a member of the Greg & Mike Personality Cult, er, B2C2, is that the team is so full of bike racers who wanna hang out that you can always find someone to race with. Even though we had what, 10 people, up at Pat's Peak, it was no problem to get some partners in crime to go screw around in the Cat 4 crit down in Attleboro on Saturday.
Nick and Avi joined me in warily watching the doppler for the whole drive to the race. We got there right as the thunderstorms did, and joked about how much it must suck for the Cat 3's to have to race in this.
But wait! The joke's on us, because the Cat 3 race was delayed an hour and combined with the Cat 4 race. All our plans for Cat 4 domination (note: planning to dominate Cat 4 is significantly different than actually doing it) went out the window and we were like, huh, I guess we'll just watch the people who know what they're doing race bikes.
We picked up a fourth teammate in Cat 3 Matt Griswold, which you might think made us a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately Green Line Velo and Threshold both had seven or eight guys now in the combined field... and did I mention this is my first crit ever?
Before we could get started, Paul the announcer asked the field how much less pressure we were running dude to wet pavement and literally 2/3rds of the field started letting air out of their tires. Whoa guys. You were really gonna do this on 120psi? One guy was so committed to this endeavor he broke his valve stem off and flatted completely.
So anyway, eventually the race got rolling, with a ton of water flying in the air. Matt "Cat 3-er than you" Griswold told me he thought it would possibly split early due to the clown/non-clown dichotomy and we should stay near the front. YES, CAT 3 MASTER, WHATEVER YOU SAY! I spent the first 10 laps in the top 10 wheels, eating a ton of wind (but not going for any primes, that would be too interesting), and discovering that I'm not the only guy who needs to practice cornering.
There was a break of ever-changing composition just ahead for all these laps so we were moving pretty briskly. Finally I decided to go for the classic post-prime bridge attempt, and it turns out that half of the field was thinking the same thing. So we all launched our bridges after the prime, stringing out the field to the point where it just absorbed the break. Bah.
All was calm (we might've even made it 8 laps without someone crashing themselves out in turn 2) until the 24-to-go prime. Matt rolled up next to me and suggested we go hard right through the prime and see what happens. YESSIR, CAT 3 OVERLORD! Somehow my idea of "going hard" was to take a 40-second pull through the remnants of the prime sprint that eventually had me entering turn 2 at 30mph with a heart rate of 190.
Good thing I have all that crit experience to fall back on. Instead of railing the corner like a pro I froze up like a Cat 1 mountain biker and ended up going wide, hopping the curb, finishing my turn on the sidewalk, and hopping back down.
When Matt finished gawking he pulled through for all of 10 seconds, which gave me just enough time to realize how cooked I was. Our break was also lacking a GLV or Threshold presence... so we were swept up a lap thereafter and I heading straight for the pain cave at the back.
I'd like to think that we softened up the field enough that we were responsible for the next break succeeding. I saw Luke Fortini launch hard with 16 laps to go and realized that was the first time I'd even seen him at the front all day. He was arguably the strongest guy in the race, so that's another reason the next move was going to succeed. GLV and Threshold both got in the move, but not B2C2... so SHIT, guys.
They were going away fast, and we had a crash (Glowa?) that slowed the field in turn 2. After a lap it was obvious the break was gonna work and I wound up for a bridge attempt on the finish straight, only to get totally shut down by Threshold and GLV slowing the pace and blocking the lane I was shooting for. By the next lap the gap was 15 seconds and we were racing for 6th.
After that, there was nothing to do except try not to die in the sprint. I regret not trying to set up any kind of leadout between Matt, Avi and myself (Nick had succumbed to the Cat 3-ness of the field at this point), but I really had no idea what was going on. I rode kinda-hard until there was 1 lap to go, and then realized that it wasn't a mountain bike racing and kinda-hard ain't gonna cut it.
Some genuinely hard riding got me up near the front, on Matt's wheel, with Avi shadowing me. It was like a leadout train except everyone was in it for themselves... man, what a Cat 4 cliche! So I'm thinking "I am totally going around Matt in this sprint" and Avi is thinking "I am totally gonna divebomb the last corner and pass everyone" and guess what? Neither of those things worked out. Avi crashed himself out (much to the field's displeasure, although I appreciated him taking *everyone* off my wheel) and went Matt started sprinting I realized I was just going to sprint behind him to the line.
Matt ended up getting 5th in the field sprint (9th overall, since one guy crashed out of the break) with a crazy awesome bike throw to take a place from Chris Raymond (Colavita). JD showed us the replay and it was by a tire width. I came in a few bike lengths back (couldn't even stay on his wheel!) for 12th overall, 6th cat 4. Brian Crosby from GLV got me by one place for the second time this season, giving me my first nemesis in my road career.
(shakes fist at sky)
CROSBYYYYYYYY!
Nick and Avi joined me in warily watching the doppler for the whole drive to the race. We got there right as the thunderstorms did, and joked about how much it must suck for the Cat 3's to have to race in this.
But wait! The joke's on us, because the Cat 3 race was delayed an hour and combined with the Cat 4 race. All our plans for Cat 4 domination (note: planning to dominate Cat 4 is significantly different than actually doing it) went out the window and we were like, huh, I guess we'll just watch the people who know what they're doing race bikes.
We picked up a fourth teammate in Cat 3 Matt Griswold, which you might think made us a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately Green Line Velo and Threshold both had seven or eight guys now in the combined field... and did I mention this is my first crit ever?
Before we could get started, Paul the announcer asked the field how much less pressure we were running dude to wet pavement and literally 2/3rds of the field started letting air out of their tires. Whoa guys. You were really gonna do this on 120psi? One guy was so committed to this endeavor he broke his valve stem off and flatted completely.
So anyway, eventually the race got rolling, with a ton of water flying in the air. Matt "Cat 3-er than you" Griswold told me he thought it would possibly split early due to the clown/non-clown dichotomy and we should stay near the front. YES, CAT 3 MASTER, WHATEVER YOU SAY! I spent the first 10 laps in the top 10 wheels, eating a ton of wind (but not going for any primes, that would be too interesting), and discovering that I'm not the only guy who needs to practice cornering.
There was a break of ever-changing composition just ahead for all these laps so we were moving pretty briskly. Finally I decided to go for the classic post-prime bridge attempt, and it turns out that half of the field was thinking the same thing. So we all launched our bridges after the prime, stringing out the field to the point where it just absorbed the break. Bah.
All was calm (we might've even made it 8 laps without someone crashing themselves out in turn 2) until the 24-to-go prime. Matt rolled up next to me and suggested we go hard right through the prime and see what happens. YESSIR, CAT 3 OVERLORD! Somehow my idea of "going hard" was to take a 40-second pull through the remnants of the prime sprint that eventually had me entering turn 2 at 30mph with a heart rate of 190.
Good thing I have all that crit experience to fall back on. Instead of railing the corner like a pro I froze up like a Cat 1 mountain biker and ended up going wide, hopping the curb, finishing my turn on the sidewalk, and hopping back down.
When Matt finished gawking he pulled through for all of 10 seconds, which gave me just enough time to realize how cooked I was. Our break was also lacking a GLV or Threshold presence... so we were swept up a lap thereafter and I heading straight for the pain cave at the back.
I'd like to think that we softened up the field enough that we were responsible for the next break succeeding. I saw Luke Fortini launch hard with 16 laps to go and realized that was the first time I'd even seen him at the front all day. He was arguably the strongest guy in the race, so that's another reason the next move was going to succeed. GLV and Threshold both got in the move, but not B2C2... so SHIT, guys.
They were going away fast, and we had a crash (Glowa?) that slowed the field in turn 2. After a lap it was obvious the break was gonna work and I wound up for a bridge attempt on the finish straight, only to get totally shut down by Threshold and GLV slowing the pace and blocking the lane I was shooting for. By the next lap the gap was 15 seconds and we were racing for 6th.
After that, there was nothing to do except try not to die in the sprint. I regret not trying to set up any kind of leadout between Matt, Avi and myself (Nick had succumbed to the Cat 3-ness of the field at this point), but I really had no idea what was going on. I rode kinda-hard until there was 1 lap to go, and then realized that it wasn't a mountain bike racing and kinda-hard ain't gonna cut it.
Some genuinely hard riding got me up near the front, on Matt's wheel, with Avi shadowing me. It was like a leadout train except everyone was in it for themselves... man, what a Cat 4 cliche! So I'm thinking "I am totally going around Matt in this sprint" and Avi is thinking "I am totally gonna divebomb the last corner and pass everyone" and guess what? Neither of those things worked out. Avi crashed himself out (much to the field's displeasure, although I appreciated him taking *everyone* off my wheel) and went Matt started sprinting I realized I was just going to sprint behind him to the line.
Matt ended up getting 5th in the field sprint (9th overall, since one guy crashed out of the break) with a crazy awesome bike throw to take a place from Chris Raymond (Colavita). JD showed us the replay and it was by a tire width. I came in a few bike lengths back (couldn't even stay on his wheel!) for 12th overall, 6th cat 4. Brian Crosby from GLV got me by one place for the second time this season, giving me my first nemesis in my road career.
(shakes fist at sky)
CROSBYYYYYYYY!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
OMG MEGAPOST - Sunapee, CT SR, Housatonic, Putney, FITCHBURG
It's safe to say that I've mega-slacked on the blogging lately. Let's bring everything up to date.
Sunapee Road Race
The only race of the day not neutralized, I stayed with the group until the very end when I got on the back of Svelte Cycle's lead-out train and sprinted past Nick Mashburn for the win.
CT Stage Race
Started off with 5th in the TT to establish GC, but slid back after working too hard in the circuit race and road race. Missed the break both days, but still finished ST and 7th GC. Discovered seven people can eat pizza and Long-Trail pitchers for under $50 in Winsted, CT.
Housatonic Hills RR
Another climbing race, I decided I would conserve on the climbs by sliding from the front to the back. However, a combination of extreme heat and brain fart led to me straight-up falling over on one of the climbs. Picked up bike in a daze with bent derailer hanger, chased back on and regrouped, sprinted at the end for 10th.
Putney/West Hill Shop Race
Remember when I was a MTB racer? Yeah, me too. Did 5 laps of the Pro/1, nothing very eventful happened except that Mary McConneloug passed me. I felt good, but not very racy, realizing you can't sit in while MTB racing. Got 10th.
Now that we're all caught up, let's talk about what this all led up to - Fitchburg.
Circuit Race
There were a few break attempts, but nothing stuck very long. I spent some time at the front, but mostly on the downhills to bring back some danglers. The climb was enough to split things up, but not severely enough to come back together on the false flat and following downhill on John Fitch. Like Sterling, position in the final hill climb up Pearl St. would be critical to success. Towards the end people started getting nervous and crashing, one Colavita guy had his bike break in half.
Coming into the final turn I took position near the front to keep from getting swept in the turn. The pack split with road furniture in between on the John Fitch descent, I was on the right side, which ended up staying ahead.
Came into the turn and went for it, got 2nd.
Road Race
The current yellow jersey, a Abraham Soler of CRCA/Foundation had only a couple seconds lead on me coming into the road race, I was 2nd GC. The road race played out a lot like the circuit race -- people would go up the road but it was never successful, I spent some time at the front countering, but never attacking. Most of the GC people were racing with maybe one team-mate, including myself, and no other teams were really flexing any muscle (I think only Colavita and Brooklyn Velo force had more than 2, and by that I mean 3 people). I was racing with my trusty Cat 3 companion Matt Casserly, pictured earlier in the circuit race finish.
The climb proved to be selective in the sense that people were pooped out the back, but one short gap by the front group was erased pretty quickly on the incredibly fast descent. Shit was crazy, but I stayed at the front and tried to avoid braking when possible. Being able to stay in a tuck into the next incline was kind of nice.
The end was near and I positioned myself near the front again. Hitting the turn after the climb in Princeton Center it was an all out sprint, though this time I was a bit more worked and got 4th. However, our finish group had opened up a gap and I gained seconds on the rest of the field. Dropped down to 3rd place GC.
Time Trial
Confident in my TT ability and armed with team-mate Matt Griswold's TT bike, I proceeded to wait until 5:22pm for my start, which ended up being the third to last of the day. The course was a bit rolling, but doable 100% in the aero bars. Laid out some watt's, got 4th again, remained 3rd in GC but everyone else changed position dramatically.
Criterium
Aside from an early Wells Ave, I have not rode any crit's this year and was a bit concerned (remember, good at uphill finishes, right?)
Settled in and managed to figure out the race after a few laps and stay near the front. Kept my nose out of the wind as much as possible but was definitely working a bit harder than needed some of the time, and leading through the double 90 degree turn section. Two men were dangling off the front, and with two laps to go Birkhamshaw attacks solo, catches the lead man, who then lets out the chute. Birkhamshaw stay's away, wins the stage, gaining time bonus plus regular time on Dobes, picks up 1st. Being 30 seconds behind, I knew ST would keep me secure, and that's exactly how I finished in the sprint.
Final result: 3rd place GC, 5:08:55.
Special thanks to Caitlin's parents, who graciously let us sleep in the basement of their lovely home in Leominster. Driving 5-20 minutes to each stage was awesome.
So, Cat 3, it was fun while it lasted, but it is time to move on. Now, I must prepare to get owned as a 2 at Hilltown's in a couple of weeks.
Stay tuned for Mike's account, and his chance meeting with Henrik Haussler during the road race.
Sunapee Road Race
The only race of the day not neutralized, I stayed with the group until the very end when I got on the back of Svelte Cycle's lead-out train and sprinted past Nick Mashburn for the win.
CT Stage Race
Started off with 5th in the TT to establish GC, but slid back after working too hard in the circuit race and road race. Missed the break both days, but still finished ST and 7th GC. Discovered seven people can eat pizza and Long-Trail pitchers for under $50 in Winsted, CT.
Housatonic Hills RR
Another climbing race, I decided I would conserve on the climbs by sliding from the front to the back. However, a combination of extreme heat and brain fart led to me straight-up falling over on one of the climbs. Picked up bike in a daze with bent derailer hanger, chased back on and regrouped, sprinted at the end for 10th.
Putney/West Hill Shop Race
Remember when I was a MTB racer? Yeah, me too. Did 5 laps of the Pro/1, nothing very eventful happened except that Mary McConneloug passed me. I felt good, but not very racy, realizing you can't sit in while MTB racing. Got 10th.
Now that we're all caught up, let's talk about what this all led up to - Fitchburg.
Circuit Race
There were a few break attempts, but nothing stuck very long. I spent some time at the front, but mostly on the downhills to bring back some danglers. The climb was enough to split things up, but not severely enough to come back together on the false flat and following downhill on John Fitch. Like Sterling, position in the final hill climb up Pearl St. would be critical to success. Towards the end people started getting nervous and crashing, one Colavita guy had his bike break in half.
Coming into the final turn I took position near the front to keep from getting swept in the turn. The pack split with road furniture in between on the John Fitch descent, I was on the right side, which ended up staying ahead.
Came into the turn and went for it, got 2nd.
Road Race
The current yellow jersey, a Abraham Soler of CRCA/Foundation had only a couple seconds lead on me coming into the road race, I was 2nd GC. The road race played out a lot like the circuit race -- people would go up the road but it was never successful, I spent some time at the front countering, but never attacking. Most of the GC people were racing with maybe one team-mate, including myself, and no other teams were really flexing any muscle (I think only Colavita and Brooklyn Velo force had more than 2, and by that I mean 3 people). I was racing with my trusty Cat 3 companion Matt Casserly, pictured earlier in the circuit race finish.
The climb proved to be selective in the sense that people were pooped out the back, but one short gap by the front group was erased pretty quickly on the incredibly fast descent. Shit was crazy, but I stayed at the front and tried to avoid braking when possible. Being able to stay in a tuck into the next incline was kind of nice.
The end was near and I positioned myself near the front again. Hitting the turn after the climb in Princeton Center it was an all out sprint, though this time I was a bit more worked and got 4th. However, our finish group had opened up a gap and I gained seconds on the rest of the field. Dropped down to 3rd place GC.
Time Trial
Confident in my TT ability and armed with team-mate Matt Griswold's TT bike, I proceeded to wait until 5:22pm for my start, which ended up being the third to last of the day. The course was a bit rolling, but doable 100% in the aero bars. Laid out some watt's, got 4th again, remained 3rd in GC but everyone else changed position dramatically.
Criterium
Aside from an early Wells Ave, I have not rode any crit's this year and was a bit concerned (remember, good at uphill finishes, right?)
Settled in and managed to figure out the race after a few laps and stay near the front. Kept my nose out of the wind as much as possible but was definitely working a bit harder than needed some of the time, and leading through the double 90 degree turn section. Two men were dangling off the front, and with two laps to go Birkhamshaw attacks solo, catches the lead man, who then lets out the chute. Birkhamshaw stay's away, wins the stage, gaining time bonus plus regular time on Dobes, picks up 1st. Being 30 seconds behind, I knew ST would keep me secure, and that's exactly how I finished in the sprint.
Final result: 3rd place GC, 5:08:55.
Special thanks to Caitlin's parents, who graciously let us sleep in the basement of their lovely home in Leominster. Driving 5-20 minutes to each stage was awesome.
So, Cat 3, it was fun while it lasted, but it is time to move on. Now, I must prepare to get owned as a 2 at Hilltown's in a couple of weeks.
Stay tuned for Mike's account, and his chance meeting with Henrik Haussler during the road race.
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