Racing - August 12, 2014, CCAP Tuesday Night Race, Bs, VW Drop Off and Field Sprint

Ah, Tuesday.

For me Tuesday has come to mean Tuesday Night Races at the Rent. This year CCAP has been holding the races. The main effect for me is that I can do the B race, now a Cat 3-4-5 race, instead of doing the A race, now primarily a P-1-2 race (but 3s do enter it).

Tuesdays have also come to mean "Junior goes to daycare in the morning". He loves it now, with all sorts of new stimuli present, slightly older kids, and all sorts of fun stuff to do. I can drop him off somewhat early in the morning, leaving me to do errands.

This Tuesday I brought our Golf TDI in for its 30k service. It's a "free" service if you will (I know, nothing is free, but we don't pay for anything when it's done). We knew that we got the car in August three years ago after we found out that the Missus was carrying Junior. Therefore we needed to get the car in sometime this month so we would get in under the "36k / 3 year" window for service.

I brought my bike and my computer so that I could either hang out and type away on the computer (if the service would take an hour or less) or so that I could ride home (longer than an hour service). When they told me that the service alone would take 90 minutes, plus two minor things I asked them to check, I kitted up and rode out.

First Ride

No gloves. One handed.

I realized I forgot my gloves. I'd washed them but I think they ended up in some shirt or something. At any rate they weren't in my helmet, not in my electronic stuff (SRM, phone), so whatever, I could still ride so I rode. I told myself I had to find them when I got back home.

I happened to be riding one handed when I looked down - I think I was checking back or seeing if my key was in my pocket or something. Anyway in normal situations the most stable one handed position is to hold the bars near the stem. This is because you exert less force on the bars, allowing the bike to track naturally on its own. It's safer in general. The only time this isn't the case is if there is extraordinary force on the front wheel, like you're in mud, or if you're carrying something that might get caught in the front wheel like a jacket or a gallon of milk.

1:28 track stand.

I did a track stand as usual at the light. The only thing was this was a big intersection with a lot of different lanes taking turns. The trackstand ended up being a minute 28 seconds long. I thought about putting a foot down a few times and each time I thought, "Oh, it'll be green soon." That went on for 88 seconds.

First truck, sort of.

Tuesday's races get canceled if it rains. The races are about fun and learning in a safe environment. It's not really ideal when it's raining so the consensus has been to cancel if it rains. That's all good but it makes for some anxious moments when the forecast doesn't cooperate.

This Tuesday it was supposed to start raining, but it was hard to tell exactly when it would start raining hard enough to cancel the race. I started feeling drops of water riding back from the dealer so I figured the race would get called. This meant that this would be my only ride of the day.

Therefore I made some efforts.

I followed the first truck, above, at a distance. I held a high, steady effort, starting with a peak 900w jump, the draft significant enough even 80-100 feet back. When the truck stopped at a light and started up again I was too gassed to go with it, even with the truck's plodding acceleration. When I drove to the dealer I shifted into second gear after the dump truck in front of me was already in 4th gear, so they accelerate a bit slowly when loaded.

My teammate Aaron pointed something out to me last week - if I'd been training a bit more I could have pulled and then gotten back into the race. Instead I got shelled. Here I realized the same thing - if I'd been training I could have jumped with the truck a second time.

Second truck.

A second truck passed me and I jumped on again. This was a bit harder, I hit 1000w, and I was already a bit gassed so I needed to stay closer. I tried not to draft "behind" but instead "to the side". It helps even being to the side and I really didn't want to get into any trouble.

Third truck.

The third truck couldn't pull away from me - he passed me as we got into town. Therefore we did the polite, "You first" "No, you first" "No, you first" while he got up to speed. I let him take the lead and followed, trying to stay to the side again. 1100w jump to get going and I lost him when I slowed for a red light that turned green as soon as I backed away from the truck.

Between Rides

I was so tired that afternoon that I struggled to handle Junior. In addition he didn't take his normal 2-2.5 hour nap - he woke up after 30 minutes and that was that. I kept waiting for him to fall back asleep but he was having none of it. When he's tired he's cranky (wait, who am I talking about?) and it made it hard for me to do anything. Finally I had to put him in his bed, as fussy as he was, and tell him that "Daddy really needs to get some things done to get ready to go see bikes."

Junior sat in his bed and quietly read his Cars books.

Normally we try to leave at 4:50 or 4:55 PM. The drive, through rush hour traffic, can be tough, and we sometimes arrive at the course almost an hour later. This leaves me a few minutes to get ready and line up and although I can do it I prefer 15 minutes to get to the line, not 3.

With my distractions and absolute fatigue I hadn't gotten totally packed. With the Missus helping we finally got going at about 5:15. I thought we might even miss the race, but the traffic gods seemed to smile on us as it seemed everyone was on vacation. We even said to each other that the traffic seemed awfully sparse. We got to the race in record time, meaning we barely had to wait in bumper to bumper traffic.

Of course I could feel a rain drop or two on my arms as I got ready.

Normally I'd race for my Cat 4 teammates but, believe it or not, the ones at the race had upgraded to Cat 3 by now. Therefore we were all Cat 3s (it's just that I was a Cat 3 a couple decades longer) and we didn't have a Cat 4 to work for. Heavy D pointed at me and told me, "Dude, tonight you're going to win. We're working for you."

He has a way of saying things such that you don't argue.

I didn't argue.

On to the race!

Race (aka Second Ride)

Start of the race. Heavy D is #959.

Note threatening cloud patterns.

When a race gets called for weather the officials will just ring the bell to end the race in a lap, if they have the time. Earlier this year they had to actually just stop it, the rain just dumped on us in less than a minute. However, with the rain drops falling sporadically I hoped that we'd get at least a bell when they called the race.

If I were to do well I'd have to race at the front.

I'd done this before, in the A race, a long time ago (2010?). We started off, it started to rain, I pushed every lap like it was the last lap, we got the bell a lap or two later, I led out the sprint, and I won. It's the only A race I ever won and I felt like (and still feel like) it wasn't a true win. Part of it were the numbers - in that sprint I barely broke 900w when I jumped and my sprint was something like 800w average. It wasn't a strong sprint per se but I jumped as early as I could because I knew that the others would be distracted by the wet roads and the general unpleasantness of racing in the rain. At any rate I was hoping that if it actually started to rain I could do something similar.

With the wind pretty strong and steady this meant doing a lot of work to stay up front. A bunch of the riders were interested in blowing apart the field so attacks went as soon as the two neutral laps ended. With a blown apart field it makes it easier for those up front to win if the race suddenly gets shortened to "one lap to go".

Guy in green.

I don't know who the guy in green was but he impressed me with his pack riding skills and relative fitness. I say relative because he didn't go and lap us six times (that would be crazy impressive) but he could do everything he needed to in the race. I point him out because I noticed his riding in the first lap or three.

Heavy D chasing.

Heavy D and Nick, my two Cat 3 teammates in the race, did a lot of work to bring back breaks. I am definitely not a break type of person, else the blog name would have been something other than "sprinter of the house" or "house sprinter". Heavy D and Nick, even without decades of experience racing, figured that out pretty quickly when they first raced with me. Therefore they set about keeping the field together.

The whole time I was thinking, "Okay, we might get the bell in two laps, better stay up here."

Drop of rain on the lens.

Someone off the front.

A couple times the pace eased as someone went. In the picture above someone is going off the front, it might have been Heavy D chasing someone. The important bit is the rain drop though - it was like Damocle's sword hanging over our heads.

Gap opening up.

Heavy D could only respond to so many attacks and eventually a group went clear. Fortunately for me it wasn't just me going for the win, other riders wanted to do well also. CCAP's Juniors were super active in the race, pulling like mad. A Bicycle Depot racer, JC, in his first crit, also took massive pulls, following the thought that "If I'm at the front then I probably won't crash".

Gap closed.

Between the Juniors and a couple older-than-18 racers one of the more threatening groups came back to the fold.

Attack on the left. JC to the right.

I moved up a bit too far when the pace eased, sitting in the wind to the right, when someone went up the left side. It was a big attack and I couldn't follow. I was gassed from following moves and couldn't muster up the energy to do a jump into the wind. Note the Bike Depot rider JC riding point.

Splintering front.

Guy in green finally brought it together.

More riders went and the whole idea of keeping it together started to fade a bit. I wasn't sure where Heavy D or Nick were but the race started getting out of reach for me. I certainly didn't have the gas to get going and it seemed like a lot of the field's strength were riding at or off the front. Although some riders came back one guy stayed out there, looking pretty strong.

Then Heavy D rolled up to me.

Heavy D in the house.

He pulled for a massive few laps, keeping the break in reign, a huge steady effort, just trying to keep the game alive for me. To put things in perspective I put in one of the hardest 10 minute efforts I've put down while in this race, while sitting in behind Heavy D. He was realistically putting down an additional 150-200 watts which is crazy.

I had to remember that he lapped the field solo and I was actually chasing once he got clear of the field.

He's strong.

He couldn't quite catch the break but he kept him within 50-100 meters, so 8-15 seconds, give or take. A big effort would close that but for now his massive multi-lap pull kept the sprint in play.

Too gassed to follow a followable move.

Unfortunately I was too far up so I was eating a lot of wind even sitting behind Heavy D. When a move went up the right - and it wasn't super hard, it was more like a hard surge - I couldn't respond.

Heavy D looked at them, looked at me, and got himself going again. You could see the thoughts running though his head.

"Dude, that's the move, go. Yo! That's the move! Go. Go? Can you go? Aw, dang it, now I gotta pull again."

Heavy D dragged me around another lap or so, brought me up to the group, and finally pulled off to seek shelter.

Left side attack.

The last attack of the race went just before the lap cards popped up at 5 to go. A solo move went, I was actually on his wheel, but I was so cooked I chose not to go with him. I eased and slotted in near the front while the other guy took off.

He got surprisingly far off the front, holding about 15 or even 20 seconds for a bit.

Heavy D to the rescue.

Heavy D, watching from the back of the group (he was helping some of the Juniors and newer riders back there), realized that I needed him one more time. He went to the front, yelling at me to stay put, and started hammering again. I stayed further back, for more shelter, and watched him do his stuff. In this mano-a-mano pursuit he seemed to be stronger but it was touch and go for a few laps. Heavy D closed the gap a bit but before he could close it completely he finally blew and pulled off.

Three Juniors - Tom, Nick, and one other CCAP rider, along with the Bike Depot rider JC (remember he was in his first ever crit) and a Cycling Concepts rider, all took turns pulling hard. This kept the solo rider in check.

Finally, with about 2 to go, the gap stood at only a few seconds and the break rider sat up.

Bell lap.

At the bell another Junior, Jon, went rocketing up the road. ERRACE, the blue/red/yellow team, tried to get a leadout going, while a few of us waited just behind.

Turn One, last lap. Guy in green was up here.

I'd spent so much time nervous about the race getting called in a lap or two that I spent most of the race near the front. Therefore I didn't have to do anything to move up - I was already basically in place.

Turn Two, last lap.

At Turn Two it started to fragment. Someone made a big move, countered by two others.

Turn Three, last lap.

At the last turn, Turn Three, I was sitting fourth wheel but it wasn't tight at all. There were little gaps and guys were choosing their own lines. I was hoping that the guy in green didn't have a monster sprint because the gap behind him would spell the end of my race if he did.

Just about to jump. The first two riders just jumped in this picture.

I could have sworn I jumped through a gap but the image is pretty clear - there was no gap since there was no left side rider. Yes, there was a rider to my left, but he was clear of me and slightly behind my cranks.

I jumped hard, aiming to go through the gap to the left of the lead two riders. Big enough gap and no one in the way.

After a few seconds I checked my six (meaning behind me) by looking down.

No one on my wheel.

Check my six.

I went for a bit, about 10 seconds, checking a couple times, and decided to do a broader check. I eased and looked back, right and left.

No one was on my wheel.

I soft pedaled to the line, another 11 seconds.

No one passed me.

175 bpm, after the line.

Sprints happen so quickly that your heart rate climbs for a bit after the sprint. I'd peak at 178 bpm before my heart rate started to drop.

I apologized to the official for sprinting. I'd told her at the beginning of the Series that I wouldn't go for wins in the B race - it didn't seem fair - but she smiled and said that it was okay, it was fun to watch. Plus, as I realized later, my Cat 4 teammates in the race had upgraded to Cat 3, so we were all 3s.

I figured that it some way it wouldn't hurt to actually race so as to "legitimize" any advice I might have given out. For those who keep track of numbers I averaged about 170 watts for the race. I did a jump at 1185w, sprinted for 10 seconds averaging 964w, and did about 15 efforts that broke 600w (three of those were 1000w, 1100w, and the final 1185w jump).

After the race I hung out with Junior. He came running to me, arms extended - how could I not hang out with him? I managed to change, ate a burger and a hot dog (courtesy of ERRACE's BBQ night), and fiddled with an Expo Junior's bike (Jack). It needed a pretty aggressive derailleur adjustment (it got tweaked earlier that night). It was the first time I'd ridden a bike other than mine in a long, long time. SRAM shifters, even. I admit I rode it a couple times without a helmet until finally a light scolding and an offered helmet made me realize that, yeah, I need to set an example.

I'd forgotten my camera so no pictures from me.

With Jack's bike much better, with Junior starting to melt down (remember, he only napped half an hour during the day), we had to get going.

Pin job.

Although the day had started pretty poorly it all got better from the moment we all climbed into the car to head out to the race. I commented to the Missus when we were got home how lucky I am for what I have around me. She's very understanding, even when I'm stressed. Junior is also really understanding, he really, really wants to be good. He knows when I'm serious and he's good about being good when I'm serious about it (and I don't pull that very often, else it's no longer a "serious" thing).

Racing - June 24, 2014 CCAP Tuesday Night Race, Bs

Tuesday ended up a nice warm day. With the really hot day supposedly arriving on Wednesday this would be a better day. The reality, of course, was that it was pretty warm. I packed more bottles of ice water, both Podium Ice bottles, along with one of the bars I bought for the winter training (which really didn't happen, so I have a lot of bars left).

On Saturday I discovered a crack in the rear Stinger 6 wheel. This, combined with a chip in the surface of the Stinger 6 front wheel, encouraged me to bring just the Stinger 7/9 wheelset. I'd spent much of the day outside and it wasn't very windy at the house. I trudged around a bit, spraying the ever-present poison ivy, washed/clayed/waxed the wagon, and packed the car.

Of course when we arrived the wind felt ferocious. I wondered if the registration tent would fly away, and even a clipboard didn't keep the release forms from creeping across the table.

It was windy.

With no choice I put the 7/9 wheels on. The 9 would be fine, of course, since it's a rear. The 7 was my tallest front wheel. Given the choice I'd use a different wheel but I didn't bring the Stinger 6 and my clincher front is a bit wacky (rim is straight with no tension on one spoke, causing the wheel to wobble aggressively when out of the saddle).

I reluctantly rolled away from the car, regretting not bringing the 6 front.

The good thing about today was that it was the BBQ night, this time hosted by Cycling Concepts. It meant that we didn't have to leave to eat and therefore we could hang out for the A race. Junior loves hotdogs and since that's a staple BBQ food so we'd be all set.

I didn't get a chance to talk much with anyone before the race, nor to warm up. I hoped that things wouldn't be too crazy with the wind, although I knew that the wind would allow the more fit riders to take advantage of the others.

NBC News was there with two cameras, a mic, and apparently they interviewed some people. The link went up and it's here. You can actually see the B race in the background - the short guy with the helmet cam is me.

Very windy day, about 85 degrees F.

We had a decent field, a little smaller than some of the earlier weeks. With some final words from Karen, the official, we started off.

Gaps on the first lap.

Wind here is from the front right.

We didn't have a neutral roll out this week and the attacks went from the gun. Immediately gaps started opening up. I abandoned the whole idea of helping others because I was absolutely at the limit trying to hang on. My legs were a bit sore, probably from the "heavy" schedule of riding more than a day or two in the last week, and I realized that I had to make it through a few laps before they'd start to feel a bit better. Until my legs came around I closed gaps without asking for help but I didn't have anything left to try and help others. Within a few laps the field had probably halved in size.

The wind really hit us hard in two spots - one at Turn One, the other as we cleared the stadium on the backstretch.

The Turn One wind was brutal - the first lap I almost lost control of the bike, and I really had to grip the bars firmly to keep the wind from knocking my wheel off-line. It got better as the race went on so I started to relax a bit. Then one lap the wind hit me super hard just as I stood to accelerate out of the turn. The wheel turned just a touch and for a moment I thought there was a small chance I'd flip over the bars. A quick correction, a touch less weight up front, and it was okay.

The other spot was the end of the stadium, a normal wind spot as the wind swirls around any big structure. This spot was also brutal, with my front wheel moving sideways a good 6 inches the first lap. After that I realized I couldn't relax there either, so no drinking or anything like that. Putting a rider to my 2 o'clock really helped stabilize the bike as the rider at my 2 o'clock would take the brunt of the wind. Of course they'd get pushed to the left a bit so I would leave a bit more room than normal.

Early move with an Expo, with other Expos waiting.

Wind here, at Turn Two, is from the front right.

With Expo riders well represented, and with their fitness levels pretty high (I was one of the weaker ones), the day's race ended up belonging to Expo. The early moves all had Expo riders in them, with Heavy D launching the first attack, then dropping back to the field as someone else (not sure who) continued on for Expo.

Expo waiting for the next move.

You can see that Heavy D, in this case, is sitting third wheel.

The Expo boys let the others chase. Heavy D looked good, patient, biding his time. I told him to go with the next move. Just as the catch was made, Heavy D made the move of the day, launching up the side, passing the tired chasing riders and the tired break riders. He instantly had a big gap and set about broadening it.

Heavy D makes his move.

First four riders are the break coming back, the next two are tired from chasing.

This is a tailwind bit, immediately after Turn Three.

Back in the field the Expo boys marked moves. Only a few riders wanted to chase. ERRACE got two riders chasing but they came back. Expo John N rolled off the front inadvertently. I hollered at him to ease, which had the effect of making everyone around me ease as well. Because, you know, if the "experienced rider" says to ease then they'll ease.

Waving John and Nick to go.

Nick had accidentally rolled off the front and looked back questioningly. I realized that it would be a great time to go so I told them to go, even gesturing with my hand. Nick put his head down, rolled up to John, and they rolled away from the group.

Now although we weren't necessarily chasing our own guys down we were still willing to take pulls here and there. I figured that once whatever Expo group got more than about a length and a corner away from whatever group I was in then I'd chase, so whenever the gap got a bit big I went to the front. The idea was to let the other Expo guys save it for the counter moves.

Telling Aaron he has to go with the next move.

At this point we had two Expo riders dangling just in front of the field. I went up to Aaron and told him that he had to go with the next move. He was one of the stronger riders, with both him and Nick up there in the finale at the Cat 3-4 Berger race. I barely got the words out of my mouth when someone went up the left side.

Aaron launches.

A perfectly timed bit of advice as Aaron basically jumped when I finished telling him to go with the next move.

In the past the Cat 4-5 Expos would be at the front, working no matter what the race situation. When the inevitable moves went they didn't have the snap to follow because they'd just been pulling. They'd dulled the edge of their fitness and training by exhausting themselves before the moves started.

Now, sheltering by default, they had the snap to respond to the moves, or, if so desired, to make them. Even though they weren't significantly more fit compared to a few weeks ago they were racing much more effectively. Aaron's instant response to the counter, Nick's move to go with John, and Heavy D's move to solo off the front all showed that they always had the strength to make the moves. Now they actually could make them because they weren't working senselessly in the wind leading up to the moves.

Pulling as the breaks are gone.

This is on the backstretch, at about the stadium "break", i.e. where the wind blasts us.

I turned to one of the few Expo guys left in the group and remarked, "I think we just team(work)ed ourselves off the back". When most of the field is up the road then not contributing to the workload doesn't make sense. As another rider put it, now the race would be just a hard workout. Those of us that could would pull.

I didn't pull much, to be frank, as I wasn't strong enough to pull much. I usually pulled into the wind, trying to offer shelter, so that made my pulls pathetically short - usually between Turn One and a bit past Turn Two, or even to Turn Three.

That was it.

I rode on the wrong side after the first turn, also to try to offer shelter. My weak point has always been the steady efforts, the FTP/theshold stuff, and I think for a while that one rider thought I was still blocking. The reality was that I had nothing more to give - if my team had asked me to chase as hard as I could I'd have gone the same pace.

My lack of form really showed as I slogged in bigger gears, unable to spin smoothly. I have to work on this as it's super inefficient. I even felt different muscles straining as I worked hard, particularly in my hips. I normally don't work so hard so consistently so the chasing efforts really socked me.

Heavy D lapping us.

(He's in the bright yellow shoes and socks.)

If that wasn't enough Heavy D rolled by, unexpectedly. I never heard anything about him approaching so it was a bit surprising when I turned left and saw him flying by. Two guys went with him but since Heavy D had lapped us solo we sort of ignored them.

Aaron (first rider) and Nick (to my front right) lapping us.

This is exiting Turn One, wind is from the front right, and just after we got the bell.

As we approached the final lap Aaron and Nick also rolled by us. No one else had lapped us, and they passed us just after the first turn of the last lap. Aaron admitted he'd pushed really hard to lap us, and Nick had rallied to bridge to him just as Aaron reached us. Eventually Nick would roll away from Aaron. Two riders were placed between Heavy D and Nick but I don't know when they escaped and I'm not sure when they lapped us.

I sat up in the last turn, my legs pretty spent, tired from a really tough race. I have no idea how the group did in the sprint, nor the other groups that were lapped and such.

I rolled to the finish, carefully crossing the line to make sure I officially finished (even if only the first three are scored). If it's important to finish then a rider has to make sure they actually finish.

Junior was tugging the Missus toward me. I carefully dismounted so I wouldn't kick his head (that would be bad) and Junior proceeded to touch different parts of the bike. He knows it's "Daddy's" bike, he knows "wheel", and he really likes the pedals.

Junior with my pedal.

Heavy D was all grins. He'd just soloed the race, lapped the field, a really great ride. Aaron and Nick were also really happy, lapping the field as well. All the Expo riders had done a great job with teamwork, with racing smarter. Although their fitness would not have increased substantially in four weeks their results were something else - they've been racing smarter and it showed.

With that we relaxed a bit. The Missus, Junior, and I didn't have to leave immediately, contrary to other weeks, because Cycling Concepts was hosting the BBQ night. With Junior's favorite (hot dogs) on the menu, and my favorite (burgers), we were both good to hang out for a bit and eat. Along with a couple burgers (few? I might have had three) I downed a Coke, feeling the need, but after that it was just water, water, and more water.

The A race was pretty spectacular as always, with local pro Ben Wolfe ripping legs off like usual. Expo's Lance had a great race, going basically at the gun, and taking part in the first serious three man move of the day. They eventually lapped the field but I think Ben not only didn't get lapped, I think he lapped everyone again.

Or something like that. It's the hot and hazy days like these that give rise to the myths, the stories, the legends. Maybe in twenty years I'll hear that Ben lapped the field four times. Who knows? Whatever the stories it was a great night out at the races, the way it should be.

Racing - CCAP Tuesday Night Race, May 27, 2014

So we did the first race after the slew of posts on how to race.  The chronology goes something like this:

1. We raced on May 20th and my teammates told me that none of them really every figured out what they should do during a race. One told me that his mantra was simply to "get to the front". The result? The team used a lot of energy during the race but collectively had nothing left at the finish. I know they're really strong because I can't do a lot of what they did during the race. Unfortunately they exhausted themselves by race end and couldn't follow moves on the last lap.

2. I wrote a post asking if racers wanted feedback. At that point I already had a few asking for advice, but I felt it best to put the advice out there in public so that all newer racers could benefit from it, not just Expo ones. The post had four main points. I chose those points because those are the things that the Expo guys mentioned, both directly to me as well as indirectly (I was eavesdropping on some post race discussions).

3. Point One - How not to get lapped. More accurately, how not to get shelled.

4. Point Two - How to draft.

5. Point Three - How to corner.

6. Point Four - How to go fast. This last one combined a few thoughts so it's a long post.

How did it go? Well it went really well. I told someone after the race that the team transformed from one week to the next. No one chased a teammate down, they waited patiently when they needed to, and they weren't afraid of going to the front when that was necessary as well.

Utimately a group got off the front with one Expo rider, and the rest bided their time for the sprint. Up front the one Expo rider (Nick) survived with just one other rider, a non-Expo, and so it'd be a two up finish.

Unfortunately the race got rained out - it was sprinkling lightly one lap, no problem, and the next lap it was a downpour.

This is how it went down.

Prelude

With showers forecast for the entire day just a few days prior I thought that the Expo BBQ night would get rained out. However by race day the forecast changed to a slight chance of thunder showers but no substantial rain until later in the evening. It was hot for us, 80 degrees or so, and very humid. The front coming through was supposed to drop the temperatures about 30 degrees so it would be a doozy when it hit.

The Missus and I have honed a system to get to the race earlier since Junior's schedule is such that I can't do the later A race. Therefore I pack the car and I get as ready as possible. I pin the number (same number each week), I wear my cycling shorts, I put on my heart rate strap, I even pump up the tires on the race wheels before I put them in the car. I just have to put the wheels in, stick the helmet on my head, start Strava, and get my gloves on, and I'm ready to race.

This day I packed the Expedition. I wanted the extra room so I could change and I also thought it would be better if it rained on us - more room for dry air means less humidity in the car. A side benefit is that Junior can actually see out the side of the Expedition (he really can't in the Jetta or Golf, the seat's too low), so he peers intently out while he's in it. He loves watching things passing by the window, pointing out trailers, trucks, tractors, stars, whatever he sees.

We got going earlier than expected and hit the first highway only a few minutes after 5. We got to the course at 5:20 instead of 5:45-5:50 which was our expectation. I got my bike ready, paid my registration, and met up with some of the Expo guys.

The skies looked threatening but the clouds weren't moving very fast. The sun beam part of the sky was creeping towards us and the dark clouds seemed to be moving away from us. I hoped that the rain would hold off and we'd be able to race. Plus Expo was running a BBQ that night so it'd be fun to hang out after the race instead of rushing off to feed Junior.

Race

We all lined up, a decent number of us. One team was noticeably absent (I think a bunch of them are 3s) but otherwise I think most of the regulars were there. Expo was missing both the 3s that would normally do the race, Joel and SOC. We got our instructions and just before they sent us off on a couple neutral laps Aidan (the race boss if you will) asked the Cat 3s to raise their hands.

One person raised their hand.

Me.

All Cat 3s raise their hand. Just one hand went up, mine.

I was pleasantly surprised when I learned the whole field consisted of Cat 4s and 5s. This meant the whole field was racing for the win, minus me, and it meant that no one could hide behind a "but that guy is a 3" excuse.

I liked that Aidan asked the question because it clarified exactly who was racing and who was not (the 3s approach the B race as training/mentoring, the 4s and 5s are trying to do well in it).

We started off and two laps later we were racing.

Major crosswind from left.

I'm sitting in the best wind sheltered spot, relative to #398.

Everyone to the left is hitting massive amounts of wind.

The wind hit the field from the left after the first turn, and as we all rounded the second turn it hit us head on. I'd say the wind was almost as powerful as it was last week. Based on the weather forecast that didn't surprise me - it was supposed to drop about 20 degrees in a few hours so that meant that some system was moving in. Nothing moves for free so it meant we'd see some wind for a while.

I drifted to the back of the group on purpose, to try and help the younger riders earlier. I realized last week that helping them after they'd gotten gapped didn't make sense. They were already blown so they didn't have the power to make the jumps necessary to stay on the wheels.

I decided that this week I'd sit back there, sit in the wind, and tell whoever wanted to listen to sit to my sheltered side. This race, on this night, it meant getting the others to sit at my 4 o'clock (behind and to my right) after Turn One and then sliding behind me after Turn Two.

I intentionally sat to the left, trying to give more sheltered lanes to the right, but I think some people misinterpreted that as an example to "stay left". As the races go on I think we'll see some improvement with Wind Management, but it seemed a lot better than even last week.

Someone had commented on the "danger" of overlapping wheels. It is technically more dangerous but when you're drafting in a crosswind there's no way to avoid it. In a headwind, or in "no wind" (i.e. the wind is from the speed of the riders, not nature), it's not ideal to overlap a few inches, but to sit to someone's side is not bad.

Of course I still saw racers leaving gaps and such. It's only normal - even in Cat 3 races you'll see racers do that. However overall I think people tended to be a bit closer exiting the turns, they followed lines better, and I felt like the field was more under control in the turns. Last week I saw many, many riders take different lines in the middle of the field. This week just one rider stood out.

Also it seemed that racers were quicker to close gaps and a bit more reluctant to take big but meaningless pulls. As I mentioned above I posted all my race advice for Expo on the blog so any of the competitors could read it. Good bike racing is fun, and racing with a bunch of racers that know what they're doing is even more fun. It's like playing a game with someone that is as skilled as you are, maybe chess or something like that. It's no fun playing with a brand new player just as it's no fun playing with a Grand Master. But get two evenly matched opponents and it's going to be a good game.

An example of Expo guys waiting.

In the above picture you can see two Expo riders waiting patiently near the front of the field. At least one Expo is off the front, although I'm not sure which attack this was so I don't know if there are one or two. Last week I might have seen two or three Expo guys actually pulling. This week they were all waiting.

I realized that my basic race craft stuff didn't incorporate any advice once things went well. One Expo, Nick, went off the front in a group of four and ended up staying away for the rest of the race. I realized that we didn't have any way of knowing if he felt good or not, and for Nick, on this day, it was a legitimate concern. He'd done three massive days leading up to the race (big miles and volunteer work Saturday and Sunday and then a big ride Monday) so he admitted feeling a bit fatigued before the start. Although he ended up feeling great in the race we hadn't figured out a way to communicate that. I worried that we'd see him drop back to the field after Expo had shut it down. This we'll have to work on for next week.

A gap that I didn't close.

At a different point a group of four rolled hard into the crosswind section (note to self: also need to give advice on when/where to attack). I rolled hard to keep the pace up but literally could not keep the gap closed. I eased and let the next rider through, and it was Vickie who pulled through hard and closed the gap.

As the laps wound down and Nick seemed to be gone I started thinking about the field sprint. I had no control over what happened up the road but as long as Nick wasn't suddenly in front of us it was okay, and even if he did blow, it was still okay. There was plenty of race craft we could work on in the field.

Rain started sprinkling lightly, a refreshing mist if you will, but I was a bit surprised. I started thinking about really pushing hard because if the race got called we'd want to be in position to sprint or something. We got into the last 5 laps so the race was almost over anyway.

At this point one Expo had rolled off the front. Two more were soft pedaling, trying to encourage someone to pull through.

Expo waiting.

Again, although minor in terms of "race moves", this was a great example of the discipline and control (and knowledge) that the Expo guys had learned over the course of one week. Even though the gap was just 15-20 meters it was still a gap and they practiced their race craft.

Once the gap closed I rolled forward.

A rider in white obliged and quickly closed the gap. At that point I went to the front, completing an Expo wall of sorts. We weren't going that fast, we weren't strung out, but the rain was just a touch heavier and I thought that maybe we should just drill it from here in case the race got canceled.

I figured the race would be called soon so I went to the front.

Note that the pavement is still basically dry and that the tires are dry.

We rolled by the start/finish area and I think it was 3 to go. We had Expo jerseys all over the front and as the token Cat 3 I felt that I should go to the front. The boys lined up behind me and let me dictate the pace. With three laps to go I knew I couldn't go really hard so I toned down that leadout speed and wondered what I could do to get the team to the finish in some kind of organized fashion.

The rain started pelting us pretty hard by Turn Two, and by Turn Three I went way wide to try and get everyone else to take a nice, wide line. I didn't want anyone crashing by going into the turn and trying to turn really sharply.

Approaching the line the race got called.

I sat up and looked down - note the raindrop on lens, wet gloves, wet tires.

My gloves were soaked by the time we got to the start/finish and they called the race. It's the smart thing to do, the safe thing. Yes, it would help to race a bit in the rain, but it takes just one slip for someone to crash, and it takes just one crash to get screwed up. I agree with the "call it if it rains". The promoters waited until the rain was heavy to call it - during the laps of the sprinkling rain it was all okay.

I turned around and went back to the start/finish area.

It was quite wet already.

The rain really picked up in the minute and change from 3 to go until I returned to the start/finish (I didn't take a lap, I just turned around at the end of the straight). Water poured off the tent sides and everyone was soaked, and the poor grill wasn't doing much to help. It felt pretty cold too, the wet combining with the wind and the dramatically lower temperatures.

The Missus had taken refuge with Junior under the tent, but he was cold and wet so she took him to the Expedition.

In the meantime I had some post race talk with some of the guys. The race went really well, a huge improvement, and you could see it in everyone's faces. They were happy with their races. They worked smarter, not just flailing away at the front. They'd started thinking like bike racers rather than bike riders.

Now we just have to continue the trend.

Tactics - Cornering

The next bit on the four part series is cornering. The Rent is a great race for new racers because there are corners enough to challenge you but not getting into the "dangerous" range of corners. Yes, there have been crashes in corners, but generally speaking the corners at the Rent are manageable with the 40-60 rider field sizes we see on a Tuesday. It helps that the race gets strung out pretty regularly so the field is only a few riders wide at speed.

Cornering Can Be Scary

I think the scariest part of mass start racing was the cornering in the field. In fact even now, when I get to a race and I see a pack of racers diving into a turn, I wonder how they all make it without crashing. Of course once I'm whatever race I'm doing then it's okay, but watching it from the outside is still intimidating for me, 30-odd years after I started racing.

I addressed some cornering thoughts in previous posts on the blog. One highlight:
Late Apex and Looking Where You're Going

The big takeaway from that post is that you should strive to look where you're going. I've read (but not confirmed) that people tend to go where they look. For me that holds true so I try to look forward through turns. I do look around the front of my bike also, just to be safe, but generally I'm looking forward.

How Do You Corner In A Field?

The most important thing when cornering in a field is to follow the other racers. It sounds basic but you'd be surprised at how many racers try to follow some imaginary "optimal line" and end up going across other riders' paths.

Optimal cornering lines only exist if you're riding alone or, in rare cases, if you're leading out a very strung out field. For example, in this leadout, I knew that the field was waiting for me so I could choose any line I wanted, and I chose an early line. The pertinent part starts at about 7:45 or so, when I'm in the lead.


If you're not on your own or leading out the field then you need to adapt your line to those around you.

Recently I've been thinking about how I corner in a group, to try to explain it to others. I found that I basically do the following:

1. If on the inside I follow the rider in front of me.
2. If in the middle I follow a path parallel to the rider to the OUTSIDE of me.
3. If on the outside I follow the rider in front of me or do a parallel line to the rider to my inside.

By focusing on the riders around me I avoid looking at the curb and therefore cutting in too early or too much. This is a common error with new racers, where they turn in too much, then they correct and swerve out. By following the rider in front you avoid creating new lines and you keep the field in harmony.

Obviously I'm keeping an eye out on curbs and such - if following one of my basic rules above puts me into the curb then that's no good. A few times this year I've found myself skittering on the edge of control as the field collectively went really wide, putting most of the riders on the outside into the curb. The trust that the racers had in each other meant that many of the racers, including the really experienced ones, ended up following riders on lines that were just a few inches too wide.

Where Should I Hold The Bars?

For me this is a huge peeve. All too often I see riders diving into pretty dicey corners on the hoods. For example, in 2010, at the New London Crit, I was vying for position going into the last turn. The course was really interesting, it had a one lane (with curbs) downhill going into a super sharp corner (well it was way more than 90 degrees) into an uphill finish.

The guy in front of me went into the turn on his hoods. His front wheel washed out and he crashed. I was on the drops, I could avoid him, and although I had to brake really hard and shift down a couple gears, I got going again and ended up placing in the race.

The answer, assuming your bike fits properly, is that you should be on the drops. The drops give you the best braking, best steering, and best overall control of the bike. It usually gives you more power and speed but that's for a different post. Right now I'm concerned with finishing the race, and since the corners are the diciest place in a race, you need to stack the odds in your favor that you'll finish the race. If you stay upright then that's good, and being on the drops increases those odds.

A few years ago at the Rent a guy rolled his tire going into Turn One. A very, very, very good racer was next to me, on that rolled tire guy's wheel. He happened to be on the hoods. He ended up crashing and breaking his collarbone. I don't know if he'd have been able to save it if he'd been on the drops but from my video it's apparent that the racer had to give up trying to stay upright because he couldn't slow down nearly enough. He couldn't steer or brake enough to save himself.

I was on the drops. One of the bike's wheel hit my neck, but I was otherwise fine. I fixated on the curb and fortunately managed to avert my eyes (and my path) and didn't it that curb, but I never felt like I was out of control.

You should get into the habit of using the drops when you're in flatter terrain or on downhills. It's a great default position with virtually no drawbacks (on a properly fit bike). You should be able to turn, brake, and shift 100%, and if that's the case then there's little reason to use another position.

There's no hill at the Rent but a great default position on hills is on the hoods. That's a different topic though.

Front Wheel Weight

Not your front wheel's weight! I'm talking about how much weight you have on your front wheel. If you're on the drops you put a bit more weight on the front wheel. For virtually all paved corners this is a good thing. You can almost always recover from a rear wheel skitter or hop, but if your front wheel goes sideways the chances of staying upright are a lot lower.

Therefore it's important to weight the front wheel. It's easier to do that when you're on the drops. I also slide forward on the saddle. This lets me blast into turns with a lot of confidence that the bike will go where I want it to go.

Pushing Away From The Front Wheel

When a rider gets scared in a corner they push away from the front wheel. They tend to sit back, they literally push the bars forward, and they'll even stand up out of the saddle. An additional normal reaction is to do an early apex, i.e. enter the corner early. All of these instinctive reactions make the bike handle worse in corners, making the rider even more scared. It's a bad cycle and you need to avoid falling into it.

It's not just the amateurs either. An unfortunate example of a pro rider like this is Levi Leipheimer. When he raced for Gerolsteiner he made a huge move on a stage in the Tour. He gave away minutes on the descent as he screwed up the corners, doing many of the things I list above (in particular his early apexes, sitting back on the saddle, and unweighting the saddle).

I've fallen victim to this as well, when I first descended down Palomar Mountain near San Diego. It's 35 minutes of descending for me, it's quite steep, and there are a bunch of switchbacks. Some are blind, meaning you can't see the exit point of the hairpin.

However the scariest parts are the fast sweeping turns, especially the ones with just sky beyond the guardrail. The drop offs are pretty big (being scared of heights I avoided stopping and looking down on the way up) and obviously if I made a mistake, or I had a massive mechanical, it would be bad.

Descent on the way to Palomar.

Trucks regularly pass me going about 50 to maybe 65 mph.

I typically hit about 45-50 mph on this road.

Well I found myself pushing the front wheel away from me, pushing the bars away, trying to get away from the guardrail. This unweighted the front wheel such that I had to go really slow in some of the corners and I was still drifting to the outside. I was turning in early, in spite of myself, so it was even worse. I came to a stop once on the wrong side of the road and basically had a miserable time doing the descent. I even got a crick in my neck from being so tense, and I had to actually stop to let my forearms rest because I was braking so hard.

In later years doing Palomar I could descend on the drops comfortably. I had more confidence that I wouldn't go shooting off the cliffs (even if I had a massive mechanical - I thought of how I'd slide to catch the guardrail etc), I had confidence in my cornering ability, so I could weight the front wheel like normal. This let me blast into turns quick enough that I could catch a car halfway down the mountain.

Conclusion

Essentially when you're cornering in a field you want to follow the field. Think "school of fish". Follow the other riders' line, they follow the riders in front of them, and everything works out nicely. If you try to do your own thing then it gets a bit messy.

Remember that cornering well lets you stay in the draft better and gets you going on the next stretch of road closer to a sheltering wheel. This increases the chances of you finishing the race.

(Disclaimer/note: I am putting these posts up in response to some internal requests from individual riders for advice etc. I am not singling out any particular rider or their request, and this advice works for all racers. In fact I'd claim that these pieces offer universal advice for all new mass start bike racers.)