Racing - CCAP Tuesday Night Crit, July 26, 2016 - Bs, led out sprint after a hot-for-me race

The last two times I raced I got shelled here, and in fact last week I got shelled so badly that I didn't even finish the post about the race. It was hot, I felt "blocked" (which is really another term for "not as in shape as I wanted to be"), and it was an exhausting outing to make it to the race.

This week seemed to be about as hot, expected temps at race time in the 93-94 degree range. I seemed to melt in the heat before so I was careful to pack some insulated bottles with lots of ice and a bit of water.

I also let myself eat some more carbs in the prior two days. With my A1C (historic blood sugar as measured on red blood cells) a bit high I've been focusing on not eating a lot of carbs. I realized that after almost 8 months of this that I lack some energy in races, the top end I need to push when it's tough. My guidelines were from my sister - 15g of carbs for breakfast, 45g for lunch, 45g for dinner, and 15g for a few snacks during the day.

To put things in perspective I was probably consuming a full day's worth of carbs in just one meal, and probably a day's worth just in the hour before a race. A can of soda is about 45g of carbs; one slice of bread would kill my breakfast budget.

So in the 24 hours prior to the race I went a bit hog wild. I didn't count every gram but realistically I had 400-500g of carbs. Ravioli. Bread (in the form of maybe six sandwiches). Sugary stuff also, like some Nutella, a serving of danish my dad had refused for two days, some left over ketchup from one of Junior's hot dogs. I hoped that this short term sugar sacrifice would pay dividends at the race.

Our tight schedule got derailled a bit by my dad with some untimely stuff out of our control but we got on the road only a little later than planned. We got to the course in decent time, not too much standing traffic, and it left me with a solid 5 minutes to get ready.

Now, back at home, I'd already done stuff like put on my bibs, pin my number, and collected everything possible for the bike. I also pumped up the tires. I know the tubes lose air hourly but if I pumped up the tires at home it'd be maybe 90 minutes before race time. That's not bad.

Oh and the pin job. Heh.

28 pins.

I tried not to make the number hard to read so the pins go on the perimeter or on the number.

I was feeding my dad and had a lot of time on my hands. I'd pinned the number already and decided to get Junior's "bin of pins". An unexpected side-effect of promoting races for a couple decades is that you end up with safety pins everywhere. Junior loves to put things where they belong so when Junior finds a safety pin he puts it in a little container that I designated the right place for safety pins (if only I was so organized). I checked the pins because they eventually rust or they bend, tossed any that seemed even slightly off, and net result?

Lotsa pins.

I left a few pins in the bin to sort of plant the seed for newly found pins, meaning he'll look at the bin and think, "Oh, this is the right bin for safety pins."

For some reason the pin job reminds me of one of those people with lots and lots of piercings.

We headed out to the race. Although it's a short drive, about 35 minutes without traffic, with the time being about 5 PM aka rush hour when we head out it's usually a bit longer than that. We got there with maybe 10 minutes to spare.

After getting my dad situated with the Missus and Junior I signed in and put myself together for the race. I rolled out to the starting group, realized it was a Junior group doing a final "after the race review" thing, started to roll away, and then the official called us to the line. So I warmed up for about a hundred yards.

Island Rider at the start

I don't think I ever posted this but one of my five outside training rides in 2015 was with Island. He lives a town over from where I used to live, he cut his teeth racing at Bethel, he consciously went out and supported the sponsors of the Series, his teammate helped me a ton with the website, he's sort of involved in cycling discussions online, yada yada yada. He normally doesn't meander up this way for a weekday race so it was nice to see him. I don't think I've talked to him in person since our training ride a year or so ago.

I did notice that he had some nice HED wheels. The front looked awfully tall. I touched the wheel with my finger.

Me: "Is that a 9?" (Stinger 9, 90mm tall)
Island: "No, it's a 7." (Stinger 7, 75mm tall)
Me: "Oh! That's what I run!"
Island: "Where do you think I got the idea?"

Heh.

I looked at his wheels again. Yes, they did look like mine, except his were newer. And it looked like he rode them more often than I did mine.

Left side wind exiting Turn 3.

Means sit to the right exiting the turn.

Taking advantage of the fact that I know Island, I'll use him as the "drafting example". The wind was moderately strong and it required decent Wind Management to save energy. The trickiest part of the course was exiting Turn 3 through to the start/finish line. The wind hit you from the left as you exited the turn, forcing you to sit to the right. In the picture above I'm behind and slightly to the right of Island. This was about where you wanted to be to get maximum shelter.

Front wind halfway to start/finish area.

Means sit directly behind the next rider.

Problem was that as you traveled along the curved bit the wind direction changed. In the picture above the wind is hitting us head on. I've adjusted my position behind Island based on the wind direction.

Right side wind at start/finish area.

Means sit to the left a bit.

On the start/finish straight the wind hit us from the right side. I've had to adjust my position relative to Island once again.

This happened every single lap. It's a bit tricky, shifting over like that. It requires vigilance on your part as well as understanding from the other riders. If everyone is reading the wind properly then everyone understands how critical it is to stay sheltered, and you naturally adjust and shuffle around to let people get into and stay in shelter.

It's when riders aren't aware of the wind that it becomes tricky. To someone like that I probably looked like a pretty ragged rider, slowly drifting from one side of the rider in front to the other.

The heat didn't help much. Every week I'd been pretty good about waving to Junior. This week I probably waved twice, maybe three times. I was absolutely smashed by the heat. I kept dumping ice cold water on myself out of my Podium Ice bottles, taking a sip, but it didn't really make a huge dent on the heat. I guess I really haven't ridden in anything like this regularly. Not only that, I've been indoors most of the time, so my ambient temperature for the last two months has probably been mostly 75-80 degrees. This mid-90 stuff was killing me.

I continued on, stamping on the pedals (more on that on a different post), my awareness constantly narrowing to just the wheel ahead of me. I checked my SRM a couple times, mainly to make sure that I wasn't in real physical difficulty, else I'd just sit up and withdraw from the race. The SRM duly reported that I was "well within parameters", at least for heart rate.

I didn't feel like it.

Over the winter I paid to do a fitting, the first fitting I ever paid for. The fitter, CP, lives in my home town. I'd hoped to see him at the races at some point, but after a few weeks of not seeing him, I sort of gave up. Fitting is a retail business and Tuesday evenings are a retail kind of time.

At some point in the haze of the heat I realized that the kit next to me was one of the Stage One kits. CP rides for Stage One - their core team members basically joined for life. CP is a big, powerful rider, reminding me in his style of Johan Capiot, and here he was, Capiot himself, next to me.

He rolled to the front, I duly took his wheel. His is a strong, steady wheel, very easy to trust. I know because I spent some significant time on that wheel in the early years of the Bethel Spring Series, on his wheel, watching his TriSpokes whirling around. He was always super strong in a sort of Cancellara kind of way. He could put down solid power for minutes at a time. I actually dreaded seeing him at the Series. I remember thinking to myself during those days, "Oh, man, CP is moving up again."

Then I'd be groveling on wheels for the next couple laps as he did this or that at the front.

CP to my left, of Body Over Bike

So it came as no surprise when he started to put some pace into the race. A move had gone off the front, no one was helping him, and he felt the need to do a pull. Of course no one was helping him, I was the one right behind him and I wasn't in a position to close much more than about a couple foot gap. He did what was natural for him. I could see his body language change just a bit as he hunkered down for the effort.

Then, hands still up on the hoods, butt still planted firmly on the saddle, he accelerated.

I watched him ride away.

Others rode after him, maneuvering around the mobile chicane in the road, aka me.

The moves came back, a three or so rider move went clear, and the race came down to its final laps.

With Island being a here a real treat I decided I'd try to help him out at this probably unfamiliar venue. I gave him some advice on the wind, I tried to point out some of the strongest riders willing to make moves, and, at two laps to go, I rolled up to him and told him to follow me.

Another rider I think misunderstood me and got on my wheel, Island letting him in. I started going a bit faster at the bell but someone attacked at the same time so I really only neutralized the attack. Then on the backstretch I started to open it up. I wasn't out of the saddle, I didn't want to jump (I think I really couldn't do a proper jump at that moment), I only wanted to "go faster".

Going through Turn 3 I must have done something off since the gap opened up there. I kept going, hoping the rider behind would get back on my wheel, but the reality is that in such a situation the leadout man has to ease up, wait, and try to coordinate with the sprinter getting back on the gas again.

I didn't do that so I gapped myself off the front. I sat up after pedaling a bit and watched the riders roll by me.

The field did a little sprint, behind the break. I realized after the fact that my approach to the race has been "if there's no break lead out the sprint, if there's a break then I'll sprint". I forgot that mantra in my heat-induced haze and I didn't sprint even though I probably could have done so without feeling too guilty.

At any rate I was okay with watching the rest of the group sprint for the line.

I picked up a fresh bottle of ice water from the Missus, told Junior I'd be right back, and got out to roll around for a minute or four. I needed to cool off a bit and I needed that constant slight breeze from being in motion on the bike.

As a bonus Island was rolling around as well. We rehashed bits of the race, I clarified some tactical stuff, we talked briefly about life, and then we called it a day.

I rolled back to our base camp, Junior waiting for me.

Junior after the race.

Xander, behind him, had just given him a high 5, hence the big grin

One of the Juniors, Xander, was walking by and gave him a high five. This absolutely made his day. Another rider played with Junior for a bit, doing stuff with Legos. I know it made Junior's day because the first thing he told me was that, "Kevin played Legos with me!" He was so happy.

(On an aside calling Junior Junior gets confusing with Junior racers around.)

Junior, the Missus, and Pops

We had to get going as I didn't want Pops to be in the heat too much. I even patted his face, neck, and arms down with some ice-water dampened towels. But before I could do that Junior wanted to play with the pedals and cranks on my bike.

Junior with my bike

He was super disappointed that "Mr Esteban" wasn't around. My teammate had made a Craigslist purchase for me, some Thomas the Engine blue train track, and Junior went absolutely nuts over all the extra track and the drawbridge and the stations and stuff we got. I had told him Mr Esteban was giving us some Thomas track. It's simpler than saying he got it for me, plus it dilutes the "Daddy buys me everything" deal - I want to pass around the credit. So his new best friend is Mr Esteban, who, unfortunately for us, couldn't make it this week.

Once he understood that Mr Esteban wasn't around he wiped away his disappointment and went back to telling me about the race and such. We walked back to the car together with him helping me steer my bike.

At times he looks so big, like when we're messing around on the couch or on the bed. His legs go from here to there, if I hold him across my arms he sticks out everywhere, feet out that side, head out the other, arms dangling to the sides. At other times, like when he plays with my bike, he looks so, so tiny.

At the car he started to melt down a bit. Doing even the earlier B race pushes his sleep schedule pretty hard, making the trip home tough on him sometimes.

No race next week as the venue isn't available. Two more after that and then I think it's done for the year.

And that'll be my 2016 racing season. I know I'll be able to race a bit more in the future, I just don't know when. It'll happen when it happens and that's good enough for me.

Ah, life. It's a cycle.

Equipment - Bike Weight (Red Tsunami)

After reading some stuff about bike weights online I got curious about my own bike's weight. For the EVEN Hotel Fun Ride I brought a bunch of bike mechanic stuff to the hotel that I don't normally touch. This included packing the bike tool box (which has my big digital scale in it, meaning the scale for weighing stuff over 1000 grams) as well as the repair stand (which is perfect for holding the previously mentioned scale). After the ride I unloaded the stuff into the garage and it hasn't moved since. My race wheels sit there as well.

I realized that I had everything I needed to weigh my bike in its various iterations.

So I did.

My main focus was to see the delta in the weights for the wheels. I mean, okay, the ultimate weight is nice to see, but I wanted to see if there was any objective data to back up my very subjective opinions and such. I didn't put the SRM PCV (computer head) on the bike, it's about the only thing missing in terms of "always on the bike". The tail lights (I use two), saddle bag full of stuff, and pump, they go on for training rides but not for races. Bottle - since I usually ditch my bottle before the finish I figured keeping it off was fine.

My bike, after the Nutmeg State Games 2014. Stinger 7/9 wheels.

Weight = 16.2 lbs without bottle and SRM head.

The results below:

Red Tsunami bike, no pump, no bottle, no SRM head, no tail lights, no saddle bag with stuff in it. I train on the bike with the Jets right now.

Bike with Jet 6 front and Jet 9 rear wheels: 8.62 kg, 18.98 lbs.

Note that all the HED wheels, except the Stinger 7/9 combo, use the same model hubs and spokes. Even the Stinger 7/9 use very similar weight hubs. Therefore the majority of the weight differences are in the tire/tubes, rims, cassette, and a minor difference due to small variations in spoke count.

On the clinchers I'm using Maxxis ReFuse training tires, Bontrager tubes, and Velox rim strips. On the tubulars I have either Vittoria EVO tires (one of them is a Tech rain tire and the rest are regular CXs) or the Bontrager XXXLite tires. Weights for the tubular tires are virtually identical.

2010 HED Jet aero clinchers (with stock HED front skewer and trainer rear skewer)

Jet 6 front wheel, 1.71 kg / 3.77 lbs
Jet 9 rear wheel, 1.97 kg / 4.33 lbs (with 11-25 steel Campy Centaur? cassette)

2010 HED Bastogne clinchers (with stock HED front skewer and trainer rear skewer)

Bastogne front wheel, 1.16 kg / 2.55 lbs
Bastogne rear wheel, 1.62 kg / 3.57 lbs (with 11-25 steel Miche or BBB cassette)

2011-2012 HED Stinger 7/9 aero tubulars (with stock HED skewers)

Stinger 7 front wheel, 1.10 kg / 2.42 lbs
Stinger 9 rear wheel, 1.31 kg / 2.88 lbs (with 11-23 steel Miche or BBB cassette)

2010 HED Stinger 6 aero tubulars  (with stock HED skewers)

Stinger 6 front wheel, 0.95 kg / 2.09 lbs
Stinger 6 rear wheel, 1.31 kg / 2.88 lbs (with 11-21 ti/steel Campy Record cassette)

Bike weights with clinchers

With Bastognes, 7.72 kg / 17.0 lbs
With Jets, 8.62 kg / 18.98 lbs

Bike weights with tubulars

With the Stinger 7/9 setup weighs 7.35 kg or 16.19 lbs.
With the Stinger 6 wheels weighs 7.20 kg or 15.85 lbs.

Thoughts

The first thing is that I thought my bike was much heavier when set up for training. 19 pounds is not a lot for a bike, and to me the bike feels like a tank with the Jet wheels fitted. If I were to guess I'd have said my bike weighed 20-22 pounds so to have a 19 pound bike is pretty surprising. When I started racing a 19 pound bike was super light, and 20-21 pounds was about normal for a race bike. I've taken spins on 12 pound bikes in parking lots and they feel like they're made from styrofoam, they're so light, and my bike is nowhere near that.

Second I knew the Jets were heavy but to weigh about 8 pounds for the pair of wheels (with tires etc) is pretty substantial. The Jets give away about 1.5 kg or over THREE pounds to my tubulars. The front clincher wheels, which are identically set up in terms of hub/spokes/tire/tube/rimstrip, are about half a kilo apart so that's a full pound or more in just the rim. Let me repeat that in bold. The rims make for a full pound difference! The only difference between the two front wheels is the rim so that's where the weight is, directly in the rim area. This is why the wheels feel so hard to spin up, the rims weigh twice as much. They are more aero but I use so much energy getting them up to speed that I'm pretty much exploded by the time I'm able to substantially use the aero benefits.

Third, I was shocked to see that the Stinger 9 and the Stinger 6 rear wheels weigh the same. The 9 even has a heavier cassette and a marginally heavier tire. To see that it weighed the same means that basically it'll be my standard rear racing wheel. The 6 no longer has a function. It's not lighter, a tall rear wheel is always usable, and I'll have a higher top speed for a given power in a sprint. Since the Stinger 6 rim is cracked I may build it out as another 9.

The final thought is that I figured my bike was heavier in general. To be so close to the UCI minimum weight of 6.8 kg / 15 lbs surprised me. My Cannondale 2.8 was, at best, about 17 pounds with extremely light tubular wheels (280g rims, 28H, hubs similar to modern day hubs). This was on a spring-type scale (a fish scale sold through a bike distributor) so the accuracy was questionable at best, but it was a pretty light bike. The Cannondale SystemSix, with the Reynolds tubular DV46 wheels, came in at about 15.5 pounds, on the same digital scale I used to record all the above weights. The Tsunami only gives away a third of a pound compared to the very sweet System Six. It's virtually the same build kit so it's the wheels, the saddle (my carbon railed SLR is light), the fork (my current ENVE 2.0 is light), and the (probably heavier) Steelman stem and FSA Wing bar that are different.

Going Forward

I suppose I could cut some weight off by swapping cassettes between the Stinger 6 and Stinger 9 - the 11-23 ti/steel cassette is noticeably lighter than the 11-23 steel cassette. However the overall result wouldn't be significant. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two, separated by 50 or whatever grams, or 0.05 kg.

I don't have any weight weenie parts per se. Thomson seatpost (the regular one), FSA Wing Compact bar (aluminum), Campy Skeleton brakes (Athena? I bought them used), Crank Bros headset, Specialized Rib Cage bottle cage. I even left two Planet Bike blinky light mounts on, and the bike had the SRM mount (but not the actual computer head).

The light stuff I have on the bike includes the ENVE 2.0 fork, the carbon railed SLR saddle, and… I think that's it. Both are long term items, not wear items. I plan on having them for a long time. I bought some lighter weight tubes (60g vs 90g) but, again, realistically I'm not going to notice that as much as if I move from one wheel set to another. Plus they're thinner and slightly less durable so I'll stick with training on regular tubes for now.

Steelman Bikes stem, it's not light. 257.4 grams unpainted, so 0.57 pounds by itself. I think a typical stem is in the 100-120g range. That's a substantial difference relatively speaking, to double the weight of a part. However fit is absolutely critical so I can't nitpick the weight of the stem.

Tsunami frame, alone, is about 1300g with paint, binder clamp, and barrel adjusters. Unpainted it was 1210g. My frame and fork should weight in the 1650g range (with a 350-ish gram fork). The Cannondale was supposed to be 1150g for the 56 cm so a bit less for the 52 cm I rode. Again fit is first so a little bit of weight is a normal sacrifice for a custom fit, sub-$800 frame.

I do have a light crankset, the Cannondale SI SRM, which is about 675g total, with bottom bracket. I think I've weighed it but I don't know if I ever put the pictures up, and looking through about 20k pictures doesn't appeal to me right now. A typical crankset (Campy Record aluminum with Record BB) will weight 900g or more.

However, for basically no carbon except the rims and the saddle rails, the bike isn't heavy at all.

Realistically it would be easy to drop a little weight in the training wheels, but that's not my goal. In fact I want to keep the bike heavy for training.

For racing I might be able to shed a few grams here and there. However, with my own body weight something like 9000 g / 20 pounds higher than in 2010, spending money to save 40 or 50 grams seems ludicrous. Therefore I'm not going to do anything to the bike.

Racing - 2014 New Britain Crit, M45 and Cat 3s

My bike, resting.

Podium Ice bottle, no longer a rarity with the new version coming out soon.

I think I have an 11-23 for the cassette.

Nokon housing.

My one light thing - a carbon railed SLR.

Thanks to teammate Heavy D, who grabbed my camera after the M45 race, I have some pictures of me on the bike. This is unusual since normally I'm the one taking pictures with it. Coincidentally my helmet cam failed to stay powered on so I don't have any video. Therefore the pictures Heavy D took are the ones I'll use to narrate the Cat 3 race.

At the start.

I preach about long finger gloves. They save your finger tips on the off chance that you hit the deck and slide on your fingers. It doesn't happen all the time but it's happened to me. I'd rather not repeat that experience so I wear long finger gloves all the time, even training rides in the summer. I sometimes forget them and since it's not a critical thing like a helmet I'll still go for a ride. However you'll almost always find me wearing long finger gloves.

I use a RoadID. I have a heart thing so if I'm unconscious and someone hooks up an EKG thing to me, it'll look like I'm having a heart attack. Since I don't want anyone to do anything to me to try and "fix" my heart, I wear the RoadID. I carry a copy of my EKG in my wallet as well, per my doctor's recommendation.

Manchester Cycle.

They've been a generous and steady supporter of local bike racing for literally decades.

Stickers.

I'm starting again with this bike. Note Outdoor Sports Center, sponsor of the Bethel Spring Series.

Expo Wheelmen.

I race for that club.

M45+

First the M45+. I don't have pictures at all so it'll all be words. I lined up with no warm up, per my Strava. I was running a bit slower than I thought and I didn't feel the need to warm up anyway.

We started off fine, some attacks early on. We had pretty strong winds, with a very strong cross-headwind on the main stretch. I expected a break to go because of that so I figured that I'd go after any bigger move that started rolling away from the field.

One big move went (I think) but I figured it would come back. It did.

Then another, bigger move went. This had a good 10 riders or so, and there were a number of break member teammates in the field. A few of us had missed the move but the chase seemed a bit half hearted. I made a dig, accelerated a bit more than I wanted, and decided to follow through with it. I rolled up to the break within half a lap, connecting on the backstretch. I felt okay, not totally redlined, and I figured that if the break kept at this pace I'd be okay.

Behind me the field seemed strung out but not any more motivated than before. In front of me the break started to splinter, with the front half separating from the rear. Over the top of the hill my chain inexplicably dropped off the big ring, not quite going into the small ring. I must have been in the 53x23, meaning in the big-big, and either stutter pedaled or something to unhook the chain.

I lost a few feet getting the chain back up to the big ring, looked back, and sat up.

By the time we hit the main stretch the field had caught the break. I was definitely working harder than not but I didn't feel in trouble. The field, already a bit stressed, split again, I think under the impetus of some of the stronger riders.

Unbeknownst to me there was an ex-pro in the field, Kurt Begeman, who used to be the resident pro at the velodrome in New Hampshire. Had I known he was in the field I'd have kept track of him, but I didn't so I didn't.

From my tail gunning position I thought the break had come back but it had actually increased its lead so quickly it was around my reference corner (the last one). When I looked it wasn't there so I mentally relaxed. A few laps later I saw that they were actually really far in front, a good 30 seconds or so.

I made another dig, hoping to bring some guys with me, but no luck. Everyone let me blow up out there and a lap later I came back.

Going into the final lap I figured I'd go for the sprint (of course). I actually debated whether I should just sit up and save my legs for the 3s. Ultimately I decided to sprint because I couldn't possibly know what would happen in the 3s. I might crash or flat or get shelled or something because that's what bike racing is all about.

Carpe Diem, right?

Seize the Day, or seize the moment.

An ex-Cat 2 (or 1?), Martin, went really early, gapping off the field I think going clear just before the last turn. My friend (and long time Bethel Spring Series helper) David B sat on his wheel. If they won, so be it, I didn't want to chase them myself.

Another guy followed and I immediately jumped on his wheel. We rounded the last turn and I looked up at Martin and David. They were probably 15-20 meters ahead, a closable gap in the sprint. I knew the powerful headwind would really slow my sprint so I went as soon as I thought I could get to the line.

I thought I'd left it late as it was a big gap to Martin and David, but I think the wind really shattered them. I got past both of them to get 15th. In the Tour that might be good but here at New Britain, not so much.

I'd used up a bunch of water, the day was getting warmer, and I had another race in 2 hours. I realized that I'd made an error in my race supplies - I should have brought more water and some food. Instead I ate a bar, drank some of the precious ice water, and waited. Junior wanted to play and stuff so we played and stuff. Heavy D collected my camera to take pictures of the Cat 4 race. I was hot.

Cat 3

Strava here.

Unusually I'm near the front. Cat 3s.

I didn't intend to line up near the front, I just rolled up whenever and there were more people than I expected in the field. Naturally since I lined up with at least one rider behind me I screwed up my clip in. I apologized to the rider that had to pass me as I clipped in and we were under way.

The Stingers in action.

My teammate Heavy D took control of my camera, with the 55-200 zoom, and snapped away. He'd try to cheer us on while taking pictures. You can tell when he was cheering because there's a whole lot of pavement and grass. The laps where he wasn't cheering there's a bunch of cyclists in the frame. The above picture is one of the in-between ones.

This is interesting. Note the gaps between wheels and such.

Cat 3 race so we're all reasonably experienced.

Keep in mind that the wind really socks us hard from the front left after this turn. Tactically speaking then it would make perfect sense to be shielded to the wind side, i.e. to the front left. This means riders should be exiting the turn behind and to the right of the rider in front of them, giving them optimal protection immediately.

The picture above doesn't show much of that.

Now note the tight formation, center screen.

The crafty guys at the back of the field are a bit better. You can see we're in our own mini-echelon. The rider in orange, the rider  with the white helmet, they're in the wind for no reason whatsoever, using enormous amounts of energy and gaining nothing.

Another picture of the tight formation.

We're overlapped to the right because the wind is hitting us from the left. The two riders in front of me have multiple national titles between them and both are former Olympians for other countries. I'm not so good but at least I know what's up.

A shot of the "kick over the top" pedal stroke I have.

Here the wind wasn't as powerful so being close wasn't as important.

I don't have long legs, as evident in this picture, but I run 175mm cranks. It just works better for me, now that I've lost a lot of leg speed. 25 years ago I was using 167.5mm cranks, and in about 1995 I started using 170s. Over the 2003-2004 winter I started using 175s. I thought 170s would be faster so I tried to go back to them in 2008 and then again in 2011. I tried for most of a season each time, starting sometime in the prior fall (typically Oct/Nov to July/Aug). Both times I went back to the 175s and immediately had better results. It wasn't the power, which I found didn't change much at all, it was how that power translated into fatigue and results. The 175s just work better for me.

Although technically I was okay sitting at this part of the course, at the top of the hill, I needed to stretch my legs out a bit. As the second race of the day my legs were getting fatigued. I also ran out of water so that didn't help on this hot and humid day.

Coasting and stretching. I'm pressing my right thigh against the left side of the saddle.

I'm coasting here, trying to stretch my legs out a bit. The standing at the top of the hill helped but I still needed to do something, my legs felt really blocked and fatigued.

Last wheel in the field, suffering.

I'm last wheel here and not very close to the next rider. This was in the first curve and the trees break up the wind. Still, though, I should be a bit closer.

This picture, more than the earlier ones, shows that I really need to lose weight. No muscle definition - my body fat is in the 25% range, give or take. I'm realistically 20 pounds heavier than I could be, than I was in 2010, and in 2010 I still wasn't really cut/defined. Someone calculated my lean body mass is in the 130s so 10% body fat would put me in the 140s. It'd be nice to be in the 150s again.

More suffering.

We're exiting the tree area I think and I'm closer to the wheels. However I'm still suffering, still at my limit.

My ContourHD didn't work in the Masters race so I removed it for the Cat 3s. You can see the mount on the helmet. No camera though.

Also you'll note that I have no SRM. I forgot it at home.

I ran out of water pretty early in the race, saving a few sips "just in case". At about 10 to go I started thinking about stopping. It was hot, there was a break up the road, and I wasn't recovering at all.

Then, at 8 laps to go, the sun disappeared behind some clouds. It was still bright, mind you, but the sun wasn't beating down on us. I could feel my body start to shed some of that excess heat, finally getting ahead of the recover curve. I hoped that the sun would stay hidden, and it did, at least until it was too late to cook me again.

Sprinting for 13th. I was 12th when I sat up, my wheel just in front of that tall rider to my right.

I would have sworn up and down that there were 20 riders ahead of me.

I was so far back going into the sprint that I really didn't feel like sprinting. On the other hand I'd worked so hard just to get to the finish that I decided to give it a go, even as I saw riders 10-20 feet in front of me sitting up.

I didn't have a good jump and my legs were twinging even as I jumped but I kept going. The pedals turned really slowly, no 105 rpm sprint like last time. I know when I'm not sprinting well because my butt gets lower and lower, and that's what was happening in this sprint. At some point I started to pass a tall, skinny rider, the archetypal non-sprinter, and my legs told me I was done.

I sat up and the other guy passed me back. I saw three guys at the line within passing distance, including the tall guy, but at best I might have gotten past those. No way I could have caught anyone further up.

Ends up I was 13th so if I'd done a reasonable sprint I probably could have gotten 10th. No better though, especially based on the fact that I really couldn't move up in the last lap. If I was so blown that I couldn't move up then I was really on edge in the race itself.

The good thing is that I finished the races disappointed in the Masters to have missed the break and disappointed in the 3s to have screwed up the finish. Previously I'd have been psyched just to finish. I'd bumped up my training in June to 16 hours, double that of May, and more than April and May combined. In July I've already done 10 hours and we're only halfway through the month.

Note the last day's bar in July is taller than any day except that tall day in late January.

Incredibly, with the EVEN Hotel recon ride later that day, this would be the longest day of the year for me since January, and in fact it was the second longest day of the year on the bike period.

With that my next big day is the EVEN Hotel Fun Ride coming up on Thursday morning.

No Tuesday Night CCAP Race tonight due to the thunder, lightning, flood watch, and all that. I even got an emergency broadcast message on my phone. Tomorrow I'm heading down to the EVEN Hotel thing. This weekend is booked solid with family stuff. Next Tuesday there's no race - I may try to figure out a way to do the Wednesday Night race at Ninigret, which is withering on the vine. Hm, they're off next week also. I guess my next race will be Limerock on the 27th? M40 and Cat 3.

Well, I guess that's okay. One way of looking at it is that I'll have time to train a bit. Imagine that.

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 - 2014 Nutmeg State Games, June 7, 2014, M45+

Saturday was the Nutmeg State Games. Historically it's held by the Nutmeg State Games folks, who are sort of an independent, Connecticut-based sports competition. It's like the Olympics just for Connecticut. There's everything from ball sports to shooting to martial arts to, well, cycling.

For whatever reason the Nutmeg State Games for cycling usually (always?) happens at Walnut Hill Park in New Britain, CT. It's a great little park with a 0.9 mile loop. It was designed by the same folks that designed Central Park, although it's unclear if it's the same person or just his firm that did the design.

At any rate I have some fond memories of the place although I've never won a summer race there. I've gotten as close as possible - 2nd place - but that's it for me.

With the White Plains Crit the following day, and a massive commitment in terms of working the race, I spent much of the morning finishing packing the trailer and then driving it down to New Britain. I'd head directly to White Plains after the race to make a 5 pm dinner meeting.

I considered skipping the Nutmeg race altogether, considering my poor training for the last few weeks. I've basically done the Tuesday Night races and not much else. My schedule has been about two hours a week since mid-March, and for the last few weeks I've done just two training rides and three B races. Strava tells me I've averaged 1 hour, 20 minutes a week for the last four weeks.

Ultimately I decided that I'd race because the course was close to the highway and I had to drive past that exact exit to get to White Plains. An hour (or less) of relaxation on the bike would be nice, before a long Sunday.

Committed to the race, the Missus and Junior left early while I finished up with the trailer. They'd have to drive back separately anyway (they weren't coming to White Plains) so they had to take a different car.

The initial plan had been for me to leave at about 10 AM, giving me over an hour at the venue before the race. Of course the trailer stuff took longer than expected so I got to the venue about 15 minutes before the race. Fortunately I found a long parking spot (45-50 feet of curb, with no one behind it), which happened to be directly behind the Missus's car. I got kitted up and headed over to registration. After dropping stuff off with the Missus I registered (8 minutes to the start), pinned up, and basically rolled to the line for the 11:50 AM start. I downed a gel as I hadn't eaten since 7 or so, and I hoped my water would last (I forgot the cooler on the kitchen table so the water in my bottle was whatever was left from Tuesday's race).

I lined up for the M45+ race, with its earlier start time. I wanted to race the Cat 3s with my teammates but with a 3PM start time I wouldn't make it to White Plains until it was way too late.

I did do one thing differently before the race. I consciously and intentionally fitted the Stinger 7/9 wheel set on the bike, not the Stinger 6s I've been racing most of the season. I decided that, if I made it to the sprint, I'd do a longer sprint, one that favors the taller and more aero 7/9 wheels, and not wait really late to do a jump, one that the lighter 6s would do better.

I also figured that the 7/9 set up would give me a bit more headroom when I was struggling at the back. Even if I lost just a few feet less it might keep me in the field instead of sawing me off the back.

Start line, just as the gun went off.

I hadn't ridden around the course but a long time friend John S was there, and he said the wind really socked you on the hill. Sure enough the wind hit me on the hill (I went to the right).

Based on that I figured the wind was streaming down into the park from the Hospital, which meant being to the right on the main straight.

I duly moved to the right on the first lap.

Wrong side of the group, wind from the right.

It was a mistake. Although I have no idea how the wind was blowing around it was definitely hitting from the right on the main straight. I ate a lot of wind that first lap and told myself that I couldn't make that mistake too many times.

I also noted that I'd want to jump to the left if I made it to the finish.

Frank McCormack, to the very right, about to ride away from everyone.

We had one local star in the race, ex-pro Frank McCormack. I've raced with him as a Junior, and once even influenced his race. He was sitting around as a break of four went off the front, including my teammate Todd. I was so late to the line I didn't even know he was in the race, to be honest, until I saw him attack.

Frank casually rolled away, splintering the field behind him. A friendly rival, John M, said he was on Frank's wheel for a bit. Frank was going so fast that John was totally redlined just sitting on the wheel and ultimately John had to sit up.

Watching Frank ride away.

I was under no delusions about being able to follow, but I didn't want to miss any counter moves. Those may not have caught Frank but I had a feeling the field would splinter and those at the back would get shelled.

I didn't want to get shelled.

Trying to close gaps.

I had one crisis point where one larger group of maybe 10-12 riders had followed Frank, another 5 or 6 had gone after that larger group, and the 15 or so riders left were not looking very motivated. I immediately went about closing th e gap.

At this point closing the gap was my whole race. Either I'd close it and be back in the race or I'd be off the back and I'd have to pack it in. All too often I'd "save it" for later, only to not have a later. Today I was determined to do what I could until my legs fell away.

Suffering.

I made it back, which was good, but I was suffering pretty badly. And when I rotated toward the front I couldn't come through.

Can't come through.

In fact I can't even stay on a wheel.

Ian, another friendly rival, waved me through but I was redlined and couldn't move. I let a couple gaps go, a couple guys yelled at me, and I eased and tried to recover at the back.

Hanging on for dear life.

Not sure if the Stinger 7/9s helped but they didn't hurt.

I almost came off.

The lack of riding really showed in my legs. I got that crampy feeling like I needed to warm up a bit, legs stiff, calves and hamstrings twinging. I wished I'd ridden yesterday a bit, or even done a warm up lap, but I had no choice, I had to keep going. I tried to spin more, that didn't work, I pushed more, that didn't work either, my legs were just bad.

On the bright side the race would be 45 minutes or so, and my customary "45 minute cramp after not riding for a while" shouldn't make an appearance.

For a number of laps I suffered in the heat, hoping that Frank would demoralize everyone and then we'd all sit up and the pace would ease.

And that's exactly what happened.

With four in the break, two chasing, we were racing for 7th. For Connecticut I didn't know what we were chasing, I knew that Frank was either Rhode Island or Massachusetts (I think the latter), but I figured that there were a few Connecticut riders up the road.

Then John S, the friend on the sidelines, yelled something like, "Bronze is in the field!"

Well now.

That sort of changed things.

With the slower pace we'd probably see a field sprint. I thought about my wheel choice, the long sprint, not the short one. I had to be in good position going into the last turn, maybe top 6, top 10, and I had to get a good jump on the left (sheltered) side. I tried to drink some water, warm, not icy like I like it.

Jim M, another racer from back in the day, rolled up to me. He races for a different team but they're friendly rivals, even racing for a CT medal.

"Want me to bring you to the front?"

It was 5 laps to go. I looked at him.

"What? No, it's too early."

Jim grinned and rode on.

Bell lap.

Note the rider in grey with red (Danbury Audi kit) to my 1 o'clock.

At the bell the race situation had stayed the same. Four in the break, two chasers, and those of us in the field racing for the bronze medal. The announcer was nice enough to let us know, confirming what John had yelled earlier. I knew Ian had been on form so I considered him a threat, although I didn't know if he lived in NY or CT (ends up he's a CT racer). I really didn't know how the others would sprint, but I wasn't cramping, I wasn't redlined, and I figured I'd see how things worked out.

Through the trees no real movement (moved up one spot).

Rider in gray with red in front of me.

Historically I move up late in races, many times too late. I sometimes race too conservatively, worried about using up my legs, and arrive at the line with reserves still available. Today, with a relatively conservative field, no pushing or shoving, all competent bike handlers, I told myself I would move up when I could, not wait until the last bit.

Starting to move a bit, but still in basically the same position.

Rider in gray red now to my 2 o'clock.

As we hit the backstretch I could see the moves up the left side. I've said it before, I'll say it again, if I made a move like that it'd zap my legs. I watched them go and hoped they couldn't rip apart the field.

The wind on the hill really slowed down the moves and I didn't want to zap my legs. I followed, hoping that things would stay together.

Over the top guy made a move up the right, another rider followed, and I followed him.

Guy in white/blue making a move on the right, guy in blue follows.

The white/blue guy tucked into the field long before the last turn. I was to the outside, the rider in blue to my left, and I decided that I should move up instead of sitting back. I had some reserves and I didn't want to start my sprint further back than necessary.

Now to the right as white/blue tucks back in, guy in blue is still on the edge.

After a moment hesitation I kept moving forward.

I actually went around a small clump of riders, maybe 4 or 5, tucking to the left of one rider, then the right of another. It was enough to put me close to the front as we rounded the last turn.

Going into the last turn.

Rider on the yellow line is pulling off and moving right.

I'd go through the corner to his left.

In the last turn I had to maintain some position as I semi-battled with a rider to my right (we weren't battling as he had just pulled off, but he needed to make the corner also) while a rider to my left kept me from moving left.

As we exited the turn the wind hit me hard from the right. The rider that moved up the left had kept me from moving right, and he left a small gap exiting the turn.

Wrong side going into the sprint.

I knew I had to get to the sheltered side for the sprint so I shifted over cautiously, slowly, and in a few seconds I sat on the sheltered side of the rider in front of me. Getting shelter was more important, at least from what I could see, than closing the small gap, so I chose to get shelter instead of going around him on the wind side. This saved me probably a good 5 seconds of my sprint.

I could see Ian was sitting in a perfect spot to launch - he's the rider at the other end of the gap sitting third wheel. I didn't want Ian to get the jump on me because I wasn't confident about my top speed. I knew I could jump and my wheels would help me maintain some kind of speed.

Correct side after a bit of adjustment.

This also gave me my "passing lane" to the left.

After a bit of hesitation and a quick look back I decided that I needed to go.

Now.

Early jump!

Ian's glove is to my right.

I jumped hard, the first pedal stroke muted a bit by the slightly heavier wheel weight of the Stinger 7/9s.   As usual I shifted on the downstroke, dropping the chain onto the 12T cog as I pushed the pedal down. Once I started accelerating the wheels kept going and going and going.

After the initial bit that took me past the front three riders I looked briefly to make sure I was clear and then, knowing I was clear, I moved to the curb. As I started running out of downstrokes (aka I was blowing up) I shifted into the 11T. I hit and maintained about 37 mph, so not great, but given the wind, not bad either.

John S cheering me on, his wife in the shade to the right.

The Missus and Junior are near the curb, I think she's picking him up.

I was already in the 11T by the time I rolled by the Missus, starting to wonder if I went a bit early. Unlike some of my sprints I didn't hold back this time, it was 100% commitment from the jump. Therefore I didn't want to look back because I had nothing more to give if someone was coming up on me. I did glance down to see if anyone was coming around me, but I couldn't see any wheels or anything.

At the line.

My heart rate peaked at 179 after the sprint.

I did a minor bike throw at the line, more of a "sit down with my arms forward" than a bike throw. I knew no one pipped me and, assuming John was right, I just added a bronze Nutmeg State Games medal to my collection.

Look back after the sprint.

I looked back after the line and realized that, yes, I'd jumped early. It seemed that no one went with me so I'd gotten a little gap and managed to hold it to the line.

I didn't know it at the time but after checking the data it seems that we weren't going too fast, about 28-30 mph, when I jumped, and my heart rate was a surprisingly high 172 bpm or so. Normally I can't sprint if I'm over 168-169 bpm, but I think my heart rate has been higher than normal due to my lack of training.

Ends up my sprint was 14 seconds, 900 watts, 1200 watt jump. It wasn't a long sprint after all - my best sprints recorded on the SRM are usually 1200-1300w jump over a 19 second sprint at 1000-1100w - it's just that at New Britain usually someone can get around whoever leads out. In my case no one went with me so I was lucky.

The bike, as I raced it.

Trailer right, Expedition left.

I waited for the podium thing as I wanted to hold Junior up there. When Patrick, the organizer of the Nutmeg Games, gave me the medal, he gave me two - the Nutmeg as well as the USAC medal. I didn't realize it but this year Nutmeg has been recognized as the USAC Crit Championships as well, at least for 45+, so I got my first ever USAC medal.

Nutmeg left, USAC right.

They join the other Nutmegs I've somehow managed to accumulate over the years.

My stress relieving ride had gone pretty well. I had to get going, though, so I headed back to the trailer. I packed up, staging things in the Expedition for my walk to the hotel at the other end of the drive.

With that I headed out to White Plains for probably the busiest day of the year for me, busier even than any Bethel.