Helmet Cam - March 23, 2014 Bethel CDR Gold Race, 7th

I thought this was up since I watched it regularly on my computer but when I looked for it for someone else I realized that no, it wasn't up.

It's up now.

Although the Bethel Spring Series won't be happening this year we're moving to New Britain and hopefully one other venue for the new Aetna Nutmeg Spring Series.

I hope this clip helps get you psyched to go racing soon.

Enjoy!

Promoting - 2014 Bethel CDR Gold Race

Promoting always starts a few days before the race. I mean, okay, it starts months before, but the final stuff can't even start until pre-registration is closed.

Last week I drove the trailer home so that I could work on it. Unfortunately the reality is that since I don't park the trailer at the house.

Since I can't work on it when Junior is around I had all of maybe four or five hours to work on stuff, while he was at day care. To make things a bit more awkward I can't get the trailer to our garage due to the steep driveway so I walked everything up the driveway. I spent most of that time emptying out the snow-related stuff, some wood that I realistically won't be using immediately, and organizing the remaining stuff to correct the weight distribution. I spent my free Tuesday afternoon doing that stuff.

I started working on making the folding tables for inside the trailer but gave up when I realized that time-wise it simply wasn't going to happen.

Thursday I did manage to get a few things done. I installed a bracket for the fire extinguisher (right of the door when you step into the trailer), I got a little tool box to screw into the floor to hold the generator accessories, and I started putting up wood on the walls for the tables. I also got some curtain rods up but they seemed way too flimsy for holding up a windproof barrier, so for now they're bare.

I wanted to get some stuff from the storage bay but that meant backing up a 100 yard curving driveway, something I can't do yet with the big trailer, at least not proficiently. Loading up the stuff for Bethel ended up with me spending a good 30 minutes backing up the trailer a few agonizing feet at a time. I decided I had to practice with a little car and trailer, like a Matchbox set, to prepare for the real thing.

Therefore I walked a few of the things I needed from storage to the trailer.

That finished my Thursday.

One of the staff volunteered to sort the pre-reg release forms and numbers so I gladly gave up that job, my normal Friday evening. The Missus called her Victoria at some point so I started calling her that also, leading me to call her Victoria on Sunday.

Which is not her name.

Oops.

Instead of doing pre-reg stuff I spent the time updating the magical spreadsheet to reflect the additional Junior race. I had most of it in place but I wanted to make sure that things were set up properly.

Saturday, traditionally the day I did Bethel stuff, ended up a bit less productive. I started working on the tables again, realized that I really ought to get to Bethel and drop the trailer off first, and headed down. The gusty wind really played with the trailer which in turn played with my mind.

Just before Bethel (actually the Danbury exit that I take that leads to Bethel) a modded Lancer Evolution burbled by me. I noticed it because, well, because I did, but thought nothing else of it since the driver seemed normal and competent.

A few minutes later traffic suddenly came to a halt. We creeped forward until we came across two cars that had obviously tangled with either each other and/or the Jersey barrier median. The Evolution driver, whose car seemed unharmed, was setting out flares. People were walking or standing on the left shoulder and one guy ran across the highway in front of me.

I thought that, wow, if I'd been a mile or two earlier I could have been in the middle of that. With a car, okay, but with a large trailer it would have been ugly.

Once at Bethel I worked on the tables (are you sensing a theme?) until about 8 PM or so, gave up again before I could finish, and headed over to my dad's.

I first stopped for some Coke and cookies. For some reason this last week or so I've been really craving Coke, and even drank it with my dinner at my dad's. My brother pointed out that I'd be awake for a while, but when I went upstairs I lay down and realized I only had a minute or two before I'd be unconscious. I turned off the light and that was that.

The alarm startled me awake at 5 AM. I was happy I set it earlier in the day on Saturday because I totally forgot about it Saturday night.

Sunday we missed out on the temperature lottery again. I don't remember how cold it was but it was something like 30 degrees, cold enough to make my hands go numb, cold enough that my legs really never felt warm. Initially the wind stayed calm but as the day went on it really picked up.

The big changes for the Bethel CDR Gold Race versus the previous weeks were the following:
 - CCAP High School Race added to the schedule.
 - Powerbar would have a tent set up.
 - Moment of silence for Markus before the Cat 4 race.

The emptier trailer made for a better registration set up but I forgot on my two free afternoons to get propane for the tanks - we had only the smaller heaters in the trailer, not the larger one.

On the other hand I found all the stuff to hook up the generators in parallel. After thinking about it a bit, though, I decided to leave the single generator for the trailer. We don't need 3200 watts for the trailer and to do the parallel hook up I'd need a screw driver, I'd risk ripping the cord if I moved the generator without remembering to remove it, etc.

I think I need to make a little trailer for the generators so we can move them in tandem, we can keep the parallel cables in place, and we won't accidentally rip the parallel cables off by picking up just one generator.

I spent some time on the course taking pictures between handling the various promoter issues I needed to handle. These include questions on the races, comments and suggestions, instructing the new-to-the-race-series police officers, trying to keep the promised areas clear, speaking with local tenants, organizing the various tents, replacing wonky radios, and stuff like that.

The Junior race was really good at so many levels. The older Juniors were intent on helping and encouraging the younger ones, so much so that the best riders were at the back sometimes literally pushing the youngest Juniors.

The competitive ones.

One CCAP rider helping one of the younger riders.

This was the first chase group, if you will.

Another rider receiving help from two CCAP riders and his older brother.

An encouraging look.

One of the actual attacks of the competitive group.

The four rider chase.

The sprint for the win.

The second chase finishes.

The Cat 5s were next, followed by the 4s. This marks the second anniversary of Markus's passing and the Pawling Cycle guys said some words and the field had a moment of silence. You'd think that all these racers were hard core tough dealing with the weather and such but you could see that some of them had, ahem, some early spring allergies. Or something.

Cat 4 field, Rob from Pawling saying a few words.

The Markus Memorial.

The women's race had an impressive number of riders with a slew of well represented teams. It was great to see the camaraderie amongst the women before and after the races.

Registration.

One of the early attacks.

The field getting into action.

Post race huddle.

More post race huddling.

Happy team.

I'm happy with the Women and Junior races. For all my complaining about various things relating to promoting, it's the emotions that I feel when I see the Juniors or the Women racing that help ease those complaints.

After my race I sat out the P123 race in order to start breaking down. In the past I'd do the P123 race and then help break down stuff. This year, with little fitness, with a lot to do to break down, I haven't even bothered putting myself in for the P123 races.

The worst part of the day was the prolonged P123 protest period. The race is tough on everyone, the racers (intentionally) as well as the race staff. The results were changed a few times and finally the remaining hardy souls and the official hammered out the details on who placed where on what lap. Since I wasn't in the race and didn't even watch it I can't comment on what happened but it was a bummer since a number of the race shakers and bakers left before the results were finalized.

I left the trailer behind this week, realizing that I won't be getting much done in it if I took it to its home base. This naturally allowed me to drive home as quickly as I dared. Unfortunately when I got home I missed seeing Junior as he was already asleep. The huge thing for me has become not seeing Junior, not being able to share the race stuff with him.

With some tasks that I really needed to get done before I went to bed I set about posting the results. I uploaded the 200-odd pictures, doing some very rough picking (horribly out of focus shots got ditched as well as the photo bomb arm-back-shoulder in the way ones). I couldn't get done before 11 PM and by then I realized I was so fuzzy headed I had to get to bed.

On that note the fourth week of the Series finished up. It seems like just yesterday that I was stressing about the first week, that we had the rental trailer. Now the stresses are a bit less severe, my back isn't killing me, and the whole process seems to be running a bit more smoothly. There are always problems, else I wouldn't have to even go to the race, but now they seem a bit more manageable.

My big hope is that the Junior turnout increases for next week. I've had two people already contact me about bringing a couple Juniors to the race, one disappointed dad was late for this last week's race, so with those folks in mind I hope that we have a 20 rider Junior field.

It sounds a bit sad, to be excited about a 20 rider Junior field, but right now that's the state of Junior cycling. That's why CCAP is so important. And that's why we're basically giving away a 30 minute slot to the Juniors, to try and get the kids to give this sport a try.

Racing - 2013 Bethel CDR Gold Race

Sunday I was a bit discombobulated before the start of the race. I really wanted to try the red Tsunami, the one that used to be orange. I rode it on the trainer and decided that if I felt comfortable riding it at the race I'd be okay with not having power or anything - I hadn't installed the SRM wire and I wasn't planning on doing it on race day.

I did wrap the tape though and thereby decided that the levers were in their final-for-now position.

I also test rode the new-to-me wheels which I'll review later, but the important part is that the front is a HED Stinger 7, 75 mm tall, and the rear is a HED Stinger 9, 90 mm tall. Both have the SCT profile, the stability thing that comes from a rounded "peak". The rims look more U shaped than V shaped. I wasn't sure if I wasted a bunch of money buying the wheels but the data seemed to indicate that these U shaped rims should be fast.

Plus they look and sound cool so there was that.

I wanted to use those wheels because my goal this week was to help my teammate Bryan at the front of the race on the last lap. I figured I wouldn't be sprinting up the hill, my main focus would be drilling it on the backstretch. Realistically I knew I wouldn't be able to do much else - I've been struggling just to finish the races this year. I also knew it would be a big ask for me to be at the front on the last lap, but if I could do it I'd bury myself to keep Bryan out of the wind for another 20 seconds.

With that in mind I decided to use the super duper aero wheels. The Stinger 6s, my faithful 60 mm rimmed wheels, stayed in the pits.

I rolled to the start line with those 7/9 wheels but mounted on the black bike. Although I'll race new-to-me wheels off the bat I figured that racing the red bike wouldn't be smart - it would mean its first outdoor ride would be a race. The black bike is a known quantity even if it needs a bit of work. For example I regularly see 1-2 watts when I'm soft pedaling and the freehub body is clicking - that means I'm using that much power just to turn the cranks.

With all my thoughts on what bike, what wheels (the new rear wheel doesn't have a magnet yet), I decided I'd rely on Strava to record my ride. I even started Strava before I rolled out there, with the Record button prominently displayed in the center of my phone.

I forgot about my heart rate strap but again, with Strava, I was just getting speed, distance, and GPS location. The SRM sat on the bars so I thought it'd be nice to have heartrate but whatever, it was all good.

While I waited at the desk I also pinned my numbers.

Because I had to man the registration post I couldn't leave the registration desk until 8 minutes before the start of my race. It meant a quick bathroom break (which I couldn't take before either), changing with all that it entails when it's a chilly race, realizing my HR strap wasn't there (it was in the car), and quickly rolled out to the line. The race started almost immediately after.

I forgot to start Strava.

I even forgot to power on the helmet cam. By the time I did the field was strung out and we were already heading past half a lap into the race.

Just after I turned on the helmet cam. Yeah, oops.

I felt okay at the start. Fresh, of course, since as usual I hadn't warmed up. My legs felt a bit better than they did last week - I had my head better covered, I wasn't freezing cold, and I'd eaten some amount of food during the day. I even moved up into about 20th spot in a few laps. I started thinking optimistically - maybe I could get to the front and drill it to lead out Bryan.

I did notice that the big wheels seemed really fast. I wished I'd had power (meaning the SRM was hooked up) because I felt like I was barely pedaling and the bike just wanted to roll.

Even better the bike didn't feel terrible on the hill. I wondered if the slight weight penalty would be something I'd notice but apparently it's below the cusp for me, at least in the poor condition I have right now. Maybe in a summer race, at the limit, in shape, I might notice something, but here, in cold Bethel, out of shape, I'll only notice coarse differences, not fine ones. Whatever, the bike climbed willingly on the hill and I had fun climbing out of the saddle.

After about 20 minutes though I started to suffer. I know I'm hurting when I look at the lap cards. I hope to see less than 10 to go because that always seems possible. When I looked the first time today it said 22 to go.

Yeah, bad.

My teammate Joel said something to me but I was so out of it I have no idea what he said. I just focused on the wheel in front and told him to move right - I needed him to move over so I could get some more shelter.

Things looked grim.

By 45 minutes into the race I was suffering a lot. Someone let a gap go at some point after Turn One and I had to close it on my own. By the time I did I was cooked and we were halfway down the backstretch. Luckily the field eased that lap going up the hill so I didn't get popped but that was a really close call for me.

The gap I had to close.

Same spot as the first picture - note location of white house.

The gap really hurt me, zapping whatever reserves I'd saved up. My mistake though and I paid the price. As the laps wound down I reminded myself of my goal - to help Bryan out before the sprint so he wouldn't have to do everything himself. I tried to empty the tank so that I'd be near the front at 1 to go.

Unfortunately I couldn't muster the strength to get up there for the bell. I'm good doing a last effort going up the hill but if I did that at the bell I'd blow up at Turn One. Therefore I tried to go hard without exploding myself. This half assed approach got me nothing.

Coming up on the bell... not good.

With everyone flying I had my hands full just maintaining position. I think I only passed riders who'd blown up or had given up. Everyone else seemed keen on doing exactly what I was doing - trying to move up for the sprint.

On the backstretch it looked like one of the teams would get a leadout going up the left side. Although initially balked when the field spread out, a gap opened up again and I waited, hoping they'd drill it. I figured with one effort they could be inside the top 20. At that point I could move up to wherever Bryan sat and help him.

The leadout guy backed off though - I think he blew up before the balk and couldn't get rolling again. I watched the gap go away and realized that I wouldn't be able to get up there for Bryan.

Approaching the hill on the last lap.

Big hole center right. I used it to blast through to the next bunch of riders.

My next hope was to finish behind Bryan. I had faith that he'd be good in the sprint, maybe a top 6 to get in the points. Since every point can be important I hoped that if I could do a good sprint I could place right behind Bryan. If he placed higher up, like 3rd, and I could take one of the places behind him, I'd deny some rival those points.

Bryan, to the left in the red shorts, exploded.

I was too far back anyway but I still had a few pedal strokes left in the tank.

That all went to pot when I saw Bryan exploded and shooting backwards on the left side of the course. When I saw him sit up I also eased - I had no aspirations for myself so it wouldn't do any good to sprint for the line. When I crossed the line I was actually on my hoods, shifting down, looking for a path to the left side so I could turn around and go back to registration. No bike throw, no real pedaling, no nothing.

I couldn't find a path so I did a cool down lap before heading in to the registration area.

SOC and I both managed to "beat" Bryan. Unfortunately our goals were to help him and neither of us made it up there to do so. I likened our result to something like if Bernard Eisel and Mark Renshaw both beat Mark Cavendish to the line for a Tour stage. Beating the leader isn't cause for celebration even if it represented personal triumphs for the two of us (I wasn't sure I'd finish the race and even turned down an offer from someone to bring me to the front).

As it turns out Bryan had had bad legs the whole day and simply didn't have it for the sprint. Last week he won the field sprint on his own. This week, not so good.

At least for me there's a week break. I can do some training to get some hours in - I looked today and I rode just 8 hours in February. That's not enough to get in shape.

I can also get the red bike ready to race, train outdoors on it, get the SRM harness set up, install the magnet on the Stinger 9.

Then I can return to Bethel for the 7th ready to rumble.

Promoting - 2013 Bethel CDR Gold Race

Monday always seems like such a relief during the Bethel Spring Series. It's quiet, the car is (hopefully) unpacked, and there's a few small fixes to make but otherwise the Series is running reasonably well.

This week marks the break for Easter Sunday so for me there's no race to promote this coming weekend. It means that the stuff I usually leave until Thursday, like putting together the deposit for the race or moving some of the stuff inside from the garage, I need to do that sooner, maybe even today or tomorrow.

Yesterday on race day I basically ran out of Leader's Jerseys for one main reason - when I went to do wash at my dad's house the dryer had just broken. Therefore I couldn't do laundry. It was just a minor hiccup in the scheme of things but it meant that the first thing I did after finishing a GC (with just a few errors, still to be fixed) was to do a massive load of laundry. I have one more load to do, more lost and found clothing, or, technically, "Found and Lost" since we usually found it before the owners realized they didn't have it.

Before I headed down there we (the Missus and I) did all the pre-reg work. It's an evening of work, usually on Friday evening after she gets home from work. It's a long day for her (an accountant during tax season), a long one for me (with everything else that I have to get done for the races), so we asked for some help.

Junior helping with pre-reg.

Any errors you know who to see.

Saturday I have to look after Junior until the Missus gets home from work in the early/mid afternoon. I heard from a secret source that the town had swept the course on Friday so I wasn't in too much of a rush to get down to my dad's - I even planned to meet my family at my dad's at 5:30 PM. Normally I'd want to leave as soon as possible so I can check out and clean up the course before heading over to my dad's.

Unfortunately we needed to get some groceries, I needed to get fuel (both of our cars were running on fumes), and I couldn't get some stuff done before I had to leave. As it was I was late - it was 4:30 PM when I left, not 4:00 PM. I wouldn't make it to the house in an hour so after a short call to my brother we shuffled our plans to meet at our normal restaurant hang out at 6 PM. (The family is so regular at the restaurant that when we showed up the first or second week of the Series with Junior in tow and sat at the 8 person table a family sitting near us commented, "I think that's a new baby in that family, I haven't seen it before.")

By the time we got back to my dad's it was late, the dryer was broken, and, with the printer, cables, surge protectors, and all that packed away in the car, I decided to call it a night.

The bikes outside my dad's. Thankfully no snow in the picture this night.

I woke up a bit worried about oversleeping, my usual way of sleeping before a Bethel. I trundled out to the course, unpacked the car by the registration door, moved the van over, and even got some of the van stuff unpacked before other people showed up. With our normal registration person out for the day I needed to take up the slack at the table. Our camera guy would take over the registration laptop while I was doing the clinic or the race.

Things generally went smoothly at registration. A few late registrants, who got in touch with me at some point during Saturday, had to fill out release forms and such since I didn't have all the gear unpacked and set up for most of said Saturday. Even before I left for my dad's house it was all in boxes, staged either in the house or in the garage, and once I got to my dad's it was all in the car and staying there. Otherwise things went well.

We had good marshaling coverage, thanks to all the racers that pitched in and helped. A few riders really put in some time out there and for that I am very thankful. It makes for a safer race - although I carried a radio in the race just in case (turned off for fairness) I never even felt the need to reach for it.

The very cold morning gave way to a bit more palatable afternoon - I actually raced in knickers instead of tights, and I wore two long sleeve layers with a wind vest instead of a long sleeve with a full winter jacket.

After the race we started packing up during the P123 race, trying to get out of there before it got too late. By my watch we were out of there at 4:15 or so, about an hour earlier than the first week. That wasn't bad.

Just before I left.

Note that the red bike's bars have tape on them now.

I headed home, the car's mileage battered by a combination of the wind and the bikes on the roof. Instead of averaging about 40 mpg in the wind, or 43 mpg under better conditions on the same hilly route, the car managed just 36 mpg. Luckily we'd just filled up before I left the house so I was okay.

I got home too late to see Junior as he'd gone to sleep. I came in only after I unpacked the car and set up his car seat - this way I could get us in the car and go if it came to that. He fussed a bit in his crib after I got in the house but I didn't want him getting up to see me so I left the Missus to take care of him.

Of course he woke up at half past midnight and with the Missus working long hours 6 days a week that meant I needed to get up with him. He tried to get his Sunday play time in at that time, finally conking out at 1:15 AM. He'd whimper occasionally until 1:45 AM before waking up again at 6.

Ah yes, back to reality. Three more races and then the craziness ends, at least for the Bethel Spring Series.