Racing - 2014 Zwiedzanie Bethel

The last race for the 2014 Bethel Spring Series p/b Outdoor Sports Center, the 2014 Zwiedzanie Bethel. I felt some pressure to do well - a couple people told me I needed to win this race "for old times sake". I wanted to do well but realistically I wasn't sure how I'd ride.

The prior week, spent driving back and forth all over the place, meant that I managed to ride 20 minutes between last Sunday's race and this Sunday. It was just enough to work up a sweat, not much more, and I hoped that I wouldn't cramp during the race. See, if I don't ride much before a race then I start cramping almost immediately. If I do an hour the day before the race I'm fine. Less than that, or with no riding for 5 or 6 days, and I'm in cramp city from the start.

The other thing was food. I realized after some trainer rides this winter that I actually ride harder when I'm hungry. Higher wattage, higher energy, higher heart rate. I inadvertently tested this during the Series when I did a few races after having had plenty to eat and others where I started the races almost bonking.

Incredibly I felt and raced much better when I started it almost bonking. For Bethel it meant eating my normal breakfast at 6:15 - 8:00 AM (two egg sandwiches and some coffee) and then not eating until just before the start of my race at 1:00 or 1:30 PM. Normally a break like that would mean disaster for me but somehow it seemed to work this year.

Therefore I didn't eat anything until about 1:25 PM, when I ate two pieces of a croissant thing that someone had at registration. After that it was all I could do to dress, take pictures of some podium stuff, and get to the line.

Earlier I'd pinned my number, pumped up the tires on the Stinger 6s (they seem to work better for me than the Stinger 7/9 set up at Bethel), and basically saved getting dressed for last.

Of course when I went to zip up my jersey the zipper broke. So after some frantic pulling and tugging I realized I just needed to re-pin the jersey.

With that, and an emergency gel in my pocket, we started the race.

For today I had two helpers, SOC and Joel. Joel's been at the races every week because he's been working them. He arrives either at the same time as me or, at least twice, earlier than me. He also stands outside and marshals, moves stuff around, clears the course, stuff like that, so he's definitely working during the six hours before the race. Nonetheless he's been gamely trying to help me do well in the races.

SOC hasn't been able to make it due to work and family obligations, but he actually not only sacrificed all that he also sacrificed a 5K run that he'd registered to do on this day. He showed up to offer his support of the race series and me and also to test his racing legs.

Fortunately the weather turned out quite nice, with warmer temperatures such that most of us were in shorts and short sleeves.

SOC in action in his first race of the year.

The racing seemed pretty aggressive even though the Series lead was pretty wrapped up. Sixcycle showed up in force, their first and second places not under any real threat. They still worked super hard to try and get moves off the front and such.

Mike M, a strong 4, upgraded to 3 earlier in the week and this was his first 3-4 race. He wanted to put a show on and repeatedly drilled it. Although no one wanted to work with him his repeated forcing of the pace meant that eventually he dragged himself and another THIRTEEN riders clear of the field.

Wow.

The break forms.

At first the break seemed doomed, hanging out just in front of the field. Lap after lap they didn't move, the field tried here and there to bridge, and a few guys would make it up here and there.

A second group catches them, now the break is about 10 riders.

Eventually the break started to gain momentum. With every successful bridge there was another rider or three unwilling to work. More and more of the solo riders started to worry, forcing the pace. Some of them got clear and joined the break, others exhausted themselves and recovered in the group.

A final few take off, leaving the field behind.

Both Joel and SOC worked hard to try and bring the break back but without any coordinated effort they couldn't do much against the raging Mike M up the road.

At first I was a bit disappointed because I wasn't feeling that bad. I realized, though, that I'd been suffering pretty hard until the break went, and that if it was all together there'd be a lot of guys attacking the field.

Also, although I didn't feel it appropriate to win the race unless I deserved it, I felt it was okay to target the field sprint. After all that's my calling, the field sprint, whether it's for the win or for, in this case, 15th place.

With that in mind I steeled myself for the admittedly meaningless field sprint.

Joel finds me after the bell.

Joel had tried to help me a different week by going up the road, but he blew pretty quickly and shot backward just before the jockeying for the jump began. At such a time to be stranded in the front would have been worse than anything else.

He looked for me with a couple laps to go, I followed him around, but after the bell he really looked back, made sure I was there, did some telepathy to tell me he was really leading me out, and we set off.

On Joel's wheel.

With the other week's last lap in mind I followed Joel. I should have been easier to move up on the backstretch with a tailwind but I was afraid of hitting the front too quickly. In a headwind sprint I melt pretty quickly so I wanted to save myself for as long as possible.

Joel moves left with about 400m to go.

You can see the guy on the red bike look over. He jumps immediately.

When Joel moved left I made a critical error. I felt afraid that his big move to the side would blow him up so I stayed put. If he went and blew then he'd string out the field and I could ride off of the knowledge of "what would happen". Knowing the field will be strung out is pretty key information, since sometimes the field suddenly sits up as everyone up front realizes that whoever leads out the sprint is going to get absolutely annihilated before the line.

Of course this week things turned out differently and Joel made it quite far. I didn't know that so I played the "let Joel string out the field and I'll work off of that" bit.

I lose the wheel, it's a bit tight so I don't go.

Note the red bike guy is on Joel's wheel now.

With Joel rocketing up the left side I had to try and play the surfing game just right. I didn't want to lead out the sprint. My ideal sprint, with the wind so hard from the right, would have been to jump hard on the left curb and go to the line. This meant being sheltered left going into the sprint, but the left wasn't great just before it. I had to chose one way or another and I didn't know exactly how things would play out.

Therefore I had to let it just happen.

I go right trying to find a gap.

Joel was going so fast he opened a gap between his little group and us. I started to worry that he might lead out the sprint winner from the front. To the right a couple guys started to go, realizing that the sprint was leaving them behind. I tagged along, to the right for shelter.

Of course this meant that I'd be on the right in the sprint, which would put me…

In the wind.

Joel leading out the sprint.

If only I'd followed him.

I could feel the wind pounding me from the right, just zapping my legs. I stayed seated and low, trying to move up as far as possible before jumping. I didn't want to stand any earlier than necessary because as soon as I stood my sprint timer would start ticking down.

On the other hand since I was directly in the wind there'd be little advantage to me jumping later. I wasn't getting shelter. I was in a really weak position in the sprint so I just had to do my sprint and hope it would be enough to get me to the line first.

Seated, trying to save my standing jump for the final.

I was still seated at this point, still trying to delay my sprint. It seemed the other guys were starting to fade. Joel, incredibly, still leads the field at this point.

Now I jump!

The closer I got to the line the better I felt about my being able to sprint to it. When I started to draw even with the guys up front, including Joel (his red/black glove is still up front in the picture above), I knew I could go to the line.

So I jumped.

Hard.

Just after the line.

I accelerated in a pretty big gear for the wind and ground the pedals around until I got to the line. Like the other week no one else followed me to the line. I think the wind had zapped everyone's legs, and, honestly, the riders with the most power in their legs were probably up the road.

Nonetheless I felt satisfied with my race. I didn't place well per se, 15th, but I won the field sprint.

I stopped almost immediately so that I could get on with my promoter duties, but I could quickly review how the race went.

I didn't get shelled.

My 20 minutes over the week was enough to keep my legs from cramping.

I didn't bonk.

The sun was out.

It was a great day.

Racing - 2013 CCNS Kermis, Cat 3s

A true week of racing - Sunday, Tuesday, then Friday. If I could do this all the time I would - maybe a Thursday race, to space things out properly before the weekend. Whatever, the fact is that I got to line up for my third race this week.

I got here as early as possible and helped with registration. When the Masters started I got to leave and prep for my own race. My one hour prep went something like this:

5:05 PM I leave registration and find the Missus. She asks if I've eaten. I haven't. She asks what I want. I want to support the vendors so I ask for a hotdog or something. She gets a steak sandwich - I inhale 3/4 of it before she reminds me that I'll be racing in what would be 45 minutes now.

5:15 I help with a victim with light road rash, a Junior that has been in the scene for much longer than you'd think. I brought my first aid supplies to the race so I could help him out with Tegaderm. The cheap stuff I forgot about, and I was out of the First Aid spray.

5:30 My socializing time quickly running out, I started getting my bike ready, my spare bike ready, pinned my number, kitted up, and got out there with less than 2 laps of the Masters race left. I took pictures of the break and chase finishing then put down the camera to go warm up (and missed the field sprint). Fortunately for me we got to do one lap of the course so that was my warm up.

FIVE Expo riders.

We lined up with a total of six Expo riders. Stan would be our default leader, the break guy. SOC and myself were sort of random guys, and Mark, Ted, and Joel would pitch in when they could. Joel was coming off of a non-racing period so he wasn't expecting much. We were all eager to support Stan who's proven to us over and over that he can make the break.

First time around the 180.

We should be 15 feet to the left.

On the first lap we almost went off the course through the cones to the right. A bit of grumbling and we were all back on track. Late apexes are great and all but it's important to turn in early enough for a 180 that dumps out to a narrow road.

Joel responds.

When the first attack went I was near the front but feeling a bit crispy from the effort out of the 180. I started wondering if one of us should go when Joel went rocketing by. We wouldn't link up with the eventual three man group until the 180.

Vicki.

On Tuesday the Central Wheel women made it a point to show up and race. Like me a few of them came off at some point but they gamely got back in and gritted it out. One rider I didn't see at the back was Vicki, a former Expo rider. We're all still supportive of her and I was pleasantly surprised to see her in the midst of the field, totally holding her own. As I've only really seen her in the B races on Tuesdays it was a huge step to be active in a Cat 3 race.

Rider slides his rear tire out.

The first few times around the 180 the corner caught out the unaware, the ones pushing the limits, and the ones simply not used to turning so hard. At least two riders slid their rear tire out, one actually unclipping mid-turn. To his credit he was clipped in and riding ahead of me long before I exited that same corner.

The break opposite us.

The 180 gave us a good point of reference as far as the break went. We could see them riding the opposite direction as we approached the 180.

I usually tend to go the outside line in turns, preferring to maintain speed over doing more bike handling type stuff inside. However the 180 was tight enough that everyone ended up a bit outside at the exit and I never got to fully utilize the outside line.

Therefore I decided that if I remembered I'd try to go inside one of these laps, to see how that went.

Ted raises his hand.

I'm actually really disappointed that you can't see the smoke around his chainstay. I'm pretty sure that his tire was rubbing and it was rubbing hard enough that it started to smoke.

Inside line!

Finally, with a couple laps to go, I managed to go inside. It was much better overall. I could turn as hard as I wanted to turn, to the point where I could feel the front tire start to lose traction, the feel of pushing the rubber across the asphalt. With my forward oriented position I could plant the front tire however I wanted. The short chainstays kept the rear planted, and I could accelerate fine out of the turn.

 I decided that this would be my approach for the finale.

Moving up the inside.

Approaching the 180 for the last time I debated going on my own. A CF Racing Junior decided for me as he made the move first. I jumped on his wheel and we both looked around, waiting for the counter-swarm. Only one other rider came by, a Bethel Cycle rider (I think a Junior as well). The two went wide, holding more of an outside line.

I went inside.

Inside line, hard.

 I didn't accelerate too hard so I could get back on their wheel. I'd contemplated going from the 180, trying to go for the line, but it's over a mile and not very realistic. Instead I hoped to back-slot into the front of the field and fight it out from there.

I made one elemental error, one that decided my race for me.

The head of the field comes up the right side.

The final straight started out with a left side crosswind, turning into a pure headwind. I had to be on the right side going into the final straight. My mistake was staying left on the course at two turns to go. Instead of having the field pass me on the left they passed me on the right. This put me in the wind and therefore I was out of the sprint long before it ever started.

It didn't keep me from trying to get to the right but the guy to my right fought hard to stay on the wheel. I fought honorably, with no contact, but the fight was doomed from the beginning. Ultimately I ended up sheltering him from the wind for a couple hundred meters, giving him a lead out. I didn't have the chance to turn around or even look down so I don't know if I could have back-slotted in a few spots back. It's too late now but this is one of those things I'll file away for the next time I'll need it.

To my happy surprise SOC rocketed by the right.

While I berated myself for getting into a tactically untenable position, SOC absolutely blasted by on the right. Riding super low he jumped where he normally does on Tuesday Nights. He knew the sprint - he's won the A Race on one Tuesday - so he treated the sprint like he did on a Tuesday. Although two guys fought hard he beat them and the rest of the field to take the sprint for 7th.

When I rode up to SOC he had a big grin on his face. Last Sunday he was just behind me going into the M35+ sprint but he sat up because "all the places were up the road". He ended up 44th; I nabbed 12th. We talked about it and the takeaway was that if the field is doing a sprint you might as well sprint. It's good race practice, it's fun, you can test tactics, and you can see how you do against the others. Well tonight he did great - he went at the perfect time for his strengths, he moved up based on his experience in the this and last year's race, and he executed flawlessly. If and when it comes down to a field sprint he'll have this experience to draw from when he approaches said sprint.

Stan, it ended up, took 5th in the break. A rider went solo, two guys were close for second and third, and the rest of the break finished just behind.

I have no idea how I finished except it was "at the back".

With the light falling during the P123 race I had to leave, unable to partake in the various festivities along the finishing straight. A fun race for sure, and one I plan on doing next year.

Just better.

Racing - August 18, 2013 Bob Beals M35+ Race Report

I'm going out of order here so I'll have to figure out how I'll deal with that. I haven't written a race report since forever, and in the meantime I've not only done a race but I've even worked one. Then I got sick and yada yada yada and now here I am.

So Sunday August 18th was the Bob Beals New England Masters Championships. They're usually at around this time of year and it's usually a solid group of racers, experienced and savvy. Last year I had a blast doing the race, even though I didn't do that well.

This year I expected worse. In my race on August 10th I lasted all of 9 minutes. I'd worked some crazy hours that weekend, then dealt with a sick Junior and taking care of some stuff for my family. I myself got sick and started rapidly consuming our stock of Dayquil just to get through the day.

Coming up to the weekend I felt pretty pessimistic. I was so pessimistic that I even let my teammates talk me into doing the M35+ race, not the (typically slower) M45+ race. My pessimistic thought process went something like, "Well, if I'm going to get shelled in 10 minutes in a race, I might as well line up with some teammates."

With that in mind the Missus, Junior, and I headed down to the Rhode Island shore, to one of the stalwart course of the area, Ninigret Park. A figure eight loop it's flat, sits on a former WW2 airfield, and, over 30 years ago, it was where I finished my first race.

On this day I'd line up with my regular teammate and friend, SOC, just like last year. However we would be joining a trio of leg breaking strongmen - Dave, Todd, and Stan. Dave typically attacks until he drops, doing fun stuff until his legs go. He's managed to win races doing this so it's not like he just blows himself up, sometimes his efforts take him to the line first. Dave is a Cat 2 so normally we don't race together.

Todd is another confirmed legbreaker, with some very good rides to his credit. He's mainly a 'cross racer, and a Masters National Champ at that, so in crits he does them "just for training". He's either a Cat 1 or Cat 2 so, again, normally we don't race together.

If only I could go so well "in training".

Stan would be our wild card. A superbly aggressive racer, Stan has won sprints but prefers to get into breaks. He won the Plainville Cat 3-4 Series this spring and has been on a roll this year. We've raced a few times but I've been usually off the back so, yeah, whatever.

With teammates like these SOC and I would be (happily) relegated to domestique duty.

Before the races, during our warm up, we got together a few times. For me, as someone with 10 minutes expectation in my head, I didn't mind what they discussed because I wouldn't be there at the end. The progression of thought made me smile though - you could sense the collective excitement grow as time went on.

First it was the, "Okay, guys, we're just here to race. We don't want to dictate the race. We'll let the other guys attack, we'll follow, and if something works out then it works out."

Five minutes later it changed a bit. "Hey, I think what we'll do is we should be able to get a couple of us off the front. Dave and Todd will be the leaders, Stan will be the wild card, and you and SOC cover."

Then just before the start we got together one more time. "Okay, guys, we're going to try and get Dave, Todd, and Stan in a break. You and SOC cover the field, help get us away. If we miss a move then we need to ride hard to bring it back, steady, not a lap then blow. Got it?"

You can see the progression from "We're just racing" to "Okay we're going to deliver a knockout blow."

We lined up, got our final instructions from the chief ref, and we were off. Crits start either slow or fast and today it was slow. I immediately moved to the front so I could participate in my 10 minutes of racing. Look, if I'm going to get shelled, I at least want to get in an effort or two. So to the front it was, totally unlike my normal tactic when I race for myself.

From left, in red/black Expo kit, Dave, Todd, and Stan.

Dave was most alert of the trio of leaders and he responded to a few digs right away. Todd hung around in the vicinity, following any secondary moves, and Stan sat a few wheels back, watching and waiting. SOC was getting his legs warmed up so he sat back for a bit.

"What just happened?"

Early in the race I moved up the right side just before someone way over on the left did something. The field swerved to their right, toward me. A guy I just passed, in an orange kit, ended up getting something in his front wheel, probably a skewer or a derailleur. His wheel almost totally disintegrated, he somehow managed to roll his bike to the grass.

Against all the "rules" we all looked to see what happened - that's the picture above. Normally if something happens you keep your eyes forward because you don't want to be part of a secondary crash - it's like the rubber necking crash on the other side of the highway from the "actual" crash. In this field though I guess everyone felt comfortable looking.

The consensus after the incident is that the disintegrating-front-wheel guy did an awesome job staying upright. No one else got caught up in the incident and the race went on normally.

Legs are breaking!

Note single file and the gaps. You have to imagine the pain.

About a third of the way into the race our trio started doing some damage to the field. Stan had countered after a flurry of failed attacks. Taking advantage of the field taking a collective breath, he launched on his own. He can do that too, not like me and my one lap escapades.

After a lap or so a couple guys went after him. Then, with the three clear, Dave followed a move then counterattacked when the rider in front eased. Todd had followed other racers so he was in the select group on Dave's wheel. Suddenly seven more riders were going clear.

All of the Expo leaders were in the break.

SOC and I went to the front to cover moves.

Break is to the right of the picture, they've just exited the backside right turn.

SOC was much more active than me. The move that pulled the seven chasers clear really hurt me and I was struggling just to stay on wheels. Once the break got away and the immediate chasers all eased I moved to the front to see if I could help.

Ultimately SOC did much of the marking until the break had a good half lap on us. I marked a move or two but that was it. After that I hid in the field, tried to do one more lap, one more lap, one more lap.

The break is to our left, half a lap up.

The nightmare is that we have three in the break of ten and they work too hard and don't do well. I tried to see what was happening in the break when we passed each other on the two main straights (front and back straight). I felt a bit worried when I kept seeing non-Expo riders riding away from the group, Expo guys chasing hard. The non-Expo guys realized the threat our trio held so they tried to break the group into smaller pieces.

Once the break got half a lap ahead SOC did a one lap pull, to be nice to the others. I don't think it helped make them feel better but one rider did comment that "we're finally in a good rhythm" when SOC did that pull. SOC wasn't about to tell him that his plan from there forward was to sit at the back with me and wait for the finish.

When I heard 7 to go I realized that, okay, I may have a chance at finishing this race. I didn't feel absolutely stressed, no cramps, no weirdness, no emptiness in my legs. A glimmer of hope lit up inside of me.

At 5 to go I thought it a possibility.

At 2 to go I knew I'd make it. Now I had to deal with positioning and all that - the good stuff in a crit.

Shovel, to my right, finds me inside 2 to go.

We're both a few seconds behind the front of the field.

As we came around to the back straight I noticed someone on my right. I looked and looked again - it was Shovel. He rolled up, looked over, caught my eye, and started rolling hard.

I got on his wheel.

Just before we got the bell I chose to go right when the group scattered a bit. Shovel, overlapped to the left, was stuck out there. I felt the right/middle to be a better spot so I went there, and I hoped that Shovel would be back.

Shovel, now with half a lap to go, finds me again.

He didn't disappoint me. He found me in the same spot on the course and this time didn't even bother looking. He rolled by, glanced to make sure I was there, and kept going.

Dead Zone - Shovel starts to go.

When we got into the Dead Zone, the bit of course totally obscured by trees and bushes, he pushed a bit harder, getting into his Cane Creek mass-start legal aero bars.

I followed.

Final two-part bend ahead.

White speck about to go out of view is Kyle, who was away for a couple laps.

I didn't see Kyle at this point - I didn't know anyone was ahead of the field except the break. I did know that I always get nervous, expecting to be swamped, and so I decided I'd jump as early as I dared.

Just as we rounded the first part of the two part final bend I glanced back, saw the left was clear, and jump hard.

Arg!

My HR was 172 when I jumped - I had no idea it was so high. I prefer jumping at under 165 bpm.

Overgeared, pedals turning in slow motion, I looked up and thought, "Wow, I went waaaaay too early". I looked down, tried to see if anyone was about to blast around me, and saw no one. I looked up again. The finish line didn't look any closer. Down. No one coming around. Up. Jeepers the finish is still so far away. And is that Kyle in front of me?

I eased just before the line because I didn't see anyone sprinting so I thought maybe I was committing a faux pas. I saw Kyle too, looking intently to make sure it was him - Specialized jersey, bike, the white or silver helmet. Yes, it was Kyle. He'd been in the field so he must have made a big move at least a lap ago, maybe two laps or more before the finish.

On our cool down lap Dave rolled by SOC and me. He gave a thumbs up, and Stan later confirmed that Dave had won the race. This made SOC and me smile because, really, that's the way we'd hoped it would work out.

Thumbs up. Yes!

Shovel's leadout got me the field sprint, if you count Kyle as being a chaser off the front for a couple laps. That was enough to get me second, and, 

Here's a view from Mrs SOC:

(Video from SOC)

Ends up I was 12th in the race - 10 rider break, Kyle, then me. SOC, who totally sat up going into the sprint ("nothing to sprint for") finished 44th officially. He grinned when he learned that I got 12th - he'd been a few wheels behind me and he'd killed me in most of the sprints we've done on our own. I think next time he'll be sprinting.

Overall a good day. Going in with zero expectations, hoping to last more than 10 minutes, and winning the field sprint (I'm going to say Kyle was a chase/break rider)... it was all good.

As a bonus I had Strava'ed the race. I saw something about second best time on the final sprint, a segment in Strava. When clicked through to the segment I saw my rank as 4th.

4th?

Ends up that last year, in my surprise good-sprint where I had to sprint early and then passed a bunch of the field, was a 12 second sprint, 41.7 mph Strava says. Three riders have done that same sprint in 11 seconds. In this race I did the final sprint in 14 seconds, the second fastest time I've done it.

That was a nice thing to see. Of course now I want to do a 10 second sprint. Haha. We'll see.

Helmet Cam - 2012 NE Crit Championships M40+

Back on August 18, 2012 I did the New England Crit Championships, promoted by the Northeast Masters Cycling Association (NEMCA). I raved about the race back then, the fluent riding, the deliberate tactics, and, for me, a successful race in that I lasted more than 5 minutes.

Of course I wanted to do a clip of the race. It would illustrate some smooth and fluent riding, a couple tactical moves, and, yes, I actually finished the race. A 5 minute "then I got shelled" clip isn't any fun for me or for you.

On the other hand it's taken a while to get the whole business of producing clips straightened out, what with the new iMovie unable to import my clips such that they exist in iMovie, the time required to produce a clip, and, finally, our internet connection getting hosed in the wind storm a little while ago. I worked on the clips once I figured out an iMovie workaround (use an older version) and I have a few clips in near-completion status.

The NE M40+ race took me a while to produce, following my now-somewhat standard way of producing these clips. Unusually I had three major revisions requiring three different exports out of iMovie, each one a time consuming process. With the clip basically done I put it aside to simmer - this gets me away from the clip for a bit so I can go back and review it with a fresh mind. I focused on doing more stuff for the Bethel Spring Series, doing stuff around the house, and of course the internet connection thing.

I wasn't impressed with the clip when I finally reviewed my almost-done rough draft. It took two more iterations before I felt it "okay", making it five versions in total. Then the upload took all night but hey, that's life. Here's the clip.

Enjoy.