Instead of doing a pointless ITT in Dahlonega at NGSCU, we trekked past Atlanta over to Duluth (really?) to do a big road race. Big fields were expected, and the big guns were finally able to show up and lay it on the line. Weather when I started was raining, 54 degrees, and miserable. It touched the low 60s and partly sunny when joe rolled, and the roads were drying. Totally lame.
In a twist of Karma, I was the one who had to ride off early at 10:30 AM. 53 miles over 7 laps in a field well represented by 5 teams in particular in the Category 3 field. Aarons Cycling Team, Jittery Joes Development Team, Myogenesis, Reality Bikes, and one more I dont remember. We started with 40+ riders.What essentially happened is on the 2nd lap a breakaway succeeded that had one rider of each team. I was in the back half of the field when the breaks went, and while I could have bridged up to them, I foolishly decided to race a safe strategy in the pack and bank on a sprint. The Aarons riders in particular rode like morons, not riding on the front and controlling the pace, but scattered through the pack and riding slow randomly. Once the breakaways' success was confirmed, all the teams just sat up. We averaged maybe 20mph. It was just ridiculous, not even a race. The hilly sections were perfect for me, I would be able to move up easily for the last few miles of the loop. Unfortunately I timed it wrong, ended up on the back leading to the pack sprint. With 7 riders up the road, we were sprinting for 8th place. I moved from 35th to 15th once the road opened up, and that was it. Dumb dumb dumb racing by me, and non-racing by the pack. Since the pack didnt try after the break got away, we ended up letting them gain 26 minutes. Its safe to say I am furious about the packs attitude, and just have to say the A's better be ready to race tomorrow, because Im going for it and going for it early.
Joe's race was equally frustrating in the Cat 5s. The pack started 20-25 strong, and was best represented by Florida State University, who brought their entire Cat 4/5 contingent. After the first lap, it was only about 10 riders. The FSU guys refused to pull, even at all. They marked Joe's wheel and forced him to do most of the work in the race, and everytime he sat up on the pace they would launch an attack, which he would cover, and then be pulling again. It was dirty tactics, but unfortunately the way a team races against a group of individuals. After 4.5 laps of being the pack's bitch, Joe was spent. An FSU rider launched again, and Joe let him go to race for 2nd place. Unfortunately FSU still put the pressure on Joe, and when the sprint came, he was just completely spent. Joe admits he is finally ready to cat up to the Cat 4's, and hence the B's.
More road racing in Dahlonega tomorrow at NGSCU. Collegiate Racing this time :) Looks to be in the mid 30's, snowing/raining and 15-25 mph winds. Bring the pain! Joe and I have poor performances to make up for
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Alabama Race Weekend - Criterium
So I have decided to stop writing these blogs as if they were in 3rd person. Clearly Curtis (Me) is writing them, so I'll forgo the formality and get down to the nitty gritty.
Day 1 was great with 6 guys representing UAH. Everyone got a taste of speed in the Time Trial, and everyone seemed to enjoy the chess game on wheels of the Road Race.
The TRUE test, however, would be how the new guys held up in a criterium, and how I would handle racing as an A.
The C's composed of Joe, Barrett, Clinton, Daniel and Josh rolled off at a brisk 10AM for what would be a 30 minute race. The course was QUITE technical and ridiculous, featuring 2 broad right hand turns, 4 sharp right hand turns, a quick S bend and a ridiculous switchback. In a field composed primarily of beginner races, crashes were certain, as was the eventual nuclear destruction of the "field".
Predictions held true, and the first few laps saw the C field riding single file at a super quick pace. Joe and Barrett sat near the front while Josh, Daniel, and Clinton hovered in the middle and back of the pack. As the pace continued to pick up, people started falling off. First was a group of 3 containing Josh. After the race, Josh commented :"Man, if you lose that pack even for a minute, you are done". Yes, Josh, you are correct. While Josh may have been one of the first to lose the pack, he was certainly not the last. Daniel soon found himself in no mans land, with Clinton in a small chase group about 20 seconds behind. After a few more laps, the race official (Stuart...) made the call to pull the riders that would get lapped. Without scoring cameras or equipment, Stuart was scoring/placing the race by hand. Lapped riders needed to be off the course to keep things honest. A very disappointed Josh, Clinton and Daniel rolled off and looked on as Joe and Barrett continued. Barrett found himself in a bit of misfortune as well. He ended up in a small chase group of 4 guys, but despite the intense efforts put forth by all the riders, they were not able to match the tempo of the lead pack. However the group was fast enough that they were not going to get lapped, and at that point Barrett was assured a top 10 spot. All the while, Joe sat in the top 5 of the pack, which contained about 8 guys, 2 from Alabama, 2 from Georgia Tech, and a few more stragglers. The Georgia Tech guys, in particular, made many attempts to ride off the front, and in one instance Joe simply bridged the gap seemingly effortlessly. As the final lap came around, Joe found himself towards the front of the group, he held the wheels of the attacks as the group whittled down to 4 around the last turn. Joe held on for the sprint to finish 4th, well ahead of 5th. Barrett lost his sprint at the line to the Alabama rider, yet still nailed down a top 10 finish. (Official results coming later).
The general consensus was that crits are much much harder and everyone needs to train a good bit harder to maintain the speeds required in them.
Back in my former riding days in Indiana, crits were my achilles heel. I could not have agreed with the other guys more. They are usually mindblowingly fast, unforgiving, and if you cannot corner well, you are in big trouble. For this reason, I threw my (possibly) cracked carbon race wheels on my bike to get every bit of advantage possible for the A race, which was again combined with the B race. We had a total of 8 guys this time around: Me, Sam (Alabama), 2 Florida guys (1 A, 1 B), 2 Georgia State B's, the Emory Cat 1, and a UGA B. Right off the gun the pace was not as fast as I expected. However going into this entire race weekend my legs felt like water, and I had not been getting the power out of them I typically do. The fact I was able to outclimb the field Saturday was ridiculous, and I felt particularly poorly about 45 minutes of threshold crit racing. Thomas from Emory, who shall henceforth always be referred to as Emory, tried early and often to make a break work. Sometimes Kyle from UFL would bridge up, sometimes Sam would help, but it seemed I was always the one grabbing his wheel. We had 4 premes, all of which were swept by A riders, and none of which I really cared about at all. Except the last one, which was 2 laps from the finish. Ala, we had a sprint and then only 1 lap to finish. 
On the windy front stretch I sprinted for that last preme, took it, and took the lead through the technical section of the course. Coming out of the switchback, Emory attacked, and I hesitated a split second too soon, and was not able to catch his wheel in time. While he did not ride like a Cat 1 yesterday, he definitely did when he made that attack. As I tore around the last bend, I could tell the pack behind me was frayed, so as soon as i exited the corner, i brought my best sprint legs out of NOWHERE and blasted up the road to take the sprint from Sam. Another 2nd place. Fortunately, about 25 minutes ino the crit I had found my race legs, was able to rider smart, I did hardly any work. And with the exception of hitting my pedal on the ground around a corner, the race was pretty uneventful.
All in all, the team had a pretty amazing showing. Joe got 5th in the ITT, 6th in the Road Race, and 4th in the Crit. Barrett got 9th in the ITT, 8th in the Road Race, and a definite top 10 in the Crit. Josh, Daniel and Clinton held on for their lives in their first road cycling races ever, and judging by their expressions and comments after, they are hungering for more. And I , who felt like crap going into the weekend, for whatever reason, and was entering the A(Pro/1/2/3) field for the first time ever, held on pretty well, even if I was only racing against 3 other guys. I am far from peaked for the season, and come late March/April, I should be money.
Pain is a part of bike racing, and this weekend, on the hilliest road/TT course any of us have ridden this year, we were all bike racers.
Next week we will be tag teaming 2 races. One is a non-collegiate USAC race in Georgia, and the other is the NGSCU road race in Dahlonega, GA. Joe gets 2 more mass starts, I get to gauge myself against a field of Cat 3's, and the new guys will get their chance to ride in a real pack. It ought to be fun...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Alabama Race Weekend ITT and Road Race
We brought 6 guys to the Alabama race weekend, and they brought the pain.
First up was the Individual Time Trial. 10 miles on the Tour de Tuscaloosa/UA Road Race course. It is hilly, it is intense, and it is extremely difficult as a road race course, much less so for a Time Trial.
First up, and we do mean first, was Curtis. With his fresh Cat 3/A upgrade, and being the first A to register, he got to go first. He was none so happy about it, he is like a dog, he needs something to chase. Regardless, he put in a great effort, rolling in at 2nd place in the A's category (which had 2 A riders...) and well above the rest of the field.Joe pulled in a solid 5th place finish in the C's , the hilly course catering to his strengths. The official results for the rest of the team are pending.
Next was the Road Race. The C field was about 25 strong, the B field was 5 strong, and the A field was a total of 4. The A's and B's were combined, both would ride 50 miles. Joe, Clinton, Barrett, Daniel and Josh all rode in the C race, while Curtis rolled in the A/B race.
In the C race, an Alabama rider attacked right off the start, got some support from some other teams, while the Alabama boys rode support on the front of the field by slowing it down. The initial acceleration blew up the C race, and Josh/Daniel/Clinton got hit pretty quick. Joe tried to make a break with a Georgia Tech rider to try and bridge up to the breakaway. Very very very very rarely is a breakaway successful in a C race. Today was a day it did. By attacking from the start and the Alabama riders playing beautiful teamwork, the confusion allowed the riders to get away. Daniel and Josh ended up trying to chase back onto the field with an Emory rider who refused to pull his weight, rode erratically and really hampered their efforts. Daniel layed down the law with some very harsh words, and the rider oh so suddenly began to work. They got back within 20 seconds of the pack before the uphill finish. Clinton, who was hanging on towards the back of the pack, dropped a chain at the bottom of the climb while with 2 other riders. he had to fix his chain and start from the bottom of the hill. Meanwhile, in the pack, Joe managed to sprint for a 6th place overall finish, and Barrett held for 8th.
In the A race, they started with 9 riders, 4 A's and 5 B's. Joking and laughing ensued, but apparently the A rider from Emory wasn't confident in his climbing/sprinting abilities. The B from Georgia Tech apparently also felt frisky, and on the first climb of the first lap they pounded the pace. We all held on and eventually brought them into the fold. Curtis uttered "douchebag" under his breath, which Sam Barr (Alabama) found funny. The field continued to cover Emory's attacks, and 9 fell to 7. After the big climb it fell to 6. Emory attacked again, and this time the field decided to let him go and burn himself out. He had not been particularly strong, just aggressive, and his moronic riding was wearing the field down. They decided to let him go, banking he would tire and get caught. Unfortunately, each time the field hit the final climb, Curtis would inadvertantly drop a B rider. By the end of lap 3, It was only Curtis, Sam and Florida, all of the A's, while Emory was up the road. About 2 miles into the lap there is a super steep mini climb. When we hit that climb, Sam's legs just couldnt go anymore. We were maintaining a very good pace (around 23), and with such a small field, without recovery, it was too much witht he hills. So for the last lap and a half it was just Curtis and the kid from Florida (who smoked the ITT), and with only 2 riders catchin the Emory rider was unlikely. Curtis switched from chase mode to survival/tactical mode. He wanted to pull as little as possible when it mattered, maximize his efficiency, and put a little bit of hurt on the Florida rider. The Florida rider was very weak on climbs, and while an excellent time trialer, simply was not well suited for sprinting and climbing. So Curtis would pull at a decent rate uphill,
not to break the rider but just to hurt him a little bit. He would usually allow the FL rider to pull up the 2nd half of the hills and over the top. For some reason he was a great descender, so he used that against him. Right before the final climb there is a SCREAMING descent, a slight upgrade, a sharp right, then the climb. Curtis let the UFL guy lead the descent, Curtis led up the gradual climb, then let the UFL guy lead up the first half of the long final climb. Once the UFL guys pulled off to switch, Curtis attacked about 500 m from the finish on the steepest part of the climb, before it levels off. Once it levels off, there is about 200m before the last 100m climb to the finish. He looked back and his attack worked, the UFL rider was sucking wind. He stood up one more time and hammered up the last few meters of the climb, taking 2nd in style.Great results for the first day. Joe gets another top 10, Barrett breaks the Top 10, and Josh/Clinton/Daniel got their first taste of racing. Tomorrow is the parking lot crit, more updates to come!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Georgia Southern Criterium Race Report
Georgia Southern Criterium
2/15/2009
Weather was dryer, but colder for the criterium. Course was a gentle one for a crit, more suited to be called a circuit to be honest. Ran counter-clockwise with one 90 degree turn and everything else was a sweeping turn.
The team warmed up the best they could, a few miles around the course. The C race started, Joe took one pedal stroke and broke his chain. He took 3 free laps while the onsite wrench fixed the chain and got him back on the course. Meanwhile, Barrett sat comfortably in the pack. Not long after Joe got back in the field, it started to speed up significantly. Slowly but surely, groups began to fall off the back. After a few laps of sitting in while the field attacked, Barrett slipped off the back with 4 other riders. While the rest of the dropped riders struggled to form alliances and ultimately got lapped, Barrett and his chase group rallied quickly and managed to hold off the field until the last lap. He worked super hard and looked comfortable in the paceline. Joe, who seemed pretty tired from his first Road Race the day before in addition to his chain mishap, sat in the pack and moved up on the last lap. He snagged 6th or 7th in the field sprint (Official results pending).
In the B race, the field was very small and stacked quite unevenly. About 5 laps in the first preme was announced. Curtis attacked for the preme, easily winning it before sitting up with Ryan Fisher (Florida). They let the pack catch them, and sat back in. Towards the end of the lap Ben from Clemson, who snagged 2nd in the Road Race, made his expected breakaway attempt. Curtis said choice words and chased on. Only Jared from GSU was able to follow them, and by the end of the lap they had 10 seconds. They kept at it, and by the 2nd lap they had 20 seconds. Within 5 laps the gap was over a minute and lapping the field was inevitable. Ben was driving super hard, Curtis was hurting a good bit, and Jared was sucking wind. A deal was made. Jared would not sprint for the win if he could skip some rotations. From that point Curtis and Ben did 90% of the work. Curtis told Ben that if he thought he could hold a faster pace to the end, to go for it, but otherwise hed have to ease up a bit. Deal #2 was formed. Ben would sit with them for another 10 minutes then make a move. The second deal didn’t work out, because the next lap they were 10 seconds behind the field. Ben, who isn’t a fantastic sprinter, didn’t want to risk having to sprint it out against Curtis, and using the field as a breather before launching a 2nd attack was a great strategy. Curtis let him go, figuring he would waste a lot of energy bridging up to the pack which seemed caught. Jared tried to hold Curtis’ wheel, but the acceleration ended him. He went into TT mode to stay away long enough to save 3rd place. Ben caught the pack about a half mile later, and his teammates picked up the pace. After a few laps of sitting in, Ben got a nice leadout from his teammate and launched his 2nd attack to keep Curtis off his wheel. After Ben got away, Curtis took a few laps but eventually caught on to the group. The GSU rider was left in the dust, barely visible behind the pack. Curtis sat in for a few laps, laughing and chatting with the other riders, then decided to drive the pace to make sure the GSU rider didn’t catch the pack. When the bell lap came around, he pulled off, wished the field luck and rode on the back of the pack , finishing easy and laughing. He made a few comments about how he preferred to be able to finish easy like that every time…we’ll see how much he smiles at the end of his first A race…Worth noting is that the top 5 contained the exact same riders as in the Road Race, but mixed up slightly.
2/15/2009
Weather was dryer, but colder for the criterium. Course was a gentle one for a crit, more suited to be called a circuit to be honest. Ran counter-clockwise with one 90 degree turn and everything else was a sweeping turn.
The team warmed up the best they could, a few miles around the course. The C race started, Joe took one pedal stroke and broke his chain. He took 3 free laps while the onsite wrench fixed the chain and got him back on the course. Meanwhile, Barrett sat comfortably in the pack. Not long after Joe got back in the field, it started to speed up significantly. Slowly but surely, groups began to fall off the back. After a few laps of sitting in while the field attacked, Barrett slipped off the back with 4 other riders. While the rest of the dropped riders struggled to form alliances and ultimately got lapped, Barrett and his chase group rallied quickly and managed to hold off the field until the last lap. He worked super hard and looked comfortable in the paceline. Joe, who seemed pretty tired from his first Road Race the day before in addition to his chain mishap, sat in the pack and moved up on the last lap. He snagged 6th or 7th in the field sprint (Official results pending).
In the B race, the field was very small and stacked quite unevenly. About 5 laps in the first preme was announced. Curtis attacked for the preme, easily winning it before sitting up with Ryan Fisher (Florida). They let the pack catch them, and sat back in. Towards the end of the lap Ben from Clemson, who snagged 2nd in the Road Race, made his expected breakaway attempt. Curtis said choice words and chased on. Only Jared from GSU was able to follow them, and by the end of the lap they had 10 seconds. They kept at it, and by the 2nd lap they had 20 seconds. Within 5 laps the gap was over a minute and lapping the field was inevitable. Ben was driving super hard, Curtis was hurting a good bit, and Jared was sucking wind. A deal was made. Jared would not sprint for the win if he could skip some rotations. From that point Curtis and Ben did 90% of the work. Curtis told Ben that if he thought he could hold a faster pace to the end, to go for it, but otherwise hed have to ease up a bit. Deal #2 was formed. Ben would sit with them for another 10 minutes then make a move. The second deal didn’t work out, because the next lap they were 10 seconds behind the field. Ben, who isn’t a fantastic sprinter, didn’t want to risk having to sprint it out against Curtis, and using the field as a breather before launching a 2nd attack was a great strategy. Curtis let him go, figuring he would waste a lot of energy bridging up to the pack which seemed caught. Jared tried to hold Curtis’ wheel, but the acceleration ended him. He went into TT mode to stay away long enough to save 3rd place. Ben caught the pack about a half mile later, and his teammates picked up the pace. After a few laps of sitting in, Ben got a nice leadout from his teammate and launched his 2nd attack to keep Curtis off his wheel. After Ben got away, Curtis took a few laps but eventually caught on to the group. The GSU rider was left in the dust, barely visible behind the pack. Curtis sat in for a few laps, laughing and chatting with the other riders, then decided to drive the pace to make sure the GSU rider didn’t catch the pack. When the bell lap came around, he pulled off, wished the field luck and rode on the back of the pack , finishing easy and laughing. He made a few comments about how he preferred to be able to finish easy like that every time…we’ll see how much he smiles at the end of his first A race…Worth noting is that the top 5 contained the exact same riders as in the Road Race, but mixed up slightly.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Georgia Southern Road Race
Curtis, Joe, and Barrett toed the line in Statesboro, Georgia for the first Road Race of the season today. The flier touted a 22 mile lap, which the Bs/Cs would each do twice.
However, things change in Collegiate Cycling. C's ended up doing one lap, the lap was 25 miles, and there was a long rollout to the actual course. C's did 27 miles, B's did 54. And about 15 miles in, there was about a mile long dirt road section, which had the consistency of wet sand in many places. the entrance to the dirt section was very loose, with the last 3/4 of it having a hard packed rut in which heavy speed was attainable for those who could survive the sketchy parts.
In the C's race, with only one lap to race, the pace was fairly quick. Joe slowly worked his way to the front and sat there. When the dirt road came up, he was in prime position at the front 5. And because of his extensive mountain biking experience, he enjoyed relative comfort riding in the dirt. Once the packed section hit, the C's picked up the pace. In the dirt section, however, Barrett took a nasty spill from which he was unable to recover. He was not injured, but his bike needed impromptu adjustments, and once he got moving, the pack was too far off. When Barrett hit the last turn, the finish was straight ahead, but the course marshall thought he was in the B's race and pointed him to go do the lap again...so he rode the 2nd lap solo. Meanwhile, Joe read the race like an old timer and found himself in prime position for the sprint. He got 4th place in the sprint!
In the B's race, they decided to start the A's and B's together. Translation: We raced like we didnt give a shit the first 15 miles. The pace was around about 17 miles per hour, and the A's just let a 2 man break get away. The A's would end up with an 82 mile race, and the 2 riders who broke away at the beginning STAYED AWAY THE WHOLE TIME. Epic ride by those guys. We even stopped for a group pee break while they were away. No one seemed to care they were far away. So after the whole pack stopped to pee, we hit the dirt road a few miles later. Again, it was SUPER sketchy, but like Joe, I was near the front and survived the constant fishtails. The A's got a slight gap on the majority of the field, and myself and Ben from Clemson (who epicly rode away from us in the crit last week) chased hard. When the dirt ended, and the pavement returned, we put in a hell of an effort to catch onto the A group, where a Florida B rider had managed to sneak in. 2 GSU B riders managed to bridge up a few miles later. All the time, Ben from Clemson tried to make a breakaway stick. And everytime I covered his attack. I knew he could make an attack stick, because the A's were not going to chase him. After several miles of attacks, he finally sat in. The A's made their move, and we let them go. Now there were only 5 of us B riders. I turned to them and rallied them together, and from then till the end of the race, we simply pacelined to stay away. When we hit the dirt road the second time, we slowed down and took it easy. I hit a loose patch a little bit in though and went down. I got back up fast, found a line and hammered back towards the 3 guys in front of us. It didnt take long, and once we hit the pavement again, all 5 were back together. With 2 miles to go, we were told that there were 2 miles to go by a SAG truck. With about a mile to go, Ben from Clemson again made a move to attack, and only me and a GSU rider managed to follow it. Ben tried very hard to lose us, but it essentially became a breakaway where we pulled for about 5 seconds each. With the finish line in sight, things got hectic, and I failed in my attempt to make a strong sprint. We were already moving too fast, I lost Ben's wheel, and the GSU rider made a pretty good move to take the win. I cruised in for 3rd, with the FLorida and other GSU rider rolling in about a minute later. The next B rider was about 10-15 minutes behind us. While there were only 12 B's at the start, we had such a gap, the size of the field did not matter.
We went to dinner with the Alabama team and found out that Sam (President of Alabama) went down on the dirt and took out a lot of the B guys. I toast my 3rd place finish to him!
Look for more updates from the Crit Tomorrow!
However, things change in Collegiate Cycling. C's ended up doing one lap, the lap was 25 miles, and there was a long rollout to the actual course. C's did 27 miles, B's did 54. And about 15 miles in, there was about a mile long dirt road section, which had the consistency of wet sand in many places. the entrance to the dirt section was very loose, with the last 3/4 of it having a hard packed rut in which heavy speed was attainable for those who could survive the sketchy parts.
In the C's race, with only one lap to race, the pace was fairly quick. Joe slowly worked his way to the front and sat there. When the dirt road came up, he was in prime position at the front 5. And because of his extensive mountain biking experience, he enjoyed relative comfort riding in the dirt. Once the packed section hit, the C's picked up the pace. In the dirt section, however, Barrett took a nasty spill from which he was unable to recover. He was not injured, but his bike needed impromptu adjustments, and once he got moving, the pack was too far off. When Barrett hit the last turn, the finish was straight ahead, but the course marshall thought he was in the B's race and pointed him to go do the lap again...so he rode the 2nd lap solo. Meanwhile, Joe read the race like an old timer and found himself in prime position for the sprint. He got 4th place in the sprint!
In the B's race, they decided to start the A's and B's together. Translation: We raced like we didnt give a shit the first 15 miles. The pace was around about 17 miles per hour, and the A's just let a 2 man break get away. The A's would end up with an 82 mile race, and the 2 riders who broke away at the beginning STAYED AWAY THE WHOLE TIME. Epic ride by those guys. We even stopped for a group pee break while they were away. No one seemed to care they were far away. So after the whole pack stopped to pee, we hit the dirt road a few miles later. Again, it was SUPER sketchy, but like Joe, I was near the front and survived the constant fishtails. The A's got a slight gap on the majority of the field, and myself and Ben from Clemson (who epicly rode away from us in the crit last week) chased hard. When the dirt ended, and the pavement returned, we put in a hell of an effort to catch onto the A group, where a Florida B rider had managed to sneak in. 2 GSU B riders managed to bridge up a few miles later. All the time, Ben from Clemson tried to make a breakaway stick. And everytime I covered his attack. I knew he could make an attack stick, because the A's were not going to chase him. After several miles of attacks, he finally sat in. The A's made their move, and we let them go. Now there were only 5 of us B riders. I turned to them and rallied them together, and from then till the end of the race, we simply pacelined to stay away. When we hit the dirt road the second time, we slowed down and took it easy. I hit a loose patch a little bit in though and went down. I got back up fast, found a line and hammered back towards the 3 guys in front of us. It didnt take long, and once we hit the pavement again, all 5 were back together. With 2 miles to go, we were told that there were 2 miles to go by a SAG truck. With about a mile to go, Ben from Clemson again made a move to attack, and only me and a GSU rider managed to follow it. Ben tried very hard to lose us, but it essentially became a breakaway where we pulled for about 5 seconds each. With the finish line in sight, things got hectic, and I failed in my attempt to make a strong sprint. We were already moving too fast, I lost Ben's wheel, and the GSU rider made a pretty good move to take the win. I cruised in for 3rd, with the FLorida and other GSU rider rolling in about a minute later. The next B rider was about 10-15 minutes behind us. While there were only 12 B's at the start, we had such a gap, the size of the field did not matter.
We went to dinner with the Alabama team and found out that Sam (President of Alabama) went down on the dirt and took out a lot of the B guys. I toast my 3rd place finish to him!
Look for more updates from the Crit Tomorrow!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
ITT Actual Distance
Well, my internal odometer was almost spot on, even short. Official race distance was listed at 9.745 miles (a good bit further than 8), meaning the avg speed for mine and Joe's rides were a good bit more respectable.
Monday, February 9, 2009
University of Florida Race Weekend
University of Florida Race Weekend
Race Report
2/7/09 – Individual Time Trial
Time Trials are generally boring, so I’ll keep it brisk. First off, UF straight lied in their race flyer, and the promoters pulled a fast one on everyone in the final results pertaining to the actual race distance. The flyer said 8 miles, the results said 9 miles, and I heard 9.5+ from most riders I talked to.
To gauge, last week, on a much hillier course with a definite headwind on the return trip, I ran 8.7 miles in 22:09. This weekend I ran a 24:11, and the course was WAY FLAT, and almost NO wind, slightly downhill coming back and what wind there was behind you on the way back. My super imaginary internal cyclometer says the race was 9.5 miles. I really need a computer on my TT bike…
But to summarize, I had a decent ride, a little bit sluggish and not as strong as I should have been. Managed a 3rd place result in the Cat 4 and a 6th place finish in the Collegiate B’s. My Cat 4 TT resulted in a nice $40 dollar payout. Paid for all my collegiate races for the weekend off the bat.
Joe had a solid ride himself, riding into a 3rd place finish in the Cat 5 Age 19-34 Age division, and 12th in the Collegiate C category. Worth mentioning that Joe won a BALLER SUPER AWESOME 3rd place medal for his Cat 5 effort. I mean super awesome medal. Be jealous. Joe, stop trying to give it away!
Overall, a decent effort by the team. For a new team to place its riders in the top 3rd of their race categories on their fist time trials is very impressive.
Intermission Report
2/7/09 – Disney World
So, my ex-girlfriend, who I remain close with, works at Disney World, and has the awesome benefit of being able to take 3 guests in with her for free. So Joe and I ponied up the cash to drive down to Orlando after our ITT. We rocked Hollywood Studios for an hour and half, then spent a wonderful time in Magic Kingdom. We rocked the Dumbo ride and the Teapot ride like it was our job. Unfortunately we probably stayed in Orlando too late, leaving around 10:30.
Joe’s crit was at 8:00AM the next morning…
Race Report
2/8/09
Criterium
We decided to double up on categories again today. Joe needs mass start finishes, I need upgrade points, and I felt pretty good about being able to win money in the Cat 4 race. Breaking even on race fees and our jaunt down to Orlando would be a big plus, making it the most free weekend vacation EVER (Special thanks to UAH for paying our gas ☺ )
First up was Joe in the Collegiate C crit. Joe has never done a mass start road race before. His instructions were to sit in the pack, keep out of trouble, and wait for the sprint. Joe listened perfectly. He sat essentially in the middle to back of the pack the whole race, kept a careful eye on the other riders, and rode to finish. The course had some very technical turns, one of them on a cobblestone/brick road. Joe finished the crit on the tail end of the main pack, and was smiling and joking on his cooldown. It is safe to say his next crit will not be so easy.
I went into the Collegiate B crit feeling a bit groggy from late night taco bell, 6 hours of sleep, and my clif bar breakfast. Fortunately, the pace was not murderous, and the pack was relatively small at 31 riders. (unlike Joe’s Collegiate C crit with 47). I spent most of my time in the top 7, watching riders carefully, and taking small pulls. Pulled in a few attacks, helped as little as possible. First preme came around, and as the sprint approached I was in good position, and a Georgia Tech rider was going for it, but he was going quite slow. I “sprinted” past him by just picking up my cadence. My mini effort actually put a big bridge on the field, and 4 of us decided to try and make a run for it. But with Florida State chasing with 5 riders, it was not to be, and we sat up. Not too long after, a Clemson rider took a gap that no one seemed willing to bridge. All the teams with big representation (Florida, USF, Florida State) sat up and let him go. He had no teammates in the B race that I knew of. Finally I said some harsh words to the pack, and led the chase for about a minute. I pulled some time on the Clemson rider, and pulled off the front. I had gapped the field. More harsh words, something to the tune of “I don’t have a problem racing for second, but you guys should”. The lone rider from Temple and a couple FSU guys finally stepped up, and we started driving the thing. A few laps later, and after more yelling, we caught the Clemson rider, who got a resounding amount of congrats for his monster effort. Alas, his day was over. At this point, I had done a lot of work for the pack. While chasing the Clemson rider, a preme apparently happened, and those that worked got preme points. Because I had put my fair effort in, and had some good talks with the FSU guys, I got out of pulling for a while, and the race got much easier. With 3 laps to go, the pace picked up, and the back of the pack decided it was a good time to start riding hard. Things got very tricky very fast, and holding my treasured top 7 place became a bit harder. Going into the last lap, I felt like a million dollars, and I was very positive I had the best legs in the pack. Just after the start finish, the road splits, and there is a large median in the middle. I was a little further left than I wanted to be, so I made a move over. Unfortunately I did not communicate with the FSU rider, and he slowed down, and we touched bars. They got stuck for a second, enough to bump me about 3 feet over as the median approached. I hit the median completely head on at close to 28 mph. No time to react. I remembered thinking “This is going to hurt…Ive never flipped over my handlebars before”. But by the greatest miracle of civil engineering, the curb was slightly angled. AKA a ramp. Next thing I knew I was slightly airborne. I landed in some bushes and kept riding, only casualty was that my foot came unlocked. I got clipped back in and chased hard. The pack was a good bit ahead, but I caught the tail end going into the last 2 corners. Superior handling skills and badass race wheels shot me around in time to make it past the bottom 1/3 of the race and into a top 20 finish. While I was SUPER frustrated by my luck, I was more impressed by how solid my ec90 wheels were, and my unknown BMX skills. I can lose a race by bad luck and just be mad. I was faster, I knew I was faster, so next time around I was ready to haul.
So we got starbucks watched the Womens and A races, and met Joe’s friend Katie, who GRACIOUSLY holed us up for the weekend. Much thanks to her. We grabbed some lunch then geared up for our noncollegiate races.
Joe decided to be a bit more aggressive in the Cat 5 race. Within a lap he was in the top 5, and he stayed in the front half the whole time. Since they had some pathetic premes, Joe didn’t bother with them, and instead focused on riding safe and setting up for the sprint. He even chased down a few breaks, looking super comfortable and focused the whole time. Meanwhile, riders were getting spit out the back left and right as the Cat 5’s rolled at an unusually quick pace. Unfortunately, when the sprint came around, his legs were gone from a very long weekend of time trialing, Disney world-ing, bad nutrition, early mornings and lots of racing. Joe finished 16th
Seeking redemption, I toed the Cat 4 line with strong legs and a goal of redeeming my bad luck in the previous race. Only problem is a much slower race with less stable racers. The pace varied greatly, and because of this the whole race just stayed together and sketchy riders were everywhere. I got real frustrated and decided to see just how strong my legs were. A small group of younger riders was about 50 yards up front, so I decided to bridge up to them and see how long it took and if the pack would follow. They did not. I then decided to see if I could blow this race up. I caught up to them, sat on their wheel for a second. They looked at me as if begging for help making their break work. I smiled and took off. I can only imagine the faces of the riders realizing their break was doomed. Surprisingly, the pack let me get a lot of room. I decided to try and make it stick, and dove into every corner. After 2 laps, I looked back, and I had a monster gap. Joe tells me that this is the point where the pack started to care. They all stood up and went balls to the wall to catch me. By the end of Lap 3, I was caught. I sat up as I knew it was coming and eased into the top 5 behind the FSU rider who won the B race. At this point, I was all about recovering in time for the sprint, and I chased no more breaks, just made moves to make sure I stayed in the front. With 3 laps to go, there were 2 riders out front, and the pack really didn’t care. We caught them on the 2nd to last lap and as we hit 1 to go, I got a great idea. I held them off for 3 laps before…Can I do it for one more? Im pretty sure no one thought it could be done, and NO ONE thought it would be done. But I did it. I gapped the field ridiculously fast, and coming out of the first 2 corners I had a good gap. Unfortunately I had to fend them off on a very long downhill segment, around 2 sharp corners and up a very long uphill finish. My timing was a bit off, and I knew it was gonna be close. When I came out of the last corner, I still had a good gap. I Just dropped the hammer as best as I could up the hill and with 10 feet to go I thought I had it. Then 4 guys blew past me, and I was caught. 5th place. Not so bad, and I managed to stay away from a sketchy group sprint. And best part, I won another 40$, making my weekend free, collecting some upgrade points, and making for a nice return to bike racing.
All in all, this was a phenomenal first weekend for the UAH Cycling Team. 3 top 10 finishes, a bunch of preme points, and all the while knowing that we are at the beginning of our season and we were super comfortable. Neither I nor Joe ever got really uncomfortable in the pack, and I was very confident with my solo attacks and my ability to cover the breaks. The season looks bright for the team, and I think with more training, more riders, and more focus, we could develop into a top tier team like Florida, FSU, Georgia and USF. Lees McRae is a totally different monster. Worth noting is that the Alabama cycling team, which has been around for 3 years, only has 3 riders signed up to race this year. We have 6. Next weekend we haul on down to Georgia Southern for a Road Race and a Crit on Valentines Day weekend.
Race Report
2/7/09 – Individual Time Trial
Time Trials are generally boring, so I’ll keep it brisk. First off, UF straight lied in their race flyer, and the promoters pulled a fast one on everyone in the final results pertaining to the actual race distance. The flyer said 8 miles, the results said 9 miles, and I heard 9.5+ from most riders I talked to.
To gauge, last week, on a much hillier course with a definite headwind on the return trip, I ran 8.7 miles in 22:09. This weekend I ran a 24:11, and the course was WAY FLAT, and almost NO wind, slightly downhill coming back and what wind there was behind you on the way back. My super imaginary internal cyclometer says the race was 9.5 miles. I really need a computer on my TT bike…
But to summarize, I had a decent ride, a little bit sluggish and not as strong as I should have been. Managed a 3rd place result in the Cat 4 and a 6th place finish in the Collegiate B’s. My Cat 4 TT resulted in a nice $40 dollar payout. Paid for all my collegiate races for the weekend off the bat.
Joe had a solid ride himself, riding into a 3rd place finish in the Cat 5 Age 19-34 Age division, and 12th in the Collegiate C category. Worth mentioning that Joe won a BALLER SUPER AWESOME 3rd place medal for his Cat 5 effort. I mean super awesome medal. Be jealous. Joe, stop trying to give it away!
Overall, a decent effort by the team. For a new team to place its riders in the top 3rd of their race categories on their fist time trials is very impressive.
Intermission Report
2/7/09 – Disney World
So, my ex-girlfriend, who I remain close with, works at Disney World, and has the awesome benefit of being able to take 3 guests in with her for free. So Joe and I ponied up the cash to drive down to Orlando after our ITT. We rocked Hollywood Studios for an hour and half, then spent a wonderful time in Magic Kingdom. We rocked the Dumbo ride and the Teapot ride like it was our job. Unfortunately we probably stayed in Orlando too late, leaving around 10:30.
Joe’s crit was at 8:00AM the next morning…
Race Report
2/8/09
Criterium
We decided to double up on categories again today. Joe needs mass start finishes, I need upgrade points, and I felt pretty good about being able to win money in the Cat 4 race. Breaking even on race fees and our jaunt down to Orlando would be a big plus, making it the most free weekend vacation EVER (Special thanks to UAH for paying our gas ☺ )
First up was Joe in the Collegiate C crit. Joe has never done a mass start road race before. His instructions were to sit in the pack, keep out of trouble, and wait for the sprint. Joe listened perfectly. He sat essentially in the middle to back of the pack the whole race, kept a careful eye on the other riders, and rode to finish. The course had some very technical turns, one of them on a cobblestone/brick road. Joe finished the crit on the tail end of the main pack, and was smiling and joking on his cooldown. It is safe to say his next crit will not be so easy.
I went into the Collegiate B crit feeling a bit groggy from late night taco bell, 6 hours of sleep, and my clif bar breakfast. Fortunately, the pace was not murderous, and the pack was relatively small at 31 riders. (unlike Joe’s Collegiate C crit with 47). I spent most of my time in the top 7, watching riders carefully, and taking small pulls. Pulled in a few attacks, helped as little as possible. First preme came around, and as the sprint approached I was in good position, and a Georgia Tech rider was going for it, but he was going quite slow. I “sprinted” past him by just picking up my cadence. My mini effort actually put a big bridge on the field, and 4 of us decided to try and make a run for it. But with Florida State chasing with 5 riders, it was not to be, and we sat up. Not too long after, a Clemson rider took a gap that no one seemed willing to bridge. All the teams with big representation (Florida, USF, Florida State) sat up and let him go. He had no teammates in the B race that I knew of. Finally I said some harsh words to the pack, and led the chase for about a minute. I pulled some time on the Clemson rider, and pulled off the front. I had gapped the field. More harsh words, something to the tune of “I don’t have a problem racing for second, but you guys should”. The lone rider from Temple and a couple FSU guys finally stepped up, and we started driving the thing. A few laps later, and after more yelling, we caught the Clemson rider, who got a resounding amount of congrats for his monster effort. Alas, his day was over. At this point, I had done a lot of work for the pack. While chasing the Clemson rider, a preme apparently happened, and those that worked got preme points. Because I had put my fair effort in, and had some good talks with the FSU guys, I got out of pulling for a while, and the race got much easier. With 3 laps to go, the pace picked up, and the back of the pack decided it was a good time to start riding hard. Things got very tricky very fast, and holding my treasured top 7 place became a bit harder. Going into the last lap, I felt like a million dollars, and I was very positive I had the best legs in the pack. Just after the start finish, the road splits, and there is a large median in the middle. I was a little further left than I wanted to be, so I made a move over. Unfortunately I did not communicate with the FSU rider, and he slowed down, and we touched bars. They got stuck for a second, enough to bump me about 3 feet over as the median approached. I hit the median completely head on at close to 28 mph. No time to react. I remembered thinking “This is going to hurt…Ive never flipped over my handlebars before”. But by the greatest miracle of civil engineering, the curb was slightly angled. AKA a ramp. Next thing I knew I was slightly airborne. I landed in some bushes and kept riding, only casualty was that my foot came unlocked. I got clipped back in and chased hard. The pack was a good bit ahead, but I caught the tail end going into the last 2 corners. Superior handling skills and badass race wheels shot me around in time to make it past the bottom 1/3 of the race and into a top 20 finish. While I was SUPER frustrated by my luck, I was more impressed by how solid my ec90 wheels were, and my unknown BMX skills. I can lose a race by bad luck and just be mad. I was faster, I knew I was faster, so next time around I was ready to haul.
So we got starbucks watched the Womens and A races, and met Joe’s friend Katie, who GRACIOUSLY holed us up for the weekend. Much thanks to her. We grabbed some lunch then geared up for our noncollegiate races.
Joe decided to be a bit more aggressive in the Cat 5 race. Within a lap he was in the top 5, and he stayed in the front half the whole time. Since they had some pathetic premes, Joe didn’t bother with them, and instead focused on riding safe and setting up for the sprint. He even chased down a few breaks, looking super comfortable and focused the whole time. Meanwhile, riders were getting spit out the back left and right as the Cat 5’s rolled at an unusually quick pace. Unfortunately, when the sprint came around, his legs were gone from a very long weekend of time trialing, Disney world-ing, bad nutrition, early mornings and lots of racing. Joe finished 16th
Seeking redemption, I toed the Cat 4 line with strong legs and a goal of redeeming my bad luck in the previous race. Only problem is a much slower race with less stable racers. The pace varied greatly, and because of this the whole race just stayed together and sketchy riders were everywhere. I got real frustrated and decided to see just how strong my legs were. A small group of younger riders was about 50 yards up front, so I decided to bridge up to them and see how long it took and if the pack would follow. They did not. I then decided to see if I could blow this race up. I caught up to them, sat on their wheel for a second. They looked at me as if begging for help making their break work. I smiled and took off. I can only imagine the faces of the riders realizing their break was doomed. Surprisingly, the pack let me get a lot of room. I decided to try and make it stick, and dove into every corner. After 2 laps, I looked back, and I had a monster gap. Joe tells me that this is the point where the pack started to care. They all stood up and went balls to the wall to catch me. By the end of Lap 3, I was caught. I sat up as I knew it was coming and eased into the top 5 behind the FSU rider who won the B race. At this point, I was all about recovering in time for the sprint, and I chased no more breaks, just made moves to make sure I stayed in the front. With 3 laps to go, there were 2 riders out front, and the pack really didn’t care. We caught them on the 2nd to last lap and as we hit 1 to go, I got a great idea. I held them off for 3 laps before…Can I do it for one more? Im pretty sure no one thought it could be done, and NO ONE thought it would be done. But I did it. I gapped the field ridiculously fast, and coming out of the first 2 corners I had a good gap. Unfortunately I had to fend them off on a very long downhill segment, around 2 sharp corners and up a very long uphill finish. My timing was a bit off, and I knew it was gonna be close. When I came out of the last corner, I still had a good gap. I Just dropped the hammer as best as I could up the hill and with 10 feet to go I thought I had it. Then 4 guys blew past me, and I was caught. 5th place. Not so bad, and I managed to stay away from a sketchy group sprint. And best part, I won another 40$, making my weekend free, collecting some upgrade points, and making for a nice return to bike racing.
All in all, this was a phenomenal first weekend for the UAH Cycling Team. 3 top 10 finishes, a bunch of preme points, and all the while knowing that we are at the beginning of our season and we were super comfortable. Neither I nor Joe ever got really uncomfortable in the pack, and I was very confident with my solo attacks and my ability to cover the breaks. The season looks bright for the team, and I think with more training, more riders, and more focus, we could develop into a top tier team like Florida, FSU, Georgia and USF. Lees McRae is a totally different monster. Worth noting is that the Alabama cycling team, which has been around for 3 years, only has 3 riders signed up to race this year. We have 6. Next weekend we haul on down to Georgia Southern for a Road Race and a Crit on Valentines Day weekend.
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