Race #1
Tuesday night PIR, Cat 4/5 race.
Lowdown: 6 laps, clockwise
Teammates: The Neighbor and Driveby
The Neighbor put out the call for help to win the Tuesday night Cat 4/5 series. Driveby and I were on hand to support him. The plan was to protect Neighbor and restrict the early work to helping out chasing down some of the breaks. I attacked on one occasion but was not allowed to get away. Brad also pulled for a while, although it was a half lap effort and perhaps a little too long. We set ourselves up at the start of the last lap with Driveby in front, me first wheel and Neighbor second wheel. About a third of the way into the last lap after the dangerous RHer, Brad was pulling strongly and found himself at the front in perfect position. He put in a heroic effort down the back straight although at one point pulled off to the side thinking that we were trading 30 sec pull. I yelled ‘forcefully’ at him to get back onto the front and keep going. Driveby took this instruction well and dropped back onto the front and continued.
He pulled us round as a strong steady pace until the start of the last loping corner when he began to fade. I ‘requested’ that he get out of the way - the Wombat-Neighbor train was coming through! I found a high gear, stepped on the gas, and stomped away on the pedals. The Neighbor pulled out from behind at about the bridge and stormed towards the line. KB from BBC was thereabouts as well. Rich nearly got the win and was caught just before the line to finish third. I kept my pace up but faded close to line to finish just out of the points in 11th.
The team had worked well together and executed the plan as we had hoped. Driveby in particular, did exactly what was asked of him and was the one that really set Neighbor up for his podium. I love it when a plan comes together. Now that we have practiced the leadout basics a few times, perhaps it is time to enact some more sophisticated moves. For example, as German pointed out – I could have stayed with Neighbor and blocked those chasing him. We will work on those. Small steps, but we are getting the hang of this racing business.
Race#2
Tuesday PIR Cat 3/4 race
Lowdown: 13 laps (for those coming from the Cat 4/5 race), clockwise, 3 primes
Teammates: The Neighbor and The Kid
After the 4/5 race KB, The Neighbor and I soft pedaled around until the 3/4 field, which included The Kid, caught up with us. Coming round the start/finish line there were 13 laps to go and we jumped on. As with the 4/5 race the weather had kept the field small.
It was my first time racing with Cat 3’s and I expected a challenge. In my mind the pace would be faster and the sprints harder. Actually, this was not the case. The pace and sprints might have been marginally faster but only barely so. Sure, there were plenty of attacks but not much stuck except for the second prime when, notably, KB and another rider broke away in the back straight on a prime lap and no one could be arsed chasing them down. We (and they) assumed that they would be chased down (as I was the previous day). They fought out the points 100M ahead of the rest of the field. This goes to show that the tactic of attacking hard CAN work from time to time.
I got myself into a good position for the final prime. A team Oregon rider went off the front a long way out and, although he faded badly before the line, got the 3 points. I timed my jump well and nearly caught him – taking the 2 points by a gnat’s dick. My prime sprint chase down was encouraging and a sign that, even though the field was smaller than usual, I could be competitive in this mixed category.
Rich agreed to help me out with the final sprint and he did a great job pulling me around. I am starting to get the sprint dialed in. The basic sequence that seems to work for the clockwise races is:
-get embedded in a leadout train with 1 lap to go
-come around the final bend within the top 5 or so
-start changing up into bigger and bigger gears while keeping up with the leadout.
-jump at about the bridge
-stomp it all the way to the line out of the saddle. Prefer to go relatively early and make them chase me, rather than being the one doing the chasing.
Now need to add elements to these basic steps to have more flexibility to deal with other scenarios that may arise during the sprint.
Scored 5th or 6th across the line to finish in (I think) 4th place overall with the prime points. The Kid just behind and The Neighbor a few places back. Good, fun night of racing.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A dry night at PIR
Monday PIR, Masters Cat 4/5
Lowdown:14 laps, counterclockwise, 2 primes.
Teammates: Quiet Achiever and Curtis.
No rain for a change and field was larger than usual. One could sense that those that had stayed away during the rainy race days were eager to make up for lost ground. This was clear at the first prime sprint when I was left well behind and beaten to the line by many racers bent on getting those 3,2,1 points.
The pace of the race seemed high and full of aggression with attack after attack coming throughout the race. Feeling good and rested I got out of the saddle and attacked one and a half laps before the second prime. Three came with or bridged the gap. Soon we were perhaps 100M off the front. Our group quickly became organized and we traded pulls and kept the pace high – one rider couldn’t or wouldn’t maintain the pace and dropped back. We were still well ahead with half a lap to the sprint as I took the lead, resigned to pulling all the way to the line. We were caught by 4 or 5 about 30M before the line. Bollocks !!- we had nearly made it. The pack had timed their chase well and it took an all out, balls out sprint to catch us. Although disappointed about not taking the prime points, I was delighted to have made them work hard to chase inflicting suffering in the process. Bwahhaahahaha.
Once the pack regrouped the attacks continued but were efficiently chased down. Then it was the final lap. I was situated on Curtis’ wheel about 5 wheels back with QA around to my right also close to the front. By the time I was in the final straight I had lost Curtis’s wheel and found myself behind KB from BBC. He is a good sprinter and usually a good leadout but I found myself fighting for his wheel. Quite embarrassingly, I yelled to the guy to my left that “I have KB’s wheel”. Startled, he backed off and opened up a gap to the left. I took the opportunity to sprint past KB. The sprint was timed a bit early and I faded towards the line but squeaked into 9th place. I was reasonably pleased with this result because it was a strong field and didn’t have the best leadout. Best part for me was initiating, organizing and holding a decent break. This was a new experience. The QA had an excellent race and grabbed second place without much fanfare. That is why he is the Quiet Achiever!
Lowdown:14 laps, counterclockwise, 2 primes.
Teammates: Quiet Achiever and Curtis.
No rain for a change and field was larger than usual. One could sense that those that had stayed away during the rainy race days were eager to make up for lost ground. This was clear at the first prime sprint when I was left well behind and beaten to the line by many racers bent on getting those 3,2,1 points.
The pace of the race seemed high and full of aggression with attack after attack coming throughout the race. Feeling good and rested I got out of the saddle and attacked one and a half laps before the second prime. Three came with or bridged the gap. Soon we were perhaps 100M off the front. Our group quickly became organized and we traded pulls and kept the pace high – one rider couldn’t or wouldn’t maintain the pace and dropped back. We were still well ahead with half a lap to the sprint as I took the lead, resigned to pulling all the way to the line. We were caught by 4 or 5 about 30M before the line. Bollocks !!- we had nearly made it. The pack had timed their chase well and it took an all out, balls out sprint to catch us. Although disappointed about not taking the prime points, I was delighted to have made them work hard to chase inflicting suffering in the process. Bwahhaahahaha.
Once the pack regrouped the attacks continued but were efficiently chased down. Then it was the final lap. I was situated on Curtis’ wheel about 5 wheels back with QA around to my right also close to the front. By the time I was in the final straight I had lost Curtis’s wheel and found myself behind KB from BBC. He is a good sprinter and usually a good leadout but I found myself fighting for his wheel. Quite embarrassingly, I yelled to the guy to my left that “I have KB’s wheel”. Startled, he backed off and opened up a gap to the left. I took the opportunity to sprint past KB. The sprint was timed a bit early and I faded towards the line but squeaked into 9th place. I was reasonably pleased with this result because it was a strong field and didn’t have the best leadout. Best part for me was initiating, organizing and holding a decent break. This was a new experience. The QA had an excellent race and grabbed second place without much fanfare. That is why he is the Quiet Achiever!
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Mexican Wombat Quinella
Third-person Synopsis: The crafty Mexican completely misdirected the field to notch up a magnificent win in the Masters 4/5 at PIR. He lead out the Wombat twice to prime victories and when all attention was on the lumbering marsupial, he steamed down the far-left to take the flag. No-one noticed until it was too late. Brilliant.
Long-winded First-person Detail: It was wild night weather-wise. I rode from Raleigh Hills and got caught by a front of water at the Waterfront downtown. It came down in sheets and I was instantly 10 lbs heavier because of the water-drenched gloved, shoes and socks. Not cold, just very wet. The rest of the ride out was an exercise in avoiding flash flooding and unseen potholes. Note that the disused bridge is now closed to bike traffic.
Huddled under the sponsor’s tent were El Luch and the Quiet Achiever – two of the canniest riders on the team. Looked like about 22 riders had signed up but several names had been crossed out, no doubt frightened away by the tropical monsoon conditions. Four words printed on our team jersey sprang to mind.
The pace was high from the start – we averaged of 24.5 mph or so for the race. 13 clockwise laps were to be done with two primes. Have to admit to nervousness about the corners with just slicks on the back and made sure to push back a la ‘doggy-style’ on the sharper turns to increase weight on the rear wheel.
Soon the first prime lap was upon us. I was directly behind El Luch sitting four wheels back. He kept the pace high and I started to click up through the gears in anticipation of the balls out sprint that lay 30 seconds ahead. After the last turn into the straight and underneath the bridge I pulled out into the wind and accelerated past Mr Other rider #1 and Mr Other rider #2. I stayed out of the saddle the entire way to the line and secured the prime. The nearest was half a bike length back. The sprint felt very good - perhaps the three days at the track last week had changed something? A bit more sprint endurance (oxymoron, I know)?. Are we onto something here? Could we possibly do this again?
A few laps later the bell rang for the second prime. I was behind El Luch again but with just one rider ahead of us. He soon pulled off. Cripes !, what are we going to do now? – there is still an entire lap to go. Can El Luch pull me around for a lap?
HELL YES.
El Luch is a strong rider – he pulled the group for ages on the 'Reach The Beach' century ride Saturday on the long windy stretch before Amity. So he pulled me around the track for 2 miles and I again sprinted for the line out of the saddle from under the bridge. The same riders challenged but I was able somehow to hold on and we took the second prime.
With two laps to go El Luch decided to have some fun. He got a jump on the field and I bridged the gap to join him. The field must have been crapping their spandex because here was a well known strong finisher AND the race leader (at least on paper) out ahead of the pack. We traded pulls and kind-of gave the impression that we were working together to put the race out of reach. The reality was that we were not that serious about getting away and expected to get caught but just wanted to mess with them. We did get caught but with no lasting damage to either of us - good times.
The primes are a bit of a lark but the finish is serious. You have to understand that not everyone is interested in contesting the primes, but EVERYONE is interested in contesting the finish. At the start of the final lap a rider attacked and got about 30m ahead. The Quiet Achiever jumped and gave chase and I dropped in behind him. The pace was very high and we were slowly reeling him in. In the back straight QA indicated that he was knackered. But in an epic display of sacrifice kept the pace steady and kept protecting me. It was a magnificent pull and came from deep within.
Cornering that final bend I could sense the marauders approaching and jumped from QA’s wheel into the tiring rider who had attacked earlier in the lap. By this stage he couldn’t blow the froth off a glass of beer. I took my balls out for a third time and made a bid for the line but a little earlier than in the previous sprints. It was head down, arse up time again. I was ahead and within about 100m of the line when I heard a sound to my extreme left. It was Speedy Gonzales shooting past everyone, solo. I was stunned. First, at the effortless acceleration, and second, by the fact that no one had bothered to mark him. They were chasing me instead. I was caught by two others on the line to finish 4th past the post. It was a brilliant move by El Luch. They all forgot about him – the most dangerous OBRA cyclist Norte de la Columbia.
It was a Hammer Velo quinella - first and second. El Luch got the overall win and I managed 2nd with the prime points. I would not have gotten such a good final standing if not for the protection by El Luch and the Quiet Achiever in the lead-in for the three sprints - it was a great team effort and one that was executed perfectly.
Long-winded First-person Detail: It was wild night weather-wise. I rode from Raleigh Hills and got caught by a front of water at the Waterfront downtown. It came down in sheets and I was instantly 10 lbs heavier because of the water-drenched gloved, shoes and socks. Not cold, just very wet. The rest of the ride out was an exercise in avoiding flash flooding and unseen potholes. Note that the disused bridge is now closed to bike traffic.
Huddled under the sponsor’s tent were El Luch and the Quiet Achiever – two of the canniest riders on the team. Looked like about 22 riders had signed up but several names had been crossed out, no doubt frightened away by the tropical monsoon conditions. Four words printed on our team jersey sprang to mind.
The pace was high from the start – we averaged of 24.5 mph or so for the race. 13 clockwise laps were to be done with two primes. Have to admit to nervousness about the corners with just slicks on the back and made sure to push back a la ‘doggy-style’ on the sharper turns to increase weight on the rear wheel.
Soon the first prime lap was upon us. I was directly behind El Luch sitting four wheels back. He kept the pace high and I started to click up through the gears in anticipation of the balls out sprint that lay 30 seconds ahead. After the last turn into the straight and underneath the bridge I pulled out into the wind and accelerated past Mr Other rider #1 and Mr Other rider #2. I stayed out of the saddle the entire way to the line and secured the prime. The nearest was half a bike length back. The sprint felt very good - perhaps the three days at the track last week had changed something? A bit more sprint endurance (oxymoron, I know)?. Are we onto something here? Could we possibly do this again?
A few laps later the bell rang for the second prime. I was behind El Luch again but with just one rider ahead of us. He soon pulled off. Cripes !, what are we going to do now? – there is still an entire lap to go. Can El Luch pull me around for a lap?
HELL YES.
El Luch is a strong rider – he pulled the group for ages on the 'Reach The Beach' century ride Saturday on the long windy stretch before Amity. So he pulled me around the track for 2 miles and I again sprinted for the line out of the saddle from under the bridge. The same riders challenged but I was able somehow to hold on and we took the second prime.
With two laps to go El Luch decided to have some fun. He got a jump on the field and I bridged the gap to join him. The field must have been crapping their spandex because here was a well known strong finisher AND the race leader (at least on paper) out ahead of the pack. We traded pulls and kind-of gave the impression that we were working together to put the race out of reach. The reality was that we were not that serious about getting away and expected to get caught but just wanted to mess with them. We did get caught but with no lasting damage to either of us - good times.
The primes are a bit of a lark but the finish is serious. You have to understand that not everyone is interested in contesting the primes, but EVERYONE is interested in contesting the finish. At the start of the final lap a rider attacked and got about 30m ahead. The Quiet Achiever jumped and gave chase and I dropped in behind him. The pace was very high and we were slowly reeling him in. In the back straight QA indicated that he was knackered. But in an epic display of sacrifice kept the pace steady and kept protecting me. It was a magnificent pull and came from deep within.
Cornering that final bend I could sense the marauders approaching and jumped from QA’s wheel into the tiring rider who had attacked earlier in the lap. By this stage he couldn’t blow the froth off a glass of beer. I took my balls out for a third time and made a bid for the line but a little earlier than in the previous sprints. It was head down, arse up time again. I was ahead and within about 100m of the line when I heard a sound to my extreme left. It was Speedy Gonzales shooting past everyone, solo. I was stunned. First, at the effortless acceleration, and second, by the fact that no one had bothered to mark him. They were chasing me instead. I was caught by two others on the line to finish 4th past the post. It was a brilliant move by El Luch. They all forgot about him – the most dangerous OBRA cyclist Norte de la Columbia.
It was a Hammer Velo quinella - first and second. El Luch got the overall win and I managed 2nd with the prime points. I would not have gotten such a good final standing if not for the protection by El Luch and the Quiet Achiever in the lead-in for the three sprints - it was a great team effort and one that was executed perfectly.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
There is only one equation in this race report
My shortest race was a 200M track sprint. It took all of 13 secs and, to add some technical difficulty, included exactly 1 left hand turn. The experience was super intense – head down, ears pressed flat, legs spinning as fast as humanly possible, blood roaring through ears, completely spent then recovery. My longest race was the Cherry Blossom Stage race (CBSR) just completed. This four-stage race took 5 hrs to complete spread over 4 days but strangely, included all the experiences of the track sprint……and a few more…although significantly more corners.
The Columbia Hills Road race (stage 1) consisted of 2 laps of an 18 mile circuit with about 2000ft of climbing just north of The Dalles. More than 70 Cat 4 riders started including several other Cat 4 HVers: Mexican, Neighbor, Kid, Quiet Achiever, Ryan and McDreamy.
The part of the course that could be my undoing if it wasn’t ‘managed’ appropriately was a 1.5 mile stretch that averaged 5% grade. This promised to be a challenge for the stouter riders – not so much the grade, but its length – just a bit too long to power over. The field would surely break apart during this climb.
I made sure to be near the front at the roll-out and settled in behind the Mexican on the right side of the road so as not to worry about drifting over the centerline. Initially, the pace was moderate with the occasional acceleration. The group stayed together until the climb about 9 miles into the lap. One of the benefits of riding in a large field is that unless you are stone motherless last there is always someone behind you. I made sure reach the start of the hill in the first third of the pack and from there kept an even tempo concentrating on not red-lining. This seemed to work and although I had drifted back through the pack, I had LOTS of company. I settled in behind fellow Clyde, AH and we summitted the hill together. The descent looked glorious as it stretched off into the green Oregon distance. The benefit of being in fairly good riding shape is that recovery time after extended efforts is fairly short. It was only a few seconds before we ramped up the cadence and bolted down the road ‘doggy-style’– heads down, butts up, like two dogs at an arse-sniffing convention.
We soon came across the now infamous Cat 4 Cherry Blossom crash of ‘10 – the only major bingle of the entire race. According to Quiet Achiever’s computer they were doing 35 mph at the time and some must have fallen hard. We arrived about a minute after it happened. It was like a war-zone, there were bikes, bodies and fragments of carbon strewn across the entire width of the road and even a couple down the embankments off the road to the left. Several race cars had pulled up behind and a race official indicated for us to stop. We came to a halt but were waved through the mess almost immediately. A quick scan failed to spot any HV teammates - somehow they had all escaped the carnage. We learned later that a busted rib and punctured lung was the worst of it.
AH is an excellent time trialist and we quickly made up ground sweeping up riders as we descended. Soon we had a roiling, boiling paceline posse of 10 or so of the heftier blokes in the field. It was a smorgasbord of muscle and fat hurtling down the road at >40 mph resisted only by the wind and the friction of rubber on road. It was a hugely enjoyable display of physics in its purest form. F=M*A indeed.
We caught a large group that included McDreamy, Quiet Achiever and Ryan about 10 miles down the road. Our pack, which now numbered about 25, represented the first chase group. We could see the lead group up the road from time-to-time. They were at least 2 minutes ahead. We started to chase in earnest but, frustratingly, it was a haphazard effort with some putting in the work and others content to not work. This resulted in a strange yo-yo action as we sped up and then slowed down as the chasers rested. Then it was the extended climb for the second time. By the time we reached the top our group split into two with me in the second group and McDreamy and Quiet Achiever in the first. Ryan and The Neighbor had been dropped by now.
Assuming our most aerodynamic positions, once again we settled into a downhill chase. Imagine this for a second……a ragtag collection of 15 tall, wide (or both) 1.5+ Contador-unit racers trying to get aero. It must have been quite a sight ………think…… the cast of ‘Free Willy IV - Return of the Pod’ on bikes. No wonder OregonCycling-frickin-Action NEVER takes any pictures of us. However, despite the visual comedy we were fast. The cool mountain air didn’t know what hit it as it was pushed aside quicker than a bride’s nighty on her wedding night by the pod of spandex-clad Orcas.
Nearly at the end now and running out of road. Our mini-peleton was close enough to see the group ahead. If we, the second chase group, could catch the first chase group we would record the same times. Well, we chased hard, made up a lot of ground and got pretty close but we didn’t quite catch them – we needed another 200 yards. In the end I was 6 seconds down on the chase group and nearly 4 minutes down on the lead pack.
It had been a drama-filled day of racing for the Cat 4’s with moderate climbing, blisteringly fast downhill chasing, a crash, more organized chasing, and a mad sprint to the finish. I was pleased to have been in a position to work with others to fight for the race. Also, it was nice to finish strongly in front of the family.
We ended the day at Double Mountain with pizza and an IPA. Heaven.
Highly skewed accounts of Stages 2, 3 and 4 to come……
The Columbia Hills Road race (stage 1) consisted of 2 laps of an 18 mile circuit with about 2000ft of climbing just north of The Dalles. More than 70 Cat 4 riders started including several other Cat 4 HVers: Mexican, Neighbor, Kid, Quiet Achiever, Ryan and McDreamy.
The part of the course that could be my undoing if it wasn’t ‘managed’ appropriately was a 1.5 mile stretch that averaged 5% grade. This promised to be a challenge for the stouter riders – not so much the grade, but its length – just a bit too long to power over. The field would surely break apart during this climb.
I made sure to be near the front at the roll-out and settled in behind the Mexican on the right side of the road so as not to worry about drifting over the centerline. Initially, the pace was moderate with the occasional acceleration. The group stayed together until the climb about 9 miles into the lap. One of the benefits of riding in a large field is that unless you are stone motherless last there is always someone behind you. I made sure reach the start of the hill in the first third of the pack and from there kept an even tempo concentrating on not red-lining. This seemed to work and although I had drifted back through the pack, I had LOTS of company. I settled in behind fellow Clyde, AH and we summitted the hill together. The descent looked glorious as it stretched off into the green Oregon distance. The benefit of being in fairly good riding shape is that recovery time after extended efforts is fairly short. It was only a few seconds before we ramped up the cadence and bolted down the road ‘doggy-style’– heads down, butts up, like two dogs at an arse-sniffing convention.
We soon came across the now infamous Cat 4 Cherry Blossom crash of ‘10 – the only major bingle of the entire race. According to Quiet Achiever’s computer they were doing 35 mph at the time and some must have fallen hard. We arrived about a minute after it happened. It was like a war-zone, there were bikes, bodies and fragments of carbon strewn across the entire width of the road and even a couple down the embankments off the road to the left. Several race cars had pulled up behind and a race official indicated for us to stop. We came to a halt but were waved through the mess almost immediately. A quick scan failed to spot any HV teammates - somehow they had all escaped the carnage. We learned later that a busted rib and punctured lung was the worst of it.
AH is an excellent time trialist and we quickly made up ground sweeping up riders as we descended. Soon we had a roiling, boiling paceline posse of 10 or so of the heftier blokes in the field. It was a smorgasbord of muscle and fat hurtling down the road at >40 mph resisted only by the wind and the friction of rubber on road. It was a hugely enjoyable display of physics in its purest form. F=M*A indeed.
We caught a large group that included McDreamy, Quiet Achiever and Ryan about 10 miles down the road. Our pack, which now numbered about 25, represented the first chase group. We could see the lead group up the road from time-to-time. They were at least 2 minutes ahead. We started to chase in earnest but, frustratingly, it was a haphazard effort with some putting in the work and others content to not work. This resulted in a strange yo-yo action as we sped up and then slowed down as the chasers rested. Then it was the extended climb for the second time. By the time we reached the top our group split into two with me in the second group and McDreamy and Quiet Achiever in the first. Ryan and The Neighbor had been dropped by now.
Assuming our most aerodynamic positions, once again we settled into a downhill chase. Imagine this for a second……a ragtag collection of 15 tall, wide (or both) 1.5+ Contador-unit racers trying to get aero. It must have been quite a sight ………think…… the cast of ‘Free Willy IV - Return of the Pod’ on bikes. No wonder OregonCycling-frickin-Action NEVER takes any pictures of us. However, despite the visual comedy we were fast. The cool mountain air didn’t know what hit it as it was pushed aside quicker than a bride’s nighty on her wedding night by the pod of spandex-clad Orcas.
Nearly at the end now and running out of road. Our mini-peleton was close enough to see the group ahead. If we, the second chase group, could catch the first chase group we would record the same times. Well, we chased hard, made up a lot of ground and got pretty close but we didn’t quite catch them – we needed another 200 yards. In the end I was 6 seconds down on the chase group and nearly 4 minutes down on the lead pack.
It had been a drama-filled day of racing for the Cat 4’s with moderate climbing, blisteringly fast downhill chasing, a crash, more organized chasing, and a mad sprint to the finish. I was pleased to have been in a position to work with others to fight for the race. Also, it was nice to finish strongly in front of the family.
We ended the day at Double Mountain with pizza and an IPA. Heaven.
Highly skewed accounts of Stages 2, 3 and 4 to come……
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