Spring Prairie Road Race, 6/7/09
Race #21
20th/36
The way Jake definitively won the Spring Prairie Road Race, digging deep and attacking up the final climb made no mistake that he was clearly the strongest in that field. Congrats on your first win, Jake!
And major props to the team! This was our first race using a legitimate team effort. Two weeks ago when several Monkeys agreed to do this race, Jake had told me this was one of his “A” races. So, in my mind, it was clear—this is Jake’s race and our job to help him do it., so I sent an email stating such. No pressure, right?
Though we intended on racing with 6 we ended up with 5 and after a few laps had only three (John dropped, and despite looking good going up the hill, Josh flatted and one nameless Monkey forgot an essential pair of race equipment). Given this abbreviated team, Dan gets the George Hincapie award! He was never more than a bike or two away from Jake; nearly always on the windward side; paced him up the hill on nearly every lap and hung on for 10th place! Awesome work! I did a little here and there; kept an eye on things at the front; stuck near Jake part of the time; hit the front in the last two miles and drove the pace to prevent late attacks from going and responsibly popped on the final climb—I was flying up that hill at a glorious 7mph and finished 19th.
Honestly, Jake, I really need to think about racing Blue Mounds on the 18th—though I’m leaning more and more toward doing it. Its ironic that suffering up such hills is so glorious in retrospect.
The course was nice, and racing in the evening was a welcome change of pace. The weatherman predicted t-storms by the end of the race, luckily that didn’t happen till much later. It was all around a pleasant day.
The roads were decent the hills were enough to belie the slow pace. And that climb to the finish was real mean. I don’t know the grade—I’m completely illiterate with that stuff—but it was enough to make me suffer—badly—on almost every lap. Not having done more than 2 weeks of short 1 min intervals, I really paid the piper on that hill. Though I was able to find a “comfortable pace” on every lap, and I was “easily” able to catch back on after the climb, it still hurt…bad.
You know how the race ended but two interesting things happened during the race: first, I went off the back for a little while (4th lap, back side) because I thought I flatted (it felt like my bike was moving through mud—more like my legs were jelly) and I dropped back and checked it out—I was fine. Looking up, I was 75m behind the field. I had two choices: drop or chase. I glanced down at my black CSC (now Saxo Bank) wristband, and immediately decided to HARDEN THE FUCK UP and I chased back on. Which, though hard, happened pretty quickly and I didn’t need to go beyond myself. So I feel good about that. Second, I had low bloodsugar reaction in the final lap.
It is difficult to notice the symptoms of low BG (blood glucose levels) in a race because you are generally working so hard and there is no “normal” feeling by which to compare one’s “typical” symptoms. Regardless, I’ve learned the symptoms while riding and told Dan and Jake I was dropping out. But because the pace was not too high I was able to sit on the back and consume the rest of my energy drink and down a gel packet. After a few min, I felt much better, and my legs and bloodsugar had recovered so I returned to the race. This is when I went to the front in the final two miles, I pushed the pace to prevent attacks before dropping back and letting Dan and Jake run it the rest of the way. I was able to recover for a min before the final climb and though I thought I'd just fall right over somewhere near the top, I nevertheless finished my race.
All in all, a good day for Spidermonkey Cycling!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Monsters of the Midway
Race #20
5/16/09
pack finish.
I’m really glad Vanessa is doing fine and comfortably recovering at home. Speedy recovery Vanessa!
I wish I could have raced with the 4s, after winning the cat 5s race last year I wanted to go for a win. Such is life.
The course was different from last year. With the finish on the south side of the midway they added huge chunk of distance coming out of the final corner. Add a stiff tailwind and that complicates your finish. Do you go early and risk the fadeout, or wait till the last 50 and put all your money on your jump? Unfortunately, I was only able to race an open category race and I knew that my cat 4 ass wouldn’t be in contention. So hanging on would be my first goal.
The race went well. It was faster than a typical 4s race, but it was not as painful as I thought it would be—especially once the break was let go. If that hadn’t happened then we would have had some more dramatics in varying the pace. Once the break was established and the rhythm hadn't made my legs fall off, I even felt pretty good about competing with guys stronger than me.
So, 30 min and we’re done. The break finished ~40 seconds ahead of us.
It was really great to see so many Spidermonkeys show up. See, that is why we have the best team in Chicago. Our teammates show up even though many don’t race, or won’t until late in the day for the 5s. That is really cool.
After a while of hanging out it was off to my visit with my family on the northwest side—into a headwind from the northwest for 1.5 hrs, the whole fucking way. Hell, that ride was a bigger pain than the race.
5/16/09
pack finish.
I’m really glad Vanessa is doing fine and comfortably recovering at home. Speedy recovery Vanessa!
I wish I could have raced with the 4s, after winning the cat 5s race last year I wanted to go for a win. Such is life.
The course was different from last year. With the finish on the south side of the midway they added huge chunk of distance coming out of the final corner. Add a stiff tailwind and that complicates your finish. Do you go early and risk the fadeout, or wait till the last 50 and put all your money on your jump? Unfortunately, I was only able to race an open category race and I knew that my cat 4 ass wouldn’t be in contention. So hanging on would be my first goal.
The race went well. It was faster than a typical 4s race, but it was not as painful as I thought it would be—especially once the break was let go. If that hadn’t happened then we would have had some more dramatics in varying the pace. Once the break was established and the rhythm hadn't made my legs fall off, I even felt pretty good about competing with guys stronger than me.
So, 30 min and we’re done. The break finished ~40 seconds ahead of us.
It was really great to see so many Spidermonkeys show up. See, that is why we have the best team in Chicago. Our teammates show up even though many don’t race, or won’t until late in the day for the 5s. That is really cool.
After a while of hanging out it was off to my visit with my family on the northwest side—into a headwind from the northwest for 1.5 hrs, the whole fucking way. Hell, that ride was a bigger pain than the race.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Leland Kermesse
Race # 19
who cares/40ish
Many thanks to Flatlandia for hosting a real road race so close to Chicago!
Despite the old but newly enforced USAC rules not allowing racers to transfer results from races sanctioned by other governing bodies, I thought this race was too rare an opportunity to let it pass. I’m glad I didn’t. Bryan and Andrew were going to race rain or shine and I was doubtful I wanted to at first, but then I remember I usually do alright on days I don’t “feel” like racing. I think I did alright.
The course was nearly pancake flat save a few risers, and the ~1mile gravel road. Which by the way looked waaaaay worse in the video than it actually was. The wind was a real challenge for the first 4 miles. But that it was a sustained wind make it possible to find a rhythm. There were some nasty gusts, but it was not “gusty.”
So the first lap was uneventful. A rider from Killjoy (Ben Popper) set the pace, pretty steady, nothing nuts. He was not really creating a disadvantage for himself by staying at the front because the wind was angled. In fact because everyone wanted to be out of the wind, no one would create an echelon—so there we go 2x2. Half the field was in the wind and ½ the field was a ½ wheel back not getting too much respite from the wind--some even thought it best to dangerously cross wheels just to stay leeward even so far as riding just in the gutter. Good thing it wasn’t too gusty.
After a while, just after the right turn and a tail wind, Popper picked jumped and rode away with a few others. I really didn’t have the legs to go with somewhere near 30 miles remaining, and I really didn't think it would stick. (mental note: work on mental toughness and race smarts and go with attacks by really strong riders). So about 10 of us formed a second group.
Holy crap do people need to learn the fundamentals of working in a group. I said something about forming an echelon but Max from Cutting Crew had already organized a rotating line. Some had never been taught or didn’t understand that the point of a pace line is and so they made it really difficult for us to find a rhythm. After too many miles of really poor attempts we finally got it going. Several of us helped a few of the less experienced riders figure it out. Though a few times it was only appropriate to let a guy unknowingly “attack” off the front, only for them to turn around and realize they simply didn’t keep a steady pace and wasted their effort. I’m pretty sure some “learning” happened in this process.
By this point the front group was well out of sight and we would soon duke it out among ourselves. After completing two laps, and about 1-2 miles past he start/finish I went for my gel tucked conveniently in the leg of my shorts and a gust caused me to bump shoulders with a guy next to me. It was not by any means a dramatic bump, but he was already crossed wheels with the guy in front of him and he went down.
We’re in the middle of nowhere. There is no support vehicle. No one will drive by for a loooong time. There are no field marshals anywhere nearby. Hell, there isn’t even a farmhouse in sight. I look back and he’s lying in the middle of the road not moving. I look back again and he’s still there. I sit up and ride back to see that he is ok. Luckily, he was. A Tati rider and one of his teammates did the same.
So, with 1.5 laps to go my “race” is over. Tati goes off to catch back on and we form a nice 3 person echelon and his teammate and I pace him back. By the gravel road I leave them to finish my final lap on my own. The rain finally came along with some spectacular lightning and it looked pretty damn scary. I finished just within 2 hrs. I assume 15-20 min back from the winners. Though I have no idea.
The other Monkeys did well with Bryan and Dave both in the top 15 of the 5s race and Andrew (5s) and John and myself (4s) finishing somewhere – but at least finishing our distance.
Things to work on: 1 min power.
who cares/40ish
Many thanks to Flatlandia for hosting a real road race so close to Chicago!
Despite the old but newly enforced USAC rules not allowing racers to transfer results from races sanctioned by other governing bodies, I thought this race was too rare an opportunity to let it pass. I’m glad I didn’t. Bryan and Andrew were going to race rain or shine and I was doubtful I wanted to at first, but then I remember I usually do alright on days I don’t “feel” like racing. I think I did alright.
The course was nearly pancake flat save a few risers, and the ~1mile gravel road. Which by the way looked waaaaay worse in the video than it actually was. The wind was a real challenge for the first 4 miles. But that it was a sustained wind make it possible to find a rhythm. There were some nasty gusts, but it was not “gusty.”
So the first lap was uneventful. A rider from Killjoy (Ben Popper) set the pace, pretty steady, nothing nuts. He was not really creating a disadvantage for himself by staying at the front because the wind was angled. In fact because everyone wanted to be out of the wind, no one would create an echelon—so there we go 2x2. Half the field was in the wind and ½ the field was a ½ wheel back not getting too much respite from the wind--some even thought it best to dangerously cross wheels just to stay leeward even so far as riding just in the gutter. Good thing it wasn’t too gusty.
After a while, just after the right turn and a tail wind, Popper picked jumped and rode away with a few others. I really didn’t have the legs to go with somewhere near 30 miles remaining, and I really didn't think it would stick. (mental note: work on mental toughness and race smarts and go with attacks by really strong riders). So about 10 of us formed a second group.
Holy crap do people need to learn the fundamentals of working in a group. I said something about forming an echelon but Max from Cutting Crew had already organized a rotating line. Some had never been taught or didn’t understand that the point of a pace line is and so they made it really difficult for us to find a rhythm. After too many miles of really poor attempts we finally got it going. Several of us helped a few of the less experienced riders figure it out. Though a few times it was only appropriate to let a guy unknowingly “attack” off the front, only for them to turn around and realize they simply didn’t keep a steady pace and wasted their effort. I’m pretty sure some “learning” happened in this process.
By this point the front group was well out of sight and we would soon duke it out among ourselves. After completing two laps, and about 1-2 miles past he start/finish I went for my gel tucked conveniently in the leg of my shorts and a gust caused me to bump shoulders with a guy next to me. It was not by any means a dramatic bump, but he was already crossed wheels with the guy in front of him and he went down.
We’re in the middle of nowhere. There is no support vehicle. No one will drive by for a loooong time. There are no field marshals anywhere nearby. Hell, there isn’t even a farmhouse in sight. I look back and he’s lying in the middle of the road not moving. I look back again and he’s still there. I sit up and ride back to see that he is ok. Luckily, he was. A Tati rider and one of his teammates did the same.
So, with 1.5 laps to go my “race” is over. Tati goes off to catch back on and we form a nice 3 person echelon and his teammate and I pace him back. By the gravel road I leave them to finish my final lap on my own. The rain finally came along with some spectacular lightning and it looked pretty damn scary. I finished just within 2 hrs. I assume 15-20 min back from the winners. Though I have no idea.
The other Monkeys did well with Bryan and Dave both in the top 15 of the 5s race and Andrew (5s) and John and myself (4s) finishing somewhere – but at least finishing our distance.
Things to work on: 1 min power.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
