my weekly race log

california lol

usacycling.org /= california iirc

READ YOUR RULEBOOK

dude, colorado left usacycling years ago, its a socialist ponzi scheme

(i did look at aca's rulebook and policybook, they are silent on this issue afaict at a glance)

the only races that i know of that do not count toward upgrade points are TTs (non mass-start) and Hill Climbs that are less than [x] miles long (I think where x=10 miles for 4/5s and 15 miles for 1/2/3s).

age group sub-categorization like juniors, u23, elite, masters (35,45,55) is extremely common in all races i've been involved in.

Q: what is colorado's governing body of pro-am cycling? i meant to ask but forgotteth.

just amateur- american cycling association, formerly bicycle racing assoc of colorado (brac). brac was the regional arm of the feds, but the feds pulled some bs on the staff here and broke away. last i heard reunification was the plan.

(that is, brac broke with usacycling obv)

Final race of the season (apart from my club's hill climb championship in November) this morning, yet another 25-mile time trial. The prospects didn't look good: it was pouring with rain last night and supposed to continue with more of the same today, plus (same as last time) I had a mild cold. However, I decided to go ahead with it and was glad I did as the race took place in a rare window without rain. Lots of other people didn't fancy it, though: more than 20 out of 55 didn't even start.

There was a strong wind from the south and this course basically goes south-to-north for 12.3 miles, then north-to-south for 12.7 miles. I was flying on the outbound leg, averaging 26.6mph as I went through the first village after just under 3 miles. I was startled to be caught and passed by my minute man at this point: I've since calculated he was averaging 31.6mph at this point. He went on to win the event comfortably by about 3 minutes with a time of 54-something.

I got to the roundabout for the turn with an average speed of 26.2mph - far in excess of anything I could realistically expect to achieve (my PB for this distance is about 22.7mph). As I turned at the roundabout it was like hitting a brick wall. I couldn't believe how difficult it was. I couldn't get any kind of rhythm going and just struggled to keep going. At one point I had to abandon the tri-bars and go onto the hoods, get out of the saddle, and kick to go at just 14mph, and this was on the flat! I eventually ground my way in with a time of 1:07:42, meaning my average speed for the return leg was just 19.3mph (nearly 7mph slower than the outbound leg!).

I wasn't very happy with that as it was a good minute-and-a-half slower than the PB I set on the same course just a few weeks ago, but when I got back to the HQ I found out that everyone had suffered. I ended up coming 3rd in the handicap competition, so it turns out that getting that close to your PB was some kind of achievement after all.

Chapeau. Headwinds are a bitch - 19mph sounds amazing considering (in string headwinds I tend to have a 16 on my speedometer even if I'm really pushing it).

The final, final race of the season this morning: my club's hill climb championship. Last year I got 2nd place (out of 11) with 2.52, well behind the winner who got 2.31. This year I closed the gap a bit and got 2nd again (this time out of 15) with 2.41 - the same guy won it again with a time of about 2.26. I'm really happy with that performance - I think I got it just right and did as well as I possibly could. I went hard right from the start, putting it in the big ring for the flatter sections, and just let adrenalin carry me up the final gruesome section while I gasped like a dying man.

DNF
DNF
DNF
DNF
DNF

Launched 600W on a false flat for ~60seconds trying to maim this fucking whippet who kept attacking on the rollers and ended up kamikazing myself to the point where I seized up on lap 5 of 6.

Whippet's attacks on every ascent on lap 1 shredded our field of 20 down to 10. My stupid attack pared it down to 7... I was the last to abandon. 6 finished. Teammate got 4th. Whippet 5th.

I need to exercize a teensy bit more patience and strategery in the future imho.

what sort of wattage were you putting out to keep up w/ the whippet??

I was around 220W for the ride, but lots of 0s on the descents. My interval training has been pretty absent. Need to get on that.

Remarkably, the attack was captured on film:
http://www.argentumimago.com/Sport/2011/CCCX2011RoadCircuit01/15652630_oZHFn/#1173006609_tRNqk

It was pouring rain btw.

good pain cave face!

I'm racing in my first real-deal Crit tomorrow: http://socalreg.com/schedule.asp?race=Red+Trolley

I've participated in club races which usually draw about 80 guys from teams all around town and usually go at a pretty fast pace (last one averaged 26mph for an hour) but this is the first one with a number and cash prizes and points up for grab.

I'm in the 4/5 field. Have been feeling really good on the bike lately, and set a PR up one of my benchmark climbs (torrey pines) without really even noticing I was trying so I am kind of hyped. BUT, the weather has been so damn nice here lately (San Diego) that I'm sure everybody else has also been riding like mad and is feeling equally strong. Excited and nervous and fully prepared for humiliation. Can't wait.

Also I bought a skinsuit from a teammate lol.

Won a sprint prime, blew up, rolled in with the field. So much fun.

were you wearing the skinsuit?? PROs are doing that in road races, sky riders in particular!

you shld read alexi grewal on the hazards of skinsuits in long road races lol.

http://alexigrewal.com/index.php/blog/104-the-skinsuit-aka-the-olympics-in-la#disqus_thread

I got it because I'm racing on the track this year, and my 2011 team kit hasn't come in yet, so I needed a current kit for thus weekend. Lots of dudes wore em in the crit.

they are v good for anything under 1.25 hr imo, used them all the time.

Love that article Huntr3, I wore my skinsuit for TTs (obvs), technical crits that suited my strengths (in case I could pull a solo breakaway), or for circuit races of 60-75mins.

Now that I'm getting my ass handed to me on a weekly basis, I will probably revert to wearing it only in TTs. Tailgunning in a skinsuit is NAGL imho.

my weekly race log: i DNF'd again. Have a long list of excuses but will just touch the sole highlight: I broke my previous PR of 195bpm with a 211bpm near-cardiac arrest effort to bridge up.

!! keep killing it shasta and slp.

I broke my previous PR of 195bpm with a 211bpm near-cardiac arrest effort to bridge up.

jaysus

Racing with the "pros" today, may the cycling gods have mercy on my legs. Zero expectations, I expect to be dropped at some point. Last time at this series 2 of the guys in the field attacked from the gun and shattered the field immediately. The winner (3 seasons as a European Continental pro, now on Verizon Wireless domestic squadra(?) is trying to get back over to Europe by winning all 5 races he's entered this season in California. He looks 15 but is barely U23 and can climb, sprint, solo, you name it:

http://www.velobios.com/riders.mountainkhaki2009.loader.htm

I'm waking up at 4:30 tomorrow to drive 1.5 hours to race a 25 minute crit in Brea, CA (I.e. featureless Orange county). I need to get out of the 5's

fortunately, crits do not require features, just corners, right? that's the shortest crit i've heard of. lay waste to opposition.

(this makes me remember my first race as a 5 in a rain/sleet mix in fruita, co- a 4+ hour drive each way, we stayed at a buddy's place in aspen the night before. on the positive, it was a 40 mi circuit race instead of a 25 min crit).

Took 4th in my race, the Cat5 30+ (they split cat 5s into two races, by age groups). I feel like I got the result as much from using my elbows (metaphorically, I didn't hit anybody...) as my legs. I guess that's crit racing though? Probably could have taken 2nd or 3rd if I timed the last part better, but the first place guy was a cut above. Still, super stoked.

What is Cat 5 - which country is this?

cat(egory) 5 --- entry level

in the US it goes up (well, down) to cat 1 and after that you're a PRO

just a way of stratifying ability

hence the "cat 6" thread --- cat6 = someone who doesn't race

shasta have you finished your post race glycogen recovery/massage/contrast bath? whahappen?

I SUCK SO HARD AND I HATE MY FUKKIN WEAK ASS FITNESS...

See you next Saturday.

are shasta and hunt3r having a showdown??

geography sez no, but lols shasta would shatter me into 100000000 pieces with such a quickness.

i was gonna make a lol old joek about you two and then i realized that you're both...masters

I have yet to race a Masters race this year fwiw.

The you in my previous post was directed at the corpse of my fitness past.

Huntr3, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You have a deep-conditioned base that I could only dream about at this point in my life.

took that base, beer batter dipped it, deep fried it, sprinkled with sugar, and nomnomnom

^worldwide mantis fave recipe afaik

i rode around casually w/shasta last friday. he wanted to pootle the day before his race to just get some lactic acid in his legs but also wanted to push himself and go at full speed a few times. i wanted to see if i could keep up. i was totally w/him for a while, and then i'd get tired, or my knee would start to hurt and he'd just ZOOOOM off into the sunset. it was pretty impressive.

7am crit (cat5 #@!&) in the rain out in El Centro, CA this morning. its actually a really cool course but I think I'll just roll easy and take upgrade point.

6th place, weaksauce finishing "sprint". Racing in the rain was really fun, though.

My next to last road race was a disaster, what more to say other than crashed, chain dropped 7x (drivetrain was shredded, just ask jaxon who witnessed it skipping and jumping under heavy load the day before), yet somehow salvaged a top 20 (out of 45+ racers) and successfully blocked for teammate who got 2nd. Not awful, but had to spend time, energy, money fixing a drivetrain that was shredded due to neglect more than anything else. Let this be a lesson for us all to learn. Clean your cassette and chain regularly! Replace cassette and chain after (x) miles, where x = ~7.5k/3k miles respectively, ymmv.

Today... I did my first tarck races with teh crabon tarck bikes on the velourdome.
Three Keirins:
#1) DQ = dangerous underneath pass with 300m to go.. dude could not hold his line in the sprinter's lane though. But bad move, I admit fault. NBD.
#2) 2nd place, tried to break solo with 500m upon the moto's exit, was spinning ~140rpm in my (rental's) 48x16, felt like a kid's bike bouncing along on the saddle, got pipped at line.
#3) Borrowed ~pro~ bike with 10 more gear inches than 48x16 rental, stayed patient til 200m then launched 2/3 lap long sprint. Official told me I "sure walked away with that one!" Not sure what that means exactly, but I'll take it.

Overall, feeling good on the tarck. It's been a long-ass time since I've rode teh fixie stylee and track handling is pretty intense at times. Lots of bumping/contact, violent accelerations, dedicated focus to stay 3cm behind the wheel in front of you. Felt smooth and confident in the races. I could see myself entering an omnium at some point this season.

TARCK RACRE!

niiiice. (dont get hurt)

sorta convinced that 10/11 spd is scheme to ensure that you MUST replace drivetrain often.

...and then you learn that dura-ace cassettes run about $250... thank god shimano is downmarket compatible.

what is the stereotype of the "track racer"? tbqh i see a lot of fat mantises in the masters ranks. does a gut act as a type of fairing?

So my purpose is clear working this weekend's stage race. Instructed to put minimal effort into TT, focus on chasing down breaks on marked riders in tomorrow's grand prix criterium, if it's a pack finish I am responsible for getting into the leadout train, preferably third (from the end). Same expectations Sunday which is the road race which will be interesting, flat but technical, supposed to be very fast. Team riding! yet I'm slow as fokk right now! Getting stronger but ehhh... Would like to see some results at any rate.

stage races in march. california, what a country!