Whirlybird Cross and Bryn Athyn

This time I had a plan, I was going to stage well, go out hard, and then hang on for dear life. Well, I had a great spot on the starting line, but the official decided to do call ups based on last year results. I didn't protest, the official can do that at his discretion, but I really hoped that no top 5 finisher from last year was returning to race the C again.

So no one got called up, and we all mashed up at the start again, but this time I was stuck farther back. I tried to go out fast and get some positions, but without muscling people out of my way. That's an aggressive side of racing that I haven't been able to embrace yet. No problem, 40 minutes is plenty of time to move up. I quickly set my sights on a rider up ahead in white and red. I never got close enough to identify the jersey, but for almost the entire race, I chased from 3-15 seconds back. He was moving up swiftly, and we were both passing people, but I just couldn't close the gap to him. Every time I got close, I would lose a bunch of time at a barrier or by taking a poor line through a set of tight turns.

I definitely pushed myself harder on this race, just check out this awesome photo by Anthony Skorochod.



Some Guy's Racing dude on a mountain bike won it.







Just in case you missed it:



Yeah.

I'll leave the post on that note, I managed to eek out a 10th place finish (that's my fourth 10th place finish this season, still trying to break into the single digits...). I definitely need to practice my barrier skills, I'm particularly slow on the remount.

Time for some instructional videos and practice, much practice.

Nittany Lion Cross

I love cross, it is a premium sport.

For my first race, I had no idea what to expect, but figured I'd be better off going conservatively. I staged somewhere in the middle and was swept along in the mad dash for positions going into the course. The first lap was really crowded as we all got sorted out. I focused on passing people as I could, it was a relatively flat, fast and smooth course with only one set of barriers, and a "run-up" that everyone was riding up without any trouble.

I had no idea where I was in the race, but I was definitely enjoying myself, getting into a rhythm and the 40 minutes flew by. I pushed the last lap a bit more, and sprinted by a few people right at the finish. My friend David was there and saw me shortly after I crossed the line, I was still buzzing from race adrenaline and couldn't help but let out some whoops and yells. I'm normally very reserved, but I was quite pumped up after that race. I also had a bunch of reserve left, I told myself I'd go out harder next time.

I finished 14th, but I know that I was pretty slow with the barriers and left a lot to be desired with my technique. But can't wait until the next race.


Thanks to Brian for the photo.

Watching the B race afterwords was a lesson in smoothness and technique, some of the guys were really fast and great to watch. It was a quite an enjoyable moment, savoring a beer at the velodrome with some friends on a beautiful fall day, watching cyclocross on the one side, a track event at the velodrome, and apparently also a cricket match in the baseball fields.

When's the next cross race?

Ah, life is good...

Robeson PA State Road Race

This was my worst finishing result, but perhaps my best race all season. It was also one of the most exciting, difficult, and best learning experiences so far.

Having never done a 60 mile RR before, I wasn't sure what to expect (can you ever be in racing?), but I knew that I would need some nutrition to be able to race for nearly 3 hours. I decided to bring 2 bottles of HEED, 1 bottle of water, a power bar, and 2 gel packs which I could tuck into my jersey pockets and not have to try and deal with the zoo that is the feed zone. It seems like I see more bottles dropped there, then actually passed off.

So the first 30 miles were fairly uneventful, a few riders had gone off the front in small groups, but early in a 60 mile RR no one was really concerned. Quaker City Wheelmen had a good group at the front of the pack for much of the race, no real chase was necessary, because the miles and hills brought these early Cat 4 riders back to the field.

We came around to one of the climbs of the course and maybe it was because I just ate a gel, but I was feeling good and decided to move towards the front. I was moving up the side and saw a Shippensburg rider moving off the front. I started to hesitate, but then figured that I had good momentum and was feeling fine, so I'd move up also and just see what happens. Some other riders were moving up, and by the top of the climb some 5 of us had a good gap. We had 2 Shippensburg riders, a Guy's Racing (eventual winner Calvin), a Quaker City Wheelmen rider, and myself.

So we started going and working together. I had no real experience riding in a break, so it was a good learning experience. I was advised to take shorter pulls, which was a good suggestion because I'm prone to making the inexperienced mistake of doing too much, too soon. So more or less, we settled into a rotation and started flowing pretty smoothly. Our first time check came back at 30 seconds which didn't seem like too much for how we were working.

At one point I was pulling on an up hill a little too enthusiastically and the Guy's Racing rider came up and wanted to go with just the two of us. I definitely didn't have the legs for that, and thought the best move was just to regroup and keep it steady.

The next time check came at 40 seconds, good news, the gap was going the right direction.

More miles, and we get 1:10. Awesome, I think we might have a chance.

Something happened around mile 52, I thought I was doing just fine, but then all of a sudden, my legs weren't listening to my brain anymore. Somebody flipped a switch somewhere and they just shut down. I tried to cling to the back of our break, but we were all starting to splinter apart. I watched The Guys' Racing rider and one of the Shippensburg racers disappear into the distance and I knew I was done.

I figured my best bet was to slide back into the peleton and make a pack finish out of it. Soon I heard the sound of the moto coming up behind me and the pack came flying by like I was standing still. I jumped in and rode for a few more miles with the group, but kept dropping back positions. It wasn't long before I dropped back one place too many and popped off the back.

Then I was really toast, without even the motivation of a pack finish, it was a struggle to the end. Finally I peddled through the finish, dead last, someone give me the Lantern Rouge.



So dead last, but that was awesome. Unless I try things like that, I'm just going to be pack fodder, and I'm no sprinter. I'd rather have made a move, and run out of legs trying, then sit in the pack all day and go along for what amounts to little more then a group ride. This is supposed to be racing, after all.

The best way to learn is by doing. I need to ride smarter, riding in a break isn't easy, and it requires knowing one's limits and abilities. I'll know better next time. It also takes legs, and undoubtedly I need many more miles to be able to sustain that sort of pace. I had never even ridden more then about 50 miles in one go before race day. More food would have helped, one little gel pack isn't going to cut it for 60 miles of racing.

Lessons learned.

Before this race, I had really felt like I was winding down and getting tired of the typical road race scenario: ride in pack, stay in pack, get a middle of pack finish. It was getting old. I was planning on switching to triathlons (still might try some) in order to get some real racing. The upside, besides being a good learning experience (and a ton of fun) is that I'm more motivated then ever to get some real winter training in and come back stronger and fitter next season.

Congratulations to Calvin and Michael for making it.

Strasburg Race Report

Positioning, positioning, positioning, I feel like the Strasburg RR was decided in the staging area before the race even began. Just like usual, I staged at the very back, and that is where I was stuck for the entire race. I managed to get a few spots on some of the very short climbs, but then immediately slid back again on the descents. I'm quite a terrible descender, but if the hills are long enough and steep enough, I can usually move up in the field. But this didn't work at Strasburg, there were too many people, we were pretty tightly packed on a narrow course, and the course was quite flat.

Imagine 60+ relatively inexperienced Cat 4s and 5s all thinking that they have a shot at winning trying to get to the front of the field in narrow country roads the last couple of hundred meters. It was a zoo, the yellow line rule went out the window and the pack got quite reckless. I backed off thinking I didn't have a shot anyway, and about then there was a big wreck up ahead in the middle of the field. It looked pretty bad, besides the clashing sounds of bikes wrecking, there was the unmistakable thudding sound of bodies hitting the asphalt. But the sound I won't forget was the shuddering moans of someone apparently in quite a bit of pain. It sounded like the demented wails of damned wraiths from the pits of hell. Ugh, I shudder remembering that....

Plus, besides the wreck there was this tight chicane in the last 200 meters or so, see this photo from a few years past. I backed off and coasted my way in to a safe finish.

In retrospect, I should have saved myself the trip and just done the Lehigh Valley Winery Circuit Race the following day nearby. That sounds like a race not to miss next year.