New Bethlehem Criterium

New Bethleham Criterium: Cat 4 from Bikelink on Vimeo.

Highlights:
12:45 guy goes down (hard to tell what happens)

15:00 My move

16:15 Greg goes

21:40 back in the field

As much as I'm not a crit racer, (as a <140 lb "skinny guy", my element is anywhere the road is going up) I really enjoyed this crit. The roads are plenty wide, tons of room to maneuver and pass, plus the race is only a few miles from where I roll out of bed.

I crawled out at 8am to catch David, Jeff, and Frank in the Cat 5 race. The first time the pack rolled around, I saw David out in front with a several second gap. He looked very comfortable and sat near the front for most of the race. The first half I watched from turn 3, the small hill and false flat was taking its toll on the back part of the field. Riders were trickling off of the back constantly. It was here that 2 years ago I got dropped on my first ever road race in the Cat 5 field.

David had a good sprint at the end, good enough for 3rd in the Cat 5s. I'm sure if he had a better position coming into the final sprint, he would have placed even higher.

I still had 2-3 hours before my race, so I went back home to get breakfast and get ready. It was going to be a hot day, so hydrating would be important.

I rolled to the start with Greg and Roland. Greg usually does masters races, and I think he expected the Cat 4 field to be sketchy, dangerous, and slow. Last year, when Roland did the Masters 35+, he missed his clip in at the start and the field just rode away from him right from the gun.

There were no team plans, but we had a good cheering squad and were on our "home" course. My only goal was not to just sit in and wait for the field sprint which I usually can't contest anyway.



The pace felt pretty comfortable, both F&M and QCW had good team representation and did plenty of pace setting at the front. After the first few laps of sitting on the back, I moved up to the front around turn 3 and decided to push the pace. It wasn't intended as a solo attack, but when I looked back I was on my own. At that point I just decided to make a go of it, bury myself, and see how long it lasted.



I could hear the cheering section really going when I came around, and that was a little extra motivation. On the next lap, I saw Greg coming up, so I waited a bit and joined with him.



We rotated for a bit, and soon a third guy joined us. Unfortunately, at that point my efforts were catching up with me, and my pulls weren't enough to gain any more time. The three of us dangled off the front of the field for a while.



I slipped back into the field, and let myself recover for a bit. It was early enough in the race that I had plenty of time before thinking about the finish yet. Roland was still fresh, so I wanted to see if I could get him into position.



Greg moved us up, and for a while I followed him with Roland behind me. With 2 laps to go, I lost Greg's wheel and he went to the front to drive up the pace. On the last lap, I got separated from Roland so my leadout idea didn't come to fruition. I actually felt good at the finish, and moved up some spots, but I was coming from pretty far back so only just managed 18th. While not a big result, the race was a ton of fun, and I enjoyed helping to animate it a little. Check out the helmet cam video.

Can't wait until next year...

How not to prepare for a TT, or TTing to the start of your TT

As much as I enjoy the intrinsic pleasures of a scenic bike ride, or a relaxing run, there is something that compels me race. I find satisfaction in pushing my body to its limits, and I'm thrilled to see that my limits are pliable. What goals once seems unobtainable, eventually are exceeded.

I did my first TT (time trial) tonight, and actually really enjoyed it. It felt like racing, I like to feel like I really went at my limit, and get all those good endorphins going.



Deciding to start putting on my aerobars at 4 pm with a start time of 6:28:30 in New Jersey was not good planning. I swapped out the road bars for bullhorns with aerobars which meant I needed new brake and shifter housing and cables, and a trip to the bike shop. At 5pm I was just starting to put on the bar tape and I didn't hit the road until 5:20. The TT was at least 50 minutes away in New Jersey, if I didn't hit traffic. Of course I not only hit traffic, but made a wrong turn and got mildly lost (usual course for me). I finally asked for directions and when I started seeing people warming up on TT bikes, I knew I was close, but it was after 6:20. I hadn't eaten anything, so I was trying to get down a power bar that turned into a gooey mess because of the 90+ degree weather. Not easy.

I saw a dozen riders lined up, some traffic cones, and an official with a clip board, so at least I knew where the starting line was. I pulled over and parked on the road, but I still had to register. I biked up to the start and asked the riders lined up where to register, and they sent me other way down the road. I finally got my number and I'm pinning it on while the guy tells me I have 2 minutes to make my start time. I book it back to the start line. I know the guy starting right after me, and he yells to get over and hurry up, because my 30 second man is about to go. I get in position with 40 seconds to spare!

He counts me down and pushes me off, but I've never even tried shifting yet, and the indexing on my bar end shifters is way out of adjustment, as I suspected it would probably be. I manage to get the rear shifter into friction mode, but I'm still in the small ring up front. I push the chain over but it drops and hangs around my crank. Somehow I managed to get it back on with a combination of careful pedaling, and sliding the derailleur over. My adrenaline is still going strong from just getting to the starting line, and by the time I first look at my computer, I'm ticking over 27, 28 mph. CRAP, waaay too fast. Over the next mile I manage to settle down to a good rhythm and tried to catch my 30 second man. I finally get past him at about the half way mark, and shortly after, I get passed as well.

Biking in the aero position was a very different experience. Instead of biking, it felt like I was piloting some machine. The sensation of speed was definitely heightened and I was captain of my carbon fiber craft.

I have no idea what I can sustain for a TT, so I'm just going with feel moment to moment. At mile 8.5, I start to crack, fortunately it is just a 10 mile TT, so only 1.5 to go. But it was a struggle and I was pretty cooked when I finally got across the line. My time was 24:46, for an average speed of 24.2 mph, and I'm happy with that. No warmup, shifting messed up, never ridden in a TT position, 32 spoke box section wheels, road helmet, and first timed effort.

And of course I got lost going back home as well.

But that was fun. I think I placed 4th in my age group (scored by age, not category), but there may have only been 4 riders between 30-35. One of my season goals was to do 8 miles in 20 minutes (24mph), and I thought I was a long way from hitting that one. My next goal is sub 24 minutes for 10 miles, cracking 25 mph.

Now I want an aero helmet.

Refocusing

I went for a run the other day, and it felt good. Then I went on another run, and it felt very good.

2010 started off with some ambitious goals, featuring a Cat 3 upgrade as the main quest for 2010. Battenkill was a big event early in the season, and I trained hard hitting the weights aggressively in February and logging over 500 miles in March. I felt really good, it was the best cycling shape I've ever been in. In April I logged a century the week before Battenkill, felt good for the main event, and noticed my improvements in the Thursday Night Crits. It was a great start to 2010.

I still logged over 400 miles for April, but my training totally dropped off in May. It didn't help that I spent almost 2 week off the bike, sprawled out on my couch trying to get over some nasty flu type virus that completely knocked me out. Coming back after that was tough, and now with June half way over I want to pause and re-examine my season. It didn't help that my next big season goal, Mt. Nebo had lost sanctioned status with the USAC. I was interested in doing the race anyway, but felt that doing a 25 mile event with 90+ other Cat 4/5 riders was too perilous to my health. Those descents are fast and tight.

So now I want to step back, re-assess my goals for 2010, and regather some training motivation and focus. Given that my top races are no longer USAC sanctioned (all the good hilly ones!) the singular goal of upgrading to Cat 3 no longer seems to be in the picture. Rediscovering running will help to diversify my season goals, which I think will be important to maintaining my training motivation. Running provides an intrinsic enjoyment and doesn't require any specific goals.

This has been a good long break, probably mostly a mental recovery, but now I'm ready and excited to start some focused training again.

Here are some tentative plans. Cyclocross will remain a top goal for the year, and I want to add some running events, a stage race, a duathlon, and maybe some adventure races.

Thursday June 24 - Route 29 Time Trial

Sunday July 11 - Catfish Duathlon in Harrisburg

Sunday July 18 - Route 29 Time Trial

Saturday July 31 - Pottsville 17

August 14 & 15 - Tour de Millersburg Stage Race

Sunday September 5 - Robeson Township State Race

Saturday October 2 - Lamprey Systems Cyclocross

Sunday November 22 - Philadelphia half marathon

That's something to get excited about.