Tek Park Criterium

This is definitely a race for the "must-do" list next year, what a great alternative to the common "four-corner crit". The course was a wide sweeping 1.33 mile loop with no tight turns and plenty of elevation gain (200 feet per lap). Sections of it approached 10% which would definitely shake up the race.



We had good team representation with Greg, Jeff, Bobby, and myself. The race started off pretty quickly and I took a few turns at the front hoping to keep the pace high. Jeff asked me how I was feeling, my legs were tired right then, but we decided to try and make a move in two more laps. Coming around to the hill again, I saw Greg and Jeff going strong off the front with one other rider right with them. I was sitting back in the field in not a good position, and I didn't think that I'd be able to get up to them without dragging the field along with me. I wouldn't have had the strength to bridge cleanly, besides, Greg and Jeff were flying. So instead I got to the front and decided to do the easy thing, just start soft pedaling.



The next few laps were tremendously fun. I knew that Greg and Jeff were strong enough to get a good gap, so I just sat on the front of the field. When someone would come up to the front and try to chase, I'd follow their wheel, wait for them to finish their pull, and then slow up again. It was incredibly disruptive to organizing a chase effort. After the hill where the course turns to face the wind, I could drop the pace down to a crawl, and usually no one would want to come around. Greg and Jeff got a lot of time quickly, and they were out of sight within half of a lap.

It may have looked like I was pulling, but this part of the race was slooooow. I felt completely recovered after a lap or two. A few laps later I noticed Greg watching from the curb, so only two guys up the road. I found out later he had been taking some monster pulls, and the heat was really getting to him.

I think I was causing some consternation behind me. After one guy in orange took a big hard pull, only to pull off and see the field slow to a crawl again, he said "XXXX I'm not doing all the chasing for the entire field!". We were getting time checks of 60 seconds, then 90 seconds, the gap was ballooning. The frustration eventually led to a flurry of big attacks, but no one got away.

A lap or two later, a rider from Pure Energy Cycling took a long hard steady pull, and when I looked back, we had a big clean separation from the field, so I talked to him and we decided to make a go of it. We worked really well together, I was feeling very good and rested at that point and could take us through the hill and windy section, and he was a fast descender, so we made a great pair. I think that there were about 5 laps left at this point. On the last one I charged up the last part of the hill, fearing that he would have a bigger kick then I, but I rolled through for 3rd without a challenge.

Jeff ended up taking the win over the Cutter's rider, as well as a prime along the way. It was really fun race, and we had some great teamwork.

Vincentown Duathlon

If there ever was a good reason to get up at 4am (for a sporting event), this Duathlon qualifies. Signing up was a last minute decision on the day before the event. I had been wanting to try a duathlon, and the Vincentown Du seemed to be a good one to give it a shot.

The morning had forecasts for thunderstorms, and I left Bethlehem with spitting rain and bad looking clouds. Fortunately things started to look better once I got into New Jersey. There was a very dense fog, but as I got ready for the race, that lifted as well. It looked like we were going to have great weather.

I didn't really know how to prepare for the event, I was asking myself many questions like how do I warm up? How much can I eat on the bike and not cramp on the run? Where do I pin my number? The answer I got to this last question from an organizer was "Well, don't you have a race belt?" I had no idea what that was, so I pinned my number to the front of my suit. Shows how much I knew.

I lined up for the start and decided that my main goal was to stay within myself, and not overdo it on any of the sections. As soon as the gun went off I found myself running along in 2nd place, it felt fast, but I felt comfortable, so I just tried to stick to a steady pace. The first mile split was 5:40. Right before the transition one other guy passed me. I thought that maybe these would be two of the top competitors, but they were apparently in it for only a fast 2 mile, as their bike was 13.4 mph, and they finished in almost the last 2 places.

I lost track of the other duathletes after the first transition, which was just fine, as I was just focusing on running my own race. Our bike leg dumped out into the waves of triathletes that had finished their swims so it was hard to tell who was doing what race, and in which wave. I felt pretty good on the bike, and settled in the 24-25mph range. I held it in a comfortable range, as I knew that the 5k to come would be the real challenge of the race.



I came in to the second transition feeling alright, my legs were tired, but I had been pretty conservative so far. However, that second transition just about did me in. First of all, I had a hard time finding my spot, as the marker I used to find my bike the first time was now on my head (my helmet). I was looking for a pair of running shoes among piles of tri-paraphernalia. Finally I found my two shoes, and hung up the bike. Now things really started to fall apart, I took off both my cycling shoes, got my right running shoe on, and my right calf cramped down hard. I couldn't move my leg, and had to hobble around to find some posts to stretch against. After prying for a bit, I returned to the task of putting on shoes, but it didn't feel right at all. I finally realized that I had put my right biking shoe back on my left foot. That was so totally wrong I had to just stop and laugh. So I finally got two running shoes on the correct feet, and headed out for the 5k.

Wow, that was a tough 5k. My legs felt heavy, my heart rate was much higher then it usually was for that pace, and I felt like I was barely trodging along. No, that isn't a word, but that is what it felt like. I slowly picked up my rhythm, and my legs slowly wound themselves out, but I never felt like I had good foot speed. I just tried to maintain.



I came up to the finish without any extra kick, and crossed the line glad for a chance to really stretch. I spent the next 3 days trying to stretch my legs back out, and by day 4, they finally felt normal again.

Ryan had an awesome tri, taking top honors and posting the only time under one hour. I managed second over all in the du. I was only 25 seconds behind the winner, and I kept wondering where I could have found that extra 25 seconds. How much did I lose in the transition? How slow was my 5k? Those kinds of questions that are useless to ask after the race, but I couldn't help wondering.

A few days later when the full results were posted with time splits, I got some answers. Unfortunately a timing mat missed my first 2 mile split, but by working backwards, I figured that I had a 10:40 2-mile (but then my first mile split doesn't make any sense), T1 of about 0:45 to 1:00, and a bike of about 23.4 mph.

The notable thing was T2, mine was 1:12 and the winner had 0:47, that is a difference of exactly 25 seconds.

I'm still very happy with my result in the du, but seeing what I can work on to improve is definitely motivation for next time. I can also see where those seconds saved with aero gear on the bike can really help. I think I'll take my winnings and buy an aero helmet. I also want to get more running miles before my next du, and practice those transitions to the run, I think I can go faster then a 19:34.

Can't wait for the next one.

JBN Criterium (Just Be Natural)

JBN Criterium Cat 4 from Bikelink on Vimeo.

Highlights:

5:00 first Lamprey sighting, moving up
7:00 more Lamprey riders moving up
9:40 I move up to the front
11:20 more butt shots
20:50 Roland and Greg come up
22:10 Jeff and I chatting
22:30 then Jeff goes
25:30 Greg
26:20 Getting together
27:20 together and towards the front
31:20 Greg follows up to Roland
34:15 Greg pulling the pack along
35:30 Note how much louder the wind noise gets when the cameraman pulls out of the side of the field and hits the full wind. Gives a relative sense for those who don't race how much more effort that takes.
36:15 I follow another guy when he goes off the front, but don't get anywhere
37:55 Jeff and Greg together
40:00 Me moving up, things are starting to get fast, looking for the rest of the guys
42:10 Two Bikeline/LWA move up quickly, and things string out for the bell lap
43:00 Cameraman is sitting behind eventual winner from F&M
43:15 I move up, hoping that it will somehow help Greg, Jeff, or Roland, but I'm not looking back. I'm probably too impatient and go too soon, it's that Pavlovian response from the bell lap. I think that I only manage to bring the camerman along. Things get rearranged on the backside hill and I slip back.
44:40 Jeff comes up to top 10 or so, is that Roland next to him?
45:30 F&M guy swings left to open up his sprint for the win
45:42 A Bikeline/LWA goes down at the finish line

Having spectators is great, you can definitely hear the "GO LAMPREY!" on every lap around!

As far as criteriums go, this was well ridden with smooth riding and generally good bike handling. Unfortunately one broken collar bone at the finish line, may have been a case of looking down instead of up during the final sprint.

It was a fast one as well. I recorded an average of 25.9 mph, which is I believe the fastest Cat 4 crit I've done, up there with the Thursday night crits. Having a wide open, smooth, and flowing course really helped, I'm sure.

Positioning is still the hardest part of criterium racing. That was fun, we're getting better as a group and figuring it out as we go.

Brief Race Report for Bob Rodale Fitness Park Criterium

That was a battle, swords were drawn, and nunchucks flying. Kudos to Jeff for putting in a huge effort at the front with 2 laps left to go. Roland was up there right with him, and occasionally I was also, except I kept losing wheels on the turns. It was really tough to hold position, twice I was bumped into the grass.

Like most crits I've done so far, this race was really a battle of positioning. The pace was fast enough that no moves got very far off the front. But slow enough that the field was constantly bunched together. With half a lap left, I was in the top 10-15, but got swarmed coming down the riser and I couldn't move up again. I felt great, I had a ton of strength left in my legs, but alas, no where to go.

It seemed that the main challenge was a field of 66 riders bunched up on a narrow course. There are no long straight sections at the fitness park, and it isn't very wide. That meant that there were no good places to move up through the field and as a result there was a lot of diving into the insides of the turns, and consequent bunching.

Watching the Masters and Cat 3 races, they played out very differently. The field was strung out, breaks were going, gaps were forming, moves were being made. I think Cat 4 races would benefit greatly from some more attacking and driving the pace up to stretch things out. As long as I'm not going to be contesting the sprints anyway, might as well have some fun. Make a race of it.

No pictures of videos this week, boring post for posterity.

Marten