Crits Anyone

Criterium Defined.... 

So let me continue my story about the challenges of Cat 5 Road Racing. A few weeks ago I competed in a weekend of crits to get a few more mass-start races under my belt so I can cat-up one of these days. Definitely looking like a 2013 objective as I just can't do any more road races this Summer.

Okay, so first up was a Cat 5 crit of 30 min duration with an hour or so rest and then a 60 min crit in the Cat 4/5 Masters division. I did the first race with pal and colleague Lex as he is dabbling in road racing as well. We both made the drive to Hagerstown, MD on a 1 mile course in section of town where the finish area was in a beautiful, old, elegant neighborhood and the other parts of the course were on the "other side of the tracks". For the record it was VERY HOT and the first race started at 8:30 and it was already in the 80's.

Lex and I stacked-up on the line and then we were off for 30 min of pack riding with about 40 other riders. Needless to say this was my first crit since last Summer and no doubt it is intense riding. It must take a while to be comfortable but the close quarters, speeds in the mid-20's, and a lot of inexperienced riders tapping the brakes makes things very stressful.

That's me out of the saddle on the first 90 degree turn

The race was certainly  competitive and there were no breakaways that held but I did struggle a bit coming out of the corners. For several laps I was at the back of the pack and this just saps energy because of the yo-yo effect. The last 3 laps is when the intensity picked-up. The scorers flip a number to let you know how many laps you have left and if you are in a bad position you have no chance for the bunch sprint.

Okay......................so we hit the scorers table and this is when the race picked-up. About 100 yards later we have a right turn with plenty of room but we are also carrying a lot of speed. I am mid-pack and just as we turned a rider went down about 4 bike lengths in front of me and immediately brought down 4-5 other riders. I was able to do the tap-tap, swerve, tap, swerve to avoid the carnage but by this time i was going about 10 mph and there were 7 riders that dodged all of the mess and they were about 200' in front of me. I sprinted but just burned up energy so I had no chance to catch-up. The last 2.5 laps went fast and I ended up 11th but it really did not matter. I was pleased that I did not go down though and am glad I have done all that mountain biking to permit me to react fast on a bike. Lex cleared the wreck clean and finished 5th.

After I was dropped in second race

After the race I cooled off in the shade of my car but the temps were climbing in to the 90s. I kicked back to take a load off my legs but when It was time to get going again I could tell it was not going to be easy to get the blood pumping again.

Starting Line Cat 4/5

In the drops and fading

 Well, let's cut to the chase as that is all I did in the second race was chase the pack for 2 laps and then i was spit out the back. Just no pop. So...............i ended up riding hard, sharing pulls with another guy, and just practiced my turns for the next 50 minutes. In the end it was worthwhile and great practice but the lead group lapped me twice, heck, maybe 3 times. VERY HUMBLING.

Fast forward to the next day at the Chantilly Crit. Again...............very hot. Thankfully Lex and I had done a workout here the previous week so we both knew the .7 mi course and the one 90 degree turn pretty well.

The 30 min of racing was a lot of fun and I did a better job of keeping in the middle of the pack or toward the front third. Heck, I even pulled for about 20 seconds. There was one interesting moment on the back straight away when a rider drifted in and bumped me as we were cruising at about 25mph. I said "Cuidete" and he responded with "you are in my line" and I responded "I have had this line for 30 secs" and he goes on and said "you are all over the place" and I said "then get up front" and he shut up at this point. Lex told me after the race that he was way out of line during this exchange because he (Lex) was on my wheel during the whole exchange and said my line was just fine.

Anyway, when we hit the last two laps just on the top of a short hill, there was a wreck of 4 riders--caused by the same velo club--NCVC/Long and Foster--that caused the wreck the previous day at Hagerstown. It happened at my 2 o'clock position and all I did was swerve a bit and get back on the back of the leaders. Needless to say I kept with the pack and with about 300 yards to go I tried to surge but sprinting is not my forte and I ended up finishing last of this bunch. 21st of 41 total. Lex was caught-up behind the wreck and he was in the same situation as I was at Hagerstown.

JOCMO: 3 more Cat 5s down and counting! Great to ride fast, handle the bike well, and start to get the edge you need for road racing.

The DD

So what is the DD you ask?? Well.................in the vernacular of great rides, hard rides, gran fondos, and pat yourself on the back the DD...............AKA the Diabolical Double................is a double metric century in Garrett County Maryland. The architect of this route is the legendary Kyle Yost................he of the many cycling ventures around the globe......................and a randonneur with few equals................at least in my circles where we don't get paid to ride.

The Queue before the start at 7am

The previous week I rode 148 at the B2B and I felt recovered for this event as I had not ridden much the last few days. After rolling out of DC with a bit of traffic I worked my way toward Appalachia and Garrett County. The three hour drive was not as bad as I had expected and it really only was about 15 min more because of the traffic but I was able to make it to the Wisp Ski Resort for check-in and pre-Fondo dinner.

Old pal Theresa was at the front desk volunteering so we chatted a bit. I then saw Legendary Amy (in town from Boulder)  in the packet pickup room as we had planned to ride part of the Fondo together the next day. During dinner we had the pleasure of listening to Saul Raisin as our guest speaker. He talked to us about his traumatic bike wreck during a professional race and the subsequent brain injury and recovery. I also learned that he would be a roommate for two nights in the guest house that I was in with the Gran Fondo Director Greg Safko.

Sam and Legendary Amy at Aid Station 1

Saul was great to have as a roommate and I could not help but compare his injury and recovery to that of friend Kevin (see post from last September) with whom I did the Nations Tri with as his Captain and guide. Both Kevin and Saul have suffered some short term memory loss and both cope with it in different ways. With Saul he knows he will forget so if he needs something or has to do something he will write it down on his phone or "ask for the $20" for a copy of his book right away so he won't forget to ask later. 

Me and Saul

Needless to say it was great to pick his brain about cycling, racing on the same team as Thor Hushovd and what it was like to race against others so well known in the sport around the globe. We also had several chats about doping in the sport and Saul will not mince words. He and his teammates were clean and there were a lot of guys he raced against that were not. He is unabashed that a lot of top riders were doping and if when I asked him if titles were stripped from riders in the grand tours how deep would they have to go to find a clean winner and his response "pretty deep".

Next day was an early wake-up for my standard pre-ride meal of oatmeal and almond butter with a banana. Gran Fondos are not races per se but they are timed and this one had timing maps on several of the tough climbs to award King of the Mountains (KOM) points.

Amy working it!

Okay....................so let's start talking about the route. There were no 20+ MPH pacelines with 110 in your legs at this ride like last week at the B2B. The climbs are steep and relentless and with temps in the 80s, humidity, and barely a cloud in the sky, the heat added another challenge. 

Needless to say I rode a good portion of the first 70 miles with Amy and around midday I was slowing a bit. I was just losing some pop and this often hits me in high heat conditions. So, I basically told Amy to keep moving and because she is an elite amateur road cyclist who dabbles in races against pros I know I was slowing her down. 

I kept the legs churning and was holding my own but definitely looking forward to the aid station in Westernport. I stopped on the way DOWN in to town on Westernport Road and stopped at the Wall to check out my brick from 2008. A brief reminder.....................the Wall is 31% gradient and to make it up without clicking out or using a triple ring is TOUGH!

My Brick in the Wall from 2008

 I caught up with Amy at the aid station and after waiting for about 15 min for a spare tube from a flat I had an hour earlier in a gravel road we were off and heading back-up! I was definitely slowing Amy down so I told her to take off and I rode on my own for the rest of the ride. 

The last 30 or so miles went better than expected. My legs were definitely tired but when the heat started to drop a bit and after some calories I started to feel better and this was just before the long schlep of about 6 miles up Kitzmiller road. While refueling another rider asked "who is that woman you were riding with?" So I went on to recount the Legend of Amy and her unwavering power and persistence on long rides, amateur racing career, and natural talent. This guy goes "She is really fast but you are not too bad either!! ;) 

Well...................I launched from the aid station, settled in, put the ego in check, and slalomed up parts of this to keep a rhythm. I passed a handful of riders and started to feel a lot better.

At Finish

I was able to link up with some riders for the last 15 miles or so and that made it a bit easier coming in to town. The last hill to the ski resort was no fun but I was able to keep a good pace and work it up the hill and passed another handful of riders but still slower than I thought I could go.

 

Amy and Theresa from the TriCATs era!

JOCMO: Riding with longtime cycling pals on amazing roads.................if you don't ride you won't understand.

How Far Would You Ride............................

For a Harpoon!!

That is the catch phrase on the jersey given to us for the Harpoon Brewery to Brewery (B2B) from Boston to Windsor, Vermont. I just did this ride last weekend with a cycling buddy Steve from Virginia and college classmate Bill from Massachusetts.

After an efficient drive, surprisingly, from home to Connecticut for a stop at TGOs overnight, and then on to Boston I linked up with Steve at the Harpoon brewery for packet pick, some great free beer, a bit of schwag from IBEX and then we rode over to Pasta Beach for dinner and then I was done for the night. 

Many thanks to my old USAF pal Steve (a different Steve) who let me crash in his house in Charlestown 2.5 miles from the ride start. The 5:15 wake-up was painless and I was out the door and at the brewery in about 7 minutes.

Steve in the start Queue

Steve was already in the line to roll out when I arrived so I had to hurry to eat a bagel, park my car, use the loo, and then we waited for 30 minutes for our time to roll out. For safety purposes only 25 riders were allowed to depart every 10 minutes. Ideally we were to ride in a pack of 25 for the first 25-30 miles but that broke up pretty soon after the first water stop and Steve flatted. So, we just linked up with the next pack on its way by. I will say riding through downtown Boston, normally choked with people and traffic, was a great experience but I definitely do not miss the damage a New England winter does to the roads---dodging potholes everywhere!!

Steve a victim of the potholes

The Queue

We stopped briefly at the first aid station for a pee break and then we were back on the road in our pack of riders and that is when Steve hit a pothole dead-on and had his first flat of the day. Anyway, I snapped the phote, watched him change the tube, and then we were back on the road.

About 10 min later one of the sag cars drove by and asked if I needed anything. Well...................of course...............so I asked for an apple fritter and a cup of coffee. She just laughed, sped off for a few min, and then came back and started handing me mini clif bars. After I had 4-5 she said "take a few more because you are skinny" and then she drove off again.

Feeling the heat! About 90!

 The ride continued working our way Northwest and the roads began to improve significantly--did i mention the potholes yet??. Translation.......................fewer potholes but there was one section of about 50 yards where there were a bunch of potholes and at this time there was a pretty good pack moving and boom..............boom.............boom...............about 5 riders were pulling off the road because of flats. What happened was we were riding too fast to be able to see the potholes and react accordingly. JOCMO..................it did not happen to me......................

I rarely drink soda but this Coke was Awesome!

Aid Station 3. Mile 98.

After our rest at Mile 98 it was tough to get going........................for the non-cyclists out there after you have a rhythm and then take a break it is real tough to get the blood going again in the legs. When Steve and I mounted back-up the first 30 minutes were a challenge to get the legs moving.

So after mile 98 and then cresting the century mark the temps were climbing and it was about 90 but humidity bearable..................unlike DC. At about the 110 mark Steve and I linked-up with a few other riders and we had a group of 6-7 and surprisingly we were moving along at a pretty good clip. The terrain was relatively flat so we had some legs left in us.


At this point we just started to push the pace and this is one of those wonderful things about long rides and riding in general. For the next 10-15 miles we just pushed the pace hard and kept the line going. Not sure what the average was as most of us were busy keeping up, watching our line, and taking in fluids but looking down at my Garmin from time to time I would assess we were in the 21-24 mph range for 10-15 miles. Needless to say when we hit a hill about 2 miles from the aid station I was absolutely toast. No Joy left in my legs whatsoever but it was definitely worth the effort to ride that hard..

the next aid station was a desperate need to refuel, dump some cold water over my head to drop my core temp and take in some calories. Not sure why but at the B2B the pickles are a big hit at the aid stations but not for me. I took in some fruit and a lot of fluids.

Bill and Steve with post ride chow and Harpoon IPA

Steve nudged me to get going and said "Let's get this thing done" so we were back on the road with about 20 to go. We kept a good pace and with about 6 miles to go Steve had another flat........................bummer. So I pulled out my spare tube and C02 and he was back on the road in about 5 min.

Rock N Roll

The last few miles in was pretty easy and when we crossed the line, grabbed our pint glasses, my U Maine pal Bill was waiting. Several great brews, a pile of food, and then we were in the shuttle back to Beantown.

I did not need it but MAVIC Wheel Support all Day!

JOCMO: Nothing like a paceline with 110 in your legs and moving along in the 22-24 mph range. This is what makes it worthwhile!!