Belleville Course

I was a little bored today, so here is the Tour de Belleville course.

Tour de Belleville

It was in the mid to upper 70s and sunny all week long, so guess what happened for this weekend? You got it; at the start of this morning's race, it was in the mid to upper 40s and pouring rain. I haven't raced in so many rain races in one year, ever (and it is still April!). Today wasn't an 'A' race on my schedule and my progressively hard workout schedule my coach has me on had me completely dead, flat and tired. Not a good sign as I line up - cold, wet, and my legs feeling flat. Funny how sometimes this is when you do your best!

I did the 35+ race at the Tour de Belleville race today (it was combined field of 35+ & 45+, but picked separately for different prize list). Interesting course; ~1.5 miles long, up a rise into a 180 turn back down the rise into a 90 degree right, 90 degree left and a 90 degree left ~200m to the finish line. The rise really isn't to my strong points, so I decide to stay at the back and just make sure I'm with anything and any 'splits'. Lucky me it comes down to a sprint finish. 2 Liberty cyclists wind it up and I get behind them. We dive around the last corner and I'm in 3rd (a car had snuck out on the course and we dove inside while the car was on the outside - if that car decided to come inside, it would have been ugly). I pass both Liberty riders with ~100m left and hang on for the WIN. My first win in a couple of years, so it feels nice to cross the line first (especially since I wasn't planning a peak or tapering for this race!). Not knowing who was racing for the 35+ and who was racing for the 45+, it was nice to win the whole thing and there was no question where I finished. I really owe my coach for getting me into the best shape I've been in for years (thanks Jason!!!).

Mike was supposed to come out for his 1st race of the year but there was a mix up with the car rental agency and he didn't make it. I know he could have done well in the masters and probably could have won the Cat 4 race (we really need to get him upgraded to a Cat 3). I opt out of doubling up for the Cat 3/4 race as I was wet and cold and didn't feel like sitting around an hour to it was held.

To celebrate, I cracked open a bottle of North Coast Old Stock Ale. This is their Barley Wine aged in Brandy Barrels and clocks in at over 14% alcohol content. It was very tasty and I wish I had more of these hard to get beers!

As I was leaving for my ride yesterday, the FedEx truck pulled up with my upgraded ZIPP PowerTap wireless wheel. A little too late to get a cassette and tire on it so I had to wait until today to take it out. It works great! It was nice to get all those wires off the bike (Ben owes me some style points now).

Below is a picture from last weekend's Cherry Blossom race;

Weekend Races

Cherry Blossom (Saturday)

This race was held on the Branch Brook short course. 2.2 mile, dead flat circuit with only one 90 degree turn. Usually tailor made to my racing style.

Not much to say about this race other than I completely blew it. My legs felt a little flat and allowed myself to get in very poor position for the finish. Found myself at the very front with way too far to go in way too much head wind. A shit load of riders passed me at 50m and I must have finished in the top 20. I say must have, because when I checked the results on the Internet the next day, I'm not even listed! Either they got my # wrong and gave my placing to someone else or the camera did not catch me. No big deal, as who really gives a shit about 20th place anyway...

Lower Providence (Sunday)

Four of us line up for the 40+ at the Lower Providence Crit on Sunday (Joe, Walt, Tom, and me). All I can say is this race was all about the wind. The wind must have been blowing steady at 20 mph or greater. It was a cross wind finish with a direct head wind after the first turn.

The plan was to try and get Walt up the road or set up Joe for the sprint. Three riders get off relatively early. We try to bring them back. We actually got pretty close and then they gained more time. Another break gets away from the field and Tom is in it. They get a decent gap on the field so we are content to let them go. We actively cover everything. Both groups stay away. Tom takes 6th on the day.

I decided to take off with 2 laps to go. I'll either hold it (yeah right) or get caught. This will let Joe and Walt do no work in the field and allow them to be fresh for the sprint or allow them to counter. Guess what, I actually held it for 2 laps. That's a first for me. Granted, there was a bunch up the road so the field was probably not too eager to chase anything, but that didn't make the pain any less! Looking at my power file after the race, this is one of my higher power outputs and higher heart rate average in a long time.

When Trish went to check the results, my name wasn't listed. That's 2 days in a row. They had me as 714 when I was 717 and marked as DNF (how can they miss a solo rider coming in between the break and the field!). They fixed today's result (but 2 days in a row, come on!).

Huge Fields Today!

The 35+ field must have been close to 100 racers today. Take a look at this video and you can appreciate the size (and you can hear Eve cheering for me). Of course everyone was riding super sketchy today and luckily the accident on the last turn on the last lap happened just behind me. I ran into Darco in the parking lot. Someone took out his back wheel. He was covered in road rash (the one's on his ass cheek's are going to hurt) and his bike, wheels, and gruppo were completely trashed. I finished somewhere around 15th-18th or so.

I wouldn't be a racer if I didn't list excuses for not cracking the top 10;

1. This was not an 'A' race for me and treated as a training race (I had a hard block of training during the week).
2. The car that got on the course with 2 laps to go really did cause me from being in the top 15 to probably 40th in line.
3. The pollen count was high.
4. I was hung over (really, but there's nothing like a race to make you feel better!).

PowerTap Wheels

I finally got feed up with my PowerTap ZIPP wheel. Over the last year, it was been progressively getting worse at getting useful data off it. I took it out today, and for an hour ride, I was only able to get 30min of data. There would be lots of readings of 0 watts or readings of 45mph & 600 watts. I called Saris and am shipping it back to them. I made the mistake of asking them if they have an upgrade option vs. an overhaul option. Guess what? They sure do. So, it looks like I will be;

• Sending back my PowerTap SL and getting back a PowerTap SL 2.4 wireless ZIPP wheel with a new CPU and cradle for my PC.


• Once I get my ZIPP wheel back, I'm shipping them my old ass PowerTap Pro wheel and getting another PowerTap SL 2.4 wireless (built on a Mavic rim for training).

I can't wait to get them; especially the ZIPP wheel as it is, it is useless from a training or race data gathering tool.

The price for the upgrades are decent and I couldn't resist...

Pinecone Race Report

What’s with all the crappy weather! The season is just over a month old, and I raced in 2 of my top 5 worst weather races ever. Sunday it was in the low 40’s and pouring rain for the entire race. It wouldn’t have been that bad if it was a short race, but for a 2 hour road race, it was pretty damn miserable. With 2 laps to go, I just kept thinking, OK if I pull off now and get in the car, I can be warm and on my way home!

I’m trying to think of some of the worst weather races I’ve done and these are the ones that quickly come to mind;

• A few years ago at the 33rd & Diamond circuit race, we started and it was decent weather (somewhat overcast and in the 50s). A rainstorm blew in and it was in the low 40’s and pouring. No one dressed warm, including me, and I couldn’t feel anything for hours afterwards. I just remember crawling into the back of my car and shivering for a ½ hour before I could even change.
• During a RR at Superweek a few years back, a nasty Thunderstorm (with gale force winds, light hail, and lightning all around us) blew through us. Luckily it came and went pretty fast as we were out in the middle of nowhere and there was no way to neutralize or cancel the race.
• The 1st race of this year; in the 30’s and raining.

Of course I remember some white out snow squalls during races, but those came and went fast. I don’t mind racing in the rain; that is if it is above 50 degrees!

Sunday’s circuit was essentially a 6-mile crit. The course was just over 6 miles long, flat, and 4 right hand turns. Most racers hate courses like this, but I tend to do real well in these flat, ‘longer’ races. The Cat 3’s did 7 laps for ~44 miles. I didn’t bother to warm up as I was trying to delay the inevitable - getting soaking wet and freezing cold. By the end of the race, my gloves and shoes must have weighed an additional 2 pounds each from the water.

Pretty much an uneventful race. Break always tried and failed. When I tried to get in a break, I pulled through at 29mph, looked for someone to pull through, and no one could hang. At that point I decided to play the sprinter role and just sit in. 3 guys roll off with ~4 miles to go. 5 guys bridge up. The break really didn’t get that much time on us, but no one was really working to get it back. One other rider tries to bridge with just over a mile left and holds it in no man’s land to finish 9th. I take 2nd in the field sprint to finish 11th on the day. Guess what? They paid 10 deep. My second dick spot of the year and my 3rd 11th place of the year. The way I felt and sprinted, just makes me wonder what would have happened if they field stayed together…