Millport Road Race

Today was the Millport Road Race (really a circuit as each lap was 2.75 miles long). The race flyer states 'Fast, fun short circuit on excellent roads with minimal climbing. A sprinters dream!'. With that setup, I was excited to go until I saw on the flyer, 145 feet of climbing per lap. The 40+ did 11 laps which worked out to 1,595ft of climbing. I'm sorry, in my book that is not a flat race! I would have agreed if the flyer stated 'small, rolling hills'.

Here is the profile I threw together.

Another smaller field that I would guess was between 40 - 50 racers. I looked who lined up and made a mental note on who I have to mark and watch. In the 3rd lap, I watched each of the riders I wanted to mark ride up the road. Short hesitation with a lack of concentration and instantly your race is over. At least I felt better when I see one of the districts best sprinters coming back from the break. A few riders bridge (or at least escape our autobus as everyone was way out of site). I roll in the field in 6th place for 18th overall.

PSU Harrisburg Criterium

Mike came into town and we headed out to race in the PSU Harrisburg Criterium 40+. This being the 4th day in row I have raced (and some hard and fast races), my legs were feeling a little flat. Description of the course;

Gently rolling 2.3-km circuit; start is straight and flat, then transitions into a short right-sweeping downhill and a right-hand turn; the backstretch is a long gradual uphill, then flat into the second right-hand turn; flat into the next right-hand turn and through the rear campus parking lot; slight left, slight right as you pass through the resident housing and into a small rise approaching the finish line; the finish is flat and straight.

All I can say is this was one hard ass race. I kept thinking to myself several times that I was on the edge and was about to get popped, but managed to hang on. Some other real strong racers said they thought today's race was fast and hard too (which made me fell a little better about how I was feeling!). A break of 3 get up the road and Mike takes 8th overall and I take 9th. I got a little too anxious and went with a small surge on the hill then was passed by 4 or 5 guys towards the top and managed to pass and hang onto 6th in the field. Mike just beat me by what must have been just an inch or so (he's lucky he attacked the hill, or I would have had him for sure!).

Bound Brook Criterium

Sunday was the Bound Brook Crit. I raced in the Cat 3/4 field which filled up with 75 racers. This is a pancake flat course. They changed the start/finish line; last year it was after the chicane. The course is over a mile long and we raced 20 miles (18 laps). This race is always fast. Not only is it flat, there is a long ass straight and wide open section on the back side. Several breaks where tried but none stuck. I make my way into the top 10 right before the 2nd to last turn. Some big ass Red Rocket rider comes screaming past a bunch of us on the last turn completely cutting us off. Damn it, another good finish wasted. If I would have seen him coming, I would have put him into the curb. I ended up 14th (I guess not too bad for a full field, but still very disappointed). We finished with a 27mph average which isn't too shabby.

Bicycling Hall of Fame Super Saturday Criterium

Today was the Bicycling Hall of Fame Super Saturday Criterium in Somerville, NJ (say that 5 times fast!). Cat 3 only field, 20 miles, raced on a 4 corner course with a power hill before turn 4. Even though I have done well at this course in the past, it really doesn't play to my strengths (for those counting, you can use that as excuse #1).

Condensed report...after 25 laps of pedal pedal, turn, pedal pedal turn, pedal pedal turn and power up a hill, pedal pedal turn, and repeat, it came down to a sprint finish. Some breaks where tried, but none stuck. With my allergies and asthma, this time of year is really hit or miss for me (excuse #2). I tried to move up but just couldn't dig deep as I had problems breathing. On today's course, I really couldn't 'fake' it up that hill and finished in the middle of the pack.

Looking over my power files, I averaged about 20 watts more today than yesterday but yesterday seemed so much harder. Yesterday, my heart rate average was 178 (my max is 190). That average was 50 minutes at 94% (no wonder it seemed hard). There was no real place to recover yesterday...today you could catch your breath on the down hill and back stretch.

On tap for tomorrow; Bound Brook Crit. This will be pancake flat (just the way I like them!).

Manville Crit

Tonight kicked off the Memorial Day weekend races with the Manville Crit. 20 mile Cat 3/4 race held on a ~1k rectangle. There is a power hill on the back side that starts sapping your legs after 20+ laps (we raced 35 laps). Decent sized field (I'd guess between 50 -60). In the past few years. about 1/2 the field gets shelled and this year was no different. I make sure I stay up front for the 1st half to make sure I make the selection. With under 10 laps to go, I do a quick count and there are ~30 left and I'm starting to like my odds. 3 riders get up the road. I start moving up with 3 laps. On the last lap, one of the lead riders crashes in turn 2. I get caught up by a couple riders who unsuccessfully try to avoid the down rider and race over.

The rider who crashed was a Junior who just built up a nice new carbon bike. The bike frame was completely trashed. Why would you race on a bike the day after you built it?

1 race down this weekend and 3 to go!

Circuito de Evesham

I always liked this course, especially when they run it counter clockwise. The small power hill into the last 90 degree turn usually weeds out some riders that shouldn't be up front during the sprint. Today was a Cat 3 only race and Tom, Eric and myself lined up at the start. 27 laps for ~27 miles.

The first 15 minutes was rather fast (~28mph average). We did a good job of covering anything that looked dangerous. I remember thinking at these speeds, a break usually doesn't stay away. Things settle in and I decide to mark a couple more breaks but to mainly stay up front and conserve and hope for a field sprint. Sure enough, it looks like it is coming down to a sprint. I try to stay in the top 10 for the last 4 laps. With 3/4 of a lap to go I find myself in ~15th with Tom in front of me. I yell to Tom to take me up front and he does it very nicely. I wanted to slot in to 3rd spot or so and yell at Tom, 'that's good for now, wait up'. Tom thought I said to go harder and he takes off and gets a gap on the field. We catch Tom right before the hill and I get caught up a minor swarm and have to quickly hit my brakes. I restart my sprint right after the turn and pick off most of the riders that passed me in the surge. I end up in 6th place. I ran out of real estate (which just showed what I already knew, I had to start my sprint way to late). Even though this was a decent result, I still felt like I wasted a great chance as I was firing on all cylinders.

PowerTAP file from today. The race is from minute 45:00 - ~1:48:00.

They posted the results from yesterday. I ended up in 18th and Mike was 26th. I was happy to have not only finished but finish in mid-pack.

Union Grove

Mike came into town and we headed out and raced in the 40+ at the Union Grove Road Race. The course has a few rolling hills and is just under 5 miles in length. We did 7 laps. I usually avoid races with any hills in it, but since Mike wanted to do this, I skipped the flat crit in DE. A couple other races who know me, saw me in the parking lot and asked what I was doing there! I did this race last year and finished 2nd to last. I was popped off the the field with about 2 miles to go, so my goal this time was to not get dropped.

Not much to report as I went to the back to just conserve and finish. I was surprised that I felt as good as I did and kinda regretted not moving up or doing anything! A couple small groups get up the road with a couple laps to go for a total of 9 riders up the road. The last hill starts ~1km from the finish (it's actually not that hard of a hill as it isn't that steep at the bottom, has a 'break' in the middle, and then has a shorter steeper section). I was in last spot in the field as we rounded the bend up the hill. At this point I was happy to finish in the pack but kinda of pissed at myself for not even trying to move up. I decided to sprint anyway and passed half the field for 9th in the field and 18th overall. Mike ended up in 26th (not bad considering this is only his second race of the year and he's only been 'training' for the last month.

Rodale Park

Today's race was held at the Rodale Park course. This is the bike trail that is located right across from the Trexlertown Velodrome; 1 mile in length with a power hill and no 90 degree turns (you get very dizzy with all the twists and turns). 25 laps for 25 miles. Decent size field in the Cat 3/4 race (but too many hairy legs and guts that hit the top tube for my liking).

I decide to try and stay in the top 20 the whole race to stay out of trouble. Every time I would find my self in mid-pack, I would sprint up to the top part of the pack. I got in some breaks all brought back. With 2 laps to go, about 8 racers get a 100m-150m lead. Looks dangerous. Me and one other racer bridge and as soon as we get there, they all sit up (and we were still at least 50m clear of the field). Shit I think, I'm toast. I give it my all to stay in the top 15 when 2 racers get a nice size gap. With 1 lap to go, I find myself out of the top 20 spots. Shit, I sprint on the hill and force my way into 4th in line. The field starts the sprint and unfortunately we catch the 2 riders about 100m from the line. I say unfortunately, because they sit up and come flying back at us like they are standing still. One comes right at me and starts taking me to the left. I have to hit my breaks (50m from the line in full sprint). A bunch of guys pass me and now I have to restart my sprint and swerve around as many as I can. I end up in 9th. I feel I would have finished higher if either the break stayed away or the riders just gutted it out and not 'stop' trying with 100m to go and get in my f'ing way.

At least I felt that snap that was lacking yesterday.

Here is my PowerTap file. The numbers are very simliar to yesterday with average power of 220 and Normalized Power of 262 with an average MPH of 25.8mph. Today seemed harder though (maybe because of some of the work I did or the wind).

Bethlehem Crit

I really hate this time of year. I'm probably in the best form I have been in for years but my allergies are the same as they have ever been. I was hacking and coughing up a lung all day. The pollen is so thick you can cut it with a knife. The kind of pollen were you black car looks green. This was actually the first race of the year I had to hit the rescue inhaler before the start of the race (I guess that is my excuse).

Today's race was a typical 4 corner crit with a power hill right before turn 4. 30 laps for ~25 miles. Nice thing about today, it was a Cat 3 only race (no racing with the Cat 4s or Cat 1/2s!). One of the local teams had at least 10 guys in today's race so you know what was going to happen (you just hope you were in that break!). I tried to get in some breaks early and they didn't stick. A few guys get up the road I tried to bridge and failed (damn lungs). As soon as I get back to the pack, about 8 more guys go up the road. God damn it, I hate it when that happens. They stay away. That's at least 9-10 guys up the road, so essentially race over. Why bother to even try at this point, may as well save it for tomorrow. 2 guys even lapped us (we were going slow as the average for my entire race was only 24.5 mph). During the field sprint, I really didn't try, I just wanted to stay up front and out of trouble and rolled in ~4th or so.

Here is my PowerTap file from the race. For some reason my Heart Rate monitor didn't pick up. The race starts at ~56:00 and obviously ends at ~1:53:00. For kinda dicking around, my average power was 218 and my Normalized Power was 262.

On may way out the door for today's race, the FedEx truck pulls up. They dropped off my other PowerTap Wireless wheel! Now I have both of my PowerTap wheels upgraded to wireless and can still afford to race.

No racing this weekend...

No race report for this weekend. Several things conspired against me to make sure I didn't race. I was treating today's race as an 'A' race and really looking forward to it. I had an easy week and tapered to make sure I was in peak shape too. Long story short, I thought today's race started earlier than it did and it ended up conflicting with a family function - there's that family thing getting in the way of racing!

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!).