2009 Reston Town Center Grand Prix

Posted by Dan on 30. June 2009 02:22

I've always tried to write my posts to the novice cyclist interesting in racing but hesitant to take the plunge and pin on a number. Or maybe I don't. By now, you are probably familiar with the formula: wake up at dawn, eat, travel, register, dress, warm-up, race an uneventful or super exciting race, then list several good reasons why I didn't come in first. In the interest of brevity, we're going to assume all of those are constants and we'll dive right into the race part.





Kyle and I did the 3/4 race. This was to be Kyle's only race and I entered it because it seemed like the best possible warm-up for the 4 race later that afternoon. Kyle and I both found ourselves in the last row at the line up of 80-some riders, even after they did the call-outs and the pack moved up to the start. The pace took off at a blistering speed and immediately got down to shelling riders off the back. It was actually pretty sweet to move up a few places, wait half a lap or so, look back and see... no one. Anyone deemed 'no longer in contention' was yanked. Kyle ran into some mechanical issues of an unknown origin and pulled out to swap wheels. He got his free lap, but was only with the pack a few more laps before he pulled out again with the same problem. This time they didn't let him back in. So I moved on, secretly thankful that I didn't have to live up to my pledge lead him out in the sprint. So the remainder of my race was spent near the back, which grew closer and closer to the front with each lap. Crashes took some while an official with a whistle nabbed the others. I dodged several crashes, at one point swatting a flying bike away with the back of my hand. I'm not going to lie - I felt a bit like Moses parting the Red Sea. So with 2 to go, I started moving up in earnest. I felt very good and had basically been sitting in the whole race. I know I made up 10-15 positions before another giant crash after Turn 5 split the field but good. I'm going to say 19 riders were in front of that one because I finished 20th and led the chase to unsuccessfully close the chasm. This race was probably my favorite race of the season - I felt strong and the course was awesome. Very technical with a great downhill to recover on, an easy hill that regularly slowed the field down and a decent finishing stretch wide enough to accommodate a spirited sprint. I just wish I'd have moved up when I had the chance.

Within a few minutes of the finish, it started raining. From this point forward, the reader should assume the course is wet and very slippery. I don't believe it was actively raining when the next race started, but it doesn't matter - the splash from a billion race tires make it seem like we riding in a hurricane. Moving on...

At 1:30, Wick and I showed up for the Cat 4 race with guest rider Jarrett. This time, we moved up on the left and got ready to stay in the top 20. 100 riders in this one so being in the back meant working to stay alive. On go, everyone crashed. The end. Seriously, there were crashes nearly every other lap. Turn 5 grabbed so many riders that anyone with a camera wound up there, squatting in the median, ready to get the "action shot" that would make them famous. I tried to smile at them all each time I went by, but smiling wasn't always easy. Wick stayed right near the front (and vertical, I might add). A break of 4 went up the road. Wick gave chase for more than 2 laps and was less than 3 seconds away before he blew up and drifted back to the pack. Rather than drifting all the way to the back, he dug in and stayed in the top 5. Smart move. He was there for the rest of the race.




EXCUSE ALERT!!!
Meanwhile, in the back of the pack, I learned that riding a Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase tire on the rear with wet pavement and crosswalk paint was just stupid. Each and every time I hit paint, I felt the back tire slide out on me. The front was a Bontrager Race XXX Lite 700x22C and never slid an inch. The rear was slippery as a greased eel. I had to stand the bike up vertically to avoid sliding out and hang off the side, into the turn, to hold onto all the speed I could. All of this was very upsetting to one Bike Rack rider, who in a most impolite manner told me to 'learn how to corner'. This coming from a guy who spent the entire race behind ME. So my story goes like this: at the back the whole time, couldn't corner fast enough to stay with the group so I was constantly working on the uphill to catch back up. I burned all my matches and then some in the first 40 of 60 minutes. Eventually, I sat up and pulled out. Enough was enough. Back to Wick.




So there's Wick, still sitting third wheel with 4 riders off the front. Their lead is up to 59 seconds. There was no hope of bringing them back, barring of course a crash, but they knew their lines very well. The break finished and the pack sprinted. Wick wound up with 12th - a legit finish for someone that worked as hard as he did. Well done, Wick.




Now we go back to Kyle. Kyle had the whole Crashfest 4 race to examine his bike and try to find the cause. He entered the 1/2/3 race after thinking he'd fixed it. Unfortunately, under stress, the biked started rubbing again. His rear tire was rubbing the paint off the inside of the left chainstay. A 404 and (true) training wheel both rubbed despite being seated correctly. Strangest thing. So Kyle was unable to bust out his fast twitch muscle fibers and give those northern VA pansies what for. Here's to hoping he takes his A bike to Fitchwich.

The Reston Town Center Grand Prix rocks. It's important to keep in mind that the fields are huge, the pace is fast and you will work for your position. This race does not lend itself to being an A race because of the variables, especially when it rains, but it's fun. And that's why we'll do it again next year.

Smithfield HAMmer Fest 2-Man Team Time Trial

Posted by Dan on 27. June 2009 22:57

Tim and I drove up to Smithfield this morning for Virginia Beach Wheelmen's Smithfield HAMmer Fest 2-Man Team Time Trial. I think this was an experimental run to see how well received this type of race would be. Apparently very well, as we were 40th off the line with 4 more teams behind us.

Having no PowerTap was a bit uncomfortable, but it wouldn't have mattered much. It took us a good portion of the ride to get a good rhythm going and by then it was nearly over. Thresholds don't mean much in a TTT, so I went looking around for strategies and tactics. Apparently TTT strategies are like gold as no one wants to share them. Or no one cares. We decided to go with the "1 minute on, 1 minute off" technique. This worked OK for awhile, but eventually morphed into a rhythm that favored the stronger rider, whoever that was at the moment. Practice sessions would have helped, but in the long run, this type of race is all about how quickly you can recover from a short but hard effort). The guy on the front should be killing himself (e.g. 110%+ of FTP) for a short period of time, then ducking in to recover while his teammate does the same. This should repeat over and over until the finish line comes. Assuming both riders are nearly equal in ability, long pulls mean someone's riding at their threshold and that defeats the purpose of having a team. Anyway, ride and learn.

We crossed the finish line in 1:03:09. Our goal was sub-hour, but that wasn't very realistic given the rolling terrain, numerous corners, winds and inexperience. It's not impossible, and I'm sure we'll nail it next year. Our time got us 3rd place in the 2-Man TTT Men's category behind the Hincapie Development Team and Seigler Sports, neither of which broke an hour.

Thanks to Joshua Goyet and all of VB Wheelmen and the volunteers that made this race happen. It's good to see a non-BAR race so well attended - especially by people who aren't trying to justify the expense of a TT bike.

Thanks to Mike at East Coast Bicycles for helping out with the last minute aero things.

2009 Fiorucci State Senior Time Trial Championships

Posted by Dan on 24. June 2009 04:55

Day Two of our Championship Weekend found us in Stony Creek, VA, on I-95 just south of Petersburg for the 2009 running of the Fiorucci VA State Senior Time Trial Championships. This was a killer 40K (40km if you want to be correct, which I usually do) time trial on an access road running parallel to I-95. 20K out, 20K back. The weather was much more conducive to competitive cycling with temps in the low to mid-80s, but the winds could have been a bit more... consistent? wunderground.com forecast 10-15mph winds from the WNW shifting to N later in the day. What I found was winds that were blowing at 15 mph, gusting up to nearly 20 mph and coming from wherever you were least expecting them to.

So here goes: we got up at 6:00, loaded the usual TT gear into the van (TT kit includes bike, clothign, gear bag, pump, trainer and 2 kids). We stopped for Gatorade and coffee and then headed west to 460. Arriving nearly an hour and a half prior to my start time of 10:23, we setup the tent, trainer and bike. Got registered, dressed and warmed up with enough time to hit the porta-potty and run down the road, shifting around to give the appearance I knew what was going on.

Of 16 Cat 4 riders lined up alphabetically, I was in 14th in line. Ahead of me was Dominik Meier and Matt Keane, the BAR contenders with a strong desire to turn in a good time and Chris McMillan, winner of PLT #1 with a time that made me whimper a bit. Oddly enough, there was a gap in the line where one Chris McMillan should have been, so I was filled with hope for a good finish.

At 10:22.30, I moved to the line and thanked the official for complimenting my bike. If you like getting compliments on your bike, get one of these from East Coast Bicycles. I've been complimented at every time trial so far this year. At 10:23 on the dot, I was given the green light and took off like a bat out of Manhattan at 5 PM on Friday. I actually chose the right gear this time and was able to get my cadence right without running up the power. I quickly settled into position and checked my PowerTap for confirmation that what I felt was about 300 watts was in fact 300 watts and not 500. My PowerTap, eager as always to provide me the data I so desperately craved, told me I was doing 27 mph with a steadily increasing heart rate of 155 and a power output of 150 watts. Yeah, 150 watts.

This is one of those demoralizing moments that can wreck your whole ride. I know I've been riding a lot - boosting training by about 25% in the past few weeks. I've done a lot of 3+ hour rides and a ton of sweet spot training, not to mention doing a pretty fast 20 mile crit the day before. Could I have finally overtrained to the point where I couldn't get my power above 200? On the other hand, was it mathematically possible to ride 27 mph in ANY sort of wind on a flat-ish stetch of road with only 150 watts? Probably not. PowerTap MUST be broken. So now I have no power to go by (which is fine, as constantly watching power in a TT will unnecessarily restrict your performance) and a heart rate that I've been unable to get anywhere near my typical TT rate. Not much to be done now, though, was there? So I quit looking at the thing and road hard enough to cause very heavy breathing. It seemed to be working because I passed a ton of people.

The road had a few good downhill stretches, but not enough to get into 56x11. 56x15 maybe. The uphills were pretty weak too. The biggest hurdle of this ride was the wind. Trucks headed south on 95 would cause a blast of air to rush over from the interestate. The actual winds were coming from the WNW, so there was a solid crosswind anytime I rode by a field on the west side of the road. My wheel choice was the standard HED-3 and aero disk covers which actually seemed ok. The trick to aero wheels like these is your speed and the resulting relative wind speed and angle. If you're going fast enough, a dead-on crosswind will still hit you at a relative angle that results in drag that can be reduced with a good wheel. That speed is generally > 25 mph, so I don't think I was hindered at all by riding the tri-spoke.



The rest of the ride was your typical time trial stuff. Hurt a lot, lots of sweating, cursing and weaving. A lot of soreness in places that you just don't want being sore - ever. The finish line eventually revealed itself and I let loose with what could be loosely called a sprint. About 30 seconds after I finished, I heard the familiar voice of Chris McMillan. Apparently he missed his time but rolled to the line shortly after I left and was allowed to start. He seemed to have had a pretty good ride, but lost a lot of time due to the late start.

When the results were posted, I was in 2nd place with a time of 0:57:27. First place went to Matt Keane of Fat Frogs Racing Team with a time of 0:57:10. And that put a lid on the state time trial championships. First thing we'd do on Monday morning is contact Saris Cycling Group for help on why my PowerTap let me down. Average power for the whole race was reported as 201 watts, yet analyticcycling.com says I'd need something on the order of 317 watts to pull that off.

Here are the results (xls) as posted on the vacycling.org listserv.

Pictures were graciously taken by Lydia and showcased on GamJams. You can see them here.

Keep reading for Saturday's Virginia State Senior Championship Criterium report.

2009 Virginia Senior State Champsionship Criterium

Posted by Dan on 24. June 2009 02:34

This weekend was all about state championships of various types. Saturday, Team Nature's Path brought us the Virginia Senior State Championship Criterium in Richmond. Temps were supposed to be 95 with a heat index of 100+.

In attendance for the big event was Steve K., Wick, Kyle, Cal Cycling Team's Jarrett Streebin and me (and my entourage). At least one of us would be in each of the Cat 5, 4 and 3 races, ensuring anyone going home with a medal at the end of the day could rest assured they earned it.

First up was Steve Knott in the Cat 5 race. Steve would be the day's first victim of circumstances beyond his control. Everyone (except me) brought their B bikes to this very technical crit course, given them that sense of security in knowing their good ride wouldn't be trashed if (when) someone did something stupid. So Steve set out on his bike to realize that the brief downhills were significant enough to warrant full 53/39 chainrings instead of the compact set he had on. He ran out of gear on the downhills and that repeatedly caused gaps that were hard to cover over and over again. Fotunately, that was the extent of the aforementioned circumstances.



The team's next race was the Cat 4 race, one with which I am intimately familiar. Today's objective was a) do no work, b) bridge to any promising breaks and c) be ready for the bunch sprint. We did 50 minutes which equates to 20 miles or so at a pace of 25+ mph. My normalized power was 277 which is pretty decent for a crit. During our 50 minutes we saw a few unsuccessful breaks and a few split fields. Jarret, Wick and I hung out in the safe zone - not necesesarily near the front, but far enough from the back that we weren't killing ourselves on each turn. The exciting part, of course, was immediately after the 180 degree turn on the bell lap. I searched around for a promising wheel and found the race favorite's. Seemed like a good idea to stick to it like glue and maybe take him at the line. What I didn't expect was that he'd slow and wait for his own wheel to come by. When it did, he darted right and I was immediately boxed in - I had all of 5 feet in front of me and would have to give the right or left guy a few feet in order to get around. Unfortunately, the line came up too fast and I the best I could do is to fill in that 5 feet and hope for a good finish. Wick was in an even worse position - directly behind me. I finished 10th, Wick 13th and Jarrett 29th. The lesson I'll take away from this race is simply this: When it comes down to the sprint and you don't see a gap, make one and make it fast.



We left the course and the 3s moved in for warm-up. Kyle was out for a win. He appeared to be in good form so it was likely he'd get it. Their race was a bit faster and tended to fragment easily. Kyle did a great job staying right where he needed to be - near the front but not on it, not killing himself in the break but working hard enough to reel them in. With two laps to go, more of those circumstances beyond one's control reared their ugly head and Kyle was bumped/pushed into another rider (Josh Goyet) and broke a spoke, taking him out one lap before the big sprint, which he was certain to win.

And that ended our Championship Saturday on the West Creek Parkway in Richmond. You can see full race results on the promoter's website.

Thanks to Lydia for taking loads pictures, many of which are featured on GamJams.

My first blog

Posted by Dan on 22. June 2009 18:59

So I have finally decided to try and write a blog for the website! After my past couple weekends of upsets and bad luck I am still super motivated and feeling likesuperman on all of my training rides. I have actually been training like I am supposed to for a couple weeks now after healing up from my wreck. Currently I am setting up a trip to go up to the Valley Preffered Cycling Center in Trexlertown, PA for a month of Track racing! I dont really know how to do the cool link thing so here is the website www.thevelodrome.com you should check it out. This week we are just goofing off by the pool shooting tin cans with BBs and riding...ahh the life of the unemployed Cat 3 cyclist! Also this week Wick, Jarrett, and I will be heading to Richmond to do 3 nights of crit racing in the Kazane working man's classic! Should be fun I think the 1/2/3 races are gonna be super fast...check out the start list on www.bikereg.com. After that couple of days we will be heading up to Reston for the crit up there then I will be doing the Keirin tournament in Richmond on Monday night put on by www.carytownbicycles.com. If you have never seen track racing you should make the trip up to Richmond on the 29th to check it out and you can google what a Keirin is to get an idea of what you are in for. Well time to go hang out with the guys so I hope you enjoyed my first blog and quick update!

Kyle

The Peter Teeuwen Memorial Omnium 23 Mile Time Trial #1 (whew!)

Posted by Dan on 17. June 2009 20:19

Sunday was the Peter Teeuwen Memorial Omnium 23 Mile Time Trial #1 on our old friend, Shillelagh Rd in Chesapeake. As far as time trials go, this was pretty uneventful. Chesapeake Airport's automated weather observation system reported winds from the north about 4 mph. That meant a nice push to get things going and a little resistance coming back. The push was actually pretty decent, as my average speed approached 30 mph in the opening stretch. It was right around 80 degrees and muggy. I nearly dehydrated myself on the trainer long before my start time.

My start was good, which is a constant worry these days. I don't know if it's a problem with my Keo pedals or the new cleat placement, but I frequently miss the clip-in and have to pay far too much attention to the process. Anyway, that didn't happen on Sunday. The PowerTap helped keep things under control in the first few miles, letting me know when I was getting a bit too overzealous. Once my rhythym was established, I quit looking at watts and focused on keeping my heart rate up as close to LTHR as I could, which turned out to be harder than clipping in.

My average heart rate for the entire run was 169 bpm. My max is closer to 181, or at least it was last year. I was able to keep my HR at 175 bpm during the last 40K TT I did which was about a month ago, so seeing the PowerTap consistently reporting 167 was irritating. Working harder just made me tired.

I passed 5 or 6 riders and managed not to get passed myself, so it was all good. Final time was 0:51:48 which was good for 4th place, +1.55 from first place rider Chris McMillan of Hefler Performance Coaching. Average speed was around 25.8 mph over 22.4 miles. Normalized power for the duration was 284 watts - also a bit low.

So that's the baseline PLT #1. Two more chances to break the 50 minute mark. This is a great course and I highly recommend the next two TTs to anyone even remotely interested in time trials, currently scheduled for 7/26 and 8/2. I'm sure Mark and crew at Fitness Together in Norfolk can help you deliver a killer time. Maybe he can get me below 50 minutes...

If you can't wait until then, head to Stony Creek (south of Richmond) this Sunday for the Fiorucci VA State Senior Time Trial Championships. Bring all our aero as it's reported to be very windy.

Amphibious Assault Criterium

Posted by Dan on 15. June 2009 03:17

Finally! Not since the Casey Auto Group Crit in April have we had a local crit. This weekend was the 11th annual Amphibious Assault Criterium on Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk, a race around the giant hover craft of the ACU4. This was my first year doing this race but I was all too familiar with the LCACs having hauled them around the Mediterranean for many months. Joining me to represent Team Fitness Together on this glorious day was Wick, Kyle and Steve Knott.

We were asked to provide a list of names of all guests accompanying riders (twice) along with the make/model and license plate number of any vehicles we would be bringing before race day. I rolled up to NAB's Gate 3 fully expecting a fully-body cavity search by MPs and dogs, but was surprised to be waved on after flashing a driver's license and saying "Bike race." Security schmecurity. We rolled into the parking lot with enough time for me to hit the registration table and get my number and complimentary pins (I'm building a scale model of a goth college student) before it started raining. The course was occupied by the unfortunate Cat 5 group which included our (soaked) man Steve. I didn't see much of the race as I was warming up for my own race, but I did catch Steve roll across the line just behind the bunch sprint. Results haven't been posted yet so I don't know what place he was in.



The rain subsided while Wick and I geared up for the Cat 4 race. The usual local faces were there plus those from out west intent on climbing their way up the BAR ladder. There was plenty of standing water to soak my new-ish Bontrager RXL shoes from East Coast Bicycles. Nothing like riding for an hour is soaking wet shoes. If only someone made some sort of Lycra shoe cover... The rain quit and there was just enough breeze to start drying course. Wick made a few aggressive moves that were quickly countered so he drifted back into the group and waited for the bunch sprint. After 20 minutes, I somehow found myself on the front chasing down a Tripower rider that had a small gap on the field. I convinced myself it was OK to chase as long as I didn't exceed my FTP, which I did not. We assimilated him, but I spent a total of 15 minutes on the front. Eventually, I too drifted back into the pack, staying near the front. I think I was in a short-lived break with a TNP rider, but we too were assimilated after a few laps. Long story short, I was on the front the last two laps and missed my chosen wheel in the sprint. After I missed it, I couldn't catch any and finished 15th. Wick's wise maneuvering landed him 6th place. The lesson here can be summed up with the Latin phrase "Primum non labor" or "First, do no work." I will have this embroidered on my bar tape and possibly etched into my sunglasses.



Next up was Kyle's Cat 3 race. The rain was on and off, the wind was there then not and the conditions were never optimal for super fast cornering. The Cat 3s looked like they were having fun, though. Their pace was faster than ours (because I wasn't the one on the front). A break of six went off with one of them eventually lapping the field. Another of them went off by himself and the remaining four did their own thing for awhile. The rest of the group was settled in for the long chase. They eventually sprinted for 7th place. Again, results not posted so I don't know how Kyle did.

Kyle stuck around for the 1/2/3 race that followed the women. Another blistering pace coupled with his tired legs had Kyle pull off and enjoy the rest from the comfort of the driver's seat of his truck. I can't say that I blame him.

Team Fitness Together is hitting everything that moves, sometimes with the intent on doing well and sometimes just to say, "Yeah, we were there. So what?" It's pretty safe to say we'll be there again next year. It was a great course and a well run race. If they'd throw in a kids race, it'd be even better. If they could convince ACU4 to fire up the LCACs and blow-dry the course, it'd be the best.

Pictures have been posted to our flickr page. Enjoy.