Posted by Dan on 31. March 2010 08:08
This year's Jeff Cup was a bittersweet race for Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together. Our team has grown a bit, nearly doubling in size this season and our men's Cat 4 group is quite solid. With me Sunday was Wick, Mike, Justin and Frank. Both Justin and Frank recently upgraded to 4 and were looking forward to a well contested road race through the rolling hills of Charlottesville. The rest of us did this race last year as 4s and were relieved to see the sketchiness and anxiety levels had not changed in a year. It's human nature to resent change. Also racing were Steve M with the Cat 5 35+ and Taryn with the Women's 4s.
Our very own spring classic started out with the lot of us huddled in the car trying to stay warm after donning every piece of clothing we brought and anything we could mooch. Weather reports rapidly deteriorated from mid-50s and partly cloudy to barely 40 with a really really good chance of precipitation and finally settling with "Cold and super wet. Chumps."
Our pack of 125 was the first group to leave the parking lot and make its way via "neutral" roll-out to the start/finish line. Justin's first Cat 4 race began with a flat in the roll-out. The wheel truck caught up with him and he was rolling again, thanks to Chad Holm's "last in, first out" wheel. Justin re-attached and the go/slow/stop?/go Neutral Roll-out of Terror drew to a close as we crossed the line and got the Green Flag of Muted Happiness. The pace didn't change much, but it did become more consistent.
The first time around, the climb always seems exceptionally mild. So mild that I thought maybe we'd taken a wrong turn. By lap four, I still felt that way despite the field being strung out and halved in size. Thank you Hunter Allen.
With the initial drama out of the way, we all settled in and waited for the ensuing attacks. Wick was first off and I thought I was doing a great job loitering near the front, holding back the chase with sheer force of will. Eventually he was caught and there was no counter-attack. Sorry about that. There were a few more, but they didn't last. Clearly everyone read Mike Fawell's account of last year's race on GamJams and was waiting to give it hell over the hill on the bell lap. A lack of clothing, poor weather, wet concrete and elevated pucker factor were enough to drive Wick back to the car after two laps. The rest of us trudged on.
After the final turn on the final lap, Justin was next to me, Frank was a few wheels back on my left. Mike had slipped off the back on the last big climb but was diligently chasing. I remember going past the 200m sign when Reid Morris's mount inverted itself, depositing him on the deck immediately in front of me. So I hit him. Hard. Broke my newly built 2010 Trek Madone 5.9 carbon fiber frame into two distinct pieces held together by frayed cables. Matt Keane, not one to be left out of good pile up, took a running start at the carnage and went down too. You've probably already read the other accounts of riders coming around the final corner to find three dudes on the road, or Frank's recollection of sprinting through the final few hundred yards and seeing my shredded jersey where there should have been no jerseys. I just want it to be known that I would have won that race - easily - had I not gone down. I'm just sayin.
Justin managed to execute a flawless finish and snatched 2nd place. Frank tip-toed through the carnage and sat-up for 50th and Mike took 62nd. Matt Keane even peeled his bike off the pavement and finished 67th. I didn't know we could do that.
After my brief stay in the ambulance, I was released to my Subaru which I used to seek food. Bloodletting always makes me hungry. My apologies to Taryn and Steve for missing their races. Were I able to hop up and down while shouting encouraging things, I would have. Taryn had a good finish in her race, besting the remnants of a 43-rider field in the bunch sprint while chasing a break of 6.
Having been dealt the biggest losing hand of the day, I'd like to say I should have stayed home. Truth is I'd probably do it again, but this time I'd follow Justin. Thanks to Ruth Stornetta, Monticello Velo Club/Blue Wheel and everyone that made this 20th anniversary Jeff Cup happen. We appreciate it. Now buy me a new bike.
Posted by Dan on 24. March 2010 19:27
by Wicknasty
Last year, Dan asked me to do a Pro/Not Pro article once in awhile for the blog, but as usual, I am taking about a year to get around to doing it. First thoughts for the Not Pro went out to the Frank and Justin 80s montage jump high-five, then yougotdropped swooped that one from me.
So here I am trying to crank this one out so I can get back to studying for my test at 2.
Pro:
ME being in a picture on VeloNews.com. Sure, I'm obscured by one of the 47 bike rack riders in this Cat 4 race, but still - I'm on VeloNews. For the record, this article was about the Wounded Warrior team whose doing the RAAM. Great guys, greater project.
Not Pro:
Cav forgetting to tighten the quick release. Nice rocktape, big guy. Petacchi, you're about to get your clock cleaned on this one.
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Pro/Not Pro
Posted by Dan on 23. March 2010 05:24
I'm writing this on Monday evening, a full two days after 540Cycling's Vint Hill Classic held in Warrenton. Since then, I've had the pleasure of reading several blog posts from riders in the various races. While most attendees claimed this was their first race of 2010, I almost feel ashamed to admit this was my 6th, maybe 7th. So we'll strike the "first race" excuse off my list of reasons why I didn't rob some Cat 3 of their Pants Points.
Maybe it was my strong desire to NOT get on the road at 4:30 AM to make the start time of 9:15 or maybe I wanted to perform well in the Cat 3/4 race. Whatever the reason, I passed on the 4/5 race and signed up for only the one. Wick was to join me, but we all know what happened there. He graciously let Mike Shipp take his spot so I wouldn't feel completely alone in a field of 81 other riders. Mike and I ventured north to meet up with Frank, Justin and Adam, all of whom would be competing in the Cat 4/5 race at 9:15.
Frank recently upgraded to Cat 4 and was looking forward to his first mass start as such. Justin is hot off a streak of fantastic results, including two wins and a second place in his last three races. Adam was happy to check off the Race #2 box on his list of 10 Mass Starts. The latter two were both on the wait list so the mere fact they both got in had nothing to do with devine intervention and more to do with a promoter who was willing to take one for the lowly 4s and 5s. To that promoter who was most certainly chewed out by an irritated ref after the race, we salute you.
By the time we arrived on-scene, their race was long over. Justin and Adam had hitched up the wagons and headed south to Richmond, while Frank lingered to photograph the remaining races. Frank told stories of a high-speed through the wind, around three corners and up a small hill. A great deal of sketchiness and an exploding rear derailleur made the highlights reel. Read more about the 4/5 race here.
Mike and I readied ourselves for the Cat 3/4 race, aka the Inaugural 2010 Cat 3 GamJams Cup. Anytime there are pants on the line, you know it's going to be fast. 82 or so riders took to the line after a single warm-up lap. Matt Latyszonek (Fat Frogs) chatted our way around the course, talking about how cool those pants were gonna be when we rounded the final turn and found 80 other guys already on the line. Cool. Charlie Brown's teacher mumbled some sort of instructions and we were racing. Moving up was a chore. Narrow backstretch, wind and 81 other riders made it a wee bit difficult to deposit oneself on the front. From my vantage point, I saw no one solo off the front, or anything elsef or that matter. After six or seven laps, I was eccstatic to find myself near the top 10, but it didn't last.
Two riders - GamJams and NCVC - were dangling off the front so I bridged up. I drove way too far to sit in for an hour. We took a few good pulls, redlining the whole time. Unfortunately, I was the weak link in our break of three. After two laps, I couldn't pull through and we were caught just after the hill. I cautiously allowed 20 riders or so go by so I could sit mid-pack and recover. After half a lap, I heard the moto-ref just behind me.
So now we've got five to go and we're all getting antsy. I'd move up, lose a few wheels, reclaim them and be on the back again. Funny how that worked. On the bell lap, I surprised myself with the speed at which I tackled the final climb and was nearing 38mph when the guy to my left said, "Don't worry about. Don't go." Thanks to him, I was NOT the guy who sprinted for 18th. I wound up with 24th. Mike took 51st.
After the race, I remarked how fast this race was. After looking at the numbers, it wasn't. 25.6 mph was the average speed for 47 minutes. Average power was 243, normalized power was 290. And there you have it. It felt fast because I spent 45 minutes sprinting out of every corner just to hang on.
Mike wasn't as fortunate. He slipped off the back after 10 laps or so and went into training mode. He briefly considered jumping on the pack as we blazed by, but ultimately decided not to. He crossed the line in 51st place.
Jeff Cup this weekend. I believe this will be the first Cat 4-only race of the season. For weening purposes, I'll be doing the 35+ Cat 3/4 race too.
Posted by Dan on 15. March 2010 20:17
In stark contrast to last year's event, the 2010 Dismal Dash Time Trial was almost pleasant. I'd give it a full 'pleasant' and perhaps 'cheerful' if it didn't end with fits of coughing and scattered vomiting. Kale Running reported the temp to be 51 with SSW winds ranging from 6 to 20 mph (mostly 6 though). Much better than last year's miserably cold and wet conditions.
Representing Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together was me (and the cough), Steve Knott and Frank. Frank and I would compete in the Cat 4 group and Steve the 50+. After a semi-decent warm-up and a mad dash for the head, I made it to the line with literally 15 seconds to spare, not realizing I was in my little ring (a 42T, but still little). On go, it took me a while to convince the reluctant front derailleur to cooperate, but I did make it into the big ring and settled in for the ensuing pain. Aside from some confusion at the turn-around point, where four course marshals seemed to be directing me much deeper into the turn than was necessary, it was a fairly good ride. Afterward, I let my lower respiratory system punish me with some pretty decent coughing. No vomiting, but it was close.
And the results were:
Dan - 1:00:08.60 (3rd)
Frank - 1:08:20.25 (22nd Eddy Merckx-style)
Steve - 1:18:20.50 (19th)
Plan for Conquer the Canal is to leave the decidedly un-aero URI at home. Lots of event pictures will be uploaded to Need to Bike's photostream.
Posted by Dan on 10. March 2010 02:53
The sequel to 2010's Snowball Crit was twice as exciting, twice as crashy and just as warm as the first. Our team showed up in full-force to help set-up the course and contest the C and B races.
Steve Monk (above), Justin, Frank and Dan Ranschaert all lined up for the C race composed of Cat 5s and Juniors. Stated goals prior to the start were as follows: Justin was going to attack from the line, Frank wanted to go after 3 or 4 laps, Steve was shooting for a pack finish and Dan opted not to share his goals, so they are assumed met. After a lap and a half, Justin couldn't wait anymore. He was really hoping for a faster pace so he set one. Frank hopped on his wheel and the two of them opened a healthy gap. The kind of gap that feeds on electrolytes and determination and leaves puddles of lactic acid and a frantic main field as it grows. The two were joined by another rider and possibly a fourth that was sent back to the pack. While changing and preparing for our warm-up, the three of them came sailing by, trying to make sense of the split times they were being given. Wick helpfully told them to "Stop trying to add and just GO GO GO!" And go they did. The three eventually lapped the field. Justin and their third rider moved to the front in preparation for the sprint. Justin took the sprint and Frank casually rolled across the line mid-pack, comfortable with 3rd place. Steve and Dan both finished with the pack. An outstanding race for all four.
Justin, Frank and company.
The B race was arguably less exciting until the bell lap. I've been losing sleep to whatever URI-crud is going around. My lungs feel as though they've been stuffed full of wet cotton that my diaphragm is diligently trying to expel with all its might (to no avail). Disregarding the finest medical training the Navy would give me, I suited up and raced anyway. Wick, Steve Knott and I headed off for 45 minutes of fun in the sun in the third race of the day. Despite my respiratory frailty, the pace seemed a bit slow and I found myself thinking of how to remodel the downstairs bathroom while coasting through the straights and braking in the turns. For the most part, it was your typical Cat 3/4 race - pretty quick, a little sketchy and no one got away. Wick and I chased down the one group that seemed like it had the legs to succeed, though reports from the sidelines indicated they'd broken up and weren't working well together. They were reigned in over the course of a few laps and the rest was pretty quiet. Even after over-exerting myself during the chase, my lungs still felt relatively good. On the bell lap, the jockeying for position began in earnest.
Photo by Kevin Horvath
While the final turn was about 300 meters from the line, the race would be won by one of the first ten people around that turn. In the middle of that turn, I recall being about 20 wheels back with Chris Dinsmore to my left on the outside. Wick was immediately behind him. Though I missed the inciting incident, I did see Chris's bike sit upright and continue to roll to the outside, right into Wick's line who was trying to get by on the outside. Chris was already on his way down and Wick soon joined him. Reports said as many as four went down, but Chris and Wick were the only two left when I made it back around following the sprint (which I completed somewhere in the top 15 - or so I choose to believe). As I made my way back to check on my fallen comrade, the coughing began and didn't quit until after I'd drank roughly 6 bottles of water while sitting in the ER. Wick needed 20 stitches to close up a sucking knee wound and a gaping hole in his elbowflesh.
Photo by Kevin Horvath
Monday, Wick boarded a plane bound for Colorado to go skiing over spring break. We wish him the best of luck and hope he doesn't end up the victim in his own sequel. The rest of Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together will be here training, taking advantage of the nice weather, getting ready for the first BAR event of the season - the Dismal Dash Time Trial.
UPDATE:
Lots of pictures uploaded to Flickr:
Lydia's pictures are here
Adam Leopold got a ton of shots of the Womens, Cat 5 and Cat 3/4 races.
Posted by Dan on 1. March 2010 06:40
Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together got a taste of how the rich and famous NASCAR crowd lives courtesy of Team Nature's Path/3 Sports. For those brave enough to endure the cold and winds, the Richmond International Raceway Crit gave us a beautifully banked, variable radius circuit to abuse for a few hours, both with most expensive carbon goodies and in some cases, our faces.
Both Frank and Justin were able to squeak into the Cat 5 race. Employing a novel technique once described to me by the triathlon-biased Tim, a rider rumored to be a triathlete went off the front and time trialed his way to the finish. Whoda thunk it? Justin tried to bridge up and expended quite a bit of energy in his valiant attempt. He eventually drifted back into the pack and finished mid-pack. Frank raced more conservatively and clung to the front, coming in 6th in the bunch sprint, 7th overall.
I did the Cat 3/4 and Masters 35+ races. The first one was fairly fast and didn’t let anyone get away, culminating in a bunch sprint. I came in somewhere around 20th. Riding with the more experienced and upper-categories in the second race was a lot different. They all seemed more confident and relaxed. No yelling at one another, very little bumping. A group of 10 or so went off the front from "go", later splitting into 3 and a chase group of 7 that shelled a riders off every so often. Everyone else was comfortably protected from the wind in the main field. A few tried to bridge attempts were quickly caught. Not wanting to drive all the way from Norfolk only to sit-in and not work, I did a little more in this second race, spending a little too much time on the front in the headwind. With 4.5 laps to go, I got a severe hamstring cramp. I sat up made for pit row. The main field kept the momentum up and managed to catch the chase group, but the three leaders kept their lead with Chuck Hutcheson taking a solid 1st place.
I have mixed feelings about the track. It was cool to race on Richmond International Raceway, passing through a tunnel to get to the infield, surrounded by spectator seating and registering in the “drivers’ lounge”. The course was a D shaped track with a pretty serious bank that only track riders would be familiar with. You learn quickly to the unique features to your advantage, such as using excess speed to drift to the outside, then letting gravity advance you a few places when dropping back in. On the downside, the bank caused crowding near the inner edge of the course. There was an epic crash on the bell lap of the Cat 5 race which. Fortunately, neither of our guys went down. There was another crash in our 3/4 race that happened in the same place, just off to my left. All I saw was someone’s rear carbon wheel coming up over their head. I didn’t hang around long enough to see the result, but I heard the familiar crunch and for some reason, the image of Happy Gilmore pulling the sweater over a heckler's head got stuck in my mind.
The lessons learned from this race were easy ones: If you’re racing Cat 5, 4, or even 3, chances are no one is getting away. In that case, there is no reason on earth why you should be anywhere near the front. There is no accordion affect going around corners or mini-sprints to catch up. It’s just motorpacing, as Wick would say (and has). In the Masters 35+ race, where talent and experience are more plentiful, you WANT to be near the front and prepared to cover any moves. The two upcoming Langley Speedway Crits will give us ample opportunity to test these theories.
Lydia's pictures will be posted to Flickr once the camera thaws.