my weekly race log

Did the 4th cat race at Hog Hill today and got my best result so far. We started off with a field of 38, but judging from the results the bunch was whittled down to just 18 of us by the end. There were quite a lot of lapped riders and we nearly had a mass crash while trying to overtake one on a tight downhill bend.

I was able to stay in the bunch relatively comfortably (I mean, it was hard work, but not beyond me and easier than the 3rds/4ths race last weekend), kept making the effort to move up, and stuck my face in the wind at the front a few times for the sake of getting position. With just over two laps to go I tried a dig off the front as we approached the bottom of the climb. I was hoping two or three would come with me as there was no way I could hold everyone off for two laps, but I looked round at the top of the hill and I was on my own with a gap of maybe 5 seconds. Predictably enough I got reeled back in half a mile later. Then it got a bit cagey and I lurked in second place while everyone looked at each other. Then on the hill there was a big attack which I just couldn't go with and I found myself sinking rapidly back. I chased down the descent at 40mph to get back on and for the first time ever managed to take part in the sprint finish up the hill landing 13th place.

Next time round I think I'll finally get some points on my licence (i.e. finish in the top ten): I was only a handful of seconds away from first place and might well have got in the top ten today if I'd saved my legs instead of launching that doomed attack (but you've got to try it every now and then).

was living nervously at 47.8 mph, spun out in 54/11, on aerobars, while sitting on the nose. really glad i was not on the disc. it's not even much of a downhill, we had a 25-35mph tailwind for that leg. my goal was 40 mins (25mph), did 40:12, that made for an energetic final 500m while i thought i could make it. according to the official distance, that puts me over 25 mph still but barely.

i didn't place well, but i take some solace in the fact that im the only unattached rider in my category and the other riders are pretty into it.

oh, this years' course was 16.5 mi, so i missed.

quick insight into my recovery techniques. after the race, changed into regular riding gear, then i got a free 15 min massage from lmt at venue, who was xtra cuet. then, i
powered down a really nice free local ipa. then i headed out for a warm down up over old stage, about 700 feet of climbing maybe, about 45 mins w/ buddy. i felt great.

That is a great recovery imo!

And great results all around!

zirbel back from shortened suspension did like 32 minutes and beat second by 2 minutes. *fear*

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/zirbel-to-race-tour-of-the-gila

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_2jSPp0oajLY/TarnqcZ4WoI/AAAAAAAAEcU/Nq6zzFqcYZ4/s400/Copy%20of%20DSC_9117.JPG

I raced two stages (as an amateur) of a 4 day pro stage race which is held at a very famous race track in the Central Californian coast.

The first stage was a 60 min crit... kind of out and back over a hump in the middle with two TIGHT s-curves at each end. Pretty technical and a little too much elevation then I'd prefer. 35 starters, pace was pretty brisk from the gun, a few breaks attempted but nothing stuck. With 2 laps to go the field is getting strung out and I'm top 15 when wheel #5 comes into the s-curve a little hot and kisses the pavement. Top 4 attack, leaving the rest of us (about 20) to avoid the carnage and chase. It wasn't in the cards so I stayed out of the wind until half a lap to go, then took the front and didn't let up. Won the pack sprint by about 3 bike lengths. Got top 5 which was my goal and was stoked. Would have preferred to take a shot at the whole field but crashes happen and you just have to accept that.

29.8 miles
24.3mph
avg pwr 278W (3s = 980W, 1m = 437W, 10m = 311W)

The second stage was just awful endless misery. It's the full 90 minute circuit of the famed racetrack which looks reasonably flat when you're looking at MotoGP or Racecar footage but 6% climb every 2.2 mile lap with a 9% kicker and then a cruel 3% false flat to the summit was beyond kryptonite for me. I barfed 3x, lost contact with the lead group after 7 laps (halfway) and finished in the grupetto. There were about 50 starters and I took 21st so you could imagine the attrition.

31.2 miles
21.5mph
avg pwr 297W (3s = 1139W, 1m = 468W, 10m = 361W)

Finished off the weekend with a long-running (41 years!) crit in a hippy college beach town about 90 minutes south of SF. Kind of a classic course: brake-squealing hairpin into a pot hole pocked descent and then a few tight chicanes/turns and back up a punchy power climb to the finish. There were about 50 starters and most of them were racing on fresh legs so I was hanging in "the sprinter's lounge" until 1 lap to go and then I put in a surprising move to go from 40th wheel to 5th... and then... the power climb. I had good position but call it fatigue, brain-fart, some other lame weak-ass excuse but I just popped on the hill about 300m from the line and got swallowed alive. Bad racing, probably suffered too much with the whip-lash compression that comes with tailgunning a technical course but whatever, I got a good workout at least. Kind of an oddly consistent race, 21 laps: fastest lap 25mph, slowest lap 24mph.

16.6 miles
24.5mph
avg pwr 296W (3s = 1064W, 1m = 428W, 10m = 317W)

One deece result, 2 caca placings in the hillier events... something to be gleaned here, not sure what it could be... hmmmmmmm......

Holy shit you're looking fit dude.

lol. i've not found a pic of me. zirbel's quads look like something off a racehorse, eh?

hahahhaha, i just clicked the image and missed the text above it. zirbel's riding clean again ya? O_o

http://www.sportifimages.com/BikeRacing2011/Haystack-Mtn-TT/1200-hrs/16645968_sjB8sW#1254919447_PSNK47g-M-LB

ah, here's one. as you can by lever position, that's a 54-11. that might never happen again, doing between 38 and 45 mph, i'm not sure where that was on nelson rd. starting to get my position dialed if i can get my elbows in a leeetle more and a saddle that does not basically rip my bits off after 20mins. and of course 10-15 lbs min, but uhhhhhhh.

losing 10-15 lbs is not the fatmantis way!

shasta did u enjoy the famous 'c0rkscr3w' section of the well-known circuit?

http://i.imgur.com/oPfKp.png

that's over 1/4 mile at 40-50mph... 14 times. :D

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/216427_10150168232662585_90969637584_6829111_6824360_n.jpg

yesssss

here's a vid of my teammate soloing off the front and me doing my job (tailgunning)... at the end I "drop" off an empty bottle with Mrs. Shasta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMbYkD_VpnQ

saturday i had a _1.14 mi_ section at average 41.68 mph, max 45.2 mph. on a _separate_, earlier segment, the fastest .35 mi had an avg 44.17 mph, max 47.04 mph. ;)

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/Haystack.jpg

wonder what zirbel did through that shit.
xpost

awesome pics shasta

The first stage was a 60 min crit... kind of out and back over a hump in the middle with two TIGHT s-curves at each end. Pretty technical and a little too much elevation then I'd prefer. 35 starters, pace was pretty brisk from the gun, a few breaks attempted but nothing stuck. With 2 laps to go the field is getting strung out and I'm top 15 when wheel #5 comes into the s-curve a little hot and kisses the pavement. Top 4 attack, leaving the rest of us (about 20) to avoid the carnage and chase. It wasn't in the cards so I stayed out of the wind until half a lap to go, then took the front and didn't let up. Won the pack sprint by about 3 bike lengths. Got top 5 which was my goal and was stoked. Would have preferred to take a shot at the whole field but crashes happen and you just have to accept that.

Our field was shattered (only ~1/2 starters finished), found this guy (who we lapped) who started filming the last 2 laps of our race (including the crash), you see me a couple times in varying degrees of form (bad then good), ha:

http://contour.com/stories/race-video-sea-otter-crit--2

as i crested the hill about 2/3 way through my tt last night i realized that blood was spattered all over my legs, my bars, my lower face and the front of my skinsuit. dramatic.

took 35 secs off my time, but most people were faster, so no change really.

uh....... why?

dunno, guess i had extra.

it was just a nosebleed.

i was wearing a funny 1990s nwt skinsuit that i bought off ebay for cheap, so it got broken in properly. my old team skinsuits are (finally) done. the uh, "mature" guy who helps with event officiating laughed when he saw the skinsuit and said "i bet i'm the only guy here who even knows who that company was!"

Celestial Zinger?

WHERE DID BLOOD COME FROM? NOSE?

dude!

yeah, it was a nosebleed! no biggie, it stopped before i was even done racing.

the skinsuit is rather nice, it is a parkpre suit from 1997 i think. since it was for mtb racing, it even has two small flush pockets on the back, which is pretty great.

i had a rebadged parkpre steel road frame for a year back in the mid 90s, i feel i can wear this suit.

i do not look this pretty in my parkpre skinsuit

http://gallery.roadbikereview.com/data/roadbike/500/paolacurves.jpg

Aero hoop earrings

they did not come w/ my skinsuit :(

i do have shoecovers tho

Not exactly topical any more (because I've been without a computer for a week), but this I think this photo shows me powering off the front of the pack with two laps to go in my race last Saturday (before being caught and nearly dropped by the time we came back up the hill with one lap to go):
http://www.londoncyclesport.com/index.php?option=com_jphoto&view=image&id=4591:eagle92&Itemid=79

Awesome. That hill looks brutal for a short race course.

shasta i need to borrow about 20 watts on wed to make ends, with all u got im sure you wont hardly notice. thx.

Aw any time dude, it would be my honor to do a two-man TTT with you at some point.

Did the most ridiculous boomerang shaped crit today: 2x 75-degree sharp corners, then 2x180 hairpins for good measure. Basically sprint intervals, throwing in some late-afternoon intense winds that came out of nowhere. I did a lot of work to stay in the front to avoid the accordian effect, dealing some damage here and there (field got whittled down pretty quickly). Then a strong rider attacked and got a good 10 second gap, no reaction. Then I got stupidly caught off-guard when 2 other strong riders bridged up. Two of the three guys in the break had teammates that immediately took the front and slowed shit down so I did a "roll-off"/soft attack and somehow got about 10 seconds up on the field but still 10 long seconds to the break. I was burying myself trying to get up to them but they were content to stay away for the insta-podium. Ended up spending the last 6 miles in solo no-man's-land TT as the break's gap grew but nonetheless I was also putting time on the ever-dwindling peloton due to the brutal winds and severe course layout.

I ended up 4th.
14.9 miles
22.8 mph
avg pwr 244W (3s = 1102W, 1m = 352W, 10m = 264W)

Vid (warning: dull 20 second gaps)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GYYiOJFEiI

thx! 6 mi sounds excruciating.

Back at Hog Hill again today for another 4th cat crit. It was a hot, sunny day and very gusty - annoyingly the wind was either a headwind or awkward crosswind round the whole circuit except coming up the hill. There were 33 starters, but the pace was fast from the off and the bunch got whittled down and down (a crash on the second lap didn't help matters). The race was supposed to be an hour long, but they were running behind schedule and decided to shorten it to about 45 minutes. I was still there in the bunch when they announced five laps to go - I counted and there were 13 of us so whatever happened I was going to equal my best performance in a race of this level (set last weekend). It was getting really strung out in the closing laps and I was right at my limit - with three to go I found myself last in the line and it got stretched into single file and I had to bury myself to stay in contact. With two to go I dropped off, with one to go I was about 20 seconds down, and at the finish I was maybe a minute behind. I either got 12th or 13th - I'm waiting for the official results. When I left they only had the results down to 11th place, which suggests I was 12th as I was the last to get dropped and the first person behind the bunch.

Here are three short clips on different parts of the circuit of the race before mine which I took with my phone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6N2uI_s7xY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJWaBlvoIl0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO3kVQFpp0I

My weekly face of pain shot (but I do like my shades):
http://www.londoncyclesport.com/index.php?option=com_jphoto&view=image&id=5203:bill273&Itemid=79

ROAR! I AM A MIGHTY LION!

My best performance so far - way beyond my expectations.

I had my second attempt at a proper road race (as opposed to a closed circuit crit) today, once more with the vast majority of the riders being 3rd cats (i.e. better than me) and over a distance far greater than any race I'd ever done before. My previous effort at the end of March had ended in miserable failure (dropped after just 4 miles), so I wasn't even entertaining thoughts of finishing this race - just gaining experience and trying to avoid embarrassment. Amazingly I managed to stick in the bunch the whole way - I nearly lost contact a few times, especially for the last 15 miles when my thighs were cramping up, but I dug in and moved up whenever I could and rolled in with everyone else after more than 60 miles at 24mph. I've got so much more self belief now.

Wow! Well done.

Did two races today at a flat fast crit course.

Race #1 was a crashfest, 100 racer field, 3 major crashes. We spent 4 laps neutralized including being neutral with 5 to go, and then again with 2 to go. Not fun. I did a lot of work racing with my legs, not so much with my head. With 1 lap to go I found myself in front so I decided to just stretch things out, I got swallowed up with 400m to go. Sat up.

Race #2 was more tactical... our sprinter (!!!) got in an early 7 man break that stayed away for about 80% of the race. The other 4 of us patrolled the front, trying to latch onto any bridge efforts but with about 3 to go it all came together. I was #2 in our lead out train, in charge of a 90 second effort through a twisty headwind section delivering the remainder to the home stretch for the bell lap. Things went almost according to plan except that our sprinter got dropped off about 400m which was a bit too far out, esp as he had done quite a bit of work in the break. We salvaged 6th which was in the money, so we got a little deposit into our beer fund. Good times.

does this humongous ass make my ass look big?

http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/Cycling-5-dollar-downloads/Road-and-Time-Trial-2011/Cherry-Creek-TT-3-2011/16819890_mHbFMm#1269142111_Gb8Jp3b-L-LB

"mountain moon"

stunning!

(not your ass)

lol