After racing at the track the night before, I wasn't expecting too much out of this race. It was close by though, with some hills (apparently), so I felt like I really should go.
Don't feel like recapping much of this - I felt terrible, terrible, terrible for the first 3 (of 7 laps). I didn't feel comfortable riding in a pack at all - perhaps due to the sidewinds. I surfed the back pretty much the whole race, and had trouble riding close enough to the last rider to get any draft. Not sure what was going on with me - just felt sketchy. To make matters worse, I was tired, so being in the wind was really hurting me. Just not good.
Last 3 laps felt much better, however. I was at least 5-6 guys from the back (which meant I was at least riding in the pack), and felt better. I was in this race mostly for training, so I didn't mind too much, but was surprised I felt so sketchy.
Highlight of the race was seeing Westley Richards at the back with one lap to go, then noticing later that he finished second. How he moved up that fast and still had energy for the sprint is a mystery to me.
Track - May 7th
Last Friday was the first night of racing at the velodrome for 2010. It's considered "preseason" racing, but quite a few people showed up (30-ish) in the Men's A field. I was just happy to be back out racing on the track. Road racing is a good kind of tough, but nowhere near as fun as track racing. Plus, I don't get bored in track races.
First up was the 15 lap scratch - I told Josh before the race that my main goal was to try to actually do something in at least 2 races each night. It doesn't have to work out, it doesn't have to be smart, but I'm not going to just hop on the train for 3 races and sit in. So about 5 laps into this race, a JD and Brian from Hagens put in a little attack, and I jumped on it immediately. It wasn't particularly fast though, and the field was right there, so I attacked again from the front. This time, I created a little separation, and I kept the pace high for a lap or two, when Brian attacked the small group of 5 that had split from the field. So I chased him down, started the sprint, and found out that I didn't really have anything left in the tank. Totally fine with that - I did a ton of work, and got my first top 5 in a 1/2 race. Pretty happy with how aggressive I'd been - it's the first track race where I really made things happen, and ended up with an okay result.
15 lap scratch - 4th
Next up was the tempo miss and out. It's like a normal miss-and-out race where the last rider across the line is eliminated, but the first two across the line also get points. Once 5 riders are left, there's one more lap for points (like all the others), and the rider out of the last 5 with the most points wins. Basically, it's a miss-and-out, but fast. Usually, I barely try on these, since I invariably find myself in a bad spot and get eliminated. With the higher speed of this race though, there were opportunities to move up, and I started to understand how to box people in so they'd get eliminated. Somehow, I managed to stay in until the final 5 with Josh. I was so happy just to get to that point that I hadn't considered that I hadn't been accumulating any points, so I ended up in 4th or 5th. Still, I made it to the end of a 30 rider field, which I'm thrilled about.
Tempo Miss and Out - 4th or 5th
Last up was the 30 lap scratch. Not much to tell here - I followed moves, stayed near-ish the front, and was generally tired from doing tons of work in the scratch and miss-and-out. Definitely not used to how tough track racing is yet. Ended up something like 5-7th-ish, which is totally fine, but I don't have the same jump some of the other guys have right now. That's a bummer - something to work on.
30 lap scratch - 7th-ish
I ended up feeling a lot more confident from racing. I've been reading and hearing about super strong guys (Benny, Russell, etc) for a couple years now, and I'm blown away that I'm actually competing against them (and doing okay!).
First up was the 15 lap scratch - I told Josh before the race that my main goal was to try to actually do something in at least 2 races each night. It doesn't have to work out, it doesn't have to be smart, but I'm not going to just hop on the train for 3 races and sit in. So about 5 laps into this race, a JD and Brian from Hagens put in a little attack, and I jumped on it immediately. It wasn't particularly fast though, and the field was right there, so I attacked again from the front. This time, I created a little separation, and I kept the pace high for a lap or two, when Brian attacked the small group of 5 that had split from the field. So I chased him down, started the sprint, and found out that I didn't really have anything left in the tank. Totally fine with that - I did a ton of work, and got my first top 5 in a 1/2 race. Pretty happy with how aggressive I'd been - it's the first track race where I really made things happen, and ended up with an okay result.
15 lap scratch - 4th
Next up was the tempo miss and out. It's like a normal miss-and-out race where the last rider across the line is eliminated, but the first two across the line also get points. Once 5 riders are left, there's one more lap for points (like all the others), and the rider out of the last 5 with the most points wins. Basically, it's a miss-and-out, but fast. Usually, I barely try on these, since I invariably find myself in a bad spot and get eliminated. With the higher speed of this race though, there were opportunities to move up, and I started to understand how to box people in so they'd get eliminated. Somehow, I managed to stay in until the final 5 with Josh. I was so happy just to get to that point that I hadn't considered that I hadn't been accumulating any points, so I ended up in 4th or 5th. Still, I made it to the end of a 30 rider field, which I'm thrilled about.
Tempo Miss and Out - 4th or 5th
Last up was the 30 lap scratch. Not much to tell here - I followed moves, stayed near-ish the front, and was generally tired from doing tons of work in the scratch and miss-and-out. Definitely not used to how tough track racing is yet. Ended up something like 5-7th-ish, which is totally fine, but I don't have the same jump some of the other guys have right now. That's a bummer - something to work on.
30 lap scratch - 7th-ish
I ended up feeling a lot more confident from racing. I've been reading and hearing about super strong guys (Benny, Russell, etc) for a couple years now, and I'm blown away that I'm actually competing against them (and doing okay!).
Michelob Ultra Circuit Race
After getting my my Cat 2 upgrade, I had to skip out on Vance Creek (would've just been too long of a day), so I made the Michelob Ultra circuit race in Glenwood my first race in the 1/2 field.
I didn't really know what to expect from this at all - didn't know if I'd get dropped, hang in okay, crash out, take corners too slowly, or whatever. It seems like such a big jump from the Cat 3 race to the 1/2's that I didn't know what to expect.
I managed to make myself nervous enough that I figured I should just hang out at the back for the first few laps, which turned out to feel pretty fast. Not sure if they were actually fast or not, but I was wondering how I'd feel around the 8th lap if the pace kept up. Part of the problem was that people were getting popped, and I had to come around gaps to get back to the field. At 28-30, this ends up tough-ish for me right now. After 3 laps, however, I started to feel quite a bit better. I noticed that I seemed to be hurting up the small climbs a lot less than most of the people around me, which is a good sign, and I was able to move up pretty easily.
I really enjoyed the race - people where way, way more aggressive in trying to take spots, jump around folks, etc, but better bike handlers too. I felt very comfortable fitness-wise, and am pretty eager to mix it up in the upcoming races, at least a little bit. Everything about the race went pretty well for me, except the finishing sprint.
With 1K to go, I was near the back, and knew I didn't really have any shot at getting to the front in time, but I felt pretty fresh and wanted to at least put in a little kick for fun. Unfortunately, I decided to go up the wide, smooth shoulder, where we a guy the peloton just caught was going about 20 mph (we were going a bit over 40). I had to stand, grab two fistfuls of brake, and swerve to narrowly avoid missing him. Another guy jumped in front of me and cut me off when I was going about 5 mph faster than him. Fistfuls of brake again, and I shut it down to stay upright. So I'm still a bit nervous about field sprints, but I do think I can at least be up there, given that my problem was running into the back of other racers. I'm sure it's a totally different game in the top 10 though.
I didn't really know what to expect from this at all - didn't know if I'd get dropped, hang in okay, crash out, take corners too slowly, or whatever. It seems like such a big jump from the Cat 3 race to the 1/2's that I didn't know what to expect.
I managed to make myself nervous enough that I figured I should just hang out at the back for the first few laps, which turned out to feel pretty fast. Not sure if they were actually fast or not, but I was wondering how I'd feel around the 8th lap if the pace kept up. Part of the problem was that people were getting popped, and I had to come around gaps to get back to the field. At 28-30, this ends up tough-ish for me right now. After 3 laps, however, I started to feel quite a bit better. I noticed that I seemed to be hurting up the small climbs a lot less than most of the people around me, which is a good sign, and I was able to move up pretty easily.
I really enjoyed the race - people where way, way more aggressive in trying to take spots, jump around folks, etc, but better bike handlers too. I felt very comfortable fitness-wise, and am pretty eager to mix it up in the upcoming races, at least a little bit. Everything about the race went pretty well for me, except the finishing sprint.
With 1K to go, I was near the back, and knew I didn't really have any shot at getting to the front in time, but I felt pretty fresh and wanted to at least put in a little kick for fun. Unfortunately, I decided to go up the wide, smooth shoulder, where we a guy the peloton just caught was going about 20 mph (we were going a bit over 40). I had to stand, grab two fistfuls of brake, and swerve to narrowly avoid missing him. Another guy jumped in front of me and cut me off when I was going about 5 mph faster than him. Fistfuls of brake again, and I shut it down to stay upright. So I'm still a bit nervous about field sprints, but I do think I can at least be up there, given that my problem was running into the back of other racers. I'm sure it's a totally different game in the top 10 though.