Norwell Circuit Race - Pro-3 Race Report

I signed up for the Norwell Circuit race because my fitness is at a good point, and I have been fortunate to podium there in the past – even though the course isn’t flat, and it has an uphill finish.

I decided that I would race both the master’s race and the Pro-3 race.  The goal for the master’s race was to win, and the goal for the Pro-3 race was to be an active participant and finish within the top 20.  I only did the SMR portion of the group ride on Saturday, but I felt really good and won the final sprint at the Cookie Jar – staying ahead of the crash near the finish in the process.  This, on top of how I felt at Yarmouth the week before, was a good confidence builder.  

My start time for the master’s race was 10:00 a.m. and the start time of the Pro-3 race was 3:00 p.m. – planning an hour to get my number, warm-up, and partake in my typical pre-race routine, adding 30 minutes for any traffic delays, and then adding it the drive time of 2.5 hours meant a Falmouth departure time of 6:00 a.m.  This didn’t seem too bad the night before, especially since I had left at 4:30 a.m. to head out for a race with Jon a few weeks earlier.  It didn’t seem too bad until my alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. Saturday morning, when I decided that I would rather sleep in and head out at 11:00 a.m. and only take on the Pro-3 race…

I left on time and started getting excited, but a bit nervous about the race.  I hadn’t gone far when I was reminded about Sunday traffic leaving Maine – crap, I hope I allowed enough time!  Stress began to build, as I hit two places on the turnpike where accidents slowed traffic to a crawl.  I watched the predicted arrival time creep to 2:15 – barely enough time, but still doable.  From NH through Boston, the traffic was heavy, but still moving at a good pace, then as soon as I hit the south side of Boston, traffic came to stand-still again!  Time was ticking away, and I was sure I would miss my start.  I ended up rolling into the parking lot 20 minutes before my start time, ran in to registration, pinned on my number, downed a Red Bull, and hopped on my bike for a lengthy 8 minute and 37 second warm-up!  Oh well, at least the stress had gotten my heart rate up.

I lined up at the start, and saw several familiar racers:  Jurgen and about 7 of his team-mates from Embrocation, Jeff Yingling from OA, Mark McCormack, Frank McCormack, and John Grenier from Clif, and Skip Foley the beast.  Met Life, Zip Car, Hot Tubes, Apex, and several other teams were well represented, so I figured the race would be won in a break, and I quickly changed my plan to be present in that break if at all possible.  That is, if I had the motor.

The race started neutral from the school where we staged until we were on the course.  The official told us the point where the race would start, but I wasn’t paying attention.  The official also told us that we would have the whole road – nice!  We rolled out, and although it was neutral, I decided that I should move to the front, so I kept advancing positions through the middle of the field as spaces would open.  After a couple of turns, we took a left, and the group was immediately single-file – I guess the neutral portion was over!  Met Life was putting the squeeze on the field, probably trying to cause pain and shake some riders who weren’t warmed up by putting them in pain and letting the start/finish hill complete the job.  Surprisingly, I felt good and popped up the hill with ease.  Only 13 more times to go!!

The next 3-4 laps were fast.  A break would form every time we went up the hill, and the field would chase it down, typically catching it just before we hit the hill again.  I was feeling pretty good, and I noticed many riders climbing beside me were breathing much harder than me, so that was a good sign.  I would spend most of each lap making sure I was in the top 10-15 when we hit the climb; that way I could watch the breaks to see what teams were represented.  Most only had one or two teams and none had Mark or Skip, so I waited…

On about lap 6, I saw Mark moving toward the front, so I made sure I was ready.  Jeff Yingling was also up there, so I hopped on his wheel as we were going up the climb.  The leading 8 riders put in a surge and a gap started to open quickly.  The group included 2 Met Life racers, 2 Embrocation racers, Mark McCormack, Skip Foley, 1 Zip car racer, and another guy.  As I saw it go, I knew this looked promising.  The gap was opening quickly, so I jumped across.  I spent about ½ lap recovering and joined in on the pace-making.  My second pull unfortunately took us to the base of the hill – meaning that I would hit the climb at a very high heart rate.  It worked out alright, and I was able to keep pace up the hill.  Lesson learned – do not pull immediately before the hill!  The break continued to gain ground, and we reached a point where we couldn’t see the field – the uphills hurt, and the downhills were so fast that I was concerned about my tires holding in the turns.  After about 3 laps, we could see the field closing in – for some reason Embrocation was leading the charge, even though their team-mates were in the break.  About ½ lap later we were caught, and I was gassed.  Time to hide and recover.

The remaining laps were fast, but no substantial breaks formed.  People looked tired, and even though I have spent a bit of energy in the break, I still felt alright.  We passed the start/finish with 1 lap to go, and I immediately started to move up whenever the group slowed.  I was planning for the finish; I knew the outside line would be the fastest (there was a 90 degree turn just before the climb), but it would also be the riskiest in the event of a crash.  I decided to take the risk, so I shifted left in preparation and continued to position throughout the lap.  In the final mile, Met Life was driving the pace super-hard, and my legs were feeling it, but I was maintaining position in the top 20.  About 100 meters before the turn, one of the Met Life lead out guys pulled the chute and swung left because his job was done.  Unfortunately, I had to pause and re-accelerate when going around him.  Then we hit the turn – crash!  Three riders collided and crashed in front of me, but they slid left and didn’t slow me down.  I started charging up the hill as hard as possible, passing riders as I was trying not to crack.  I crossed the line in 16^th place – solid finish, goal met, and best of all no crashes and a solid performance throughout the race.

Thanks for reading...

Jeff

Brownstown Road Race

I happened to be in Pennsylvania with my wife and son for my son’s regional soccer tournament, and I noticed several races in the same area during the same time period.  Once the soccer schedule solidified, I noticed that the Brownstown road race was within riding distance from the hotel, and it didn’t conflict with any game times, so I signed up.  I took a look at the course description “rolling with a finish at the top of a climb” – I am a crit guy, not really a road racer, and definitely not a climber, but I thought, this is Lancaster county – they don’t actually have climbs.

I didn’t pre-ride or scout the course, but I did catch a ride the day before.  I ended up being on the bike for a little over 3 hours in 103 degree heat – and I did hit a 1200 foot climb!  I focused on re-hydrating immediately after the training ride, hoping that it the heat and duration of the training ride wouldn’t impact my race performance the next day.  That evening, I mentioned the race to one of the other soccer parents, who was also a cyclist, and he decided to come along to check it out.

Race start was around 10:00 a.m. so we rolled out of the hotel at 8:30 – it was supposed to take about ½ hour to get to the course, but I wanted to leave enough time to pick up my number, get familiar with the finish area, and hopefully watch some finishes before my race.  The ride to the race on the rolling Pennsylvania roads was nice, but I could notice the temperature starting to increase very quickly.  I could tell it would be hot, and I was hoping that it wouldn’t reach temperatures like the day before.  We arrived at the start/finish, I picked up my number, and watched a couple of finishes.  The finishing “climb” was not that big, and it was followed by a long, straight, slightly uphill stretch to the finish.  After seeing this – it actually looked like a good finish for me.

The plan:  I saw several large teams, it was hot out, so I knew that there would be many attacks, but I also knew that I had to choose my efforts wisely.  Since I didn’t know any of the racers, my plan was different than it may have been otherwise:

1.        Go with all attacks for the first two laps, just in case there were any Fabian Cancelleras in the field.

2.       After that, pick and choose who I would go with.  Any less than two off the front would be ignored.

3.       If it came down to a large group sprint, crest the hill in the top 10, and hold on the sprint because people would likely sprint too early.  A late kick and shorter sprint should be the best option.

The race began as expected.  Attacks started on lap #1.  I ended up being in every other break because the teams were very organized and would continually send riders up the road when a break was about 200 meters from being caught.  Fortunately no-one seemed exceptionally strong, so by lap 3 I became a little more relaxed and started spending more time in the field.  On lap 4 on a long flat before the biggest climb (to the start/finish) I went to the front and decided to turn the screws to shake out the strong people.  I put in an 85%-90% effort up the climb, through the start/finish area, and for about a mile more.  I noticed people really suffering on the climb, and the field split – this gave me good confidence for the finish.  I didn’t realize it until afterward, but my friend told me that riders were also popping off the back as they went by.  From this point on, stayed in the top 10 and only went with large groups.  

On the final lap, we had 2 riders off the front.  Not ideal, but not a disaster.  I decided to roll the dice, and hope for things to come back together.  I rolled to the front several times and took my turn in pursuit, but by the last mile I could see that we would be sprinting for 3^rd.  So as soon as we moved onto the long straightaway before the finishing climb, I rolled to the front in preparation to surge with any last minute attacks.  We hit the base of the climb and I took the far left side next to the gutter because riders had been avoiding that section (the pitch was slightly steeper).  That allowed me to pace with the surges and stay with the leaders until we crested.  As soon as we crested, several riders began their sprint, just as I expected.  I waited a bit longer and started mine.  I was able to rip through the few people ahead of me pretty quickly and I was closing in on the last two people at the front drag racing to the line.  They were relatively close to the left side of the road, and the right most rider had his head turned toward the rider on the left, so I decided to swing right and try to blow by them before they knew what was happening.  I was successful and ended up winning the field sprint by a little more than a wheel for 3^rd place overall… 

New Britain Criterium Race Report

The day after Stafford Springs, I had made plans to make the trip to Connecticut again to race with Jon.  Although Jon had suggested heading down the night before, I pressured him into a morning departure, because I had my fill of hotel rooms over the past couple of weeks.  Since Jon was racing master’s 55+, we had to leave at 4:30 a.m. to ensure on time arrival for his race – it was really, really early!  We met at the Scarborough park and ride, loaded my gear into Jon’s car, and started out for New Britain.  Conversation was good; we discussed tactics, and I tried to give Jon the course overview because I had raced there many times in the past.  For those of you who have not raced there, you have to try it once – it is a super fun course that was actually built for bicycle racing in the early 1900’s.

Jon had a fantastic 55+ race, where he pushed the pace and split the field several times.  He ended up just outside of the top 10 mostly due to a last lap effort to ride away from the field that didn’t quite make it, but definitely put a large group of people in the hurt-locker.  However, I will let him provide a more detailed report on that race.

45+

Immediately following Jon’s race, I lined up for the 45+ race.  I scanned the group to see who showed up.  Again, I saw many strong riders including Brian Wolfe, Mike Norton, Dave Bailey, and more.  I wasn’t too worried about a break forming and sticking, but I wanted to stay toward the front of the field just in case.  Lap 1 rolled off, and Dave Bailey’s Audi team-mate attacked bringing another rider with him, who I will call Sparticus, because he had a Sparticus sticker on his bike.  I was concerned because it looked like it might be an evil Audi plan, so I bridged across as quickly as possible, only to be joined by Dave, the other Audi rider, a few seconds later.  Sparticus seemed strong, and I knew Dave was super strong because I have seen him ride away from the field in the past, so I really thought we might stick a surprise break.   We took turns working to increase the lead, which unfortunately began to shrink within a lap, and we were eventually caught.  

A couple of laps later, a tall Sunapee racer jumped off the front and was soon joined by Sparticus.  I decided not to join, but instead to sit near the front in case I had to bridge at any point.  The field wasn’t in a rush to catch them, but they didn’t really allow the group to gain much more than 5-10 seconds, so I wasn’t too worried.  They stayed away for a few laps, then I could see the gap grow to 15-20 seconds, which started to cause a bit of concern.  I rolled to the front to take a pull and speed up the pace to bring them back, hoping that others would help out, but they seemed to be satisfied with my effort.  Since no-one was pulling through, I spent the next lap closing down the gap without going too deep.  I wanted to remain fresh for a big sprint.

Once we were back together, the race proceeded with several soft attacks, which were quickly brought back.  I continued to monitor and go with anyone who seemed strong.  Nothing stuck for more than ¼ of a lap.

With 5 to go, I went into the finish plan:  Stay in the top 5, continue to move forward, cover any late attacks, and stay positioned for a big sprint.  By this point Mike Norton (a.k.a. Terminator), Sparticus, Tall Sunapee, and The Audi guys were mixing it up at the front.  Sparticus tried to get away a couple of times, so I stuck to his wheel.  Terminator was doing his usual bumping, and one of the Audi guys was particularly sketchy.  As we were coming into the last lap, I got bumped by Sparticus and went into the dirt for a second, but I was able to slide back into the group and only lose a couple of places – so instead of being 3^rd wheel, I was riding around 6^th.  Terminator then put in a big surge down the right side and brought a small number of riders with him – crap, now I was in 10^th-12^th place.  On the back stretch before the final turn, I got out of the saddle to move up on the left side – I was able to gain a few positions, but was still not where I wanted to be.  We came into the final turn, I was on the inside line, and came out of the turn somewhere in the top 20.  Bummer, the outside line ended up being MUCH faster.  I started my sprint about 300 meters from the line and felt fast, but was only able to get by about 7 riders, so I ended up 13^th.  Pretty disappointing because I should have done much better, but still a solid result.  Data afterward showed that my sprint topped out just shy of 39 mph, so I am happy with everything except my final lap position and line choice.

Pro-3

We had to wait around the entire day for the Pro-3 race to kick off, so we spent a good part of the day watching races, which included another strong showing by Jon in the category 4 race.  During the waiting period, I elevated my legs, stayed in the shade, fueled, and hydrated.  I know the group that was lining up at the start, so my goals were far less ambitious than they were for the 45+ race.  I wanted to move effectively though the field throughout the race, feel good at the end, and squeak into the top 20 so I could hit a pay-out.   Having almost 100 fit racers line up with me would make this a reasonable, but sufficiently lofty goal.

The race was fast, averaging 28.7 mph, and temps were in the 90s, so I focused on moving up whenever possible (if you aren’t moving up, you are moving back), and I made sure that I remembered to drink throughout the race.  Several small breaks went off the front of the group, but I wasn’t planning on being that active, so I stuck with my plan.  I would move up on a long sweeping uphill turn on the back side, and I would move up again on the long stretch through the start/finish area.  I found that as long as I was willing to get in the wind and throw down some wattage, I could move up whenever I wanted.   The entire race was a lot of fun, good surges, close riding, and a large enough field to keep me on my toes until…

With 4 laps to go, I was riding about 1/3 of the way back in the field, and was starting to solidify my position in the top 1/4 well before the final two laps, because I knew that moving up at that point would be really tough.  On the sweeping uphill turn, Jeremy Powers made an abrupt move to the right to shift to the outside, and he subsequently pushed a rider into the curb which started a chain reaction and brought down several riders.  I was quickly closing in on the “pile” without any gaps to ride through, so I continued to slow as quickly as possible and targeted the lowest section (two bikes with overlapping wheels on the ground).  As I hit the bikes, my bike started to endo, so I unclipped and somehow was able to leapfrog my handlebars, jump the “pile”, and land on my feet on the other side.  I quickly looked back and saw my bike on top of a rider, so I grabbed it to take off and chase the field.  Crap, my chain was off and jammed outside of my 11 – it took a few seconds to get it back on and start rolling again.  While I was fixing my bike I heard one rider moaning and saying ”I dislocated my shoulder”, another rider said “I think I broke my wrist”, and another was complaining about a broken clavicle, so all-in-all I considered myself lucky.

Once I had my chain back in order, I began in pursuit of the field.  I was able to re-integrate half-way through the 3 to go lap, but I was really gassed.  I had a hard time hanging on for the remaining laps, and did manage to move up and put in a dig for the finish, although it was far from a sprint.  I ended up with a mid-pack result – way out of the money.  At the end of it all I was happy, I felt strong, had fast racing, didn’t get hurt in the crash, and didn’t break my bike.


Next up is the Yarmouth Clam Festival race - I think my fitness is there, and I am ready!


Thanks for reading...


Jeff

Stafford Springs Race Report

Liam, Steve, and I made the drive to Stafford Springs, CT for a day of racing at the motor speedway on Saturday.  It was a typical July race day – humid with temps reaching into the mid-nineties… absolutely perfect!  Even though the course is in Connecticut, it isn’t a bad trip from Maine.  The drive took about 2.5 hours, which is 45 minutes to an hour closer than most other Connecticut races.

I like racing at Stafford.  The course is short (1/2 mile), so the number of laps can be a bit mind-numbing, but there is an interesting chicane through the infield, and the races are always filled with attacks, and the winning rider typically finishes in a break-away.  Even though the racing is fun there, a good finish has always eluded me – The chicane and subsequent bumping that can happen had put me out of position for the finish on two previous occasions.

Since I was coming off strong results from racing in Pennsylvania, I was really hoping for a podium spot in this one.  My plan:  absolutely do not let a break go away, and win the sprint in a small bunch of riders.  If a break of less than two is up the road, sit in the front of the field and be prepared to surf with any riders bridging across the gap.  I had planned on doing the 40+ and Pro-3 races that day, so knowing that I had Liam as a team-mate in the first race gave me confidence that I would not miss the move as he had committed to riding support if I asked for assistance.

We lined up with a relatively strong field.  I recognized several strong cat 1 and cat 2 riders, so I knew it would be a fun race.  The race immediately started at a brisk pace, not fast enough to put people in the red zone, but fast enough to require some serious wattages on almost every lap.  Attacks actually started on lap 1, so I was confident that this race would be the typical Stafford finish with a subset of the starting group.  I bridged/covered every substantial break, and I was in three breaks that looked like they would have a good chance of success, only to be pulled back by the field.  With about 8 laps to go, a break of 3 went away which included a Subaru rider and Danbury Audi rider that I recognized as being a big threat.  I jumped and spent ¾ of a lap chasing in the 53x11 and finally caught them.  We had a decent gap on the field, so I thought this might be it.  I was hoping to catch my breath when I tagged on the back, when the Subaru rider yelled “No free rides!” at me, so I subsequently rolled to the front and took a big dig.  The other riders subsequently took their turns, but it was futile as the group was closing in fast.  I stayed toward the front as we were caught, and another break immediately formed.  This time I was attentive enough to roll off the front with the 4 other riders.  This break was quickly swallowed up, and I knew another attack would come.  It came within seconds and I jumped across a small gap.  Within ¼ lap, another 12-15 riders closed the gap, causing a split in the field.  At this point there was about 3 laps to go, I could look over my shoulder and see the gap to the field increasing, so I knew this was going to be the finishing group.  Job #1 complete, make it into the winning move.  The group continued to keep the pace extremely high until the finish and unfortunately between the heat and previous efforts, I was too gassed to position appropriately during the final lap.  I still threw down a sprint at the end and ended up 12^th on the day.  That “good finish” eluded me once again!

The final sprint felt like I was sprinting through oatmeal, but a download of my data later showed that I hit 38.2 mph in the sprint, so I could have ended up with a good result if I had been in a better position... 

I rolled around the course for a cool-down lap – I was tired and extremely hot.  The P123 race was lining up, but I needed to recover, hydrate, and cool down, so I opted to skip the second race.  I had already told Jon that I would race in New Britain with him on the next day, and the P123 race would have crushed my recovery.

Liam rode strong throughout the race, and it was great to have a team-mate out there with me.  He spent a good amount of time toward the front, put in some big efforts, and offered to chase groups several times throughout the race.  I am looking forward to lining up at the start with him again soon.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff