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What Tim saw:
Category: E4
Result: 25 of 100
started the race at the back of the pack. I chilled there for the
first 30 minutes of the race. With 4-5 laps left, I made my way to
the front, and for the next couple of laps I maintained my 10-20th
position.
Going through the start/finish with 1 lap left, I was sitting 3rd row
(but we were 10 wide), and I was on the inside. As we came out of
turn 1, my shoes unclipped and I lost a couple positions before re-
clipping and going into turn 2. On the back-straight, I made my way
up to about 6th wheel, but was facing a little wind. Coming out of
the final corner I jumped around the wheel in front of me and started
my sprint, but was blown away by about 20 other riders by the time we
reached the line. Yea, crazy, I know.
I'm not really not sure what happened. I think I may have put in a
90% sprint effort in and thought people just wouldn't try and come
around me (I'm Tim Bisson after all ;) ). I may have also left my
wheel 100 meters too soon. Who knows, it's just crazy to go from 5th
to 25th in 200 meters.
As you can probably imagine, I'm a little frustrated with today's
result, mostly because I was sure I had a top 10 in me. Also, on the
last lap, near the middle of the back-straight, I had the opportunity
to take a flier to see if I could hold off the pack for about 4/10 of
a mile, but I chickened out again.
I'm not gonna last a lap at Patterson Pass, so I'm gonna bow out of
that race; anyone want to use my Patterson Pass registration? To
satisfy racing addiction, I sucked it up and reg'd for the San Luis
Obispo crit this weekend. I will definitely put 100% into my sprint
this time...
See you all tomorrow
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What Keith saw:
Category: 55+
Result: DNF
Teammates: Garry,Carl
Sigh...
First, the excuses:
1. This was my first Criterium in a year.
2. Have'nt been attending team sprint sessions.
3. Race was supposed to be staggered start.
4. Ate a banana 30 min. before race.
5. Criteriums aren't my thing.
Second, the results:
1. Bad position at start went to worse position on second lap.
2. Punted out of the race by the competition on the third lap.
3. Spent 3rd lap whining.
4. Withdrew from race after 4 laps.
Thirdly, the accomplishments:
1. Did enjoy a nice breakfast with the wife.
2. Did register and show up for the race.
3. Did make one nice 100 yard acceleration on second lap to bridge
back into group.
4. Did spend time with FF homies.
Fourthly, the lessons:
1. There are no freebies.
2. Attend sprint sessions to build conditioning, confidence and
skill in racing in corners.
3. Get on a wheel, any wheel will do, just grab one and hold on like
a dog.
4. Recover and move up to next wheel, any wheel will do, just grab
one and hold on like a dog.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 above and move to step 5.
Sigh...
Thanks for reading.
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What Richard saw:
Category: E3 and 35+ 123
Result: Various
Teammates: Garry
A flat criterium within 30 minutes of home - how can I refuse that? So,
I raced Timpani today, and for a while, I do mean "raced".
Elite 3 - with Garry
A medium to large sized group and it was certainly a 3s field with
surges and pauses and too many people trying to go round corners together.
The frequency of the surges was quite high early on which asked
questions of the legs, but I survived and during the mid part of the
race was able to recover a little, but I still didn't feel comfortable.
With 4 or 5 to go I met up with Garry and asked him if he wanted a ride
up to the front. He declined and shortly afterwards I was able to follow
some wheels and then put in an effort to get there myself. As the laps
wound down, I was able to surf the surges and maintain position near the
front.
But I knew I was burning matches, the question was, how long could I
survive up there. The answer came at the bell... I tried to go with a
big surge as we crossed the line, but the legs were spent and I drifted
backwards. Out of turn 2 on the final lap I had no legs left and I
slipped out the back and rolled in after avoiding the downed riders on
turn 3 (they looked ok).
Masters 35+ 1/2/3
I was spent after the 3s race, but some food and water helped me recover
and I decided to start the Masters race to see how it would go.
The answer was that it went well. As often reported, this group is
(generally) a lot smoother than the 3s and the surges when they come are
from an already high speed to even higher, not medium to super high.
This means that there is less bunching making it both easier and harder
to move up. Easier in that if you have the legs, taking some wind is
almost always an option as there is room available to move up. Harder in
that you cannot use the lulls as an opportunity to thread yourself
through or around the field with momentum.
I managed to survive and with the cornering being smoother and higher
speed, was having lots of fun. I rolled in towards the back of the
group, attempting to sprint in my 53x12...
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What Garry saw:
Category: E3 and 45/55 open
Result: Various
Teammates: Richard,Carl,Keith K
First race E3
Team mate Richard (at last)
Lack of motivation and a bike with a Bottom bracket that was making squeaking noises so loud it was embarrassing that I did not even warm up. Rode from car to the course (300 yards) and 1 lap (1 mile), freewheeled as much as possible and Lined up.
Pretty uneventful. Lucky for me, the pace was casual for the first few laps and I stayed near the back third, hoping the sound of 70 pairs of churning wheels would drown out the complaining BB. This was achieved with some skill. With 5 to go RB asked whether I wanted a tow to the front, but I declined the offer to irritate the whole field with my gruesome squealing bearings and stayed at the rear. Due the slow pace, lots of players thought they would win and of course the inevitable happened when some dudes ran out of real estate and went horizontal. James Lo of AV did a nice cartwheel on the dusty verge on the last assault up the home straight. I rolled in at the back.
We averaged about 26.5 for the 50 minutes.
Second race, immediately after the E3, the Masters 45 / 55
Team mates Carl and Keith K (at last, at last)
Smaller field, no real big hitters attended.
40 minutes later I followed Carl to the finish, just half a length behind him. In between I trimmed the hedge on turn 1, but that was the extent of the adrenaline inducing moments. Finished mid pack.
We averaged 25.8 for 40 minutes
LG is a Big club with a useless results service. Why can't they be as good as Us (Richards system)
Thanks for reading
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