Showing posts with label top10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label top10. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wonder Lake Criterium
I'd waited until the last minute to decide to race Wonder Lake, and I'm very glad that I made the drive out there for the race. The course was easy to find, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
When we arrived, I wasn't surprised that the course went through a residential area, though the mailboxes lining every street were a little disconcerting. No attacking in the gutter on this one! I took a preview lap of the course - smooth pavement, no sealant-filled cracks to get your tire stuck in, and a nice little downhill immediately before the finish. Despite all of these positive characteristics, I couldn't help but think that this course was quite narrow for the advertised field sizes. With the road as narrow as twelve feet(a guesS) between turns 1 and 2 I'm not sure what the officials would have done had the 4's field reached the limit of 100 riders - no way you could get that many out here without some carnage. With 24 starting riders, we still had a few issues but overall the 4's kept things safe.
In the past, I've had problems in staying at the front and have always been dropped. I knew that I'd be able to move around in the field since it was so small, so I allowed myself to move back and forth a few times. My track experience suits me well because I'm more comfortable in tight situations than I ever have been, but I found myself braking into turns several times and having to put considerable efforts in to make up for it. Backing off the brakes in lap four I found it much easier to keep my speed even and was grateful to keep my position through every turn.
Throughout the beginning of the race, I managed to stay in the top 10 wheels despite being on the brakes, but had been slowly drifting back. Around 10 minutes into the race, we came across the start/finish and a kid on a BMX bike cut across the course only feet from the lead rider. This really freaked a bunch of people out since we'd been coming through around 28-30mph, and many riders sat up. Capitalizing on this, a few people attacked, entirely mixing the field up. Within the next few laps, we came around turn 4 and got another "present" - someone had backed a white minivan out of a driveway and was sitting in the middle of the course as we came down the hill at 30mph right before the finish line. A rider yelled "we need to cool it a bit guys this is too much" and the race did seem to slow a bit.
Despite the general slowing, I wasn't interested in the probing attacks being thrown off the front by Bob, Dave and Tom so I allowed myself to drift back. The rubberband effect was noticeable but wasn't so bad because of the small field, but it was there. With the pace slowed, I moved up a wheel or two each lap to make sure I was placed well. Positioned in the middle, I noticed that people were starting to jockey for position, including the rider that decided to move up on my outside right before turn one. I felt handlebars in my hip, and noticed a mailbox coming up on my left so I took a quick glance - I heard a wheel rub and saw a flash of blue heading through someone's front yard. I pedaled HARD through turn one to distance myself from that lunacy.
With three to go and a predictable pattern of slowing/accelerating, I carefully chose my efforts to maximize positioning on the last five laps. Many props to the teamwork shown by Dave Dokko, pulling the entire field HARD and stringing things out for two or three solid laps. Sitting near the middle with with one to go, I made my move up the inside between turns one and two, then up the outside between turns two and three. I didn't make it up as far as I'd have liked on that last effort, but seeing four teammates ahead of me I knew that we'd have some good results on the day. Coming around the LONG outside of a sweeping turn four I put the hammer down, pushing my Tiburzi into a 38mph sprint and netting 10th place. Tom Briney closed a decent gap to take the top of the Podium, with Bob taking a respectable 6th place finish.
I'm hoping that Wonder Lake will be on the calendar for next year, but with some field size limitations and some additional staff to marshal the course. It's a fantastic area with great scenery, but isn't suitable for large fields.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Chicago Triathlon Race Report
2008 Chicago Triathlon Race Report - Aug 24 2008
Going into this race, I knew that I hadn't put the effort into it this year like I had in the year prior - my training schedule in 2007 was entirely focused on this race, with bike races as secondary. When planning this year out, I really thought that I'd be able to "do it all", mixing triathlons in with a full schedule of road races and crits... not so much. Over the winter I became much more comfortable in the water - a requirement for a race like Escape from Alcatraz. I hadn't been on a strict training regimen since June, so I knew that I would be "coasting" on residual swimming fitness since I'd only been in the pool a max of once a week for the last few months.
oblivious me.
For as many guys as there were in the wave, the beginning of the swim wasn't too bad. I quickly made my way up to the front third of the wave, only having to swim over the top of two or three people to get there. About 300 yards out my goggles fogged to the point where I couldn't see a thing, so I moved over to the seawall where I could lick the lenses - this did the trick and I was fine for the remainder of the swim. We were at the Shedd Aquarium before I knew it, while turning around the buoy I peeked back and realized that I was pulling most of the group - there weren't too many pink caps ahead of me! I stuck it out for another 200-300 yards and started feigning fatigue - no point in letting these suckers draft me for the entire swim - it was their turn to do some work. It only took a few "soft" strokes in the water to be passed, at which time I promptly jumped into the leader's wake and matched his rhythm. With 100yd to go, I kicked into high gear and oxygen debt, even managing to breathe bilaterally in order to get out of the water as quickly as possible.
The run from the water always sucks. My first year I did it without stashing shoes. Mistake. I had my shoes in a good spot this year, so I stopped to put them on, along with my xXx jersey that I had laid on top of them. I fiddled with getting my Garmin onto my wrist, something I shouldn't have wasted time with since it was going to be clipped onto the bike anyways... but who's thinking logically during T1 anyways? Tracy was right there to lend support - I don't know if she was talking to me, yelling, screaming, or had signs - I knew she was there but was so "in the zone" that the world was on mute.
this run always sucks.
I got to transition and my bike with ease - I had prewalked it and knew exactly where I was going. Not many of my wave's bikes were gone and for that I was thrilled and thankful... I've not had that happen before since my swim has always sucked. I put on my socks and shoes, donned my helmet and rolled out, putting my gloves on while maneuvering the bike with the other hand (that's really hard to do, by the way).
Starting out onto the bike course I knew my legs just weren't in prime shape - they felt sluggish even when I passed through the Oak Street Chicane. Sunday's headwind certainly wasn't helping, I could barely maintain 19 mph regardless of how I positioned myself. Encouraged by the spaceship sounds of my borrowed Zipp 606's (thanks, Mission Bay!) I tried my best to put the hammer down and get myself up to Foster Ave for the turn back south, figuring I could make up the lost time on the southbound stretches. Once turned south, I found that the pavement was somehow in WORSE condition than it was for Bike the Drive. Great. Tanks to Da Mare for dat won. Hizzoner could have had CDOT put some effort into Lake Shore Drive, especially since this will likely be the Olympic Triathlon course if/when Chicago 2016 happens and the IOC was likely watching this event. Potholes, cracks, rough patches... and a BIG ASS HOLE FULL OF SAND awaited us on the southbound stretch. I managed to recognize the inconsistent pavement far enough in advance to avoid most of it, but it was hard to find a rhythm when constantly swerving to avoid people/holes/aero drink sponges/water bottles. Southbound, the wind helped a great deal but it just wasn't enough for me to average the 40km/h I needed to come in at an hour for the bike leg. As I passed Chicago Ave on the way to T2 I ate another GU to prepare for the run. While coming down the suicide ramp before dismount, I heard a bunch of people yell out for me - I presumed these were xXxers who saw me coming down the ramp (I had my team jersey on).
"suicide" u-turn onto lower randolph
Transition still wasn't terribly busy... and there were few bikes on my wave's rack. I still wasn't going to celebrate too much as the run is BY FAR my weakest event. I to
ok off my helmet, threw on my shoes and grabbed my crack pack (Enervitene) as I was already feeling that I'd need it just to get through the run. I headed out with apprehension - on last year's run I experienced some of the worst foot pain I've ever had... it felt like a needle being shoved through the ball of my foot... pretty sweet. Around Mile 2 the pain kicked in, both feet this time but the left foot being far worse than the right. As last year, if I alternated between running and walking and stayed in the gravel/grass I knew I'd make it. Keeping in mind that I was targeting 2:45, I had started on pace to hit that number but having to walk some would prevent me from achieving that goal - the pain was sufficient that I didnt' care. I found another guy who I had started the race with while running, he was having problems with chest congestion and just couldn't get enough air. We leapfrogged each other doing the walk/run drill until around mile 3 we started to encourage one another to get moving. I knew that I had to beat last year's time... I had a fever, and the only prescription was to HTFU and more cowbell. Someone was ringing it, because I came out of the LSD tunnel with some energy for the last 200m and finished strong.
Overall, I managed to place three full minutes faster than last year at 2:56, also first in my Division - Men 250+ Lb Under 39y/o. I'll take that.
first in my division. didn't know it at the time.
Here's my splits from the past 3 years (click to embiggen).
Going into this race, I knew that I hadn't put the effort into it this year like I had in the year prior - my training schedule in 2007 was entirely focused on this race, with bike races as secondary. When planning this year out, I really thought that I'd be able to "do it all", mixing triathlons in with a full schedule of road races and crits... not so much. Over the winter I became much more comfortable in the water - a requirement for a race like Escape from Alcatraz. I hadn't been on a strict training regimen since June, so I knew that I would be "coasting" on residual swimming fitness since I'd only been in the pool a max of once a week for the last few months.
Tracy arrived just in time for me to hand off my flip flops and get lined up - I had tucked a GU into the ankle of my wetsuit but by the time I zipped up it was nowhere to be found. Great. Looking around, I noticed that the wave was MUCH bigger than it had been in years past... all Men's Clydesdales were starting in Wave 27. Great. We started getting into the water and I positioned myself in the middle, only having to tread water for about 30 seconds before we were off. I started my Garmin and flattened out into the water.
For as many guys as there were in the wave, the beginning of the swim wasn't too bad. I quickly made my way up to the front third of the wave, only having to swim over the top of two or three people to get there. About 300 yards out my goggles fogged to the point where I couldn't see a thing, so I moved over to the seawall where I could lick the lenses - this did the trick and I was fine for the remainder of the swim. We were at the Shedd Aquarium before I knew it, while turning around the buoy I peeked back and realized that I was pulling most of the group - there weren't too many pink caps ahead of me! I stuck it out for another 200-300 yards and started feigning fatigue - no point in letting these suckers draft me for the entire swim - it was their turn to do some work. It only took a few "soft" strokes in the water to be passed, at which time I promptly jumped into the leader's wake and matched his rhythm. With 100yd to go, I kicked into high gear and oxygen debt, even managing to breathe bilaterally in order to get out of the water as quickly as possible.
The run from the water always sucks. My first year I did it without stashing shoes. Mistake. I had my shoes in a good spot this year, so I stopped to put them on, along with my xXx jersey that I had laid on top of them. I fiddled with getting my Garmin onto my wrist, something I shouldn't have wasted time with since it was going to be clipped onto the bike anyways... but who's thinking logically during T1 anyways? Tracy was right there to lend support - I don't know if she was talking to me, yelling, screaming, or had signs - I knew she was there but was so "in the zone" that the world was on mute.
this run always sucks.
I got to transition and my bike with ease - I had prewalked it and knew exactly where I was going. Not many of my wave's bikes were gone and for that I was thrilled and thankful... I've not had that happen before since my swim has always sucked. I put on my socks and shoes, donned my helmet and rolled out, putting my gloves on while maneuvering the bike with the other hand (that's really hard to do, by the way).
Starting out onto the bike course I knew my legs just weren't in prime shape - they felt sluggish even when I passed through the Oak Street Chicane. Sunday's headwind certainly wasn't helping, I could barely maintain 19 mph regardless of how I positioned myself. Encouraged by the spaceship sounds of my borrowed Zipp 606's (thanks, Mission Bay!) I tried my best to put the hammer down and get myself up to Foster Ave for the turn back south, figuring I could make up the lost time on the southbound stretches. Once turned south, I found that the pavement was somehow in WORSE condition than it was for Bike the Drive. Great. Tanks to Da Mare for dat won. Hizzoner could have had CDOT put some effort into Lake Shore Drive, especially since this will likely be the Olympic Triathlon course if/when Chicago 2016 happens and the IOC was likely watching this event. Potholes, cracks, rough patches... and a BIG ASS HOLE FULL OF SAND awaited us on the southbound stretch. I managed to recognize the inconsistent pavement far enough in advance to avoid most of it, but it was hard to find a rhythm when constantly swerving to avoid people/holes/aero drink sponges/water bottles. Southbound, the wind helped a great deal but it just wasn't enough for me to average the 40km/h I needed to come in at an hour for the bike leg. As I passed Chicago Ave on the way to T2 I ate another GU to prepare for the run. While coming down the suicide ramp before dismount, I heard a bunch of people yell out for me - I presumed these were xXxers who saw me coming down the ramp (I had my team jersey on).
"suicide" u-turn onto lower randolph
Transition still wasn't terribly busy... and there were few bikes on my wave's rack. I still wasn't going to celebrate too much as the run is BY FAR my weakest event. I to
ok off my helmet, threw on my shoes and grabbed my crack pack (Enervitene) as I was already feeling that I'd need it just to get through the run. I headed out with apprehension - on last year's run I experienced some of the worst foot pain I've ever had... it felt like a needle being shoved through the ball of my foot... pretty sweet. Around Mile 2 the pain kicked in, both feet this time but the left foot being far worse than the right. As last year, if I alternated between running and walking and stayed in the gravel/grass I knew I'd make it. Keeping in mind that I was targeting 2:45, I had started on pace to hit that number but having to walk some would prevent me from achieving that goal - the pain was sufficient that I didnt' care. I found another guy who I had started the race with while running, he was having problems with chest congestion and just couldn't get enough air. We leapfrogged each other doing the walk/run drill until around mile 3 we started to encourage one another to get moving. I knew that I had to beat last year's time... I had a fever, and the only prescription was to HTFU and more cowbell. Someone was ringing it, because I came out of the LSD tunnel with some energy for the last 200m and finished strong.Overall, I managed to place three full minutes faster than last year at 2:56, also first in my Division - Men 250+ Lb Under 39y/o. I'll take that.
first in my division. didn't know it at the time.
Here's my splits from the past 3 years (click to embiggen).
Monday, August 25, 2008
2008 Chicago Triathlon, FTW!
I won my division. Holy kick ass sweet.
The guy who came in behind me was 4 minutes faster in the swim, but I was 4 minutes faster on the bike... he was 50 seconds faster than me on the run. He lost the race in transition. My T1 was 2:47 faster, T2 was 13 seconds faster.
It totally pays to roll your socks off so you can get them back onto wet feet faster :)
Full race report pending.
The guy who came in behind me was 4 minutes faster in the swim, but I was 4 minutes faster on the bike... he was 50 seconds faster than me on the run. He lost the race in transition. My T1 was 2:47 faster, T2 was 13 seconds faster.
It totally pays to roll your socks off so you can get them back onto wet feet faster :)
Full race report pending.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Proctor Cycling Classic
At the start of the season, I laid out my racing schedule and placed Proctor as my last Cat 5 race, it being my 10th mass start. I ended up racing Cobb Park last week so it was actually my 11th race, but stuck to the plan upgrade-wise.
To most people’s surprise, the 5’s field didn’t fill up - my guess that’s because of the high price of gas and the the lack of a road race… makes it hard to justify the drive all the way to Peoria, especially for a ~25 minute race. Looking at the field of 35ish riders, it was clear that the guys from Wild Card Cycling (Champaign, IL) had the largest presence with 7 - the four of us would have to either work with them or try to recruit others if we wanted to work against them. I’ve been in several races with these guys and we’ve always gotten along well and “played nice” so we decided to continue that trend.
The pace started out pretty fast on the hourglass course, ~25 on the straights and ~20 on the corners, the smaller and more technical top half of the course clearly slowing the pack down - this clearly would be the place to make moves.
Had I only known that I was riding in front of Unlucky Rob.
I Crashed on turn 5, about 1/3 way through the third lap (rear flatted on a 20+mph corner), didn’t take anyone else out with me even though I was ~8th wheel. While sliding across the pavement (whee) I somehow kept my hands on the bars and managed to make myself as small as possible so I wouldn’t be run over. As soon as the majority of the peleton passed me, I knew I had to get up. I ran the 4 blocks back to the wheel pit as fast as I could, got a 404 from SRAM’s neutral support and was back in it. It took me a lap to get back on, but I contested the next prime, unknowingly leading the winner out… He could have the innertubes and socks, I was happy to be back in contention. The pack had spit out several riders at this point, no doubt my crash had created a gap attributing to that. The remainder of the race was fast and fairly smooth, with only one instance of an unattached rider breaking his line and cutting inside, almost pushing a Wild Card rider into one of the 6” curbs on turn 9 with a lap to go. At the bell, the group accelerated and lined out before regrouping on the backstretch.. I was 12th wheel on the slight uphill leading into the last corner and powered down the long sprint, picking up a bunch of spots on the sprint to finish 6th.
As usual, positioning going into the sprint is everything, but all things considered I had a great race and I’m happy with my top 10, bleeding.
To most people’s surprise, the 5’s field didn’t fill up - my guess that’s because of the high price of gas and the the lack of a road race… makes it hard to justify the drive all the way to Peoria, especially for a ~25 minute race. Looking at the field of 35ish riders, it was clear that the guys from Wild Card Cycling (Champaign, IL) had the largest presence with 7 - the four of us would have to either work with them or try to recruit others if we wanted to work against them. I’ve been in several races with these guys and we’ve always gotten along well and “played nice” so we decided to continue that trend.
The pace started out pretty fast on the hourglass course, ~25 on the straights and ~20 on the corners, the smaller and more technical top half of the course clearly slowing the pack down - this clearly would be the place to make moves.
Had I only known that I was riding in front of Unlucky Rob.
I Crashed on turn 5, about 1/3 way through the third lap (rear flatted on a 20+mph corner), didn’t take anyone else out with me even though I was ~8th wheel. While sliding across the pavement (whee) I somehow kept my hands on the bars and managed to make myself as small as possible so I wouldn’t be run over. As soon as the majority of the peleton passed me, I knew I had to get up. I ran the 4 blocks back to the wheel pit as fast as I could, got a 404 from SRAM’s neutral support and was back in it. It took me a lap to get back on, but I contested the next prime, unknowingly leading the winner out… He could have the innertubes and socks, I was happy to be back in contention. The pack had spit out several riders at this point, no doubt my crash had created a gap attributing to that. The remainder of the race was fast and fairly smooth, with only one instance of an unattached rider breaking his line and cutting inside, almost pushing a Wild Card rider into one of the 6” curbs on turn 9 with a lap to go. At the bell, the group accelerated and lined out before regrouping on the backstretch.. I was 12th wheel on the slight uphill leading into the last corner and powered down the long sprint, picking up a bunch of spots on the sprint to finish 6th.
As usual, positioning going into the sprint is everything, but all things considered I had a great race and I’m happy with my top 10, bleeding.
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