I was in the feed zone and finishing area taking photos at Wente RR instead of racing due to a sore knee. Got shots of most of the second wave (11:45 and after) groups, including a good series on the E4 finish.
It's a major disappontment to not have been in the race, but I've got to take it easy. My top-end fitness has been on the upswing (best ever, I'd say), but the knee got sore at Copperopolis and after some ups and downs getting better, it took an unexpected turn for the worse on Friday after a relatively easy pre-race tune-up ride. I'll probably miss any race with the word hill in the name these next couple weeks (Cat's Hill and Berkeley Hills), but am setting my sights on the May 9 criterium in Pleasanton. If not, Modesto RR and crit.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Copperopolis Road Race Report
Mini-victory at Copperopolis RR yesterday: I didn't cramp and I'm tired but not wasted today, after lots of sleep. It was a very hard race: the 3 laps (65mi / 3h 15m) included 5500ft of climbing, with one main 10-min climb per lap. Set several personal power records. No actual victory tho: 23rd of 79. Missed selection at top of 2nd lap climb, on the 15% pitch. Settled for 2nd out of the 1st chase group of 9, with fun tactics @ finish.Attrition rate: 80 to 40 on 1st climb by 5mi in. Then selection to 25, 21 by finish. chase grp up to 15, 9 on last lap flats. I got 2nd of 9.
Power numbers confirm it was a hard day. Biggest jumps over PBs: 10min avg: 342W, 2hr norm: 286W, 3hr norm: 276W. work: 2773kj / 296TSS. This was one of the first rides with a new PowerTap wheel (a heavy-duty training wheel, replacing PT carbon race wheel lost in theft), so in the back of my mind I'm wondering if it's calibrated/zeroed, but generally the RPE matched the power numbers (for both Saturday and Sunday).
I have to say that the first lap's climb was nearly as hard as the second lap's, but I was fresher and made the first selection. I grinned and bore it at the redline at the steep pitch, losing some position there, but grabbing on the back. The 2nd lap wasn't catastrophically weaker, but there were fewer guys to drift back through and while I kept digging to close the small gap, the power was still so high after the steep pitch that I couldn't quite grab the 2 wheels that came by that just made it back on (including Dan). I did grab onto a couple chasers but let them go since the pace was too hot. They didn't make it back by the top, and the leaders kept drilling it, so even strong chasing didn't make up time on the rollers and flats.
It felt like I got gapped on the steep section (the torque numbers reflect how my legs felt more than the power numbers), but where I got dropped was on the section after, when I apparently still needed to be doing 375W rather than 350W. Big numbers for me to reach for at the top of a 10 minute climb.
Wish I'd made it with the leaders, but the rest of the race was more fun because I didn't blow up chasing. Our group rolled up more than a handful of guys who'd blown up chasing or were spit out the back of the lead group, either on the rollers or in the wind.
The third lap was fun. I basically set the pace up the main climb, going at threshold to make it just hard enough to keep the group contained. A couple guys surged, but the steady pace rolled them up. Half the guys popped off. Then we had 9 who worked pretty nicely on the flats, smoothly rotating until the final climb was in sight.
I picked up the pace on the last climb too, got away just by setting threshold pace, but got hit with some wind gusts and let a couple guys catch me, then used their wheels until we were sheltered. It was a handful together at the top, then a series of small surges. Then two teammates did one-two. One was small, but the two was pretty explosive, and I responded big but didn't quite close. Thought the rest would come on the downhill, but he opened it up.
Behind him, it was three of us playing tactics, the teammate, who bombed down the hill, and a guy who just sat in. I pushed the 53x11 whenever I could and followed the teammate the rest of the time, since he wasn't obviously blocking for his guy up the road. When it flattened out, I surged and nearly closed with the guy off the front, the guy sitting in countered, but I got him in the last 200m. Interesting finish made it fun.
Power graphs for 3 main climbs and the finish:
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Santa Cruz Crit Photos 2009
After I raced this morning, I took photos of the Masters 1/2/3, Women's Pro/1/2/3, and Men's Pro 1/2 races down in Santa Cruz.
The photo series of the Masters 1/2/3 is worth checking out. Steve Pelaez pulled out the winning sprint, but looked back only on one side, then celebrated early. Almost too early.
This pic is out of focus due to the moto passing in front... the others are crisp.
The photo series of the Masters 1/2/3 is worth checking out. Steve Pelaez pulled out the winning sprint, but looked back only on one side, then celebrated early. Almost too early.
This pic is out of focus due to the moto passing in front... the others are crisp.
4th at Santa Cruz Criterium - Race Report
Scored 4th at Santa Cruz (of 73). Had great position in finale, 2nd up last hill, took a while to get sprint up to speed. Glad to finally place in 2009, since it's felt like a bit of a drought even if it's only been 6 race weekends (4 RRs, 4 crits, 1 TT).
Legs felt OK. Not tired from the relatively light day racing Napa yesterday (didn't do much post-race riding), but had trouble getting to sleep... a problem for a 5am wakeup and cause for feeling much more sluggish than yesterday's 5am, at least pre-coffee. Fortunately, I'd taken a good nap in the afternoon. And the chest / cough issue more or less went away overnight.
Spent most of the race in the top 5, but didn't work all that much, mostly just pulling through with the pace dropped and picking up the pace after primes. Got off the front in the middle of the race by following Metromint Anthony's attack, without having to work much for it. We had a small gap and I pulled through once or twice, but wasn't feeling it. After yesterday's late-race solo attack, the plan today was to be patient and trust my sprint.
For all that I was at the front, it surprised me when I realized with 5 to go that there was a guy off the front. I'd been misunderstanding the announcer and had taken the 2nd prime's hill and finish at a moderate pace so dropped 10 places that lap and didn't see the guy stay away. Realizing it woke me up a bit and I did slightly more work, then it became a non-issue when fellow-Mouse Paul attacked hard enough to get the pack to chase it down. (Thanks Paul!)
Throughout the race I thought it was easier than usual to maintain and gain position. There was a certain politeness about the hairpin and narrow bits, and most guys eased off at the crest at the finish line, so it places were super easy to gain there. More surprising was that it didn't get all that much harder to keep places in the last lap or two. Maybe it was just the contrast with the jump-up-the-inside-to-the-hairpin game of chicken I saw a few times at Napa yesterday and Brisbane last week. No crashes, so maybe politeness pays off. Or maybe it was the hill.
I think the last lap started with me moving up a few places at the line, to around 5th, then after the decent, I sensed the slowdown and looked for surging wheels and grabbed the right ones. I was 3rd through the 90 at the back, then the lead switched to Alex Blease (Chico Corsa), with me on his wheel. Not much extra effort on the lap, and I ended up in perfect position, 2nd through the final corner. Luck, I guess.
The tactics/luck set up the sprint win perfectly. But I didn't pull it off. Blease jumped halfway up the hill. I'd told myself not to go too early, so I hesitated or at least didn't give it 100% all-out-sprint gas, thinking that I had to hold a bit. I had one guy creeping up on each side of me. I probably should have gotten on a wheel (Blease was gone by the flat, but the others were real close), but kept standing and clicking up the gears. It was the drag race I've practiced for on Tuesday mornings for months, minus the good sprint form, but only really felt like I had the engine really turning from 150m to 25m to go. I gained significantly on 3rd place in the last 50m and thought I almost had it with a (weak) bike throw. If I didn't go full gas with Blease at 300m, I can't say I had anything left over after a 30 second effort at 700W average... way long, so not strictly a sprint, right? Was glad to see the line.
Pretty happy with 4th. Less surprised with the result than how easy it felt in comparison with the various leg-shredding disappointments of recent weeks. The race seemed under control, not pushing my fitness limits hard until the finale, yet I guess it was hard enough, since only 34 of 73 finished. By the numbers, I'm betting the easy impression came from spending the harder efforts below 173bpm--no biggie compared to all the 175+ time at Brisbane, closer to the red--with plenty of time breathing easy in the 160s for full recovery.
After the race I rode with Mike and Paul to UC Santa Cruz and did a few laps of the University Road Race course. I missed it last year, so it was good to recon.
Here's the last 15 minutes of the race:
Some numbers:
Legs felt OK. Not tired from the relatively light day racing Napa yesterday (didn't do much post-race riding), but had trouble getting to sleep... a problem for a 5am wakeup and cause for feeling much more sluggish than yesterday's 5am, at least pre-coffee. Fortunately, I'd taken a good nap in the afternoon. And the chest / cough issue more or less went away overnight.
Spent most of the race in the top 5, but didn't work all that much, mostly just pulling through with the pace dropped and picking up the pace after primes. Got off the front in the middle of the race by following Metromint Anthony's attack, without having to work much for it. We had a small gap and I pulled through once or twice, but wasn't feeling it. After yesterday's late-race solo attack, the plan today was to be patient and trust my sprint.
For all that I was at the front, it surprised me when I realized with 5 to go that there was a guy off the front. I'd been misunderstanding the announcer and had taken the 2nd prime's hill and finish at a moderate pace so dropped 10 places that lap and didn't see the guy stay away. Realizing it woke me up a bit and I did slightly more work, then it became a non-issue when fellow-Mouse Paul attacked hard enough to get the pack to chase it down. (Thanks Paul!)
Throughout the race I thought it was easier than usual to maintain and gain position. There was a certain politeness about the hairpin and narrow bits, and most guys eased off at the crest at the finish line, so it places were super easy to gain there. More surprising was that it didn't get all that much harder to keep places in the last lap or two. Maybe it was just the contrast with the jump-up-the-inside-to-the-hairpin game of chicken I saw a few times at Napa yesterday and Brisbane last week. No crashes, so maybe politeness pays off. Or maybe it was the hill.
I think the last lap started with me moving up a few places at the line, to around 5th, then after the decent, I sensed the slowdown and looked for surging wheels and grabbed the right ones. I was 3rd through the 90 at the back, then the lead switched to Alex Blease (Chico Corsa), with me on his wheel. Not much extra effort on the lap, and I ended up in perfect position, 2nd through the final corner. Luck, I guess.
The tactics/luck set up the sprint win perfectly. But I didn't pull it off. Blease jumped halfway up the hill. I'd told myself not to go too early, so I hesitated or at least didn't give it 100% all-out-sprint gas, thinking that I had to hold a bit. I had one guy creeping up on each side of me. I probably should have gotten on a wheel (Blease was gone by the flat, but the others were real close), but kept standing and clicking up the gears. It was the drag race I've practiced for on Tuesday mornings for months, minus the good sprint form, but only really felt like I had the engine really turning from 150m to 25m to go. I gained significantly on 3rd place in the last 50m and thought I almost had it with a (weak) bike throw. If I didn't go full gas with Blease at 300m, I can't say I had anything left over after a 30 second effort at 700W average... way long, so not strictly a sprint, right? Was glad to see the line.
Pretty happy with 4th. Less surprised with the result than how easy it felt in comparison with the various leg-shredding disappointments of recent weeks. The race seemed under control, not pushing my fitness limits hard until the finale, yet I guess it was hard enough, since only 34 of 73 finished. By the numbers, I'm betting the easy impression came from spending the harder efforts below 173bpm--no biggie compared to all the 175+ time at Brisbane, closer to the red--with plenty of time breathing easy in the 160s for full recovery.
After the race I rode with Mike and Paul to UC Santa Cruz and did a few laps of the University Road Race course. I missed it last year, so it was good to recon.
Here's the last 15 minutes of the race:
Some numbers:
- 41m 32s for 15.7mi (20 laps)
- Avg speed: 22.8mph overall, 25.9 last lap
- Avg power: 271W overall, 287W for the last 15min, 367W last lap
- Norm power: 383W for 5min (PB), 350W for 10min, 313W overall
- 3 upgrade points puts me at 6 (this 4th plus 3rd at Lafayette last July)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Solo Attempt at Napa
If you don't try, you won't succeed. Yeah, my first legit solo attempt to win has me thinking in catch-phrase-philosophy. Despite some developing sickness (tightness in the chest and an occasional cough), I felt I had a good chance for a great result this morning in Napa.In my favor:
- Good legs after light week, decent Friday prep ride, and OK warmup
- Technical course that I knew from last year (4 90s plus a P turn with a 90 + 130 threading back through a traffic island)
- Smallish field (~40) for less swarm, though probably not that important given the course and the fact I lined up at the front.
- Small field also meant that while I didn't have any teammates, no other teams were particularly well represented either. There were a couple flashes of teamwork in the middle, but basically it was a race of freelancers.
Course Map:
View Larger Map
I was comfortably near the front most of the race, happily following wheels 5 or so back when it was strung out, and moving to/off the front whenever the leaders sat up and we swarmed up. I worked a whole lot less than at Brisbane, but did put in a handful of good pulls. That said, pulling through on the finishing straight meant keeping the lead through the 4 90-degree turns that follow the straight before pulling off. The course is so short (less than 800m per lap) that this represents only a few hundred meters. A couple times I didn't do this and I got caught in some massive swarm, losing a lot of position as we blobbed.
So I felt like I was positioned well and knew that position was critical for the finish, with only the first few wheels able to win it in a sprint. But I also knew that position could be quickly lost. So when I wasn't occupied with turning and dodging fallen riders (a few did fall in the P turn), I was mulling over a couple tactical options that mainly boiled down to "Win the sprint before the sprint" so as not to lose position in the pre-sprint surge (like at Madera and Brisbane). By that I really meant "place" rather than win, since sitting 2nd or 3rd wheel into the final turn would have been ideal. And I'd also had the scenario from last year running through my head, where the winner took off with a few to go and I tried to follow but didn't have it. I told myself that an attack could work if the bunch slowed down in the last couple, the timing was right, and there was some confusion on who'd take up the chase. And I was feeling quite good, with the tempo in first 35 minutes warming me up, not wearing me out.
With the self-imposed mandate not to get caught too far behind to sprint for the win and the thought that I could do OK in a sprint, a break, or solo, I headed into the final few laps watching the group momentum. Things were moderately fast early on (avg 24), but some laps after the primes were done were quite slow (avg 21.5-22.5). 5 and 6 to go were slow/swarmy, then 3 and 4 to go got peppy and position was easier to manage. Approaching the line with 2-to-go, it felt like things slowed a bit with and so I carried my momentum from the surge out of the P turn and went off the front.
As I was moving up past the first 5 guys approaching turn 1, I had an out. I could have played it for position and to motivate the other leaders to work. But the switch flipped to "all out" and I drilled it through the corner and kept going. I had a lot of speed (30mph in the straight, 27mph through the corner), the group didn't react until I was passing them in the corner on a fast outside line, and I was pedaling through the left-hand 90s (the right was a bit tighter). So, yeah, there was a real gap by the time we hit the straight again.
I was flying. Did the lap in 58s (27.5mph) vs. 1m03s for the previous lap (23.7mph). Felt great. Then I hit the P turn again, took the surge out pretty hard but told myself to go steady. It was starting to hurt now, a minute in, and here's where I lost a lot of time. My speed was much too slow on the straight (25-26mph) and if I had some advantage over the group in the turns, the group had a big advantage in the straight. A little more juice here could have gone a long way, since the momentum was key to carry into the 90-degree turns. As it was, I was steadily pedaling through the turns, faster here than it had been in the pack most laps, but by the back-straight, the announcer was calling that I was going to get caught.
And I did get caught, just before the P turn. Two guys came past into the corner. I didn't have it to stay on their wheel coming out. Worse is that I didn't jump on any wheel, so while I had moderately OK power left (did 650W for 14s, half in the saddle), I wasn't in a draft, I didn't have a sprint, and I was fading fast. In the corner it was "hoping for top 5", then "hoping for top 10" with 100m to go, but a handful of guys past me in the last 50-100m.
Got 11th.
Here's the graph for the final 5 minutes:
Power numbers were solid but not exceptional. 60s and 120s power averages were brought down by the hard cornering (479W for 60 / 406W for 120). Between P turns, it was 510W avg on the first attacking lap, 410W avg on the 2nd. 5-min norm power: 370W.
Weighing the outcome, I feel better that there were a few ways this could have turned out, and I tried something new. The solo attempt was a risk for me, but a legit enough option given the course and pack dynamics of the day. Waiting for the sprint would have given me a good run at the podium or top-5, but if I got caught out of position I would have been not only out of the results, but wouldn't have had a chance to really throw down and test the legs.
A nice bonus would be if someone posted a good photo of my flyer. If it wasn't effective, I hope it at least was entertaining for the rather sparse crowd of 8am spectators. ;)
Not 100% on racing Santa Cruz tomorrow morning. Legs still feel great, but the chest felt super tight immediately after the race and had a cough for a bit. The chest-tightness symptom just showed up yesterday evening after being around someone with a cough on Thursday, so I'm watching to see if symptoms develop. Now I probably won't drive down until the morning, so at least I can watch and visit some family in SC as planned.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Brisbane and Zamora
Looking forward to this weekend. Two crits: Napa and Santa Cruz, both on the technical side, which should be good for me. Hoping to make up for some recent bad luck and tactical mistakes.
This photo sums up the Brisbane crit for me. I was very active early in the race, driving the pace up with a few other guys, which shredded the pack from 77 down to less than 40 in the final laps (33 finished). Used a bit too much energy really, but still had pretty good position at the end, good enough to sprint for an upgrade point. But I took the final corner slightly to the outside, looking to move up, but when the crash happened, the pileup was on the outside, so I just coasted over into the cones and checked out the guy who got the worst of it. Result: DNP.
The weekend prior, I missed the decisive move at the start of the second lap at the windy Zamora road race. This photo shows me near the front with Josh and Ryan on the climb at the end of lap 1, but I must have lost a bit of position right after. Then there was a classic windy RR move: attack at the front on the leeward side of the road, so there wasn't much room to echelon before hitting the edge of the gutter. That didn't stop us from riding through the grass in the gutter. But I was 10 back from where the gap was forming between the first group (of 8) and the second. Made it to the front of the second, wasted too much energy trying to get the 2nd group working, and got popped when fighting to get back in line. Huge training day nonetheless, and I stuck it out to put in PB 1 and 2 hour power numbers, including a break from my group in the last 3k. Ryan work hard to score 3rd and Josh top 10'd as well.
This photo sums up the Brisbane crit for me. I was very active early in the race, driving the pace up with a few other guys, which shredded the pack from 77 down to less than 40 in the final laps (33 finished). Used a bit too much energy really, but still had pretty good position at the end, good enough to sprint for an upgrade point. But I took the final corner slightly to the outside, looking to move up, but when the crash happened, the pileup was on the outside, so I just coasted over into the cones and checked out the guy who got the worst of it. Result: DNP. The weekend prior, I missed the decisive move at the start of the second lap at the windy Zamora road race. This photo shows me near the front with Josh and Ryan on the climb at the end of lap 1, but I must have lost a bit of position right after. Then there was a classic windy RR move: attack at the front on the leeward side of the road, so there wasn't much room to echelon before hitting the edge of the gutter. That didn't stop us from riding through the grass in the gutter. But I was 10 back from where the gap was forming between the first group (of 8) and the second. Made it to the front of the second, wasted too much energy trying to get the 2nd group working, and got popped when fighting to get back in line. Huge training day nonetheless, and I stuck it out to put in PB 1 and 2 hour power numbers, including a break from my group in the last 3k. Ryan work hard to score 3rd and Josh top 10'd as well.
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