This past Saturday was the River Gorge Road Race in Chattanooga, TN. The short course was 36 miles and ended with a 3.5 mile climb up Raccoon Mountain. The long course was 59 miles and included a 2.5 mile climb up Sand Mountain before finishing on the same Raccoon Mountain climb as the short course. Category 4 riders raced the short course and Category 3 riders raced the long course so being a Cat 4 I was planning to race the short course.
The weekend before the race I went down to Chattanooga with a couple Cat 3 racers and another Cat 4 racer to pre-ride and we decided to do the long course. I had a blast and especially enjoyed the climb up Sand Mountain so I decided to put in an upgrade request to Cat 3 prior to the race. I was fairly certain it would be approved, but I was still a little nervous until I actually received the approval (two other requests I made earlier in the year had been denied).
Going into the race I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect and if I would be able to stay with the lead group throughout the entire race. The race started out neutral for the first mile or so, but as soon as the neutral area was finished the pace quickly picked up. There were several attacks very early and it made the racing exciting. Someone told me before the race that the only difference between Cat 3 and 4 was the fast was faster, the slow was slower, and there more team tactics. I agree because I saw all that during the first part of the race. In fact, at one point I was on the front for what seemed like a couple miles and even though I was keeping an endurance pace, no one would go around me to take the lead. I decided to see how slow I could go before someone went around me and I made it to 12.5 mph before someone finally did.
I made it towards the front of the pack going into the Sand Mountain climb and was hoping I could stay with the main group (a breakaway of three guys had went clear earlier in the race). I concentrated on staying on the wheel of the guy in front of me and if I saw him letting a gap open, I moved up to get on the next wheel up. Halfway up the climb I looked back and realized the group had shattered behind me so that increased my incentive to hang on. When we got to the top we were about 10 people strong. Before the descent we picked up two more from the breakaway and by the time we got to the bottom a few more had caught our group. We ended with about 15 people. We were also told by the ref that a solo rider was off the front and had about a minute and a half gap on us. He was in the breakaway and soloed away halfway up Sand.
The rest of the race was pretty uneventful as everyone was waiting for the final climb up Raccoon. I wanted to hang on as long as possible and was really hoping for a top ten finish. The 3.5 mile climb is broken into two parts with a short descent coming about 3/4 of the way up. I was able to hang with the group until about 3/4 of the way up the first part of the climb and then got dropped off the back (by that time several other guys had also). I worked some with Will Montgomery (who won the Cat 3 TN Best Area Rider) to try and catch the group but he was also in the earlier breakaway and had worked a lot early in the race. The gap to the guy in front of me stayed the same (just a few seconds) but I wasn't ever able to bring him closer. I gave my last effort before the finish but still couldn't close it any. I ended up 11th overall out of 39 guys, 10th out of the group behind the solo winner. With it being my first Cat 3 race, I was very pleased with the result and can't wait for a full season racing Cat 3.
Also, after the weekend they posted the final Best Area Rider standings and I ended up in third place in Cat 4.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Final Nashville Cyclist Criterium
The final round of the Nashville Cyclist criterium series was today. I've never made the podium in the four years I've been doing this series and with this being my last chance in 2013, I was really wanting to do well. This was a 45 minute race with the course consisting of the finish straight, a left turn into a slight uphill, a left into a long straight, a right, a tight left turn into a short straight into another left, and a downhill straight into the finish line. My Cat 2 team mate Matt gave me some pointers before the race, including the advice to get into my biggest gear going down the downhill before the finish. My coach Craig (along with Matt) also gave me the advice to sit near the front but not on the front, so that was my plan. I also wasn't going to attack or chase any breaks, although I would jump into a break or chase if I thought it had a good chance of working.
Before the race started I took a couple laps around the course. Everyone stared lining up early so I ended up on the third row. I wasn't too worried about this position since I was wanting to stay off the front anyway. The race started and I did what I wanted and hung out at the back. One guy attacked from the gun but the field brought him back after a couple laps. Shortly after that two guys got away and after a few laps they had a good 40 second gap. I thought at that point their break may work although it was still early in the race. Regardless I was still content with sitting at the back. I even spent a little time chatting with the guy that had attacked at the beginning.
Shortly after that as I was coming down the back stretch Matt, who was watching from the side, told me to move to the front. I immediately started looking for a chance to move up and it came during the very next downhill straight before the finish line straight. The field slowed so I was able to put in a very short effort and move to the very front going into the corner. I went to the very front so that I wouldn't be dive-bombing someone into the corner. I kept it easy down the finish line straight expecting people to come around me so I could settle into a top 10 spot. They were content to let me stay where I was so I led down the finish line straight and into the uphill. Halfway up the uphill David (who was the series points leader and has won numerous races this year) and his strong team mate Pete attacked and I jumped on their wheel. After a couple corners I was surprised to look back and see it was only us three. We each took turns making hard pulls and we were able to catch the two-man breakaway in only a couple laps. David put in a hard effort as we passed them but both were able to hop on. One of them only lasted about a lap but the other (Nate) was able to hang on even though he had been in a break for the majority of the race already. David, Pete, and I all took turns pulling hard while Nate did what he could while also trying to recover. Our lead kept growing and I realized it was going to stick. We each kept taking turns all the way up to the last lap. I was sitting 3rd going into the last lap with David behind me. I wasn't sure when an attack would come but I knew it would. He attacked on the downhill before the finish stretch. I reacted but didn't have the kick to get on his wheel. I did what Matt had told me and got into my biggest gear, went into the last corner, and sprinted as hard as I could coming out of it. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch David but I wanted to hold onto 2nd. I didn't want to look around to see if I had a gap on Pete so I just kept going as hard as I could hoping not to see him come around me. I came across the line in 2nd and was very happy to get my first podium in the series, as well as my best finish in a crit or road race. I've had a lot of fun racing this series this year and I'm looking forward to next year.
Before the race started I took a couple laps around the course. Everyone stared lining up early so I ended up on the third row. I wasn't too worried about this position since I was wanting to stay off the front anyway. The race started and I did what I wanted and hung out at the back. One guy attacked from the gun but the field brought him back after a couple laps. Shortly after that two guys got away and after a few laps they had a good 40 second gap. I thought at that point their break may work although it was still early in the race. Regardless I was still content with sitting at the back. I even spent a little time chatting with the guy that had attacked at the beginning.
Shortly after that as I was coming down the back stretch Matt, who was watching from the side, told me to move to the front. I immediately started looking for a chance to move up and it came during the very next downhill straight before the finish line straight. The field slowed so I was able to put in a very short effort and move to the very front going into the corner. I went to the very front so that I wouldn't be dive-bombing someone into the corner. I kept it easy down the finish line straight expecting people to come around me so I could settle into a top 10 spot. They were content to let me stay where I was so I led down the finish line straight and into the uphill. Halfway up the uphill David (who was the series points leader and has won numerous races this year) and his strong team mate Pete attacked and I jumped on their wheel. After a couple corners I was surprised to look back and see it was only us three. We each took turns making hard pulls and we were able to catch the two-man breakaway in only a couple laps. David put in a hard effort as we passed them but both were able to hop on. One of them only lasted about a lap but the other (Nate) was able to hang on even though he had been in a break for the majority of the race already. David, Pete, and I all took turns pulling hard while Nate did what he could while also trying to recover. Our lead kept growing and I realized it was going to stick. We each kept taking turns all the way up to the last lap. I was sitting 3rd going into the last lap with David behind me. I wasn't sure when an attack would come but I knew it would. He attacked on the downhill before the finish stretch. I reacted but didn't have the kick to get on his wheel. I did what Matt had told me and got into my biggest gear, went into the last corner, and sprinted as hard as I could coming out of it. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch David but I wanted to hold onto 2nd. I didn't want to look around to see if I had a gap on Pete so I just kept going as hard as I could hoping not to see him come around me. I came across the line in 2nd and was very happy to get my first podium in the series, as well as my best finish in a crit or road race. I've had a lot of fun racing this series this year and I'm looking forward to next year.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Oak Ridge Velo Classic
The Oak Ridge Velo Omnium was this past weekend. It consisted of a road race and time trial on Saturday and a criterium on Sunday. I was the only one from my team going to this race, and Karah had decided to race the Raccoon Mountain MTB race in Chattanooga, so I decided to leave early Saturday morning to drive up instead of spending an extra night in a hotel on Friday. My first race wasn't until 10:15 Eastern time, so I left my house around 5:15 Central time and made it there with plenty of time to get ready.
The road race was about 50 miles consisting of two loops of around 23 miles, and then a few miles to the hill top finish. It started raining shortly after we started the first loop and rained off and on during the whole race. The field pretty much stayed together and was cautious on the wet descents and turns. The finish was 1K up a hill with a kicker at about 300m to go. I was where I wanted to be going into 500m (top 10) to go. There the road turns to the right then back to the left and then straight to the finish line. As the group turned right two guys directly in front of my bumped together. Luckily neither went down but I had to slow down and go way left into the other lane to miss them. By then the there was a gap to everyone in front of me. I started my sprint then and was able to pick off some of the guys in front of me and finish 6th.
The time trial was a 7.6 mile loop. I've done okay in the TTs so far this year, but there had always been a decent time gap to the top 2 or 3 guys. This was the first one I've done where I've had a power meter on my TT bike. I've only ever had one on my road bike, but I had ordered a disc cover so I could use Karah's power tap wheel and this was my first chance to use it. I knew what watts I was aiming to keep for the entire thing, and in the end I finished with a NP within 2 watts of my goal. I had no idea how my time would stack up against everyone else. I did pass two guys on the course and almost passed my 30 sec guy who had gotten second in the RR (I was within 3 seconds of passing him at the finish), so I thought I would be in the top five. I was a little shocked and very happy to see that I had won when they posted results. This was my first win on the road. Unfortunately it doesn't count for upgrade points to Cat 3, but it's a good confidence boost nonetheless and scored me points in the TBRA BAR points series (where I'm currently 3rd) as well as the omnium.
The criterium course was less than a mile with a tight 180, slight uphill, right corner with more uphill, left slightly downhill, and then a left downhill very long straight to the finish. My plan was to sit near the front the entire race and do little or no work on the front. Mid-way through the race I did attack out of the 180 to see what it did to the field but everyone stayed together. Going into the last lap I knew I didn't want to be in the pack going into the 180 for the last time, so I got on the front and went just hard enough where I figured no one would want to come around me, but not too hard to where I wouldn't have anything left for the last lap. I went into the 180 first, and then heard a crash happen behind me. I think only one guy went down (he was luckily ok), but it did slow down the field and those caught behind it had to work to catch back on down the straight. I was happy with my decision to be on the front. My plan (based on what others that had already raced had told me) was to attack out of the next to last corner and see if I could hold it for the rest of the distance. It was a long way but it was also downhill. The guy that was the favorite to win the race (he had also won the road race the day before) attacked on the uphill. One guy was on his wheel and I was able to respond although they had a gap on me. He slowed down on the downhill before the last corner so I just keep sprinting hoping that the gap I would get on them was enough to hold. I was out front down the very long last straight. It lasted forever but I thought for a moment I might get the win. As we were almost to the line he along with someone else passed me but I was still able to hold onto 3rd. From the pictures I saw the entire field was strung out so overall I was happy with my choice to go when I did because if I hadn't, I don't know that I would have been able to finish any better. The 3rd place also gave me enough points to win 3rd in the omnium.
Overall this was a great weekend of racing. I earned upgrade points in both the road race and the crit and earned my first road win, my first podium in a criterium, and my first podium in an omnium. There's only a few more races left in the season and I'm already looking forward to training hard over the winter to see what I can do in Category 3 (after I upgrade at the end of the season).
The road race was about 50 miles consisting of two loops of around 23 miles, and then a few miles to the hill top finish. It started raining shortly after we started the first loop and rained off and on during the whole race. The field pretty much stayed together and was cautious on the wet descents and turns. The finish was 1K up a hill with a kicker at about 300m to go. I was where I wanted to be going into 500m (top 10) to go. There the road turns to the right then back to the left and then straight to the finish line. As the group turned right two guys directly in front of my bumped together. Luckily neither went down but I had to slow down and go way left into the other lane to miss them. By then the there was a gap to everyone in front of me. I started my sprint then and was able to pick off some of the guys in front of me and finish 6th.
The time trial was a 7.6 mile loop. I've done okay in the TTs so far this year, but there had always been a decent time gap to the top 2 or 3 guys. This was the first one I've done where I've had a power meter on my TT bike. I've only ever had one on my road bike, but I had ordered a disc cover so I could use Karah's power tap wheel and this was my first chance to use it. I knew what watts I was aiming to keep for the entire thing, and in the end I finished with a NP within 2 watts of my goal. I had no idea how my time would stack up against everyone else. I did pass two guys on the course and almost passed my 30 sec guy who had gotten second in the RR (I was within 3 seconds of passing him at the finish), so I thought I would be in the top five. I was a little shocked and very happy to see that I had won when they posted results. This was my first win on the road. Unfortunately it doesn't count for upgrade points to Cat 3, but it's a good confidence boost nonetheless and scored me points in the TBRA BAR points series (where I'm currently 3rd) as well as the omnium.
The criterium course was less than a mile with a tight 180, slight uphill, right corner with more uphill, left slightly downhill, and then a left downhill very long straight to the finish. My plan was to sit near the front the entire race and do little or no work on the front. Mid-way through the race I did attack out of the 180 to see what it did to the field but everyone stayed together. Going into the last lap I knew I didn't want to be in the pack going into the 180 for the last time, so I got on the front and went just hard enough where I figured no one would want to come around me, but not too hard to where I wouldn't have anything left for the last lap. I went into the 180 first, and then heard a crash happen behind me. I think only one guy went down (he was luckily ok), but it did slow down the field and those caught behind it had to work to catch back on down the straight. I was happy with my decision to be on the front. My plan (based on what others that had already raced had told me) was to attack out of the next to last corner and see if I could hold it for the rest of the distance. It was a long way but it was also downhill. The guy that was the favorite to win the race (he had also won the road race the day before) attacked on the uphill. One guy was on his wheel and I was able to respond although they had a gap on me. He slowed down on the downhill before the last corner so I just keep sprinting hoping that the gap I would get on them was enough to hold. I was out front down the very long last straight. It lasted forever but I thought for a moment I might get the win. As we were almost to the line he along with someone else passed me but I was still able to hold onto 3rd. From the pictures I saw the entire field was strung out so overall I was happy with my choice to go when I did because if I hadn't, I don't know that I would have been able to finish any better. The 3rd place also gave me enough points to win 3rd in the omnium.
Overall this was a great weekend of racing. I earned upgrade points in both the road race and the crit and earned my first road win, my first podium in a criterium, and my first podium in an omnium. There's only a few more races left in the season and I'm already looking forward to training hard over the winter to see what I can do in Category 3 (after I upgrade at the end of the season).
Sunday, June 30, 2013
State Road Race and Cookeville Crit
The Tennessee State Championship Road Race was this Saturday in Gainesboro. The course was about 55 miles with 5 climbs and then another large roller about 5 miles from the finish. My plan was to stay with the strong climbers and see what happened to the field. It seemed most of the field stayed together on the first climb and on the second a couple juniors and another racer took off. Since there was still over 40 miles left in the race I didn't respond. We ended up catching them shortly after but after the first three climbs all the strong guys were still together. We seemed to have a group of 15 or 20. The race favorite, who is a sprinter that no cat 4 is going to beat, was still with is. I was hoping he would have gotten dropped on the first three climbs but no such luck. On the fourth climb the pace picked up and the group got smaller, but still the race favorite was still there. A mile or two after the climb (about mile 33) one guy went off the front. I saw him go but I'm not sure many other did. I knew him and made the decision that he couldn't stay away solo the entire race and didn't give chase. I did make sure to tell a couple of the other guys in case they wanted to chase, but no one did. The pace was pretty slow at that point. Occasionally someone would go to the front and ramp it up but it would then slow back down. When we came to the 5th climb I knew that was our last best chance to drop the sprinters, so I quickly went to the front and picked up the pace. I crested the hill with two others and we had a small gap on the rest of the field. We worked together on the short flat before we went back downhill. By the time we got to the bottom of the descent the field was back together (probably 14 or 15). The pace was still pretty slow and the solo guy wasn't in sight. I knew there was that last large roller and it would be the last shot at getting a smaller break. One of the juniors was feeling good at about 8 miles to go and took off and I jumped on his wheel. After his pull I looked back and we had a good gap on the field. Another guy bridged up and this move finally energized everyone. We rejoined the field but at this point we were finally on the gas. We made the left turn onto the highway where the finish was and immediately started the large roller. We could see the solo guy halfway up it so we knew he was caught. Another guy attacked and I got on his wheel. This seemed like a promising move that would at the very least whittle the field down even more. A few seconds later the moto ref rode by and said he was neutralizing the field. We all stopped at the top of the roller (5 miles to the finish) and found out there was a bad crash at the finish and all the races on the course were being stopped. We sat for about 20 minutes while they cleared the finish and got the guys that crashed help. One guy had to be life flighted away but he is luckily ok. But the stop killed the momentum we were creating and it gave everyone a chance to recover. We finally started again and the gas was on from the beginning. I tried to get in a good position for the sprint but only managed 11th. Once I lost the wheel of the race favorite at 200 meters my incentive to continue to go all out also went away since I was there to race for the win.
Sunday was the Cookeville Crit. It was a great course was some fast turns you could hit full gas and some good uphill sections, which suited me. The downside was it was a downhill sprint finish, and I knew there was no chance I could beat the race favorite in a sprint (he had won the state road race the day before). I also knew there was at least one other guy there that I didn't want to take to the line. So I could either conserve and sit in the entire time and race for 3rd, or I could be aggressive the entire race and try to pull off a win. Anyone that knows how I've been racing this year knows I picked the aggressive route. I sat in until the first $20 prime which was pretty early on. I put in a huge attack on the backside of the race and got a big gap. I took the prime and kept pushing to see what would happen. Another guy bridged up and we worked together for a few laps but were caught by the field. They announced another $20 prime later on and again on the back stretch the field was going slow, so I attacked again. In the last turn I realized there was someone behind me but didn't know how. I put in an all out sprint to the line but realized as he nipped me to take the prime that it was the race favorite. I think he beat me sitting down, but I've also heard he has almost a 2000 watt sprint so it's not surprising. He gaped me because I was toast but after I recovered for a few seconds I sprinted up to get on his wheel hoping he would pull me into a break. I had seen him win a crit earlier in the year by going solo after winning a prime. By the time I got to him he could see that the field was also coming so he sat up. I tried a couple more attacks/went with attacks but nothing stuck. Going into two laps to go the field was still together. After the downhill finish there was a tight left 90 degree turn followed by another tight left 90 degree turn. The main part of the field was slowing down here most of the race so I thought this would be the best place to attack and see what happened. As I said I didn't want this to come down to a sprint so in a last ditch effort I attacked on the downhill going into 1 lap to go and had a gap coming out of the two turns. I buried myself going up the uphill but the field blew past me close to the top. I was toast and pushed with what I had left back to the finish line. I was able to pass one guy in the sprint to take 11th. I played all my cards with the last attack knowing that I was either going to win or finish back in the pack. It didn't work out but I earned some great experience. Also I was happy that I was able to move around the field and get in the position I wanted which is something I haven't been able to do on a consistent basis in the past, so that was also a plus.
Sunday was the Cookeville Crit. It was a great course was some fast turns you could hit full gas and some good uphill sections, which suited me. The downside was it was a downhill sprint finish, and I knew there was no chance I could beat the race favorite in a sprint (he had won the state road race the day before). I also knew there was at least one other guy there that I didn't want to take to the line. So I could either conserve and sit in the entire time and race for 3rd, or I could be aggressive the entire race and try to pull off a win. Anyone that knows how I've been racing this year knows I picked the aggressive route. I sat in until the first $20 prime which was pretty early on. I put in a huge attack on the backside of the race and got a big gap. I took the prime and kept pushing to see what would happen. Another guy bridged up and we worked together for a few laps but were caught by the field. They announced another $20 prime later on and again on the back stretch the field was going slow, so I attacked again. In the last turn I realized there was someone behind me but didn't know how. I put in an all out sprint to the line but realized as he nipped me to take the prime that it was the race favorite. I think he beat me sitting down, but I've also heard he has almost a 2000 watt sprint so it's not surprising. He gaped me because I was toast but after I recovered for a few seconds I sprinted up to get on his wheel hoping he would pull me into a break. I had seen him win a crit earlier in the year by going solo after winning a prime. By the time I got to him he could see that the field was also coming so he sat up. I tried a couple more attacks/went with attacks but nothing stuck. Going into two laps to go the field was still together. After the downhill finish there was a tight left 90 degree turn followed by another tight left 90 degree turn. The main part of the field was slowing down here most of the race so I thought this would be the best place to attack and see what happened. As I said I didn't want this to come down to a sprint so in a last ditch effort I attacked on the downhill going into 1 lap to go and had a gap coming out of the two turns. I buried myself going up the uphill but the field blew past me close to the top. I was toast and pushed with what I had left back to the finish line. I was able to pass one guy in the sprint to take 11th. I played all my cards with the last attack knowing that I was either going to win or finish back in the pack. It didn't work out but I earned some great experience. Also I was happy that I was able to move around the field and get in the position I wanted which is something I haven't been able to do on a consistent basis in the past, so that was also a plus.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Nashville Cyclist Crit - June 12
Last nights Nashville Cyclist Crit had the largest Cat 4 field to date - 49 guys. That's a lot of guys on that short course. I knew with that many I didn't want to hang out in the field for very long. I was able to get to the front of the line at the start and stay within the top 10 for the first several laps. When they did the first prime, several guys attacked for it. One of which was the winner for the past several weeks. He got a good gap solo and I realized that was my chance to make something happen. I attacked hard and brought a few guys in me and also picked up the solo guy off front. We ended up forming a break of about seven. After several laps and seeing the main field start to blow apart, I realized the break was going to stick. I tried to keep the pace up and a couple guys dropped off.
Going into the last few laps, I was on the wheel of the guy I thought would win (and eventually did). He had a team mate with him and as the laps ticked by, I was waiting for some kind of attack from them. I got impatient with 3 to go and attacked to try and make something happen. I didn't get away and the winner was able to get in a good counterattack to drop me. Another guy went by a quarter lap later and a third guy shortly after. I was able to catch and pass that guy on the last lap with left me in the front of what was left of the break (I had no idea how many people were behind me). I just buried my head and pushed as hard as I could on the final lap. Coming to the finish line I could hear someone coming and tried as best I could to not let him by. He ended up getting me by half a wheel at the end. Still, I'm happy for 4th in a field of almost 50. Still need to work on tactics to try and get that win. More importantly, I could tell I was much more comfortable in the corners and am beginning to really like crit racing.
Going into the last few laps, I was on the wheel of the guy I thought would win (and eventually did). He had a team mate with him and as the laps ticked by, I was waiting for some kind of attack from them. I got impatient with 3 to go and attacked to try and make something happen. I didn't get away and the winner was able to get in a good counterattack to drop me. Another guy went by a quarter lap later and a third guy shortly after. I was able to catch and pass that guy on the last lap with left me in the front of what was left of the break (I had no idea how many people were behind me). I just buried my head and pushed as hard as I could on the final lap. Coming to the finish line I could hear someone coming and tried as best I could to not let him by. He ended up getting me by half a wheel at the end. Still, I'm happy for 4th in a field of almost 50. Still need to work on tactics to try and get that win. More importantly, I could tell I was much more comfortable in the corners and am beginning to really like crit racing.
Johnson City Omnium
This past weekend was the Johnson City Omnium in, you guessed it, Johnson City TN. It was about a four and a half hour drive from home, and we left early Friday afternoon so it wouldn't be crazy late getting there (we also lost an hour going into Eastern Time Zone).
The road race Saturday morning was pretty short for the Cat 4s - 30 miles. However, it was pretty much all up hill and the last 7.5 miles consisted of a climb up Roan Mountain with a mountain top finish. From almost the very beginning of the race a group of 3 formed a breakaway. Knowing it was a long race with climbing, no one in the pelaton was overally concerned with chasing them down. Shortly after one guy dropped off the break and came back to the pack, with the second guy dropping off a few miles later. That left a solo rider out there. I remember someone tried to bridge up to him, but he quickly realized that wasn't going to work and came back. I took a couple turns up front trying to keep the pace up, but I didn't want to work overally hard because I assumed he wasn't going to solo the entire way. If he did, he deserved the win anyway. He was ultimately caught at the base of the last climb.
As soon as the climb started, the guys on the front quickly upped the pace. I realized quickly I was really going to have to bury myself to keep that pace and I had to decide if I wanted to do that and risk blowing up before the end of the race (I knew that group would slow a little but I didn't know how much or how soon), or let them go and settle into my own pace. Since there are no 7 mile climbs where I live, this is something I haven't been able to train for so I made the decision to keep my own pace. I quickly ended up on the front of the chase group and settled into to a pace I thought I could hold and even increase on the entire climb. The group behind me seemed to keep getting smaller and I would catch up to guys that had come off the initial group. About 4 or 5 miles into the climb there was a group of two at the lead, a group of three behind them, a group three behind them, and then me and another guy. The group of three in front of us was close enough where I thought we would catch them, and we did with about a mile to go. There were the typical 1K and 500M to go signs, and I was looking for a 300M or 100M sign to make my attack (I was sitting where I wanted towards the back of our five person group). To my surprise, we made a turn and I saw the finish line up ahead. At that point the people in front of me went and I wasn't able to overcome their jump in that short of distance. I ended up taking third in our group sprint, which gave me 8th overall. In a climbing race with 30 guys I'll take that result since the only people that come to this race are good climbers.
After waiting at the top of the mountain to see my team mate Kyle Taylor finish (who got 13th in a deep Pro/1/2 field), we made our way down the mountain and back to the hotel to rest before the TT later that afternoon. The TT was 3.5 miles long total, with a mile long uphill and then a descent before finishing with about a 2 mile flat. I paced myself well at the beginning and the uphill, but pushed myself too hard on the downhill trying to make up time which ended up costing me on the flat. I finished 4th out of 18, but missed 3rd by 1 second. I think I would have made that up with some better pacing...maybe.
On Sunday was the crit. It was a great course in downtown Johnson City, with seven turns. During warm-up I thought I wouldn't like the course because of the tight fast turns, but by the end I was having a blast. I was able to move through the pack and at one point tried to bridge up to a break, but I ended up just dragging the field with me. It ended up coming down to a field sprint and I was able to grab 6th out of 25 guys.
Overall in the omnium I was able to get 5th. I was happy with my results and was able to learn a lot - the only bummer is I finished one place out of the money in the TT and the Crit, and one place out of upgrade points in the road race and the crit.
The road race Saturday morning was pretty short for the Cat 4s - 30 miles. However, it was pretty much all up hill and the last 7.5 miles consisted of a climb up Roan Mountain with a mountain top finish. From almost the very beginning of the race a group of 3 formed a breakaway. Knowing it was a long race with climbing, no one in the pelaton was overally concerned with chasing them down. Shortly after one guy dropped off the break and came back to the pack, with the second guy dropping off a few miles later. That left a solo rider out there. I remember someone tried to bridge up to him, but he quickly realized that wasn't going to work and came back. I took a couple turns up front trying to keep the pace up, but I didn't want to work overally hard because I assumed he wasn't going to solo the entire way. If he did, he deserved the win anyway. He was ultimately caught at the base of the last climb.
As soon as the climb started, the guys on the front quickly upped the pace. I realized quickly I was really going to have to bury myself to keep that pace and I had to decide if I wanted to do that and risk blowing up before the end of the race (I knew that group would slow a little but I didn't know how much or how soon), or let them go and settle into my own pace. Since there are no 7 mile climbs where I live, this is something I haven't been able to train for so I made the decision to keep my own pace. I quickly ended up on the front of the chase group and settled into to a pace I thought I could hold and even increase on the entire climb. The group behind me seemed to keep getting smaller and I would catch up to guys that had come off the initial group. About 4 or 5 miles into the climb there was a group of two at the lead, a group of three behind them, a group three behind them, and then me and another guy. The group of three in front of us was close enough where I thought we would catch them, and we did with about a mile to go. There were the typical 1K and 500M to go signs, and I was looking for a 300M or 100M sign to make my attack (I was sitting where I wanted towards the back of our five person group). To my surprise, we made a turn and I saw the finish line up ahead. At that point the people in front of me went and I wasn't able to overcome their jump in that short of distance. I ended up taking third in our group sprint, which gave me 8th overall. In a climbing race with 30 guys I'll take that result since the only people that come to this race are good climbers.
After waiting at the top of the mountain to see my team mate Kyle Taylor finish (who got 13th in a deep Pro/1/2 field), we made our way down the mountain and back to the hotel to rest before the TT later that afternoon. The TT was 3.5 miles long total, with a mile long uphill and then a descent before finishing with about a 2 mile flat. I paced myself well at the beginning and the uphill, but pushed myself too hard on the downhill trying to make up time which ended up costing me on the flat. I finished 4th out of 18, but missed 3rd by 1 second. I think I would have made that up with some better pacing...maybe.
On Sunday was the crit. It was a great course in downtown Johnson City, with seven turns. During warm-up I thought I wouldn't like the course because of the tight fast turns, but by the end I was having a blast. I was able to move through the pack and at one point tried to bridge up to a break, but I ended up just dragging the field with me. It ended up coming down to a field sprint and I was able to grab 6th out of 25 guys.
Overall in the omnium I was able to get 5th. I was happy with my results and was able to learn a lot - the only bummer is I finished one place out of the money in the TT and the Crit, and one place out of upgrade points in the road race and the crit.
Rockabilly Gran Prix
It's been a little while since I've posted here. Since my last post I've done several races, both on-road and off-road. Lately I've been doing more road events in an effort to move out of the Cat 4s into Cat 3. My goal is to move up before the end of the season so I can do some Cat 3 races this year.
This past weekend was the Rockabilly Gran Prix in Jackson, TN. It consisted of a road race Saturday morning, TT Saturday evening, and crit Sunday. We drove down Friday night because Karah's race was early Saturday morning. Mine wasn't until noon so I had some time to wait around. It was overcast but the forecast was only calling for a chance of rain. The chance of rain turned into a downpour about an hour and a half before my race. It seemed to rain hard and then stop and it repeated this cycle every ten minutes or so.
Luckily it stopped raining when I needed to get ready and start my warm-up. There was about 40 guys in the field. Our race was four laps around an 11 mile loop. The first mile or so was a neutral start. The race was pretty calm the first lap. I started towards the back and was able to move up by the end of the lap. The craziness started at the first of the second lap.
Less than a mile in, a see and hear the ominous sounds of a crash happening directly in front of me, about 3 riders up. I'm on the far right of the road next to the shoulder, and that is where the crash is happening. I'm fortunately able to move to the left to avoid everyone crashing in front of me. I don't know how I made it through upright. The craziest part of the crash was someones rear wheel rolling past me down the road and then crossing in front of me before going into the other lane.
Someone at the front of the pack, after hearing the crash, attacked (which is pretty bush-league) - once he attacked even sped up to stay with him. I was fortunately able to accelerate and get on the back of what was a 10 or 15 person break. This group stayed together the rest of the race, but no one really got in a good rhythm of a pace line. One of the juniors seemed to want to attack every time he took a pull, which got annoying.
This was supposed to be a four lap race, but the official told us after we started our third lap that this would be the last. The real racing began at this point as everyone realized we had about 8 miles to the finish. Unfortunately, about a mile from the finish the official comes back up and says the race is cancelled and all the finish line officials were told to take cover because there was a tornado warning for the area. So we basically raced in the rain for over an hour and a half to not get a result.
The TT later that day was uneventful - I got 8th out of 18 - not bad but not as good as I had hoped.
The crit the next day was also pretty uneventful - I ended up getting 9th out of 28. I felt good throughout the race but wasn't nearly in the position I wanted to be on the last lap - that is definitely something I have to work on.
This past weekend was the Rockabilly Gran Prix in Jackson, TN. It consisted of a road race Saturday morning, TT Saturday evening, and crit Sunday. We drove down Friday night because Karah's race was early Saturday morning. Mine wasn't until noon so I had some time to wait around. It was overcast but the forecast was only calling for a chance of rain. The chance of rain turned into a downpour about an hour and a half before my race. It seemed to rain hard and then stop and it repeated this cycle every ten minutes or so.
Luckily it stopped raining when I needed to get ready and start my warm-up. There was about 40 guys in the field. Our race was four laps around an 11 mile loop. The first mile or so was a neutral start. The race was pretty calm the first lap. I started towards the back and was able to move up by the end of the lap. The craziness started at the first of the second lap.
Less than a mile in, a see and hear the ominous sounds of a crash happening directly in front of me, about 3 riders up. I'm on the far right of the road next to the shoulder, and that is where the crash is happening. I'm fortunately able to move to the left to avoid everyone crashing in front of me. I don't know how I made it through upright. The craziest part of the crash was someones rear wheel rolling past me down the road and then crossing in front of me before going into the other lane.
Someone at the front of the pack, after hearing the crash, attacked (which is pretty bush-league) - once he attacked even sped up to stay with him. I was fortunately able to accelerate and get on the back of what was a 10 or 15 person break. This group stayed together the rest of the race, but no one really got in a good rhythm of a pace line. One of the juniors seemed to want to attack every time he took a pull, which got annoying.
This was supposed to be a four lap race, but the official told us after we started our third lap that this would be the last. The real racing began at this point as everyone realized we had about 8 miles to the finish. Unfortunately, about a mile from the finish the official comes back up and says the race is cancelled and all the finish line officials were told to take cover because there was a tornado warning for the area. So we basically raced in the rain for over an hour and a half to not get a result.
The TT later that day was uneventful - I got 8th out of 18 - not bad but not as good as I had hoped.
The crit the next day was also pretty uneventful - I ended up getting 9th out of 28. I felt good throughout the race but wasn't nearly in the position I wanted to be on the last lap - that is definitely something I have to work on.
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