Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Nationals 2010
A couple of days ago on the USA cycling website, the dates for all the 2010 National Championships were announced. The JR, u23, and elite National championships are scheduled for June 22-27. This means it is more than a month earlier than in 2009, and before Fitchburg. So, it looks like Edgar Soto, the regional camp, Fitchburg, Nationals, and Tour of the Red River Gorge are all going to be packed into 1 month. All in all I am very excited about the 2010 season.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Broken Wrist and Off Season
Almost 2 weeks ago I was mountain biking on some trails, when I fell and broke my wrist. When I got it checked out by a doctor they thought I might have broken it in 2 pieces, so I have to wear a cast with a thumb piece for 3 weeks. I have kept riding, but the hardest thing to do is shift. It's also hard to put my hands on the bars in some ways, but at least it's the off season. Sadly, I don't have another race until mid February, about 3 months from now.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Tour De Moore Photos and TrainingPeaks WKO
Here are some Tour De Moore Pictures:
A couple days ago I did The Airport Road Time Trial, a 2.2 mile long TT that's mainly uphill for the 1st mile, flat for almost half a mile, then downhill, then flat again for another half a mile. Overall, the course is net uphill. I hadn't done this TT all-out for a while, so I was expecting to beat my record time of 5:30 or so, as well as my old 5 min. record of 249 watts, which I set in may.
During the TT I just felt OK but could tell my speed was faster than usual on nearly all parts of the course. I would just have to wait until I could download my Powermeter on WKO. Using the Training Peaks WKO Software I can track my performance easily and see if my form is increasing or decreasing.
5:10, breaking my previous record by 20 seconds!
2.2 miles
Sadly, my 2009 cycling season is now over. I was going to end it with the Greenville Classic, October 11th and probably another race this month, but I couldn''t do the race this month and the Greenville race was cancelled. So now I 'm just being thankful for a fun 2009 season and looking forward to 2010, when lord willing my season will start all over again with January Nats.
A couple days ago I did The Airport Road Time Trial, a 2.2 mile long TT that's mainly uphill for the 1st mile, flat for almost half a mile, then downhill, then flat again for another half a mile. Overall, the course is net uphill. I hadn't done this TT all-out for a while, so I was expecting to beat my record time of 5:30 or so, as well as my old 5 min. record of 249 watts, which I set in may. During the TT I just felt OK but could tell my speed was faster than usual on nearly all parts of the course. I would just have to wait until I could download my Powermeter on WKO. Using the Training Peaks WKO Software I can track my performance easily and see if my form is increasing or decreasing.
5:10, breaking my previous record by 20 seconds!
2.2 miles
25.4 miles per hour
102 avg. cadence281 avg. watts, breaking my old 5 minute record by 32 watts!
IF: 1.21
IF: 1.21
VI: 1
6.05 watts per kilogramSadly, my 2009 cycling season is now over. I was going to end it with the Greenville Classic, October 11th and probably another race this month, but I couldn''t do the race this month and the Greenville race was cancelled. So now I 'm just being thankful for a fun 2009 season and looking forward to 2010, when lord willing my season will start all over again with January Nats.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
2009 Tour De Moore Century Ride
Last Monday I did the 2009 Tour De Moore Century. This was my first year doing the hundred mile ride, before I had only done the 50 mile route, and in 2005, the 28 mile. Before Monday, I hadn't ever rode more than 80 miles, so I didn't know how I would feel after 100.
I lined up to the start of the Ride with about 150 other people. Most of them weren't racers, but about 20 of them were. Of the 20, there was 1 0r more cat. 1's, at least 3 cat. 2's, and the rest were 3's or 4's 0r 5's. The ride started easy and was never very hard for the 1st 50 miles, although it was pretty fast. At mile 50 the pack was down to less than 50 people, and I was staying in the top 20, not the top 10 because position wasn't as important as it would be in a race. Pretty soon there was a 3 person breakaway, and a cat. 2 named Sam bridged up to them. It was a pretty serious move, and I started helping in a paceline to pull them back. We cam close to catching them at maybe mile 60, but then we sat up. I really wanted to catch the break already, so I went to the front, but nobody would even get on my wheel to follow me, so I was just dangling out in front for a while.
Due to the lack of chasing the break got a minute and a half advantage by mile 70, when more serious attacks came. There would be attack after attack, and I followed nearly all of them. At mile 90, Some riders attacked through dangerous parts of the course, and I was tempted to follow them but didn't. One of them bridged up to the break, which was just Sam at this point, and held it to the end. In the field, we were continuing to watch eachother, and I was really wishing that we had worked together better and could have caught the break. After a while, we reached the bottom of the Conneticut Road hill, the biggest in the area at 270 feet. The first half was steady but the last half there was an attack, and I just couldn't follow it after 100 miles of accelerations, which wasn't really suprising given I had never done nearly 100 miles ever before. I got 6th, 3rd out of the pack in the end.
Here are the statistics of the ride:
103 miles
4:36:30
22.6 average speed
No wattage data; I didn't use my powermeter.
So, that was the 2009 Tour De Moore. In my next post, I'll put up pictures of the ride.
I lined up to the start of the Ride with about 150 other people. Most of them weren't racers, but about 20 of them were. Of the 20, there was 1 0r more cat. 1's, at least 3 cat. 2's, and the rest were 3's or 4's 0r 5's. The ride started easy and was never very hard for the 1st 50 miles, although it was pretty fast. At mile 50 the pack was down to less than 50 people, and I was staying in the top 20, not the top 10 because position wasn't as important as it would be in a race. Pretty soon there was a 3 person breakaway, and a cat. 2 named Sam bridged up to them. It was a pretty serious move, and I started helping in a paceline to pull them back. We cam close to catching them at maybe mile 60, but then we sat up. I really wanted to catch the break already, so I went to the front, but nobody would even get on my wheel to follow me, so I was just dangling out in front for a while.
Due to the lack of chasing the break got a minute and a half advantage by mile 70, when more serious attacks came. There would be attack after attack, and I followed nearly all of them. At mile 90, Some riders attacked through dangerous parts of the course, and I was tempted to follow them but didn't. One of them bridged up to the break, which was just Sam at this point, and held it to the end. In the field, we were continuing to watch eachother, and I was really wishing that we had worked together better and could have caught the break. After a while, we reached the bottom of the Conneticut Road hill, the biggest in the area at 270 feet. The first half was steady but the last half there was an attack, and I just couldn't follow it after 100 miles of accelerations, which wasn't really suprising given I had never done nearly 100 miles ever before. I got 6th, 3rd out of the pack in the end.
Here are the statistics of the ride:
103 miles
4:36:30
22.6 average speed
No wattage data; I didn't use my powermeter.
So, that was the 2009 Tour De Moore. In my next post, I'll put up pictures of the ride.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Racing Update
First of all, sorry that it's been so long since I've updated my blog. Here is a racing update:
Coming into the National Championships, I wasn't expecting to do great because I was racing in the 15-16 category, despite still being 14. Now, I think I should have had higher goals or the race.
July 28, 2009: USA CYCLING National Road Race Championships:
I started the 45 mile circuit/road race feeling terrible, I think because of the heat, despite me drinking about 6 water bottles. I suffered at the back of the pack or near it for the first half of the race, when someone in front of me crashed, and I and a couple of other people went down. From then on me and 2 other riders from 5280 grouped together, one from the crash and one who was dropped, and tried to not get lapped by the field. At the end, after doing most of the work in the last 5 miles, one of the riders, the stronger one, sprinted around me and I got 27th. Only 1 racing age 15 yr old stayed in the 20 person finishing pack.
July 30: Time Trial
Despite the course being pretty good for me, at about 2 percent for 12k up and then back down, and the fact that I felt better than I did in the Road Race, I got 35th, which I wasn't too disappointed about because Time Trialing isn't my strength. I was just hoping to do a little better.
August 1: criterium
The criterium was short and fast, on a super technical 6/10 of a kilometer long circuit. I got called up to the line because I was in the top 8 last year (8th in the 13-14 category), but around the 1st corner there was a big crash where I lost a lot of momentum. For nearly all of the race I was near the back, which was bad enough, but I was also feeling good and should have been near the front. In the last lap I moved up a lot because the pack was stretched out, and got 2oth.
My end result seemed pretty good, but given I didn't race well it wasn't.
South Carolina State Road Race Championship, August 26th:
After Nationals I took a long break, and as of the State Championships I still hadn't done a single interval yet, mainly doing Tuesday Group rides for intensity and endurance/tempo riding during the rest of the week.
Based on this, I wasn't sure how I'd do at the State Championships, although prior to the race I was feeling good. But regardless of how I felt, I really wanted to race good, stay at the front of the field, and play a card.
I would be racing the cat. 3's, a 65 mile race on a 13 mile loop. Although I know this course very well since there are 2 races on it a year, for this race they decided to add an extra hill, a short steep sprint that thinned out the field.
The race started really slow, and remained that way for most of the next 2 laps. After that there were some hard parts, a pack split, and crosswinds, in addition to a crash on the new hill. With 2 laps to go the pack was down to less than 30 riders, and a hard pace had been set for a while. I stayed in the top ten and with 1 to go I was still there, waiting for the right time to play my card.
I decided I would attack over the top of the new hill, which I thought was about 7 miles from the finish. I went over the top of the hill in around 12th, ready to attack, but someone else did before I got the chance to. There were caught pretty soon, and after that I think there was a counterattack. The field was going pretty hard into a headwind to chase them back. When they were caught, the rider leading the pack slowed and pulled off. I attacked right between the rider who had just pulled off and the rider now leading the pack, and got a gap with about 3.5 miles to go.
Unfortunately I was fighting a headwind, and about a minute after I attacked, I was almost caught. But the pack sat up like I was hoping it would, with riders watching each other. My gap grew again, I took a right turn, then began a long descent. During the descent I noticed one rider in a light blue Jersey was trying to bridge up to me. I wasn't thinking about the finish yet, but I still didn't want that rider bridging up to me.
After the descent were two rolling hills, which I went as hard as I could up. I could see the one rider, and also the pack, gaining on me now, and I wasn't expecting to stay away. After the 2 hills was a left turn, and seeing the 1 K to go sign gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I could hold of the peleton and win a cat. 3 race.
From 1K to go until the finish there is a gradual uphill. Given I was still ahead of the chasing rider in the blue jersey, I thought the slight uphill would be enough for me to stay ahead of him.
With 500 meters to go, I thought I could win, but then that 1 rider started to gain on me quickly, so I kicked into a much harder pace. With about 300 meters to go I saw him give up a little, but I still kept going hard until 100 meters to go, when I knew I was going to win. I went across the finish line with my hands in the air, celebrating my first category 3 race victory.
After the race, I downloaded my power meter and saw that I only averaged 21.5 for the whole race. During my breakaway, form what I could tell it was about 3.5 miles, at an average speed of 23.5, not very fast, but there was a headwind for nearly all of it and the last 1.5 kilometers were uphill. I didn't use my power tap wheel for the race, so unfortunately I don't know my average power.
Lord willing, my next race is the Tour De Moore century on September 7. Although it isn't really a race, several cat. 2's and maybe even some cat. 1's will be doing it and I want be competitive and try to win it.
Almost a week later is the Carolina cup, September 13th. I think I will be racing the cat.3's and the juniors.
Coming into the National Championships, I wasn't expecting to do great because I was racing in the 15-16 category, despite still being 14. Now, I think I should have had higher goals or the race.
July 28, 2009: USA CYCLING National Road Race Championships:
I started the 45 mile circuit/road race feeling terrible, I think because of the heat, despite me drinking about 6 water bottles. I suffered at the back of the pack or near it for the first half of the race, when someone in front of me crashed, and I and a couple of other people went down. From then on me and 2 other riders from 5280 grouped together, one from the crash and one who was dropped, and tried to not get lapped by the field. At the end, after doing most of the work in the last 5 miles, one of the riders, the stronger one, sprinted around me and I got 27th. Only 1 racing age 15 yr old stayed in the 20 person finishing pack.
July 30: Time Trial
Despite the course being pretty good for me, at about 2 percent for 12k up and then back down, and the fact that I felt better than I did in the Road Race, I got 35th, which I wasn't too disappointed about because Time Trialing isn't my strength. I was just hoping to do a little better.
August 1: criterium
The criterium was short and fast, on a super technical 6/10 of a kilometer long circuit. I got called up to the line because I was in the top 8 last year (8th in the 13-14 category), but around the 1st corner there was a big crash where I lost a lot of momentum. For nearly all of the race I was near the back, which was bad enough, but I was also feeling good and should have been near the front. In the last lap I moved up a lot because the pack was stretched out, and got 2oth.
My end result seemed pretty good, but given I didn't race well it wasn't.
South Carolina State Road Race Championship, August 26th:
After Nationals I took a long break, and as of the State Championships I still hadn't done a single interval yet, mainly doing Tuesday Group rides for intensity and endurance/tempo riding during the rest of the week.
Based on this, I wasn't sure how I'd do at the State Championships, although prior to the race I was feeling good. But regardless of how I felt, I really wanted to race good, stay at the front of the field, and play a card.
I would be racing the cat. 3's, a 65 mile race on a 13 mile loop. Although I know this course very well since there are 2 races on it a year, for this race they decided to add an extra hill, a short steep sprint that thinned out the field.
The race started really slow, and remained that way for most of the next 2 laps. After that there were some hard parts, a pack split, and crosswinds, in addition to a crash on the new hill. With 2 laps to go the pack was down to less than 30 riders, and a hard pace had been set for a while. I stayed in the top ten and with 1 to go I was still there, waiting for the right time to play my card.
I decided I would attack over the top of the new hill, which I thought was about 7 miles from the finish. I went over the top of the hill in around 12th, ready to attack, but someone else did before I got the chance to. There were caught pretty soon, and after that I think there was a counterattack. The field was going pretty hard into a headwind to chase them back. When they were caught, the rider leading the pack slowed and pulled off. I attacked right between the rider who had just pulled off and the rider now leading the pack, and got a gap with about 3.5 miles to go.
Unfortunately I was fighting a headwind, and about a minute after I attacked, I was almost caught. But the pack sat up like I was hoping it would, with riders watching each other. My gap grew again, I took a right turn, then began a long descent. During the descent I noticed one rider in a light blue Jersey was trying to bridge up to me. I wasn't thinking about the finish yet, but I still didn't want that rider bridging up to me.
After the descent were two rolling hills, which I went as hard as I could up. I could see the one rider, and also the pack, gaining on me now, and I wasn't expecting to stay away. After the 2 hills was a left turn, and seeing the 1 K to go sign gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I could hold of the peleton and win a cat. 3 race.
From 1K to go until the finish there is a gradual uphill. Given I was still ahead of the chasing rider in the blue jersey, I thought the slight uphill would be enough for me to stay ahead of him.
With 500 meters to go, I thought I could win, but then that 1 rider started to gain on me quickly, so I kicked into a much harder pace. With about 300 meters to go I saw him give up a little, but I still kept going hard until 100 meters to go, when I knew I was going to win. I went across the finish line with my hands in the air, celebrating my first category 3 race victory.
After the race, I downloaded my power meter and saw that I only averaged 21.5 for the whole race. During my breakaway, form what I could tell it was about 3.5 miles, at an average speed of 23.5, not very fast, but there was a headwind for nearly all of it and the last 1.5 kilometers were uphill. I didn't use my power tap wheel for the race, so unfortunately I don't know my average power.
Lord willing, my next race is the Tour De Moore century on September 7. Although it isn't really a race, several cat. 2's and maybe even some cat. 1's will be doing it and I want be competitive and try to win it.
Almost a week later is the Carolina cup, September 13th. I think I will be racing the cat.3's and the juniors.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Fitchburg Longsjo classic 2009: Stages 1, 2, and 3
Last Sunday was the end of the July 2nd to 5th Fitchburg Longsjo classic. For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a very big 4 day race in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. All of the fields there were extremely talented, but none more than the 70 person 15-18 pack which included all of the Hot tubes team (Nathan Brown, Lawson Craddock, Gavin Mannion, Anders Newbury, Ian Boswell, and Ben Gabardi), Luke Keough, Juan Carmona, Nathaniel Wilson, Charlie Avis, and AJ Meyer. Since the field was so strong, I didn't know how I'd do in the race but thought I could do pretty good in Saturdays hilly road race.
Day one: TT
Thursday was the 1st day of the race, an out-and-back, pretty flat long 14 Kilometer TT. The course didn't suit me very well, but I was expecting to get about 30th.
I rode up to the starting ramp and waited to go off. I sprinted down the course with the wind, and though I was going pretty fast. I got to the turn around feeling good, and powered back to get a time of under 22 minutes ( 24.7 mph), which I thought was pretty good. But when I saw the results a couple of hours later, I was surprised that I got 49th, out of 67. My average speed wasn't bad for me, but there were just so many good people there. Nathan Brown won in a time of 18:25, averaging over 29 miles per hour!
Stage two: circuit race
Friday was the circuit race, 22 miles on a 3.1 mile course. Even after the day before I was looking forward to this stage because it had a steep climb 1/5th of a mile long as well as a smaller, more gradual hill.
I lined up for the race in the 2nd row, but fell back alot at the start because I couldn't clip in. We quickly accelerated to 32 mph, and went over 25 on the smaller climb. After that there was a slight downhill were we got up to more than 35, then a pretty narrow corner followed by the hill.
We sprinted up the first 2/3rds of the incline, past the finish line, and up the rest of it to the start line, then repeated it 6 more times. Throughout this a lot of riders got dropped and I had to bridge a lot of gaps. The final time up the hill I started it in about 25th, moved up to almost 2oth halfway up, then faded a little to 27th on the last bit after 45 minutes at my limit. After the race I saw that the winner of our race averaged 28.5 mph, only 1/2 mph slower than the Pro/1 field.
Stage three: RR
Saturday, July 4th 2009 was the toughest stage of the Fitchburg Longsjo classic, and one that I had been waiting for. What made the course so hard was a 500 foot climb which we had to go up 4 times in an 11 mile loop, for a 44 mile long Road Race. I thought I could probably be in the top 20 on this stage, but still knew how many extremely strong people there were.
I lined up for the race in the 2nd row, then turned left out of a ski area parking lot and onto a very fast, 50+ mph descent. That was the first time I've ever went so fast, but the road was pretty straight.
After the descent there was a right turn, then a couple of miles of mainly flat roads before a pretty big hill. Then a downhill, followed by another uphill, this one lasting much longer. Then there was a little bit of flat ground, then another right turn, and then we were on the main part of the climb. A little more than halfway up the last part of it was the finish. Close to there the pack split, and I found myself at the front of the 2nd pack. I jumped across to the first pack without too much difficulty.
Then there was a short descent and two climbs, one longer but both not that steep, followed by the big descent again.
Fast forward to the 3rd lap, the last time up all of the hill. I started the climb in 4th position in the pack (3 guys broke away early on), moved up to 2nd, then crested it in 4th, behind a 2 person chase group that had just escaped on the climb. The chase stayed away until close to the descent, and from then on I was just trying to conserve my energy.
I began the climb to the finish in about 20th, and moved up on the steepest section, to get 20th, 17th out of the splintered 30 person field. I ended the day in 27th overall, with only Sundays' criterium left to go.
Day one: TT
Thursday was the 1st day of the race, an out-and-back, pretty flat long 14 Kilometer TT. The course didn't suit me very well, but I was expecting to get about 30th.
I rode up to the starting ramp and waited to go off. I sprinted down the course with the wind, and though I was going pretty fast. I got to the turn around feeling good, and powered back to get a time of under 22 minutes ( 24.7 mph), which I thought was pretty good. But when I saw the results a couple of hours later, I was surprised that I got 49th, out of 67. My average speed wasn't bad for me, but there were just so many good people there. Nathan Brown won in a time of 18:25, averaging over 29 miles per hour!
Stage two: circuit race
Friday was the circuit race, 22 miles on a 3.1 mile course. Even after the day before I was looking forward to this stage because it had a steep climb 1/5th of a mile long as well as a smaller, more gradual hill.
I lined up for the race in the 2nd row, but fell back alot at the start because I couldn't clip in. We quickly accelerated to 32 mph, and went over 25 on the smaller climb. After that there was a slight downhill were we got up to more than 35, then a pretty narrow corner followed by the hill.
We sprinted up the first 2/3rds of the incline, past the finish line, and up the rest of it to the start line, then repeated it 6 more times. Throughout this a lot of riders got dropped and I had to bridge a lot of gaps. The final time up the hill I started it in about 25th, moved up to almost 2oth halfway up, then faded a little to 27th on the last bit after 45 minutes at my limit. After the race I saw that the winner of our race averaged 28.5 mph, only 1/2 mph slower than the Pro/1 field.
Stage three: RR
Saturday, July 4th 2009 was the toughest stage of the Fitchburg Longsjo classic, and one that I had been waiting for. What made the course so hard was a 500 foot climb which we had to go up 4 times in an 11 mile loop, for a 44 mile long Road Race. I thought I could probably be in the top 20 on this stage, but still knew how many extremely strong people there were.
I lined up for the race in the 2nd row, then turned left out of a ski area parking lot and onto a very fast, 50+ mph descent. That was the first time I've ever went so fast, but the road was pretty straight.
After the descent there was a right turn, then a couple of miles of mainly flat roads before a pretty big hill. Then a downhill, followed by another uphill, this one lasting much longer. Then there was a little bit of flat ground, then another right turn, and then we were on the main part of the climb. A little more than halfway up the last part of it was the finish. Close to there the pack split, and I found myself at the front of the 2nd pack. I jumped across to the first pack without too much difficulty.
Then there was a short descent and two climbs, one longer but both not that steep, followed by the big descent again.
Fast forward to the 3rd lap, the last time up all of the hill. I started the climb in 4th position in the pack (3 guys broke away early on), moved up to 2nd, then crested it in 4th, behind a 2 person chase group that had just escaped on the climb. The chase stayed away until close to the descent, and from then on I was just trying to conserve my energy.
I began the climb to the finish in about 20th, and moved up on the steepest section, to get 20th, 17th out of the splintered 30 person field. I ended the day in 27th overall, with only Sundays' criterium left to go.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
NC Road Race Championships
Last Sunday I did the NC RR championships. I raced in the cat. 4's--my last cat. 4 race. I have managed to get enough points to cat. up to a 3! I have 25 points now, half of which I got at the Tour of Atlanta about 2 weeks ago. Since this was my last category 4 race, I really wanted to be aggressive, race good and just have fun.
The cat. 4's lined up at 8:40 a.m. to complete 3 laps of a roughly 16 mile loop, for 50 miles total. The course this year was slightly different from the last 2 years, with a short section added on to the loop that included what people said was a mile-long climb.
I started the neutral section out to the main loop in the top 10, but slipped back pretty soon in the huge field of at least 60 people. We got to the hill, but it was less than half a mile long followed by an easy false flat. Not what I was expecting, but oh well.
With 1 lap to go I was still boxed into the huge field, but with half a lap to go I finally saw an opening on the right side of the road. One rider had attacked and another rider had just went up the road chasing. I saw an opportunity and went off the front. I bridged up to the 2nd rider and let him pull me up to the first. We shared pulls for a while and were really cruising, even passing the category 3 breakaway (we passed the field earlier). Were were going over 30 pretty frequently, but were all getting more tired. With a mile to go the hard charging field appeared to be almost up to us, but we tried to keep the break going.
We rounded the left hand corner leading back to the Start/Finish line, and had about a mile to go. With 1 k to go the field was just hanging back a couple of bike lengths, prolonging the catch, and I decided to go. I tried to attack, and thought for a while I had a chance, but was caught and swarmed with 400 or 500 meters to go. I crossed the line near the back of the pack.
After the race I was hardly disappointed, because I had almost held off an 60+ rider peloton for 5 miles, which is the longest break I've ever been in in a category race. I raced aggressively too, and am really looking forward to the 3's.
Lord willing, my next races are the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, July 2nd-5th, and the French Broad Ominum, July 17th, 18th, and 19th, where I'll race the 3's for the first time. I am really hoping to do well in both races; in MA with the Juniors and in Asheville with the mountaintop finish Road Race.
The cat. 4's lined up at 8:40 a.m. to complete 3 laps of a roughly 16 mile loop, for 50 miles total. The course this year was slightly different from the last 2 years, with a short section added on to the loop that included what people said was a mile-long climb.
I started the neutral section out to the main loop in the top 10, but slipped back pretty soon in the huge field of at least 60 people. We got to the hill, but it was less than half a mile long followed by an easy false flat. Not what I was expecting, but oh well.
With 1 lap to go I was still boxed into the huge field, but with half a lap to go I finally saw an opening on the right side of the road. One rider had attacked and another rider had just went up the road chasing. I saw an opportunity and went off the front. I bridged up to the 2nd rider and let him pull me up to the first. We shared pulls for a while and were really cruising, even passing the category 3 breakaway (we passed the field earlier). Were were going over 30 pretty frequently, but were all getting more tired. With a mile to go the hard charging field appeared to be almost up to us, but we tried to keep the break going.
We rounded the left hand corner leading back to the Start/Finish line, and had about a mile to go. With 1 k to go the field was just hanging back a couple of bike lengths, prolonging the catch, and I decided to go. I tried to attack, and thought for a while I had a chance, but was caught and swarmed with 400 or 500 meters to go. I crossed the line near the back of the pack.
After the race I was hardly disappointed, because I had almost held off an 60+ rider peloton for 5 miles, which is the longest break I've ever been in in a category race. I raced aggressively too, and am really looking forward to the 3's.
Lord willing, my next races are the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, July 2nd-5th, and the French Broad Ominum, July 17th, 18th, and 19th, where I'll race the 3's for the first time. I am really hoping to do well in both races; in MA with the Juniors and in Asheville with the mountaintop finish Road Race.
Southeastern Regional Developement camp: Day 5 results
Last Thursday night I went down to lectures at 8 o' clock where we got a chance to see both that days' and the whole camp's GC results. Turns out I got 8th that day in the flat short TT's, only losing a total of 10 seconds to Matthew Spinks, a cat. 2, in 4 efforts! The guys behind me made up some time, but not enough to pass me on GC meaning I held on to my 2nd place (3rd 15-18)!
I was really pleased with my results and the camp as a whole. I came into it not expecting more than a top 8 or so, but performed well and learned a lot. Stay tuned for a description of the June 15th NC RR championships.
I was really pleased with my results and the camp as a whole. I came into it not expecting more than a top 8 or so, but performed well and learned a lot. Stay tuned for a description of the June 15th NC RR championships.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
2009 Southeastern Regional Developement Camp: Days 5 and 6
DAY 5: Thursday, June 11th, 2009
I went down to the ride assembly area trying not to think about the flat TT's that awaited me. I was expecting to lose huge chunks of time to Matt Spinks and pretty much everybody else, but I was thinking, at least I did good on Monday.
We rode out to the start of the repeats, lined up, and started them. On the first one my foot clipped out. I got to restart it, but noticed my cleat was chipped on the back. From then on I was careful not to pull up on it that hard, but still gave a maximum effort.
After 2 of the intervals I was dead. After three I was really dead. As I lined up for the last one I was just looking forward to being done with these things.
I started the last one fast and just tried to power through it. I hammered to the finish, turned around, and went to a park were we ate lunch. I tried to eat but couldn't because I was so nauseous, but that was probably a good thing because I knew I went hard enough.
I went down to the ride assembly area trying not to think about the flat TT's that awaited me. I was expecting to lose huge chunks of time to Matt Spinks and pretty much everybody else, but I was thinking, at least I did good on Monday.
We rode out to the start of the repeats, lined up, and started them. On the first one my foot clipped out. I got to restart it, but noticed my cleat was chipped on the back. From then on I was careful not to pull up on it that hard, but still gave a maximum effort.
After 2 of the intervals I was dead. After three I was really dead. As I lined up for the last one I was just looking forward to being done with these things.
I started the last one fast and just tried to power through it. I hammered to the finish, turned around, and went to a park were we ate lunch. I tried to eat but couldn't because I was so nauseous, but that was probably a good thing because I knew I went hard enough.
After lunch we took the long way to a "big ring", but long climb near Saluda. We started the climb and raced to the summit. I moved up to the top 10 pretty quickly, but when the climb was steep enough to create a gap I was tired and still warming up. It was all I could do to stay with the front 7 riders for the first half of the climb. There were numerous attacks, and pretty soon I launched one myself, but didn't get a gap. Another flurry of attacks, and then I got to the front and really went hard. I pulled off only to have Jacob Arnold counter-attack me. I was too tired to go with him. Only Travis, one of the camp staff/coaches, a cat. 1, could follow him the whole way up.
Near the top I took a hard pull hoping to catch them, but all of a sudden I saw the finish line. Will Richter sprinted past me, and I tried to pass him, but it was too late. We rode over the top and descended to Saluda.
We regrouped at the Wildflower bakery for a long stop. From there we descended from Saluda, and got back down to the bottom of the climb just before it started raining. Then we rode about 1.5 or 2 hours back to campus.
DAY 6: Friday, June 12th, 2009
I rode down to the start of a really fun, optional easy ride at 8:00 a.m., got back, packed up my stuff, and left. That ended a great week in Greenville. Hopefully I'll come back next year. An NC State Championship post is coming soon.
2009 Southeastern Regional Developement Camp: Days 3 and 4
Coming into Tuesday, I was pretty nervous. I had done great on the mountainous Time Trials, but now I would have to prove myself against a field of 100 in the A race. After that, another decisive day on Thursday that would likely reshape the GC awaited.
DAY 3: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday was the A Race, but first we had to get there. We did a 13 mile route to the Donaldson center on roads I wouldn't ride on by myself, but in a big pack it wasn't bad at all. Once we got there we rested for a while, then warmed up.
I lined up for the start of the A race in a huge pack of almost 100 riders, including 25 juniors from the camp, easily distinguishable because we were all wearing USA cycling Jerseys.
The race started slowly thanks to a neutral first couple of miles. When the real racing started, it started fast and didn't slow down. I think the first 7 mile lap (out of 6 laps) was done at an average of almost 29 miles per hour. The next couple of laps blew by, and with 2 laps to go I was trying to move up. In the last lap I was in 2 short-lived breakaways. With 3 or so miles left I was fighting for the top 10 spot. There were some very hard pulls, with people trying to catch a breakaway 10 or 15 seconds up the road. With 1 K to go I was in 8th. I started my sprint a little too late, but still got 4th in the field sprint (the 2-man break stayed away), for 6th or 7th place. Will Richter and another camp Junior did great too, getting 4th and 5th. Not to mention Jacob Arnold, who was in almost every breakaway there was in the whole race.
As we rode back to campus, I was yet again so thankful for my results. I couldn't relax yet though--Wednesday was an easy day, but Thursday was where the GC will be cemented.
DAY 4: Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Wednesday was a day to relax after 2 long, hard rides. We did a 1.5 hr ride earlier in the day were we worked on sprinting and braking, then another 1 and a half ride after lunch practicing cornering.
DAY 3: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday was the A Race, but first we had to get there. We did a 13 mile route to the Donaldson center on roads I wouldn't ride on by myself, but in a big pack it wasn't bad at all. Once we got there we rested for a while, then warmed up.
I lined up for the start of the A race in a huge pack of almost 100 riders, including 25 juniors from the camp, easily distinguishable because we were all wearing USA cycling Jerseys.
The race started slowly thanks to a neutral first couple of miles. When the real racing started, it started fast and didn't slow down. I think the first 7 mile lap (out of 6 laps) was done at an average of almost 29 miles per hour. The next couple of laps blew by, and with 2 laps to go I was trying to move up. In the last lap I was in 2 short-lived breakaways. With 3 or so miles left I was fighting for the top 10 spot. There were some very hard pulls, with people trying to catch a breakaway 10 or 15 seconds up the road. With 1 K to go I was in 8th. I started my sprint a little too late, but still got 4th in the field sprint (the 2-man break stayed away), for 6th or 7th place. Will Richter and another camp Junior did great too, getting 4th and 5th. Not to mention Jacob Arnold, who was in almost every breakaway there was in the whole race.
As we rode back to campus, I was yet again so thankful for my results. I couldn't relax yet though--Wednesday was an easy day, but Thursday was where the GC will be cemented.
DAY 4: Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Wednesday was a day to relax after 2 long, hard rides. We did a 1.5 hr ride earlier in the day were we worked on sprinting and braking, then another 1 and a half ride after lunch practicing cornering.
Monday, June 15, 2009
2009 Southeastern Regional Development Camp: Days 1 and 2
Last Sunday was the first day of the 2009 SE Regional Camp, held June 7th-12th. This was my first year I could do the camp because of my age (you have to be 14 by the 1st day). For those of you who have never been to a USA cycling Development Camp, I highly recommend going. Here is some information about it.
Every year from June to late July there are Regional cycling camps put on by USA cycling. During the camps, you get in some great training (and this year racing, too), learn a ton of stuff, and do field tests. Perhaps the most important thing that you do during the camp is the field tests, because if you do well in the tests you have the chance to go to the National camp in Colorado Springs, and then from there to being a member of the National Team, and from there to Izegem, Belgium.
This year, the riding schedule for the Southeastern camp is as follows: arrive Sunday, June 7th, at Furmann University (in Greenville, South Carolina) and do an easy 2 hr. ride. Monday gets a lot harder, with an 80 mile ride including 5 minute and roughly 15 minute long field tests up Cesar's Head. Tuesday isn't any less difficult, a 3.5 hr. day with the Donaldson Center Tuesday Night Training race halfway through. Wednesday is a rest day; two easy 1.5 hr. rides with drills on cornering and sprinting. Then comes Thursday, which is an epic 80 mile ride, with 4 1.5 mile long Time Trials. Friday, the riders leave camp before noon, but not before an optional 40 minute easy ride.
DAY ONE:
We got to the camp at 11:20, and my parents helped me unpack. After they left I waited for the start of that days ride, feeling a little nervous. I got down to were we met on time, and saw a lot of riders I knew, including guys from Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia; nearly the whole East Coast and then some.
The ride started faster than I expected (I like to go super easy on easy days), and I realized I wasn't feeling strong. Despite that, it was different and really fun training with Juniors that I'm only used to racing with.
We stopped for a water break after a little more than an hour, then rode back to Furmann. Later that day we had lectures, then did field games, which are where you go out on a field, and practicing bumping shoulders, track standing, braking really fast, and other fun stuff. Then we got to back to our dorms, and had an hour before lights out.
DAY TWO:
I went down to the ride start with plenty of time to spare, thinking about the upcoming field tests. I wasn't that optimistic, mainly because I didn't feel good Sunday and it seemed like there were a bunch of strong guys there.
I didn't feel great riding out to Cesar's Head, but would get some confidence soon enough. We took a right turn to the start of the climb, and people automatically started sprinting up it (the field tests started later on the climb, after a short slightly downhill section, the beginning of which we were racing to). I started the climb at the back half of the field, but when it started I found myself moving up. All of the sudden I was bridging up to the front group of less than 8 riders. I crested the hill with them, while Jacob Arnold was about 8 seconds in front of us. Although some guys weren't going all out to save some energy for the field tests, I was a little more confident about how I would do after that.
I started the first 5 minute field test 20 minutes later. It was hard to get going at first, but I was holding 12+ m.p.h on all but the steepest grades. I rounded the last bend, and sprinted for the line, expecting a top 10.
After that I rode back down the mountain and got back in line for the 2nd, longer field test. I started it a lot easier than the first one, and soon found a rhythm up the climb. I tried to go a little harder after about 8 minutes, but couldn't hold it and backed off a little. I rounded some very steep hairpin turns, went through the last corner and sprinted for the line.
After that all the riders attempted to go another kilometer up the hill to a regrouping site. We waited there for 20 minutes, then rode the remaining roughly 4 miles of the climb at a tempo pace.
During the climb the field split into two groups, with about 18 riders and myself in it. Once we got to the top we ate lunch at the park there, then went down the descent in groups of 4.
At the bottom we met up again and rode back to campus. The results were posted around 9 0' clock, and before I could see them someone said I had gotten 2nd in the long field test. I looked at the results and saw that I got 5th in the short test and 2nd in the long one (out of everybody, 15-18), which shattered my expectations. In the 15-16's, I got 4th for short one and 1st in the 3 mile one, meaning I was 3rd on GC! (2nd 15-16's).
So, after the first day of field test, I was only 3 seonds behind Matt Spinks, a category 2, on 15-16 GC. Although I was extremely happy with the results, I was hoping no 15-16 yr. olds would be able to pass me on GC in the coming days, especially on Thursday's endless flat repeats. I also had to prove myself in Tuesday's A Race, competing against Pros, 1's, 2's, 3's and other 4's, but I'll write about that later.
Every year from June to late July there are Regional cycling camps put on by USA cycling. During the camps, you get in some great training (and this year racing, too), learn a ton of stuff, and do field tests. Perhaps the most important thing that you do during the camp is the field tests, because if you do well in the tests you have the chance to go to the National camp in Colorado Springs, and then from there to being a member of the National Team, and from there to Izegem, Belgium.
This year, the riding schedule for the Southeastern camp is as follows: arrive Sunday, June 7th, at Furmann University (in Greenville, South Carolina) and do an easy 2 hr. ride. Monday gets a lot harder, with an 80 mile ride including 5 minute and roughly 15 minute long field tests up Cesar's Head. Tuesday isn't any less difficult, a 3.5 hr. day with the Donaldson Center Tuesday Night Training race halfway through. Wednesday is a rest day; two easy 1.5 hr. rides with drills on cornering and sprinting. Then comes Thursday, which is an epic 80 mile ride, with 4 1.5 mile long Time Trials. Friday, the riders leave camp before noon, but not before an optional 40 minute easy ride.
DAY ONE:
We got to the camp at 11:20, and my parents helped me unpack. After they left I waited for the start of that days ride, feeling a little nervous. I got down to were we met on time, and saw a lot of riders I knew, including guys from Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia; nearly the whole East Coast and then some.
The ride started faster than I expected (I like to go super easy on easy days), and I realized I wasn't feeling strong. Despite that, it was different and really fun training with Juniors that I'm only used to racing with.
We stopped for a water break after a little more than an hour, then rode back to Furmann. Later that day we had lectures, then did field games, which are where you go out on a field, and practicing bumping shoulders, track standing, braking really fast, and other fun stuff. Then we got to back to our dorms, and had an hour before lights out.
DAY TWO:
I went down to the ride start with plenty of time to spare, thinking about the upcoming field tests. I wasn't that optimistic, mainly because I didn't feel good Sunday and it seemed like there were a bunch of strong guys there.
I didn't feel great riding out to Cesar's Head, but would get some confidence soon enough. We took a right turn to the start of the climb, and people automatically started sprinting up it (the field tests started later on the climb, after a short slightly downhill section, the beginning of which we were racing to). I started the climb at the back half of the field, but when it started I found myself moving up. All of the sudden I was bridging up to the front group of less than 8 riders. I crested the hill with them, while Jacob Arnold was about 8 seconds in front of us. Although some guys weren't going all out to save some energy for the field tests, I was a little more confident about how I would do after that.
I started the first 5 minute field test 20 minutes later. It was hard to get going at first, but I was holding 12+ m.p.h on all but the steepest grades. I rounded the last bend, and sprinted for the line, expecting a top 10.
After that I rode back down the mountain and got back in line for the 2nd, longer field test. I started it a lot easier than the first one, and soon found a rhythm up the climb. I tried to go a little harder after about 8 minutes, but couldn't hold it and backed off a little. I rounded some very steep hairpin turns, went through the last corner and sprinted for the line.
After that all the riders attempted to go another kilometer up the hill to a regrouping site. We waited there for 20 minutes, then rode the remaining roughly 4 miles of the climb at a tempo pace.
During the climb the field split into two groups, with about 18 riders and myself in it. Once we got to the top we ate lunch at the park there, then went down the descent in groups of 4.
At the bottom we met up again and rode back to campus. The results were posted around 9 0' clock, and before I could see them someone said I had gotten 2nd in the long field test. I looked at the results and saw that I got 5th in the short test and 2nd in the long one (out of everybody, 15-18), which shattered my expectations. In the 15-16's, I got 4th for short one and 1st in the 3 mile one, meaning I was 3rd on GC! (2nd 15-16's).
So, after the first day of field test, I was only 3 seonds behind Matt Spinks, a category 2, on 15-16 GC. Although I was extremely happy with the results, I was hoping no 15-16 yr. olds would be able to pass me on GC in the coming days, especially on Thursday's endless flat repeats. I also had to prove myself in Tuesday's A Race, competing against Pros, 1's, 2's, 3's and other 4's, but I'll write about that later.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
More Photos
The Georgia Cup Tour of Atlanta Stage 7 photos are now posted at the bottom of the 'Tour of Atlanta 2009' blog entry.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tour of Atlanta 2009
May 22nd to 25th was the Tour of Atlanta, a 4 day, 7 stage race. I did the last 5 of the 7 stages of the race (Saturday to Monday). My family and I chose to do this race instead of Dragons challenge this year because of so many racing opportunities in Georgia, and a hilly, "epic" T.O.A RR.
Stage 3: 10:35 am., on Saturday May 23rd, cat. 4/5 U35, 3o minutes long
I lined up for the start of this short crit after a long warmup to see a pretty small 20 rider field. The race started pretty fast, but I held a pretty good position. After what seemed like a couple of minutes, they announced 5 to go.
With 1 lap to go, I bridged up to a recently formed 2-man break on the course's short, steep hill. I passed both the riders, who had sat up, and just went medium when I looked back and realized that they, as well as the pack, didn't follow me. I decided to go for it. I sped around the course while the dropped breakaway riders blocked the field on a one-lane section. On a long, strait downhill my gap fell, but I kept going and went around the last corner at 32 mph. The last 300 or so meters the gap fell to a second, but at the line I held off the field to take my first ever category 4 win!
Stage 4: 3:00 p.m., on Saturday May 23rd, Cat. 4/5 U35, 30 minutes long
The 23 rider pack started and I soon realized I was a marked rider. I wasn't in a great position for a lot of the race, tried 2 breakaways unsuccessfully, and sprinted to 7th at the end.
Stage 5: 10:35 a.m., on Sunday May 24th, cat. 4/5 U35, 30 minutes long
I lined up to the start of my second day of racing along with a 25 or so rider field. After the start I had a little trouble clipping in and fell to 1oth, reminiscent of the days when I would nearly get dropped at the start of every race because I couldn't clip in.
Another short race where I had good tactics and felt strong; I followed a couple of short-lived breaks but didn't start any myself until 5 to go, when I counter attacked after the field had been chasing hard for at least a lap. Nobody responded, and I built up to a 10 second gap, out of the peloton's sight at times. I thought I had a chance to hold it to the finish until 2.5 laps to go, when my advantage went down a bit on the course's long downhill as I had no one to help me pull.
With 1 3/4 laps to go I was caught and went to the back of the pack. I tried to survive and got 1oth at the line.
Stage 6: 3:00 p.m., on Sunday May 24th, cat. 4/5 U35, 30 minutes long
I was hoping to conserve myself in this race after being so aggressive in the last one. I chased down a few breaks, but never was in the wind for much more than 15 seconds. For much of the race I was top 8, and I went into the last corner 4th or 5th wheel, right behind the guy who turned out to be the winner. But going into the bend my right foot unclipped and I almost crashed and went straight to the back. I finished 20th or so, 3 people away from the rear of the group.
So going into the final stage, the "epic" T.O.A RR, after 4 previous stages, only 1 yielded good results. But I had to be pleased, because I did win stage III, and for 3 of the races I had good tactics.
Stage 7: 9:25 a.m., Monday May 25th, Cat. 4/5 U35, 45 miles long
Prior to the last stage I was excited about the 2 lap course, which had 2 hills with 500 feet of elevation gain and numerous other "walls" per lap, held on undulating, sometimes very poor quality roads. The best thing was that the Race finished atop the biggest climb, which was also the biggest hill on the route.
The race started with a 5 mile neutral start for the 39 rider pack, but after it was over the attacks came thick and fast. I got in most of them just by holding the wheel in front of me. Usually the break was caught before I had to pull, but if not I dropped back a couple of bike lengths or bluffed exhaustion. I was in a bad position once during the race, on the first lap during the first half of a roughly 3 mile stretch of road with huge potholes, gravel, sand, sticks, and short but wearing climbs one after the other. It was easy to move up on the roads that resembled the ones in the hilly classics. I rode past the splintering group to the top 10, and stayed there.
The first time up the big climb, I conserved energy and went from 1oth at the bottom to 3rd at the top, while another strong rider powered up the 2nd half of the climb and won the prestigious KOM.
In the last lap the group was mainly single file from the difficulty of the climbs, and I stayed in the top 10 easily because of that. Going into the finishing climb, I was in 1oth, but was on the wheel of the wrong person, and was boxed in as he fell back to 2oth. I thought my race was over, but got around him and moved up to 3rd pretty easily. At the time the rider who won the KOM a lap ago had broken away, but I bided my time on 3rd wheel while the rider in 2nd pulled towards the leader and the finish line. When we got close to the lone leader halfway through the hill, I attacked. I caught and passed the rider who had broken away, and looked back at the field, which was 5 or so seconds behind. I held it on a short downhill with 200 meters to go, then powered up the final part of the climb to take the victory. Congratulations to everyone in the cat. 4/5 U35 race for their very strong performances.
And that's the end of a great weekend in Atlanta. I got great race experience, some victories, and 12 points over the weekend, which bring by total to 24, enough to cat. up to a 3!
Here are some pictures.
Stage 3
Bridging up to the breakaway with 1 to go
Finish
Podium
stage 4
Stage 5
3 lap solo breakaway
Stage 6
Stage 7
Half way through 2nd lap
The finish
Stage 3: 10:35 am., on Saturday May 23rd, cat. 4/5 U35, 3o minutes long
I lined up for the start of this short crit after a long warmup to see a pretty small 20 rider field. The race started pretty fast, but I held a pretty good position. After what seemed like a couple of minutes, they announced 5 to go.
With 1 lap to go, I bridged up to a recently formed 2-man break on the course's short, steep hill. I passed both the riders, who had sat up, and just went medium when I looked back and realized that they, as well as the pack, didn't follow me. I decided to go for it. I sped around the course while the dropped breakaway riders blocked the field on a one-lane section. On a long, strait downhill my gap fell, but I kept going and went around the last corner at 32 mph. The last 300 or so meters the gap fell to a second, but at the line I held off the field to take my first ever category 4 win!
Stage 4: 3:00 p.m., on Saturday May 23rd, Cat. 4/5 U35, 30 minutes long
The 23 rider pack started and I soon realized I was a marked rider. I wasn't in a great position for a lot of the race, tried 2 breakaways unsuccessfully, and sprinted to 7th at the end.
Stage 5: 10:35 a.m., on Sunday May 24th, cat. 4/5 U35, 30 minutes long
I lined up to the start of my second day of racing along with a 25 or so rider field. After the start I had a little trouble clipping in and fell to 1oth, reminiscent of the days when I would nearly get dropped at the start of every race because I couldn't clip in.
Another short race where I had good tactics and felt strong; I followed a couple of short-lived breaks but didn't start any myself until 5 to go, when I counter attacked after the field had been chasing hard for at least a lap. Nobody responded, and I built up to a 10 second gap, out of the peloton's sight at times. I thought I had a chance to hold it to the finish until 2.5 laps to go, when my advantage went down a bit on the course's long downhill as I had no one to help me pull.
With 1 3/4 laps to go I was caught and went to the back of the pack. I tried to survive and got 1oth at the line.
Stage 6: 3:00 p.m., on Sunday May 24th, cat. 4/5 U35, 30 minutes long
I was hoping to conserve myself in this race after being so aggressive in the last one. I chased down a few breaks, but never was in the wind for much more than 15 seconds. For much of the race I was top 8, and I went into the last corner 4th or 5th wheel, right behind the guy who turned out to be the winner. But going into the bend my right foot unclipped and I almost crashed and went straight to the back. I finished 20th or so, 3 people away from the rear of the group.
So going into the final stage, the "epic" T.O.A RR, after 4 previous stages, only 1 yielded good results. But I had to be pleased, because I did win stage III, and for 3 of the races I had good tactics.
Stage 7: 9:25 a.m., Monday May 25th, Cat. 4/5 U35, 45 miles long
Prior to the last stage I was excited about the 2 lap course, which had 2 hills with 500 feet of elevation gain and numerous other "walls" per lap, held on undulating, sometimes very poor quality roads. The best thing was that the Race finished atop the biggest climb, which was also the biggest hill on the route.
The race started with a 5 mile neutral start for the 39 rider pack, but after it was over the attacks came thick and fast. I got in most of them just by holding the wheel in front of me. Usually the break was caught before I had to pull, but if not I dropped back a couple of bike lengths or bluffed exhaustion. I was in a bad position once during the race, on the first lap during the first half of a roughly 3 mile stretch of road with huge potholes, gravel, sand, sticks, and short but wearing climbs one after the other. It was easy to move up on the roads that resembled the ones in the hilly classics. I rode past the splintering group to the top 10, and stayed there.
The first time up the big climb, I conserved energy and went from 1oth at the bottom to 3rd at the top, while another strong rider powered up the 2nd half of the climb and won the prestigious KOM.
In the last lap the group was mainly single file from the difficulty of the climbs, and I stayed in the top 10 easily because of that. Going into the finishing climb, I was in 1oth, but was on the wheel of the wrong person, and was boxed in as he fell back to 2oth. I thought my race was over, but got around him and moved up to 3rd pretty easily. At the time the rider who won the KOM a lap ago had broken away, but I bided my time on 3rd wheel while the rider in 2nd pulled towards the leader and the finish line. When we got close to the lone leader halfway through the hill, I attacked. I caught and passed the rider who had broken away, and looked back at the field, which was 5 or so seconds behind. I held it on a short downhill with 200 meters to go, then powered up the final part of the climb to take the victory. Congratulations to everyone in the cat. 4/5 U35 race for their very strong performances.
And that's the end of a great weekend in Atlanta. I got great race experience, some victories, and 12 points over the weekend, which bring by total to 24, enough to cat. up to a 3!
Here are some pictures.
Stage 3
Bridging up to the breakaway with 1 to go
Finish
Podium
stage 4
Stage 5
3 lap solo breakaway
Stage 6
Stage 7Half way through 2nd lap
The finish
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Race Report: Historic Downtown Wake Forest Crit
Yesterday was the 2nd annual Downtown Wake Forest Crit, my team-sponsored event for the last 2 years. I raced in the Juniors 15-18 (15-16) and cat. 4 categories, at 9:35 and 11:35, respectively. I was excited to race, especially because there was a hill on the course. It wasn't long and could always be taken in the big ring, but it was steep and tired out the field. After the crest of the hill there was about 200 meters downhill to the finish.
Once I had warmed up, I got to the start line of yet another monsoon like race (15-18 race) and saw about 8 or 10 riders, including 2 of my teammates, Micheal and Craig, and a strong looking rider I had never seen before. The race started fast in the first 2 circuits and I was just hanging on. After that it slowed down a bit, and there was a preme. The one unidentified rider took it by a lot. Craig and Micheal put in some very strong attacks, with the other teammate and myself blocking, but every time the mystery rider chased it down with little help. Then there was another preme, and once again the unknown rider took it. After some hard chasing, the 4 of us were all together.
On the last lap, knowing I'd lose to the unidentified guy in a sprint, I attacked on the courses hill. Although the hill was short, its steep grade yielded me a bike length gap with 200 meters to go. I attempted to sprint the last part to the finish, but he came around me in the last 20 feet, and then beat me by 12 inches, so I got 2nd (1st 15-16). I was disappointed at first, but felt better when I learned the guy was a cat. 2, as well as the fact that I got 50 dollars!
Congratulations to all of my team, especially to my younger brother, Cooper, in the 10-12 race, to Timothy Dean for being competitive in the cat. 5's, to William and Louis Guillen for their excellent rides in the 10-14 group, to Barny Baxter and Alan Hart in the very hard masters race, to Micheal for a great solo breakaway and strong finish in the 15-18's, and to Craig, who really sacrificed himself for Micheal and I in the older Jrs. category. He must have attacked 10 times!
Next (1.5 hrs later) was the 4 race. A field of about 20 people were there, and the race started fast like the Jrs. race, with Micheal, Justin, a junior on C4, and other riders tearing apart the field. I felt kind of bad at first, but eventually felt stronger. After that, there was a preme, followed by numerous attacks and counter-attacks.
When the race was halfway thru, I started feeling good and looked around. At the time we were going hard from chasing some attacks, and by peoples faces and gasping for air I could tell they were tired.
The next time we went over the hill, the group was going slow and I attacked near the top. I accelerated over the crest and noticed the field wasn't responding. A lap later my gap was still healthy, but a strong headwind on the backside cut my advantage in half and I was caught right where I had attacked 2 laps ago.
After that, a rider from the Virginia Tech team attacked. Nobody responded to this accelaration either, and I was feeling strong so I hopped on his wheel. He pulled for at least half a lap, but when it was my turn I couldn't pull thru. We were caught, once again, just after the hill at the start finish line.
I took some time to recover after that, and almost lost the race when I found myself in the back group of a field split. Thankfully the pack regouped pretty quickly and I found myself in contention again, with 3 laps to go.
At 2 to go there was a flurry of attacks, and although I don't quite remember my exact position, I think I was in 5th to 8th. At one to go there were still splits in the strung out pack. Around the 2nd to last corner, right before the start of the hill, I was in 3rd or 4th, or maybe even 5th. I sprinted up the hill on the inside, and moved into 2nd. The rider in the lead, the one from Virginia Tech, had a decent gap on me that remained from the 2nd corner, and in the next 7 seconds to the line he just increased it, but I held on for 2nd, my best finish in an official cat. 4 race ever! I also got 80 dollars (130 for the day), a great race experience, and some points! I am starting to think that my goal of catting up is within reach!
Once again, good job to my whole team for racing great and putting on this race. Next weekend, Lord-willing I'll be going to the Tour of Atlanta, close to Atlanta, Georgia, were I can do 9 races in 3 days, including a road race with a 500 foot climb. Hopefully I'll only get closer to or even get enough points to upgrade there.
Here are some Historic Downtown Wake Forest Crit photos. (Double click on them to see them larger.)
Juniors 10-14 race
Juniors 15-18
Cat. 4 race
Masters
Pro 1 2
cat. 3
Podiums
Once I had warmed up, I got to the start line of yet another monsoon like race (15-18 race) and saw about 8 or 10 riders, including 2 of my teammates, Micheal and Craig, and a strong looking rider I had never seen before. The race started fast in the first 2 circuits and I was just hanging on. After that it slowed down a bit, and there was a preme. The one unidentified rider took it by a lot. Craig and Micheal put in some very strong attacks, with the other teammate and myself blocking, but every time the mystery rider chased it down with little help. Then there was another preme, and once again the unknown rider took it. After some hard chasing, the 4 of us were all together.
On the last lap, knowing I'd lose to the unidentified guy in a sprint, I attacked on the courses hill. Although the hill was short, its steep grade yielded me a bike length gap with 200 meters to go. I attempted to sprint the last part to the finish, but he came around me in the last 20 feet, and then beat me by 12 inches, so I got 2nd (1st 15-16). I was disappointed at first, but felt better when I learned the guy was a cat. 2, as well as the fact that I got 50 dollars!
Congratulations to all of my team, especially to my younger brother, Cooper, in the 10-12 race, to Timothy Dean for being competitive in the cat. 5's, to William and Louis Guillen for their excellent rides in the 10-14 group, to Barny Baxter and Alan Hart in the very hard masters race, to Micheal for a great solo breakaway and strong finish in the 15-18's, and to Craig, who really sacrificed himself for Micheal and I in the older Jrs. category. He must have attacked 10 times!
Next (1.5 hrs later) was the 4 race. A field of about 20 people were there, and the race started fast like the Jrs. race, with Micheal, Justin, a junior on C4, and other riders tearing apart the field. I felt kind of bad at first, but eventually felt stronger. After that, there was a preme, followed by numerous attacks and counter-attacks.
When the race was halfway thru, I started feeling good and looked around. At the time we were going hard from chasing some attacks, and by peoples faces and gasping for air I could tell they were tired.
The next time we went over the hill, the group was going slow and I attacked near the top. I accelerated over the crest and noticed the field wasn't responding. A lap later my gap was still healthy, but a strong headwind on the backside cut my advantage in half and I was caught right where I had attacked 2 laps ago.
After that, a rider from the Virginia Tech team attacked. Nobody responded to this accelaration either, and I was feeling strong so I hopped on his wheel. He pulled for at least half a lap, but when it was my turn I couldn't pull thru. We were caught, once again, just after the hill at the start finish line.
I took some time to recover after that, and almost lost the race when I found myself in the back group of a field split. Thankfully the pack regouped pretty quickly and I found myself in contention again, with 3 laps to go.
At 2 to go there was a flurry of attacks, and although I don't quite remember my exact position, I think I was in 5th to 8th. At one to go there were still splits in the strung out pack. Around the 2nd to last corner, right before the start of the hill, I was in 3rd or 4th, or maybe even 5th. I sprinted up the hill on the inside, and moved into 2nd. The rider in the lead, the one from Virginia Tech, had a decent gap on me that remained from the 2nd corner, and in the next 7 seconds to the line he just increased it, but I held on for 2nd, my best finish in an official cat. 4 race ever! I also got 80 dollars (130 for the day), a great race experience, and some points! I am starting to think that my goal of catting up is within reach!
Once again, good job to my whole team for racing great and putting on this race. Next weekend, Lord-willing I'll be going to the Tour of Atlanta, close to Atlanta, Georgia, were I can do 9 races in 3 days, including a road race with a 500 foot climb. Hopefully I'll only get closer to or even get enough points to upgrade there.
Here are some Historic Downtown Wake Forest Crit photos. (Double click on them to see them larger.)
Juniors 10-14 race
Juniors 15-18
Cat. 4 race Masters
Pro 1 2
cat. 3
Podiums
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