Posts Tagged ‘featured’

Yesterday marked my long ride ever, coming in at approximately 139 miles as a part of the Rapha Gentlemen’s Race.
We headed out to the beach (Lincoln City) on Friday evening and stayed in a suite at the Inn at Spanish Head thanks to team president Jim who served as sugar daddy for the evening.  We also dined on an expensive dinner with wine, and room service for breakfast, all for an unreasonably low cost.  After all that pampering, leaving the comfort of the hotel for 140 miles of suffering loomed even larger.

The view out on the ocean from our suite

About the Race

This was the 2nd annual Rapha Gentlemen’s Race, which is technically not a race, but it is anyway.  The ride pits teams of 6 riders against each other in a test of endurance, mental strength, bike flat-resistance, and teamwork.  The course covered 140 miles starting way out on the coast near Lincoln city and ending in Downtown Portland just across the east side of the river.  Teams are seeded based upon racing category in order to (in theory) give everyone a chance at winning.  The winner is simply the first team to reach the finish, and the first team was given over an hour head start on the last team.  Two checkpoints along the way ensured racers were taking (approximately) the course that everyone else was.  There is no support for the race, and teams observe the rules of the road as in any other non-race ride.  But other than that, you go as hard and fast as you possibly can while trying to survive 140 miles.

About our Race

As one of the faster teams, we started at 10:03AM (the first team off was at 8:45AM) – we were the 20th of 23 teams to start, so we had a lot of catching to do.  We rolled out and immediately started on a climb where we passed our first team of the day that was off to a slower start.

The trusty race steed, outfitted with a brand new set of Gatorskins to minimize flatting potential.

We rode hard for the first several hours and had a good pace going averaging over 23MPH including several small climbs.  We stopped for a 60 second water-refill break and saw that the Nike team was right on our heels before we headed into the hardest part of the course – up and over the coast range on back-roads.  This included the longest climb of the day, which probably lasted the better part of ten miles.  Going up the climb, we caught a team that proceeded to latch onto the back of our paceline and sit there.  We got a little concerned and ramped the pace up on the climb to try to drop one of their riders off the back knowing that if one of them dropped off all of them would have to.  Unfortunately we ended up dropping one of our riders instead and had to slow up.  We couldn’t shake the other team, and even though we got to the first checkpoint first and got to leave first, they caught us again and ended up passing us and heading up the road a bit.  They finally got what was coming to them though.  We passed them following the first long gravel section when they had to pull over to fix a flat tire.

We got over the top of the big climb, but we’d burned several of our riders probably harder than we should have.  The entire pace of the ride so far had been fairly frantic, and there were definitely tensions running high within the team, myself included.  We were eating and drinking constantly, knowing that if one of us blew up we would all drop off the pace.  We hit the second gravel section at about mile 80, which consisted of a steep descent on gravel.  Chris broke a spoke on the descent, which delayed us several minutes.  Coming into Carlton, we made another quick stop for water and Snickers bars.

At about mile 100, I got the cramping, sick feeling in my stomach that I seem to get around the 4.5 to 5 hour mark in a long ride, but I fought through it.  I should also mention that I lost a contact lens overnight and had to ride with my glasses with a slightly weaker prescription than would be ideal.  This resulted in fighting a headache throughout parts of the ride from the sunlight and minor blurriness.

About mile 100, Rob really started to hurt and we had to slow our pace to make sure he didn’t blow up completely.  We made an emergency stop at Ace hardware at mile 115 to get Rob more water and some soda for a sugar/caffeine boost.  The carbonation in the soda also did wonders for my upset stomach.  However, this stop allowed the Nike team to finally pass us, as well as several others we had recently passed.  At this point we had no idea how many teams were in front of us or behind us.

Jim searching frantically for emergency refueling liquids at Ace Hardware

We hit the final checkpoint at mile 120 and were able to do some serious passing by not stopping at the checkpoint where a number of other teams were stopped to rest or refuel.

About mile 125, Jim went from feeling okay to very not okay in a hurry.  We slowed our pace further and tried to keep him in the group.  About this time, the frustration that had been present at points throughout the ride gave way to all working towards getting to the finish.  We got to the base of the final 3+ mile climb up into the west hills of Portland and had someone pushing Jim up the climb nearly the entire way, and much of the time someone pushing the pusher for the extra horsepower.  I was feeling amazing given the distance we’d traveled and actually had the juice left in my legs to be doing some of the pushing.  Jim was a trooper and made it over the top of the climb with much grunting and grimacing.

From there we descended into Portland and rolled down Burnside to the finish where we were met by a small cheering crowd, friends, and the welcome surprise of an open bar for the riders.

We finished in 7 hours 10 minutes, with 6:50 of that being riding time for an average speed of about 20.5MPH.  We were the 5th team in and had the 2nd or 3rd fastest start to finish time on the day.  Not to shabby considering how often it felt like things were going wrong along the way. Avoiding flats was definitely a key (some other teams reportedly had 3-4 flats or more).  It was surely an experience to remember, and at the end of the day we all had a great time.

Rob and Brian making some use of the open bar

An obscenely large $ value of bikes parked at the bar

The team, from left to right:

Swan – Solid start to finish.  140 miles?  Piece of cake.

Marcroft – He was perhaps the first of us to start suffering, but he pushed through amazingly well.

Me – Laughing at Rob. Rode strong, took some good pulls, felt better at 140 than at 80.

Rob – Being Rob.  After suffering at 100, he found a second wind in the last 15 miles.

Kennettron – After pounding 2 beers on an empty stomach immediately following the ride, here he’s seen demonstrating his “sexy face” that he was trying on women at the bar, with little effect.  Kennett gets the team anchor award for the day.  Long pulls, hard work, and made it look easy.

Sparky (AKA Jimbo (AKA Jim)) – Demonstrating the face he was sporting while suffering up the final climb.  He dug deep in the pain cave.

I don’t even know where to start.  This race was something else.

First, I have to say the the Portland Twilight Criterium is everything it’s cracked up to be, and then some.  Technical corners, fast racing, rough roads, and crashes galore.  It was one of those races where your rear wheel feels like it’s in midair going through corners as much as it is on the ground.  You kind of get used to navigating your bike as it floats under you without ever quite having full control.

The crowds… amazing.  Thousands of people yelling at you, ringing cowbells, and generally creating the most intense and exciting racing atmosphere I’ve ever been in.

I knew I was in trouble when I was rolling around the course warming up and came up to the finish line to find most of the other riders already staged and ready to go.  Starting in the back in any sort of criterium is generally a bad idea.  In this one, it almost guarantees your race is over from the start.  But I wasn’t about to let that stop me.

The race got off to a fast start and I burned myself hard trying to move up.  I spent 7-8 laps moving myself from 60th to 30th.  Then I found the opening I’d been looking for and jumped from 30th to the very front of the race in less than half a lap.  It didn’t take me long at the front before I decided to test my legs and attacked off the front of the race.  I had one other guy go with me, and we stayed off the front for several laps.  While off the front, I picked up a prime – an hour long massage ($60 value).  After we got reeled back in, I was pretty spent and took probably another 10 laps to recover, but I managed to find a good spot near the front where I could hold my position about 15th.

While trying to rest up a bit, I also was rather distracted trying not to crash – a task made more difficult when an errant tennis ball went flying into the road from the crowd.  I avoided it, but it caused a pretty significant pileup further back.  Derek was one of the victims of that one, but all was not lost – he got to sport some stylish neckwear to cover up a nice tire burn.  That’s a new one.

With about 10 laps to go, I was starting to think about setting Robin up for the field sprint – which was my primary goal for the race.  The pace had slowed a bit for a lap, so I went to the front and pushed the pace to get things moving again on a $100 prime lap.  Half a lap later, I found myself still on the front of the race thinking I was an idiot for burning myself at the front.  Then things went nuts.

Coming through the last corner leading to the back stretch, I was still on the front, and the guy sitting second position right on my wheel crashed himself, taking out much of the front of the field with him.  I looked back to see a significant gap with only one racer chasing me down.  I realized a $100 prime was mine for the taking, so I drilled it and took the prime easily.  As soon as I took the prime, I sat up a bit and signaled the rider chasing me to grab my wheel.  With 7 or 8 laps to go, we had a bit of a gap on the chasing field and absolutely had to make a go at staying away.

I don’t know about the other guy, but I was digging deep with my head down, giving the pedals everything I had.  We got into a good rhythm of trading pulls every half lap.  I looked at the lap board and saw 3 laps to go.  By that point I was hurting and had reached a point where things start to get a bit foggy.

In the break, faster than the speed of… a cell phone camera

Now, here’s where I have to tell two separate stories – what I thought had happened, and what actually happened.

What I thought happened:

After 3 laps to go, we had put distance on the field and I was pretty sure we were going to go 1-2.  The only thing left to be decided was who got the win.  Coming into one of the last laps, the other rider got out of the saddle a bit and I wondered if he was sprinting for the finish.  I looked ahead at the lap board and saw one lap to go, so I easily hopped on his wheel and let him drag me through into the first corners of the last lap.  I came around to take my pull and he didn’t immediately grab my wheel, so I sprinted to put some distance on him, which I did.  I held that gap coming into the final corner and laid everything I had left out there, taking the win.  We talked right after the race and congratulated each other, both seemingly thinking I’d won the race.

What Actually happened:

Turns out that first time that the other guy kind of half-sprinted – yeah, that was the finish.  We mis-counted laps.  I sat his wheel when I could have probably easily come around him and actually contested the sprint.  They left 1 lap to go up for an extra lap, and with the crowd noise, I never heard the bell signaling 1 lap to go.  I hadn’t been paying close enough attention to the lap board and missed the real one to go, but naturally assumed that seeing the lap board with one to go meant the race wasn’t over yet.  Bad thing to assume.  Apparently the other rider thought that the real finish might have been the finish, but was also confused and kept racing just like I did.  So sorry to all the crowd expecting to see a sprint when the announcer is saying we’re about to sprint.  Instead you got to see one guy towing another guy through the finish line.

All in all, not a bad way to take 2nd.  And I made bank.  $60 massage, $100 prime, and $250 2nd place prize for a nice $410 haul.

The outcome was frustrating on several levels -I’m still in search of my first win to add to numerous top 10 finishes this year, and if I’d actually contested the real sprint I’m pretty sure I could have won it.  Regardless of the bizarre outcome, this was by far my best race of the season, if not ever.

Note to self – watch the lap board like a hawk in the future.

Some photos from JLV and others:

I came into Friday not really sure if I was racing either the Swan Island Criterium Saturday or the Salem Fairview circuit race Sunday, much less both.  But both it was, and I’m glad I did.

As a newly minted cat 3 I’m not particularly worried about getting top results immediately.  Instead, I’m much more focused on working for the team and making some other teams take note of my number.  I think that might be happening, as after yesterday I had several riders from other teams recognize me today.

First up, Swan Island.  It’s a short criterium course about 1 kilometer long with two 90 degree corners and a gradual 180.  Our race was 45 minutes plus two laps.  I came into the race wanting to take a prime and then work for another teammate in the final sprint.  The race started off fast and fairly early on I figured out that they seemed to be calling primes out every other lap.  As such, I decided to attack off the front of the race on a non-prime lap and then hold on for two laps to take the prime.  The first time I did this I caught another rider up the road and we worked together for a lap, and then he fell off my pace.  I got caught by another rider that had attacked off the front and ended up getting worked over as he sat my wheel and came around me in the sprint.  I knew this was going to happen, and tried in vain to shake him off my wheel.

A few laps later I went again, this time coming into a prime lap just before we got to the finish line.  I was making an educated guess that it would be a prime lap and was happy to hear the bell as we came through the finish line.  This time I managed to get away, catch the one rider up the road and promptly pass him, and stay away for the rest of the lap to take the prime.  I now have $25 to spend at Quiznos!

After winning the prime I rested up and then got back to the front to make sure things stayed together for Robin in the final sprint.  I chased down a few attacks and found myself a good spot near the front.  With just over one lap to go, Ironclad (another team) brought a leadout train to the front of four riders.

Note: It’s important for this recap to understand what a leadout train is.  Basically, at the end of a race the pace will intensify and speed up drastically as everyone tries to make their way to the front of the race to position for the sprint.  A lead out train is a team that lines up several riders in front of their sprinter they want to win.  They get the pace extremely high at the front of the race so that no one can come around them.  The lead rider of the train goes until he starts to lose speed and then peels off for the next rider to continue the high pace.  If it’s done correctly, the last rider will peel off just as the sprint is beginning giving their team’s sprinter perfect positioning and a clear shot at the win.

If it’s done correctly being the key part of that last sentence.  Ironclad brought enough guys to the front and coming through the finish with one lap to go I had Robin sitting in perfect position – 4 ironclad riders, myself, and then Robin.  You can see the lineup in this photo (I’m hiding behind rider #4, you can see my helmet).

Anyway, so things were fine and dandy and my plan was to come around the leadout train just before the last corner to give Robin his own leadout into the sprint.  Things went wrong when Ironclad’s lead rider never peeled off and the pace started to die down at the front.  A huge swarm of riders came around them to the right side, and I tried to go around them to the left.  As I started to pass them, they moved left and forced me straight into a sewer grate on the side of the road.  I made quite a scene of bunny hopping the grate as my back wheel came down on the far lip of the grate and I half-bumped the Ironclad rider next to me.  I managed to sprint back up to near the front of the race, but at that point I’d burned my last match trying to get to the front and had nothing left to give a leadout.  Robin  managed to still take 4th, which was great.

Salem Fairview Circuit Race took place today (in Salem, not surprisingly).  It’s a 1.9 mile course with a gradual rolling uphill and downhill, followed by a flat section (with a tailwind today) into the finish.  The race was 50 minutes plus one lap.  We had a great turnout from Team Oregon, and I had 9 teammates in the race.  My plan was to attack and attack some more in order to make things interesting at the front.  That’s pretty much exactly what I managed to do.  Swan Island was all about attacking wisely and then recovering.  Today was more about attacking with reckless abandon and throwing the whole “recovery” thing out the window.

I attacked immediately from the start of the race and ended up going the first three laps plus a bit solo off the front (nearly 6 miles).  I was caught by two riders that bridged up to me – a Hutchs team rider and teammate Robin.  We stayed away off the front for another two laps, during which time I won a prime uncontested ($10 plus a coffee table book and t-shirt today).  As soon as we got caught I got myself back to the front and one lap later I was attacking off the front of the race again.  This one didn’t stick.  I attacked again.  Didn’t stick.  Then I chased another attack, but couldn’t get clear of the pack.  After spending nearly the first half of the race off the front, I was digging deep, but I refused to stop attacking.  Anytime I got near the front of the race I mustered whatever I could get out of my legs and attacked again.  I think all told I ended up attacking or chasing at the front 8-9 times in 12 laps.  I’d pretty much blown myself up with two laps to go and just struggled to hang on going up the climb.  The last lap I actually fell off the pace on the climb and had to give it everything I had left just to get back into the pack on the descent.  I came into the finish towards the back of the field, but we did have a teammate take 2nd.

I had a blast trying to kick my butt as much as I possibly could, and I don’t think I’ve ever been as spent after an hour long race as I was today.  I got back to the car with my legs shaking and mild dizziness.  And I’ve now won 3 primes in my last 3 short-course races I’ve done!

Check out our team at the race today:

Tonight’s race at Tabor was a blast – and my first cat 3 race.  It’s a field that will challenge me, but at the same time I think I’m definitely at the level I need to be at to be competitive.

The race was 9 laps long, which ends up being about 10 miles – and it’s over before you know it has begun.  The first time I noticed the lap board coming through the finish line was with 5 laps to go, and the second was with one lap to go.  We averaged 23mph for the race, which is really fast given the constant up and down.  When the race is that short, every time up the climb is fast.

As far as the actual race goes, I spent much of the time figuring out the best lines to take, where to position myself, and where good places to attack might be.  I chased a small breakaway attempt up the climb on the third lap, and I tended towards the left side of the road – so much so that I ended up in the gravel twice when riders next to me moved over.

The final lap was pretty chaotic.  At the sharp corner at the top of the climb, (teammate) Justin was nearly forced outside into the gate on the side of the road, and I was riding to his left.  I hit the brakes and had to reaccelerate hard down the hill to get back decently positioned.  Everyone sat up and slowed a bit more than I expected, and at the bottom of the course leading up to the finishing climb I found myself too close to the front of the field for my liking.  I decided to be stupid (while thinking repeatedly in my head “this is stupid!”) and ramped my pace hard at the bottom of the finishing climb.  I had come around my teammates just before the base of the climb and I was really hoping one of them was on my wheel and I could provide a leadout.  Not so much, turns out I gave a bunch of non-teammates a leadout instead.  I started to die off pretty quickly on the climb (a little earlier than I was expecting – lots of lactic acid stored up in my legs from sprinting up the hill 8 times already) and went from the front of the pack to the very back of the pack in the last 300 meters of the race.  Fun times.

Here’s a great photo from Heidi Swift of the 3 field coming up the bottom section of the climb.  I’m way over on the right.  Like I said, I was favoring the left side of the road.

I think I might skip Tabor next week in favor of being well-rested for Elkhorn, my biggest race remaining for the year.  Then again, it’s such a short, fast race it might be good to open up my legs before Elkhorn begins on Friday.

That’s the longest I’ve gone without blogging since last July.  I’ve posted 231 times since the beginning of last July, amazingly enough.  So I better get back to it, huh?

Anyway, lots new to report and nothing new to report at the same time.  This was my first week at work.  I was ready to jump right into things, which was good because that’s exactly what I have to do.  Being back to work is interesting.  I’ve got a sweet dual monitor set-up, though I’ve had to reacqaint myself with using a PC after 4 months of pure Mac bliss.

Why have one when you can have two?

One of my job focuses will be blogging, so don’t be surprised if this blog suffers a bit in post quantity as a result.  Things I’ll have to talk about here: cycling, social media/marketing ideas, and whatever I manage to do in my free time.  This is the first job I’ve had that’s truly the classic 8-5 day shift, so suddenly I feel like I’ve joined the massive river of cars commuting to work like fish going upstream, sitting at a desk, and commuting right back home at the end of the day.  My commute is crazy at the moment – 23 miles each way (taking between 45 minutes and an hour and a half) with at least some guaranteed stop & go traffic.  That should get significantly better after I move next weekend.  It’ll suddenly be under 10 miles and 15-20 minutes and traffic will for the most part be a non-issue.

Speaking of moving, I found a great place that I’m excited about.  It’s a cozy basement apartment in a house in North Portland.  It’s blocks from the nearest Max stop, only a couple miles from downtown Portland, right next to an I-5 onramp, and less than half an hour into the West Hills by bike!  Great location, nice apartment, friendly landlord/homeowners, and at the right price.

This weekend I’ll be joining Team Oregon on the Saturday Team ride, and then finally it’s back to racing on Sunday after a lull in the racing schedule.  I’ll be doing the Silverton Road Race this weekend, then the OBRA Rehearsal Road Race the following weekend.  I’m also scheduled to do the OBRA Team Time Trial Championships the last weekend of May.  It’s a lot of racing to pack in with a new job and moving, but I’m antsy to get some more upgrade points.

80 degrees and sunny this weekend - perfect riding weather!

Now off to do something not in front of a computer screen – I’ve done plenty of that this week.

I raced my bike at Portland International Raceway for the first time last night.

There’s a Tuesday night series that runs from April all the way through August.  It’s a completely different type of racing than many road races or criteriums.  Since it’s on a closed track, it’s completely open roads that are the equivalent of 2-5 lanes wide depending on the section of the course.  The pavement is as smooth as it comes, and the corners are all gradual enough that you never have to slow going into them.  This makes for an incredibly fast, fun race.

Having 80 degree weather in April resulting in more than 100 people showing up in your field makes things even more interesting.  It was the largest field I’ve ever raced in, and having that many people on an open road makes it hard to get to the front of the race, and harder to stay there.  My plan was to go and check the race out and get in a good workout without worrying about my overall placing, and I did just that.  I attacked off the front of the race on my own several times, sprinted a couple times, chased down one break, and overall got in some nice interval training while maintaining a high intensity level the entire race.  I went for the first two of three hot spots and just missed out on both.  I attacked the field with a quarter of a lap to go and tried to go solo, but got reeled in with about 200 yards to go.  The second one a teammate had gone solo off the front and was going to be pulled back in, so I decided to sprint for it.  I probably went a hair early and had the lead until about 100 meters to go when someone came around me on the left at a pace I couldn’t catch.

Our race was 12 two mile laps, and we finished in about 52 minutes.  That’s about a 26 – 27MPH average, which is easily the fastest race I’ve ever been in.  In the last lap I was feeling good about moving to the front and the pace was high with things strung out at the front.  Then with less than half a lap to go, the pace slowed and everyone bunched up at the front.  I never found a good way to get myself un-boxed, and didn’t have a chance to contest the sprint.  I rolled in right in the middle of the pack to take 40th of 102.  Fun times!

EDIT: Here’s a good shot of me sardined right in the middle front of the field.

I’ve changed up the look of the blog a bit.  A lot.  I was never unhappy with the old one, but I’m much happier with this one.  I’m still making some adjustments and modifications, so don’t be surprised if things are slightly out of whack for the next couple days.  If you’ve got any feedback, feel free to let me know!