Race 9: Killington Stage Race Day 1

Day 1 was a circuit race on an 18 mile circuit. my field did 3 laps plus a little bit to get from the start to the actual loop itself. The loop started with a fast flat to slightly rolling 6 miles to our first turn, a right hander onto a single lane bridge and then up a 6 mile gradual climb to the QOM sprint point - the line was the start of the feed zone - a bit awkward, but it seemed to work OK. After the feed zone we had a super steed downhill on bad pavement that led into a sharp right hand turn. Then it was back to the rolling terrain until around 5 km to go when we descended again - not too steep but still fast to the sprinters line/finish line. Somewhere in the we went through the town where President Coolidge was born and is buried.

There were 48 women preregistered for my field including a former US champ and the woman who won Tour of the Battenkill. I also recognized several riders from Bear Mountain a couple of weekends ago and Green Mountain Stage Race (last September). I went to the race headquarters to sign my waiver and collect my numbers (two on the jersey; one on the bike) and then down to staging to put the numbers on and get dressed and sign in and warm up. It was a surprisingly mellow scene. With 8 or 9 fields they split us into a morning group and an afternoon group - so only 1/2 of us were there at any given time. I had not pre-driven th course figuring with three laps I would be able to evaluate on lap one and be ready for any moves in lap two or more likely lap three.

We took off at a brisk pace and pretty much maintained it - very little surging and slowing. The Stevens team was here but there were only 4 of them and were unable to control anything. I started in the second row and stayed in the top third of the pack for around 6 miles and then the flow of the group put me in the back third. I stayed there for all of lap one. We all stayed together and even though I was dangling on the steep descent the group slowed enough for the turn that I was with them again as we went around the turn. As typical they accelerated out of the turn and being on the back there was not ideal. Happily they slowed up a little bit around 100 meters down the road so it wasn't too bad, but I didn't think they would do that on lap three, so it was a spot to watch. The downhill sprint to the line was insane and I was quite happy to be at the back of that one. Lap two was about like lap 1, though I started feeling a little more comfortable finding holes and moving into them, and with not letting others push me out of my line. I was still near the back though - I couldn't move up very far. We all stuck together for lap 2 as well. Lap three was the same again, though this time on the climb I did a little cross and advanced on the inside over rough stuff and was near the front at the steep downhill. I rode it my own pace and people went by me, but I was still in the group around the corner for the surge. They did slow down again, but I stayed where I was - top half of the group. I lost my nerve on the sprint to the line and crossed near the back of the group but with the same time as the winner.

One Stevens rider and two other ladies were penalized 30 seconds for crossing the center line to advance. I was super happy to see that. :) Today is the ITT. Results from yesterday and the stage on Communique are up, along with ITT start times at the Killington Stage Race webpage. The pace was high for most of the race but it felt easy. Maybe deceptively so. It really didn't feel like I worked at all. My average heart rate for the race was barely over my recovery HR. We'll see just how deceptive this morning. Time to get ready!

Race 8 cont: Tour de Syracuse part 2

Ok... I finally have a few minutes to finish out the report for Race 8... and maybe even start the one for race 9.

Things got a bit crazy at work this past week. There are three of us in my lab. The lab manager went on leave for two weeks starting this past Tuesday. Katie, the lab tech and I can take anything that comes at us between the two of us. Unfortunately Katie had a mishap around mid day on Tuesday that resulted in a broken knee cap... leaving me flying solo in the lab on very short notice. Needless to say finishing out the Tour de Syracuse race report got put on the back burner.

Day one was the crit. The announcer said it was the fastest women's race they have ever seen on that course. Day 2 started with a 6:15 AM pickup by Ernie and then a quick stop on Ringwood to pick up Jack. We got to the venue in plenty of time to have a relaxed race prep for our 3 mile TT's. Not much a person can say about a 3 mile TT on a mostly flat course with favorable wind conditions. Peg it from the line and hold it for 7 minutes ....

Lots of people had their full TT regalia on show - TT bikes, TT helmets, skin suits, shoe covers. You name it. I bolted my aero bars onto my road bike and put some shoe covers on (because I have them and this is the only time I ever use them), but just had my regular helmet. They sent us out 1 every 15 seconds, but in order to have time for each rider to get both feet clipped in and held for their start, they started us in two rows, each row with a holder, leaving 30 seconds between riders within one line. I was feeling rather more unbalanced than usual and couldn't get both feet clipped in, so I asked to have a standing start. Definitely a slow way to go, but faster than being let go and falling over. I covered the distance in 7:15 and that was good enough for a midfield finish - 11th place. Jim Danvers was out taking pictures at the first turn in the course and I think he got me in two pictures from batch 2. You can see them at his website Jim Danvers Photography.

Then it was drink up and eat up, take off the aero bars and hurry up and wait (30 minute delay) for the road race. The road race was 55 miles - two laps on a nice loop that had one long (3 mile?) climb and a 1 mile climb and between the two of them a short super steep pitch. The rest was gently rolling and had the potential to be super fast. However, the fastest women's crit did not carry over to the road race.... We were probably the slowest pro/1/2/3 road race in the history of this course. There was one team that fielded 9 riders and they felt the need to have all 9 of them together side by side in the road race, however not all of them were good climbers. So every time we hit a rise a gap would form and the Stevens team would all advance (on the wrong side of the yellow line) to the front of the peleton and slow down to a crawl. Then we would surge up another rise only to have them go to the front and sit up. This meant that every time we got a decent gap and split the field, the gap would last at most 30 seconds and then get reeled back in. VERY frustrating. On lap 2 on a long flat section before the 3 mile climb a couple women went up the road and no one chased. Those two got away and stayed away. A bit later another woman went up the road and no one chased, 10-20 seconds later another one went, and 10 - 20 seconds later again a third woman went. I decided to go with her and moved up the inside and chased her down. Some one chased the two of us down and the of us caught the two women in front of us. The five of us stayed away from the pack for maybe 5 miles before we got caught by the pack on the long climb. After that the pack stayed together until the finish hill where things strung out a bit again. I ended up 13th across the line. Jim caught me crossing the line at the finish. I obviously was not working hard enough since I was smiling in the picture. Whoops... It is picture 54 in batch 5.

Due to my poor placing in the crit, my two mid field finishes were not enough to put me midfield in the overall. My omnium overall place was 17th out of 22.

Full results with point break downs for each stage are at the Tour de Syracuse webpage.

Race 8: Tour de Syracuse part 1

Preamble and day 1:

I didn’t really have my head in the game this weekend, but still had a good weekend of racing and learning.

Three races in two days in a fairly typical omnium format. Scoring was done based on finish order, but not time. Points were awarded based on finish place – with the winner being awarded the most points and everyone else progressively fewer points the further back in the field you were. Depending on the omnium, the events within the race can be weighted differently. At Syracuse the road race and crit were weighted more heavily than the time trial. Points were awarded to the top 25 finishers in both the crit and road race with the winner of each event earning 40 points. Points were awarded just 20 deep in the time trial with the winner only getting 25 points. Strategy changes when you are scored on place rather than time back, and specific strategies depend on how heavily each event is weighted and what your strengths and weaknesses are. The point breakdowns were available in the racer “bible” which was available online before the race started, and which I did not read until after the crit. Whoops. Had I read it I would have had a strategy in mind, but it may not have changed the outcome.

Event 1 the crit:

Saturday afternoon in nearby Syracuse. I gave myself an hour to get there with the plan to arrive at 11:30. Exploring parts of Syracuse I had never seen ate up half an hour of unplanned time and I arrived on sight at noon. I arrived a little frazzled from the drive, and although not nearly as bad as last September’s GMSR crit, rather nervous. (Chris can attest to just how badly I let that crit intimidate me – his car is probably still showing gouges from where I was clinging desperately to it while he was trying to pry me out and put me on my bike). It did not help my nerves that the first thing I heard when I went to check in for the race was the sound of several bike and their pilots hitting the deck. But number in hand and the clock ticking, I took comfort in the routine of getting ready: pinning number on, laying out race clothes, getting bike out and wheels on, getting changed, getting on the trainer, drinking. It helped calm me down. All the while listening to the announcer run the kids races (4yr olds, 5 yr olds… on up to 10 or 11 year olds I think). As soon as the last kids cleared the course they sent us off to do one lap on the course (very good since I had no clue what the loop was). As far as crits go this course is fairly benign. It was on a 1 mile paved loop around a park – no 90 degree corners. One downhill with a bit of a curve to it. We did the loop anticlockwise and there was a low curb on the inside around most of the course and at some points on the outside, a few spots where the pavement was not ideal, nothing else to worry about. After our pre-ride lap they gave us our instructions (point bonuses with 18 and 13 laps to go, and some merchandize primes in there, P/1/2 women were riding with the 3’s but we would be scored separately for the overall as well as the primes and bonuses). Off we went for our 22 laps.

My heart rate was redlined at the start, and not because of my warm up. However, I got more comfortable with each lap, and may even have had some fun, but that is classified information. The pace was high in this race – the announcer said it was the fastest women’s race on that course ever and the 22 laps went by pretty quickly. As always I was having difficulty moving up in the field. With 4 or so laps to go I did manage to make a move up the outside and lead the pack (even had a 5 second gap at one point) for a lap before being reeled back in. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a path to move up again the last two laps and was poorly positioned for the last half lap into the finish. I managed to get by several ladies in the sprint, but they must all have been 3’s since the results showed me as 18th out of 21 or 22. Even though I finished with the pack (Yay! I didn’t get dropped!) with scoring based on placing not time, I put myself right out of omnium contention with that race.

All was not bad though. I didn’t get dropped (Again Chris can tell you about my ability to stay with the pack in the GMSR crit) and I stayed upright. I also learned something rather surprising. Usually I don’t like being sandwiched between two riders, in particular when taking curves at 30, but I learned pretty quickly that with those curbs on the inside, that it was less angst inducing to be in a rider sandwich than next to the curb. Maybe because a rider can push back if you drift whereas the curb will happily let you crash over it. I found out after my race that the wreck I heard when I registered was a guy hitting the curb and falling and taking down a bunch of other riders with him – and they were on the bell lap (last lap of their race) as well!

Race 7: Bear Mountain Spring Classic

I haven't been in Bear Mountain State Park since July 4th 1997 when Erik and I came through on the AT wondering how on earth we were going find Chris in that mob scene. Chris, who had not suffered the inevitable dumbing down, picked the perfect spot to 1) make sure he found us, and 2) make us go through the maximum angst - where the trail exits the park.

Anyway, it was much easier to find hiking than driving. I drove down with a local rider Vanessa. We left bright and early Sunday morning, arriving at the venue at 11:45 for a 1PM start.

The race was tough due both to the course and the field. We raced on an L shaped course. We started in the middle of one arm of the L, went to the corner of the two arms and back up tot the start. We then did the whole L twice. On the whole L, one turnaround was on a traffic circle – off a rolling section, we were cruising but the circle wasn’t too bad. The other turnaround was tear drop shaped, coming off a steep hill into the tear drop and then climbing out of it. That one felt super sketchy to me. There were 49 of us at the start. 43 finished (those that did not finish either had mechanical issues with the bikes or got dropped and did not want to race alone for miles and miles).

We were all together on the short out back to the middle of the L and things started to string out on the first time down the descent to the tear drop. I was near the back when we started down and I completely surprised myself by passing several women on the steep part (just before the turn). I caught and passed more women on the climb out of there forming small groups and then leaving them. I was alone at the top and feeling sluggish. A group of 5 caught me and we pulled together on a false flat down into the wind and caught another group, I was still feeling a bit sluggish here and having trouble holding on, but once the group got a little bigger I had an easier time. We then caught a couple other small groups as we headed out the other arm of the L. By the traffic circle turnaround we were a group of 18 and there were two small groups ahead of us and a couple small groups behind us along with some lone stagglers. My group of 18 was trying to catch the group in front and there was a lot of surging and rotating through but we all stayed together the second time down the steep descent. We spread out again on the climb, but I managed to stick with the main group. Despite spreading out on the climb, we re-assembled on the false flat and did the rest of the race as a group. Going back out to the traffic circle turnaround and back up a gentle hill to the start. I was expecting an attack on the climb but none came. The finish was actually on a flat to slight down so given the lack of attack on the climb, I figured the sprint for the finish would come a little early given the slight downhill. Despite expecting an early sprint, I failed to move up enough leading up to the sprint. Despite starting the sprint on the back, I did manage to pass a few ladies in the sprint. Unfortunately I was still ramping up speed as we crossed the line. If only the line was another 50 meters out….

I am happy with getting over some of my fear on the steep descent (didn’t get dropped :-D ) and how I climbed that 2 mile slog out of it both times. I am pleased that I was not DFL in my group on the sprint, but disappointed that I did not position myself better. I wasn’t on the front when the sprint started this time (which is good), but being too far back meant I had to negotiate around a lot of people. I utterly failed to drink enough during the race. I ended up 31 overall. Not great, but I am not disappointed with it. I got what I went for, a chance to race in a large pack of experienced women who had team mates and were using team tactics, and I was with a group for much of the race.

Results were posted by Monday on BikeReg.com.

Bristol results are up

Bikereg.com has posted the results from this past weekend's race. It looks like we took a minute out of the 4 filed in the final few miles of the first lap, and you can tell we got organized and were working together and then racing each other because lap two was faster than lap one and lap 3 was faster than lap 2. Chip timing is kind of fun with a lap course. Despite us doing each lap faster than the previous one, we were riding dreadfully slow compared to the men's fields. It is a little difficult to compare the 1/2/3 times with the 4 times for lap one because the 1/2/3 field is the first field listed and the 4's one of the last. To see the lap and total elapsed time you have to scroll to the right.

No word yet on pictures. The legs feel good today, though the forecast for the rest of the week is pretty dreary and I am not sure if the Tuesday night right will be ON for tomorrow. Hopefully it will be.

Bear mountain is on Sunday and my race doesn't start until 1PM so the logistics of driving down to do it are looking better. It is a qualifier for the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro race so I expect a large and strong 1/2 field.

Race 6: Constellation Brand Bristol Road Race

The best way to set the scene is with the forecast for today. The low temp for the Bristol area last night was predicted to be 52. Today's high temperature of 60 was supposed to be reached by 11 this morning and the temperature was then supposed to begin falling. And the winds to pick up. The low for tonight will be around 35 degrees. There was a 60% chance of precipitation. The predicted winds generated the following special weather statement for today: A deep low pressure will pass just to the north and west of the region early Saturday with its trailing cold front sweeping rapidly east across western New York Saturday morning. Westerly winds will increase dramatically following the frontal passage and may reach 30 to 40 mph with potential gusts to 60 mph for several hours from late morning through much of the afternoon before diminishing during Saturday evening.

Had I not pre-registered a month ago, I might not have been too keen on heading up. Luckily the other ladies either had not seen the forecast or were less concerned with high wind warnings than I am. It rained much of the night and things were a bit gusty in the morning, but it was not actively raining and blue sky was visible. The drive up was mostly dry and the cloud cover seemed to decrease as we got closer to the venue. The gust of wind that struck as I got out of the car meant business and I was hoping I would be able to stay on the bike if a gust like that caught me from the side, and being grateful for a small field and the space that would afford us to spread out if the wind made the riding a bit squirrelly. I carpooled to the venue with a local racer who was in the men’s pro/1/2 field.

We didn’t have a chance to drive the course before the race, but doing multiple laps we figured that wouldn’t be too much of an issue. The course was a 17 mile loop that the 1/2/3 women were scheduled to do 3 times. As promised, the wind was out of the west. We started in a park headed east and then after 200 or so meters turned south on Rt 64 for 6 miles of more or less flat road in a cross wind before turning into the wind for the first two mile climb. Then it was back into a side wind for another 4 mile stretch of flat to down and the second 2 mile climb. Then, the final couple of miles with a tail wind and a screaming downhill.

There were 8 women on the confirmed rider list in my field, 6 of us having raced at Hollenbeck’s last week, including the two Full Moon Vista ladies (Chris and Yvette), and Ruth. Originally we were supposed to start at 10:30 and the 4 ladies at 10:50. The directors decided to start all the women together at 10:50, but the 4 ladies would stop after 2 laps and the rest of us would go on for one more lap. The upside to this was starting with a group of 20 or more ladies, the disadvantage was the weather was supposed to start getting bad after noon, and the later we started, the greater the chance of still being out when things started getting ugly.

I took advantage of the big field for the first several miles and inserted myself 2/3 back in the pack, keeping track of the other 1/2/3 (numbers in the 180’s) but riding in with the 4’s (numbers in the 700’s). I paid attention to the wind direction and moved around in the group to keep riders between me and the wind regardless if it was coming from the side or the front. I noticed several of the other 1/2/3 women doing the same thing. Bless the 4’s many were happy to sit in the wind and protect the rest of us. That lasted until the first climb. Then things started to break apart. But the first time up the second climb there were 6 of us together and the rest spread out somewhere behind us. The 6 of us got organized at the top of the second hill and started a rotating double paceline to increase our gap and ensure the others wouldn’t catch on again with the downhill and tailwind. We held our gap and kept working together through the turn on to 64. There was a little bit of cat and mouse and some attacks on the two climbs nothing that stuck, but definitely a way to test the legs of those with us. We did drop one ride on lap 2 climb two, and again the remaining 5 of us organized ourselves again and hit it hard through the turn onto 64 again to ensure she could not catch back on. On the final lap the clouds opened up and we got rained on enough to soak us completely and then it let up a bit. Cat and mouse started in earnest on the two climbs of the last lap and again attacks were tried and all of them reeled in. All five of us were together at the top of the final climb and we were blazing as we came in towards the finish. That downhill was fast and although it had a few slight curves, there was no need to check your speed at all. I tucked and pedaled and spun out my highest gear and tucked some more and coming into the finish I was in 2^nd, and going all out and just before the line a lady came around me – got me by half a wheel. So 3^rd place for me on the day. It turns out I hit 51.3 mph during the race. And the Madone, she was solid.

I am happy with how I managed to keep attuned to the wind and make sure I was as protected as possible, and figuring out what the Full Moon Vista riders were doing for strategy. I did not do well with on the bike hydration – only drank1/3 of a small bottle and I need to stop just reacting to the moves on the road and start making some of my own moves. All in all it was a good day with a strong field and some good cooperation and some real racing.

I haven't seen official results posted yet, or photographs but I will post the appropriate links when I find them.

Race 5: Hollenbeck's Spring Classic

This week's race was with a strong field on a great local course. Twelve women lined up in the 1/2/3 field including a few ladies down from Canada and two Cat 1 ladies . The course was out in Virgil New York and went around the Greek Peak Ski area. Although the MapMyRide profile only suggests the steepest grade on the course is 4%, a local rider who has fancy GPS gizmos for his bike said the wall registers at 14%.

It changes the whole game so much when everyone can play the role of Diesel and can also climb and is watching tactics! We dropped 5 women somewhere between the first time up Parker Hill and the top of the Wall (on Babcock Hollow). The remaining 7 of us stuck together until the second time up Parker Hill. The group of 7 included two riders from Full Moon Vista and five of us without team mates. The eventual winner launched a major attack off the front on the final part of the climb. She was in sight for a while and we were gaining on her, but the group was not working together at all. The initial surge to attempt to limit the damage of the attack dropped one of the Full Moon Vista riders, and it soon became clear that the remaining Full Moon Vista rider was not going to do anything to help shut down the winners attack to allow her team mate could rejoin our little group. A number of times she appeared to actively block attempts of other riders to shut down the attack. No one else was really willing to spend the energy doing all the work except one local rider, Ruth, and everyone let her pull us along. Anyway the winner got away and the team mate caught back on (I am STILL frustrated with the refusal of the group to work to catch the winner and stay away from the dropped Full Moon Rider – we could have done both) and 6 of us were together going into the turn onto Van Donsel. We strung out a bit up the hill. I ended up 4th out of the group of 6 and 5th overall, though the official results list me as the first cat - 2 rider.

It was a great race in that everyone was experienced and there were tactics and hairy eyeballing and attacks and counter attacks and a lot of jockeying going into the big climbs and major cat and mouse games starting 2 miles from the finish. I had a great time. I even managed to not work at all for the first 28 miles and made certain to limit the length of my pulls when I was working. Best of all I didn’t get dropped on the down hills this time! It was 80-85 degrees out and very humid and although I carried two small water bottles and managed to empty one and get through part of the second, I should have emptied both, and probably should have emptied two big bottles. So although I did better than usual with on the bike hydration, I should have done better. I also should have given more on the final climb - been more aggressive. I didn't want to blow up before the finish and when I looked back my gap did not seem big enough to gamble. However, I was not completely spent at the top and the results show I had a much bigger gap than I thought I had, so I should have given more effort. I may have been able to catch a rider or two.

Jim Danvers was out again with his camera and his photos are posted at Jim Danvers Photography. The weather was much healthier for cameras than last weekend and Jim split his time between more packs, so I am only in two of his photos (#7813, at the start where according to one person I looked like I was ready to rumble and #2808 - on the Parker Hill Climb).

Another photographer, Laura Kozlowski, was also out , and she has posted her photos as well at Laura Kozlowski Photography. I am in several of her shots.

Sara Barker and her amazing crew of volunteers put on a truly wonderful race. A huge shout out to all of them.

Today was another go at the Tuesday night flatter course with the A men. I hung with OK with them for lap 1 and then got shot off the back in a moment of lapsed concentration on an uphill turn into the wind. Still a very good workout. In an effort to blame anything but myself I will point my finger at the cookie tin. On Saturday I was told I should have been in the cookie tin a long time ago, and on Monday I was added to their e-mail list on Monday. I don't think these folks have anything better to do with their time than send incredibly silly e-mails and ride their bikes all day. I suspect several e-mails were sent while riding their bikes. It all leaves a person a little benumbed of the brain cells and I read through many of the days accumulated e-mails just before heading out for the race. Must have taken a lap to do its damage. :-P