Did the "C" race today along with John R (jraguin).
Short version: I finished, did not crash or get dropped.
Longer version: I felt like I did a great job of looking for steady riders to draft in the early laps and stayed in the middle or to the front of the pack the whole time. Only gripe was that I was on the outside and kept finding a particular manhole cover on the back stretch that is slightly below the road surface.
A car turning off the course compressed the pack at one point and John, in a moment of inattention, lapped wheels with someone in front of him and nearly went down right in front of me but made a great recovery without affecting anyone.
Prime lap: on the backstretch another car was on the road, so we went "neutral" and I mistakenly assumed the VERY NEXT lap would be the prime (as that was how the race official described it should happen). Coming round the final turn into the straight, I found myself 2nd wheel and figured, why waste the opportunity. I managed a sprint and got out front but just before the line, the guy I was sprinting against shouted that it was NOT the prime lap... and at that moment, they rang the bell announcing the prime.
Bleh. Matches burned. Spent the rest of the race hanging onto the back of the pack.
Somewhere in the middle of the race, somebody went down hard in the final turn (John can fill you in on the particulars). Another guy bit it in the final sprint. Ambulance treated the second guy but took the first one away.
Wells Ave: 5/2
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
Here is my account of the same race as Russ (prompted by Russ). Wells Ave C criterium race. I will try to be detailed so hopefully newbies like me can learn some of the lessons I am learning.
The summary: I didn’t crash, stayed near the front, led for almost 1 lap, and got 4th.
The detail: Russ and I both got there and warmed up by riding a couple of laps of course, including cleaning some road kill off the course (yes, road kill). We then warmed up further in a large parking lot with other riders. I probably did about 20-25 minutes of riding, trying to gauge when the D race was ending with our warm-up.
In the line-up for the race, I was in the 4th row of riders next to Russ. There were 39 riders. I expected a horn or a whistle, but the starter just said something and we were off. I fumbled getting second foot clipped in so then I rode on top of the pedal a bit before I clipped in. But it didn’t really matter since the start wasn’t that fast.
For the first 4 laps, I hovered around 10-15th. Russ was near me. I was constantly making sure I had a clear sight of the leaders. I had been warned to stay near the front, watch the leaders for breaks, and stay left (thanks Alan H and Chris P).
Around the 5th lap, there was a car on the course, which caused a slowdown at the front. As Russ said, I had a lapse, because I was thinking about what the leaders were doing and didn’t pay enough attention to what I was doing. My front wheel badly overlapped the guy in front of me and he swerved left, pushing hard against my front wheel. I swerved, almost went down, but was able to stay up. I spent probably the next ½ lap recovering from that mentally, but then felt fine and was even more determined to stay closer to the front.
When we got to the prime lap, I decided to not go for the prime. Chris P had said that I may want to focus on the prime and not go for the sprint at the end because of the risk of crashing. I thought that was sound advice, but I felt I had more to learn and didn’t want to go all out for the prime with the chance I would get dropped shortly after. I stayed close, and thanks to my desire to watch Russ (who looked like he was going to win the prime), I pulled myself inside the top 10 at that point. I stayed there for the rest of the race.
With about 3 ½ laps to go, I decided to shake things up a bit (more for myself than others). So I sprinted away and no one went with me. I had a good gap and put myself in an aero position. I realized the amount of work I was doing solo in the lead, and despite that, saw the pack gaining on me. So I eased off. A few guys passed me on the left and didn’t leave me any space to draft, but then a guy yelled he was passing on the right. I jumped on his wheel right away (about 2 1/2 laps to go) and thus stayed close to the front.
As we came around to 1 ½ laps to go, the pace was really picking up. As we passed one lap to go, a few guys started sprinting to try and create a gap. I was probably in 5th at that point and sprinted to make sure I stayed with them. A few guys seemed to lose steam, and all of a sudden I dueling for 2nd with a half lap to go. Both of us were trying to draft off the leader and I was losing (meaning, I had no draft). All of a sudden, a guy went flying by us on the right. It was a beautiful move and he gapped us. He looked back a couple of times and then realized he just had to pedal hard and he probably had it. I was unfortunately out of any draft and just giving it all I had. We were now in the final straight and I moved left behind one Devonshire guy and stared to gain on him on his left because of the split-second of draft from going behind him. The Devonshire guy started to swerve a bit my way (left), but then a guy came up on the right. I think Devonshire guy swerved a bit right giving the guy not much space between him and the curb, and the guy hit a pothole/drain. I heard the crash/yell behind me that did not sound good. That caused me to be a bit distracted and I don't think I sprinted with everything I had, but still got 4th.
So I go back to my summary. I didn’t crash, stayed near the front, led for almost 1 lap, and got 4th. I achieved my first three objectives of the race, and the result was a big unexpected bonus.
My lessons learned (2nd race ever, crit or otherwise):
• Do not overlap wheels. Ever. (duh)
• Stay near the front at all times. There was a big crash behind me at the mid-point, letting alone the crash at the end and probably a number of near-misses like I had.
• Stay away from being too close to the curb. In theory, you are cutting the tangents, but your risk of crashing is so much higher. Stay left.
The summary: I didn’t crash, stayed near the front, led for almost 1 lap, and got 4th.
The detail: Russ and I both got there and warmed up by riding a couple of laps of course, including cleaning some road kill off the course (yes, road kill). We then warmed up further in a large parking lot with other riders. I probably did about 20-25 minutes of riding, trying to gauge when the D race was ending with our warm-up.
In the line-up for the race, I was in the 4th row of riders next to Russ. There were 39 riders. I expected a horn or a whistle, but the starter just said something and we were off. I fumbled getting second foot clipped in so then I rode on top of the pedal a bit before I clipped in. But it didn’t really matter since the start wasn’t that fast.
For the first 4 laps, I hovered around 10-15th. Russ was near me. I was constantly making sure I had a clear sight of the leaders. I had been warned to stay near the front, watch the leaders for breaks, and stay left (thanks Alan H and Chris P).
Around the 5th lap, there was a car on the course, which caused a slowdown at the front. As Russ said, I had a lapse, because I was thinking about what the leaders were doing and didn’t pay enough attention to what I was doing. My front wheel badly overlapped the guy in front of me and he swerved left, pushing hard against my front wheel. I swerved, almost went down, but was able to stay up. I spent probably the next ½ lap recovering from that mentally, but then felt fine and was even more determined to stay closer to the front.
When we got to the prime lap, I decided to not go for the prime. Chris P had said that I may want to focus on the prime and not go for the sprint at the end because of the risk of crashing. I thought that was sound advice, but I felt I had more to learn and didn’t want to go all out for the prime with the chance I would get dropped shortly after. I stayed close, and thanks to my desire to watch Russ (who looked like he was going to win the prime), I pulled myself inside the top 10 at that point. I stayed there for the rest of the race.
With about 3 ½ laps to go, I decided to shake things up a bit (more for myself than others). So I sprinted away and no one went with me. I had a good gap and put myself in an aero position. I realized the amount of work I was doing solo in the lead, and despite that, saw the pack gaining on me. So I eased off. A few guys passed me on the left and didn’t leave me any space to draft, but then a guy yelled he was passing on the right. I jumped on his wheel right away (about 2 1/2 laps to go) and thus stayed close to the front.
As we came around to 1 ½ laps to go, the pace was really picking up. As we passed one lap to go, a few guys started sprinting to try and create a gap. I was probably in 5th at that point and sprinted to make sure I stayed with them. A few guys seemed to lose steam, and all of a sudden I dueling for 2nd with a half lap to go. Both of us were trying to draft off the leader and I was losing (meaning, I had no draft). All of a sudden, a guy went flying by us on the right. It was a beautiful move and he gapped us. He looked back a couple of times and then realized he just had to pedal hard and he probably had it. I was unfortunately out of any draft and just giving it all I had. We were now in the final straight and I moved left behind one Devonshire guy and stared to gain on him on his left because of the split-second of draft from going behind him. The Devonshire guy started to swerve a bit my way (left), but then a guy came up on the right. I think Devonshire guy swerved a bit right giving the guy not much space between him and the curb, and the guy hit a pothole/drain. I heard the crash/yell behind me that did not sound good. That caused me to be a bit distracted and I don't think I sprinted with everything I had, but still got 4th.
So I go back to my summary. I didn’t crash, stayed near the front, led for almost 1 lap, and got 4th. I achieved my first three objectives of the race, and the result was a big unexpected bonus.
My lessons learned (2nd race ever, crit or otherwise):
• Do not overlap wheels. Ever. (duh)
• Stay near the front at all times. There was a big crash behind me at the mid-point, letting alone the crash at the end and probably a number of near-misses like I had.
• Stay away from being too close to the curb. In theory, you are cutting the tangents, but your risk of crashing is so much higher. Stay left.
Last edited by jraguin on Fri May 14, 2010 3:41 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
John,
Nice job. Popped your Wells Ave cherry:)
Don;t forget the wind direction -- that will be a large factor in determining what side to go around someone in the sprint. Eventually you will begin to "feel" those other riders around and behind you.
Just remember to stay relaxed at all times. Cool, calm. Fire's roaring inside, but you are loose and totally focused. (Think Phil Mickelson swinging a golf club; Kobe driving the lane). That should help slow things down in your mind. Things will play out almost in slow motion.
BT
Nice job. Popped your Wells Ave cherry:)
Don;t forget the wind direction -- that will be a large factor in determining what side to go around someone in the sprint. Eventually you will begin to "feel" those other riders around and behind you.
Just remember to stay relaxed at all times. Cool, calm. Fire's roaring inside, but you are loose and totally focused. (Think Phil Mickelson swinging a golf club; Kobe driving the lane). That should help slow things down in your mind. Things will play out almost in slow motion.
BT
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
It was nice to see so many new MRC members at Wells yesterday. And some not so new ones, too. (Scott, I finally did recall racing the A race with you last year while I was warming up for my race yesterday. My memory is getting so... what's the word...)
I was happy to see all the rookies made it through their first Wells Ave race unscathed and ready for more. Not much to report from the B race, as I was just out for a workout, hoping to survive all 25 laps. Wasn't sure that was going to happen until about 5-7 laps in when it settled down a bit. Until that point I was praying for an early break and some decent blocking that would get the peloton to ease up.
Thanks to Russ for being the best cheering section I've ever had - I think I heard my name yelled out on almost every lap! Since I know Russ was watching the whole race, I just wanted to point out something that I'm sure he noticed, but wasn't "in on." I am still woefully under-prepared to really race (hence the B race, not the A), so many times during the race I drifted towards the back when things got hard, then cruised back to the front when the pace slackened. That way I wasn't burning energy I knew I needed to conserve to make it to the bell lap. So that's why you'd see me in 2nd wheel on one lap, then back in the weeds on the next.
That said, I did make one bridge to a group of 5-6 thinking that I might get lucky and get in a break, but that fizzled. The only other time I went hard was with 3 to go. I moved up to the front and tried to stay there until the end. With one to go I was in the sweet spot (for my kind of finish anyway), being 6th wheel with a nice high pace and everyone single file. But on the backstretch things at the front slowed enough to give about 30 guys a shot at the sprint. At that point I got out of the way and let the kids play.
I was happy to see all the rookies made it through their first Wells Ave race unscathed and ready for more. Not much to report from the B race, as I was just out for a workout, hoping to survive all 25 laps. Wasn't sure that was going to happen until about 5-7 laps in when it settled down a bit. Until that point I was praying for an early break and some decent blocking that would get the peloton to ease up.
Thanks to Russ for being the best cheering section I've ever had - I think I heard my name yelled out on almost every lap! Since I know Russ was watching the whole race, I just wanted to point out something that I'm sure he noticed, but wasn't "in on." I am still woefully under-prepared to really race (hence the B race, not the A), so many times during the race I drifted towards the back when things got hard, then cruised back to the front when the pace slackened. That way I wasn't burning energy I knew I needed to conserve to make it to the bell lap. So that's why you'd see me in 2nd wheel on one lap, then back in the weeds on the next.
That said, I did make one bridge to a group of 5-6 thinking that I might get lucky and get in a break, but that fizzled. The only other time I went hard was with 3 to go. I moved up to the front and tried to stay there until the end. With one to go I was in the sweet spot (for my kind of finish anyway), being 6th wheel with a nice high pace and everyone single file. But on the backstretch things at the front slowed enough to give about 30 guys a shot at the sprint. At that point I got out of the way and let the kids play.
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
Oh, there was one interesting thing to report. Paul Curtis made a great save after clipping a pedal pretty hard on corner #1. He was 2nd wheel, and I was right behind him. I heard the noise and saw his rear wheel jump about 6", but he kept it upright and before I had time to start my crash avoidance maneuver he was already back on track. His pedal had a very large flat spot on it when we looked at it afterwards.ahamilton wrote:Not much to report from the B race
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
Ah, thanks so much for spelling that out! I'll definitely take that with me to Wells the next time. And thank you for your pre-race wisdom as well!ahamilton wrote: I am still woefully under-prepared to really race (hence the B race, not the A), so many times during the race I drifted towards the back when things got hard, then cruised back to the front when the pace slackened. That way I wasn't burning energy I knew I needed to conserve to make it to the bell lap. So that's why you'd see me in 2nd wheel on one lap, then back in the weeds on the next.
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
Oh, just remembered this moment in the race (I've been replaying the race over and over in my mind since yesterday): a few laps in, as we approached turn 1, a rider up ahead of me pulled the left side crank right off his BB! There he was, coasting straight ahead, holding his left leg up with the pedal and crank dangling from his cleat. Lucky for all of us, he was on the outside and caused no trauma to the pack.
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
Russ, just want you to know that I much prefer staying near the front (first 10-15) for the whole race. That way you can know what's going on, cover breaks, launch attacks, and know who's who in the race. If you're strong enough, that's a much better place to be.
Re: Wells Ave: 5/2
John relayed that info to me just prior to the race... and I succeeded in doing it until I blew my wad on the prime.ahamilton wrote:Russ, just want you to know that I much prefer staying near the front (first 10-15) for the whole race. That way you can know what's going on, cover breaks, launch attacks, and know who's who in the race. If you're strong enough, that's a much better place to be.