Quabbin reservoir road race

[Tfrost]

So everything seemed pretty good. Got a light warmup in saw Scott and Chris before their race and Matt and I had planned some strategy for the 5s.
Started way in the back but with the neutral start got myself just inside the top twenty and POP hsssssss. The rider next to me says "that sucks" I look around hoping to see someone else with a face full of disappointment but no luck. I finaly look at my wheels and i see my front is mich squishier than when i started. So I drop back and pull to the left and tell the follow car front tire. He says the support will be there in a minute. After a minute I figure there's still pressure in the tire I'll roll down to the botom to minimize how much I have to make up. I get to the bottom 6 minute later and figure they've got 1.5 miles on me but If I get a wheel quick it's doable. Another 9 min still no support so figuring I'm not making up 5 miles and then staying with the group for the race.
So admitting I'm done start putting up the hill and thankfully the race director saw me coming down. He picked me up brought me to the top and glady gave me my money back. Apparently there was a service mix up and the 4/5s had 2 vehicles while the 5s had none. So next year my number one goal is to finish more than 4% of the race.
I hope I assumed all poor luck associated with the Mrc team and everyone has a much better* day of racing.

[rusto]

Argh!

[jraguin]

Toby, sorry to hear about that. I have ridden with you and you are becoming a strong rider. I fully expect to see a race report from you where you finish in the top 10 and even podium. Keep at it.

[JeremyC]

Money back? How about your weekend back? Pathetic. Sorry Toby, I agree with John's sentiments. Feel free to join us for a Wachusett ride tomorrow to make up for it.

[Tfrost]

I was pretty frustrated while it was happening. There was really nothing more I could have expected myself to do, the flat was a tiny hole but I couldn't find any culprit of the damage.
Im curious as to how the rest of MRC did, matt said he got dropped around halfway, so the cat 5 race was likely a mess as was expected.
I may join you guys tomorrow, I am not looking forward to the temperatures though.

[rusto]

I know from monitoring twitter that there were at least a few cat 5 ringers (from the tri and MTB worlds) in that field.

[JerryD]

Toby, that is a crappy way to end a race effort. Not sure how it works on the neutral roll out but just to be clear, and for the future, be sure to make your way off to the right (not the left) if you want the wheel car to assist you post-flat. -JD

[Tfrost]

I pulled off on the right, and put my left arm up for front tire(I think that is correct), but there was no neutral support for our group, the race official stopped and radioed for the support car, but he had no idea where it was. There ended up being two neutral support vehicles for the 4/5 race.

[Jacob]

I was in the 3/4 race alongside PJ and Carl. It was chilly at the start, but I again chose to not really do any warm-up, which turned out to again be a pretty good decision as the pace at the start was very slow. On the way out of the park, one guy starting wobbling all over the place and almost lost it. Maybe he was having a mechanical problem, but I suspect that he was just shivering too much. The first couple of climbs were no big deal. I saw Carl pull off with a mechanical a little bit after that. I started to really feel it on the climb at mile 25. On each climb after that, I focused on doing my own pace and maintaining contact with the group. PJ rode great; he was generally at or near the front the whole time. I would wriggle my way up there, and then slide back to mid-pack on the steeper sections. It was clear early on that I wasn’t going to be a contender. It became a survival game. On the third-to-last climb, I slipped out the back and saw the wheel van for the first time. I kept at it though and managed to reconnect when the pace slowed somewhat. There was some unseemly cross-participation from the dropped riders of the masters 50+ field which complicated things a bit, but I was able to work my way back up to check in on PJ. On the second-to-last climb (route 9), I went ker-thunk out the back of the group and rode it in more or less by myself. I decided to do a TTTT (totally tired time trial) to the finish so that I would have zero regrets. That was a success (albeit a painful one) as I was passed by only one additional rider from my field. Clearly I’m not ready for Cat 3!

[carlshimer]

The good news: set a new personal 20 minute power record while screaming expletives at the pack receding in front of me. This effort was not good enough to catch back on.
The bad news: This was because like a fucking newbie I dropped my chain on the first big climb where I was in the front, couldn't get the chain to catch, almost caused a massive crash while I was standing there like a tool, and had to manually put the chain back on after everyone had passed me.

I am still fighting the urge to throw my bike in the woods.

[PJ McQuade]

The 3/4 race was rather strange and frustrating at times. I moved to the front fairly early on, in anticipation of breakaways. Several attacks occurred, but nothing stuck. I was in a few of these attempts, but eventually tucked in the pack, realizing I was unwisely burning matches. Basically we'd drill it on a climb, hit the top with a bit of a gap, and then the pace slowed allowing the race to come back together. We just didn't have enough firepower I guess. So at about mile 40 everyone pretty much said, 'OK, we'll wait until the last climb,' which translated to a conversational and casual ride (at one point my heart rate hit 120 bpm). The only action was an enthusiastic CCB guy who kept taking flyers off the front. The field was narrowed to probably half by the time we hit Rt. 9 around mile 50, at which point Jacob rolled up alongside me, told me he was fading, and graciously offered me food and drink. Very pro!! Jacob will be crushing it in a 40 mile/ 2 hour race like Sterling. Definitely a solid addition to the Cat 4 team. The climbs on Rt. 9 were spirited, but we hit the Quabbin Park entrance with a big pack - too big for my taste. This made for a sketchy battle for the front for the next 4k. I had an okay position toward the front, but the finish came up sooner than expected, leaving me boxed in about 20 wheels back. Had I been closer to the front I could have started my sprint earlier, but I was sort of trapped. I picked my way through the traffic and lunged to the line in 9th place, feeling like I had more in the tank. A Goguen (Tom?) rocketed off the front like he was going downhill for the win. Weird finish - resembled Blue Hills or Sunapee more than Quabbin, which typically thins out by the end. Payouts were very generous, which covered my race fee and gas. Good to see MRC representation out there, including some solid new recruits.

[jraguin]

PJ, you are my hero.
Carl, bummer. Seems like we both had a little Scottish luck in us.
Jacob, great job. Don't worry, only your second 4's race and you had to race with 3's. Keep learning all those little things.

[onegeardoug]

Good efforts and good reports.