My Day 1 report:
9am 4/5 35+ race. Good warmup, EXCELLENT start (top 10-15) at the top of the hill.
Lap 1 same dude crashed in front of me THREE times, the last time, some other dude landed on him, holding down long enough to let me get around.
Got brake lever hooked on wooden stake near beer tent, hung up for a second.
All that, and I was STILL top 20 start of lap 2 and feeling very confident I could stay there the rest of the race.
Drilled it hard up start/finish hill past a coupla guys, and again along shoreline straight. My lungs were burning but my legs felt amazing.
Got to those turns behind the registration area and flopped down mysteriously on an easy turn. Did a perfect backwards somersault on the ground, popped back onto my feet and remounted.
Field was strung out enough at this point that I only bled 2 spots.
Went about 30 feet and went down again, harder. WTF?
Oh, my front tire was flat. DNF. You will very likely see me on tubulars in Providence next Sunday.
---
Two sausages, beer (before noon!), a brief peek at the Masters racing then went off to start my volunteer shifts early and ended up directing traffic well away from any of the action (down by the dog park) until I got to marshal the course crossing at the pinch point above the start/finish. Patrick Cochran (bless him) relived me just in time to shoot the finish.
Brief break and then I was on garbage pickup duty, then dinner courtesy of Paul Boudreau (BLESS HIM!).
Body is wrecked today: back, thigh, elbow all need icing.
Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Day 1
almost back row start. It was super hard and fast with no opportunity to rest anywhere on the lap. I was able to move up the whole race though. 32 out of 100 reg'd. Happy with that
Day 2
managed to convince the folks at registration to stage me based on my cross results even though I was waitlisted. Got me a 5th row call up then the guy in front realizes he shouldn't be there and I move up to the 4th row. All excited with my 1st descent start position of the year. Hold good position up the hill, smooth round the pavement turns and on the good high line on the off camber approaching the stairs when some total numpty guns it inside me then forgets how to turn his bike and takes me from the inside through the group and the tape on the opposite side of the course. After giving him some choice Scottish words of wisdom, untangling my bike and eventually getting my chain back on I start riding again DFL. Stefan gave me some "belly full of anger" motivation and I started moving through the field making passes on almost every section for 2 laps. With 2 to go I'm still going forwards but lay the bike down in one of the corners cause I'm pushing too hard and getting tired and drop my chain again. I decide to ride a little less aggressively and see Paul Debideto in a group of 3 just ahead. I'm at the back of the group coming in to the steps at the beer tent and somehow manage to drop my chain. It wraps around my crank and I cant get it back on. Fumble around for what seems like an eternity and manage to get going eventually but the group is gone. I pick of a couple in the last half lap for a 54th place finish. Looking at the results and placings of some guys I have beat consistently so far this year I should have finished inside the top 30 so pretty p'd off. Only good thing was that they didn't change the name reg'd against the number I got from the waitlist so my crossresults shouldn't suffer
almost back row start. It was super hard and fast with no opportunity to rest anywhere on the lap. I was able to move up the whole race though. 32 out of 100 reg'd. Happy with that
Day 2
managed to convince the folks at registration to stage me based on my cross results even though I was waitlisted. Got me a 5th row call up then the guy in front realizes he shouldn't be there and I move up to the 4th row. All excited with my 1st descent start position of the year. Hold good position up the hill, smooth round the pavement turns and on the good high line on the off camber approaching the stairs when some total numpty guns it inside me then forgets how to turn his bike and takes me from the inside through the group and the tape on the opposite side of the course. After giving him some choice Scottish words of wisdom, untangling my bike and eventually getting my chain back on I start riding again DFL. Stefan gave me some "belly full of anger" motivation and I started moving through the field making passes on almost every section for 2 laps. With 2 to go I'm still going forwards but lay the bike down in one of the corners cause I'm pushing too hard and getting tired and drop my chain again. I decide to ride a little less aggressively and see Paul Debideto in a group of 3 just ahead. I'm at the back of the group coming in to the steps at the beer tent and somehow manage to drop my chain. It wraps around my crank and I cant get it back on. Fumble around for what seems like an eternity and manage to get going eventually but the group is gone. I pick of a couple in the last half lap for a 54th place finish. Looking at the results and placings of some guys I have beat consistently so far this year I should have finished inside the top 30 so pretty p'd off. Only good thing was that they didn't change the name reg'd against the number I got from the waitlist so my crossresults shouldn't suffer
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
#GPGcx @gpgloucester Day 1 photos up (not all fields, was marshaling a bit):
Web: http://t.co/FaTKaFFIVu
FB: https://t.co/iFk1aIjnUM
Web: http://t.co/FaTKaFFIVu
FB: https://t.co/iFk1aIjnUM
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Day 1
Determined not to repeat my previous races' early mishaps, I played the start a bit more conservatively, moving up where safe, but not trying to jam into questionable holes. This worked great, and I ended up in a group with Josh Merchant, who was driving really well. Unfortunately, while my handling is improving, I could still be better, and I continue to spend extra energy smashing pedals on the power sections just to get back to (rather than gap) my group. By the second to last lap I was fried, and I made a terrible line choice into the choppy pavement coming off the sea wall, hitting a big hole and flatting my rear tire. Luckily, I wasn't far from the pits and was able to ride much of it on the flat, so after a neutral wheel from Shimano, I hadn't lost many spots and finished about 8 places behind Josh. It helped that two guys who passed me after the flat tire were dq'd for taking beer handups. In the end, I still beat the predictor by 14, so I'll take it. 90th/120
Day 2
New set of wheels (my good ones this time) and better perspective on managing the scrum on lap 1 - things are looking bright. Except for a last row start position in a field of 112 guys. I lined up right behind Josh, then realized there was nobody behind me, so I decided to try a move I've seen people pull at the back of crit starts. I rolled back about 3 bike lengths, much to the confusion of the guy to my right. This gave me room to clip in and start rolling when the guys 4-5 rows ahead did, and by the time the last 2 rows got to go, I was already clipped in and pushing the pedals. As a consequence, I moved up quite a bit on the start, and found myself riding in the 250-260 number series (I was 303). I spent the next two laps trying to go hard without going so far into the red that the wheels would fall off on the last laps. Going into what I thought was the last lap, I put in a big effort to latch onto the back of Todd Prekaski's group, onto to deflate a bit when I could hear from the announcer that we were on 2 to go. I bobbled a bit through the twisty section on the back hill, while Todd put on the gas, and I never managed to catch him. I ended up sitting up a bit for the last 1/2 lap, as there was no chance of catching Todd or the guy between us, and Josh (who was right behind me) must've bobbled, as I had a comfortable gap on him. Finished 88/112 (10 under par).
Good weekend of racing, but I've still got things to improve. I especially need to figure out a racing style that suits my Diesel engine - those hard 1-2 minute efforts are not my friend.
Determined not to repeat my previous races' early mishaps, I played the start a bit more conservatively, moving up where safe, but not trying to jam into questionable holes. This worked great, and I ended up in a group with Josh Merchant, who was driving really well. Unfortunately, while my handling is improving, I could still be better, and I continue to spend extra energy smashing pedals on the power sections just to get back to (rather than gap) my group. By the second to last lap I was fried, and I made a terrible line choice into the choppy pavement coming off the sea wall, hitting a big hole and flatting my rear tire. Luckily, I wasn't far from the pits and was able to ride much of it on the flat, so after a neutral wheel from Shimano, I hadn't lost many spots and finished about 8 places behind Josh. It helped that two guys who passed me after the flat tire were dq'd for taking beer handups. In the end, I still beat the predictor by 14, so I'll take it. 90th/120
Day 2
New set of wheels (my good ones this time) and better perspective on managing the scrum on lap 1 - things are looking bright. Except for a last row start position in a field of 112 guys. I lined up right behind Josh, then realized there was nobody behind me, so I decided to try a move I've seen people pull at the back of crit starts. I rolled back about 3 bike lengths, much to the confusion of the guy to my right. This gave me room to clip in and start rolling when the guys 4-5 rows ahead did, and by the time the last 2 rows got to go, I was already clipped in and pushing the pedals. As a consequence, I moved up quite a bit on the start, and found myself riding in the 250-260 number series (I was 303). I spent the next two laps trying to go hard without going so far into the red that the wheels would fall off on the last laps. Going into what I thought was the last lap, I put in a big effort to latch onto the back of Todd Prekaski's group, onto to deflate a bit when I could hear from the announcer that we were on 2 to go. I bobbled a bit through the twisty section on the back hill, while Todd put on the gas, and I never managed to catch him. I ended up sitting up a bit for the last 1/2 lap, as there was no chance of catching Todd or the guy between us, and Josh (who was right behind me) must've bobbled, as I had a comfortable gap on him. Finished 88/112 (10 under par).
Good weekend of racing, but I've still got things to improve. I especially need to figure out a racing style that suits my Diesel engine - those hard 1-2 minute efforts are not my friend.
Last edited by swawersik on Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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onegeardoug
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Day 1: Second row call-up. I drilled it up the hill and slotted into the top 10. Was riding with the leaders for a while, and then started the backwards slide as it became obvious that the course favored massive watts over technical ability. I suffered like a dog up the pavement past the start/finish every time, and bled 2 spots every lap. With virtually no place to recovery, I just tried to hold on to every wheel that came by, but the end couldn't come soon enough. I ended up 20th, which was a few spots better than I anticipated based on how many racers went by me.
Day 2: Seemed like it was going to be much of the same. The course was built for watts, and not for Doug. However, the long straights weren't as long, and there was a bit of recovery after each one. This turned out to make a big difference for me. With the fast stairs by the beer tent coming even sooner, I knew I wanted to be as close to the front as possible on the first lap. Second row and good start. I was in 8th up the steps and the rest of the first lap. I held that, and even moved into 7th on the second lap when Stephen Marcoux lost his front tire in a grassy corner. I was right on his wheel, and went down too, but I popped up quicker and made the pass. Lap 3 and 4, I settled into a good groove, but I had allowed about 5 or 6 racers to go by. I couldn't hang with them, which was a shame. By lap 4, I couldn't see the leaders anymore, but there was a huge group in front of me that contained about 8 guys, racing for 4th. I was all by myself, in 14th, but enjoying having "clean air" in front of me. End of lap #4, with 2 to go, Steve Witkus and Tyler Munroe had bridged up to me. I was determined to hold them off. I was carving the turns faster than them, and gapping them a bit, but then they'd get back on in the straights. Up the pavement for the bell, I drilled it and took a gap of 20m by the building. I kept the pressure on the entire bell lap, but they were right behind me off the long backstretch going toward the sand. I sprinted from the sand to the stairs, knowing that if I could make the stairs first that I could come out of the barriers with the lead. That worked. I hit the pavement, found my drops, and sprinted like it was Worlds. I could see a wheel behind me through my armpit, but it was fading. I didn't know who was there or how far back, so I sprinted as hard as I could all the way through the line. I finished with a 2s gap on Tyler and 8s on Steve. Small victory. Held onto 14th. Much happier with Day 2.
Day 2: Seemed like it was going to be much of the same. The course was built for watts, and not for Doug. However, the long straights weren't as long, and there was a bit of recovery after each one. This turned out to make a big difference for me. With the fast stairs by the beer tent coming even sooner, I knew I wanted to be as close to the front as possible on the first lap. Second row and good start. I was in 8th up the steps and the rest of the first lap. I held that, and even moved into 7th on the second lap when Stephen Marcoux lost his front tire in a grassy corner. I was right on his wheel, and went down too, but I popped up quicker and made the pass. Lap 3 and 4, I settled into a good groove, but I had allowed about 5 or 6 racers to go by. I couldn't hang with them, which was a shame. By lap 4, I couldn't see the leaders anymore, but there was a huge group in front of me that contained about 8 guys, racing for 4th. I was all by myself, in 14th, but enjoying having "clean air" in front of me. End of lap #4, with 2 to go, Steve Witkus and Tyler Munroe had bridged up to me. I was determined to hold them off. I was carving the turns faster than them, and gapping them a bit, but then they'd get back on in the straights. Up the pavement for the bell, I drilled it and took a gap of 20m by the building. I kept the pressure on the entire bell lap, but they were right behind me off the long backstretch going toward the sand. I sprinted from the sand to the stairs, knowing that if I could make the stairs first that I could come out of the barriers with the lead. That worked. I hit the pavement, found my drops, and sprinted like it was Worlds. I could see a wheel behind me through my armpit, but it was fading. I didn't know who was there or how far back, so I sprinted as hard as I could all the way through the line. I finished with a 2s gap on Tyler and 8s on Steve. Small victory. Held onto 14th. Much happier with Day 2.
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Gloucester is hard. I didn't handle the masses jamming through the turns on the first 1/2 lap. After things settled down, I must have been in 80th or worse. Then I started fighting my way back. With 2 laps to go I saw Scott C ahead of me and getting closer all the time. Unfortunately there was a STAMPEDE! guy in between us. I got around him, and was hoping to catch Scott in the chicanes before the barriers but the STAMPEDE! guy passed me right before the stairs, only to completely wipe out and sprawl across them. Ouch!. But he got up quick enough to block me on the first turn as he fumbled with his pedals. I got by him and continued my pursuit of Scott. I went hard up the hill, then noticed Scott taking it casual on the paved sweeper. I took the high inside line on "Smudger's turn", and passed him just before the beer garden. This apparently woke Scott up, and he passed me back as we went into the back side. Then we got stuck behind a threshold racer and someone else who were clearly going backward. This started to stress me out as some people I'd worked hard to pass and drop were gaining on us. Finally we got past them on the uphill sprint before the downhill by the pit. Scott and I fought for a while, then I passed him by going left on the long downhill road by the beach, a line that had served me well all day. I drilled the turns to keep everyone behind me to the sand, then sprinted for the stairs, knowing that if I could just get there first I'd be ok to the finish. Going through the last turn before the barriers I heard Scott yell "DUDE!" as someone cut him off. I was happy to hold Scott and the other guys off to the finish, almost picking off one more rider who wasn't paying attention before the line.
I actually feel like I raced well, and drove the bike hard, but the fact that I totally failed to maintain my position in the first 1/2 lap lead to my worst result of the year.
I actually feel like I raced well, and drove the bike hard, but the fact that I totally failed to maintain my position in the first 1/2 lap lead to my worst result of the year.
-Chris Busick
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Day 1:
Hard hard hard. And hot. Having not been at Green Mtn I was staged around 22nd, but due to some no shows and a quick clip in when the called my name I snagged the last spot on the 2nd row. Sprinted hard up the hill and slotted in to about 4th or 5th. Tommy Goguen was literally 10 seconds ahead of the field by the time we hit the first real turn. Impressive. I followed wheels for a while, picked off some, some guys fell, and soon I was in third. OK, cool, just hang out here for a while I thought. A few guys did manage to out power me so I was probably back to about 5th when I went down in one of the (now slippery) grass turns heading down to the seawall. Yuck, bled a few more spots to 9th or 10th maybe. Suffered in the valley of despair for the next lap and was aghast to see 2 to go with my clock close to 35 minutes elapsed. This is gonna suck. Felt awful on the second to last lap but a little better on the last lap. Picked off one or two on the last lap and finished 8th. I buried myself for the last half lap to catch 7th turning on the finishing hill. I sprinted around him for 7th but I guess I went too early (or maybe just woke him up) and he pipped me, so I got 8th. The good news? That’s the last money spot. The bad news? I realized this about 7pm on Sunday night. Oh well, Paul B and company deserve it more than me….
Day 2:
Pleased to see the course was a little more to my liking as OGD explained. It was weird though. I started OK, I felt like I was riding well, felt like I was cornering well, but kept bleeding spots. I did go down twice but I don’t have a real good explanation for why the big difference between Sat and Sun when Sunday should have suited me better. I did have one near catastrophic miss when AJ Moran tucked the front end on the super fast off camber left hander after the pit. I was right on his wheel but managed to somehow squeeze between him and his tumbling bike. Lost some spots and got gapped (and right before a headwind straight power section - doh!) One highlight -- on the starting grid Diane informed us that the UCI had decided to do random doping controls for our field as an experiment that day and that we might get pulled at the finish. Everyone cheered and clapped which was great to see. The finish wasn’t as good, but overall the race was much more enjoyable to me than Saturday. I’m starting to wonder if the course designs for the Verge races are consciously becoming more wide open and power-hungry due to UCI influence. That would be a shame, but it seems to be a trend over the last couple years.
Hard hard hard. And hot. Having not been at Green Mtn I was staged around 22nd, but due to some no shows and a quick clip in when the called my name I snagged the last spot on the 2nd row. Sprinted hard up the hill and slotted in to about 4th or 5th. Tommy Goguen was literally 10 seconds ahead of the field by the time we hit the first real turn. Impressive. I followed wheels for a while, picked off some, some guys fell, and soon I was in third. OK, cool, just hang out here for a while I thought. A few guys did manage to out power me so I was probably back to about 5th when I went down in one of the (now slippery) grass turns heading down to the seawall. Yuck, bled a few more spots to 9th or 10th maybe. Suffered in the valley of despair for the next lap and was aghast to see 2 to go with my clock close to 35 minutes elapsed. This is gonna suck. Felt awful on the second to last lap but a little better on the last lap. Picked off one or two on the last lap and finished 8th. I buried myself for the last half lap to catch 7th turning on the finishing hill. I sprinted around him for 7th but I guess I went too early (or maybe just woke him up) and he pipped me, so I got 8th. The good news? That’s the last money spot. The bad news? I realized this about 7pm on Sunday night. Oh well, Paul B and company deserve it more than me….
Day 2:
Pleased to see the course was a little more to my liking as OGD explained. It was weird though. I started OK, I felt like I was riding well, felt like I was cornering well, but kept bleeding spots. I did go down twice but I don’t have a real good explanation for why the big difference between Sat and Sun when Sunday should have suited me better. I did have one near catastrophic miss when AJ Moran tucked the front end on the super fast off camber left hander after the pit. I was right on his wheel but managed to somehow squeeze between him and his tumbling bike. Lost some spots and got gapped (and right before a headwind straight power section - doh!) One highlight -- on the starting grid Diane informed us that the UCI had decided to do random doping controls for our field as an experiment that day and that we might get pulled at the finish. Everyone cheered and clapped which was great to see. The finish wasn’t as good, but overall the race was much more enjoyable to me than Saturday. I’m starting to wonder if the course designs for the Verge races are consciously becoming more wide open and power-hungry due to UCI influence. That would be a shame, but it seems to be a trend over the last couple years.
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
I'm a little insulted that my 88th place finish didn't earn me a trip to the doping tent.pace21 wrote:One highlight -- on the starting grid Diane informed us that the UCI had decided to do random doping controls for our field as an experiment that day and that we might get pulled at the finish. Everyone cheered and clapped which was great to see.
BTW - Was Brian Coate wearing the Verge leader's jersey yesterday? I ask because I passed the Verge leader (w/B2C2 shorts on) sometime midrace: he'd flatted a LONG way from the pit and was running. I noted it and thought "Aw man, that sucks." He never passed me back.
I was curious how bad the damage was for Coate (who I was pretty sure was wearing the jersey), and was suprised to see him scored 19th - which I think still earns him Verge points, though I don't know how many. This makes no difference to me, but for those who care about Verge points, do with it what you will.
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
I also passed a guy on the last lap who was by the side of the course with a broken chain. He was scored ahead of me. The difference between 13th and 12th wasn't enough for me to worry about.
To your point though -- not sure where his flat occurred but he finished 20 seconds behind me. He finished 27 seconds ahead of me on saturday. So if he could have netted out at under a minute for the flat than it seems reasonable.
BTW, to me the whole concept of a Cat 3 leader's jersey is crazy. Kinda like the trophy for the winner of the NIT tournament.
To your point though -- not sure where his flat occurred but he finished 20 seconds behind me. He finished 27 seconds ahead of me on saturday. So if he could have netted out at under a minute for the flat than it seems reasonable.
BTW, to me the whole concept of a Cat 3 leader's jersey is crazy. Kinda like the trophy for the winner of the NIT tournament.
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
He was a long way from the pit when I saw him running, so my guess was that he got lapped (and from that time gap, you may have lapped him while he was in the pit) and finished in between the 18th and 19th place guys. And if he was anything like me, he'd have left the race venue without ever checking the results, not ready to see what the damage was, so if there was an error, I don't blame him for not catching it.
My comment is more from curiosity than from anything else, I'm obviously not planning to file a protest for something that neither affects me or I'm even 100% sure about.
My comment is more from curiosity than from anything else, I'm obviously not planning to file a protest for something that neither affects me or I'm even 100% sure about.
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onegeardoug
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
I was marshalling at the building, and he came running by with his bike on his shoulder. He wasn't in DFL at that point, but would have been by the time he got up the stairs, around the chicane out through the field, past the playground and back to the pit. There's no way he was anywhere near the top 50. Definitely a failure on the part of the officials. I'll email Diane and let her know, but probably won't make any difference.swawersik wrote:He was a long way from the pit when I saw him running, so my guess was that he got lapped (and from that time gap, you may have lapped him while he was in the pit) and finished in between the 18th and 19th place guys. And if he was anything like me, he'd have left the race venue without ever checking the results, not ready to see what the damage was, so if there was an error, I don't blame him for not catching it.
My comment is more from curiosity than from anything else, I'm obviously not planning to file a protest for something that neither affects me or I'm even 100% sure about.
Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
Hard to blame them too much given the craziness of 120 racers all spread out across the same course.onegeardoug wrote:Definitely a failure on the part of the officials. I'll email Diane and let her know, but probably won't make any difference.
The take home - check your results and if you're a really good sport, make sure the officials knew you were lapped when you crossed the line. In Coate's defense, he probably has limited experience being lapped.
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onegeardoug
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Re: Gran Prix of Gloucester 2013
And given the type of day he had, he probably went straight to the beer tent and didn't even check the results.swawersik wrote:The take home - check your results and if you're a really good sport, make sure the officials knew you were lapped when you crossed the line. In Coate's defense, he probably has limited experience being lapped.