Looks like Mr. Lipcon had a good night!
http://www.road-results.com/race/4946
CCNS Kermis (Hartford)
Re: CCNS Kermis (Hartford)
yeah! Two top 10s in the same night. Last time this happened Stefan got his upgrade!
Re: CCNS Kermis (Hartford)
Race #1: 4/5
This race was delayed from the original 5PM start time due to traffic, then it was delayed some more because the UConn football team was coming in their buses to have a scrimmage at the stadium and we certainly wouldn't want to have them experience a delay of possibly up to 45 seconds. So I sat around for a while and watched my race-mates burn up some energy pedaling around and around. Then it started to rain; ok, now we can start. I lined up at the back. They were flying camera drones! This would have been even cooler if I could find any of this footage on the internet, but you can't have it all. The rain was not very intense, but the pavement was slick. The distinctive feature of this course is a very tight 180 hairpin turn onto a bike path. A lot of different lines to take on the turn, all are slow. My first time through I took the wide line and ran out of space on the outside on the bike path. My wheels slipped off of the lip (3-4"!). I tried to trick the bike back up but ended up unclipping on the left side, awkwardly hopping back onto the pavement, bumping into someone, putting the bike down to avoid sprawling, unclipping the right side, then doing a running CX remount -- all without sliding past the back side of the peleton. I got a few compliments on my recovery, but I'd rather have just stayed on the bike. That was lap one. Laps 2-8 were wet and sketchy. Last lap -- As we headed towards the hairpin I didn't like my position and realized that it was going to take some luck to pull this one out. Fortunately a guy came by on the left and I recognized him as someone who had pulled hard to the front at this spot on several occasions previously. I jump on his wheel expecting to get into a good position without doing work, but he suddenly sees something that makes him cut his speed by a lot. I crush the front brake and go from 30+ to 23 in less than a second, riding up into his back wheel, but thankfully not actually making contact. 20 guys go past as I wind it up again. It's all out now: sprinting down to the turn, sprinting back from the turn, sprinting all the way to the end. There wasn't time left to look for a good wheel, I just had to pass as many wheels as I could as fast as I could. I passed a bunch, but sprinting from the nosebleed section doesn't really play to my strengths, or anyone's really. 10th place.
Race #2: 3/4
After sitting in the car and staring into space for a while, I decided to do the second race. It's a long drive after all. This time I lined up at the front and the pace started out fast. It was still very wet, but I think it was mostly wheel spray at that point. Most of the cat 3 guys don't race with fenders. Patrick C. was in this one and he did a very nice job staying in a good position; better than me for the most part. This race was probably just as sketchy as the 4/5, maybe more. I felt more relaxed though, probably because I wasn't worried about winning. One guy went down by himself just to my right -- too slippery. On the last lap, I did basically the same strategy that backfired in the previous race -- following a wheel up the inside prior to the 180, but this time it worked well. I got through the turn cleanly and in a reasonable position. The sprint started early and I worked my way though it as best I could. There was another spill just before the finish line, but I was able to swing wide to avoid it without any trouble or much speed loss. Patrick was there to pip me at the line. 10th place.
In summary:
4/5 race, bad luck -> 10th place
3/4 race, good luck -> 10th place
The 3/4 was faster on average, but my fastest lap was the final lap of the 4/5.
This race was delayed from the original 5PM start time due to traffic, then it was delayed some more because the UConn football team was coming in their buses to have a scrimmage at the stadium and we certainly wouldn't want to have them experience a delay of possibly up to 45 seconds. So I sat around for a while and watched my race-mates burn up some energy pedaling around and around. Then it started to rain; ok, now we can start. I lined up at the back. They were flying camera drones! This would have been even cooler if I could find any of this footage on the internet, but you can't have it all. The rain was not very intense, but the pavement was slick. The distinctive feature of this course is a very tight 180 hairpin turn onto a bike path. A lot of different lines to take on the turn, all are slow. My first time through I took the wide line and ran out of space on the outside on the bike path. My wheels slipped off of the lip (3-4"!). I tried to trick the bike back up but ended up unclipping on the left side, awkwardly hopping back onto the pavement, bumping into someone, putting the bike down to avoid sprawling, unclipping the right side, then doing a running CX remount -- all without sliding past the back side of the peleton. I got a few compliments on my recovery, but I'd rather have just stayed on the bike. That was lap one. Laps 2-8 were wet and sketchy. Last lap -- As we headed towards the hairpin I didn't like my position and realized that it was going to take some luck to pull this one out. Fortunately a guy came by on the left and I recognized him as someone who had pulled hard to the front at this spot on several occasions previously. I jump on his wheel expecting to get into a good position without doing work, but he suddenly sees something that makes him cut his speed by a lot. I crush the front brake and go from 30+ to 23 in less than a second, riding up into his back wheel, but thankfully not actually making contact. 20 guys go past as I wind it up again. It's all out now: sprinting down to the turn, sprinting back from the turn, sprinting all the way to the end. There wasn't time left to look for a good wheel, I just had to pass as many wheels as I could as fast as I could. I passed a bunch, but sprinting from the nosebleed section doesn't really play to my strengths, or anyone's really. 10th place.
Race #2: 3/4
After sitting in the car and staring into space for a while, I decided to do the second race. It's a long drive after all. This time I lined up at the front and the pace started out fast. It was still very wet, but I think it was mostly wheel spray at that point. Most of the cat 3 guys don't race with fenders. Patrick C. was in this one and he did a very nice job staying in a good position; better than me for the most part. This race was probably just as sketchy as the 4/5, maybe more. I felt more relaxed though, probably because I wasn't worried about winning. One guy went down by himself just to my right -- too slippery. On the last lap, I did basically the same strategy that backfired in the previous race -- following a wheel up the inside prior to the 180, but this time it worked well. I got through the turn cleanly and in a reasonable position. The sprint started early and I worked my way though it as best I could. There was another spill just before the finish line, but I was able to swing wide to avoid it without any trouble or much speed loss. Patrick was there to pip me at the line. 10th place.
In summary:
4/5 race, bad luck -> 10th place
3/4 race, good luck -> 10th place
The 3/4 was faster on average, but my fastest lap was the final lap of the 4/5.