The Bad: The crit groupetto is the worst groupetto.
The Ugly: After I was pulled I noticed that my rear brake was rubbing. A lot.
2015 Concord Criterium
2015 Concord Criterium
The Good: My kids came to watch and got a lesson on not quitting.
The Bad: The crit groupetto is the worst groupetto.
The Ugly: After I was pulled I noticed that my rear brake was rubbing. A lot.
The Bad: The crit groupetto is the worst groupetto.
The Ugly: After I was pulled I noticed that my rear brake was rubbing. A lot.
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
2 races yesterday, what seemed like worlds apart (both in time and in how I felt)
9:10AM - lined up for the 45+ (1-4). Knew it would be fast and hard and it didn't disappoint. Spent first few laps desparately trying to hang on the back and sprinting out of all turns. Gap opened after one surge on the uphill section. With a small group that I thought could at least survive to not get lapped but suddenly I was away from them and alone in no mans land. Bridged up to a 545 guy who was falling back from the main field and we worked together for a few more. I saw a glimmer of hope of catching back on the rear so dropped him and got to within 25 yards and couldn't close from there. That was all I had so soloed as long as they would let me. Got the hook just as the group was approaching 4 laps to go. In hindsight, don't think I had a good enough warmup. Not sure how much it would have mattered but legs were heavy.
1:40PM - after an EASY 80 minute jaunt and some lunch and some stretching, lined up with Tyler and Nolan in the 4's.
Right away legs felt so much better than this morning. Spent most of the time mid-main pack. Few laps noticed Tyler doing too much work up front with nobody else doing anything so took the lead. Last 2-3 laps I (finally) figured out that I should be drilling it harder to move up on the backstretch, holding position in the long straight (where my sprinting "skills" are seriously lacking) then working up front on the uphill stretch to keep good position. Too late, was already caught back and while I had no problem maintaining contact with front group I blew it position-wise to move up to help Tyler in the final sprint. In hindsight, with 1.5 to go after the uphill stretch I should have blasted it to the front and just gone for it. Oh well, more learning. Finished 14th, right at the back of the front field.
9:10AM - lined up for the 45+ (1-4). Knew it would be fast and hard and it didn't disappoint. Spent first few laps desparately trying to hang on the back and sprinting out of all turns. Gap opened after one surge on the uphill section. With a small group that I thought could at least survive to not get lapped but suddenly I was away from them and alone in no mans land. Bridged up to a 545 guy who was falling back from the main field and we worked together for a few more. I saw a glimmer of hope of catching back on the rear so dropped him and got to within 25 yards and couldn't close from there. That was all I had so soloed as long as they would let me. Got the hook just as the group was approaching 4 laps to go. In hindsight, don't think I had a good enough warmup. Not sure how much it would have mattered but legs were heavy.
1:40PM - after an EASY 80 minute jaunt and some lunch and some stretching, lined up with Tyler and Nolan in the 4's.
Right away legs felt so much better than this morning. Spent most of the time mid-main pack. Few laps noticed Tyler doing too much work up front with nobody else doing anything so took the lead. Last 2-3 laps I (finally) figured out that I should be drilling it harder to move up on the backstretch, holding position in the long straight (where my sprinting "skills" are seriously lacking) then working up front on the uphill stretch to keep good position. Too late, was already caught back and while I had no problem maintaining contact with front group I blew it position-wise to move up to help Tyler in the final sprint. In hindsight, with 1.5 to go after the uphill stretch I should have blasted it to the front and just gone for it. Oh well, more learning. Finished 14th, right at the back of the front field.
Dave Mingori
-
Bradford
- Domestique
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 7:33 pm
- Location: Jamaica Plain/Westborough MA
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Cat 3.
Our team was on-site all day to watch the Masters, women's 3/4, men's 5, and men's 4 - so by the time 3:30 rolled around, there had been plenty of opportunity to survey the course, check out the turns, and see a number of races play out in different ways. I have to say, this was probably the most fun crit course I've done yet. 7 turns with climbing on the front side, a wide 180 you could rail at speed, followed by a quick left right, into a long sprint finish.
I lined up with Patrick and Jacob for the 50 minute race. The field was relatively small, with only 34 racers.
Attacks took place pretty much immediately, with a number of guys going off the front and being brought back. This was the case for the first half of the race. Patrick and I held positions at the front, taking turns working along with others, to keep everything together. Somewhere just on the other side of half, a group of 3 went up the road. They were in front, dangling for a few minutes, and nobody was overly concerned - but then after a few turns, they were gone. There was still quite a bit of racing left, so the peloton was apathetic. Two more guys bridged - this was stupid not to be in on this - my thinking at the time, was these guys had floundered in previous attacks and were unliklely to stay out for very long - I was wrong - they didn't end up catching the 3 up the road, but they held off the group towards the end.
Fast forward to the final four laps. I was getting pretty frustrated with the continued lack of interest in mounting a serious chase - and I was vocalizing this. Several guys basically told me to pound sand, noting a had a teammate upfront. Patrick and I would both take pretty big pulls, leading the chase, and when we came off, little would happen. Yes, we had two - but we didn't have six. Their failure to recognize this was very frustrating. To Cannondale's credit, two of their riders came forward to work, but ended up crashing on one of the sharp turns, which negated their efforts. The last lap GLV brought three to the front and helped pour it on, but after Gerry made a big effort, his team mates couldn't really follow up. That left Patrick on the front with me in tow coming into the final four turns and finish. Patrick gave me a nice lead out down the straight and we finished 6th and 7th respectively. Credit to the guys in the break who went for it and made it stick.
After the race, I was pretty frustrated, missing the break, and not establishing a coordinated chase to bring it back. My legs felt excellent throughout the race, and I felt like a result was attainable on Saturday. Never the less, valuable lessons learned on a super fun course.
Great efforts from Patrick and Jacob on the day - I really appreciated having them out there.
Our team was on-site all day to watch the Masters, women's 3/4, men's 5, and men's 4 - so by the time 3:30 rolled around, there had been plenty of opportunity to survey the course, check out the turns, and see a number of races play out in different ways. I have to say, this was probably the most fun crit course I've done yet. 7 turns with climbing on the front side, a wide 180 you could rail at speed, followed by a quick left right, into a long sprint finish.
I lined up with Patrick and Jacob for the 50 minute race. The field was relatively small, with only 34 racers.
Attacks took place pretty much immediately, with a number of guys going off the front and being brought back. This was the case for the first half of the race. Patrick and I held positions at the front, taking turns working along with others, to keep everything together. Somewhere just on the other side of half, a group of 3 went up the road. They were in front, dangling for a few minutes, and nobody was overly concerned - but then after a few turns, they were gone. There was still quite a bit of racing left, so the peloton was apathetic. Two more guys bridged - this was stupid not to be in on this - my thinking at the time, was these guys had floundered in previous attacks and were unliklely to stay out for very long - I was wrong - they didn't end up catching the 3 up the road, but they held off the group towards the end.
Fast forward to the final four laps. I was getting pretty frustrated with the continued lack of interest in mounting a serious chase - and I was vocalizing this. Several guys basically told me to pound sand, noting a had a teammate upfront. Patrick and I would both take pretty big pulls, leading the chase, and when we came off, little would happen. Yes, we had two - but we didn't have six. Their failure to recognize this was very frustrating. To Cannondale's credit, two of their riders came forward to work, but ended up crashing on one of the sharp turns, which negated their efforts. The last lap GLV brought three to the front and helped pour it on, but after Gerry made a big effort, his team mates couldn't really follow up. That left Patrick on the front with me in tow coming into the final four turns and finish. Patrick gave me a nice lead out down the straight and we finished 6th and 7th respectively. Credit to the guys in the break who went for it and made it stick.
After the race, I was pretty frustrated, missing the break, and not establishing a coordinated chase to bring it back. My legs felt excellent throughout the race, and I felt like a result was attainable on Saturday. Never the less, valuable lessons learned on a super fun course.
Great efforts from Patrick and Jacob on the day - I really appreciated having them out there.
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
@Brad & Patrick - Nice job at least coming 1-2 in the field sprint. Sorry you missed the break.
@Dave - Impressive doubles you are pulling off.
@Jacob - Maybe your nickname on the team should be "the mechanic". I hate to admit, that happened to me after a CX race once.
Still waiting to hear Winslow talk about the two man break with our friend Nate from the Monsters!
@Dave - Impressive doubles you are pulling off.
@Jacob - Maybe your nickname on the team should be "the mechanic". I hate to admit, that happened to me after a CX race once.
Still waiting to hear Winslow talk about the two man break with our friend Nate from the Monsters!
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
I second Brads comment about how fun the course was, fast turns and a nice straight sprint finish!
My race was earlier in the day, although I still had enough time to watch a few races go off, and take a quick recon lap. Megs race was directly before me so I got pumped up watching her finish 3rd in the bunch sprint!
CAT5 and JR race brings many different levels of fitness to the table, I did know a few other racers in the group as well as new teammate Antony. We discussed a plan of breakaway if the Jr's didn't cooperate as they are so well known for. I knew Nate was a strong rider in the group and if something was to happen it would surely include him. After a few laps and a bit of attempting to encourage the Jr's to take a few pulls rather than sit there one comment really fired us up. " I don't plan to do any work, I plan to win this race." That was it, Nate and I made a bit of a break at the end of the backside climb, with no response by the field. We hammered hard for a full lap, switching off quickly to keep our speed up. We managed to get 20-25 second gap (special thanks to coach Brad and Tyler for the continual info) so got into a great rotation. 1/2-3/4 lap pulls split between Nate and I for the remainder of the 10 laps.
I pulled up until the downhill 180 deg turn and through it when we began to hit a few racers we were about to lap. Came around the turn into the final sprint and let it rip, I was unsure how much Nate or myself for that matter had left in the tank. I did one look back, and never let off with about 200 to go. I came across the finish with a few bike lengths gap( according to spectators).
Great race, and great communal effort with Nate!
My race was earlier in the day, although I still had enough time to watch a few races go off, and take a quick recon lap. Megs race was directly before me so I got pumped up watching her finish 3rd in the bunch sprint!
CAT5 and JR race brings many different levels of fitness to the table, I did know a few other racers in the group as well as new teammate Antony. We discussed a plan of breakaway if the Jr's didn't cooperate as they are so well known for. I knew Nate was a strong rider in the group and if something was to happen it would surely include him. After a few laps and a bit of attempting to encourage the Jr's to take a few pulls rather than sit there one comment really fired us up. " I don't plan to do any work, I plan to win this race." That was it, Nate and I made a bit of a break at the end of the backside climb, with no response by the field. We hammered hard for a full lap, switching off quickly to keep our speed up. We managed to get 20-25 second gap (special thanks to coach Brad and Tyler for the continual info) so got into a great rotation. 1/2-3/4 lap pulls split between Nate and I for the remainder of the 10 laps.
I pulled up until the downhill 180 deg turn and through it when we began to hit a few racers we were about to lap. Came around the turn into the final sprint and let it rip, I was unsure how much Nate or myself for that matter had left in the tank. I did one look back, and never let off with about 200 to go. I came across the finish with a few bike lengths gap( according to spectators).
Great race, and great communal effort with Nate!
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
First off, this was a great showing for MRC. An awesome day of racing/yelling time gaps/spectating capped off with some sweet results! I also greatly enjoyed this course, really glad that Brad and I went and did some recon before our races (we definitely found the perfect line through the double 90 turns.) As Dave mentioned, I spent a fair amount towards the front, most of the time around 3 wheel, but taking short 'pulls' through the downhill technical sections and on the finishing stretch, which was a tailwind. This was mostly because 1) I found I was able to do the technical section faster than most and wanted to take my line and 2) 'pulls' in the tailwind/downhill are easier. Luckily GLV was willing to put one on the front to do work, but it was hard to get others to help. I had let myself slide back to about 10th wheel on one lap, but got frustrated with the yo-yo-ing and poor cornering in the group, so I moved back up to the first few wheels. Big thanks to Dave for making his way up front several times to put in solid efforts so I could rest a bit more. I was sitting 5th wheel coming into the bell lap, there was no change in position that until the last corner where I passed the fading GLV workhorse who led out his teammate and I finished 4th in the sprint. Brad can attest to my nerves before the race, being my first pure 4 race. This was a huge confidence boost. Congrats again to everyone who raced, all-around awesome day!
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Great work by everyone and fun reports to read. Until I got to the part in Winslow's with the "I don't plan to do any work, I plan to win this race" comment. Wow! It's one thing to tell others that you're not willing to work because your teammate's in the break (or whatever), but my heart rate went up a few bpm when I read the second part. If he was in the movie "Breaking Away" he would have had a frame pump shoved through his front wheel.
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Tyler, you shouldn't have be nervous about the Cat 4s. You are doing great. In fact, I was looking up the upgrade rules for you so you can be a Cat 3 and race with us. 20 pts is what you need. You already have 7. Keep it up!
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Outstanding performance all round.
If there was a best overall team category we'd be killing it.
Just need Meg to post her race report now
If there was a best overall team category we'd be killing it.
Just need Meg to post her race report now
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Megwoodacre
- Voiture Balai
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:30 pm
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Cat 4 Women.
After doing several races this year, I have gotten to know many names and teams that appear on Bikereg so when Saturday came, I knew who to position myself next too. As many have stated above, the course is a lot of fun with a sweeping 90 degree downhill turn where you can really get some speed. Coach Brad informed me to stay top 8 wheels back as this course will create many breakaways due to the “accordion” effect. The race started and I fought for third wheel and after the first lap, girls behind me were yelling “break in the field”, we all cheered (because women love to cheer and celebrate comradery together) and pushed the pace to make our breakaway stick. As the laps pushed on, we ended up dropping women left and right and lapping many too. We had about 6-8 solid girls in our breakaway pack and it was easy to tell who I would be up against in the final sprint. I spent a lot of time on the front taking pulls and rotating with 2 other girls as no one else wanted to do work. With 2 laps to go I was in the front pulling the group of 6-8 girls, I decided to come out and let my number 1 nemesis pull up the short hill and I managed to pull in behind her making me second wheel coming through the final lap to go. I stayed second wheel behind her as I knew she would be my biggest competitor when it came time for the sprint. As we turned the last corner, the engines revved and she was off and so was the rest of our group. We had a junior sandbagger who was positioned in the back of our breakaway pack, sprinting right alongside of me now. 250 meters to go and it was an all-out bunch sprint and I managed to cross the line coming in 3rd. (my nemesis coming in 1st, the junior sandbagger cat 2 racer coming in 2nd).Thanks again to Winslow, Tyler and Coach Brad for constantly giving me feedback during the race.
After doing several races this year, I have gotten to know many names and teams that appear on Bikereg so when Saturday came, I knew who to position myself next too. As many have stated above, the course is a lot of fun with a sweeping 90 degree downhill turn where you can really get some speed. Coach Brad informed me to stay top 8 wheels back as this course will create many breakaways due to the “accordion” effect. The race started and I fought for third wheel and after the first lap, girls behind me were yelling “break in the field”, we all cheered (because women love to cheer and celebrate comradery together) and pushed the pace to make our breakaway stick. As the laps pushed on, we ended up dropping women left and right and lapping many too. We had about 6-8 solid girls in our breakaway pack and it was easy to tell who I would be up against in the final sprint. I spent a lot of time on the front taking pulls and rotating with 2 other girls as no one else wanted to do work. With 2 laps to go I was in the front pulling the group of 6-8 girls, I decided to come out and let my number 1 nemesis pull up the short hill and I managed to pull in behind her making me second wheel coming through the final lap to go. I stayed second wheel behind her as I knew she would be my biggest competitor when it came time for the sprint. As we turned the last corner, the engines revved and she was off and so was the rest of our group. We had a junior sandbagger who was positioned in the back of our breakaway pack, sprinting right alongside of me now. 250 meters to go and it was an all-out bunch sprint and I managed to cross the line coming in 3rd. (my nemesis coming in 1st, the junior sandbagger cat 2 racer coming in 2nd).Thanks again to Winslow, Tyler and Coach Brad for constantly giving me feedback during the race.
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Great result and Awesome first post Meg!
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Nice one Meg. Congrats on a great race and result
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Congrats Meg. Friggin' Sandbaggers
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Great job Meg. You are quietly putting together a great season. I think an upgrade is soon in order.
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Bradford
- Domestique
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 7:33 pm
- Location: Jamaica Plain/Westborough MA
Re: 2015 Concord Criterium
Way to go Meg! Awesome to see you throwing down in the drops to hit that podium! Well played race - congrats.