15-17 May 2015: A good weekend

[pcollins]

Friday 15 May: CCNS Kermis 3/4 4th/44
Carpooled to Hartford with Chris P. and Nolan for this twilight crit. The course was unique, with a 180 degree turn onto a narrow road which required decently hard accelerations every lap. Around halfway through, I got into a breakaway of 8ish riders. It was super hard and I was at my limit. We were away for 5-6 minutes before we were caught. With about 3 to go, I was near the back so Chris came back and towed me to the top 10ish with 1 lap to go. The last lap wasn’t as hectic or hard as I was expecting it to be. Chris gave me a leadout up to the last corner where I sprinted and got 4th place. Chris did amazing, selfless work for me; it’s great to have such a strong teammate! Thanks!

Saturday 16 May: Mystic Velo Crit Cat 3 3rd/11
Ninigrit. It was less windy than the other times I’ve raced here. This was a pretty animated race since there was only 11 of us. It seemed like there was an attack or counter-attack almost every lap, which made the race hard. I played it smart and didn’t go for any primes and I never initiated attacks, only followed some by strong riders like Heiss, which is the guy I marked on the last lap. With about one to go, Doug Chrystall made an attack. I knew he was very strong but I didn’t think he could hold it off for the win… but he did, winning by 2 seconds. A CRCA Foundation rider was pulling on the front at a medium tempo with Heiss on his wheel and me on Heiss’ wheel. It seemed like Heiss was itching to go but I told him that he should stay on the CRCA guy’s wheel. Casey, the very large GLV teammate of Heiss tried to ride me off Heiss’ wheel in the second to last corner, we rubbed elbows and had some words but I held my position. On the last corner Heiss opened up his sprint, I passed him shortly after and then was passed by Tham by a wheel length on the line, placing 3rd.

Sunday 17 May: Wells Ave 3/4 3rd/21
With 4 to go I made a mini attack going through the finish line, one guy followed and we formed a 2 man breakaway. I knew we probably weren’t going to stay away but we worked well with each other and I told him a couple of times that “we could make it!” We had probably a 5 second gap with 1 to go. One guy bridged up to us and we told him to pull; he put in a good pull and we dropped my original breakaway companion. I recovered slightly while drafting the bridged up guy’s wheel until the last corner, where we were caught. Surprisingly, I had enough gas left to have a decent sprint and only got passed by two guys, placing 3rd. Tham, who beat me yesterday at Ninigrit, had an amazing sprint that no one could compete with.

Reflecting on the weekend a whole, I’ve concluded that my sprint has improved greatly from last year, I’ve become more tactically smart and I choose my efforts more wisely than before. I felt fully recovered for each race this weekend which is a good sign for the Longsjo. It's also fun to race against the same guys in different races, which makes picking a good wheel to follow a more informed decision.

[jraguin]

You are killing it Patrick. My only saving grace in a Cat 3 race is that you will not be in the 3s for long. Cat 2 here you come. I am proud to say I ride/rode with you and hopefully taught you a thing or two.

[JeremyC]

Not bad for a climber. Longjso will be much harder but this is good training.

Seriously tho, congrats. I appreciate bike racers who try to be well rounded.

[scottc]

NIce work Pat.

To further improve the sprint, every coach I have worked with suggests strength training with weights and lots of plyometrics.

[Smudger]

Great weekend Patrick. We have a good team lined up for critical season.

Best way to improve your sprint is to practice sprinting. It's that simple. These races are great cause the most important thing about a good sprint is being in the right position and knowing when to open it up. Throw in a proper sprint workout during the week will make a big difference. Let me know if you need some ideas

[swawersik]

Nice work, Patrick. Nick Tham is a fast sprinter who's done a bazillion crits and knows how to read a finish. You will not, however, ever see him anywhere near you in a climbers' race, so I'm impressed to see you challenging him on "his" turf.

[Len_E]

Damn! That's a hell of month let nevermind a weekend.

[Mkidd3]

Nice work Patrick!