Chris Hinds crit

[pace21]

So in the journalistic method of not burying the lead -- we won!

Huge squad for the cat 3/4 race, many of who had just raced the cat 4 (quite successfully I might add -- stay tuned to this channel for more!). Gun goes off and we settle into the usual dance on a flat windy course, lots of pseudo-breaks, lots of counting how many are up the road, how dangerous is it, who's represented, etc. At one point a semi-dangerous break of 8-10 with three GLV got about 10 seconds and the MRC team went to work pulling it back. Done.

About 30 minutes in another break is up the road by 10 seconds, folks (including us) are working to pull it back, and both Jeremy and I separately mention to Busick, "hey now would be a good time to counter when this gets pulled ba---" just as 2 guys attack up the side. OK, Busick is off bridging and makes the break with a total of 6 guys. A lap later another guy bridges making 7 total. We really thought this one would stick as both MRC and GLV were blocking on the front. As a protected rider (for the sprint) it was fun just catching free rides up to the front, swinging onto the nose, then just softpedaling and taking nice wide outside/inside/outside lines through the corners and doing absolutely no work. Numerous times some of the pre-race marked riders were attacking and chasing and giving up while we just followed. +1 for team racing

Unfortunately our best efforts at blocking weren't enough and BusickBreak was pulled back with 3 or so to go. No counters so we rode a lap with some nervousness until Big Josh went to the front just before the bell and started drilling it. I had been hanging near the front for the last few laps so I was slotted in at 4th wheel with Josh, GLV, cannondale kid (I think Alex Chrystall) then me. I know Josh is a diesel but there was no way he was going to hold 28-30mph for the whole lap, and doing the math I knew it didn't look good for me with only a 2 man leadout train (after Josh). I made a snap decision (based strategically entirely on the fact that Josh was on the front) -- I swung out and let a guy (GLV) pull through then slotted in behind him. I figured with Josh on the front it would look like I was letting him go and GLV would have to react. I can't say for sure but I'd guess that if Josh wasn't on the front the GLV guy behind me would have just stayed glued to my wheel when I swung wide. Another +1 for team racing!

So Josh eventually swings off and now I'm 4th wheel again with GLV, Alex, GLV in front of me. It starts getting windy heading into the final corner so GLV goes around Alex (who probably weighs 120 pounds) and I follow. So now GLV/GLV/me. GLV1 opens it up in the last sweeping corner, does a turn on the front for 10 seconds or so, and before GLV2 can jump I launch from 3rd wheel up the leeward side and bury my head for 20 seconds, taking the win by a couple bike lengths and a (cough) needless bike throw. Not pro but we'll take it, right?

It was a team win for sure but the 3 highlights for me were (in no particular order):
- Josh setting things straight and laying the smack down on the last lap
- Cratty covering like 10 breaks and pulling each one back
- Busick setting the table with a (almost successful!) break that let MRC settle in to a nice groove of blocking and forced some of the other strong dudes to work overtime and chase.

All in all a successful season opener I'd say.

[pwess]

Great race report. Nice win boys!

[KTeves]

Great race report.

Yes, great race report. I think it reflects Chris' awareness and ability to read a race which is part of the reason he is so successful. Of course his huge engine doesn't hurt either.

Congrats Chris and great work by the rest of the team. I wish I could have been there to the end.

[Jacob]

Nice!

What was the wind doing?

[pace21]

The wind was a factor but nothing compared to what you experienced last year Jacob. Maybe 10-15mph fairly steady. Head/cross on the finish straight. Mostly cross.

[PJ McQuade]

What a way to start the year! Congrats Chris and the squad. Can't wait to mix it up with all y'all!

[cbusick]

I'm putting Katie's pics of the MRC racers today in this folder in dropbox for anyone that wants them.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h1bh8b2iy27d ... 5xrKa?dl=0

[pcollins]

Congrats Josh and Pare!! Sounds like some great teamwork!

Lined up for my first ever P123 road event with a pretty stacked field of 80 other dudes, including a handful of teammates doing their second race of the day. Expecting the pace to be brutally fast, my goal was to finish with the main pack. I was talking to Scott C before the race about how there was going to be a break that laps the field, but I had no intention of being in it.

The beginning of the race, as usual, was pretty hard, and I found myself on Ben Wolfe’s wheel for a few laps which was pretty awesome. I lost his wheel at some point and according to Adam Myerson, it was right before he made his move to form the breakaway.

Maybe around 15 minutes in, 12-ish heavy hitters got a gap of ~15 seconds with no MRC’ers represented and I found myself near the front and with good legs so I decided to make several bridge attempts and chase on the front. GLV and CCB, both well represented in the break were covering everything and actively blocking but I (stubbornly) kept trying to chase the break. I was surprised to see Myerson hanging out in the pack most of the race and was thinking "If he's here, he either thinks that break will eventually be reeled in, or realized in a bridge attempt that it's futile to chase." I mistakenly thought it was the former, considering it was so early in the race. Cratty and Busick had some great pulls on the front. When the gap grew to 1 minute I knew the break was gone for good and settled back into the pack to recover.

Some guys dropped from the break, including Kevin Goguen, who, at first, I thought lapped us when I saw him back in the main group. The break eventually lapped the field and hung around for a few laps. About half of the original break went off the front again to duke it out for the win. With 2 to go things started getting scrappy. I was forced onto the grass twice, once to avoid a crash that happened almost right in front of me. My position wasn’t that great so I had to make up a lot of ground on the last 1.5 laps. The sprint was somewhat confusing because there were several guys from the breakaway all around me (Keith Kelly and two CCB guys), but I managed to finish 14th/80.

I’m satisfied with my P123 road debut and took away some good signs from this race. Looking forward to racing again with the team at Marblehead!

[ahamilton]

When you see this race report quote from the guy who won the race you know that the MRC racing team is really a team:

we won!

Congrats to the team. Looking forward to the report from the other winning squad.

And nice work in the P123.

[JeremyC]

OK I was waiting for all race reports, but let me share some thoughts from the DSR perspective.

1. If anyone was on the fence about the impact of team racing, they shouldn't be any longer. In the Cat 4 and 3/4, not only did we come up with detailed strategies, but in both races it played out almost exactly as we had planned. This stuff works!
2. The results of all the races we're fantastic. 2 (Chris and Josh) 1sts, Fintan 6th in the Cat 5, Sarah 4th in the Womens and Patrick 14th in the P123. As you saw in Patrick's race report, with 9 guys lapping the field (I thought it was more) he basically came in 5th in the field sprint of a stacked race. Hopefully we'll get him some more help in future races (Marblehead?)
3. The top finishers always get the credit, but credit must be given to the people who sacrificed their own personal chances. Some of these were part of the winning strategy. Tyler and Busick both delivered late race breakaways that almost worked and set up the team for sprint success. Both came in 40-50th something place, that's bike racing at its finest. Josh, fresh off a victory, was a key leadout guy for Chris in the 3/4, he came in 40th something. I didn't see most of the Cat 4 race, so someone can chime in on the contributors, but the 3/4 race had some great contributions from Smudger, Tyler (again) and Rich Batten, among others.
4. As the DSR it's my job to pay attention to the details. It wasn't perfect. There is plenty of work we need to do regarding racing 101 tactics. With that said, I'll recognize its a work in progress and I'm confident we'll get there. Probably more importantly, we still have some strong racers that need to go "all in" for the team. I've raced for years, its not easy to train all winter and then come in 40th place while someone else gets the glory. Trust me when I say your efforts will be noticed and you will be rewarded in future races. TRUST ME, everyone who sacrifices will get a chance!!
5. Crit racing is hard, if your fitness wasn't there to allow you to contribute, its not the end of the world (been there done that). It was the first race of the season (yes its still March). Keep working, there are bigger and better races to come!

Keep working and the results will continue. I'm more psyched than ever about the potential of this season.

@Josh - Rookie of the day, please get your race report up! Same to Fintan and Sarah.

[djming]

I will chime in quickly on the 4 race. We (that being "everyone not named Josh, Tyler or Kevin", as per a pre-race email) did all kinds of work chasing attempted breaks. I really don't know if there would have been a makeup that could have stuck, but we certainly didn't take a chance. Antony started things off in this role and did a TON of work in this regards. Mark almost got in early-mid 2-man break but ended up in no-man's land (that is something we should discuss about how to properly handle going forward). I personally had hoped to be able to chase breaks and potentially instigate an early one that I could get into and take pressure off the team but 1) my legs weren't as good as hoped and 2) the right makeup never really opened. So after realizing this, I spent most of the race at the front (and the majority of that with Antony) just watching, waiting, controlling and chasing. Later in the race, after Tyler couldn't make his go stick, Antony upped the pace to try and string things out. I followed but wasn't as strong as I should have been, but did keep everyone in order. I was done after that, leading up towards the final 1.5 laps and just filtered to the back. I honestly didn't see how things played out for Josh's win as I was disappointed in myself for not being up with him longer.

In the 3/4, my legs were surprisingly shot. Held on okay but then with 5-7 laps remaining started to really struggle to maintain contact. Well, 2 laps later I realized my rear tire almost flat. Ended up being a slow leak that finally gave out. That would explain things! Shut it down the last 1.5 laps to be safe but at least finish.

[Fintan]

Quick summary of the 5 race. From prior races I had picked a strong rider that I was going to shadow, this quickly led me to the front part of the field. I must have had target fixation because I had no idea a group had broken off the front, until Smudger told me after the race. When the rider I was shadowing broke off the front about half way through the race I had to make a decision, follow or let him stay out there alone. Not knowing that he was doing a bridging attempt I let him go and hoped the wind would grind him down. I stayed near the front of the race doing as little work as possible, with Paul Wessel doing some monster pulls. Into the final sprint and I’m third wheel of our group. I did a couple of things wrong I think. I jumped too early and I jumped to the right of the guy in front. If I had jumped to his left I would have been in his echelon and sheltered from the head/cross wind. I finished tenth, later changed to 6th in the official result (not sure why).

[Smudger]

Fintan, I think they mistakenly counted a couple of lapped riders in the places initially. From watching the sprint your self analysis was spot on. A little too early and you jumped to the wrong side.

I'll share a couple of what not to do's from my day racing:

#1 program the venue address into your GPS when you start your journey. Not when you are half way to the cape on 495. Arriving 15 min before the start is not the ideal way to warm up
#2 when you are feeling surprisingly good in the race don't forget to look at the lap numbers. Had more to give if I had looked at the lap cards before 1 to go.

Wish I wasn't heading out to Cali next weekend so I could do it all again at Marblehead.

[jraguin]

I'll only share a few thoughts, which really echo Jeremy's comments in his #4 (we have a lot of room for improvement) specifically on the 3/4 race and my race in particular:
* I didn't do enough to help the team at various points in the race, including doing a stupid move of chasing down a break that Jeremy was in. I need to do better at spotting our red helmet which should be easy.
* Myself, and a lot of guys, weren't there at the front to help Chris with 2 laps to go. When Josh pulled off, none of our guys were in the top 15 besides Chris. I will say for myself that I have a problem of not moving close enough to the front with 3-4 laps to go. Trying to move up with 2 to go is often very hard, let alone of inside of 2 to go, because everyone is amping up the pace and everyone is trying to get to the front.'

I will say for myself that I will work hard to do better for the team in the next race.

John

[JBurgel]

So this is what it means to be a part of a road racing TEAM?! Alright, I like it! Not only do I get a chauffeur to the race courtesy of Antony Haivanis in a brand new stretch Enterprise rental van, but veteran guidance and loaner kit (thanks Stefan Wawersik), and a personal escort through an entire 50 minute fist fight without having to even throw a punch. Literally, until close to the last lap, I didn't turn a pedal in anger because I could count on Antony, Tyler Riegel, Mark Bernard, Ken Chadwick, Michael Westberry, Dave Mingori, and Kevin Teves to break, pull one back, or counter attack. Trust me, all this is documented by Katie Busick's photos - not a single frame, until 1 lap to go, has me in it . . . unless you count the top of my red Aeroshell Lazer amidst the pack (Who was the genius who decided on these helmets anyway? They make it super easy to spot our team mates. Pure genius.)
Anyway, my first race of the year went off as expected, with us nearly taking out the field on the first turn - oops, the course goes that way? Then about 5 laps in, a Cannondale kid launches hard, and who knows, he may be able to solo away, he looks strong...but then Mark starts to chase. And chase. And doesn't catch on, but never gives up, dangling halfway between the solo break and the pack, at least two laps, maybe three? With the strong headwind on the finishing straight, there is no hope for a solo shot today. And the pack slowly reels both Mark and the kid in. Several counter attacks flush out the eager and strong, and maybe who's wheels to follow in the future (that'd be SVC/Bikeworks, Columbia, and maybe Cannondale . . .) while Tyler and I are lurking. Believe me, I hate to lurk, but Cratty's words kept me in check: you are the sprinter - BTW, that is the first time anyone has said that to me since sophomore year in high school when I ran a 36 second 200.

About 5 laps to go, the pace picks up and Antony launches hard, and the pack reacts, cranking up a notch to keep him from getting away. Teves blows out on a corner with a flat, and then 3 laps to go, its Tyler's turn and he gets a gap and has one guy with him. Awesome! I see its not coming down so jump to the front and suffer verbal abuse for blocking. I'm passed, but on the next turn find myself in front again, and there are only 2 laps to go and Tyler still has a gap, but a charge around the outside swallows him up and the pack is altogether. I'm 5th or 6th wheel (maybe) coming through the bell and the guys on the front are killing it. My line is dialed on every corner and braking is not an option. "you are a sprinter" echoes in my head as we float down the back stretch, gear down and get in the drops. Taking the second to last turn, pedal strikes and grinding metal/carbon behind me distract for an instant and I miss the launch, but carry enough speed through the corner to pass a guy. 4 to pass. Stefan's "Be Patient" tucks me behind a big guy (Community Cycling?), but the SVC guys are getting a gap so I stand to kick past #4, and edge by #3, and then I don't really see anything but the line, a long fuzzy distance away and know that my team has done everything and now it was my turn. Snot flies, teeth grit, and I'm ahead . . . two more kicks and there is a bold white line! Cheers erupt and yes, I have to admit, it feels pretty good to have a team both working with you AND pulling for you at the finish.

While I would have loved to have sat back, absorbed the glory with a Wachussett Brewing Co, post-race recovery drink, it was time to go to work in the 3/4. Thanks to everyone for your efforts!

[JBurgel]

So I wrote that last night, but being the rookie, didn't know how/where to post! This is yet another example of a great team - saving on the email tree while publishing for eternity.

[KTeves]

Congrats Josh, great job! And an entertaining race report as well.

[pace21]

JBurgel
Posts: 3
Wins: 1

Great start my friend!

[mfwestbe]

Congrats to everyone on the team for helping crank out these wins!

In both 4 and 3/4 I only wish I had been able to give more. I did manage to get up front for a pull with Mark just before Tyler made for his break. We did our best to block, but I think the field was on to what we were doing at that point... Drifted back after the pull and found later about the success of the rest of our plan!

My takeaways:
*Like John, I need to work on being/staying forward at the right times. Especially to be of any use to our teammates, this is essential.
*Although I'm not thrilled with my fitness, after a rough fall and only riding about 15 hours between all of September and December, I'm looking forward to continuing to strengthen and was thrilled to at least not be dropped in the 3/4 till the final turn.