Cat 3 race with AJ, Jeremy, Busick, Raguin, and Dave McCay. I trained with this race as a target and the team was protecting me for the finish -- everyone helped. AJ got into the break of the day which lasted from the middle of the first lap to the middle of the final lap. A lot of guys were trying to bridge up throughout the race, so there was a constant stream of tactical activity, which made things that much more fun. AJ et al managed to drop the lone GLV guy, which was a huge help because it took the pressure off us even more. Chris did a great job of keeping the front of the peloton under control through the middle of the race. In the 2nd to last lap, Jeremy bridged up to the break on the climb which simplified our lives yet more. Most of the break (save the winner) was caught in the first part of the final lap. At that point we were trying to catch the lone leader and also set up the sprint. John did a great turn through the rough road patch and Dave came to the front to set pace on the climb. I was well positioned at the top of the climb but got swarmed to the middle-back on the windy section. I found AJ's wheel and he led me up to a point near the front. Jeremy was behind me, so I shifted left and he slotted in behind AJ and "encouraged" him to go a little faster. AJ pulled through and we were at the front of the bunch with Jeremy leading out. The situation was pretty confusing because we had overtaken the 35+ field on the front side of the course on the final lap and there were still others not in our race among and ahead of us. Whatever we saw, the reality was that we were at the front of the main pack with a single leader out of sight up the road. Jeremy dug in and did a massive turn once I made it clear that I was still in position. We got through all of the trickiest parts of the finale because of our perfect position -- on the front. Guys were creeping up on both sides as we got to 300-400m, so I pulled around to the right and sprinted from there. There were all kinds of not-in-our race riders to go past, but it was a nice clean finish -- I got 2nd in the sprint, so 3rd overall. A great team effort by all! Thanks guys!
Video to come.
Myles Standish 2017
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Thomas Coleman
- Domestique
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:58 pm
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Way to go Jacob!!
Re: Myles Standish 2017
The 4A race started out 40mins late because we had to wait for the ambulance to show up. By that point everyone’s warm up was useless so the race started out slow through the first few turns. After that it picked up with some MRCers driving the pace. On the backside I saw an opening and attacked getting a gap and drawing a few other riders but none of them wanted to work hard so the pack drew us back in and I retired to the back of the field. For the next two laps there we always had teammates (I couldn’t tell who) on the front keeping the pace high and chasing down breaks. I didn’t want to try to sprint for the finish after hearing about all the crashes previous years so on the start of the last lap I attacked again bridging to a rider who had been slightly off the front most of the race. As I came past him I yelled for him to get on my wheel and we started working together for a few minutes until I accidentally dropped him earlier than I was planning. I kept going as hard as I could knowing that my teammates would slow down the chase and even if I were caught that they should be fresh for a sprint. With 1-2 miles to go I’m about to overtake the juniors when the moto slows down and I move to the opposite side of the road to go around the small group of juniors when the moto swerves in front of me cutting me off and starts yelling at me to stop and pull over. So after an unpleasant exchange I slow down and wait. By that point I had been off the front for over 8 minutes with a solid gap. Two other bridging riders then come up and try to pass the moto but the same thing happens and by that time the whole field is there arguing with the moto as we get closer and closer to the end of the race. Finally some riders get around the moto on the last downhill turn and he gives up so all 40 of us come flying in to the finish together. Chris managed to get 2nd place in the sprint. During the protest period, the officials acknowledged that they made a mistake by neutralizing our field instead of the juniors but that they wouldn’t change the results.
Then I waited around for a few hours for the 4B as the rain picks up. That race was slow throughout. Mike W put in some work up front and attacked once. I sat in the back being tired from the first race and trying to stay out of the field during the narrow winding sections. The field kept a short leash and not much happened. Then in the last lap when things are starting to pick up we get passed by a break from the P123 race. We all slow up to let them get through but one of the KMS kids goes with the break. In the last few miles the P123 break slows and someone from our field attacks so we pass them but we slow up again so the break passes us and I lost track of it from there as we went into the last climb. I got boxed in and ended up at the back as the field swarmed. The finish ended up being the same as the morning with a 40 man sprint. On the bright side, there were no crashes in either race and Mike W fought through a cold to get 8th!
Then I waited around for a few hours for the 4B as the rain picks up. That race was slow throughout. Mike W put in some work up front and attacked once. I sat in the back being tired from the first race and trying to stay out of the field during the narrow winding sections. The field kept a short leash and not much happened. Then in the last lap when things are starting to pick up we get passed by a break from the P123 race. We all slow up to let them get through but one of the KMS kids goes with the break. In the last few miles the P123 break slows and someone from our field attacks so we pass them but we slow up again so the break passes us and I lost track of it from there as we went into the last climb. I got boxed in and ended up at the back as the field swarmed. The finish ended up being the same as the morning with a 40 man sprint. On the bright side, there were no crashes in either race and Mike W fought through a cold to get 8th!
Re: Myles Standish 2017
What a cluster, sorry Robbie that's ridiculous that they neutralized you, complete opposite of what they are supposed to do. The officials botched the 45+ as well, they were on their A-game as usual (insert sarcastic eye roll here).
Jacob's report is spot on, although I was expecting a more Stefan-like report. The Cat 3 was straight out of the manual for team tactics. AJ goes in the very early break, we let a few guys get across to the help the cause, but then shut everything down from there. Busick and I attempt a couple of free rides across, but our presence dissuaded the bridge attempts. At 1.5 laps to go the chase cut the lead to about 200 meters on the hill, but I could tell the impetus had waned to I attacked up the hill and bridged across. Once I got there we built the gap up a bit but I realized 2 things: guys were skipping pulls and also Dan McCabe was solo off the front. AJ and I were doing our fair share but with only 4 of the 6 working we eventually got caught after the bell for last lap. From there the whole MRC team was pulling on the front but we weren't catching Dan. With a mile to go our positions were precarious but the right side opened up so I took the opportunity to move up, yell at Jacob to hop on, and we drilled it to the top of the last rise, cleared the main field and were off to the races. We cornered the sketchy downhill and Jacob yelled that he "was there" which was helpful because I was hurting but it gave me the incentive to finish the lead out. We were flying and I basically sprinted to about the 200m mark where I was about to explode, Jacob came around right at the perfect time and I sat up for 11th. As usual I questioned whether I could have sprinted to the line for a better placing, but in retrospect I was shattered and there was a cluster of guys I would have had to fend of in the Funnel of Death (FoD).
This was a gratifying race because we didn't have the obvious "A-player", which shows even a bunch of strong domestiques can deliver a result with smart team racing.
On a side note it was torrential rain for our entire race, then got sunny right after. I still have dirt in my ears.
Jacob's report is spot on, although I was expecting a more Stefan-like report. The Cat 3 was straight out of the manual for team tactics. AJ goes in the very early break, we let a few guys get across to the help the cause, but then shut everything down from there. Busick and I attempt a couple of free rides across, but our presence dissuaded the bridge attempts. At 1.5 laps to go the chase cut the lead to about 200 meters on the hill, but I could tell the impetus had waned to I attacked up the hill and bridged across. Once I got there we built the gap up a bit but I realized 2 things: guys were skipping pulls and also Dan McCabe was solo off the front. AJ and I were doing our fair share but with only 4 of the 6 working we eventually got caught after the bell for last lap. From there the whole MRC team was pulling on the front but we weren't catching Dan. With a mile to go our positions were precarious but the right side opened up so I took the opportunity to move up, yell at Jacob to hop on, and we drilled it to the top of the last rise, cleared the main field and were off to the races. We cornered the sketchy downhill and Jacob yelled that he "was there" which was helpful because I was hurting but it gave me the incentive to finish the lead out. We were flying and I basically sprinted to about the 200m mark where I was about to explode, Jacob came around right at the perfect time and I sat up for 11th. As usual I questioned whether I could have sprinted to the line for a better placing, but in retrospect I was shattered and there was a cluster of guys I would have had to fend of in the Funnel of Death (FoD).
This was a gratifying race because we didn't have the obvious "A-player", which shows even a bunch of strong domestiques can deliver a result with smart team racing.
On a side note it was torrential rain for our entire race, then got sunny right after. I still have dirt in my ears.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Here's the video, set your speakers to 11:
https://youtu.be/sQ59eyY7JVI
Hopefully this adequately conveys the fact that y'all are a bunch of goddamn badasses.
https://youtu.be/sQ59eyY7JVI
Hopefully this adequately conveys the fact that y'all are a bunch of goddamn badasses.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Raced the 3s and 45+ in the pouring rain. Nothing much to add here except for the explanation of the colossal screw-up in the 45+. At the beginning of the race, the USA official says we are racing 4 laps. The people that heard him starting saying "really, aren't we racing 5 laps?" Whistle goes off. After a few laps pass by we notice the lap counter is saying that it is a 5 lap race and counting them that way. We come by with 2 to go, no bell. We go around, probably 3 guys in a field of 50 accelerate around the finish. They hold up their hands, the rest of us going flying through. Those guys start yelling the race is over, we yell that we have one more lap. About 1 mile later, the moto stops us and says our race is over. The announcer & people at the scoring tent are saying they went off what was on BikeReg as that is what they printed off (5 laps). The USAC official says he is going off the flyer. We point out no one reads the flyer, there was no bell, and the announcer was announcing it differently. Nothing can be done. 4 lap "result" stands. Raced 20 miles in the blinding rain and wet for nothing but a workout. My eyes are still stinging.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
That was a painful-looking double leadout by the DS. Well done.
I'm waiting for a 55+ race report FINTAN
Oh,and great job USAC. YOU HAD ONE JOB
I'm waiting for a 55+ race report FINTAN
Oh,and great job USAC. YOU HAD ONE JOB
Re: Myles Standish 2017
This will be short. I stayed at the front as I was expecting break attempts. I followed each one so that if they held I was in it, but they were all failing initially. At the two and a half lap mark I was soft pedaling at the front of the group and Paul Curley steamed passed, so I jumped on his wheel. When he signaled for me to pull I looked back to see if we had a gap before committing and we did indeed have a gap. I worked with him and we soon opened up a large gap. I was totally surprised and I said to Paul that they were letting us go. He replied that he had three teammates blocking. After that it was a 20 minute FTP test (I added two watts to my FTP as a result). Most of the time the pack was out of sight, but they reappeared with half a lap to go, so it was an all out effort from there. I tried to ride Paul off my wheel as we headed to the finish, but I ended up just giving him a good leadout and he passed me before the line.
Nice Video Jacob.
Nice Video Jacob.
The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Question - If you've gone and screwed it up that badly, is there any way to make it right? Simple as them (USAC / promoter) just telling everyone to hop back on and do another lap?jraguin wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2017 4:56 pm Raced the 3s and 45+ in the pouring rain. Nothing much to add here except for the explanation of the colossal screw-up in the 45+. At the beginning of the race, the USA official says we are racing 4 laps. The people that heard him starting saying "really, aren't we racing 5 laps?" Whistle goes off. After a few laps pass by we notice the lap counter is saying that it is a 5 lap race and counting them that way. We come by with 2 to go, no bell. We go around, probably 3 guys in a field of 50 accelerate around the finish. They hold up their hands, the rest of us going flying through. Those guys start yelling the race is over, we yell that we have one more lap. About 1 mile later, the moto stops us and says our race is over. The announcer & people at the scoring tent are saying they went off what was on BikeReg as that is what they printed off (5 laps). The USAC official says he is going off the flyer. We point out no one reads the flyer, there was no bell, and the announcer was announcing it differently. Nothing can be done. 4 lap "result" stands. Raced 20 miles in the blinding rain and wet for nothing but a workout. My eyes are still stinging.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
The right way would have been for the USA Cycling official to correct the announcer and tell the moto to tell the field how many laps there were while out on the course.
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jmorrissey
- Domestique
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:01 pm
- Location: Ashland, MA
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Ok here goes my recap. I think I upset a few people in the race.
It started the afternoon before seeing the weather report I was starting to talk myself out of going as I didn't feel like driving 3 hours to race for an hour in the rain. Had some drinks, went to bed late and didn't set my alarm to wake up. I figured yeah that should do it no way you'll be racing tomorrow. My internal clock had me up at 5AM as normal (damn that clock). Ok in Ashland it was a wet and foggy but no rain. My mind says you can't let the other guys down so I pack up and head on out.
On the way down the rain started to pick up to the point I almost kept going by the exit and to my parents’ house for a visit but again that little voice said you should go and help the others so I get off at the exit and make it to the race. I didn't bring my trainer to warmup as I didn't have anything to cover me (does the team have one of those fold up tents?) so I gear up and head out on the course to warm up and get soaking wet which I knew was coming so let's get it over with.
I got a good 40-minute warmup in and was feeling better than I thought I was going to feel. I look at my watch and crap 10 minutes to start and I'm about half a lap away from the start so I pick up the pace not to miss the start. I arrive at the start with 2 minutes to spare. I'm fully warmed up but dead last in line which I didn't think was a big deal. I didn't have a chance to make it to the car so I take off my rain jacket and hand it to one of the officials asking him to hold it until after the race. To this point I hadn't seen any team tactics in email nor did I get a chance to speak to the other team members to get the plan but figured I was there in full support mode. Then the big wait of 40 minutes in the rain for the ambulance to finally show up. By this time, I was soaking wet and shivering but knew once we go going all would be good.
I got a chance I think in line to chat with Robbie who gave me a heads up for two guys to watch and told him I'll go with all breaks. Race started out slow but then a few attacks started which we always had someone right on their wheels and the other team member near the front started to slow things down a bit. Unfortunately, after about 5 different attempts it was clear the field wasn't going to let anything get too far away. Then one guy goes off the front with No MRC on his wheel. I figured not a big deal they're not letting anything get away and we'll pull him back before too long. This time he got out of site so I thought this one may stick. Ok time to bridge up to him as he's out of sight so I set off. I jump look back no reaction so off I'm going. After a couple of minutes, I'm starting to see him and I know I can definitely catch him. I look back and it's clear the field is now going faster as I'm closing on the breakaway guy and the fields closing on me. Ok this isn't going to work they're chasing us down so I sat up and let the field pick me up.
I think this is when Robbie attacked with the guy still off the front I remember thinking this is good and went to the front and started blocking along with I think Chris (could be wrong). There was a lot of yelling at I not really sure who. I don't think it was at me but at a guy in a white kit that was a bit all over the place. With the two of us on the front it was really easy to block on the back narrow roads. Once the narrow roads opened up a few guys got around us. I was in forth and Dave D. was slotted into third. I figured cool I'll see if I can slow things down a bit more and get Dave in a three-man group with Robbie up the road which would be perfect. Only thing the I think down east guy (brown kit Robbie said he was a good sprinter) started letting me know he wasn't happy with that "either hold their wheel and don't let a gap open or get the F out of the line". Gave him a friendly "F off make me". So he decides to come around which I just ride up to Dave's wheel and not let him in. Ok I think he really didn't like that and being bigger than me I noticed he was starting to move over which in my mind he was trying to push me off my line and Dave's wheel. Ok that's not going happen I remember thinking but he keeps coming closer. Our elbows are about 2 inches apart but still holding my line. This is where I did I guess a questionable thing I stuck out my elbow (hands still on the bars) and gave his elbow a nice nudge (probably shouldn't have) and then there's a bunch of yells we're not racing the tour. All is good though he's a bit upset but I still have Dave's wheels.
Fast forward I see us catching Robbie very fast. I remember thinking he must have blown up or has a flat. Nope neither moto neutralized our field for the juniors. WTF I ride up on the left and chat with the motto to nicely explain he should be neutralizing the slower field. Which I was firmly told get behind me and shut up. Wow nice moto guy NOT and he clearly has no idea what he's doing. So I go behind him and get my rear wheel rubbed a couple of times as people are getting frustrated as we’re ever so slowly getting closer to the finish line. I go up on his right this time and said you really need to neutralize them and let us get back to racing which again I was told get behind me. Ok back like a good boy only to have people hitting my back tire more. Ok there’s going to be an accident if we keep this up and we’re just going to soft pedal to the finish. I give the juniors a nice yell “pull over to the right so we can come by” which they seem to do. So I take it upon myself to go by the moto and pass the juniors which a couple of others followed. This wasn’t an attack more of a we need to get by them. The motto pulls up to me and starts telling me off (ok maybe shouldn’t have done that but probably would do it again) letting me know if I did that again I’d be disqualified which I was more than ok with I just didn’t want to crash me from behind.
As he’s talking to me the rest of the field goes by on the left and I think ok we’re back to racing. I all the way in the back and we were coming into the fast left hand corner. Normally I’d take chance to move up but our group huge and I see Christopher on the front. Figuring hey I may already be disqualified why chance a crash so I’m happy to stay near the back.
I see Christopher take off and he has a good gap so we’re in good shape and that may be the win. Seems they caught him at the finish as one guy passed him I think.
All in all, a good day with no crashes. Guy I gave an elbow nudge to comes up to me later and said I was a dirty racer to which I responded with thankyou it’s all part of racing.
Seems I may have upset some people including my own teammates by going around the moto but I’d do it again this time earlier.
It started the afternoon before seeing the weather report I was starting to talk myself out of going as I didn't feel like driving 3 hours to race for an hour in the rain. Had some drinks, went to bed late and didn't set my alarm to wake up. I figured yeah that should do it no way you'll be racing tomorrow. My internal clock had me up at 5AM as normal (damn that clock). Ok in Ashland it was a wet and foggy but no rain. My mind says you can't let the other guys down so I pack up and head on out.
On the way down the rain started to pick up to the point I almost kept going by the exit and to my parents’ house for a visit but again that little voice said you should go and help the others so I get off at the exit and make it to the race. I didn't bring my trainer to warmup as I didn't have anything to cover me (does the team have one of those fold up tents?) so I gear up and head out on the course to warm up and get soaking wet which I knew was coming so let's get it over with.
I got a good 40-minute warmup in and was feeling better than I thought I was going to feel. I look at my watch and crap 10 minutes to start and I'm about half a lap away from the start so I pick up the pace not to miss the start. I arrive at the start with 2 minutes to spare. I'm fully warmed up but dead last in line which I didn't think was a big deal. I didn't have a chance to make it to the car so I take off my rain jacket and hand it to one of the officials asking him to hold it until after the race. To this point I hadn't seen any team tactics in email nor did I get a chance to speak to the other team members to get the plan but figured I was there in full support mode. Then the big wait of 40 minutes in the rain for the ambulance to finally show up. By this time, I was soaking wet and shivering but knew once we go going all would be good.
I got a chance I think in line to chat with Robbie who gave me a heads up for two guys to watch and told him I'll go with all breaks. Race started out slow but then a few attacks started which we always had someone right on their wheels and the other team member near the front started to slow things down a bit. Unfortunately, after about 5 different attempts it was clear the field wasn't going to let anything get too far away. Then one guy goes off the front with No MRC on his wheel. I figured not a big deal they're not letting anything get away and we'll pull him back before too long. This time he got out of site so I thought this one may stick. Ok time to bridge up to him as he's out of sight so I set off. I jump look back no reaction so off I'm going. After a couple of minutes, I'm starting to see him and I know I can definitely catch him. I look back and it's clear the field is now going faster as I'm closing on the breakaway guy and the fields closing on me. Ok this isn't going to work they're chasing us down so I sat up and let the field pick me up.
I think this is when Robbie attacked with the guy still off the front I remember thinking this is good and went to the front and started blocking along with I think Chris (could be wrong). There was a lot of yelling at I not really sure who. I don't think it was at me but at a guy in a white kit that was a bit all over the place. With the two of us on the front it was really easy to block on the back narrow roads. Once the narrow roads opened up a few guys got around us. I was in forth and Dave D. was slotted into third. I figured cool I'll see if I can slow things down a bit more and get Dave in a three-man group with Robbie up the road which would be perfect. Only thing the I think down east guy (brown kit Robbie said he was a good sprinter) started letting me know he wasn't happy with that "either hold their wheel and don't let a gap open or get the F out of the line". Gave him a friendly "F off make me". So he decides to come around which I just ride up to Dave's wheel and not let him in. Ok I think he really didn't like that and being bigger than me I noticed he was starting to move over which in my mind he was trying to push me off my line and Dave's wheel. Ok that's not going happen I remember thinking but he keeps coming closer. Our elbows are about 2 inches apart but still holding my line. This is where I did I guess a questionable thing I stuck out my elbow (hands still on the bars) and gave his elbow a nice nudge (probably shouldn't have) and then there's a bunch of yells we're not racing the tour. All is good though he's a bit upset but I still have Dave's wheels.
Fast forward I see us catching Robbie very fast. I remember thinking he must have blown up or has a flat. Nope neither moto neutralized our field for the juniors. WTF I ride up on the left and chat with the motto to nicely explain he should be neutralizing the slower field. Which I was firmly told get behind me and shut up. Wow nice moto guy NOT and he clearly has no idea what he's doing. So I go behind him and get my rear wheel rubbed a couple of times as people are getting frustrated as we’re ever so slowly getting closer to the finish line. I go up on his right this time and said you really need to neutralize them and let us get back to racing which again I was told get behind me. Ok back like a good boy only to have people hitting my back tire more. Ok there’s going to be an accident if we keep this up and we’re just going to soft pedal to the finish. I give the juniors a nice yell “pull over to the right so we can come by” which they seem to do. So I take it upon myself to go by the moto and pass the juniors which a couple of others followed. This wasn’t an attack more of a we need to get by them. The motto pulls up to me and starts telling me off (ok maybe shouldn’t have done that but probably would do it again) letting me know if I did that again I’d be disqualified which I was more than ok with I just didn’t want to crash me from behind.
As he’s talking to me the rest of the field goes by on the left and I think ok we’re back to racing. I all the way in the back and we were coming into the fast left hand corner. Normally I’d take chance to move up but our group huge and I see Christopher on the front. Figuring hey I may already be disqualified why chance a crash so I’m happy to stay near the back.
I see Christopher take off and he has a good gap so we’re in good shape and that may be the win. Seems they caught him at the finish as one guy passed him I think.
All in all, a good day with no crashes. Guy I gave an elbow nudge to comes up to me later and said I was a dirty racer to which I responded with thankyou it’s all part of racing.
Seems I may have upset some people including my own teammates by going around the moto but I’d do it again this time earlier.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
John you were 1 out of 2. Nothing wrong with holding your position in line, and if someone is trying to ride you off the line then extending a friendly elbow reminder is acceptable. Passing the Moto, however, is a no no despite his dumbassery and totally botching the situation.
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jmorrissey
- Domestique
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:01 pm
- Location: Ashland, MA
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Holy crap. I've read a lot of race reports over the years, and I think there was almost a whole season's worth of screw-ups by the officials yesterday.
Nice work by the team on a crap day. And the weather sucked too.
Nice work by the team on a crap day. And the weather sucked too.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
As far as I know they didn't lead anyone off course. That was last week.
-Chris Busick
Re: Myles Standish 2017
I talked to Adam over at International Cycling who called me as I emailed him with some of the issues we listed.
He did apologize to me and the club about the issues as well as anyone else out there was affected.
* He said there were more issues this year than they ever had. He said it was a confluence of events, but he certainly takes responsibility. He does feel a lot of the issues were USA cycling issues, but as race organizer, he realizes in the end it is Adam and his team.
* He said that they agree they had a lot of issues with the motos this year. They expected experienced motos but they were not. They are going to work on this for next year and as he said, they need to get what they are getting paid for. I did say that we experienced disagreements with how things are handled within the officiating crew which caused issues. I said that I think the best thing they can do is send out how he wants his race to be handled before the race and then have a meeting before the race to discuss. This is what we finally did last year.
* He did really apologize for the screw-up in laps. He said they need to coordinate and be on the same page the entire team there (USA Cycling, announcer & crew).
* What we didn't post about was the over-zealous police officer about 200 m from the finish that as literally standing on the road (and his car) on the road making a narrow finish more narrow and dangerous. Adam said that the police they had were unfortunately swapped a couple of nights before with different police. So they didn't have a lot of time to do a proper briefing with the new police that were assigned.
* Final issue that I had was someone left their bike or something sticking through the fence at the finish. As Jeremy can attest to from seeing it in the car, I hit whatever it was as I went through the finish of the Cat 3 race. I was holding my bars so tightly that I didn't even wobble, but my hand is cut up and swollen. Adam said they need to do a better job checking that during the races to ensure nothing might hit a cyclist.
So it doesn't make everything solved, but I thought it was nice that he called.
He did apologize to me and the club about the issues as well as anyone else out there was affected.
* He said there were more issues this year than they ever had. He said it was a confluence of events, but he certainly takes responsibility. He does feel a lot of the issues were USA cycling issues, but as race organizer, he realizes in the end it is Adam and his team.
* He said that they agree they had a lot of issues with the motos this year. They expected experienced motos but they were not. They are going to work on this for next year and as he said, they need to get what they are getting paid for. I did say that we experienced disagreements with how things are handled within the officiating crew which caused issues. I said that I think the best thing they can do is send out how he wants his race to be handled before the race and then have a meeting before the race to discuss. This is what we finally did last year.
* He did really apologize for the screw-up in laps. He said they need to coordinate and be on the same page the entire team there (USA Cycling, announcer & crew).
* What we didn't post about was the over-zealous police officer about 200 m from the finish that as literally standing on the road (and his car) on the road making a narrow finish more narrow and dangerous. Adam said that the police they had were unfortunately swapped a couple of nights before with different police. So they didn't have a lot of time to do a proper briefing with the new police that were assigned.
* Final issue that I had was someone left their bike or something sticking through the fence at the finish. As Jeremy can attest to from seeing it in the car, I hit whatever it was as I went through the finish of the Cat 3 race. I was holding my bars so tightly that I didn't even wobble, but my hand is cut up and swollen. Adam said they need to do a better job checking that during the races to ensure nothing might hit a cyclist.
So it doesn't make everything solved, but I thought it was nice that he called.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
The lesson I assume we are taking away from this is to not assume anything from USAC officials and make sure we continue to coach them on how WE want our race run. Of course this brings up Pare's point on what are we paying them for then? Oh, and make sure bikereg matches the flyer.
Flyer:
MASTER 45 1-4 12:48PM 20 MILES $150/5 $35 50
BikeReg:
Master 45 1-4 ** 25 miles 12:48 PM $35 $150/5
Flyer:
MASTER 45 1-4 12:48PM 20 MILES $150/5 $35 50
BikeReg:
Master 45 1-4 ** 25 miles 12:48 PM $35 $150/5
-Chris Busick
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Or sprint every lap just in case
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Well, if nothing else I'm getting a whole bunch of extra things to add to my list over the next 4 weeks!
Dave Mingori
Re: Myles Standish 2017
John, hope your hand feels better soon, and congrats to our finishers, as there was clearly still some great racing, despite the weather and officiating.
I joined the Cat4B race, not knowing how my chest congestion would react. Turns out it's just a nuisance. So Lap 1 I decided to wake my legs up and get out of the water spinoff and give an attack to test what the pack would allow. It was clear they weren't going to let anything get away, and so I led for a while and then tested how slow I could go. Which I meant I finally stopped pedaling entirely and turned around to wave someone else through.
So then I went back to talk to Robbie, who was still bummed about the A race, but was feeling better now we were moving. Knowing we were all just playing the sprint game on lap 4, I mostly hung about until Lap 4. Except for one other dig I felt like doing.
Lap 4 I got in excellent position at the front. Nolan gave an attack, supporting GLV's plan, which they ultimately executed. But at any point that lap, if someone attacked, I was going to be on their wheel. There were a few attempts, but nothing broke. I still had position as second wheel on the back stretch, and just before the big turn, there was a strong move by 3-4 guys and I got on those wheels, sailing around the turn fifth wheel. Great! But then the guy in front of me started to lose speed and I went left. And wayyyy too soon. The other 3 were off to the right, and I had thought we were closing in on the finish... nope. I gave it what I had left, but even Jeremy's encouraging yells couldn't overcome the leg damage done. What I kick myself for is that not once on the previous 3 laps did I mark where I should sprint from and memorize the lead in so I didn't go too soon. Still rolled across 8th after a few guys went around me toward the end, which is better than I thought I'd be doing after not riding much last week.
I joined the Cat4B race, not knowing how my chest congestion would react. Turns out it's just a nuisance. So Lap 1 I decided to wake my legs up and get out of the water spinoff and give an attack to test what the pack would allow. It was clear they weren't going to let anything get away, and so I led for a while and then tested how slow I could go. Which I meant I finally stopped pedaling entirely and turned around to wave someone else through.
So then I went back to talk to Robbie, who was still bummed about the A race, but was feeling better now we were moving. Knowing we were all just playing the sprint game on lap 4, I mostly hung about until Lap 4. Except for one other dig I felt like doing.
Lap 4 I got in excellent position at the front. Nolan gave an attack, supporting GLV's plan, which they ultimately executed. But at any point that lap, if someone attacked, I was going to be on their wheel. There were a few attempts, but nothing broke. I still had position as second wheel on the back stretch, and just before the big turn, there was a strong move by 3-4 guys and I got on those wheels, sailing around the turn fifth wheel. Great! But then the guy in front of me started to lose speed and I went left. And wayyyy too soon. The other 3 were off to the right, and I had thought we were closing in on the finish... nope. I gave it what I had left, but even Jeremy's encouraging yells couldn't overcome the leg damage done. What I kick myself for is that not once on the previous 3 laps did I mark where I should sprint from and memorize the lead in so I didn't go too soon. Still rolled across 8th after a few guys went around me toward the end, which is better than I thought I'd be doing after not riding much last week.
Re: Myles Standish 2017
I watched that live this morning and could not believe that he didn't hear the bell, and that he had no clue for so long after crossing the line. (The reason I was watching while at work: When I was in Sicily a couple years ago for a wedding I did an Etna climb one day and rode a lot of the roads the Giro used today to get to Etna. I was staying Taormina where they had the uphill Sprint points today and they really improved the road surface since I was there. I'll have to go back and do that ride again!)
Re: Myles Standish 2017
Thank you for the spoiler alert. I have the race recorded on the fubo.tv DVR to watch later.
KT