Today was a great workout. It was only the second Tuesday that we have done these this year but already we had nine riders show up. Some new faces, some returning riders, and riders with varying fitness and handling skills, but all with the same ultimate goal: Get in shape, make improvements, and become a better rider.
I am excited to have joined the Philadelphia Ciclismo team for 2009 as I am making great new friends to ride with and hopefully hang out with in normal clothes at some point too.
After todays ride I am experiencing something new, fatigued forearms. I've had this happen after really hard training blocks in the past, but not after just two hard rides. Holy cow. Just sitting here my legs and arms are letting me know today was a tough workout.
I am excited to race with Dan and Csuy this year, as both have complementary characteristics with me and we should be able to have some good results together. With Craig hanging tight for the crit sprints, we should have all of our bases covered.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
University of Delaware Road Race Report
Tim, Dan and I discussed what our tactics were going to be for the road race as we were waiting for the start. Our initial idea was to mark attacks and sit in, to not initiate anything, but not to let the race go away without one of us. Somehow, I ended up taking care of that for everyone.
Off the start line a Boston U rider went up the road and I rolled around some people to stay with him. I wasn’t thinking breakaway at this point, just stay at the front of the field. But only one rider came with me. I pulled through on the Boston rider and we started a tentative paceline, but it quickly dissolved as the other two were concerned about going 68 miles off the front. I tried to tell them that there was no way other riders weren’t going to bridge up and that the break was the place to be, but they drifted back anyway. They seemed to think that you have to go either 110% or not at all.
In breaks during road races, there is more time for things to play out, so you don’t have to go full gas from the gun. There wasn’t one time in the break that I was holding on for dear life. Honestly, I think it was easier up front than it was in the pack. Dan mentioned there were times when he thought he was going to get shelled, and he is much better fitness than I. The break was smooth, throughout the course, and except for a lack of fitness, I didn’t find it that hard.
Just as I anticipated, a tall Rutgers guy came up with another rider and the three of us were now the break. Then a Vermont rider came cruising past all of us, followed by Bucknell and Columbia towing up the smaller Vermont guy with the orange sunglasses. Once we came together, we were eight riders, including John Hunter from Temple, with 30-50 seconds on the main field.
As we made it into lap two, I was trying to take it easy since I knew my fitness wasn’t as great as the other guys. I was climbing as well, and taking strong pulls, but I knew that I would crack after two hours at pace. I’ve done 3.5/4.5 hour rides, but nothing with three hours sustained intensity.
For the most part, everyone rode smart and kept the paceline smooth. The orange glasses UVM rider was touching everybody the whole time. I thought I was the only one, but John mentioned the same. I guess he’s trying to do what he sees in the pro races. My advice, unless you know someone, don’t touch them. That goes in the supermarket, the bus, in night clubs, and it goes in bike races. He would push me when I was in the slow lane coming back down the paceline. Apparently I was bugging the Bucknell and Columbia riders too, as they were making remarks. Eventually, I decided that if they were so annoyed, I would just ride in the back and stop pulling.
Unfortunately I made a rookie move and wasn’t paying attention as a gap was opening up in front of the Rutgers rider. John chastised him a bit and jumped across while I was too slow getting on his wheel. He was able to make it across but I was slammed in the headwind. Once they made the right hand turn into the tailwind it was all over.
I should have sat up then and worked with the Rutgers rider, but I kept going until I had totally cramped up. But I still managed to hold off the field for another half lap, managing to stay with them until the final hill. I rode the last three miles in solo after that. All in all a great course, great training, and good times on the bike.
Off the start line a Boston U rider went up the road and I rolled around some people to stay with him. I wasn’t thinking breakaway at this point, just stay at the front of the field. But only one rider came with me. I pulled through on the Boston rider and we started a tentative paceline, but it quickly dissolved as the other two were concerned about going 68 miles off the front. I tried to tell them that there was no way other riders weren’t going to bridge up and that the break was the place to be, but they drifted back anyway. They seemed to think that you have to go either 110% or not at all.
In breaks during road races, there is more time for things to play out, so you don’t have to go full gas from the gun. There wasn’t one time in the break that I was holding on for dear life. Honestly, I think it was easier up front than it was in the pack. Dan mentioned there were times when he thought he was going to get shelled, and he is much better fitness than I. The break was smooth, throughout the course, and except for a lack of fitness, I didn’t find it that hard.
Just as I anticipated, a tall Rutgers guy came up with another rider and the three of us were now the break. Then a Vermont rider came cruising past all of us, followed by Bucknell and Columbia towing up the smaller Vermont guy with the orange sunglasses. Once we came together, we were eight riders, including John Hunter from Temple, with 30-50 seconds on the main field.
As we made it into lap two, I was trying to take it easy since I knew my fitness wasn’t as great as the other guys. I was climbing as well, and taking strong pulls, but I knew that I would crack after two hours at pace. I’ve done 3.5/4.5 hour rides, but nothing with three hours sustained intensity.
For the most part, everyone rode smart and kept the paceline smooth. The orange glasses UVM rider was touching everybody the whole time. I thought I was the only one, but John mentioned the same. I guess he’s trying to do what he sees in the pro races. My advice, unless you know someone, don’t touch them. That goes in the supermarket, the bus, in night clubs, and it goes in bike races. He would push me when I was in the slow lane coming back down the paceline. Apparently I was bugging the Bucknell and Columbia riders too, as they were making remarks. Eventually, I decided that if they were so annoyed, I would just ride in the back and stop pulling.
Unfortunately I made a rookie move and wasn’t paying attention as a gap was opening up in front of the Rutgers rider. John chastised him a bit and jumped across while I was too slow getting on his wheel. He was able to make it across but I was slammed in the headwind. Once they made the right hand turn into the tailwind it was all over.
I should have sat up then and worked with the Rutgers rider, but I kept going until I had totally cramped up. But I still managed to hold off the field for another half lap, managing to stay with them until the final hill. I rode the last three miles in solo after that. All in all a great course, great training, and good times on the bike.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Post race thoughts and learning points
First and foremost, thanks to everyone who cheered. I’m sorry I couldn’t get there earlier to watch everyone else race. And since I barely finished even a third of either race, this isn’t go to be much of a race report, but I did learn/ re-learn a lot this weekend that may be of help, so I’m going to share my thoughts.
General
Make sure your race bag is packed with all the clothing you will need for any weather situation.
This means shoe covers, leg warmers, knee warmers, arm warmers, long sleeve jersey, 2 short sleeve jerseys, 2 pair bibshorts, rain jacket, wind vest, gloves, long finger gloves, sunglasses with clear, red, and dark lenses, visor cycling cap, helmet, shoes, and 3 pair of socks (thin, medium and warm).
This seems like a lot of redundancy but you never know what the weather is like 1-2 hours away and storms can blow through pretty fast too.
Warm up longer for shorter races, and always warm up. Don’t be afraid to warm up a lot before a 60-90 minute race (or even longer) Think of your hard weekend rides, say the Vino Velo or whatever. It’s a three hour ride that can end pretty hard like a race. You know you can finish strong after all that. So you’re not gonna ruin your legs by warming up for an hour before a race.
Remember to eat and drink. But most importantly, find what works best for you and practice it. Know what food and drink you need before during and after races and make sure you pack the night before.
Always find at least one positive thing from your race to commend yourself on. Even if it seems really lame, like lasting a whole five minutes longer that you did the day before. There’s always plenty of negative, even if you win, so just don’t forget the positive points too, because you’ll learn from these points as well.
Weekend Races Specific
Crit was damn hard, having to sprint from the start to the 90 degree turn and then the 100 meter climb. Position at the start was key, and this was something that I blew. Probably wouldn’t have made a difference, but still. Make sure you do whatever you can to get good field position at the start; and don’t blow it by not being able to clip into your pedals and sprint at the gun. Maybe you should practice doing this.
Practice cornering at speed. Read how-to manuals, watch videos, race your friends. Cornering is a skill that can be developed. It’s not your bike, your fitness, your wheels; it’s your mind. Take your hands off the brakes, put your outside foot down and look through the corner and steer your bike to where your eyes are looking.
If you get gapped sit up and wait for the group behind you. Recover and be ready to get in behind them as they pass. Theres almost always someone behind you and you’ll be happier at least continuing and trying to finish than just quitting the race.
The circuit race was very dynamic with short risers into a strong headwind while the downhill section on the backside had a strong tailwind. It’s important to know where the wind is coming from and this is something you should always ask yourself until it is second sense to you. “where is the wind coming from, where is the draft, which way should I pull off the front”. Once this is second nature, you’ll be amazed at how much of a better rider you are in the pack.
So in a headwind the bunch slows down because no one wants to work. The pack spreads across the whole road and you can’t pass anyone or get stuck as riders jam on the brakes. And when the pack gets to the tailwind section the pack gets back up to speed and you’re hanging on for dear life. So how do you ever change position in the pack?
Corners- take the inside line and sprint up the inside. Works best when the wind is coming from the other side of the field.
Tailwind- There will always be someone else trying to advance their position. Hop on their wheel and follow them as far as they go and pass them to advance further if necessary. This may be the only time the field is narrow enough to not be spread across the whole road and your only option. Of course, if you’re strong enough, you can do it with out drafting.
If it is a cross tailwind, try to advance on the side of the field where the wind is coming from. Working with teammates, you should offer to help advance a teammate to get them to the front, especially if field splits are happening. You don’t want to be left in the field as the escape group heads up the road without your team in it.
That’s about all I have right now. It’s a good exercise to write your thoughts down after races and review them before the next race. Then you can set goals based on the previous experience to try to improve.
Thanks again and keep on getting better.
General
Make sure your race bag is packed with all the clothing you will need for any weather situation.
This means shoe covers, leg warmers, knee warmers, arm warmers, long sleeve jersey, 2 short sleeve jerseys, 2 pair bibshorts, rain jacket, wind vest, gloves, long finger gloves, sunglasses with clear, red, and dark lenses, visor cycling cap, helmet, shoes, and 3 pair of socks (thin, medium and warm).
This seems like a lot of redundancy but you never know what the weather is like 1-2 hours away and storms can blow through pretty fast too.
Warm up longer for shorter races, and always warm up. Don’t be afraid to warm up a lot before a 60-90 minute race (or even longer) Think of your hard weekend rides, say the Vino Velo or whatever. It’s a three hour ride that can end pretty hard like a race. You know you can finish strong after all that. So you’re not gonna ruin your legs by warming up for an hour before a race.
Remember to eat and drink. But most importantly, find what works best for you and practice it. Know what food and drink you need before during and after races and make sure you pack the night before.
Always find at least one positive thing from your race to commend yourself on. Even if it seems really lame, like lasting a whole five minutes longer that you did the day before. There’s always plenty of negative, even if you win, so just don’t forget the positive points too, because you’ll learn from these points as well.
Weekend Races Specific
Crit was damn hard, having to sprint from the start to the 90 degree turn and then the 100 meter climb. Position at the start was key, and this was something that I blew. Probably wouldn’t have made a difference, but still. Make sure you do whatever you can to get good field position at the start; and don’t blow it by not being able to clip into your pedals and sprint at the gun. Maybe you should practice doing this.
Practice cornering at speed. Read how-to manuals, watch videos, race your friends. Cornering is a skill that can be developed. It’s not your bike, your fitness, your wheels; it’s your mind. Take your hands off the brakes, put your outside foot down and look through the corner and steer your bike to where your eyes are looking.
If you get gapped sit up and wait for the group behind you. Recover and be ready to get in behind them as they pass. Theres almost always someone behind you and you’ll be happier at least continuing and trying to finish than just quitting the race.
The circuit race was very dynamic with short risers into a strong headwind while the downhill section on the backside had a strong tailwind. It’s important to know where the wind is coming from and this is something you should always ask yourself until it is second sense to you. “where is the wind coming from, where is the draft, which way should I pull off the front”. Once this is second nature, you’ll be amazed at how much of a better rider you are in the pack.
So in a headwind the bunch slows down because no one wants to work. The pack spreads across the whole road and you can’t pass anyone or get stuck as riders jam on the brakes. And when the pack gets to the tailwind section the pack gets back up to speed and you’re hanging on for dear life. So how do you ever change position in the pack?
Corners- take the inside line and sprint up the inside. Works best when the wind is coming from the other side of the field.
Tailwind- There will always be someone else trying to advance their position. Hop on their wheel and follow them as far as they go and pass them to advance further if necessary. This may be the only time the field is narrow enough to not be spread across the whole road and your only option. Of course, if you’re strong enough, you can do it with out drafting.
If it is a cross tailwind, try to advance on the side of the field where the wind is coming from. Working with teammates, you should offer to help advance a teammate to get them to the front, especially if field splits are happening. You don’t want to be left in the field as the escape group heads up the road without your team in it.
That’s about all I have right now. It’s a good exercise to write your thoughts down after races and review them before the next race. Then you can set goals based on the previous experience to try to improve.
Thanks again and keep on getting better.
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