My first foray into cat 3 racing and what a course to test it out. The Conestoga Challenge contains two really difficult climbs in each of four laps, the type that take a lot out of you, the type that fracture a peloton into little groups of riders. At 50 miles, this would also be about 25% longer than the longest race I've ever been in. The key would be to make sure I was in the front group when the peloton fell apart.
About 40 riders took the start. On the first lap, the peloton stayed together. Unfortunately, I was having some mechanical problems. In back, I couldn't shift into my biggest (easiest) cog without the chain skipping back and forth. Up front, when I would try to go into my big ring the derailleur kept throwing the chain over the top. Luckily I figured out how to fix this without stopping!
On the second lap, coming up the first big climb, the peloton fell apart. This was the moment and I was up to the task. Ten of us made the lead group and the other riders fell away. My only teammate in the race, Ryan Shebelsky also made the lead group as I knew he would.
On the third lap I started to realize that I was not quite as strong as my companions. On both of the big climbs I started to fall off the back a little at the end of the climb. I'm not sure if having that last gear would have helped me or not. At the top of each climb I was able to hook back onto the group.
The fourth lap started with my receiving a fresh bottle of cytomax from Rob Allen. All was going well and then we hit Stony Hill road. This is not one of the two big climbs, but it was enough. My nine companions simply climbed more quickly than I could. For the first time in my life, I fell off the back!
I kept at it, finding my own rhythm as they rode away from me. I just tried to focus on keeping 10th place. And then my mechanical problem became huge: my rear derailleur cable snapped. For the rest of the race (including the two big climbs) I would be stuck in my hardest gear. I pushed on. I had to jog my bike up the two big climbs and had to dismount on a third shorter climb, but I was going to finish the race.
As it turns out, we put enough distance from the rest of the riders that I was able to hang on to my position. My first cat 3 race was a pretty good result, 10th place.
Later I looked up the other nine guys in that lead group. The oldest guy was 9 years younger than me. The other 8 ranged from 18 to 27 years younger than me. Taking that into account, I feel pretty damned good.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Up to Cat 3
I heard through the grapevine that some people thought I was sandbagging in cat 4. I don't want to be a sandbagger, so win or no win, I decided it was time to move up to cat 3. The races will be longer, the competition will be stiffer, and unfortunately, I will not be able to increase my training hours accordingly. What this means is that the quest for a win may never reach the hoped for conclusion.
But I'm ok with that.
But I'm ok with that.
Tour de Ephrata - April 25 & 26, 2009
Disappointment numero dos!
This is one of the peak races in my training plan. It consists of three stages: Saturday's 40 mile road race, Sunday morning's 8 mile time trial up Pain Mountain, and Sunday afternoon's criterium. Last year I did really well in this race, picking up 18th, 5th, and 9th respectively on my way to finishing 7th place overall. I was pumped for this race, feeling in better shape than I was last year.
Saturday's road race did not go as well as I hoped. It ended in a bunch sprint which is not my strong suit. At the end of the day, I simply didn't have the gas to put in a good sprint. I finished 19th. I was bitterly disappointed.
Sunday mornings TT was the redemption for me. It's an 8 mile course: 4 miles relatively flat and then 4 miles up pain mountain. Last year I distinctly remember thinking that I would have to dismount and walk my bike up some of the steeper sections. At those times, I reached down and found something extra. Last year, I completed the stage in exactly 26 minutes and took 5th place. This year, it seemed just a little easier. I worked hard on the flat parts but saved a little for the climb. Riders go off at 30 second intervals but none of the three riders in front of me showed up. As a consequence the rider in front of me started with a 2 minute advantage. Very quickly on the climb, I started to see riders and I started to pass them. When I reached the steepest parts, I just kept on cranking. I felt great and I crossed the line in 24:49, a minute and 11 seconds faster than last year...and 4 seconds faster than the winning time last year. Would this be it? Would I finally get my win? It was not to happen. Wes Schempf (see Fawn Grove Roubaix post) put in a time of 23:53. As it turns out, shaving more than a minute off of my time landed me in 5th place again!
Still, I thought that with a strong finish in the criterium I could place well overall. Last year I remember feeling great in the crit and this year was no different. My family and several friends from my neighborhood were cheering me on. Coming into the second to last lap my legs felt strong and I was looking forward to putting in a good sprint and finishing hopefully in the top 6. But that sprint would happen without me. There's a saying in cycling, "there are two types of riders: those who have gone down and those who haven't gone down YET." Coming into the 2nd turn, several riders dove into the corner. There was a bottleneck with no room to move. I ended up crossing wheels with another rider and landed on my ass. My race was over. My new shorts had a giant rip allowing me to show the entire town of Ephrata my right butt cheek.
Despite the unceremonious end to my quest for glory, I finished the race in 12th overall. Not bad, but not what I was hoping for.
This is one of the peak races in my training plan. It consists of three stages: Saturday's 40 mile road race, Sunday morning's 8 mile time trial up Pain Mountain, and Sunday afternoon's criterium. Last year I did really well in this race, picking up 18th, 5th, and 9th respectively on my way to finishing 7th place overall. I was pumped for this race, feeling in better shape than I was last year.
Saturday's road race did not go as well as I hoped. It ended in a bunch sprint which is not my strong suit. At the end of the day, I simply didn't have the gas to put in a good sprint. I finished 19th. I was bitterly disappointed.
Sunday mornings TT was the redemption for me. It's an 8 mile course: 4 miles relatively flat and then 4 miles up pain mountain. Last year I distinctly remember thinking that I would have to dismount and walk my bike up some of the steeper sections. At those times, I reached down and found something extra. Last year, I completed the stage in exactly 26 minutes and took 5th place. This year, it seemed just a little easier. I worked hard on the flat parts but saved a little for the climb. Riders go off at 30 second intervals but none of the three riders in front of me showed up. As a consequence the rider in front of me started with a 2 minute advantage. Very quickly on the climb, I started to see riders and I started to pass them. When I reached the steepest parts, I just kept on cranking. I felt great and I crossed the line in 24:49, a minute and 11 seconds faster than last year...and 4 seconds faster than the winning time last year. Would this be it? Would I finally get my win? It was not to happen. Wes Schempf (see Fawn Grove Roubaix post) put in a time of 23:53. As it turns out, shaving more than a minute off of my time landed me in 5th place again!
Still, I thought that with a strong finish in the criterium I could place well overall. Last year I remember feeling great in the crit and this year was no different. My family and several friends from my neighborhood were cheering me on. Coming into the second to last lap my legs felt strong and I was looking forward to putting in a good sprint and finishing hopefully in the top 6. But that sprint would happen without me. There's a saying in cycling, "there are two types of riders: those who have gone down and those who haven't gone down YET." Coming into the 2nd turn, several riders dove into the corner. There was a bottleneck with no room to move. I ended up crossing wheels with another rider and landed on my ass. My race was over. My new shorts had a giant rip allowing me to show the entire town of Ephrata my right butt cheek.
Despite the unceremonious end to my quest for glory, I finished the race in 12th overall. Not bad, but not what I was hoping for.
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