My Chicago racing career, such as it was, came to an end on Sunday with the inaugural Chicago Criterium. I didn’t register in time for the Masters 4/5, so I and 119 others got to race the Cat 4s. Because I went with my teammate Michael, who was doing the earlier race, I was at the course with plenty of time to preview the course, warmup, and snag the primo starting position right on the front row. If ever there was a crit to make sure you got good starting position, this was it, not so much because of the course was highly technical, but more because with such a large field, if you started at the back, it would take an all out sprint to get to the front, if you could survive the accordion effect of the first few corners.
The race was scheduled for a meager 35′ + 2, so we knew it was going to be fast. When the Chief Judge shortened it to 30′ at the line, it was bound to be even faster. And fast it was, both in speed and in the officials’ timekeeping. According my PT, we raced a total of 27′. I had just settled in and begun to look for teamates when we came around to see 4 to go. Predictably, all hell broke loose and I never made it near the front. At one point I found my teammate Joe Bippus and tried to bring him to the front, but he popped. With two laps to go there was a crash right behind me because someone moved off his line in the penultimate turn causing us all to shift a bit. Whoever was behind me couldn’t make the adjustment and went down hard. At that point, with an out of state move less than a week a way, I backed down and did just enough to finish with the group, 34th overall.
The power numbers from the race puzzle me a bit; NP was fairly low (224), but the RPE was through the roof. For the first time in months, my asthma and acid reflux kicked in. While the power was lowish, the speed was high (26.5 mph), which may suggest the effort I felt may be due to neuromuscular efforts. That, combined with the extreme heat, pushing 90 in the sun, made the race feel a lot harder than the numbers suggest.
Technorati Tags Chicago,racing,Criterium
Archive for July, 2008
Chicago Crit – power vs. perceived exertion
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Frustrated in Kenosha
Saturday, July 26th, 2008Today’s race in Kenosha was a disappointment. I felt really good, even during what I thought was going to be an abbreviated warm-up. But no, in true Superweek fashion, it turned out to be an elongated one, turning slow laps around the course as the crew finished setting up. Thirty minutes behind schedule, they were ready to start, and I snagged a primo spot on the outside of the second row and when the whistle blew, easily slipped into 7th or 8th wheel and cruised. The pace was pretty high and there were the obligatory early crashes from guys who couldn’t take the turns at speed.
After the initial burst, the race settled down for the next 40 .6 mile laps, and if anything became a bit boring. There were a few attempts at a break, but nothing stuck, which is not surprising since the course really didn’t present enough challenges to break up the pack. I tried to stay invisible, out of the wind, near the front, and ahead of the several crashes.
Plan A was to be in the top 10 and jump with .5 lap to go. I doubt plan A would have won me the race, but it would have gotten me in the money at least. Plan B was to find the wheel of a big, sprinter type and follow. Plan B would have been the best bet since the wheel I was eyeing belonged to the guy who finished third. In the end, I went with Plan F, as in failure and didn’t fight hard enough on the last two laps to maintain my position. Shuffled halfway down the pack by the final turn, I wound up finishing a lowly 36th/60.
Perhaps Plan F could also stand for frustration as here was a day on which I felt really good, but I couldn’t manage to finish in the money, let alone in the upgrade points. Physically, it wasn’t even a really hard day. The speed was 25.4 mph and my NP was 224, so I was well below threshold for the 30 miles. Apparently the body was able, but the mind not willing…
Technorati Tags racing
Hammering up the Humboldt Park Hill
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Michael and I headed north today for the Humboldt Park crit, the penultimate event in the Masters 4/5 series. We wouldn’t be heading up to Ripon for the final event, so today was the last chance we had score any points towards the overall. Not that we had a chance of coming out on top; Voytek Glinkowski had that wrapped up, but a top five was a possibility. The course is a triangle, with one leg a steady climb on some pretty rough pavement and the long twisting descent with the finish at the bottom.
Two guys attacked from the line. Of course, conventional wisdom said that was doomed, especially since one of the riders in the break had tried the same move at Bensenville and had been brought back. Shows you what conventional wisdom gets you — we didn’t see those two until we were cooling down.
Another rider I knew to be strong (Michael Boals) tried to bridge after a few laps. He stayed enticingly close for a lap or two, but again, I didn’t take my chance and soon he was away for the die. Finally, I did try a few digs myself, but all I managed to do was string out the pack as no one was willing to work with me to get away.
Going into the last lap, I had decent position, but the last time up the hill, my bottle popped out, got caught between my leg and frame and scare the crap out of me. I sat down, let the bottle roll away (shouting the obligatory and somewhat redundant warning “bottle”), and restarted. In the end I lost 3 places, took 8th in the field sprint and 11th overall.
A satisfying end to the Masters 4/5 series — 6 races, 6 money finishes. Now to see how I do in the open Cat 4s.
Technorati Tags racing
A Bike Path in Bensenville…
Friday, July 18th, 2008Superweek’s trip to west suburban Bensenville saw a return to another "interesting" course that finished on a relatively winding bike path. Luckily, the promoters had worked with the Bensenville authorities and the path had been widened and was freshly paved. Still, the exiting and especially the entering turns were a bit tricky because they had to go over a slight lip and some fresh patching.
In the Cat 4 race, Joe Bippus earned his first win, outsprinting Nate Iden (SpiderMonkey) after leading out from a long way out. The excitement we all felt was tempered somewhat by the serious crash of 3rd place finisher, James Scott, who swerved off the path and became entangled in the metal barriers lining the finishing straight. Thankfully, it appears that he will be ok. The barriers were removed and then our race, the Cat 4/5 30+ finally got underway.
Not surprisingly, the group was a bit cautious starting out, and the race followed the usual script — a few attacks, but nothing stuck. Coming into the final lap, I had pretty good position, probably 6th wheel. Unfortunately, the rider leading slid out in the last, tricky corner. Luckily, everyone got through safely, but I braked too much and lost several spots, finishing only 9th out of 31 starters.
We returned to the same course the next day and were pleasantly surprised to see that the final corner had been repaved, making the entrance on to the bike path much smoother. I was determined to be more active in this race and tried several hard digs, but all they accomplished was to string out the pack for a few hundred meters. I did, however, set season bests for 5" and 1′ power, suggesting that all those attack intervals and sprints have been working.
On the last lap, I failed to be aggressive enough and lost my position, winding up near the back of the group going in to turn 2. Attempting to make up for my lapse, I gunned it coming out of the turn, so hard in fact that my rear wheel skipped, putting my heart in my mouth and I’m sure scaring the crap out of the guys behind me. I jumped hard and managed to get to the head of the group, but two riders were already away, so although I was technically 3rd wheel, all I really did was give a nice long leadout for everyone else. When people starting passing me on both sides, I sat up and rolled in for 11th, not a great way to finish a race in which I felt really good.
Technorati Tags racing
Tight courses and tactical errors
Monday, July 14th, 2008This year’s Superweek has featured a number of new courses, and I’m not sure they’ve found favor with the riders. On Sunday, the course at Olympia Fields was, well, interesting. It barely met the USCF length limit for a crit (800m ~.5 mile) and was run through a subdivision that was still under construction, including the road itself which had a lip running all around it because the final layer of asphalt hadn’t been laid. Nothing like an unfinished road and some construction debris lining the course to make you really careful you stayed upright.
In our race, the 4/5 30+, safety wasn’t an issue. There was one crash when a rider was forced over the lip and couldn’t handled it. Other than that, the biggest challenge was the wind, which was fierce coming into the finishing straight. A break got off the front and dangled there for a while. Our team didn’t have anyone in it and missed the opportunity to send someone up there. XXX had two riders in the break and their guys in the field did a great job keeping the rest of us in check. In the end, we did alright, again getting 3 of 6 guys in the money, but it was a bit disappointing missing that move.
On Monday we moved on to Richton Park. Not surprisingly, the start of the work week saw a serious reduction in the 30+ field — only 18 started. We were the only team with multiple guys in the field, and after being burned by a breakaway yesterday, we made sure no breaks got away. The trouble was, though, that we didn’t pull off a good sprint. We started the leadout on the wrong side of the road and couldn’t find a way through. I bailed on the leadout and tried freelancing up the right side, but was too far back by that point to move up much. I managed to hang on to 11th, while my teammates finished 9th and 13th. If we had a bit more practice at lead outs, etc, I think we would have done better.
Still, this week has seen some of the best results for us, the Masters consistently in the money and Joe Bippus challenging for the overall in the Cat 4s.
Technorati Tags racing
A Super start to Superweek
Saturday, July 12th, 2008Today we had a nearly perfect example of teamwork, especially at the cat 4 level. In the early stages of the race, a few breaks went off the front, but my teammates were able to shut it down. In the meantime, I hid in the pack, trying to overcome the effects of arriving a whole 20′ before the race and having 1 lap of the 1 mile course as a warm-up. As the race progressed, I felt a bit better. With 3 laps to go, my teammate Brian found me and said he’d get me to the front. I stuck with Brian and we picked up another teammate, Steve. With 3/4 of a lap to go, Brian drilled it and took Steve and me to the front. I lost Steve’s wheel, but was able to slide in one wheel behind, on the wheel of a guy from XXX who I knew to be really strong (he’d eventually finish on the podium). Brian took us the final turn and then Steve jumped. The distance from the last corner to the finish was pretty long (maybe 400 meters?) and Steve faded a bit. I waited too long to jump around him and couldn’t catch the 4 guys who got around us, but was able to hold on for 5th place.
Looking at the file, it’s clear that you don’t need your best power numbers to get results. My NP for the 47′ race was only 232w and my peak 5″ was a measly 703w. The way I read these numbers is that 1) if you ride conservatively in the beginning of the race, you can get away with a less than stellar day physically and 2) I could have pulled off a better sprint by going earlier and really kicking it.
But the most important thing about this race — getting good results is a helluva a lot easier with teammates. Out of 5 South Chicago Wheelmen in the field, 3 of us were in the money — way to go SCW!!
Technorati Tags racing
Prerace routine and not getting caught up in the numbers
Friday, July 11th, 2008Prerace routine and not getting caught up in the numbers.
My usual prerace routine involves an easy spin, a 7′ tuneup/test and a quick wipe-down, lube and check of the bike. Today, my team mate and I had the luxury of preriding the course, which is only 10′ from our neighborhood. It’s a flat, 4 corner crit. The only areas of potential interest are 1) out of turn 2 with a few meters of false flat at the beginning of the back straight. If you come out of the corner hard enough, you might be able to get a small gap. The rest of the backside is slightly downhill, making turn 3 really fast. 2) turn 4 into the finishing straight –again seems to be false flat and if the wind is coming from the south, this could be the (only) hard part of the course. It’s a long way from the turn to the line, so you’d have to be an animal to hold it, but it’s worth trying to avoid the usual chaos that is a Cat 4 field sprint.
The last 2 weeks I’ve set new season bests during my 7′ prerace tuneup. Today, I was down a bit, and initially panicked. Can I really be losing form just before the most important races of the year? But then I realized that all three average powers were within 2% of each other. The accuracy for a PT is claimed to be 1.5-2%, so I’m calling them all a wash. I may not have improved in the last three weeks, but I have certainly maintained the same level.
My moment of panic illustrates the danger of combining powermeter data and an academic (all right, perhaps geek would be a more appropriate term here) — the potential for overthinking. Overthinking during planning and training is not necessarily a bad thing; as long as you actually get the training done, all that thinking had done is kill a few hours. However, in a race overthinking is a serious problem, one that I still haven’t quite solved. All too often when the crucial moment in a race happens, I hesitate. Usually, I justify this hesitation in my head by thinking I’m following the cardinal rule of bike racing — CONSERVE ENERGY. But what’s the point in conserving energy and finishing 20th when you could go all out and may be finish top 10? Conservation might be a good idea when it comes to the environment, but in the last few laps of a crit, it’s a sure way to mediocre results.
Tuneups and testing
Friday, July 11th, 2008Tuneups and testing
This season as my race prep I’ve adopted a slightly different protocol recommended by my coach (Joshua Barton at Wenzel) a 7′ tt. I do the workout around a park near my neighborhood that has only 2 real corners (and only 2 4 way stops to blow through). Because it’s a flat, completely open park, I can see cars coming from quite a way off and adjust my line and speed accordingly. It’s long enough to be an aerobic workout and I make sure not to start too hard, so that I’m sure I’m targeting only aerobic energy pathways.
Because I do the same routine week in and week out, I figure it’s also a decent test of form. The only problem lies in the cornering — if I need to slow down a lot for the corners, I’m off the gas for a few more seconds and thus bring my average power down for the duration. I suspect I could hit higher numbers if I had a 7′ straight or out and back course. However, the course resembles a mini-crit and if specificity is the key to successful training, I suppose this routine more closely mimics the kinds of races I do.
Still, the past two weeks I have set season bests for the 7′, an encouraging sign that my form is coming around. Now, lets see if that translates into some results on the weekend.
Technorati Tags training
A tale of two crits
Friday, July 11th, 2008Comparing the Mas 4/5 Cobb Park and State Champ Cat 4
- Mas 4/5 46:20. 18.6 miles. 24.1 mph 212 avg/ 246 NP VI 1.16
- Cat 4 46:36. 19.6 miles. 25.3 mph 229 avg/249 NP VI 1.09
Technorati Tags racing
Wood Dale crit Final race before Superweek
Friday, July 11th, 2008July 6th -Wood Dale Crit — the final tune up before SuperWeek. I went into this race feeling good in light of a strong tuneup and some good rest. I rode two races — the 30+ open and the Cat 4. The 30+ was one of the fastest races I have done in quite some time. I killed it just to stay with the group. At one point I was 3-4 wheels from last in line and I looked down at the PT and saw 28.6 mph. And that was just barely hanging on!! Still, I was happy with the race since I managed to finish 19th out of ~30 riders.
The Cat 4 race was another story. I slipped back into old, bad habits of not pushing it and finished yet another race not even breathing hard. I can identify two moments of mistake. The first happened about 10′ into the race when Chris Padfield, who won last week’s State Championship with a solo move, attacked. I jumped after him and bridged up, but I thought it was too early and so just sat on his wheel. In hindsight, I should have gone right past him and started a rotation. Yes, it was very early, but he is clearly a strong rider and if we could have coaxed another strong rider or two out of the pack, we might have either had a shot or at the very least split the field up. The second mistake happened towards the end when my teammate Brian McCarthy moved up and I didn’t follow closely enough. I had the legs to move up, but not the nerve. It turns out that I would have been sprinting only for 2nd place because there was a guy off the front who was out of sight.
Now on to SuperWeek, with some good legs and high expectations.