Reston Town Center Grand Prix, Cat 4. I had my worst race result of the season today — a voluntary DNF. The first few laps were a crash fest and though I avoided all the crashes, I missed the key break, even though one of the riders I knew I should have been watching was in it. After the break got away, the group continued to hammer, but the with all the big teams represented, there was little chance it was coming back. I suffered at the back, moving up a few spots here and there but never getting near the front. With 12 laps to go, I pulled the plug.
Archive for June, 2009
Dealing with a bad race
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009Mainly mental Race Report 6-13 and 6-20
Monday, June 22nd, 2009The past two weeks have seen my races follow a familiar pattern — ride well for the first 9/10ths of the race and then fail to execute in the last lap when it really counts.
6/13 Amphibious Assault Crit
The Amphibious Assault Crit is a unique venue — we literally race around around parked hovercraft used by the Navy to, well, assault things amphibiously (see video here ). And because it’s on the landing apron, the course is pancake flat and relatively smooth — a crit racer’s dream. The course is extremely wide and not all that technical, although the organizers did throw in a nice chicane on the backside just to keep things interesting. The final corner was a good 500 meters from the line. My race went accordingly to plan — I marked Dominic Meier who has been just tearing up the VCA Cat 4 Bar. I lost a sprint for an early prime by less than a wheel (to Dominic of course) and then we settled in. The course nearly guaranteed a field sprint, despite the heavy rain falling at the race start. On the last lap, I was 3rd wheel, but as the rider leading out tired coming out of the last corner, we got swarmed, and in that instance I hesitated and my shot at the podium was over. I still managed to worm my way out and unleash a decent sprint, passing several guys, but only managed 8th.
Race Report 6/6 Ride Sally Ride
Monday, June 8th, 2009The Ride Sally Ride cat 4 crit was marred by a serious crash, involving Charlottesville’s own Jake King. I neither heard nor saw the crash, but it left Jake with severe facial lacerations and potentially a broken jaw. The accident happened fairly early in the race, and we went past the scene several times, until with 17 laps to go, a bell was ringing and the chief ref was shouting 1 lap to go; they had to bring an ambulance in for poor Jake…
Why a coach needs a coach
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009Often times when I mention that I have a coach, other riders respond with surprise: “wait, aren’t you a coach yourself? Why do you need a coach?” It’s a good question, and one I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. I think the answer, interestingly enough, connects back to my “other” life as a professor.
Race Report 5/31 A moments inattention…
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009Not much to report from Sunday’s Bryant Park Circuit Race, and what there is, isn’t good. My race started well; I snagged a front row starting spot, stayed in the top 10 at all times, and marked the guys who’d been winning all of the races recently. Unfortunately, after just one such move, I found myself on the front and in an effort to get out of the wind, moved to the left following a wheel. Unbeknowst to me, someone had overlapped on my left, but must have been far enough back that my peripheral vision didn’t catch him. Apparently my move hooked his front wheel, his skewer ripped most of the spokes out of my powertap, and even worse, he went down. Thankfully, he was ok beyond the usual road rash symptoms.
The one positive is that my form is coming around; now all I have to do is put the tactical pieces together.