Castroville, TX 02/07/2009 I have always wanted to compete in a multiple stage road race, and get a feel for what it was like to compete in the Tour de France. Since I obviously don't have the ability to compete in that tour, I decided to jump at the opportunity to race in the Alsation Country Omnium. This race took place right down the road from my house, and consisted of three stages which included a time trial, criterium, and a 30 mile road race. I raced in Category 5, and there were 50 riders in my group.
An individual time trial is where a rider rides on their own as fast as they can for a pre-determined distance. For the Alsation we rode five miles out, and five miles back for a total of 10 miles. The very first rider took off at 7:20 AM, and another rider would follow every 30 seconds. My scheduled start was 8:09 AM.
Most of the riders brought their dedicated time trial bikes for this stage. I only have one bike, which happens to be a cyclocross bike that I had fitted with a set of road tires. This set up has served me well in triathlons and duathlons, but was no match for the time trial set ups that everyone else brought.
Anyway, the course was an out with the wind pushing you, and back with the wind in your face. I didn't warm up, and never really got comfortable on the bike. It only took about two miles for T. Sweet to pass me. After making the turn, J. Toscano passed me too. I felt pretty bad, and thought I would finish last in the time trial. As it turns out, I got lucky and finished 25th.
Stage two was a criterium, which took place at Friends of Castroville Regional Park. This was only a short drive from the time trial. A criterium is a short course race. Basically, we rode a one mile loop for 30 minutes.
I'll admit that I was a little scared before the start of this race. The thought of 50 guys in a pack at high speeds, looping around a track should make anyone nervous. My strategy was to just stay with the lead pack, and hopefully have a good sprint to the finish. It was a good strategy, but it just wasn't my day.
About half way through the race, one very strong rider went for a break away. I happened to be drafting another strong rider that decided to give chase. I made a grave mistake and went with them. We were a good distance in front of the rest of the field, but I couldn't hold that pace and started to fall back. For one lap I lead the pack. The next lap, I was mid pack. After that, I was at the back of the pack. Finally, I watched as the pack slowly pulled away.
After that, the rest of the race was like the time trial. I was pretty much by my self. No other riders fell off the main pack to meet me, and it took a long time for the other riders that had earlier fallen off the pack to catch up. I ended up finishing 22nd in the crit.
Sunday afternoon was the start of the 30 mile road race. The race start was at the Hotel Alsace, and began as a 2 mile parade with a police escort. We were instructed that we needed to wave to all the spectators, since the only way the race directors could get a permit to use that section of road was to be an actual parade. After we turned off Hwy 90 onto Hwy 471, the police escort peeled off and the race was on.
The wind was uber strong this Sunday morning, and most of the course was exposed to the wind. At the start the wind was at our backs, but soon we made a turn and there was a wicked cross wind. I was stuck on the windy side, and was blocking the wind for all the riders next to me.
Suddenly, the guy next to me had his rear tire buzzed by the rider behind him. A few seconds later the rear rider hit the pavement. I couldn't see what happened, but it sounded like the dudes bike shattered when it hit the ground, and I could hear him taking out other riders too.
Once we turned onto Potranco Road we were out of the wind, and our speeds really picked up. I normally do my training rides on my own over this section of road, and I am lucky if I hit 30 mph. I had a chance to look down for a second, and I was going 38 mph. I know that was not even my top speed on this down hill. What a difference traveling in a peloton makes. Though, it wouldn't last. When we made the turn off Potranco, back to the 471, our speeds went back down to 15 mph because of the wind.
I was in great position to finish well in this race, but I made another stupid rookie mistake. Since I was in the lead pack and still felt strong as we neared the finish, all I had to do was lay in the weeds until the finale sprint of the race. With only 2 miles to go in the race, I decided I would try to break away on my own. I was easily chased down by the peloton, and I did not have enough time to recover before the big sprint to the finish. As the lead group sprinted to the finish, I was left in the dust to finish in 19th place.
Overall, I finished 24th in the entire omnium. I thought that was pretty good, since that was my first road race. I learned that road racing is kind of like a chess game on wheels, more dangerous than mountain bike racing, and I think I have the ability to win if I play my chess pieces correctly.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Miles of DisComfort Marathon
Comfort, TX 01/24/2009 Well I have completed my first marathon of any kind, and if I had to sum it up with one word, it would be "brutal". The race took place at Flat Rock Ranch, which is one of my favorite places to ride. Flat Rock Ranch is smack dab in the middle of the Texas hill country, which includes some climbs up hills that contain beautiful views, and some wicked technical downhills. There are two sections of the ranch, a lower and an upper, each having to be ridden twice for a total of 52 miles.
One of the events leading up to the race for me was breaking the frame on my only mountain bike during a pre-ride of the course the week prior to the race. At first I thought that my race was over, but luckily one of my friends, Jim T., loaned me his back up bike, a Cannondale Prophet, for the race.
The Prophet is an all mountain bike so it has more travel in the suspension. Theoretically, this should make the bike better at downhill, and it should make me lose power climbing. I didn't notice any difference while climbing, but I sure had a lot of confidence bombing the downhills.
One downgrade on the Prophet was the mechanical disk breaks. My Mongoose Canaan has hydraulic disk breaks, which give me full skid stopping power with just a light squeeze of one finger. I needed all my fingers on the break levers to get enough power on the breaks to slow enough to make the corners on some of the downhill sections. Twice during the race I forgot I needed the extra power, and found myself squeezing the breaks with one finger which sent me off the trail, and into the woods. I will never take my hydraulic brakes for granted again.
In the spirit of Texas winter, the Friday before the race had temperatures reaching up into the 80s. Therefore, on Saturday of the race it was a balmy 36 degrees with high winds. Luckily for me, I brought all of my warm cycling cloths. I learned long ago that the weather here can swing 40 to 50 degrees in a few hours.
I didn't ride very hard since I wasn't sure how much energy to expend for a marathon. There were a lot of riders around on the first lower loop, but the upper loop is mainly climbing so the group really strung out during that part of the race. I have ridden both this lower and upper section before during training rides, but I was getting tired towards the end of the first upper loop.
With half of the race complete, I stopped and ate half of a ham sandwich that I had stashed in the pit area, and refilled my Hammer Gel flasks. I regret two things during this pit stop. I wish I had taken more time to take in more calories, and I wish I had applied more Belgium Butter.
As I climbed out of the pit area to start my second loop, I already knew I was in trouble. I was fading fast as my legs burned like the sun, and I could not muster any power. Normally, I ride using mainly my big and middle ring in the front, but I found that I needed the little ring more often as I got closer to the upper loop.
By the time I finished the second lower loop, I had decided that I was not going to finish the race. I mean, nobody would think less of me if I didn't finish a marathon, right?
As I was eating the rest of my sandwich in the pit area, one of the other racers that had been around me most of the race yelled to me something like: "Put down that sandwich and finish this thing". Then another guy that had just finished the whole race told me: "You might as well just do the upper loop. It will only take like a hour or so".
An hour or so!!! Most of all I didn't want to disappoint myself, so I reapplied some Belgium Butter, and off I went to complete the upper loop. I'm not sure how much time I spent walking my bike up some of the more steeper hills, but I finished the race with a time of 6:22:52. It was brutal, but I can still live with myself.
One of the events leading up to the race for me was breaking the frame on my only mountain bike during a pre-ride of the course the week prior to the race. At first I thought that my race was over, but luckily one of my friends, Jim T., loaned me his back up bike, a Cannondale Prophet, for the race.
The Prophet is an all mountain bike so it has more travel in the suspension. Theoretically, this should make the bike better at downhill, and it should make me lose power climbing. I didn't notice any difference while climbing, but I sure had a lot of confidence bombing the downhills.
One downgrade on the Prophet was the mechanical disk breaks. My Mongoose Canaan has hydraulic disk breaks, which give me full skid stopping power with just a light squeeze of one finger. I needed all my fingers on the break levers to get enough power on the breaks to slow enough to make the corners on some of the downhill sections. Twice during the race I forgot I needed the extra power, and found myself squeezing the breaks with one finger which sent me off the trail, and into the woods. I will never take my hydraulic brakes for granted again.
In the spirit of Texas winter, the Friday before the race had temperatures reaching up into the 80s. Therefore, on Saturday of the race it was a balmy 36 degrees with high winds. Luckily for me, I brought all of my warm cycling cloths. I learned long ago that the weather here can swing 40 to 50 degrees in a few hours.
I didn't ride very hard since I wasn't sure how much energy to expend for a marathon. There were a lot of riders around on the first lower loop, but the upper loop is mainly climbing so the group really strung out during that part of the race. I have ridden both this lower and upper section before during training rides, but I was getting tired towards the end of the first upper loop.
With half of the race complete, I stopped and ate half of a ham sandwich that I had stashed in the pit area, and refilled my Hammer Gel flasks. I regret two things during this pit stop. I wish I had taken more time to take in more calories, and I wish I had applied more Belgium Butter.
As I climbed out of the pit area to start my second loop, I already knew I was in trouble. I was fading fast as my legs burned like the sun, and I could not muster any power. Normally, I ride using mainly my big and middle ring in the front, but I found that I needed the little ring more often as I got closer to the upper loop.
By the time I finished the second lower loop, I had decided that I was not going to finish the race. I mean, nobody would think less of me if I didn't finish a marathon, right?
As I was eating the rest of my sandwich in the pit area, one of the other racers that had been around me most of the race yelled to me something like: "Put down that sandwich and finish this thing". Then another guy that had just finished the whole race told me: "You might as well just do the upper loop. It will only take like a hour or so".
An hour or so!!! Most of all I didn't want to disappoint myself, so I reapplied some Belgium Butter, and off I went to complete the upper loop. I'm not sure how much time I spent walking my bike up some of the more steeper hills, but I finished the race with a time of 6:22:52. It was brutal, but I can still live with myself.
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