chaysinnn' againnn?!?!

2012 San Dimas Stage Race Cat 5 (day 3 - CR)

Weather: 40 deg, wet roads

course: 1.1 miles, 6 corners, 30 minutes

The first lap was pretty neutral. There was no attacking. People were just feeling out the course and the roads. Joel decided to attack about 5 minutes in, and I was about 10 bikes back, so I didn’t want to pull up to him and take people with me, so I stayed back. I knew there were a lot of guys who were uncomfortable with the course and the wet roads, so there was massive yoyoing going on in the middle every time there was a corner or slight incline. I needed to move near the front and save my energy. 

Around 17 min, a dude on a Trek, who I knew was sketchy from seeing him race yesterday, tried a breakaway. I let him go, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold it for 13 minutes until the finish. I let others (#595) chase knowing they would be nervous and didn’t want him to succeed. I just stayed on their wheels, and was conserving for the last 2 laps.

In the last lap, I felt very confident…maybe too confident. In the first corner, I went too fast for the wet conditions and slid out. I ended up snapping my derailleur hanger, bending my new keo blades, ripping through my shoe covers, knee warmers, and my kit. I’ve got some minor road rash, and it hurts to shower a bit. That’s racing for you! I ended up getting pack time for Sunday’s crit, and because 2 of the top 10 did not show up, they were disqualified, and I ended up 11th overall for the weekend. That completes my races as a Cat 5. Not too shabby.

I’ll be back in the summer as a Cat 4 when or if I have a little break and when the conditions are dry. I’ll be training hard in the meantime, so you Cat 4s better watch out because I will be fresh. For now, I’m going to focus on school   and relieve myself of the stress which is racing every other weekend.

(+)

- moved from top 10 to top 5 in the last 2 laps. 

- chased a breakaway, and brought him back in = I’ve got a little bit of power there.

- let a breakaway form, and let others chase => conserving my energy for the last 2 laps.

- warmed up for an hour, felt great going into the race.

(-)

- went too fast into a corner, and slid out.

What I would do differently:

- Wet conditions are fine, but I have to be more conservative in the corners.

- I will never race a crit in the rain again. 

2012 San Dimas Stage Race Cat 5 (day 2 - Bonelli Park RR)

Weather: 50 degrees, heavy rain

Length: 35 miles

These were the worst conditions I’ve ever raced in ever, but it was an experience I would not take back. Prior to this day, I had only done one race in the rain, that was Ontario Cat 4/5 crit. I wore my arm warmers, base layer, thin non-waterproof gloves, no glasses, but no rain cape. I ended up lathering baby oil all over my sexy arms and legs to help bead off the water. For thirty minutes prior to the race, I was under the TRU cycling team RV with Joel, Sang, Jimmy, and the juniors talking about team strategy and we should wear. Thanks to them, we had a proper place to warm up, and some positive thoughts going into the race.  

The race was delayed by about 10 minutes. I immediately regretted not bringing glasses because the water from everyone’s tires kept shooting at my face and into my eyes. The first lap was going really slow, like 18mph average slow. Nobody was trying to attack. We immediately got neutralized by the lead 45+ group for a couple minutes, their chase group and then about 2 miles later, we were neutralized by the 15-16 juniors. At this point, I should have figured that being neutralized was going to be a repetitive throughout the race. The neutralizations kept everyone together for the first 3 laps. Every time that we were neutralized, I could feel my body shivering from the cold. (Why didn’t I bring my jacket?) During lap 3, I talked to Ricardo Barrosa (yellow jersey) and Joel about a possible counterattack after the sprint. Ricardo was willing to work with us, but we wanted to see if the sprinters were tired going for the line. It did not seem they were going all out on the sprint, so our counterattack did not manifest itself. However, in hindsight, we should have tried it anyway. Everyone is tired after a sprint, and its hard to respond to an attack after that. 

Lap 4. I was out in front. I was wondering why everyone was racing conservatively here. Joel kept telling me to slow my roll so that others would take the reigns, so I listened and somebody took over after corner 3. 

Lap 5. I can’t really remember much here except not being able to respond to the attack on the dam that SC Velo launched, and not being able to flow on the downhill. I was chasing the whole time on Puddingstone, but I couldn’t connect after the lead group launched an attack for the finish line. I felt burnt out and my legs felt heavy about 200-300m before the finish, so I just spun it out at a high cadence going for a conservative finish. I placed 20th that day, but moved from 15th to 14th overall.

+

- great communication between Joel, Ricardo, and I.

- raced conservatively through sketchy sections to stay safe in the rain. risk > benefit.

(-)

- wasn’t able to respond to the attack up Cannon. I should have conserved more prior to this section.

- flow better through the downhill portion on Cannon so I can carry my momentum through onto Puddingstone.

What I would do differently:

- attacked after the sprint on lap 3 to form a breakaway. joel, ricardo, and I were feeling strong at at that point and could have succeeded. breakaways are less likely to be neutralized if they are in small groups. 

- wear a rain cape and waterproof gloves. I would rather be warm with my own sweat than pounded by 50 degree rain water making me shiver for 2 hours. 

- on wet or rainy days, I would not use Vittoria Evo CX or I should have lowered my pressure from 115 to 110. I am probably never going to race in the rain ever again, but for others who are willing, I would go with the Pave EVO CG. 

2012 San Dimas Stage Race Cat 5 

Prior to this 3 day stage race in San Dimas, I had been training on 6 block days with 1 day rest, and then tapering off for the last week. I felt really confident going into this race considering I had done 2 recon rides for the GMR TT and the Bonelli park course. The first GMR TT run I had was around ~18 min, and the second run I had was around ~17:20 min. 

Day 1 - GMR TT

This year’s (2012) course was moved 1100’ further up the road than last years - which effectively eliminated the flat portion of the beginning of the race, and therefore adding a little bit more climbing, as well. I arrived around 6:45 am, while it was ~54 deg F, grabbed my number, pinned it, and took a poo. I warmed up for a measly 20 minutes, and wanted to go up as light as possible so I even stripped off my warmers, base layer, gloves, and glasses, but I opted to keep 1/8th of a bottle with me since I had practiced with a bottle. I was the first one up @ 8am. The first quarter mile was okay. I sprinted through the flatter portion around 20mph, and then up the first 0.5 miles @ around 17mph, but then I started to dramatically slow down. My muscles wouldn’t respond as well as I wanted them to. My nose started to fill up with snot, and my fingers were super stiff from the cold. I was getting lightheaded, and I wanted to pass out so I backed off the effort a bit. I would watch my speed as I hit around the 3 mile mark, and took a sip from my bottle. I had dramatically slowed down to 12mph, and accidentally dropped my bottle. :( As I approached what I thought was the finish line at “The Wall”, I started to jam as hard as I could towards that line. They had a canopy setup with a camera mount. So I slowed down to nothing after that line. As rider #552 (he started 1 minute behind me) passed me, I realized the finish line was actually further up. DOH! My recon ride failed me. I finished with the time 18:51 @ about 12.1mph average.

(+) 

- backed off before I passed out.

- didn’t give up while feeling lightheaded.

- did not hesitate after realizing I stopped at the wrong finish line.

(-)

- 20 min warm up (on road) is not enough for me.

- used too much energy in the first 0.5 miles.

- need to practice without a water bottle.

What I would do differently:

- warm up until I’m hot, and then bring down the HR. colder days take longer to warm up => add 15 minutes to the warm up.

- bring a trainer or set of rollers

- bring gloves so my fingers can respond to shifting.

- regulate my speed more. keep the pace & cadence high on the first 0.25 miles, but then try to maintain goal speed around 13-15mph for the rest of the course.

Race Report: CAT 5b UCLA ROAD RACE

-5:45am banana (no cheese)
-base layer
-no arm warmers, no leg warmers
-25 min warmup, 5 miles, half a bottle of ESN endurance drink
-7am PB&J&Honey sandwich, sips of my soy milk/naked juice/whey protein drink

-8:35am pre-race poop

-ESN pre-fuel 8:50am

9:45am start time, 60 degrees, dry

-1.5 bottles ESN endurance drink during the race, 1 GU gel

LAP 1

The 2 guys who were upfront seemed to be very good at setting an uncomfortable pace (for me) for the beginning of the race. I thought to myself, “I didn’t warm up enough” because I could feel my heart was about to pop. However, to my surprise I crept towards the front because I saw other riders not being able to keep up and opening gaps. The peloton rotated who was leading on the “stepped climbs” and I was now in front. I was thinking I would regret this, but I wanted to test my fitness. I continued the fast pace and made it even uncomfortable for myself. I was thinking, if I’ve been training well and I’m uncomfortable, the guys in back must be hurting like crazy after all their ‘yoyoing.’ So I stood up to give the pace a couple of punches, sat down to recover, and then stood up again. I continued the high pace all the way through the corner where the downhill started.

The downhill portion was super fast, and not technical like Boulevard. I was off the front, so I flowed instead of having to tap my brakes. We must have been going 40-50mph until the cones that marked the turn into the climbing section. By now, the peloton had dwindled down to 11 or 12 riders. I was joking with another rider who was strong, and saying it looks like we’re going to have a bunch of sprinters who weren’t pulling. I felt strong at that point and just continued leading. Near the finish line, I wanted better than top 11 or 12. I told him, “Let’s up the pace and guarantee top 9 or 10.” I stood up again and ramped up the pace. Our pack dwindled down to 9. 

LAP 2

I did not feel as strong after all this leading and attacking, and I could tell my heart rate was just going nuts on the climb. 3 guys in the front try to break off on the “stepped climb” but I responded to every attack. I knew that I just needed to stay with the break until after the steps, and then I could recover on the downhill and see how I felt during the final climb. I remained in the back on the downhill portion, and I was right about it. I had to tap my brakes way too often because I came close behind other riders. As we approached the cones, 1 of those 3 guys, who previously tried to attack on the climb, gunned it and went outside of the cones. He had some sort of discussion with the referee and wasn’t disqualified since he was just avoiding crashing, not trying to pass up a rider. I felt super strong on the beginning of the final climb. I was thinking, “I could gun it from here, rest, and then gun it again,” but to my dismay, my legs cramped up. My lungs were responding, my mind was strong, but every time I straightened out my leg, my calf or quad would just lock up. I tried to attack anyway, upping the pace to around 25 mph. Nobody chased. I was off the front for about 50 feet. I try to stand up to sprint a little, and that’s when I lockup again. :( One of the other riders (who was helping me pull throughout the race) taps me and says, “Let’s do this, you and me.” I try to surge again, but the cramps were getting at me. He slowly gains time on everyone while I roll back to the break. I yell, “You’re own your own buddy!” I tell everyone, “There’s only 8 of us here guys. It was a good race, and I’ll see you in San Dimas.” Everyone was well spirited until we hit 500 meters from the finish line, and it just got quiet. We all spread out, and I ended up dropping a rider from Redlands even though I was cramping like a bitch. 7th place is not bad.

Things I would do differently: 
-stop cramping on the final climbs. I need to figure out why this is happening. Maybe less gym time the week before a race?
-stay on the front during long descents (It’s not like I have to pedal)

Good things:
-punching the pace several times in a short amount of time to drop others
-my fitness is there even though I’ve gained 3 pounds since Boulevard.
-good communication with other riders
-I placed better here than in Boulevard.

-I followed Bill’s training schedule. tapered off training time => well rested legs for today.
-If I continue this training schedule, I have a feeling that I’ll place well @ SDSR with Joel. 

i rolled to the race with some dudes from team velocity. one dude, john dalton, was cat 4, so he took off @ 945am. i accidentally closed the door, locking my ESN bottles inside. i panic, and look for unlocked doors, but to no avail. luckily, my friend Paige, from Monster Media Racing gave me 2 water bottles. I was pretty worried though. I hate just using water. I ALWAYS ALWAYS train with ESN ever since Bill sent me a couple bags. luckily, I had some Gu Gels with me. I immediately take one with some water, and save one for the second lap. better than nothing, right?

so i roll out to the starting line @ 10 (cat5b), and it starts really slow uphill - like 10-12mph. the pace worked out for me because i didn’t have any time to warm up. ahah. however, i’m not confident with myself at this point because of my water situation, so i planned to hide from the wind the whole race. i didn’t even think of pulling. BUT i did think of protecting my spot, never relegating to a jittery ass slow dude who kept hitting his brakes (lesson learned from the short crits).

we hit the downhill going about 35 mph. on a 90 degree corner some dude slid out and went over the side…i think. dudes in front of me hit their brakes, so i hit mine. the guy behind me hit my wheel, fell, slid, and pancaked on his face from what it sounded like (later i hear that ambulance and a firetruck came to get him). everyone continued to sprint downhill, including joel and another dude who were on a short short break. i wanted to join joel, but i didn’t want to take anyone with me, so i just stayed back. on the final punch to the finish line (lap 1) somebody hits my rear wheel again and then he flats. at that point, my rear brake is rubbing on the rear. i open it up, but i still hear the wheel rubbing. i try for about 3 minutes to move the brake to the side while riding uphill, but it made it worse (hahah). so i give up trying to fix it and keep riding. 

joel and i are somewhat together on the 2nd lap after the downhill and somewhat on the first climb. joel whispers to me in his New Zealand accent, “if you’re feeling good, i’ll pull for you.” such a good ol’ chap. about 5 minutes after, one dude (who probably got first) booked it on his own, nobody chased for the next 8 miles. it was just a grind and hide from the wind game from there. lots of dudes get dropped along the climb. there are only about 9 of us in the peloton. nothing exciting really happens from there on until the final climb. i cramp up in my left calf, stand up, pull to the right, switch it into a bigger gear to stand and climb. i try to sit down, but i start to cramp again. so i stood up and finish the race out of breath, pretty dizzy and cramped like a mofo. i’m happy that i made it in 9th place. 

looking back, i should’ve had the bottles on my bike when i was pumping up the tires. if i did the bottles with me, i probably could’ve made a move with the solo breakaway.

stats:

45 miles

4400 feet of climbing

2 hours 10 minutes…20 mph average.

2 GU gels, 2 water bottles.

2 dudes who hit my rear tire

0 crashes for me.

video coming soon from the CSUF dude who had 2 GOPROs…

the 2012 season is about to start and take a hiatus shortly mid march. i’m both excited and nervous that i get to do some road races, of which i think is better suited for me, but i’m not going to cut out the local crits. TRU cycling represent!

carson crit

boulevard road roace

trolley crit

roger millikan crit

uci crit

san dimas stage race

redlands classic

a sho-air and team velocity rider went down today pretty hard in front of me today. john slid out on his bike and has some gnarly road rash, and ron may have flipped onto his head, but he was verbally responsive and felt pain, which may seem ironic, but its better to feel pain than not to seeing how he flipped onto his head.

in fact, there were 2 crashes in the fast group. a dude in a red/white jersey took a corner too fast, and ended up sliding out. about 6 of us waited for him to make sure he was okay, and he turned out to be fine. (though, why he ended up gassing it after that and not really riding with us was weird). c’mon bro, we stopped the whole group for you! so rude, bro.

while we were riding back to fullerton via carbon canyon, i saw at least 3-4 different groups changing flats, and i can’t forget herman’s broken spoke! i haven’t seem him for like a month, and now i have to wait another week to ride with him. :(

what did all of these incidents have in common? anyone who was around would stop or slow down to make sure they were okay. it may be a hobby or job or love, but cycling is a discipline. it is expensive, but we eat at home, hermit ourselves in our rooms, or turn off our electricity to be able to afford our lifestyle. it is painful, but we learn to become temporary masochists.  it is time consuming, but sometimes we skip class or work to get some time in. we forego partying too hard the night before a hard ride (hi vikram). it is a choice we make to put in 10-20 grueling hours a week on our bikes, and when one of us falls down, a person who shares the same passion as us, we hurt inside, as well.

we are sending good thoughts your way ronny. we wish you a speedy recovery. 

during a downhill sprint, i opened my mouth to take in air and a bee flew in. not vegan, bro.

just finished some interval training, and a chubby kid on a bmx gives me a thumbs up and says, “cool bike, man.”

this old man has still got it. 

today was CTA’s first crit session. it was a good start, albeit it was by myself. :( i definitely need to work on my intensity and power endurance, but it was good to see what i was capable of by myself with no stop signs or cars to slow me down. next CTA crit session will be the same, but with an added 20 miles through the hills after a 45 min crit session. i hope to see some of my friends out here next time. (i’ll try to schedule it on a better day…saturday/sunday?)

3 mile warmup

15 mile session

21 mph average

38 mph max

goal: 40+ mph max sprint, 1 hour training session

tomorrow: raincross?

next race: july 17th or july 19th in ontario.

daddy needs a powermeter.

finished school

no breaks, khang bu hey

2 months off

limit your riding, khang bu hey

fuck that noise.

today’s cat 5 race may have been called ‘ride it like you have nothing between your legs’ for many of the 715 am participants.  i ended up taking 4 full-lap pulls in an 11 lap race. why can’t i just remember that most cat 5 guys do not want to take any pulls? not everyone was like that though. i give props to james zaldua, the little guy with the saxo bank kit, and the dude with the cervelo soloist. you guys are proper cyclists. you do work instead of shielding yourself in the 12 man pack all day like a bunch of pussies waiting for the sprint. even the junior rider who has been racing for 5 days straight was up front! imagine that, a 16 year old kid doing work while big capable dudes just sit in back. even if its just for like 200 meters, going @ 20 mph. do something! make your $2000 carbon wheels worth it. 

in the next couple of races, i’m really going to test my legs and hope that the stronger guys follow suit. this one big pack shit is boring as fuck. if i wanted to get a train going, i’d hop on the metro in downtown fullerton, and i’ll put a fucking bird on the train while i’m at it and call it art. ARGHHH! i cannot wait to get out of cat 5. 3 more races, and i’m out of there.

next week: uci crit, where i know my friends will actually make their $30 worth it.

show us your legs in the UCI cat 4/5 crit. this time there won’t be a border patrol car to slow us down. 8=======D~~~ :)

despite the humid weather and slight headwind, today reminded me of how good company and a decent route can just make your day. i loved how the guys in front were pushing on the flats, but i did notice that we do need to work on the rotating paceline. ahha. we were so unorganized. we should definitely incorporate sprints into the end of every ride.

talking to some of these dudes really inspires me to keep working hard in school and cycling. some of these dudes have state champ jerseys, ride pro/1/2 and have families and careers? i’ve really got to stay on the ball, then maybe someday i can be a state champ like mike and dave. they obviously are self motivated people.

my goal for all these training rides is to chase down all the breakaways, push a little harder on the hills (san antonio hurt me a bit more than i wanted it to), and work on the aero/rocking sprint position while i’m at it. thx for the guidance guys. <3 team velocity

average speed: 20 mph

top speed: 45 mph

heart rate and watts and shit??: i don’t know, somebody buy me a powermeter.