MARCH 28 2009 Plainville CRIT # 4+5

Left side I guess near front on this lap.. we did maybe 30+ laps .

In the front workin hard

Off the back

More crash pic's - Lucky at this point I was up front.

Note Rider in background about to hit the tar...

Today I raced two classes, I did the 9:00 CAT 4-5 open with all the young guys , and the 11:15 CAT 4-5 39 Plus older guys race.

Now have 7 CAT 5 races, 3 left and I can upgrade to CAT 4. If we have dry race days the next two Sat's I may have 12 races as a CAT 5 including Battenkill which I will race as a CAt 5 45 +. I will upgrade after that race.

Some very serious crashes and injuries today - both classes NOT GOOD !!!! . Not a fun day for some unlucky guys .......

Plainville CRIT #3 3/21/09

Today was my third week doing the Plainville Crit series .. So far lot's of fun. I have been arriving in time to watch the CAT 4-5 race @ 9:00 and the CAT 3-4 race @ 10:00. Plus some of the CAT 1-2-3 race around 12:30

My race is the CAT 4-5 39+ @ 11:15 ...

This week we had 31 riders , I went off semi hard working my way round + round. I found today I was able to hit the corners and not let off so I was not fighting to fill the gap twice every lap on the 90 degree corners. So I used less energy and seemed to be able to work a bit less overall.

My issue this week was a few riders who seemed to just move where ever the hell they wanted to go with no regard for any other riders + and not looking back or to the side . This was not some new guy off the back but some of the guys who are up front and winning . Not good but no crashes , guess cause we have less riders we have more room to move about. I had to swerve several times when this same rider just swung in front of me or other riders.

So what is a Crit rider to do in these situations ????

As far as my personel race like I said it was good I'm getting more comfortable and on the 2nd prime I pushed real hard ( hit my MAx watts of 780 at this point) - This may not have been a good idea as I used a lot of reserve but I was 5th so that was COOL. In a short time I saw 4 laps to go and started moving up front. BUT on the back straight on the last two Laps I was pushed out in the wind and could not get a wheel.. So come the final sprint I was Semi - Toast I came around the last corner in mabye 8-10th ish and a few guys got past me before the line .. I think I got 12-14 ish.

Some Stats:

21 miles
53 min's
Av speed 24
Mx speed 31.25
Av Watts 198
Max Watts 780 ( #2 Prime ) 11.13 watts /kg
Final sprint could barly get to 350 Watts
30 sec - 456 watts - 6.7 watts /kg
1 min - 317 watts - 4.66 watts /kg
5 min - 237 watts - 3.48 watts /kg

PS: I was cold not as bad as the 9+10:00 races but cold .....

Come on Summer

BREAK THRU RIDE 3/10/09

TODAY was the two week mark since I was sick and John K + I went + did hills for training today ( 3 hours ) .

I felt better than EVER climbing today I actually enjoyed it and I was strong ??? What the Hell went wrong ?? .. I guess all my work this winter and Calif for sure helped. Now I just need to see if today was a freak day or if my fitness really jumped up a few notches.

Gary you should know Hebron Ave from the Glast side . It starts climbing near a small church. - anyhow I cruised it today in I think 9 min's, and best of all I did it all in the big ring.

Holy Shite me climbing in the big ring COOL!!

Then John and I went all over that area climbing and decending I was strong all day and near the end of the ride when I'm usally shot I was doing stand up sprints out of corners getting ready for the SAT CRIT !!

Oh yea I'm back to my normal weight around 150. 147 was way too light + was just a result of being sick for 5 days I think.


OK nuff said -

Race # 1 CRIT 2/7/09

First CRIT of 2009 was a HUGE success ..........


I DID NOT fall DOWN - I had FUN and felt very FIT ..


So it goes like this RACE = 45 min's plus 5 laps Course has start straight - maybe 100 meters then right 90 degree corner with back section consisting of gradual right trending turns till the final corner another 90 degree right back to the start/finish - 200 meters ....


On the start I just get off and start going round + round the LAP time is about 1:10 -1:20 give or take.. My class was Cat 4+5's 39+ ( about 35 riders ) - So some way younger faster guys for sure . After the first bell the FAST Dudes ramped up the pace and they did not pull away as much as string out the group to a single line. I was somewhere out there not sure where when I went over the line for the first preem but back 1/2 of the pack for sure.

I'm like OK some fast surges were all still together no breakaways COOL !!!

So I keep riding trying some laps on the inside some laps in the thick of things and some laps on the outside. I did notice a few guys that were squirrelly ( speeds erratic up + down so hard to follow wheel ) my team mate at one point said stay away from that guy + that guy which I did for the rest of the race. All going OK so far another bell and off they go again I shot over to the right on the back straight thinking I would move up - BUT now I'm out in the wind and not thinking this is smart so I cruise along and fold back in the pack. No idea where I was for the preem nor did I care...

Several laps later on the 90 after the start finish a guy sorta cut me off right on the inside Apex and I had to move a bit . My teammate saw the incident and said it was the only bad move I made in race but if I did not move/slow down he would have taken me out.

All in all it was a great race. Half way around the final lap I see my two CAT 4 team mates starting a move off the front so I shoot up the open right side + jump on John's wheel we come up on the final 90 and the lead out guy was done so John + I were out front for a brief moment........

Then the surge from both sides started I dug for all I had --stood up for a few seconds, sat back down dug deep and got 9th or 10th.

I'm very HAPPY......