2010 Bethel CDP Gold Race – Sunday March 28 2010

Bethel CDP Gold Race – Sunday March 28 2010





CAT 3-4 race

The boys in the BAND ( Team Expo - Superior Energy / Manchester cycle)

This was my third week racing the Bethel Crit series and for my first time ever I was racing the CAT 3-4 class. This is no big deal for all the guys who do this race but for me I was a bit nervous to say the least. I had never intended on doing this race content with the Masters 45+ class with some safer older guys and me a relative new racer. I started racing in the fall of 2008 with two races and maybe 20 -25 races last year mostly training crits. I have more fun doing these races and will continue to focus on what’s fun for me. After reading one of my teammates ( SOC’s ) Blog last week - living the race as I read I decided I was going to join teammates supporting team Expo in the CAT 3-4 race.

To all the riders in this race it was no big deal they have all done this before so I line up near the front and off we go. The pace was not blistering as I assumed it was going to be and I ended up on the right side maybe ½ way into a pack of 60 ish guys & a few gals. I moved around a bit and then got on the right side for a few laps I was feeling good I only did 50 easy miles sat vs. the 70 harder miles I did the week before so in my square head I was going to be ok. One other thing I didn’t know about or plan for was this race was 30 laps vs. the 23 I had been doing. So those extra laps had me a bit concerned during the early part of the race.

When the group would slow up on the hill I would just ease off save my legs and keep rolling along testing what I was made of. Once during the race I ended up way up front and not wanting to take any hard pulls or needing to do any help at that time I eased back to the middle of the pack.

I was having a lot of fun my nervousness was way down, and I started thinking ok where is my teammate Aki. I moved up a few times so I could ride near him and pretend I was a real racer helping out my teammate like we watch on TV during the Tour de France. I was having the time of my life (OLD FART racing with a bunch of young guys) and I was still staying with the bunch and not my normal self…. You know off the back !!!

I need to find the WEB site for the photographer guy on the scooter as I think he got some pic’s of me when I was on the outside for quite a few laps.

OK back to the race – the race went along and I was feeling real good, I guess my training so far this winter + into race season is working this year. Several more laps then were getting to the point where the 45+ race ends 23 laps and I still have legs Cool. This is getting even better and it’s not a total suffer fest ( YET ) . A few more laps and I’m getting a bit tired then the pace ramps way up and I’m hanging on by a thread for a lap or so. As we go up the hill one more time I hear the bell ringing ( this tells us one lap to go). Wow that’s it last lap I look back to see how far from the end of the group I have slipped to and I am the end of the group. Damm and my legs are TOAST – Gotta keep with the group only one more lap. Well after the race talking with Jeff M from the ( IRS Medic team), I found out why all of a sudden I was not able to hang on. Jeff said the guys up front were drilling it hard and I popped . I still had ½ a LAP to go but the GAS tank was DRY. I was still very happy I raced with 7 team mates, I did my TINY part to help mostly just showing up , but it was a great day and I will race this class 4/11 & 4/18 the last two races in the series for sure.

RACE REPORT - March 21 2010 Tour de Kirche

RACE REPORT - March 21 2010 BETHEL Tour de Kirche

This week’s race was nice / warm and dry; I did the Masters 45+ again ( 23 laps) , big field about 60-70 guys. Today was a test for my legs as I did 67 miles Saturday and I had no idea how I would feel. The race started out and the pace was A-OK, I was moving back and forth left to right as I could and even got deep in the center a few times. I’m still nervous being this tight going over 20 MPH. As the race progressed I did a few stand up sprints up the hill to see how I felt and all was going fine. I also did 20+ minutes on the trainer before the race to warm up, I normally just ride around prior to the race. My legs and all felt fine so far, so I start thinking time to move up in the group. I ended up front in the wind once and wasted a bit of energy maybe on LAP 10 give or take. Then I just was trying to stay out of the wind and out of trouble. Somewhere mid race a guy crashed in the corner right after the finish line, I heard a guy came up on the inside and did not hold his line and hit this GUY. That’s the stuff I don’t want to happen your doing everything right and you get taken out. But that racing anything can & will happen. OK so were getting down to maybe 5 laps to go and the PACE which was already quite fast was wicked up even more and the pack strung out to a single line. ( we averaged 25 MPH for the full race ) that’s fast for me!! All of a sudden I’m struggling to even hold a wheel and not get dropped, I look back and am still mid pack but loosing spots quite often as everyone is itching to get up front . I do a hard effort up the hill on the right side to attempt to get closer to the front and now I’m gasping for O2 and feel my legs are toast. I hang on the back section and the next climb up the hill I’m close to done. We still have 2 laps to go and I’m shot. Guess I should not do BIG SAT rides ??? I do everything I can to hang on and finish up MID pack maybe 30th.

So should I not do training rides on Sat before a crit ?? My worry is I have a Masters 55+ 65 mile road race in 5 weeks and I need to not only get back into racing ( hence the training crits), but also get in the BIG miles so I can go at race pace for 65 miles @ Quabbin 4/24..

Decisions decisions !!

Well whatever I end up doing is all good and hopefully make me stronger.

Race report - March 14 2010 - 2010 Ris Van Bethel

Race report - March 14 2010 - 2010 Ris Van Bethel

After an off week with travel Monday & Tuesday and working way too many hours the rest of the week and no time on the bike at all, I was not sure I was ready for my first EAST COAST race of the season.

I woke up Sat with that feeling of I’m getting a cold and it was crappy & rainy out side so that makes one who was expecting to get out and ride a bit unhappy. I sort of wrote of the Sunday race as it was forecasted for heavy rain all day. So I moped about all day not certain what do. I effectively wasted the complete day and I was OK with that as I was telling myself I’m sick and need to rest.

Later in the day I start reading E-mails and several teammates are still planning to race and others are also talking up the SUNDAY CRIT. So just in case I went down cellar and cleaned up the trusty Cannondale Crit bike. I don’t think I rode it for almost a month, it was dirty salty and a general mess. That’s what winter riding in Ct is all about, lots of work keeping the equipment in good working order. So I get Bike all ready to race then start getting all my clothes and other stuff ready.

I get back on E-mail and Face book read a bit then remembered we loose an hour sleep Sat night, so I rush around like a nut and try to get my 8 hours min sleep I attempt before a race. I think I got 7.5 hours not the best sleep but felt OK in the AM. I run down to computer and shoot off a few E-mails read that others are already in transit and AKI was going to have the race -> course in good shape. So that’s it I’m going to RACE !! Decision made now it’s time to get my collective shit together and get going in less than an hour.

I did good hit the road and figured out how to get to the industrial park in Betel where the race was going to be A-OK. I only forgot my trainer so I rode up and down the hill to try to loosen up my legs. I have not been on a bike since Sunday in Calif with Gary & the guys @ Training camp. So I was a bit worried but what the hell this is a training Crit and lets just see what happens and how I feel.


The RACE:

Masters 40+ guys all get 5 ish laps around the course to warm up, for me this was my first time @ Bethel so I have to figure out the course also. All looked great no real sharp corners after start a sweeping right hander down hill then it just sort of keeps sweeping to the right till the hill back to the start. I was very concerned with a hill in a crit as I have not done a lot of crits in my short tenure road racing. The hill turned out to be a non issue at least this week, let’s see what I say after next weekend.

So about 30-35 - MASTER 40+ guys all line up, I like this class as I see lots of gray hair and don’t feel out of place like I do racing the CAT 4 class with all the younger guys. We also had 2 junior riders in our class and they hung with the group just fine the whole race. The whistle blows and off we go I try the inside, the outside kinda like I did @ Plainville last year and just get comfortable with CRIT racing again after a long winter.

Training CAMP in Santa Barbra helped with this a lot as I did the Sunday Worlds and the Tuesday & Thursday same ride a total of 6 times in camp this year. This ride sometimes has a easy 50+ riders so I was getting in tight and in a race like group quite a few days already early in the season.

Back to the race, it’s raining a bit but with the lack of tight corners like Plainville or Hartford the wet road was not an issues or concern at all. We all went round and round and I look up and 15 laps out of 23 to go. I’m still feeling real good (Thanks Training Camp), some surges were a bit hard but I hung on moved around in the group. I always worry in a race I will do something stupid and get yelled at or worse cause a crash or just crash. Had a few bumps and guys passing on the right in the gutter real close but all A-OK so far. We get to 5 laps to go and I’m like where did the last 10 laps go, guess I was in the zone. So I’m still hanging in and we get to 3 laps to go the pack is getting nervous guys jockeying around for positions. I just try to get to the mid section of the front ½ of the group, I work up the right side on the down hill and the pace gets fast, I saying save some for the sprint … Going up the hill on the 2nd to last lap the whole group almost stopped brakes grinding and bumping on both sides what the heck, were going uphill why am I hitting the brakes. I thought I was going to get knocked over I lost a few spots and it was the last lap PANIC riders were wicking up the speed the stronger guys all up front I was not positioned as far up as I wanted but as we came around the final sweeper and up the hill it was an all out sprint for the finish line. Last year in the sprints I just did not have the GAS to keep pushing, not that I’m that much stronger this year but I could feel a difference. A few got past me & I passed a few guys and went over the line. Wow what a BLAST cool down lap and then it was over. I pull up to see my team mates all warming up for the next race get my rain coat ( Thanks DAVE ), and start violently shivering. Now It’s time to hit the Van & change out of this soaking wet gear and get dry clothes on. I was asked how I did and said I may have gotten about 15th when results went up shortly thereafter I was 15th. This was a good result for me and I will work to improve over the next 4-5 races in this series.

Training CAMP final update

Training camp UPDATE # 7 - 2010- Santa Barbra

Training camp UPDATE # 7 - 2010- Santa Barbra

Day # 10 Monday - 3/1/10
Easy solo recovery ride out along ocean to Carpentaria.

Day # 11 Tuesday - 3/2/10
Worlds loop & ride around Santa Barbra nice day !!! Then more work in Garden & guys showed up so another ride up in the lower hills.

Day # 12 Wed - 3/3/10
Figaro climb – Guys all rode I drove car to Los Lovias, I did not have legs for 10,000 feet of climbing and a plan of 110 miles. I ended up doing 4000’ climbing and 40 miles, that was more then enough. I froze my ass off and suffered most of the last ½ of the climb.

Day # 13 Thurs - 3/4/10
I planned to do worlds loop with guys swing home get food & water then hit Gibraltar for a killer climb. Legs too shot. Called it a day after worlds loop and worked in Garden some more.

Day # 14 Fri - 3/5/10
This was an EPIC day for me we rode up the mountains to Solvang for lunch then back another way sorta around the mountains riding on Pacific coast Highway.

How do I best describe the day -> FAST PACE & Suffering, Pain, Good Friends, Scared silly on Route 101 decent, Destroyed, But fun day.

Day # 15 Sat - 3/6/10
Recovery ride with Dave H & Cliff . Then off to watch Gary race in local Goleta CRIT. I was planning to do this but thurs PM showed sat as a total rain out so legs used up on Friday. No way I could race sat. Gary did real good got 2nd in P123 race. Right after race it poured .....

Day # 16 Sun - 3/6/10
Worlds loop and maybe one last big climb will have to see how legs feel. Then wine tasting & pack up.

Training camp UPDATE # 6 - 2010- Santa Barbra

Day # 9 Sunday - 2/28/10

KENDA CUP WEST SERIES – SAGEBRUSH SAFARI 2-28-2010 -

This race was 40 miles east of San Diego out in the desert very close to the USA border to Mexico.

Today was my first Mountain bike race since 1996, I’m out west with son Gary for 2 weeks and this was in his plans so he borrowed a Mtn Bike for me and we raced today.

I was all nervous this am for some reason but once the race started I was doing OK. The first two miles were tar sorta flat slightly uphill for a mile then the road kicked to steep uphill for about another mile. I was feeling good and stuck with my group of guys for the first mile then it was a row of riders all strung out up the hill. We were mixing with some of the classes ahead of us and all bets off keeping track of my group. I felt real good for climbing (this is not normal for me) Maybe the 10+ hours sleep last night? Anyhow I moved along real good and was passing people all the way to the top then the FUN began.

Wha hooooooo the trails were hard packed sand with some mud but not as bad as expected considering all the rain sat. The trails were quite a bit down hill remember the mile climb uphill. This was some fast stuff, banked berms swinging left & right over & over you could just rail these corners real fast. I was having so much fun every once in a while you would catch up to a pile of people going way slower and have to pick a spot to pass. My Mtn bike rock skills from Ct. were very helpful as I could tell a lot of these folks are not used to flying thru rocky steep trails ( this is what we ride in Ct) and I was having a good day so more passes in these sections . The punchy climbs were short so I could keep my speed up. About this time I was running at or over my threshold and I was wondering how long I could keep this fast but real fun pace going. I was breathing so hard sometimes I was scaring myself. I worked it out with short recoveries and hard efforts and got into a good rhythm. After quite a few miles the tight trail opened up to a Crazy fast downhill dirt road with very deep eroded ruts for the rain Sat. I went a bit faster than I should have but was having a lot of fun. The road flattened out then started climbing again, OK now I’m getting tired, I heard a few miles back from some guy we had gone 8 of the 18 miles. So I ate a GU (basically a 100 calorie pack of sugar syrup like stuff). This did nothing for the next 15 min’s of climbing but I keep up the pace of the riders around me. Then came the un-ride able wall ( OR as the promoters called it the HIKE a BIKE section). This was a HUGE traffic jam with 20 maybe 30 riders all struggling up this loose sandy rocky steep climb, good thing I had the GU earlier . I get to top & this younger guy goes flying past me so I say I’m going to let this guy be my rabbit and chase him. He was fast but I worked a bit harder than I was riding and hung with him for a few miles. It really worked out as the large group on the hike a bike section was never seen again.

The trail turned to TAR again and UP up we go again (time for the 2nd GU) . This section was not as steep as the first tar climb of the day and I picked off quite a few more riders ( again cool). All of a sudden some fast riders went past me (I saw Sid Tabelary one of the Pro's fly past) and I figured the Pros were doing another lap of what we just finished. So every so often a few guys would go past me like I was standing still. At the top of the tar section a bunch of folks were handing out water and telling us it was all down hill to the finish. Cool it was more of the fun fast stuff but a lot more mud & deep ruts and I was getting tired. Some more PRO’s passed me, you hear a bike getting close and the rider yelling Pro on you left. You get the hell out of the way fast and let them pass you. A few sketchy downhills a lot of whoops & rollers then three DEEP river crossings another mile in the sage brush and it was over.

I had no Idea how I did I looked for Gary talked to a few of his friends and he rolled in. He did about 8-9 more miles than me and finished only a few min’s after I did he was flying & also had a great time.

Gary won his class Cat 1 35-39 and I also won my Cat 3 55-59 class.

GOOD DAY for a father & son outing …….

Gary at start .

We got two of these !