Racing in July is unusual for me because I've been forced to end my season after the Burlingame Criterium for two years in a row! That probably contributes to a whole bunch of reasons why I can't seem to get out of the Elite 4's.
Regardless of that, this was my first time racing this fun course. Overall, I had a great race with a not-so-great result. At least to me. Last two weeks I increased my volume significantly (by about 44%) to work on aerobic endurance for the late season road races. Well that tired me out by Tuesday when I worked on some threshold intervals. I realized I was on the verge of overtraining and took the next 3 days off (also because I was busy) and then on Saturday, when opening my legs with a few sprint efforts, I knew I had bad form. The 4-5 hours of sleep the night before this race didn't help either.
Our race started late so I warmed up for about 12 minutes. Oxygen debt and labored breathing came on quick but my legs weren't too bad. The race with 59 other guys started easy. I started in the back but at the hill I knew using my momentum would help conserve energy. Well, people really took it easy on the hill and I found that I passed over 50 guys and I was still under threshold. For the next two laps I stayed off the front but nobody worked and I might have lost some energy during the false flat.
My focus during the race was also out of whack. I knew that I needed to stay hydrated but I'd forget and just delay until the next lap or so which may have contributed to my poor performance. The race overall wasn't hard for me, I was just in bad positions throughout the race. I thought I could move up efficiently up the hill--although I WAS able to pass plenty of people on the hill, I'd always be out in the wind. I'd pass on the left side, but most guys were on the right side.
With 2 to go I moved up to the front and again was out in the wind, and I guess as a response, I allowed people to pass me so I could get a wheel. But it wasn't just one person who'd pass, it would be 3 or 4 guys. So on bell lap I knew I had to hold my position because I knew I could make something happen in the uphill finish. Getting around people and then having no wheel to protect me from the wind was what ultimately exhausted me. Again, most of the action was happening in the right side where the surge was smooth and efficient. I was on the left side where people were passing me.
On the finish I couldn't get around the people in front of me and played it safe. I was pretty disappointed because I knew this was my kind of course, but I was plagued with bad form, lack of sleep, and that ultimately led to poor concentration.
I don't know my exact result because the registration was so far from the parking lot that I didn't bother to check, but I'm expecting somewhere around the top 1/3 of the field.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
2013 Burlingame Criterium E4
Oh man my 3rd year entering the Burlingame Criterium as a Cat 4. That totally says I need to upgrade, and two years of getting mid-pack results also shows I didn't train enough.
There's a long story with me and Burlingame and the criterium, but I'll just say that this is homeground to me, and the race that initially really pushed me into cycling. Thus, I always target this race as my season's focus in terms of criteriums. I'm more attached to the traditional course but this alternative course this year is literally a few hundred meters apart and uses some of the same roads so it was still my turf :)
This being my A-race, I can't really say I had a smooth peak because I lost almost seven total weeks from being ill and also my crash in April. But I knew I had a lot more fitness than the last two years so I was looking forward to having better results. My whole year was focused on placing well in this race--all the collegiate races and other Criteriums have prepared me well.
Preparation:
I got around 5 hours of sleep and woke up at 3:30AM...not too good. I had a good breakfast at 4:45AM which was a serving of Oatmeal with some honey and two pieces of toast with some de caffeinated coffee.
I got to the race at 6AM and registered and I knew I had no time to warm-up on a trainer so I just warmed up for 10 minutes on the road--which wasn't good either.
Alright, so having no sleep and no warm-up for my A-race. Not a good habit...
I forgot my chain lube and tire pump too. So I had crappy shifting (and I knew this race would require lots of shifting) but thankfully I borrowed a pump from my teammates :)
I also forgot my Gu which was a ritual before every race so I just ate Clif Bloks instead.
First Half of the Race:
Got to the start line and was in the 2nd row. I was racing with a few other teammates, about 4 or 5. I heard the whistle then clipped in well. Good grief the pack was going hard right away. I think I was dead last in the pack when we hit the hairpin for the first time. I looked at my speed--13MPH and I knew I could go faster because when I was doing hairpin drills I hit over 16.5mph.
My plan was to breakaway after the last prime but I threw that plan away after the first lap because we were going way too fast and I was already in oxygen debt. It was kind of strange because of all the Criteriums I did this year, this one was the hardest! I had the hardest time moving up and I stayed in the back (because I couldn't move up) hoping that the pace would slow down, but in the first 20 minutes I was hanging on for dear life.
There were plenty of attacks but none stuck. There were a lot of crashes in the hairpin. Yikes...this is why I did hairpin drills.
Second Half of the race:
With 20 minutes in, I noticed people were getting dropped. The field had actually split into to two separate fields with both strung out. We could see the second field when we exited the hairpin.
The pace had actually slowed down a bit but it was still fast and I was still at or over threshold. I found the easiest part to move up was either the stretch where the finish line was (also the easiest place to drink) or either the entrance or exit to the hairpin. Again, I will mention that doing hairpin drills really help. It almost felt somewhat wrong moving up in the hairpin. The chicane was where I lost places because I tried to avoid cracks which were at the apex and also the metal covers which were at the exit upon taking the apex. Pretty crazy.
I was feeling stronger as we came closer to the end of the race and with 5 or so to go I felt I should test whether my sprint training really worked. I moved up to the front with 3 to go and entered the hairpin first at full speed. Doing this, I thought I could secure a top ten position but I took a bad line in the chicane.
Last two laps:
The last two laps were a little more calm but still pretty fast. I moved up again in the hairpin going to the final lap. On the final lap itself, I stayed at the side and risked going into bad pavement at the cost of taking the outside of the hairpin fast in order to stay at the front. I was able to take a nice line through the hairpin, and was among the top ten ours of the final sweeping corner.
I think this is where I always make a mistake. For some reason, I hesitate during the final sprint, thinking I'd blow up before the finish line. Out of the sweeping corner, I waited long for the jump. I expected it to happen before the sweeping corner but in fact in happened after it.
But I took the inside line heading into the finish line and sprinted hard enough to take 5th place. I was disappointed because 1st place was only a few bike lengths away (it was a really close sprint). However I was happy to get some BAT points as well as another single upgrade point to Cat 3.
I mean, if I do this 18 more times, I can be a Cat3! No really, I need to start placing higher and start placing in road races. Although I will still be doing maybe 5 more Crits this season, I'm going to start focusing on climbing to become a better competitor in road races for next year.
Aside from that, I'm proud of myself for improving my performance in Criteriums which I knew was my weakness from the start of my cycling history.
Highlights:
- A-Race
- Good breakfast, no warm-up, dry chain (crappy shifting)
- First Half of race, hard as heck.
- 2nd half calmed down
- Moved up in hairpin
- Sprinted for 5th place
There's a long story with me and Burlingame and the criterium, but I'll just say that this is homeground to me, and the race that initially really pushed me into cycling. Thus, I always target this race as my season's focus in terms of criteriums. I'm more attached to the traditional course but this alternative course this year is literally a few hundred meters apart and uses some of the same roads so it was still my turf :)
This being my A-race, I can't really say I had a smooth peak because I lost almost seven total weeks from being ill and also my crash in April. But I knew I had a lot more fitness than the last two years so I was looking forward to having better results. My whole year was focused on placing well in this race--all the collegiate races and other Criteriums have prepared me well.
Preparation:
I got around 5 hours of sleep and woke up at 3:30AM...not too good. I had a good breakfast at 4:45AM which was a serving of Oatmeal with some honey and two pieces of toast with some de caffeinated coffee.
I got to the race at 6AM and registered and I knew I had no time to warm-up on a trainer so I just warmed up for 10 minutes on the road--which wasn't good either.
Alright, so having no sleep and no warm-up for my A-race. Not a good habit...
I forgot my chain lube and tire pump too. So I had crappy shifting (and I knew this race would require lots of shifting) but thankfully I borrowed a pump from my teammates :)
I also forgot my Gu which was a ritual before every race so I just ate Clif Bloks instead.
First Half of the Race:
Got to the start line and was in the 2nd row. I was racing with a few other teammates, about 4 or 5. I heard the whistle then clipped in well. Good grief the pack was going hard right away. I think I was dead last in the pack when we hit the hairpin for the first time. I looked at my speed--13MPH and I knew I could go faster because when I was doing hairpin drills I hit over 16.5mph.
My plan was to breakaway after the last prime but I threw that plan away after the first lap because we were going way too fast and I was already in oxygen debt. It was kind of strange because of all the Criteriums I did this year, this one was the hardest! I had the hardest time moving up and I stayed in the back (because I couldn't move up) hoping that the pace would slow down, but in the first 20 minutes I was hanging on for dear life.
There were plenty of attacks but none stuck. There were a lot of crashes in the hairpin. Yikes...this is why I did hairpin drills.
Second Half of the race:
With 20 minutes in, I noticed people were getting dropped. The field had actually split into to two separate fields with both strung out. We could see the second field when we exited the hairpin.
The pace had actually slowed down a bit but it was still fast and I was still at or over threshold. I found the easiest part to move up was either the stretch where the finish line was (also the easiest place to drink) or either the entrance or exit to the hairpin. Again, I will mention that doing hairpin drills really help. It almost felt somewhat wrong moving up in the hairpin. The chicane was where I lost places because I tried to avoid cracks which were at the apex and also the metal covers which were at the exit upon taking the apex. Pretty crazy.
I was feeling stronger as we came closer to the end of the race and with 5 or so to go I felt I should test whether my sprint training really worked. I moved up to the front with 3 to go and entered the hairpin first at full speed. Doing this, I thought I could secure a top ten position but I took a bad line in the chicane.
Last two laps:
The last two laps were a little more calm but still pretty fast. I moved up again in the hairpin going to the final lap. On the final lap itself, I stayed at the side and risked going into bad pavement at the cost of taking the outside of the hairpin fast in order to stay at the front. I was able to take a nice line through the hairpin, and was among the top ten ours of the final sweeping corner.
I think this is where I always make a mistake. For some reason, I hesitate during the final sprint, thinking I'd blow up before the finish line. Out of the sweeping corner, I waited long for the jump. I expected it to happen before the sweeping corner but in fact in happened after it.
But I took the inside line heading into the finish line and sprinted hard enough to take 5th place. I was disappointed because 1st place was only a few bike lengths away (it was a really close sprint). However I was happy to get some BAT points as well as another single upgrade point to Cat 3.
I mean, if I do this 18 more times, I can be a Cat3! No really, I need to start placing higher and start placing in road races. Although I will still be doing maybe 5 more Crits this season, I'm going to start focusing on climbing to become a better competitor in road races for next year.
Aside from that, I'm proud of myself for improving my performance in Criteriums which I knew was my weakness from the start of my cycling history.
Highlights:
- A-Race
- Good breakfast, no warm-up, dry chain (crappy shifting)
- First Half of race, hard as heck.
- 2nd half calmed down
- Moved up in hairpin
- Sprinted for 5th place
Red Kite Criterium Tri-Valley E3/4 (6/15/13)
I'm making this one quick because I forgot to do it and I just want to jump into my Burlingame Crit report. I raced with a handful of Leopard-Sapporo members including some of the 3's which was a very humbling experience. The pace wasn't bad at all--in fact I was getting kind of bored especially since I was in the back. So I moved up and at one point one teammate was in a break so I took hold of the front to set a false tempo for about 200m but other people quickly went around me. Well, it's good to know that people work because nobody worked in the last few E4 Crits I've raced.
Other than that it was pretty much uneventful but one of the sketchiest races I've done. People were taking all kinds of different shapes through the corners and unfortunately one of my teammates got caught up in a crash.
On the last lap I was feeling ready for the sprint so I moved up but even though I was able to get at the front, I was poorly positioned and couldn't move up in the final surge. Another rider almost took me out when he swerved as was literally centimeters from swiping my front wheel.
I decided to just keep it safe so I rolled in mid pack. I placed 37th/70 overall and 19th in the E4.
I know I wanted to save my energy for the sprint but I couldn't contest it so I had no idea if I'd be able to contest the sprint at Burlingame.
Other than that it was pretty much uneventful but one of the sketchiest races I've done. People were taking all kinds of different shapes through the corners and unfortunately one of my teammates got caught up in a crash.
On the last lap I was feeling ready for the sprint so I moved up but even though I was able to get at the front, I was poorly positioned and couldn't move up in the final surge. Another rider almost took me out when he swerved as was literally centimeters from swiping my front wheel.
I decided to just keep it safe so I rolled in mid pack. I placed 37th/70 overall and 19th in the E4.
I know I wanted to save my energy for the sprint but I couldn't contest it so I had no idea if I'd be able to contest the sprint at Burlingame.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
IC3 Dash For Cash Race Report - E4
Last week I caught a bad cold and wasn't able to do Mt. Hamilton RR and Memorial Day Crit like I had hoped. I also got stomped by the end of school havoc with finals and papers. But with all that out of the way, I got back on the bike with some build-up in the throat during sustained efforts.
I knew I'd do Dash For Cash so I took it easy this week and didn't do any interval training, just easy rides with Strava segment KOM/PR efforts. Thus, I planned to use this race as a good workout to get me ready for the next few months of Crit racing.
I was able to race with 2 teammates but my plan was to not go for any primes--I was confident I could take a few but after missing a week of workouts and coming from a cold, I planned to just see what I could do in the end. I had two choices--to save it for an all-out sprint (which was my original plan) or attack after the last prime. I didn't want to do the latter because it was really hot, really windy in the back stretch, and of course because I lost some fitness.
Getting 4th in the field sprint at Cat's Hill encouraged me to save my legs for the sprint, so for most of the race I sat it. Sometimes I moved up to the front but the energy cost wasn't too much! Most of the race was pretty boring though--my heart rate was at 190+ but I think the high number is due to the heat since it was 90+ degrees F. So most of my harder efforts came from sprinting out of corners or short sprints to move up or close a gap.
After all the primes were done, with about 3 to go, it was still uneventful and I was really getting bored, seriously! Somebody went solo and nobody chased because his attack was kind of gradual and the gap was growing slow, but he was still staying away. I moved up to the front with 2 to go and the cramps started coming. But I stayed up there with a Squadra SF guy and held a top 3 position in the pack. On the final approach to the last corner I notice that the field is drifting away from behind me because the guy whose wheel I am on had actually surged.
So, I changed my mind about the sprint and decided to attack...
It was bell lap and I chased the guy who was attempting a solo win, I could see that I was closing the gap and I looked behind me and also saw that the field was quite far. But the windy back section came and I was already toasted. On the last approach to the last corner, the field got me. I tried to match their pace but I was done so I just rolled to the finish line after being passed by 28 guys. I ended up 29th/44 which isn't too bad, but I know I could've hit top 15 if I contested the sprint.
The thing is, I still don't know what I am--a climber? Sprinter? Time trialist? That's why I'm experimenting with these race situations I encounter, so I can truly find what I'm better at and what will give me better results. Last race, I did a pretty good sprint but that's because it was Cat's Hill and not a flat criterium. So for my next race, which is most likely Tri-Valley's Crit, I'm going to commit to contesting the final sprint!
So I'm going to write this just so I actually do it! --In my next Crit, save all my energy for the final sprint! Do not attack on bell lap, save my legs for the final sprint!!!!
I knew I'd do Dash For Cash so I took it easy this week and didn't do any interval training, just easy rides with Strava segment KOM/PR efforts. Thus, I planned to use this race as a good workout to get me ready for the next few months of Crit racing.
I was able to race with 2 teammates but my plan was to not go for any primes--I was confident I could take a few but after missing a week of workouts and coming from a cold, I planned to just see what I could do in the end. I had two choices--to save it for an all-out sprint (which was my original plan) or attack after the last prime. I didn't want to do the latter because it was really hot, really windy in the back stretch, and of course because I lost some fitness.
Getting 4th in the field sprint at Cat's Hill encouraged me to save my legs for the sprint, so for most of the race I sat it. Sometimes I moved up to the front but the energy cost wasn't too much! Most of the race was pretty boring though--my heart rate was at 190+ but I think the high number is due to the heat since it was 90+ degrees F. So most of my harder efforts came from sprinting out of corners or short sprints to move up or close a gap.
After all the primes were done, with about 3 to go, it was still uneventful and I was really getting bored, seriously! Somebody went solo and nobody chased because his attack was kind of gradual and the gap was growing slow, but he was still staying away. I moved up to the front with 2 to go and the cramps started coming. But I stayed up there with a Squadra SF guy and held a top 3 position in the pack. On the final approach to the last corner I notice that the field is drifting away from behind me because the guy whose wheel I am on had actually surged.
So, I changed my mind about the sprint and decided to attack...
It was bell lap and I chased the guy who was attempting a solo win, I could see that I was closing the gap and I looked behind me and also saw that the field was quite far. But the windy back section came and I was already toasted. On the last approach to the last corner, the field got me. I tried to match their pace but I was done so I just rolled to the finish line after being passed by 28 guys. I ended up 29th/44 which isn't too bad, but I know I could've hit top 15 if I contested the sprint.
The thing is, I still don't know what I am--a climber? Sprinter? Time trialist? That's why I'm experimenting with these race situations I encounter, so I can truly find what I'm better at and what will give me better results. Last race, I did a pretty good sprint but that's because it was Cat's Hill and not a flat criterium. So for my next race, which is most likely Tri-Valley's Crit, I'm going to commit to contesting the final sprint!
So I'm going to write this just so I actually do it! --In my next Crit, save all my energy for the final sprint! Do not attack on bell lap, save my legs for the final sprint!!!!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Cat's Hill Classic Criterium (Cat 4) Race Report
After having a bad race at Wente Vineyards (Road Race) I wanted some redemption at one of the hardest Crits on the calendar. My last Crit was also a hilly Crit--at UCB's race weekend. I knew I was getting better at Crits but I'm still not sure if the fact that it is hilly plays a factor in that claim.
Anyways, I raced with a good number of teammates. We started on time and pretty mellow. I stayed behind my teammate Christian Hughes who is also a junior! It's been two years since I did this course, but the climb wasn't startling. I did it in the right gear the first time, then experimented the next few laps. I also did my best to stay hydrated; the best place for me to drink was right after Cat's Hill...on the back straight.
There was an early break with two riders. Nobody did anything because they thought it was too early. The pace increased a little after two laps of them away, and we were closing the gap.
Soon I was falling behind the field and doing very uneconomical maneuvers--not closing gaps, choosing too heavy of a gear, being out in the wind, etc. So I knew I had to get as conservative as possible. The first way I conserved energy was during the climb--I told myself to use a very light gear, and when I did, I passed almost 3/4 of everyone in front of me and ended up in the front.
The next way was by using the descent to recover. After the descent, there's a right corner which people slow down for. Thus, I didn't pedal during the final approach to the corner, and as a result I was able to cruise into the apex and pedal out of it to eventually land behind a wheel to draft.
With me at the front behind two guys, both of them said they couldn't do it anymore. Nobody else in the field wanted to work, so I went ahead and dialed up some power to try and bridge To the break. I was 5 seconds away from them on the climb (people were yelling it out) and almost caught them on the back straight, but coming into the 9th lap (halfway point of the race) I started to fade and redline, and didn't want to waste all my energy (like in Wente Vineyards). I believe it was a gamble that I won because the two guys in the break were really strong and they probably would've burned me!
However, I ended up getting a prime which I was unaware of!
I fell back into the field right before the climb, and felt like crap--so crappy I was unsure if I could finish! So I stayed as conservative as possible for the rest of the race.
One thing I noticed was that I always gained positions on the climb. I was able to gain on average 5 positions, even 10 at times. I thank my power to weight ratio for this. There were also a lot of collisions on the climb, easily avoided though because they were all on the right side and I always turned into the left side.
On the lap before bell-lap, the pace increased and surprisingly I was able to adjust to it. I stayed in the top 15 of the pack to get ready for a good position during the bell lap. The 2-man breakaway was able to stay throughout the end, so we were getting ready for the field sprint. On bell lap, the pace remained the same. I was looking forward to the climb, but didn't drill it too hard because everyone around me was already suffering. However, I was able to pass every rider so I slowed down to recover and held on to my position in the top 5 of the field.
I definitely had enough left in me for an all-out sprint. I took the final corner fast and waited for the sprint to start. Apparently it had started and I started too late but I was able to pass some guys. Before I knew it, we were already at the finish line where I ended up 4th in the field sprint--nearly neck to neck with another guy.
My official result was 6th place/50 starters, plus the prime I was unaware of. This is one of my best results yet, and outside of Collegiate racing it is my first time placing in a criterium. The winner was a talented Junior from Bear Development, who stated the other guy in the break was a professional mountain cyclist who gave him the win.
I had a bad race last week but a superb race this week. Maybe I am becoming a Criterium guy? I know I'm getting better at them, but I need to race a flatter one to see!
P.S. I got my first point toward upgrading to Category 3!
--D
Anyways, I raced with a good number of teammates. We started on time and pretty mellow. I stayed behind my teammate Christian Hughes who is also a junior! It's been two years since I did this course, but the climb wasn't startling. I did it in the right gear the first time, then experimented the next few laps. I also did my best to stay hydrated; the best place for me to drink was right after Cat's Hill...on the back straight.
There was an early break with two riders. Nobody did anything because they thought it was too early. The pace increased a little after two laps of them away, and we were closing the gap.
Soon I was falling behind the field and doing very uneconomical maneuvers--not closing gaps, choosing too heavy of a gear, being out in the wind, etc. So I knew I had to get as conservative as possible. The first way I conserved energy was during the climb--I told myself to use a very light gear, and when I did, I passed almost 3/4 of everyone in front of me and ended up in the front.
The next way was by using the descent to recover. After the descent, there's a right corner which people slow down for. Thus, I didn't pedal during the final approach to the corner, and as a result I was able to cruise into the apex and pedal out of it to eventually land behind a wheel to draft.
With me at the front behind two guys, both of them said they couldn't do it anymore. Nobody else in the field wanted to work, so I went ahead and dialed up some power to try and bridge To the break. I was 5 seconds away from them on the climb (people were yelling it out) and almost caught them on the back straight, but coming into the 9th lap (halfway point of the race) I started to fade and redline, and didn't want to waste all my energy (like in Wente Vineyards). I believe it was a gamble that I won because the two guys in the break were really strong and they probably would've burned me!
However, I ended up getting a prime which I was unaware of!
I fell back into the field right before the climb, and felt like crap--so crappy I was unsure if I could finish! So I stayed as conservative as possible for the rest of the race.
One thing I noticed was that I always gained positions on the climb. I was able to gain on average 5 positions, even 10 at times. I thank my power to weight ratio for this. There were also a lot of collisions on the climb, easily avoided though because they were all on the right side and I always turned into the left side.
On the lap before bell-lap, the pace increased and surprisingly I was able to adjust to it. I stayed in the top 15 of the pack to get ready for a good position during the bell lap. The 2-man breakaway was able to stay throughout the end, so we were getting ready for the field sprint. On bell lap, the pace remained the same. I was looking forward to the climb, but didn't drill it too hard because everyone around me was already suffering. However, I was able to pass every rider so I slowed down to recover and held on to my position in the top 5 of the field.
I definitely had enough left in me for an all-out sprint. I took the final corner fast and waited for the sprint to start. Apparently it had started and I started too late but I was able to pass some guys. Before I knew it, we were already at the finish line where I ended up 4th in the field sprint--nearly neck to neck with another guy.
My official result was 6th place/50 starters, plus the prime I was unaware of. This is one of my best results yet, and outside of Collegiate racing it is my first time placing in a criterium. The winner was a talented Junior from Bear Development, who stated the other guy in the break was a professional mountain cyclist who gave him the win.
I had a bad race last week but a superb race this week. Maybe I am becoming a Criterium guy? I know I'm getting better at them, but I need to race a flatter one to see!
P.S. I got my first point toward upgrading to Category 3!
--D
Wente Vineyards Road Race (Cat 4) Race Report
This one will be pretty brief because there's not much to say. I knew the course and looked forward to it because rolling hills and windy descents are fun (to me)! I raced with plenty of Leopard-Sapporo teammates--my first road race with the Cat 4 squad!
We started and once we approached the climb everyone was drilling it. I was probably the 6th guy in the train up the climb and I was already dying trying to stay on my teammate, Chris's, wheel. I looked back once we hit the overpass and saw an incredible gap on the field. Yup, way too early.
We hit the next climb which isn't supposed to that bad and I went from 6th wheel to 60th as I saw everyone pass me. I wasn't feeling all too good and I was already in no men's land on the false flat section. Luckily, I was able to catch and pass riders on the windy downhill sections! I ended up bridging to the field on the windy straight section.
When we approached the main climb again, I got dropped toward the 2nd lap turnover. Spent most of my time in no man's land again for the lap, and toward the end the heat cramps came up. Thought I should dropout, but decided to finish the final lap without any care toward my result.
I most likely hit the wall/bonked due to not drinking enough fluids, and my Gu was ineffective because I didn't hydrate myself enough after digesting it. It could also be because I went way to hard in the beginning. But I finished the race nearly dead last and climbed at, like, 35 RPM with cramps and such.
Overall, it was a bad race. Everyone has bad races so there's nothing to complain about. I just need to move on and learn more!
--D
We started and once we approached the climb everyone was drilling it. I was probably the 6th guy in the train up the climb and I was already dying trying to stay on my teammate, Chris's, wheel. I looked back once we hit the overpass and saw an incredible gap on the field. Yup, way too early.
We hit the next climb which isn't supposed to that bad and I went from 6th wheel to 60th as I saw everyone pass me. I wasn't feeling all too good and I was already in no men's land on the false flat section. Luckily, I was able to catch and pass riders on the windy downhill sections! I ended up bridging to the field on the windy straight section.
When we approached the main climb again, I got dropped toward the 2nd lap turnover. Spent most of my time in no man's land again for the lap, and toward the end the heat cramps came up. Thought I should dropout, but decided to finish the final lap without any care toward my result.
I most likely hit the wall/bonked due to not drinking enough fluids, and my Gu was ineffective because I didn't hydrate myself enough after digesting it. It could also be because I went way to hard in the beginning. But I finished the race nearly dead last and climbed at, like, 35 RPM with cramps and such.
Overall, it was a bad race. Everyone has bad races so there's nothing to complain about. I just need to move on and learn more!
--D
Friday, April 26, 2013
"It never gets easier, you just get faster."
Today I experienced this quote when I was doing my leg opener ride for tomorrow's race. I usually use Southgate Avenue as my leg opener segment. Two years ago I got my first Strava KOM on there, with a time of 5:19. So you could say it has some value to me.
I kept the KOM time until January 27 of this year, where I improved it by 11 seconds, with a time of 5:08. My goal was to get a sub-5-minute climb. But in March, during my leg opener for the UC Berkeley Race weekend, I was riding with Eric and attacked and practically time trialed/sprinted the flat section. Surprisingly, I found I had yet again improved my time by another 11 seconds, getting 4:57.
Then my first KOM ever gets taken away from me about a week later. The new KOM time was 4:45, something I wasn't too sure I could beat. So yesterday, knowing I would open my legs up on Southgate Avenue for Wente Vineyards, I compared my speed on certain sections of the 1-mile climb. In order to PR yet again, I'd have to climb fast on the graded part, and sprint fast on the flatter part.
So that's exactly what I did today, I cruised up the hill at tempo--close but not quite at LTHR, and then attacked where I attacked Eric, and then sprinted the flat section.
I felt like crap after, and was disappointed in myself because I couldn't spin as fast as I wanted to on the flat section. It was already painful to breath which is why I couldn't push myself anymore. Plus I'm about 4-weeks detrained.
So I continued riding easy until I got home, worried that my performance on Southgate would indicate poor performance at tomorrow's road race.
I got home and uploaded the Strava file, see the icon of the trophy with a (x1) next to it, scroll down and notice the KOM crown! I look further right and see my new PR of 4:12--a 45 second improvement from last time, and a 1:07 improvement from the first time I ever went hard up the climb.
Which is why they say that it never gets easier, we only get faster :)
I kept the KOM time until January 27 of this year, where I improved it by 11 seconds, with a time of 5:08. My goal was to get a sub-5-minute climb. But in March, during my leg opener for the UC Berkeley Race weekend, I was riding with Eric and attacked and practically time trialed/sprinted the flat section. Surprisingly, I found I had yet again improved my time by another 11 seconds, getting 4:57.
Then my first KOM ever gets taken away from me about a week later. The new KOM time was 4:45, something I wasn't too sure I could beat. So yesterday, knowing I would open my legs up on Southgate Avenue for Wente Vineyards, I compared my speed on certain sections of the 1-mile climb. In order to PR yet again, I'd have to climb fast on the graded part, and sprint fast on the flatter part.
So that's exactly what I did today, I cruised up the hill at tempo--close but not quite at LTHR, and then attacked where I attacked Eric, and then sprinted the flat section.
I felt like crap after, and was disappointed in myself because I couldn't spin as fast as I wanted to on the flat section. It was already painful to breath which is why I couldn't push myself anymore. Plus I'm about 4-weeks detrained.
So I continued riding easy until I got home, worried that my performance on Southgate would indicate poor performance at tomorrow's road race.
I got home and uploaded the Strava file, see the icon of the trophy with a (x1) next to it, scroll down and notice the KOM crown! I look further right and see my new PR of 4:12--a 45 second improvement from last time, and a 1:07 improvement from the first time I ever went hard up the climb.
Which is why they say that it never gets easier, we only get faster :)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Crashed. My First Concussion Experience.
Yesterday (April 2, 2013) I did the TNPR(Tuesday Night Park Ride) at Golden Gate Park. It's one of the fastest available group rides near me and also pretty technical as we are required to weave past traffic combined with bad roads--typical SF riding! My teammates were going to be there so I thought I might as well try it--after more than 2 years of not doing it. Typically, Cat1+2 guys drive the pace and yesterday a couple of well-known Master guys were there. Just coming off from Hay Fever and allergies, I had lost a week of training plus I was still having trouble breathing from asthma. Needless to say, I lasted 3 laps and dropped out on the slight uphill part. I waited for them to lap me so that I could see if I can catch on and make the workout more productive, but again, my breathing limited me.
The Crash -
So anyways, I met up with my teammates Eric, Christian, and Bryan. We all got popped off and the ride had just finished, so we were all headed home. I separated with Eric and Christian and Bryan and turned left on the first left of TNPR going toward the gated entries and Polo Fields. I saw my car and shifted to the small cog on my cassette and I was already in the big one. I remember thinking to myself that one day I would need to sprint in this gear, or even a bigger one like a 53-11. So I was spinning in my 50-12 and gaining speed as it was slightly downhill.
Next thing I know, I see what seemed to be a pothole but in fact was very uneven pavement--a double dip in the road. It was so uneven that my bike's front wheel landed in the dip, and bounced out and went into the air. I hit the cement head first, and then I was out.
Next, I remember having a dream, that I was still with my teammates, and that I hadn't been dropped from TNPR. I was hanging on pretty well and then Eric said, hey dude I think you crashed, and then I didn't respond, I just said to myself in my mind, "oh good thing this is just a dream."
And then I open my eyes slowly to a dog in my face with two people around me. One guy was like "oh there he's opening his eyes" and I don't remember anything in between that until he said "I saw it said Philippines on your Jersey so I thought you didn't speak English because you weren't replying to anything we were saying." And then, "You were out for like 2 minutes...it looks like you hit your head pretty hard" and then I asked "Uh-oh am I bleeding?" And then I took off my helmet and then they said "doesn't look like it, but your face is a little scratched up and your jersey is all torn in the back" and then the other guy said "your bike looks messed up" and I remember that the chain was off because it fell. Then they asked if I was on my way home, I told them that I was on my way to my car (which was like about 300 meters away). Then one guy said "you might want to let your friend drive you home" and then the other guy said "oh no I'm not his friend I just saw him fall." And then I said, "it's ok I have a friend with me"...but I really didn't--looks like I had forgotten I split up with Eric and Christian!
Next thing I know, my bike frame is in the back of my car, my wheels in the back seats...with the cassette covered with a plastic like I always do it--however I do not remember ever disassembling my bike, nor do I remember if I walked to my car alone or with the two people, or if I biked there!! I got into the passenger seat and checked if my bike was in the trunk--again! And then I saw my broken helmet, and threw it into the trunk--I have no idea why I did that. And then I called Eric but no answer, and then I remembered we split up, so I turned my car on thought I should talk to Eric to see if he knew that I crashed--because I thought he did, and then I started driving.
I believe I was driving perfectly fine even though I don't remember driving to Eric's house. I remember flashing my high beams Every time I was at a 4-way stop and gave the other car way. I also remember some of the car models I was driving next to--a BMW 3 series on the Great Highway, and a Honda Accord from Sloat to 35. I remember the scary left turn onto Lake Merced, and then my phone rang and I turned into the parking lot of Lake Merced...it was Eric, and I said "Hey Eric did you know I crashed?? And he said he didn't, so He told me to come over (even though I was already on my way. I remember turning left going to Stonestown but then after that I only remember bits of moments driving to Eric's house.
When I arrived at Eric's house I told him what had happened. I called the doctor and they said to get checked the following day so I guess it wasn't really serious. So (today) I got checked and my doctor spoke to a neurologist and said if I felt nauseous or vomited to go to the E.R. Other than that, I have road rash on my right shoulder, a broken helmet, some dings on my sunglasses, a small dent on the top tube of my CAAD10, scraped brake hoods, and minor scrapes on my knuckles and legs.
For a first concussion experience, that was pretty strange. The fall itself didn't hurt, as I did not feel it. Concussions have the same characteristics as dreams. Events are all chopped up.
So I'm off the bike now, the doctor said to check if I can ride again in 10 days. Looks like I'm going to lose a lot of fitness, and might skip the Santa Cruz Crit, but I'm hoping I can be back on the bike a week before Davis, the Conference Championships, to tune up. Looks like I be a domestique for that race.
- D
The Crash -
So anyways, I met up with my teammates Eric, Christian, and Bryan. We all got popped off and the ride had just finished, so we were all headed home. I separated with Eric and Christian and Bryan and turned left on the first left of TNPR going toward the gated entries and Polo Fields. I saw my car and shifted to the small cog on my cassette and I was already in the big one. I remember thinking to myself that one day I would need to sprint in this gear, or even a bigger one like a 53-11. So I was spinning in my 50-12 and gaining speed as it was slightly downhill.
Next thing I know, I see what seemed to be a pothole but in fact was very uneven pavement--a double dip in the road. It was so uneven that my bike's front wheel landed in the dip, and bounced out and went into the air. I hit the cement head first, and then I was out.
Next, I remember having a dream, that I was still with my teammates, and that I hadn't been dropped from TNPR. I was hanging on pretty well and then Eric said, hey dude I think you crashed, and then I didn't respond, I just said to myself in my mind, "oh good thing this is just a dream."
And then I open my eyes slowly to a dog in my face with two people around me. One guy was like "oh there he's opening his eyes" and I don't remember anything in between that until he said "I saw it said Philippines on your Jersey so I thought you didn't speak English because you weren't replying to anything we were saying." And then, "You were out for like 2 minutes...it looks like you hit your head pretty hard" and then I asked "Uh-oh am I bleeding?" And then I took off my helmet and then they said "doesn't look like it, but your face is a little scratched up and your jersey is all torn in the back" and then the other guy said "your bike looks messed up" and I remember that the chain was off because it fell. Then they asked if I was on my way home, I told them that I was on my way to my car (which was like about 300 meters away). Then one guy said "you might want to let your friend drive you home" and then the other guy said "oh no I'm not his friend I just saw him fall." And then I said, "it's ok I have a friend with me"...but I really didn't--looks like I had forgotten I split up with Eric and Christian!
Next thing I know, my bike frame is in the back of my car, my wheels in the back seats...with the cassette covered with a plastic like I always do it--however I do not remember ever disassembling my bike, nor do I remember if I walked to my car alone or with the two people, or if I biked there!! I got into the passenger seat and checked if my bike was in the trunk--again! And then I saw my broken helmet, and threw it into the trunk--I have no idea why I did that. And then I called Eric but no answer, and then I remembered we split up, so I turned my car on thought I should talk to Eric to see if he knew that I crashed--because I thought he did, and then I started driving.
I believe I was driving perfectly fine even though I don't remember driving to Eric's house. I remember flashing my high beams Every time I was at a 4-way stop and gave the other car way. I also remember some of the car models I was driving next to--a BMW 3 series on the Great Highway, and a Honda Accord from Sloat to 35. I remember the scary left turn onto Lake Merced, and then my phone rang and I turned into the parking lot of Lake Merced...it was Eric, and I said "Hey Eric did you know I crashed?? And he said he didn't, so He told me to come over (even though I was already on my way. I remember turning left going to Stonestown but then after that I only remember bits of moments driving to Eric's house.
When I arrived at Eric's house I told him what had happened. I called the doctor and they said to get checked the following day so I guess it wasn't really serious. So (today) I got checked and my doctor spoke to a neurologist and said if I felt nauseous or vomited to go to the E.R. Other than that, I have road rash on my right shoulder, a broken helmet, some dings on my sunglasses, a small dent on the top tube of my CAAD10, scraped brake hoods, and minor scrapes on my knuckles and legs.
For a first concussion experience, that was pretty strange. The fall itself didn't hurt, as I did not feel it. Concussions have the same characteristics as dreams. Events are all chopped up.
So I'm off the bike now, the doctor said to check if I can ride again in 10 days. Looks like I'm going to lose a lot of fitness, and might skip the Santa Cruz Crit, but I'm hoping I can be back on the bike a week before Davis, the Conference Championships, to tune up. Looks like I be a domestique for that race.
- D
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
5 Race Check-In
Wow, I can't believe I've competed in 5 races this year. Why? Well it's probably due to the fact that last year I only participated in 4 races for the whole year! Last year, I wasn't motivated enough, but (this year) after joining the newly developed Leopard-Sapporo team and racing Collegiately for my school SF State, I can--without hesitation--say that I'm motivated to do A LOT more races this year.
And because of that, I can gauge race-readiness and preparedness compared to past racing. I'll do these check-ins every 5 races which should be enough.
I know that I've improved quite a bit compared to my last race of 2012; the Burlingame Criterium. Last year, I finished in mid- to late-pack (Elite 4). For this year, apart from my race in UC Santa Cruz, I've been able to grab 3 top 10's and a top 20! And I survived an Elite 3/4 race in which half the field dropped out of! So onto the things I've noticed...
- I'm more comfortable in Criteriums: How so? Last year I always raced Criteriums above LT, at 100% of whatever my max sustained effort for 30-40 minutes is. The past Criteriums I did this year, I've been able to race them under Threshold, which gave me enough to attack the field several times. So if you read my race reports, you'll see that I always attack the field in hopes someone will breakaway with me. That's because it's fairly new to me, I've never felt that experience of attack the field, and I've always wanted to!
- I'm not much of a climber: I mean, I can hang on in a climb, but I can barely launch an attack on one. I even have the physiology of a climber. Less than 1.8 lbs per inch of body height! My training partners Eric and Christian are better climbers than me and I have the lightest bike too. So I've labeled climbing as my official limiter, and will probably fully work on it after Collegiate Regional Championships.
- I suck at handling my bike: I wouldn't draft myself in a criterium or any technical course because my rear wheel is always tail-happy. Sometimes on a climb I can't hold my line. I definitely do not want to be the guy who causes a crash (and I almost did at the Stanford Crit) so I'm aware of this glitch I have and will fix it for the safety of me and the others. Maybe I'm just rusty from not doing Crits or something. But I know I need to keep my butt down and not jump out of the corners to hard because my rear wheel can get off the ground and potentially lose its traction during a fast corner.
- I can move up the field solo: I can also bridge gaps if they're not too far! In both the UCSC RR (MB) and UCB RR (MC) I bridged a large gap after getting dropped on the climb. In UCSC, I bridged a gap that was as wide as half of the 2 mile lap. Before, I would see a gap and have nothing left in me to close it. So I must've been doing something right!
- Pedaling Economy: It's a lot better. And I'm more comfortable spinning fast. I need to do a time trial. At the UC Berkeley Crit, I moved up the field on the climb (in the E3/4) at 125 RPM and didn't even realize it was that fast. Pedaling Economy is not consistent and either goes one way or the other so I need to pay attention to it during the various stages of training.
- I'm a rare breed and probably evolved for a Hummingbird: Or maybe not, but in a graph of people's Max Heart Rates, we know that it will be in the shape of a bell curve, and I would be on the right. My Max Heart rate is so far 211 BPM and my threshold ranges from 183-204 with my LTHR at 183. Does this mean I'm not fit? I'm not sure, I need to more races and plus its only March. I hope my heart isn't inefficient though! My resting heart rate on the other hand, is finally making its way into the 40s. the lowest I've recorded was 40bpm in 2011.
So far that's all, I'll learn more about myself in the next 5 races. Check my Racing Schedule to find out what's next for me :)
--D
And because of that, I can gauge race-readiness and preparedness compared to past racing. I'll do these check-ins every 5 races which should be enough.
I know that I've improved quite a bit compared to my last race of 2012; the Burlingame Criterium. Last year, I finished in mid- to late-pack (Elite 4). For this year, apart from my race in UC Santa Cruz, I've been able to grab 3 top 10's and a top 20! And I survived an Elite 3/4 race in which half the field dropped out of! So onto the things I've noticed...
- I'm more comfortable in Criteriums: How so? Last year I always raced Criteriums above LT, at 100% of whatever my max sustained effort for 30-40 minutes is. The past Criteriums I did this year, I've been able to race them under Threshold, which gave me enough to attack the field several times. So if you read my race reports, you'll see that I always attack the field in hopes someone will breakaway with me. That's because it's fairly new to me, I've never felt that experience of attack the field, and I've always wanted to!
- I'm not much of a climber: I mean, I can hang on in a climb, but I can barely launch an attack on one. I even have the physiology of a climber. Less than 1.8 lbs per inch of body height! My training partners Eric and Christian are better climbers than me and I have the lightest bike too. So I've labeled climbing as my official limiter, and will probably fully work on it after Collegiate Regional Championships.
- I suck at handling my bike: I wouldn't draft myself in a criterium or any technical course because my rear wheel is always tail-happy. Sometimes on a climb I can't hold my line. I definitely do not want to be the guy who causes a crash (and I almost did at the Stanford Crit) so I'm aware of this glitch I have and will fix it for the safety of me and the others. Maybe I'm just rusty from not doing Crits or something. But I know I need to keep my butt down and not jump out of the corners to hard because my rear wheel can get off the ground and potentially lose its traction during a fast corner.
- I can move up the field solo: I can also bridge gaps if they're not too far! In both the UCSC RR (MB) and UCB RR (MC) I bridged a large gap after getting dropped on the climb. In UCSC, I bridged a gap that was as wide as half of the 2 mile lap. Before, I would see a gap and have nothing left in me to close it. So I must've been doing something right!
- Pedaling Economy: It's a lot better. And I'm more comfortable spinning fast. I need to do a time trial. At the UC Berkeley Crit, I moved up the field on the climb (in the E3/4) at 125 RPM and didn't even realize it was that fast. Pedaling Economy is not consistent and either goes one way or the other so I need to pay attention to it during the various stages of training.
- I'm a rare breed and probably evolved for a Hummingbird: Or maybe not, but in a graph of people's Max Heart Rates, we know that it will be in the shape of a bell curve, and I would be on the right. My Max Heart rate is so far 211 BPM and my threshold ranges from 183-204 with my LTHR at 183. Does this mean I'm not fit? I'm not sure, I need to more races and plus its only March. I hope my heart isn't inefficient though! My resting heart rate on the other hand, is finally making its way into the 40s. the lowest I've recorded was 40bpm in 2011.
So far that's all, I'll learn more about myself in the next 5 races. Check my Racing Schedule to find out what's next for me :)
--D
Monday, March 18, 2013
Berkeley Streets Criterium Cat 3/4 Race Report
I wish I was able to race in the Leopard-Sapporo Kit, but the order has yet to come! But that said, this was going to be my first race for Leopard-Sapporo despite not getting any results. But personally, I was happy enough to be able to hang on in this race because it was my first race in a Cat 3/4 field. I raced alongside Erik Camacho and Rann Valdez.
I didn't know how I'd do because of the mixed field. I knew the course already, which was a giant benefit, but I didn't truly know if I was fit enough--I knew it was a hard course. Right off the whistle, Metromint guys took control of the front and set a fairly quick tempo. Earlier in the day...around 3 hours back, I raced a hard Men's C race, but during the 3/4 race it felt about the same. I was stronger in the beginning of the 3/4s compared to when I started the MC race.
My goal was to hang on and not get dropped or pulled out from the race. If my goal is to upgrade to CAT3 this year, then I have to be exposed to their pace. However, I can't officially gauge a CAT3 pace since it was a 3/4 race and most of the 3's were racing the 1/2/3 race so this could've been a warm-up for them.
I adapted to the pace every lap, and felt good around the 16 minute mark and decided to attack the field and I gained a gap. One rider came with me but I knew a break wouldn't work so I decided to ride around threshold for a good workout.
For the rest of the race, I had no plan as I felt a little intimidated by the teams of Metromint and even some Squadra SF guys but there weren't any moves, but the race was still hard. In fact, half the field got pulled out of the race! Furthermore, in both my collegiate race and this race, I hit a new max-BPM of 211! 2 beats more than last weekend's race!
So with laps counting down, I was already satisfied that I stayed in the field. Besides, I raced a hard race earlier in the day. I finished 18th and I'm still looking for results to see how well I faired up against the 3's and the 4's. I felt strong in the end, like I could've done a longer race at a faster pace.
And that's when I realized that I'm getting better at Criteriums, and I'm finally seeing improvements from my training. Last year I finished in the last 30 riders, but this weekend I got my first top 10 in a Crit and lately I've been getting top 20s. I'm motivated to get into the Top 15, then Top 10, then Top 5, and hopefully get my first Criterium win at my A race.
--D
I didn't know how I'd do because of the mixed field. I knew the course already, which was a giant benefit, but I didn't truly know if I was fit enough--I knew it was a hard course. Right off the whistle, Metromint guys took control of the front and set a fairly quick tempo. Earlier in the day...around 3 hours back, I raced a hard Men's C race, but during the 3/4 race it felt about the same. I was stronger in the beginning of the 3/4s compared to when I started the MC race.
My goal was to hang on and not get dropped or pulled out from the race. If my goal is to upgrade to CAT3 this year, then I have to be exposed to their pace. However, I can't officially gauge a CAT3 pace since it was a 3/4 race and most of the 3's were racing the 1/2/3 race so this could've been a warm-up for them.
I adapted to the pace every lap, and felt good around the 16 minute mark and decided to attack the field and I gained a gap. One rider came with me but I knew a break wouldn't work so I decided to ride around threshold for a good workout.
For the rest of the race, I had no plan as I felt a little intimidated by the teams of Metromint and even some Squadra SF guys but there weren't any moves, but the race was still hard. In fact, half the field got pulled out of the race! Furthermore, in both my collegiate race and this race, I hit a new max-BPM of 211! 2 beats more than last weekend's race!
So with laps counting down, I was already satisfied that I stayed in the field. Besides, I raced a hard race earlier in the day. I finished 18th and I'm still looking for results to see how well I faired up against the 3's and the 4's. I felt strong in the end, like I could've done a longer race at a faster pace.
And that's when I realized that I'm getting better at Criteriums, and I'm finally seeing improvements from my training. Last year I finished in the last 30 riders, but this weekend I got my first top 10 in a Crit and lately I've been getting top 20s. I'm motivated to get into the Top 15, then Top 10, then Top 5, and hopefully get my first Criterium win at my A race.
--D
UC Berkeley (Berkeley Streets Criterium) Men's C--Race Report
After Stanford's Crit, I felt a lot more confident with my endurance and skills in a Crit so I was actually looking forward to this one, especially because of the slight incline. We only had under 30 riders in the field, and I was again joined by Christian, Eric, and Bryan. I still had a lot of legs left despite yesterday's tough race, so I had good feelings for this race. The race was 35 minutes around a course that took only under 1 minute to complete.
The Start:
Right from the whistle, the pack went hard. Bryan led the pace for the first 3 laps and I stayed in the front hanging on tight. Couldn't believe how tired I was getting so quickly even after recovering from the descending straight. It was an interesting race as we had to dodge two potholes on turn 3 so everyone except inattentive riders took the same line. Turn 3 to 4 was also bumpy and manhole covers ruined the perfect line, sometimes I would take the outside AKA a really horrible line. But for the first 10 laps or so I was struggling to keep the pace and made gaps in the corner as I was concerned about aggressively tackling the rough surface on what was the fastest corner of the course.
Halfway Point of Race:
I was getting a hang of the course, and the pace seemed to decrease. A large portion of the field had already dropped out or had been asked to leave the race, including Bryan who got sick from a Bagel eaten before the race, so he was on the Sidelines cheering across from Ben and Nia. Eric made a nice move from the side and made his way to the front where he set a nice pace to drop more of the weaker riders. Rex Roberts (CSULB) and some Cal and Davis riders also took the front. But the halfway point was really a glory period with nothing major.
Final Laps and End:
Lap Cards were shown at 8-to-go. Lap Cards?! I saw them and I surged from the left side and the field began to yell out my move. I only went 85% of a full attack and wasn't feeling totally good but felt confident anyways. After an uneventful lap, at 6-to-go I attacked and a Stanford Rider followed, I worked with him especially on the downhill where I recovered and got momentum, but I was pulling up the hill, and he couldn't hang on so with 5-to-go I went to time-trial mode. Eric and Christian covered the field but Rex Roberts quickly read it so he prevented any measures of me soloing for the win, as he worked with other teammates to reel me in. With 4 to go then 3 to go, I felt I could make it but I felt I lost a lot of time cornering. With 1.5 laps to go (2nd to last lap) they catch me and I hang on to the front. Surprisingly on bell lap, the pace only slightly increases so I was able to hang on in the front, had a good position in the front for the final sprint but was way too far as Rex had started strong and early. He takes the win with some Davis, Stanford, and Cal guys following and I come in 8th, getting my first ever Top 10 in a Criterium, with Christian 9th and Eric 11th! Update: I just found out that only 12 of us finished out of about 21 guys! I guess the race was that hard!
Great weekend for the Men's C and also Nia Ransom in the Women's C Crit won her race as she lapped the C's and technically Podium'd with the B's!
--D
The Start:
Right from the whistle, the pack went hard. Bryan led the pace for the first 3 laps and I stayed in the front hanging on tight. Couldn't believe how tired I was getting so quickly even after recovering from the descending straight. It was an interesting race as we had to dodge two potholes on turn 3 so everyone except inattentive riders took the same line. Turn 3 to 4 was also bumpy and manhole covers ruined the perfect line, sometimes I would take the outside AKA a really horrible line. But for the first 10 laps or so I was struggling to keep the pace and made gaps in the corner as I was concerned about aggressively tackling the rough surface on what was the fastest corner of the course.
Halfway Point of Race:
I was getting a hang of the course, and the pace seemed to decrease. A large portion of the field had already dropped out or had been asked to leave the race, including Bryan who got sick from a Bagel eaten before the race, so he was on the Sidelines cheering across from Ben and Nia. Eric made a nice move from the side and made his way to the front where he set a nice pace to drop more of the weaker riders. Rex Roberts (CSULB) and some Cal and Davis riders also took the front. But the halfway point was really a glory period with nothing major.
Final Laps and End:
Lap Cards were shown at 8-to-go. Lap Cards?! I saw them and I surged from the left side and the field began to yell out my move. I only went 85% of a full attack and wasn't feeling totally good but felt confident anyways. After an uneventful lap, at 6-to-go I attacked and a Stanford Rider followed, I worked with him especially on the downhill where I recovered and got momentum, but I was pulling up the hill, and he couldn't hang on so with 5-to-go I went to time-trial mode. Eric and Christian covered the field but Rex Roberts quickly read it so he prevented any measures of me soloing for the win, as he worked with other teammates to reel me in. With 4 to go then 3 to go, I felt I could make it but I felt I lost a lot of time cornering. With 1.5 laps to go (2nd to last lap) they catch me and I hang on to the front. Surprisingly on bell lap, the pace only slightly increases so I was able to hang on in the front, had a good position in the front for the final sprint but was way too far as Rex had started strong and early. He takes the win with some Davis, Stanford, and Cal guys following and I come in 8th, getting my first ever Top 10 in a Criterium, with Christian 9th and Eric 11th! Update: I just found out that only 12 of us finished out of about 21 guys! I guess the race was that hard!
Great weekend for the Men's C and also Nia Ransom in the Women's C Crit won her race as she lapped the C's and technically Podium'd with the B's!
--D
UC Berkeley (Crockett Road Race)--Men's C's--Race Report
I was joined by my SFSU Cycling teammates Christian, Eric, and Bryan. Our race was 3 Laps around the 10-mile course. We all got a nice position and the start line, and started on time after the Men's B. As we started I yelled "Let's Lap the Men's B's guys," and some of the riders laughed. Cool--I'm a funny guy.
First Lap:
I felt good today--legs were spinning fast and I was able to manage to pedal economically. The course began up a slight incline before a really long descent. Then, a right turn up another small incline--which was apparently enough to make some of the (probably) weaker riders breathe heavily. Next, another slight descent which then led into a Paradise-Loop-Type scenery with fast switchbacks and short powerful false flats. After that it leads a right turn into the steep McEwen road climb. The pack slowed down tremendously and didn't use their momentum up the beginning of the climb, which wasted my energy and probably everyone else's. We only went around 7mph and I did get stuck around weaker riders so had to burn a few matches to get around. No one attacked since it was the first lap and we all wanted a feel of the climb.
First Attack: (First Lap Still)
When the road leveled off, and everyone was recovering, I made a move, as I told Christian I'd need to warm-up since I had a short warm-up. I was next to the center line, and the center line rule was in effect. I made a mistake by technically crossing it even though there was enough room to pass the rider on the right. I was the 7th rider so I zoomed on the left and some people called out my number and "center line!". (Two guys from the same team ended up protesting against this move, but the official didn't do anything since it was at the beginning of the race as well as because we were "noobs.") It was my mistake and I'm not going to attack from the centerline anymore. So I guess I accidently attacked and soloed until the Franklin Canyon Climb going toward the start and finish. I guess I was warmed up enough after that.
Second Lap:
I recovered from the attack quickly, then rolled next to Christian, our star climber, and asked him if he felt like he could attack up McEwen. Positive. So we took it easy until the slight incline after the right turn, where I attacked all the way throughout the Paradise-Loop place, and stopped a moments away from McEwen. We even passed several Men's B riders! Now we were on McEwen, where the field was quickly filtering out. For a while, the pace was only slowly growing, then I saw Christian attack and the surge came. Eric passed by me as I was barely hanging on. I got dropped as the incline leveled off and it became rolling hills. I didn't think I could catch up, but I still made an effort to bridge, and worked with someone else as we entered Franklin Canyon before the S/F line. I was closing the gap when they began to surge, so I went 100% and eventually caught up to them just at the S/F line! At this point, only 8 brave riders had made it through the halfway point.
Third/Bell Lap:
I dropped my chain and thought I'd get dropped but the break tempo was rather moderate so I was able to catch on. Nobody attacked our group and nobody bridged to us. We were 8 riders even up McEwen where a headwind attacked us. Then Christian attacks a few miles before the finish, when everyone was recovering from the climb. I couldn't respond so just stayed with Eric and a UC Santa Cruz rider. The top 5 attacked on the final short incline to the S/F with Christian taking 5th, Eric and I raced each other to the finish line and he beat me for 7th, I rolled in feeling proud with our team's effort at 8th place, and Bryan finished the race with a great workout and battle up McEwen!
--D
First Lap:
I felt good today--legs were spinning fast and I was able to manage to pedal economically. The course began up a slight incline before a really long descent. Then, a right turn up another small incline--which was apparently enough to make some of the (probably) weaker riders breathe heavily. Next, another slight descent which then led into a Paradise-Loop-Type scenery with fast switchbacks and short powerful false flats. After that it leads a right turn into the steep McEwen road climb. The pack slowed down tremendously and didn't use their momentum up the beginning of the climb, which wasted my energy and probably everyone else's. We only went around 7mph and I did get stuck around weaker riders so had to burn a few matches to get around. No one attacked since it was the first lap and we all wanted a feel of the climb.
First Attack: (First Lap Still)
When the road leveled off, and everyone was recovering, I made a move, as I told Christian I'd need to warm-up since I had a short warm-up. I was next to the center line, and the center line rule was in effect. I made a mistake by technically crossing it even though there was enough room to pass the rider on the right. I was the 7th rider so I zoomed on the left and some people called out my number and "center line!". (Two guys from the same team ended up protesting against this move, but the official didn't do anything since it was at the beginning of the race as well as because we were "noobs.") It was my mistake and I'm not going to attack from the centerline anymore. So I guess I accidently attacked and soloed until the Franklin Canyon Climb going toward the start and finish. I guess I was warmed up enough after that.
Second Lap:
I recovered from the attack quickly, then rolled next to Christian, our star climber, and asked him if he felt like he could attack up McEwen. Positive. So we took it easy until the slight incline after the right turn, where I attacked all the way throughout the Paradise-Loop place, and stopped a moments away from McEwen. We even passed several Men's B riders! Now we were on McEwen, where the field was quickly filtering out. For a while, the pace was only slowly growing, then I saw Christian attack and the surge came. Eric passed by me as I was barely hanging on. I got dropped as the incline leveled off and it became rolling hills. I didn't think I could catch up, but I still made an effort to bridge, and worked with someone else as we entered Franklin Canyon before the S/F line. I was closing the gap when they began to surge, so I went 100% and eventually caught up to them just at the S/F line! At this point, only 8 brave riders had made it through the halfway point.
Third/Bell Lap:
I dropped my chain and thought I'd get dropped but the break tempo was rather moderate so I was able to catch on. Nobody attacked our group and nobody bridged to us. We were 8 riders even up McEwen where a headwind attacked us. Then Christian attacks a few miles before the finish, when everyone was recovering from the climb. I couldn't respond so just stayed with Eric and a UC Santa Cruz rider. The top 5 attacked on the final short incline to the S/F with Christian taking 5th, Eric and I raced each other to the finish line and he beat me for 7th, I rolled in feeling proud with our team's effort at 8th place, and Bryan finished the race with a great workout and battle up McEwen!
--D
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Stanford (Criterium) Race Report
Oh this wasn't on my race schedule but I decided to do it anyways because I could do it with a team to replace an Anaerobic-like workout. The Men's C began at 9:40AM but we left around 7, and we had to wake up early from Daylight Savings Time too. I actually woke up at 4Am so technically I woke up at 3AM and got about 4.5 hours of sleep. I was worried that it would hinder my performance but it wasn't too much of a problem.
I didn't have much of a warm-up because I took too long getting ready, but I was able to walk the entire 1-Lap of the crit which consisted of 3 sweeping corners and a 4th corner leading into a chicane. Fun! For this race I joined Yao, Christian, Eric, and Bryan.
Feeling bummed from missing yesterday's break, I decided my goal for this race was to make a statement for our team, which I think I was able to do when I attacked the chase group I was in around 6 times. I saw Davis guys and knew they had a thing for sprinters so I thought I should try to tire out all the sprinters so that Yao could have a clean shot at taking a high position in the field, provided there was no break. I myself, anticipated a break but nobody wanted one, and it may have been because Davis controlled the front.
The Start-
The race didn't start out like what I'm used to. Usually I'm struggling to keep a wheel and I move up places in the corners, but I found it comfortable for me to grab a wheel, move up and repeat. I stayed away from guys who cornered on their hoods and who didn't close gaps after corners since it would waste energy. I comfortably stayed at the front, top 10 for a good amount of laps, until the 1st prime when the first surge hit.
Prime Laps-
The official told us we only had two prime laps, then Davis contested saying we're supposed to have 3, so I hope we really did get 3. Feeling strong, I thought about taking the prime on the first lap but the pace surged and I just hung on a wheel, they drove into the corner so fast that my rear tire got some air and almost hit Christian who was behind me, but he managed to control it and an unfortunately Stanford rider couldn't control the quick fluctuation, but I heard he crashed "smoothly." After the surge, the pace slowed down and then came the second prime where I was closer to the front, but not quite there yet. Then moments later a Davis rider attacks and goes off solo. I waited for chasers but nobody chased, so he was alone for a lap. I noticed that whenever someone would make a fast move, riders at the front (who were probably Davis guys) would point it out saying "LEFT LEFT LEFT" or "ON THE RIGHT!" So it must've meant they didn't want anyone to get away from the pack. Well okay then...I decided to test my observation and attacked on the 2nd corner on the outside of the exit and behind me I hear "on the left on the left" but nobody did anything so I was able to get away, bridged up to the solo Davis guy, sucked on his wheel a bit, and took the 3rd corner and chicane at full speed. I gave a little more gas at the start/finish where the spectators were and realized that the next lap was the final prime lap so I decided to push a little more, felt really good, looked back, and saw a good gap. I did the prime lap alone and was able to take it away even though it wasn't much, but it was my first prime :)
And then the rest of the race...-
Seeing as nobody was bridging to me, I knew I couldn't hold an extreme breakaway so I recovered and went back to the pack just in case my teammates needed me. I actually had a misunderstanding with my teammate Yao, our sprinter. He said "I got you Dom" and I thought he meant he would go with me on an attack, so on the 3rd corner I drove the pace in with Yao behind me and the field actually responded (along with some more "On the left on the left!" So we didn't get away, but after the race Yao told me that he meant for me to suck on his wheel. Whoops haha. Yao and Christian were looking really good and I saw Eric and Bryan at the front occasionally. I was getting a feeling that whoever was at the front (who wasn't from our team) was planning something for the end so I went and attacked one more time and held a really good gap for a about 3/4 of a lap, and when I got back to the s/f there was 4 to go so I thought maybe I could make something work, but the group got me and recovered. With the 3 laps to go I realized I was pretty much out of top end energy so I stayed behind Christian and around Yao, but I got boxed in at the corner between two inattentive riders and had to brake a bit, and I lost about 10-15 places!
The end-
With two to go, I was burning matches going back to the top but the pace increased and a swarm of Davis guys huddled at the front and took decent control of the pack. I didn't have enough left in me to attack at the corners and so at the bell lap the final surge occurred, and I tried to make it to the top ten but either got boxed in or just didn't have enough energy. I saw Yao and Christian at the front and didn't see any other sprinters except for the leadout train that Davis had going.
Yao ended up getting an impressive 3rd! We talked about it and they told me that my attacks probably did scare them a bit since they really wanted a leadout going. So I'm hoping to have similar legs at our next races.
With Berkeley coming up, I think our team will be able to sharpen up some tactics for our A race.
I didn't have much of a warm-up because I took too long getting ready, but I was able to walk the entire 1-Lap of the crit which consisted of 3 sweeping corners and a 4th corner leading into a chicane. Fun! For this race I joined Yao, Christian, Eric, and Bryan.
Feeling bummed from missing yesterday's break, I decided my goal for this race was to make a statement for our team, which I think I was able to do when I attacked the chase group I was in around 6 times. I saw Davis guys and knew they had a thing for sprinters so I thought I should try to tire out all the sprinters so that Yao could have a clean shot at taking a high position in the field, provided there was no break. I myself, anticipated a break but nobody wanted one, and it may have been because Davis controlled the front.
The Start-
The race didn't start out like what I'm used to. Usually I'm struggling to keep a wheel and I move up places in the corners, but I found it comfortable for me to grab a wheel, move up and repeat. I stayed away from guys who cornered on their hoods and who didn't close gaps after corners since it would waste energy. I comfortably stayed at the front, top 10 for a good amount of laps, until the 1st prime when the first surge hit.
Prime Laps-
The official told us we only had two prime laps, then Davis contested saying we're supposed to have 3, so I hope we really did get 3. Feeling strong, I thought about taking the prime on the first lap but the pace surged and I just hung on a wheel, they drove into the corner so fast that my rear tire got some air and almost hit Christian who was behind me, but he managed to control it and an unfortunately Stanford rider couldn't control the quick fluctuation, but I heard he crashed "smoothly." After the surge, the pace slowed down and then came the second prime where I was closer to the front, but not quite there yet. Then moments later a Davis rider attacks and goes off solo. I waited for chasers but nobody chased, so he was alone for a lap. I noticed that whenever someone would make a fast move, riders at the front (who were probably Davis guys) would point it out saying "LEFT LEFT LEFT" or "ON THE RIGHT!" So it must've meant they didn't want anyone to get away from the pack. Well okay then...I decided to test my observation and attacked on the 2nd corner on the outside of the exit and behind me I hear "on the left on the left" but nobody did anything so I was able to get away, bridged up to the solo Davis guy, sucked on his wheel a bit, and took the 3rd corner and chicane at full speed. I gave a little more gas at the start/finish where the spectators were and realized that the next lap was the final prime lap so I decided to push a little more, felt really good, looked back, and saw a good gap. I did the prime lap alone and was able to take it away even though it wasn't much, but it was my first prime :)
And then the rest of the race...-
Seeing as nobody was bridging to me, I knew I couldn't hold an extreme breakaway so I recovered and went back to the pack just in case my teammates needed me. I actually had a misunderstanding with my teammate Yao, our sprinter. He said "I got you Dom" and I thought he meant he would go with me on an attack, so on the 3rd corner I drove the pace in with Yao behind me and the field actually responded (along with some more "On the left on the left!" So we didn't get away, but after the race Yao told me that he meant for me to suck on his wheel. Whoops haha. Yao and Christian were looking really good and I saw Eric and Bryan at the front occasionally. I was getting a feeling that whoever was at the front (who wasn't from our team) was planning something for the end so I went and attacked one more time and held a really good gap for a about 3/4 of a lap, and when I got back to the s/f there was 4 to go so I thought maybe I could make something work, but the group got me and recovered. With the 3 laps to go I realized I was pretty much out of top end energy so I stayed behind Christian and around Yao, but I got boxed in at the corner between two inattentive riders and had to brake a bit, and I lost about 10-15 places!
The end-
With two to go, I was burning matches going back to the top but the pace increased and a swarm of Davis guys huddled at the front and took decent control of the pack. I didn't have enough left in me to attack at the corners and so at the bell lap the final surge occurred, and I tried to make it to the top ten but either got boxed in or just didn't have enough energy. I saw Yao and Christian at the front and didn't see any other sprinters except for the leadout train that Davis had going.
Yao ended up getting an impressive 3rd! We talked about it and they told me that my attacks probably did scare them a bit since they really wanted a leadout going. So I'm hoping to have similar legs at our next races.
With Berkeley coming up, I think our team will be able to sharpen up some tactics for our A race.
Stanford (Road Race) Race Report
Unlike the UCSC Road Race, this race was actually planned on my schedule but as a "C" race (no pun intended, and you'll see why in the next sentence.) I had decided to downgrade from a B to a C because the Collegiate season is too early (for me at least) in the general season to suffer in the B's, and all I want to get out from Collegiate races are 1) Learning Team Tactics, 2) A great workout and most of all 3) FUN! In this case, doing this race was a combination of all 3 in the Men's C Category because I joined my other 3 teammates and had a great, fun, workout.
Yao courteously drove Eric, Christian, and I and we were there early enough to eat and get a really good warm-up in. Yesterday, I did my LTHR test, because I've been waiting 4 weeks to do it (it was a rest week) and I didn't want to wait another 4 weeks while at the same time risking overtraining by training at an intensity higher than what I really should be at. I felt good during the field test and I tested it with a headwind too. I also lowered my seat a bit after I realized it was a bit too high while I was riding on the trainer. So yesterday I also realized that my economy was better (but it could've been due to the fact that I had zero fatigue as well!). With all that in mind, I was pretty excited for this race because I felt I had really good form.
Our warm-up was at an effective tempo-like pace with a small sprint thrown in the middle. I actually didn't feel too optimal during the warm-up, and my other teammates looked really good so I couldn't predict my overall performance for the day.
The Start-
We had a mild and relaxing start and nobody attacked from the start. I had a great position because I was at around 2/5ths of the whole field and right in the middle, so I was unaffected by crosswinds and such, and I saved a ton of energy especially when dropping down during the small descents. It was like that until the first attack of around 6-7 guys came. Christian was in the break and I felt like I could bridge the gap since they were in plain-eye view, and I was feeling strong enough, but still struggling enough for me to hesitate. I had to think about it--it was the beginning of the race (about 20 minutes in) and I knew from past races that most early breaks were unsuccessful. As a result, I just sat in top positions of the field and saved more energy. I was still with Eric and Yao and since I was feeling good I stayed near them just in case they needed me.
The Field Explodes-
Because the climbs were short and moderate, I didn't expect the field to explode like it did. The main field caught up to the break on a steady climb, and I was struggling and thought I was going to get dropped, but I stayed on a wheel. I was able to "steal" a lot of positions because a lot of the riders kept leaving gaps that were as wide as two bike lengths. The twists were great as I was also able to steal wheels from riders who weren't as skilled enough yet to close gaps on turns. Every small climb would drop other riders and it came to the point where a lead group had form in front of the exploded field. Christian and I were together but Yao and Eric weren't able to make the lead group.
The Break and the Turnaround-
I looked at my computer and realized the time was now reaching 45 minutes, meaning that the turnaround was near. A few moments later, three riders break off while the rider next to me gets a puncture flat. The speed was increasing slightly and it was fluctuating throughout the Paradise-Loop like terrain. I assumed that the break wouldn't get away because it was pretty much the halfway point of the race and there were only 3 guys, but it turns out they must have been 3 really strong guys. We passed them as we approached the turnaround and I actually saw them turn around from a distance so I thought it would be okay to rest a little more and bridge after the turnaround. After the turnaround, I heard two Cal Cycling riders talking and one said "It's go time" so I decided it would be go time for me too. I was the third man and I thought we were going to bridge the gap but it turns out neither rider had the capacity to work or maybe they realized there were enough riders. So we drifted back into the pack which Davis was pulling. Realizing that Davis had a man in the break, I knew that other teams and our team would have to work out to phase Davis out and set a faster chasing speed because Davis was taking it easy at the front.
The Series of Attacks & the end-
I forgot how many people we were in the chase group but I thought we were enough to catch the break. However it didn't help that the Davis guys were out in the front slowing the pace down, so I decided to attack the group and get a small gap going between the field and I. Before I could get a gap, the Davis guys responded and spun up as well, which brought the overall pace in the chase group up. So I drifted back into the pack, and realized that I recovered fairly quickly, so I did it again, and this time got a small gap going, but the headwind was nasty so I didn't want to waste my energy just in case we did catch up and I'd need it for the sprint. When the group caught up later, the two same Cal guys asked me "Hey SF STATE, do you have a man in the break?!" and since we didn't, he said he'd work with Christian and I to chase the break back. Great idea, I thought--so he went and pulled, then his teammate, then I did and then next thing I knew I might've pulled too fast but I knew that we'd need a much faster pace to catch up.
By this time, most of the guys must've been tired and Christian was still hanging on strongly. I was feeling strong so I attacked again and actually got a bigger gap than my last attack--yet no one followed. I knew I needed someone to come with me so I recovered and threw in yet another attack, (one of the guys at the front said "Is he seriously going again?" and Christian and a UCSB guy followed, but around 2 minutes later the field caught us. Finally, after recovering from that, I let out a 95% effort and held it for 3 minutes when someone from UCSB bridged and agreed to work with me. So we tried our best to get a bigger gap and I looked back and we had a pretty decent gap that was actually growing so I went a little harder on the pulls and so did the UCSB rider, it lasted almost 6 or 7 minutes but I started to cramp up and I told him I couldn't take it anymore, plus the break was nowhere in sight so we relaxed and the field eventually caught up, the pace was pretty steady and I was feeling good and was planning one last attack but before I knew it I saw the Winery tower where the finish line was and the pace increased.
I forgot how many people we were in the chase group but I thought we were enough to catch the break. However it didn't help that the Davis guys were out in the front slowing the pace down, so I decided to attack the group and get a small gap going between the field and I. Before I could get a gap, the Davis guys responded and spun up as well, which brought the overall pace in the chase group up. So I drifted back into the pack, and realized that I recovered fairly quickly, so I did it again, and this time got a small gap going, but the headwind was nasty so I didn't want to waste my energy just in case we did catch up and I'd need it for the sprint. When the group caught up later, the two same Cal guys asked me "Hey SF STATE, do you have a man in the break?!" and since we didn't, he said he'd work with Christian and I to chase the break back. Great idea, I thought--so he went and pulled, then his teammate, then I did and then next thing I knew I might've pulled too fast but I knew that we'd need a much faster pace to catch up.
By this time, most of the guys must've been tired and Christian was still hanging on strongly. I was feeling strong so I attacked again and actually got a bigger gap than my last attack--yet no one followed. I knew I needed someone to come with me so I recovered and threw in yet another attack, (one of the guys at the front said "Is he seriously going again?" and Christian and a UCSB guy followed, but around 2 minutes later the field caught us. Finally, after recovering from that, I let out a 95% effort and held it for 3 minutes when someone from UCSB bridged and agreed to work with me. So we tried our best to get a bigger gap and I looked back and we had a pretty decent gap that was actually growing so I went a little harder on the pulls and so did the UCSB rider, it lasted almost 6 or 7 minutes but I started to cramp up and I told him I couldn't take it anymore, plus the break was nowhere in sight so we relaxed and the field eventually caught up, the pace was pretty steady and I was feeling good and was planning one last attack but before I knew it I saw the Winery tower where the finish line was and the pace increased.
Felt strong but I was in the wrong position especially since I didn't know the end would be so close even though I frequently checked my time on the Garmin, so the sprint started and I was able to pass a good amount of riders but got boxed in at the final 10 and settled for 8th place.
I had a great race and the course was fun so I'm planning to do Panoche Valley as an Elite 4 if I'm committed to the drive. My teammates did very well too, Christian actually finished in front of me at 6th and Yao and Eric finished a little later.
We couldn't truly execute a tactic because the field exploded but I think we got close and still figuring our fitness levels. This was our first race together! Stay tuned to hear the good news at our Crit!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
UCSC Slugfest RR...Race Report?!
So...on Saturday I participated in the UCSC Slugfest Road Race. It wasn't planned and it was completely out of nowhere. My teammate Eric, who had already prepared to race in the Men's D category (as his first race ever!) convinced me to race it when he told me that our Men's A representative, James, decided to do it as well. So I felt like I needed to do it to, and it was hard to back out once I convinced myself because I also knew that a lot of the Cat 4s on Leopard-Sapporo were racing Snelling. For the record, I had already planned a 3-hour ride with some intervals for that Saturday. But after researching the UCSC RR course (when I heard that mostly all of the Men's D riders would race), I saw that it was the same as Velo Promo's University RR, which consisted of a long moderate climb and a descent. Thus, doing it would equate to doing hardcore hill intervals.
I didn't taper or anything for the race--except on Friday when I skipped my recovery ride after my commute--and I had a pretty hard week since I've only just begun interval training. I knew I wouldn't have the legs for a road race with over 4000ft of climbing, and when I woke up on Saturday morning, I really didn't--so it seemed my excitement for SFSU's cycling first full-house race weekend overshadowed whatever common sense I had left in me. (I acted as if I didn't have an uneventful 2012...)
Anyways I arrived at the race and registered for the men's B. I thought it would be a good challenge to race B's because I've actually raced with a few guys I've known before college. I think that was a mistake on my part though and you'll read why in a moment...
We started half an hour late and I felt fine in the first few laps...just like everyone else. The climb was steady and not too bad, and the descent was straightforward. Christian, my teammate from the D's told me he just grabbed a wheel and recovered so I did the same and it worked well, thus I felt fresh for the climb every lap. I don't know how many laps were uneventful as described (because I wasn't paying attention to the lap cards) but maybe about 4 or 5 laps in the first surge commenced and I did my best to respond but my dead legs were quitting on me pretty quickly. I was at the final part of the climb before the descent and I started to cramp up on the right side of my abdomen, and got dropped slowly as I saw the main pack drifting away from me. So much for recovering on the descent! I had to work a bit while descending but the pack was still in my sight so I didn't give up, I chased for about another whole lap and when we made the right turn into the climb toward the start/finish line, I was able to steadily close the gap between the pack and I.
Thank goodness!....or not, because as soon as I got a wheel in the back, the pack surged right at the start/finish line and as I responded in a short amount of time I began to cramp up again and lost them on the final portion of the climb before the descent again. With 8 laps to go, I was completely
dropped with no hope in catching up to the main field. I did pass a few riders who popped off, so that made me feel a little better =p
So for the rest of the race, I rode tempo and climbed the hill the best I could. I knew I had no legs on the climb because my heart rate was low, but my legs weren't shouting, they were just weak and ultimately tired. In a way I guess my whole body was being lazy because when I was riding solo I knew I could've ridden a little more harder but my body just did not want to.
Since it's still February, I let it go--besides I wasn't supposed to be racing this weekend either =p. At one point I felt like dropping out but I've never dropped out of a race and the course made a great workout. I did get lapped by the podium so I had to finish the race on the 14th lap, which means I'll either continue to explore the challenges of the Men's B or do my best to look good in the Men's C. I've been thinking about going down into the Men's C since I could be closer to doing team tactics with teammates, but I'll have to see.
But thanks to all my teammates and the SFSU Triathlon members who came out to watch, support, and cheer for me! It was a great experience being around everyone!
I'm looking forward to Stanford's race in March!
--DB
I didn't taper or anything for the race--except on Friday when I skipped my recovery ride after my commute--and I had a pretty hard week since I've only just begun interval training. I knew I wouldn't have the legs for a road race with over 4000ft of climbing, and when I woke up on Saturday morning, I really didn't--so it seemed my excitement for SFSU's cycling first full-house race weekend overshadowed whatever common sense I had left in me. (I acted as if I didn't have an uneventful 2012...)
Anyways I arrived at the race and registered for the men's B. I thought it would be a good challenge to race B's because I've actually raced with a few guys I've known before college. I think that was a mistake on my part though and you'll read why in a moment...
We started half an hour late and I felt fine in the first few laps...just like everyone else. The climb was steady and not too bad, and the descent was straightforward. Christian, my teammate from the D's told me he just grabbed a wheel and recovered so I did the same and it worked well, thus I felt fresh for the climb every lap. I don't know how many laps were uneventful as described (because I wasn't paying attention to the lap cards) but maybe about 4 or 5 laps in the first surge commenced and I did my best to respond but my dead legs were quitting on me pretty quickly. I was at the final part of the climb before the descent and I started to cramp up on the right side of my abdomen, and got dropped slowly as I saw the main pack drifting away from me. So much for recovering on the descent! I had to work a bit while descending but the pack was still in my sight so I didn't give up, I chased for about another whole lap and when we made the right turn into the climb toward the start/finish line, I was able to steadily close the gap between the pack and I.
Thank goodness!....or not, because as soon as I got a wheel in the back, the pack surged right at the start/finish line and as I responded in a short amount of time I began to cramp up again and lost them on the final portion of the climb before the descent again. With 8 laps to go, I was completely
dropped with no hope in catching up to the main field. I did pass a few riders who popped off, so that made me feel a little better =p
So for the rest of the race, I rode tempo and climbed the hill the best I could. I knew I had no legs on the climb because my heart rate was low, but my legs weren't shouting, they were just weak and ultimately tired. In a way I guess my whole body was being lazy because when I was riding solo I knew I could've ridden a little more harder but my body just did not want to.
Since it's still February, I let it go--besides I wasn't supposed to be racing this weekend either =p. At one point I felt like dropping out but I've never dropped out of a race and the course made a great workout. I did get lapped by the podium so I had to finish the race on the 14th lap, which means I'll either continue to explore the challenges of the Men's B or do my best to look good in the Men's C. I've been thinking about going down into the Men's C since I could be closer to doing team tactics with teammates, but I'll have to see.
But thanks to all my teammates and the SFSU Triathlon members who came out to watch, support, and cheer for me! It was a great experience being around everyone!
I'm looking forward to Stanford's race in March!
--DB
Monday, February 18, 2013
2013 Race Schedule
And here is my race schedule for 2013! See you at the races :)
It's subject to change--for instance there's a possibly I'd do two races during a weekend, but I only list the one that I prefer to do. And there'll probably be a few races (that aren't listed) where I somehow get convinced to go to..
March
April
May
May 4 - Mike's Bikes Cat's Hill Classic 6th
May 12 - Berkeley Hills Road Race Did not do (ill)
May 26 - Mt. Hamilton Road Race Did not do (ill)
June
July
Did not do (change of plans)
July 14 - Foothill Circuit Race
July 21 - Berkeley Bicycle Club Criterium
July 28 - Menlo Park Grand Prix
August
Change of plans
August 18 - University Road Race
August 31 - Red Kite #6
September
September 2 - Giro Di San Francisco
September 14 - Mt. Tam Hill Climb
September 15 - Milpitas Grand Prix
September 22 - Oakland Grand Prix
Visit Northern California's Cycling Association: http://ncnca.org/allevents for a complete list of races across the NorCal district
September
September 2 - Giro Di San Francisco
September 14 - Mt. Tam Hill Climb
September 15 - Milpitas Grand Prix
September 22 - Oakland Grand Prix
Visit Northern California's Cycling Association: http://ncnca.org/allevents for a complete list of races across the NorCal district
2013!
Like I said in my previous post regarding what was left of 2012, I had to postpone three weeks of training which was actually a significant loss especially because it's so early in the season. My Base 1 began on November 19 so I had a good month of base miles and a whole lot of cadence/pedalling economy work. When I got back, it felt like as if I had never trained as I suffered from really inefficient pedalling especially on steady climbs. That was alright though, because when I got back on the second week of January, I scheduled the following three weeks in the Base 2 period and did enough Tempo rides and Cadence Drills to get me to where I left off before I left After 3 make-up weeks of Base 2, I finally moved into Base 3 where I introduced more Hill Work and began doing short and steady sub-LT repeats. Before I had moved to Base 3 (towards the end of Base 2) I had noticed I was able to climb with less fatigue than usual. So as I started my hill/force workouts, I noticed I was able to hold speeds (I don't have a power meter yet) 10 or more BPM than usual! That being said, I need to re-do my LTHR test to re-establish my training zones. Furthermore, when I did my coastal/Pescader/Tunitas Creek ride, I climbed King's Mountain, OLH, and Tunitas Creek, faster but at 10-20 BPM lower than the last time I had done the ride! Hopefully I can continue to improve my climbing and force since 1) it's quite early in the season and 2) I haven't even began threshold or supertempo workouts on hills yet.
Anyways, that's where I stand this very day.
I should now mention the big change for this season--me joining a new team. If you've seen seen the side of my blog and the new color theme, then you probably can already tell that I'm a part of the new Leopard-Sapporo team! I'm excited to be racing on a team with such focused and motivated individuals. As a result, that has led to becoming more determined to achieving my goals and becoming a stronger rider overall. Stay tuned for more news with Leopard-Sapporo because I won't be racing with them until March!
Also, I'll be clear that I am still quite a straight edge, meaning I don't drink alcohol or do drugs or any of that stuff. So that includes beer. But I have no problem racing for a beer brand. My more mature and responsible teammates say that it's good stuff :)
--DB
Anyways, that's where I stand this very day.
I should now mention the big change for this season--me joining a new team. If you've seen seen the side of my blog and the new color theme, then you probably can already tell that I'm a part of the new Leopard-Sapporo team! I'm excited to be racing on a team with such focused and motivated individuals. As a result, that has led to becoming more determined to achieving my goals and becoming a stronger rider overall. Stay tuned for more news with Leopard-Sapporo because I won't be racing with them until March!
Also, I'll be clear that I am still quite a straight edge, meaning I don't drink alcohol or do drugs or any of that stuff. So that includes beer. But I have no problem racing for a beer brand. My more mature and responsible teammates say that it's good stuff :)
--DB
Saturday, February 16, 2013
2012 - A Confusing Year
Before I begin with 2013, let me quickly try to summarize 2012...
The Bad-
The Bad-
- Low miles and low hours
- My Junior teammates from PV went to college/universities
- Lost motivation to race because of the lack of "team focus" and because of school...and I guess weather.
- Lots of Sick days
- Bad Diet
- New Cars...
- 3 Weeks Off in the Summer & 3 in the Winter for Philippines
The Good-
- I got a new bike; Cannondale CAAD10
- SFSU Cycling Team Commenced
Despite all the bads, life goes on. When it was time to start planning for the 2013 Season, I assessed myself with those assessments in Joe Friel's "The Cyclist's Training Bible" and noticed I scored terribly lower than both 2010 and 2011. So I decided it was definitely time to get more serious and focused because I also started noticing that I couldn't drop my teammates from SFSU on the climbs anymore (which isn't a bad thing--for them at least =p); in fact they're now able to drop me! Due to this, I knew I had lost a lot of the skills I had trained for in 2011, so it was time to get them back and ultimately improve them.
After all the planning, the 2013 training season started around the beginning of November with base miles and low-key speed work. I was skipping workouts especially in inclement weather. Every time I would skip a workout or hours I would write in red sharpie: IMPROVE on my Weekly Training Plans. I guess it worked because I haven't skipped workouts ever since...unless there was an emergency or I just didn't see something like a family commitment coming.
Speaking of family commitment, my grandfather was getting old and we decided to visit him in the Philippines during July. I'm glad we were able to, because in December he passed away and we went back there on Christmas Day and attended his funeral there as well. I completely disregarded all my training and it was a totally legitimate reason to postpone everything.
I think that's the important things to say. I only did about less than 5 races in 2012. I really lost motivation because there was really nothing motivating me until my teammates started kicking me in the butt. That's why, for 2013, I came in with a lot of motivation, but there are other factors which fueled my motivation even more...
--DB
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Let's Get This Rolling! (Again)
Ahhh, here I go again, neglecting this poor blog and resurrecting it out of nowhere again. Here's to another attempt at constantly updating this blog for this upcoming (and already initiated) 2013 Racing Season.
In the next few days where I am either not riding, studying, or washing my family's cars, I will post/add the following:
In the next few days where I am either not riding, studying, or washing my family's cars, I will post/add the following:
- Announce plans for this season
- Introduce Collegiate Cycling plans
Change list of active sponsorsPost my own 2013 Racing Season CalendarPost what happened during the 2012 Season- Post whatever else comes to my head.
One thing I can say is that I have a lot more motivation than I did in 2012 so I pushed my goals a bit. Hopefully I can constantly update this because I enjoy looking back at my old posts from 2 years ago =).
--DB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)