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

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.

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!!!!