And I thought it might be a bit wet, but at least it would be warmer then a few weeks ago at Mason lake.
As We got closer and closer to the race, the colder it got and by the time we pulled into the parking lot the thermometer said 36’F and there was a rain snow mix coming down. All winter I don’t think I’ve ridden in such bad whether, and then I would have had fenders, and for sure extra gloves with me, I wouldn’t have been out there for four hours.
I had two layers of plastic bags over my feet, a serious rain coat and 3 layers of gloves.. and it still didn’t stop my feet and hands from becoming solid blocks.
After only a few miles we climbed for the first time. The good news was that by the top I was nice and warm, but the bad news was that I had worse legs then in months… maybe it was the last few weeks of hard riding catching up with me, or maybe it was the weather. I can only remember a few times when I’ve felt that bad in a race… and now when I think about it, it’s about around this time of year.
Anyway, sometimes you fell bad at the start just to turn around and fell great later on, and the only way to find out was keep going. The first climb was a lot harder then it should have been, well at least I was warm.
First lap was no problem. After the descent of the 2nd climb, a few guys took of. I expected more people to chase, and when nobody did; I tried a bit by going to the front and pick the pace up. This is where I quickly realized my legs didn’t just hurt on the climbs… the flats weren’t so good either.
The reason we all got so cold was that there wasn’t much chasing, once the second chase group got of the front, pretty much all of the big teams had riders up there…so we rode around way too slow for our own good(until the climb that is).
By the 4th and last time up the bigger hill my legs were awful, somehow though I managed to stay with what was left of the pack(15 riders or so).. my legs now actually hurt every pedal stroke going up the climb. Four guys stayed of, with Ian Mensher wining, very nice. We sprinted for 5th. With 1km to go, I thought I was in a pretty good spot, but once the sprint stated, a bit too late for me, there wasn’t much passing going on…and I was really disappointed with finishing 13th overall. I should jumped earlier and not waited for the sprint to start, oh well, there wasn’t much in those legs. Teufel took 8th, not bad after being in the chase group, and got caught by the pack with ½ lap to go. I think only 20 people finished, the rest had pulled out…
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Another weekend.
Two dry days in a row… not bad for March, and it even happened on the weekend.
Saturday was the third Mason Lake. It was good to see a big field, and just about every team was there.
I was happy that my legs felt so much better then the preceding days. I was ready to get going.
The race started fast and stayed that way. I think everyone was just so happy to finally be racing in sun and on dry roads, that the last thing they wanted was let something of the front, basically, ending their race. It wasn’t for the lack of trying though; there were attacks the entire race. I tried multiple times myself, every lap. ¾ through the race I could tell that a lot of people had come to the conclusion that nothing was going to stick. This is a very dangerous line of thought, because I knew if this happened, people would relax, a bit too much, and before you know it something would just slip of the front, with nobody willing to chase. That’s exactly what happened, On lap 5 (of 6) three riders just rode off, and before you know it had a big gap. Chase groups would go, but by now everyone was attentive again, and these all go pulled back pretty quick. Lucky for us, we had a rider up there. But many of the big teams did not, but still nothing got organized.
The pack sprint for 4th, was ramping up a long way out. Since no team really decided to lead it out, it got a bit dangerous and hectic to say the least. I struggled to stay far enough up front, to be out of trouble, and had to constantly try and find gaps and wheels to get on.
I felt confident I could do pretty good in the sprint, especially if it started early and went long. I don’t have the best acceleration, but I can hold it a bit longer then most. I was in pretty good position with a mile to go. With 1k was moving up ok, maybe a bit too far back, but I wasn’t panicking yet.
With about 500m to go, the first stalled ride came back, forcing me to hit the brakes to get around him. Then right before the corner, two HB guys just basically stopped in the middle of the road. Only the two left most lanes were able to get around unhindered, I once again was forced to slow way down and get around on the right. Every time you have to hit your brakes like this you loose several spots. Damm, I could feel a slight panic washing over me. Coming around the corner I had to waste some of my sprint to catch back up, and then go again a few seconds later when it started for real…. I made up quite a few spots with 100m to go, and by the line I finished 7thin the sprint (10th overall)…
I’m not that disappointed, I felt fast and strong during the sprint, which is good. and I could have keep going another 50-100m at the same speed. It was definitely a wasted opportunity though; I should have been further forward and opened up my sprint a lot earlier, my fault… one of there days……
By Sequim on Sunday, I could tell I had a hard race in my legs already that weekend. I did ok, but I felt slightly off and not quite as fresh as I needed to be. I wasted a lot of energy early by helping with the chase of the main break that got away early on lap one.
After it came back (minus Stanko) I tried to make sure at least I or Kyle was in all the moves. Finally with 1 ½ lap to go Kyle gets of the front in a small move that sticks, and he takes a well deserved 2nd in the sprint.
With about 2 miles to go I do a last desperate attack to try and get of the front on the last hill. I get a small gap, but I have a HB rider on my wheel. I keep going for a bit and look back, he is still there, and HB has 8guys pulling the pack along. It was a long shoot as it was, and unless the rider with me starts working, and HB shuts down the chase I doomed for sure. I was kind of hoping for a disorganized pack, with no one wanting to chase, that was my only real hope. I’m not that strong, and I’m not close enough to the finish, so I decide so sit up and go for the pack sprint instead.
The sprint was a lot like Saturday, But I mange to position myself a bit further forward, so it’s not quite as dangerous (for me at least)… I really wanted to jump at 300, as it’s a slight down hill to the finish, and I want the long sprint. I’m on the yellow line, a few places back and have to wait until it takes of in front of me. I take 6th in this sprint (10th overall again)… slightly better..all the riders ahead of me in the sprint as fast strong guys… so I don’t feel bad, but I would like to have beaten one or two of them…
Saturday was the third Mason Lake. It was good to see a big field, and just about every team was there.
I was happy that my legs felt so much better then the preceding days. I was ready to get going.
The race started fast and stayed that way. I think everyone was just so happy to finally be racing in sun and on dry roads, that the last thing they wanted was let something of the front, basically, ending their race. It wasn’t for the lack of trying though; there were attacks the entire race. I tried multiple times myself, every lap. ¾ through the race I could tell that a lot of people had come to the conclusion that nothing was going to stick. This is a very dangerous line of thought, because I knew if this happened, people would relax, a bit too much, and before you know it something would just slip of the front, with nobody willing to chase. That’s exactly what happened, On lap 5 (of 6) three riders just rode off, and before you know it had a big gap. Chase groups would go, but by now everyone was attentive again, and these all go pulled back pretty quick. Lucky for us, we had a rider up there. But many of the big teams did not, but still nothing got organized.
The pack sprint for 4th, was ramping up a long way out. Since no team really decided to lead it out, it got a bit dangerous and hectic to say the least. I struggled to stay far enough up front, to be out of trouble, and had to constantly try and find gaps and wheels to get on.
I felt confident I could do pretty good in the sprint, especially if it started early and went long. I don’t have the best acceleration, but I can hold it a bit longer then most. I was in pretty good position with a mile to go. With 1k was moving up ok, maybe a bit too far back, but I wasn’t panicking yet.
With about 500m to go, the first stalled ride came back, forcing me to hit the brakes to get around him. Then right before the corner, two HB guys just basically stopped in the middle of the road. Only the two left most lanes were able to get around unhindered, I once again was forced to slow way down and get around on the right. Every time you have to hit your brakes like this you loose several spots. Damm, I could feel a slight panic washing over me. Coming around the corner I had to waste some of my sprint to catch back up, and then go again a few seconds later when it started for real…. I made up quite a few spots with 100m to go, and by the line I finished 7thin the sprint (10th overall)…
I’m not that disappointed, I felt fast and strong during the sprint, which is good. and I could have keep going another 50-100m at the same speed. It was definitely a wasted opportunity though; I should have been further forward and opened up my sprint a lot earlier, my fault… one of there days……
By Sequim on Sunday, I could tell I had a hard race in my legs already that weekend. I did ok, but I felt slightly off and not quite as fresh as I needed to be. I wasted a lot of energy early by helping with the chase of the main break that got away early on lap one.
After it came back (minus Stanko) I tried to make sure at least I or Kyle was in all the moves. Finally with 1 ½ lap to go Kyle gets of the front in a small move that sticks, and he takes a well deserved 2nd in the sprint.
With about 2 miles to go I do a last desperate attack to try and get of the front on the last hill. I get a small gap, but I have a HB rider on my wheel. I keep going for a bit and look back, he is still there, and HB has 8guys pulling the pack along. It was a long shoot as it was, and unless the rider with me starts working, and HB shuts down the chase I doomed for sure. I was kind of hoping for a disorganized pack, with no one wanting to chase, that was my only real hope. I’m not that strong, and I’m not close enough to the finish, so I decide so sit up and go for the pack sprint instead.
The sprint was a lot like Saturday, But I mange to position myself a bit further forward, so it’s not quite as dangerous (for me at least)… I really wanted to jump at 300, as it’s a slight down hill to the finish, and I want the long sprint. I’m on the yellow line, a few places back and have to wait until it takes of in front of me. I take 6th in this sprint (10th overall again)… slightly better..all the riders ahead of me in the sprint as fast strong guys… so I don’t feel bad, but I would like to have beaten one or two of them…
Monday, March 16, 2009
Mason Lake 2
That was a wet and cold race…..
So cold that I decided to pull out after lap three, I could no longer feel my fingers. I couldn't get any food out of my pockets or even grab my water bottle.
I can count on one hand how many times I’ve pulled out of a race mid way trough, so it was not an easy decision. The only other times I’ve voluntarily pulled out of a race was due to injury or in one case during criterium in an omnium, where with 10min to go I was at the back, really suffering and there was no way I could make it to the front.
Even in the conditions on Saturday, I had a hard time making that decision. I gave myself one way to not quit, if I was in a break with a chance for a high placing.
I immediately went to the front an attacked as hard as I could, over and over again, pulled the field around for a while… And wouldn’t you know it, getting my HR up from the 130’s to 175 really got me warmed up. By the end of the lap my fingers were starting to hurt, because the blood was coming back. It felt so good. I could grab food, eat, and drink with no problem… so what do you know?… I stayed in and finished the race…
My hands were better, but now my legs were a bit too tired…
So cold that I decided to pull out after lap three, I could no longer feel my fingers. I couldn't get any food out of my pockets or even grab my water bottle.
I can count on one hand how many times I’ve pulled out of a race mid way trough, so it was not an easy decision. The only other times I’ve voluntarily pulled out of a race was due to injury or in one case during criterium in an omnium, where with 10min to go I was at the back, really suffering and there was no way I could make it to the front.
Even in the conditions on Saturday, I had a hard time making that decision. I gave myself one way to not quit, if I was in a break with a chance for a high placing.
I immediately went to the front an attacked as hard as I could, over and over again, pulled the field around for a while… And wouldn’t you know it, getting my HR up from the 130’s to 175 really got me warmed up. By the end of the lap my fingers were starting to hurt, because the blood was coming back. It felt so good. I could grab food, eat, and drink with no problem… so what do you know?… I stayed in and finished the race…
My hands were better, but now my legs were a bit too tired…
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