CRCA Zach Koop Memorial Crit at Orchard Beach Park 2019

Hey Readers, sorry for the long hiatus from posting about bikes, racing and PT/Bike-Fit, but hopefully I can get back into a more regular posting schedule. Also, hopefully this race report will keep you entertained!


Men's Cat 2/3 Race
Per my Cat 3 teammate Cormac Daly (who just finished 2nd place in the Men's 3/4 race after his Di2 malfunctioned and he had to sprint from the 53/25) and watching the early races, today the chance of a breakaway win were big; It was cold, wet and windy, meaning that most racers were just trying to survive the race rather than compete for the win. The course was such that there was a solid cross-headwind on the finish straight and a cross-tail on the opposite side, along with the wet roads limiting the corners to a roughly controlled speed.

I made sure to be along the front right away, and sure enough a solid break of 4-5 formed pretty quick - Myself, Ben G (Blue Ribbon), Aaron B (NE Devo), and some dude in Rapha kit, and I think there was someone else who was there briefly. We pushed a few laps and then the Rapha guy pulled the plug, leaving the 3 of us. We were working together ok, although I was yelling at the other guys to keep their pulls smooth and to keep going hard to keep the pace up. I could see from looking across the center of the course that Bastien (Huge engine racing for E2Value) had jumped off the front of the pack, and saw he had someone working with him/hanging on, but couldn't make out the kit and I was more focused on keeping our pace going and trying to prevent the bridge.

Unfortunately Bastien eventually caught on and now it "seemed" like there were 4 of us trading pulls. We slowly caught the field and I quickly moved up through it figuring I might be able to sneak away again while the others sat in the field, unfortunately Bastien, Ben and Aaron all quickly were back with me and we were pulling away from the front of the field. After a lap or so, Bastien put in a deep pull and started pulling away. I was yelling at Ben and Aaron to keep the wheel and they both looked at me drained, so I had to jump solo. I was slowly working back to Bastien's wheel for the next 2 laps when he sat up and I assumed he realized we had a gap and was ready to work together, although as I caught him I heard him swearing and coming to a stop - he flatted his rear tire.

I was roughly 1/2 lap in front of the field with 15ish laps left, so I put the head down and fell into a smooth rhythm: 400-430ish watts into the wind, smooth top corner, 360-380ish with the wind down the back stretch, smooth corner, repeat. While working I would catch a look across the infield to see my progress (along with my teammate Mike yelling gaps at me from the sidelines) and was slowly adding time before I could tell the field lost interest and slowed down.

I caught the back of the field with about 5 to-go and realized I should just sit there safely off the back and easy pedal the last laps rather than get caught out in any scrum at the front - my win was already secure. With 2 laps to go, my teammate Conor jumped hard off the front of the pack - I assumed this was securing 4th place, and was surprised no-one even tried to go with him. He built a solid gap and held it to the line - only afterwards did I learn he was the hanger-on to Bastien's bridge earlier and he was also 1-lap up on the field like Ben and Aaron, meaning he had effectively locked up 2nd place without any sprinting at the line! I rolled in to the finish on the back and happily took the big W, and it was sweet to share the podium with Conor going 1-2 in the race!

Men's P/1/2/3
Lining up an hour after the finish of the 2/3 race, this one was a "see what you can still do" type effort - my legs were definitely a bit tight and I was a bit chilly from the weather, so I figured the good bet was to again stick toward the front and try to warm-up through some efforts. Right off the bat there were attacks and I just worked to stay in the front of the race and defend my position. After a few laps I was feeling better, however the legs were definitely still a little tired. I did a good job of holding my position and suddenly I was in a break with a gap on the field - Alejandro (Foundation), Margarite (Jamison), Myself, and a dude from Bike Habitat.

Our little group actually fell into a good rotation with everyone putting in decent efforts - the Bike Habitat guy definitely did the weakest/shortest pulls and also took the corners the slowest, so I noted he was likely the weakest link in our group and tried to avoid being on his wheel in case he accidentally opened a gap or ate it in a wet corner. We continued to pull away from the field and spent the majority of the race 1/2 lap up. This continued, with me making sure to meter efforts, but also ensure we stayed away.

Once the lap numbers popped up, I figured we were gold, and with around 10 to go, we were actually starting to close in on the back of the field. Realizing that Foundation and Jamison had guys in the field that could help those guys, I reduced my efforts quite a bit to make sure the gap to the field stayed open, leaving it to just be us four. I started really trying to get the right layout with 3 to go, and with 1 lap remaining, the positioning really started to play out. I ended up behind Alejandro going into corner 3 and realized he was going to have to go hard from the corner to have any chance, so I tried to time my jump and catch his tiny draft as well as I could. We were going full-gas up the straight and with about 50m to go, Margarite shot past me, but Ale managed to hold it to the line and I came through in 3rd - not too bad considering the company and having raced earlier in the day. Very happy with the performance and with 2x podiums over the day!

 

Photos Care of Bicycle Racing Pictures , PhotoRhetoric , Ron Short

Redmond Derby Days 2013

So, 90 minute crit right?
Not only is this easily the longest criterium I have done, but with Logan Owen and Morgan Schmidt (local Pros, Logan was recently crowned the national Crit and Road champ for the 17-18yr Juniors, and Morgan has been with Jelly-Belly for a few years), we were sure to have a fast and difficult race. Throw in a huge paycheck for the winner ($1000!) and it was a who's-who of WA cycling (and some added firepower from Oregon and I think some Canadian riders too).

Right off the bat, things were going fast, but unlike the Ballard course, Redmond has pretty wide and manageable corners so the race held together. This doesn't mean there were not attempts to break things up though. Both Pros, as well as some of the aggressive locals, all put in big attacks to try to gain ground and/or split the field. The big $$ primes were just added incentive to push the pace every few laps and keep things running full tilt.

After the initial rush of the first laps wore off, it was just a game of staying up front (to stay out of the mess of the pack) and making sure no one dangerous got going off the front. With 90 minutes of racing, not many people were dangerous in the breaks (especially since most were shut down within a lap or two), but there were definitely a few times when the dangerous guys got up the road and I had to make sure we had someone up with them or drag the field back.

Our initial plan for the race was to put Robson or Barrato into a place to sprint for the win, but the main goal was to make sure that they were ready when it came time. My job, as something of a crit specialist, was to keep things working into that direction; get into breaks if they happen to make sure we are represented, but work to bring things back together for the sprinters to do their job. I would definitely say that I did that pretty well. Andrew, Doug, and I were up front for the majority of the race, with added assistance from Munson, Alec, and Mark to make sure things stayed together well. Meanwhile, Joe and Robson just had to surf the field and stay safe for the finish.

As we moved into the second half of the race the attacks had a bit more staying power, with longer escapes initiated by Morgan, Logan, Max O'Neal, and Steve Fisher (Steve actually had an impressive amount of primes too, making his attacks at the right time to capitalize). I managed to stick to a few of these, but Andrew did an impressive job to pull quite a few back as well.

As we got down to about 15min remain, the pace ratcheted up and the pack started getting a little crazy as we approached the finale. Doug, Andrew, and I were still working the front and I know Alec and Munson were both running in great position as well. Time to start setting things up! I made sure I moved up to the front so that I could be in good position for the end and hopefully drag someone to the line.

Disaster struck with about 2 laps left, as a rider clipped Doug's wheel a few riders to my right. I saw the bikes start clipping and braced but managed to squeeze past before bodies started moving luckily! I jumped onto the wheel in front of me again and worked forward again.

Turning onto the final lap I was in roughly the top 15, which is right where I wanted to be. I moved forward a little more as I could and when we hit the last corner, I jumped into a higher gear and turned out the pedals with everything I had left, managing to pass a few people and cross the line in 12th! Ouch did that hurt, but it did pay off. I ended up the highest placed rider on our team, as unfortunately everyone else was stuck in that crash and slowed down, pulling them out of contention. Not the result we were hoping for, but at least it was a great workout and experience for the next race.
The next crit in the area is in two weeks, down in Georgetown. This will be the first time this course has been used, so I hope it is a good one. Maybe I can finally get that elusive top-ten in one of these races down there.

Here comes Derby Days

That's right, the Redmond Derby Days criterium is tomorrow night!
http://redmondderbydays.com/criterium
This will be my first run with the big boys at this event, but I have had a great run-up so far with finishes just outside the top-10 in the last few crits (barring my crash last weekend - still sure that would have been a top 10, which is a bummer). I have also had great success here in the past - finishing well in the 4s, and winning last year as a Cat 3, so I think we can set up a great result!
The team will be out in force, so I may be dragging one of the other guys in for the win, but it all depends on how the course plays out.
Be ready for a good write up, this one should be great.

(Photo is from Ballard Crit last year - I am the rider with the yellow booties in 2nd position - Ended up 3rd in that race)

Boat Street Criterium 2013

A nice start to this race with sunny and dry weather, however news got around that the seams in the front straight were a little crazy and had caused some big crashes (including Ingy) in the morning.
The race was also the state-championships, so people were amped to do well.
Most of the crew was either skipping this one or had raced in the morning, so I was solo for the race. The field was a decent size with big groups from Keller-Rohrback, Audi, and HSP all present to put in work and make for a fast and hard race.
I got a good start and managed to hold a solid placing for the majority of the race, trying to stay out of trouble but also making sure I could stick with the front group. I had to jump across gaps a few times to stick with the lead, but it was turning out well, and I was still in good position when we finally hit laps to go. The pace picked up again for the last 15 minutes of racing and Audi and HSP were both working hard to hold the front of the race. I moved up a few spots on the back hill and then tucked in along the front to keep position. Things were looking good and with 2 to go I was in the top 10! Just another minute of work and I was done!
As we rounded corner 3 for the last lap I must have caught a turtle as I was suddenly sliding sideways. I popped back onto my feet and got out of the way as the field ripped by, but the crash had rolled my rear tire off the wheel, preventing me from jumping back into the race (and since it was the last lap, there was no free laps to give). So instead of a top ten, I instead got a DNF and some road-rash... Not the idea I had in mind
At least I am in one piece and got a great test for Redmond next weekend. Time to heal up and give that a go with the team.

Joe Matava Criterium

The second crit in this action-packed week, the Joe Matava crit took place as it always does on July 4th. The weather was a little grey but warm and burned to sunshine in the afternoon. For this race Ingy was the captain and wanted to try a new strategy of having each of us mark a rider in the field - the idea being to pick someone who is usually strong or dangerous and learn from their lines.
My mark for the race was Colin Gibson from Keller-Rohrback - not necessarily the most likely sprinter for the finish, but dangerous if he could get off the front in the right spot and TT to the finish. At Tacoma he led out one of his teammates to get a good finish for their team.

Our race started in early afternoon with nice weather and a field of about 56 riders - big but not that bad on this course due to the nice wide corners. I had a good start off the line and entered the first corner in the top 20 riders. I continued to stay in roughly the same spot until people started to push the pace and we started to file up. As the accelerations began, I made sure to stick with the front group, that way I could be useful to the team even if Colin wasn't in position to cause trouble.

We continued in this fashion for awhile until the pace started to slow and attacks began again. As I continued to push this position, Colin finally came into the front section of the race. I made sure to quickly catch his wheel and stayed behind him for the next few laps as we continued through the pack. A few laps later he made his move and slid up the outside along the front stretch - I was watching and was on his wheel immediately. It was now Colin, an Audi rider, and myself off the front of the field and continued in this manner for the next 2 laps until they realized we didn't have enough of a gap to get clear and slowed to have the group reclaim us. I was definitely happy for the rest after that hard pull, but made sure I stayed toward the front again to avoid getting stuck deeper in the field.
The race continued to pull at a decent pace with some smaller attacks (nothing staying away for more than a corner though) until we hit the last 5 or 6 laps.

At this point HSP organized to push the pace and set things up for the sprint. I was still in good position and worked to keep or advance where I could for the next few laps. Robson, Andrew, and Doug all moved up toward the front with me to get ready for the finish. Robson was trying to set up a lead for Andrew but they were on the wrong side of the group to catch my wheel and Andrew had to move around Robson to go for it on the last lap. As we hit the slight rise on the back side, things were going full-on and as we rounded the corners I pushed as hard as I could to try to move up to the leaders. The final result was 12th place for myself, followed by Doug and Andrew in the next few spots. Not a perfect race, but I felt good with all the accelerations and am definitely getting stronger. Hopefully we can put some of these lessons together for a good team showing at Redmond Derby Days next weekend.