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.

Solo Miles with the R5

For the last few weeks I have been riding my Cervelo R5 for training (the S5 is still the designated race bike) and enjoying the change of pace. As with any time you switch between two high-end bikes, there are features you like/dislike about both. The R5 is incredibly light - even with my heavy training wheelset the bike is just a hair over 16lbs. This weight makes the bike very quick to respond to inputs and climb well. The first weekend I had it together I did a 4 hour ride and hit a variety of climbs to do over a vertical mile of climbing - a climbing workout for sure.

Fast forward to this weekend - I did a 5 hour ride of training. Since the plan was for distance, I was planning to mix up some routes. I started by riding out to Mercer Island and doing a lap of the Island before heading out toward Sammamish. From there I rode down into the Carnation valley and out to Snoqualmie Falls. A small loop at the top and then heading back down to Carnation and up to Sammamish again. This once again resulted in over a mile of vertical climbing - a domain that the R5 responds well to.

As a bike, the R5 is a great machine - I can see why most of the Garmin-Sharp team has been riding these this year. It is light, very stiff and responsive, yet it still carries a lot of the road-smoothing capabilities of the R3 it evolved from. Compared to the S5, it is lighter and a bit more comfortable over the rough stuff. These features do come with trade-offs though. Due to the wider tubes, the R5 is lighter and stiffer, but less aerodynamic and definitely less quick in the wind. The small seat-stays and reduced chain-stays make for a comfortably ride, but reduce the power-transfer. This means that when you launch a sprint, the rear-end is more likely to lift and skip a bit rather than just lay power to the ground. The R5 also has a stiffer front-end due to a wider headset and beefy fork, helping with stability and responsiveness at speed.

You can definitely see why Tyler Farrar and the Garmin-Sharp riders love this responsive and lightweight machine.

Top Ten

So far, my first season as a Cat.2 cyclist has been un-eventful - a collection of DNFs at a variety of races. Whether they were the result of working too hard, being caught in the wrong spot, or even being in a crash - the result was the same. Did Not Finish.
This all changed with my ride at OVRR - a combination of good fitness, better understanding of the Pro/1/2 field, and luck provided me with a solid 14th for the day. Sure, that is outside the points. Sure, it is possible it was a fluke. I didn't care, it was finally a result for the year, and that was the proof I needed that my work was paying off.
Fast forward and we were lining up for the Ravensdale road race - or more appropriately a circuit race, since we don't ride enough for it to qualify (and as a result, points are only 6 deep instead of 10). I am feeling great, but what is more important is that our team is running well - Andrew was the captain for the race, and had just cleaned up at the Tuesday race at PR. Our goal was to watch for breaks and get in any that could be dangerous, or run it in for Andrew and Mike R to contest the sprint.
The Ravensdale course is broken into two parts - the front stretch is a combination of false flats and rolling short climbs. Once you reach the corner, you get some respite as the course flattens out and even has some small downhill sections to let you get caught back up. There are then a few small corners and a short climb as we move into the final section - some short climbs and fast decents.
The race started out fast from the gun, as the neutral roll-out was mis-handled and racing began almost immediately. I managed to get into the front half of the peloton to watch out, but also stay out of the trouble of the strung out field. We hit the rollers and were hauling down the front stretch. This high pace continued for the first two laps. As we hit the corner I took advantage of the repositioning and moved up to the front group. This was perfect, since I was able to change pace with the race without dealing with the whip in the back of the pack.
After a few small attacks, the pack was still keeping together, and the group settled down a little. By keeping myself toward the front of the group, I was able to watch a lot of the attacks and make sure that we were covering any of the big moves.
The race continued in this manner until the last few laps when the speed picked up again. Now it was more important to watch your position as the peloton was more focused and getting into new spots was more difficult. As we were heading toward the last lap, two riders had a good break off the front. Andrew knew they were a dangerous pair and chased after them, which increased the speed of the pack to chase them all down again.
The final lap was again a full-speed affair. As we hit the final corner I was about 1/3 back from the front, but got into a better spot as we climbed the biggest of the front hills. Normally the finish is only a few hundred meters from the top and people began to attack as if this were the same. The new finish this year was about 2km further than normal, so it was hard to decide where to attack for the finish. I just made sure to keep up speed and stay a few riders back. The speed got pretty high, but I stayed on the wheels in front of me and as we launched the final run-in I was in great position. As we crossed the line, a rider from HSP took the win, but Mike R took in 6th, Mike S was 7th, and I came across 9th! Top ten is pretty awesome after my dry-spell earlier this year, but since the race was only 63 miles, it counted as a circuit race and points only went 6 deep. Oh well, we are heading into criterium season - lets see what results I can manage there.

Olympic View Road Race

For one of the longest road races of the year (at least in the Washington area), OVRR usually tends to result in a breakaway for the win, and this year proved to be no exception. The day started looking promising with dry roads and temperatures in the 60s. As we approached race-time however, the temperature dropped to the low 50s and the clouds darkened - we were in for some wet racing. As the 90 mile race began the pace was a little jumpy - a combination of people trying to warm up and riders looking to force a selection. Not even halfway through the first lap the main break formed. Modest at first, it was only around 8 riders (luckily we managed to get two riders into the group), and shortly after an addition of riders managed to jump across to increase the firepower in the break - all but assured of victory by now.
As we had 2 riders in the break, the remainder of our team had a free ride along the peloton. Audi unfortunately had no one in the break despite all the opportunity, and as they were the largest team without presence, they were saddled with the job of chasing. For the next lap and a half, Audi spent a majority of time digging at the front, with some assistance from the other small teams without a chance. As we rolled through the 3rd lap and heard the break was still over 3 minutes, Audi pulled the plug and the pace slowed.
About halfway through the lap we had some bad news as we picked up one of our breakaway riders. The break was now down to 10 riders. We did still have a rider up the road, so we were still free to ride along and save strength. The break had a strong lead, so there was no chance of bringing it back, but now there was at least some room to string out the race for the final lap. Robson was the captain for the race and was hoping for a strong leadout for the finish (and to snag the group-sprint), and as we were heading to the finish he requested we pick up the pace to break up the race.
I jumped with a few riders to form a breakaway of 5 or 6 riders and carried on for a few minutes before the peloton caught back. At this point I was certain of finishing the race, so I was more than happy to lay it out for Robson and do a decent amount of work. As we hit the final hill, I slung up the side and sat down at the front. Tucking down in the drops I started to crank it up and drag the field. After a few minutes I pulled to the side and found that we had broke off with about 7 riders around 100 ft off the front of the peloton. I tucked back into the group and turning the corner, was 4th in line. An HSP rider was a little careless in the corner and wiped out, causing our group to run wide and make the gap to the peloton even greater. We hit the bridge with my teammate Munson on the front pulling what was now only 5 riders. As he tired, I again pulled to front. Despite the big pull on the hill, I dropped into gear and started launching for the line, still around 500m from the finish. A rider for Hagens was on my wheel and jumped slightly after the 300m mark and shortly after two other riders followed. I tried to jump too, but at this point my legs were burning so I just continued to churn the gear and came across the line as 4th in our group (making for a finish of 14th for the day).
Behind me, the field sprint was occurring. Our pulling had spread up the field and my teammates Alec and Schwin were able to lead out Robson well and put him in the perfect place to seal the deal and take the field sprint! Not a perfect day, but we successfully managed to get riders in the top 20 with one rider in the main break at the finish, and taking the field sprint. To make matters better, I was finally able to finish a race in the 1/2 field! It has taken a bit of work to get in form and not burn out early, but I am happy to have a good result after the work at the end of the race.

I do need to start posting my reviews and the bike this year, and promise I will get these posted ASAP so keep on riding and reading folks!

Milan-San Remo / Tour de Dung 1

This past weekend was the running of Milan-San Remo, the longest single-day race in the Pro calendar. Just under 300km, this race makes for a brutally long day on the bikes, and can play out in a multitude of ways. Every year, as with most Classics, there are the riders that are favored to win - usually due to recent success, past performances at the race, or just canny nature and skill. This year, everyone had eyes set on Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara - strongmen who excel in these situations. Cancellara has won here before, and came so close last year before being nipped in the sprint.
The conditions this year were quite terrible - cold rain and wind turned into icy slush. The weather got so bad that the event was actually shortened - cutting out some of the snowy and treacherous sections to protect the riders. In the end, a small group escaped over the final climb and powered into the finish. This group just happened to include BOTH Cancellara and Sagan. Sagan launched a little early and ended up getting overtaken right before the line, ending up 2nd with Cancellara right behind him. Great racing from both riders and incredible effort by everyone who managed to finish the brutal race.

My recent race held a similar effect. The Tour de Dung in Sequim, WA - a staple of the early-season racing in Washington, is usually a decent weather affair due to the rain shadow from the mountains. This running however was anything but. Temperature dropped to a low 44 degrees and featured a chilling rain for the majority of the race. To make this even more challenging, a strong wind off the Sound ripped across the area, with gusts up to 45mph! Racers huddled in the cars after quickly getting changed, and hastily warmed up before the race began. The layout of the 12 mile circuit meant that you had a long section where the wind pushed us to about 40mph, spinning out the gearing, two sections where the crosswind had you riding at a slant, and another long section with a BRUTAL headwind limiting you to around 14mph.
As with last week, I felt great at the start of the race. I knew that the big thing would be to try to conserve a bit more energy compared to last week, so that I would be able to hang in for the finish. The strong winds were a constant fight, as they tried to whip the wheels around whenever you hit those parts of the course. It was pretty crazy to spin out the gearing on a flat section, but quite demoralizing fighting the headwind on the other side. As we started lap 5, I was definitely feeling exhausted. Moving up the early climb I sat on the wrong wheel and soon found myself off the back. I worked to chase back, but the gap was already expanding, and once they hit the fast section, I was never going to make it back. I powered along solo, passing a few other riders who had peeled off (many of which were turning around) and then fought along the headwind to try to catch the main grupetto that had formed. I was only about 200m back as we made the corner to start the final lap, and wisely followed them into the parking lot, once again calling it a day. As we changed out of our soaking clothes and tried to warm up, we saw the leaders of the race come around for the win. Dave had managed to attach from the group and almost catch a small group of riders who had broken away. He ended up with a great top-10 finish, and Joe was 2nd in the group sprint from the remaining pack that arrived shortly after. The final tally - only 28 finishers - over 50% abandoned!
I was once again a little disappointed that I was unable to finish the race, but definitely did better than last week, so my fitness is getting there. Tour de Dung #2 is this weekend, and the weather should be better. Lets see if I can make my mark.