KHRR 2018

Race reports
Post Reply
User avatar
cbusick
Tête de la course
Posts: 1686
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2012 7:42 pm
Location: Shrewsbury, MA

KHRR 2018

Post by cbusick »

Nice job Dave M, for putting on a great race!

Masters 40+ 1-4

Weather report for race time 49F - RAIN.

Wasted a lot of time trying to figure out to wear, finally decided to take the sleaves off of a castelli gaba jacket and wear it under my speedsuit. That Gaba is the best, blocks all the wind but breathes well enough that you don't steam yourself to death.

First lap Cratty hits a tiny little hole by the apple orchard. It sounded bad, but he bounced his bike up and down a couple times and it seemed to be holding air.

Lap 2 there was a 4 man break off the front with 30 seconds. Josh started chasing it, but I didn't want to waste him chasing the break. 545 missed the break too, but I didn't see them anywhere. Where was Cratty, why wasn't someone yelling at us, telling us what to do? Oh well, I went to the front and got Josh out of the wind. Tried to get something going but there wasn't a lot of help. At the top of Oak Josh was on the front again, I went up to help him, figuring if we brought it back, maybe we could set something up for Jacob in the sprint. Josh and I traded pulls down the hill, through the finish and onto Littleton. I heard Jimmy yell "30 seconds" as we crossed the line. We had a little gap and I started to wonder if they'd let us go, but then someone else pulled through and there was John, Dave and Jacob to help with the chase.

Josh and I drifted back and I found Miles. "Miles, you guys missed the break too, why aren't you helping? I've got three guys up there chasing but I'm not going to have MRC do all the work only to be counter attacked by 545!" Then I looked around. "Where is your team?" Miles gave a pained smile and looked around. "I don't know."

I drifted back further, trying to find Cratty. I found some 545 guys. "hey, you guys missed the break too, why aren't you helping with the chase?" All I got in reply was "Josh will bring them back."

I reached the back of the pack and still no Cratty, hopefully it was just a flat.

As we turned onto Oak, Josh was on the front again, with a swarm of Aetna guys behind him up plotting a counter attack. Then Jerry DZ went around him and started contributing for 545. He got within 15 seconds, then I moved up to finish the chase, hoping that Josh saw the Aetna guys and was recovering for a counter attack. Sure enough as I caught and passed the break, the Aetna guys went by with Josh and what looked like the whole 545 team. I needed to recover so couldn't do anything about it.

I drifted back and entered the hypothermia zone. Not me, I was fine, but the back 15 guys were in rough shape, like shivvering zombies. They let a gap open on the descent to the finish and I figured I was out of the race. I saw Dave, John and Jacob take off to bridge the gap, and make it accross. Then the pack spread across the road and allowed the hypo zombies to rejoin the race. I got out of there fast and moved back up amoung the living.

Josh was, of course, on the front again. I commented to Myles "Not sure what Josh is doing" and he grunted in return. Then the guy behind Josh just stopped trying and Josh was 50yards off. He looked back, shrugged and started eating.

David Potter from CCB jumped crossed the gap to Josh and blew by him, Josh woke up, looked around and took off after him. I was on the front next to Ciaran from CCB, and he said "move over and block that's your guy in the break." This was obvious to me but I cheerfully moved to the middle of the road. A lone Aetna guy took off in persuit and I took this as a good sign since witout Aetna the chase would fall soley on the non-present 545 team.

We caught the Aetna guy on Oak. The rest of his team counter attacked with Mylesand I jumped on. Then we turned onto Pinacle and Myles went again and I was surprised to find I could go with him. Nobody would help Myles. People would attack him but Myles would bring them back. Poor Myles.

Last lap.

Finally DZ put in some effort on the front on Littleton. Hmm, if Myles and Jerry are doing all the work, who's their protected rider?

After the first kicker of Oak a Marshall yelled 1:22. This made me very happy. Josh was away for good, now things turned into setting up for the group sprint for 3rd. Myles attacked again with a group of about 8 riders, but I couldn't respond. Let him have 3rd, We have at least 2nd with Josh. I've done enough, I'll just roll in from here.

I drifted back to the hypothermia zone, thinking maybe I should bring Jacob back to the front for the sprint before sitting in for the finish. "Jacob, Josh has 1:20, he's going to make it" Jocob replies "That's nice, I'm just trying to survive back here."

I looked around. These guys were in rough shape, shivering, shaking numb hands. I wasn't doing that bad. I moved back up to the front. Maybe I had an edge...

Approaching the turn to Pinacle I hear Dave, to my left say "I got you man". I took this to mean he was going to pull me up to Myles on Pinacle, but as soon as Myles attacked and I jumped after him Dave was gone.

We had about 10 of us with a little gap when we made the turn and up the little hill to the orchard. Myles was on the front. I thought if the 10 of us stay away and don't get swarmed on the downhill maybe I can get a top 10, so I moved up and kept the pace high to the downhill. Then the gaggle of Aetna boys went by swerving left and right like teanagers on bmx bikes. I was around 10th on the downhill, trying to stay away from the sketchier of the riders then it started going back up and when people started turning on the power, gaps opened and I was able to start moving up again.

What am I still doing here? Why aren't they dropping me? Where's the pack?

I got up to Myles wheel and then he moved over a little to the right and there was room to come around him so I opened up my "sprint" 15 seconds at 920w isn't much, but when you are the only warm blooded human left in a field of hypo zombies it's apparently enough as I snuck past Myles and got him with a bike throw at the line for 3rd!!

Oh wait, the CCB guy with Josh was 50+. 2nd Place Baby!!!

The highlight of the race for me was the shocked sound in Jeremy's voice as he yelled "BUSICK!?!?!?!?"
-Chris Busick
User avatar
JeremyC
Maillot Jaune
Posts: 2090
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:04 pm
Location: Stow, MA

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by JeremyC »

Domestique and Sprinter!! Sick work. And killer win by Burgel. I was only in the race for 1 lap but Burgel was on the front almost the whole time.
User avatar
jraguin
Tête de la course
Posts: 1450
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:27 pm
Location: Acton, MA

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by jraguin »

Busick captured the 40+ race pretty well. A big kudos to Josh and Chris. A few things from my perspective as I felt I actually contributed (for once) to the team win:
* Like Busick, I kept thinking that the 4 off the front would get caught because the 545 guys would get organized to set it up for Miles. I think the hypothermia zone changed everyone.
* I started doing a work at the front with Busick & Jacob & Dave to pull back the break. I just felt like not only do we have no MRC guys there, but we have no "friends of MRC" there. I know you may say "of course you should get the break", but in my cold wet survival state, that was a big leap for me to make. 545 (Jerry) finally contributed going up Oak Hill to catch the break.
* Lap 3 up Oak Hill was pretty animated with going after the break and then people thinking about the KOM. Funny what one growler will do for incentives. Miles sprinted away to get it.
* I was a little careful going around the turns and that let a gap open. I pushed hard to get back on during the descent and pulled Jacob and Dave back up to the pack. It turned out that people slowed down (as we caught Miles) which is what let the hypothermic back of the pack on (with Busick) on.
* That descent at the end of lap 3 did me in. I was cold and wet before, but now I was shaking and shivering uncontrollably. My breathing was really off... hard to describe. I kept having to exhale really hard. Maybe that is the onset of hypothermia. I kept thinking maybe I should drop out, but the other part of me kept saying "not that much left" and I am in the mix. That part of me won out.
* I was at the front with Josh when Josh rode a bit away off the front. No one was chasing him, so I soft pedaled a bit. Then the CCB guy Potter attacked. I didn't chase as I knew Josh needed a partner. He went by Josh but then I saw Josh woke up and was riding after him. Mangan said to Busick and me to slow up which I was already doing. We were almost 3 across which covered almost the whole road. An Aetna guy went to bridge which we let him. No 545 reaction which I kept expecting.
* The rest of the race was just blocking and trying to not think about quitting. No one else was really trying to bridge or attack so it wasn't that hard.
* Last lap, got to Oak Hill, the moto said 1:20 and Busick said to me that Josh was gone. I was really struggling with the cold and could barely turn the pedals. My whole body was locking up and my breathing really erratic. The pack rode away from me halfway up Oak Hill and I just rolled it in.

I went straight to the car, blasted the heat, took off all my soaking clothes, wrapped myself in a towel, and drove home. I got on the couch and covered myself in 2 big blankets. My wife said I looked like death. She gave me hot water to drink, Gatorade, and food. It took me a full 45 minutes to stop shivering.
User avatar
Jacob
Peloton
Posts: 476
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:14 pm
Location: Arlington, MA

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by Jacob »

I’ve been cold on bikes plenty of times, but this was different. Normally it would be maybe 15F and all my extremities are close to frozen, but I’m wearing 8 layers and my core temperature is ok. If you stuck a thermometer up my butt after the decent on lap 5 I don’t know what it would have read, but I’m pretty sure you’d have a hard time doing the measurement because all of my muscles were pretty clenched up. I was seriously considering stopping after 4 laps — not because I wanted to stop suffering, I was just seriously concerned that I could not safely steer a bicycle. I decided that future Jacob would be very unhappy with that choice so I stayed in — an easier choice at the top of the climb when the shivering was less. Like John, I had the heavy breathing thing too. It doesn’t really make sense; I would think that hyperventilating would accelerate the removal of heat from the body. We had separate 40+ and 50+ races in the same field; maybe we should have also had a separate hypo zombie race? Of course the podium presentation would be a bust because the winners would all be shivering in their cars or in a ambulance somewhere.
User avatar
Deltabrian
Domestique
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2017 10:10 pm
Contact:

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by Deltabrian »

Reading these accounts and having delt with backcountry emergencies with hypo victims, you are all describing the beginning stages of hypothermia. The slowed shallowed breath is definitely an indicator. You usually aren't aware at the time of it being hypothermia and it 9/10 times someone else points it out to you.

Glad you all were safe in those conditions and raced a safe race.

As a safety briefing (prior Army service coming through here), see this link on symptoms and treatments going forward. [ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20352682 ] If you can't recognize it yourself, at least you'll be able to identify it setting in on others. Challenge your riding buddy to talk through something they should know well or do simple math. If the speech is slurred or mumbling, acknowledge what's happening and seek treatment, with eh best bet to stop, get out of wet cold clothes, wrap in blankets and drink something warm.
MarkMiller321
Domestique
Posts: 105
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 4:58 pm

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by MarkMiller321 »

Don't really have the gumption for a big write up today so I'll recap in the popular bullet point style.

*Driving the lead car for the cat five race was fun. We had a host of troubles with the races radios so at one point I had there walkie talkies barking at me while also trying to talk with Cratty on the phone to figure out if any of them were working. May have been the all time worst example of distracted driving.

*Warming up on the South Bolton Hill a recreational cyclist saw a friend and turned into the road with out looking. She nearly crashed Tinkov and fell in a heap right in front of me. I had no choice but to go full #crossiscoming and commit to a bunny hop. I almost cleared her completely but I did clip her with my power pod ruining it in the process. I was pretty pissed. When a cyclist makes a dumb mistake like that it makes us all look bad. Going to be steamed if my power meter is toast.

*It started raining during staging. I was a total idiot and did not pack any layers other than my skinsuit. Figured I could man up for forty miles and deal with the cold.

*I was shivering instantly so I made the early pace fast on the front. This led to a very fast, twenty-four mph race.

*AJ went away with a group that looked strong. I was pumped for AJ because he wanted to get in a break.

*I was getting very cold and fighting a war with my body as the rain intensified and the temperature dropped. I would freeze my biscuits off all the way down the hill and then figure out how hard I could ride up Oak Hill to warm up a little and not pull down the breakaway gap. Despite being freezing I had great legs and was ready to attack but just worked the front of the group instead.

*I got colder.

*In the last lap it appeared that the break was going to come back so I drifted back preparing myself for a counter attack if necessary. The break reorganized and the gap stretched back out.

*At this point I had lost all of the feeling in my middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Holding the bars was tough. I was constantly shivering and my neck and back were spasming because I had my muscles clenched so tightly trying to stay warm.

*Up Oak Hill the last time I committed to one late attack once I knew that the break was clear. If it failed I was going to sit up because I was not confident sprinting in a group as badly as I was shivering. Over the last rise heading toward 1k to go I threw down a big move and got a gap on the bunch. Onto the downhill I went into the superman tuck and actually thought I had a chance of staying away. Unfortunately my left hip cramped absurdly bad and I had to get out of the tuck or risk completely locking up. Between sitting up and shivering the group came back with under 500 to go. Mark Hewitt made a sketchy move and almost took me out and I called it a day. I sat up and coasted in safely keeping my cat three status in place. Mark and I talked and messaged later in the day. I wasn't mad at him but I just wanted to touch base about the move. He was accountable for his mistake and admitted that he was glad that it was me because he knew that a rider with lesser skills would have probably crashed.

*I was soooooooo cold. I went straight to the car and tried my best to change but it was taking considerable effort. My whole body hurt and every movement caused me to cramp. I was shivering so bad that my hands weren't working effectively. KT walked by worried about how bad I was looking. I managed to get dressed and walked to the common hoping to find someone to give me a hug!

*I found Mark and he grabbed me but after assessing how badly I looked directed me to the ambulance. By the time I got in the ambulance I in pretty tough shape. I was shivering so badly that I felt like I was going to vomit. They wrapped me up with some warm blankets, put some heat packs in my armpits, and wrapped me in a huge foil blanket. After twenty or so minutes I felt like I was okay'ish so I left. I went and saw everyone one last time and hit the road. I put one of the heat packs on my groin and the other on my heart. I cranked the heat and the heated seat and wrapped myself in the foil blanket. Brrrrrr!

*In Fitzwilliam, NH I was in a state resembling warm.

*Fun race.


(I also think that I was in the early stages of hypothermia. My heart rate was progressively getting lower throughout the race as my body temperature dropped. The EMTs thought we were all idiots being out in the cold rain as skinny as we all are.)
User avatar
eboos
Peloton
Posts: 436
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 8:38 am

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by eboos »

40+ Cat 4/5

Thankfully this was the first wave and we beat the rain. Chilly morning, but I got my kit selection just right and it turned out to be pretty comfortable racing weather. I am still trying to break a habit of doing too much work up front and blowing up early, so I gridded up in the rear 1/3, and tried to not get further up than the front 1/3 during the first lap. This was working well. Oak Hill wasn't being much of a problem, but I was loosing position on the descents through the corners. This happened during the first lap, but I easily caught back up.

On the front half of the second lap, it felt like we were barely moving, and I felt pretty good about conserving energy. Unfortunately, once we hit the corners again, I lost position, and wasn't able to catch back up again. Instead I found myself with Jim Murphy from Cowbell, and Matt Halfrey from North Hampton. When we got to the steep descent, both of them were able to open up a gap, but I later caught them past the finish line.

With one lap to go we got into somewhat of a rotation, but one of the riders seemed too willing to take a long pull so I wasn't going to stop him. Knowing the course, I knew where I was going to have to make a move in order to finish ahead of these two. I made sure that I opened a slight gap with a steady threshold effort going up Oak Hill, and with 5K to go, I went all in. As I crested the top, I started cranking out the big ring and began a full gas effort all the way to the finish. I knew that if I let up they were going to catch me. Looked back a couple of times, sometimes I would see someone, sometimes I wouldn't. I had no sense of security with my position, so I just kept going. Maxed out, and my HRM flashing red, I just kept going until I reached the finish. Sure enough, seconds later the other two crossed. 27/32 may not be the most impressive finish on paper, but this was my most exciting finish so far. Great race!
User avatar
peterkuhn
Domestique
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:23 am

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by peterkuhn »

Thanks Dave M, for putting on one of my favorite events of the year, weather notwithstanding. I heard the same sentiment from quite a few other folks.

This was my first time driving a lead car, and I'm pretty sure we didn't have anyone in the W4/5 field, so here's a women's 4/5 race report:

=========================

They started off, and it wasn't raining. Right from the get-go, a Bell Lap rider came to the front and started pushing the pace. She kept pushing, and I kept waiting for someone to pull through, but she stayed on the front, and it continued to not rain. Right up the climb on lap one and a lotta ladies got dropped like this is a simile I am not going to attempt. Still the bell lap rider hammering onward; she had those ankle socklets and therefore must be a triathlete.

The thing is, after one lap, the womens' Pro/1/2/3 field was now just up ahead of us. It still was not raining. Bell Lap Freight Train proceeded to cause the women's P/1/2/3 field to be neutralized and our entourage sailed by, entirely dry. How embarrassing for them. (Rob Warner: "OOHHWW, howe 'mbaarrassin' fore 'im!!") By then end of climb #2, BLFT had whittled the group down to herself, a GLV rider attacking off the back, an Errace rider, and a NE Devo rider, the latter of which were no doubt scheming up a fine strategy to wheelsuck all the way to the sprint.

We hit the final lap and it is only on the final climb that a breakaway rider from the P/1/2/3 field finally catches up. She has two and a half minutes on the rest of her group, and I tell her this. She seems pretty stoked, and not at all rained on. Pacing the 4/5 group with a P/1/2/3 rider in it is beyond my lead car driving abilities, so I unleash the full Power Of The Prius to zoom away from that whole scene and let the motorbike guy sort it out. Down the hill one last time in really pretty low relative humidity levels and BLFT proceeds to lead everyone out and then stuff the Errace rider trying to beat her in the sprint like a boss. Too bad she has to do that 10 times to cat up but I don't make the rules, I just report on rain.

=========================

Speaking of rain, here's what happened in the men's 3/4:

The fault here, as with so many things, lies with Cratty, who failed to send out an email detailing strategy for our squad the week or night before, including references to current pro racing situations, and ideally with a plan b in case the race turned into a heat transfer lesson. The fact that he wasn't in this race doesn't seem to be relevant, I'm not sure why you'd bring that up. Absent this sort of firm leadership and guidance I decided to just sit in and see if anyone went nuts on the final climb and/or contest the sprint. This was such a bad idea.

Here are the reasons why sitting in was such a bad idea:

1. We already had Chris Gibson for sprinting
2. I had 50x12 gearing for the huge downhill, because I secretly yearn to be a junior
3. Sitting in is cold as hell

Anyway by the time I figured this out there was already a break up the road with AJ in it. Here was Billy H from 545 cruising along with us, which was neat, because Tucker said he was signed up for the Wachussett Hillclimb too. He had a number tag sticking off the back of his seatpost, wonder what that's about. Mark Miller is looking like a lunatic with just a short sleeve skinsuit and that's it but he says he's fine and not cold at all. I don't really know Mark, but he doesn't seem like a sarcastic guy. His arms look like Tiesj Benoot's arms at the Strade Bianche glowing pink and red.

Rain report: It's raining now. Glad I kept the kneewarmers. Maybe I should pick up some velotoze. Here we go up climb #1, then climb #2, then climb #3, now it's raining even more; the break is pounding away but never seems to get farther than about 40s. Maybe I should also pick up one of those electrically heated motorcycle jackets. Maybe I should pick up a space suit. Tucker and Mark M are patrolling the front for AJ in the break, Jason is hovering around somewhere waiting to attack up a climb. I'm doing my part by staying focused on the sensation of all the water going down my legs pooling in my shoes and sloshing around in there. I like to think that the same water will hang out down there and warm up, like peeing in a wetsuit, but this never happens. Maybe peeing would have been a smart move here. Old heads: is peeing yourself in a cold race for the warmth a smart move? Please advise.

Something similar is going on with my gloves and I consider taking them off, but I have a lot of experience with bad ideas and catch this one just in time. On up the final climb. I can't feel most of my appendages anymore so i'm actually really excited to ride up this hill. It is very challenging to operate my front shifter. Then I see Mark Miller again and he has the kind of skinsuit with the mesh on the side so you can see his actual skin and I feel like a huge baby. Jason jumps off the front, I think somebody goes with him, but I'm stuck at the back under the iron edict of the yellow line rule.

Another great thing about pouring rain is you can stop worrying about what's going in or out of the front of your face. Tears, boogers, half a gel on your chin, whatever. Just pull up on someone else's wheel and let their wheel pressure wash it off of you. And shot blox stick JUST FINE on your top tube in the rain. If anything they were harder to get off due to being cold and resentful.

No more attacks up the final climb, and then we're at the top with a bunch of sprinters and would-be sprinters looking for position. I wind up on Chris G's wheel, while Tucker and then Mark M put in big productive lead-out efforts, I take on the highly critical function of sweeper. Chris takes the sprint for 7th, Colin Reuter does not manage to get around him, which is definitely down to my sweeping, and I roll in 9th.

It took like half an hour to stop shaking but other than that it was a perfectly fine day of bike racing.
User avatar
cbusick
Tête de la course
Posts: 1686
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2012 7:42 pm
Location: Shrewsbury, MA

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by cbusick »

Once again, that was a great read Peter. FWIW, Cratty didn't have any heat transfer tactics for us either. Unless you count faking a flat tire at the beer garden
-Chris Busick
djming
Chasseur
Posts: 965
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 6:44 am

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by djming »

Love the 4/5 driver report Peter. BLFT did the same thing last year as well, but with only 2 laps for them last year she couldn't complete the catch (but shrunk the gap noticeably). Discussed this with JD. He said "Oh yeah, she's a pro triathlete, I need to look at that Monday". Maybe next year she can pull a FT on the 1/2/3 field.
Dave Mingori
AJ Camelio
Voiture Balai
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:39 pm

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by AJ Camelio »

As already mentioned, the start of the 4/5 40+ was a pretty dull affair. I was worried we were going to get caught by the P/1/2 women, but we were spared that embarrassment since the women had basically stopped riding. Anyway, nothing happened on the first lap, except a guy from NEBC pulling everybody up Oak Hill. Brian A. and I stayed close to the front but nobody tried anything. On lap 2 up Oak Hill, I tried an attack about halfway up. Travis from Community Bike and another guy came with but we were pretty quickly pulled back in by what Brian said was a big group. With only three laps in our race, I don't think anybody wanted to let anything go. CB guy put in a little dig at the top for the KOM with Brian in pursuit. On lap 3, there were a few half hearted attacks but nothing came of them. About half way down Littleton Rd., Brian suggested we try a 1-2. So he went and after he got caught, I attacked over the top. I got a decent gap and somebody bridged up to me, and I thought it was on, but then Moto Guy sent my would-be breakaway partner to the back of the group for a yellow line violation in getting up to me. The confusion around that ended that break attempt. I tried one more attack on Oak Hill on lap 3 but again got nowhere. After that, Brian moved up to the front, which was a good move, while I let myself get out of position. The group had been whittled down a bit by them but Todd was with us too. The sprint started early, maybe 1k or more out, with Brian still up front. I tucked in but could sense some of the bigger guys passing me on the descent. Brian held on for 3rd, Todd was 5th, and I was 7th.
MarkMiller321
Domestique
Posts: 105
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 4:58 pm

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by MarkMiller321 »

Peter. I may have been lying a little about not being cold.
Briana
Chasseur
Posts: 600
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 11:23 am
Location: Ashland, MA

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by Briana »

It's impossible to top Peter's race reports and AJ did a pretty good job recounting the 4/5 40+ race but i'll chime in anyway.

I opted for the 4/5 morning race with volunteer duties for the second wave rather than the 3/4 race and 1st shift volunteer duties. This may have been the best decision I've ever made considering I avoided the legendary hypothermia zone.

Race goals: Don't crash, don't get dropped on Oak Hill, and finish with the lead group.

Lap one, One guy off the front, he dangles but is quickly pulled back in. About a mile or so before Oak him a ride jumps off the front, then another, then myself. We work together pretty nicely but are pulled back in shortly before the Oak Hill climb starts. The guy that stared the break drags us all up Oak Hill at a pretty comfortable pace, nobody attacks, I'm happy. I make sure i'm up toward the front on the sharp left hander then the sharp right hander at the bottom of the little hill. I quickly realize that not only is this safer but I can get a decent gap on the field by flying through the corners and sprinting up the little kickers after them. This is fun, my legs feel good, it's not raining.

Lap two, It's a slow pace down Littleton Rd, so slow at times it feels like everyone's patience is being tested yet nobody attacks. Maybe half way down Littleton I tell AJ i'm going to attack, when they pull me back you attack, maybe you can get up Oak Hill first. That didn't really work but it was fun trying. about 1/2 way up Oak HIll AJ went again, he got a bit of a gap but pretty quickly about 8 guys picked up the pace and pulled him back. I Sat in toward the front all the way up Oak Hill. Travis Burlson my CX buddy went for the KOM, I jumped on his wheel but quickly conceded. This little effort put us off the front a little bit and he wanted to push he pace. I was happy to just be out in front of the pack for the two sketchy turns and the long downhill into town. So far staying safe and enjoying the race.

Lap 3 more of the same slow pace on Littleton, a few attacks but nothing sticks. I sit in most of the way up Oak Hill but move toward the front toward the top. I use my fast through the turns approach to make sure I can stay toward the front. I'm in the top 10 down the hill into town and I'm feeling pretty safe and I'm happy with that. As we hit the bottom a big guy comes by me on my left and jump on his wheel expecting to cruise into the finish. I start sprinting somewhere, go around him and realize i am in 3rd place. I cruise over the white stop line in the road and sit up having finished 3rd. WOW, my first road podium.....barley. Turns out the actual finish line was painted on the road about 5 meters in front of what I was thinking was the finish. That was close. I really enjoyed this race.

What I learned: I have to figure out when to sprint. Thinking back I think I could have sprinted harder and certainly could have timed it better. I don't think any of my road races have ever come down to me actually sprinting for anything that mattered. I'm learning the tactics which has made road racing with a team so much more fun. Time to start learning the details.

Brian A.
Brian Anderson
JBurgel
Autobus
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:39 am

Re: KHRR 2018

Post by JBurgel »

Like Chris, I wore my winter cyclocross kit and the MRC vest under my speedsuit - and didn't have the ass shiver the 545 guys on the line did. The cozy warm feeling faded, but my job to be "active" at the front kept me from slipping into coma zombie land. Chasing down the 4 man break with Chris reminded me of 2017 Purgatory without the heat - get us on the front and your break is done. When JDZ joined I did back off in order to collect for the inevitable Miles jump which happened on Oak Hill to grab the lap 2 growler. Although he has the juice to make a break stick, he doesn't have it for 30 miles solo. When a bunch of Aetna guys attacked, I grabbed their wheels and hoped they'd get to Miles and the break would be on. I don't remember working, but my math skills began to fade over the start/finish and even though I read the lap card, I completely lost track of the race.

Descending I realized I'd better eat something if I wanted to feel my hands ever again. Not trusting ability to stop, steer or shift with one hand I rolled off the front to eat a gu. It was so cold squeezing the pack only produced a PeterKuhn snot block which I gagged on when Potter flew by. Everyone noted my processing power...lethargic at best. Lunch break over, time to Go! I caught Potter and we were on.

Climbing Oak Hill the legs were numb and I nearly cried when KT said next lap for the KOM...wait we have 2 laps to go. Are you serious, never going to make it. Back to the bottom of Oak Hill, number and tired of drinking road rain I thought, hell we have a gap, may as well try to get the KOM as a consolation prize. Gu pack still in my shifting hand I creatively moved it over to my left sopping glove and (sorry Dave) promptly dropped it. Potter and I diligently climbed - he complained about hilly road races, but kept pulling through. With 200 to KOM Potter sat on my wheel, so I slowed up and he attempted to go at 100, our slow sprint ended with a bike throw that KT called for me. Yay, I paid for my fee AND got warmer without peeing myself.

The burst of warmth disappeared down the backside, and I was certain the group would catch us - but I guess the zombie anchors and brilliant team blocking worked. Moto told us we had a minute lead at the bridge on Oak Hill...but it didn't matter, we HAD to keep pushing to not freeze up.

Thanks for suffering through the cold teammates, proud to work with you Chris - that was an epic sprint, my turn to set you up for the next one.
Post Reply