Here we go for another edition.
Day 1 - 5.6 mile uphill ITT
Day 2 - new circuit course in Randolph of a 37 mile loop (2 laps for everyone except the 4/5 guys)
Day 3 - Middlebury and App Gap road race
Day 4 - Downtown Burlington Crit
Start times for Friday's ITT and field:
Derin Iscan - 8:49 (Junior 1-4)
Rich Batten - 9:02:30 (Masters 50+)
Dave Mingori - 9:17 (Masters 50+)
Tucker Wetmore - 9:50 (Cat 3)
Robbie Raymond - 10:24:30 (Cat 2)
AJ Camelio - 12:38:30 (Cat 4/5 masters age 36+)
Todd Jewett - 12:40 (Cat 4/5 masters age 36+)
GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Dave Mingori
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Day 1 in the books.
It' a TT. I had power targets, and I came within 2-3 watts on the climb and up to where neutral support was. Continued to hold overall a good pace for the final 5K but a couple short stretches it fell off a bit. Then the final 1K climb I was off my target by a good 10-15 watts.
End result was 6th of 34 which was a whole lot better than last year. This year I'm 31sec from 1st where last year it was 1:15 (to the same guy). But a full 10 sec from 5th and 22 from 3rd. A bit more pushing might not have jumped me any places but I probably left 6-8sec out there which can make a difference.
Oh, and while I didn't podium, I did score some Heady Topper at Mutha Stuffers sandwich shop, so I have that going for me!
It' a TT. I had power targets, and I came within 2-3 watts on the climb and up to where neutral support was. Continued to hold overall a good pace for the final 5K but a couple short stretches it fell off a bit. Then the final 1K climb I was off my target by a good 10-15 watts.
End result was 6th of 34 which was a whole lot better than last year. This year I'm 31sec from 1st where last year it was 1:15 (to the same guy). But a full 10 sec from 5th and 22 from 3rd. A bit more pushing might not have jumped me any places but I probably left 6-8sec out there which can make a difference.
Oh, and while I didn't podium, I did score some Heady Topper at Mutha Stuffers sandwich shop, so I have that going for me!
Last edited by djming on Fri Aug 31, 2018 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave Mingori
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Looking forward to tomorrow's report!
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Awesome. Just awesome. Living vicariously through you.
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davidmccay
- Domestique
- Posts: 223
- Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:35 am
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Nice work. Go get em, Dave!
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Day 1 - watched Derin and Tucker go off then I warmed up. I had just put latex tubes in the night before so I was ready to save some watts. Got in the line for the TT start and my rear wheel exploded. Sprinted back to the Look tent and the mechanic changed the wheel in a flash. Made it back to the start with less than a minute before I went off.
Anyways the TT happened. Head wind on the hill then a tail wind on the rest of the course. I should've gone harder on the hill because I had no problem keeping the speed high on the second part of the course and had some gas left over.
Got back to the house and pulled out my bike to find a flat front wheel as well. This time I had Tucker help change it in case I did something wrong. Just as he pumped it up, the side wall blew out. I went through 2 tires and 3 tubes yesterday and spent all of Saturday paranoid that I would flat during the week.
Day 2 - No mechanicals, hooray! It was freaking fast today! We averaged over 29mph for over 30 minutes. The field was strung out single file for a super long time as a couple of teams brought back a break. Not much to say other than it felt like I was motor pacing in the field. With 5 miles to go Ken Greim from GLV attacked and I bridged up with several others. We had a solid gap and were going hard but guys were skipping pulls and our rhythm fell apart. We got caught around 2 km to go. I stayed in the top 10 and felt ready for a sprint despite working hard in the previous miles. Then with 1 km to go a bunch of riders started coming up the side across the yellow line (we did not have the full road until 500m). So I got boxed in and fell back to around 20th. It was completely chaotic with everyone throwing elbows and fighting for space.
Finally at 500m a little space opened and I weaved up through the mess to finish 8th place. I'm happy with the top 10 but bummed that I lost my positioning from riders ignoring the yellow line.
Anyways the TT happened. Head wind on the hill then a tail wind on the rest of the course. I should've gone harder on the hill because I had no problem keeping the speed high on the second part of the course and had some gas left over.
Got back to the house and pulled out my bike to find a flat front wheel as well. This time I had Tucker help change it in case I did something wrong. Just as he pumped it up, the side wall blew out. I went through 2 tires and 3 tubes yesterday and spent all of Saturday paranoid that I would flat during the week.
Day 2 - No mechanicals, hooray! It was freaking fast today! We averaged over 29mph for over 30 minutes. The field was strung out single file for a super long time as a couple of teams brought back a break. Not much to say other than it felt like I was motor pacing in the field. With 5 miles to go Ken Greim from GLV attacked and I bridged up with several others. We had a solid gap and were going hard but guys were skipping pulls and our rhythm fell apart. We got caught around 2 km to go. I stayed in the top 10 and felt ready for a sprint despite working hard in the previous miles. Then with 1 km to go a bunch of riders started coming up the side across the yellow line (we did not have the full road until 500m). So I got boxed in and fell back to around 20th. It was completely chaotic with everyone throwing elbows and fighting for space.
Finally at 500m a little space opened and I weaved up through the mess to finish 8th place. I'm happy with the top 10 but bummed that I lost my positioning from riders ignoring the yellow line.
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Nice Robbie. FYI yellow line is more of a suggestion than a rule 
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Day 2 - yeah what Robbie said - fast! Even for these old 50+ guys. 73 miles at nearly 25 average in a 32 person field. Oh yeah!
First lap up to the start of the KOM climb a few breaks attempt but nothing dangerous or troublesome. But everyone is watching yellow and while he does some pulls at the front (Ron Amos), nobody is willing to work with him (winning KSR twice and GMSR 1st and 2nd in the past 3 years might have something to do with that). Into the KOM climb and Rich goes off the front and is followed by 3 others and the field doesn't react. Except for me as I see yellow beginning to string things out so I get on his wheel and just sit. Twice he looks to me to come around and twice the answer is the same and Rich's group is staying away to grab the first KOM points. Would have been sweetest had Rich taken it but he got pipped for 2nd at the line.
Amazingly fun descent and then with 5K'sh to go in the lap Jay Trojan gets a gap with 3 others but Jay is the only one in the top 10 from yesterday in the group. I watch other threats for tomorrow's stage and nobody doing anything so I just take the sit in and see what happens approach. The gap grows when here come Rich and I tell him the situation. To the front with The Diesel! Plenty of people after the finish talking about the couple pulls he put in and after yellow takes over for a bit the gap has shrunk to a "let them dangle" distance. Into the climb and Rich once again goes and puts the final nail into the break. Pace stays solid but no attacks. Into the descent and the final 10K, then 5K then 3K and I'm mentally just sitting in but matching all surges. Everyone that started, save for maybe 2 or 3, are all back together. But then I see more and more starting to struggle to match the accelerations. Hmm, maybe I can mix things up... Approaching 1K to go and I gamble that if I stay on the right things will open up as people start looking left for the full road opening at 500. I guess wrong as the right side ends up being where people go as they tire. Damn, now I'm weaving around people. Clear line to my left but by the time I go full right to left and begin to come around a bunch it's too late and I'm too far out. I do easily pass a few but can't make it into the top 10, taking 12th. Felt good and thanks to Rich I was nice and comfortable sitting in waiting for things to get pulled back. Feel bad that I messed up the finish to even give myself a realistic chance at a top 5 and a time bonus.
And onto day 3 and just a bit of climbing!
First lap up to the start of the KOM climb a few breaks attempt but nothing dangerous or troublesome. But everyone is watching yellow and while he does some pulls at the front (Ron Amos), nobody is willing to work with him (winning KSR twice and GMSR 1st and 2nd in the past 3 years might have something to do with that). Into the KOM climb and Rich goes off the front and is followed by 3 others and the field doesn't react. Except for me as I see yellow beginning to string things out so I get on his wheel and just sit. Twice he looks to me to come around and twice the answer is the same and Rich's group is staying away to grab the first KOM points. Would have been sweetest had Rich taken it but he got pipped for 2nd at the line.
Amazingly fun descent and then with 5K'sh to go in the lap Jay Trojan gets a gap with 3 others but Jay is the only one in the top 10 from yesterday in the group. I watch other threats for tomorrow's stage and nobody doing anything so I just take the sit in and see what happens approach. The gap grows when here come Rich and I tell him the situation. To the front with The Diesel! Plenty of people after the finish talking about the couple pulls he put in and after yellow takes over for a bit the gap has shrunk to a "let them dangle" distance. Into the climb and Rich once again goes and puts the final nail into the break. Pace stays solid but no attacks. Into the descent and the final 10K, then 5K then 3K and I'm mentally just sitting in but matching all surges. Everyone that started, save for maybe 2 or 3, are all back together. But then I see more and more starting to struggle to match the accelerations. Hmm, maybe I can mix things up... Approaching 1K to go and I gamble that if I stay on the right things will open up as people start looking left for the full road opening at 500. I guess wrong as the right side ends up being where people go as they tire. Damn, now I'm weaving around people. Clear line to my left but by the time I go full right to left and begin to come around a bunch it's too late and I'm too far out. I do easily pass a few but can't make it into the top 10, taking 12th. Felt good and thanks to Rich I was nice and comfortable sitting in waiting for things to get pulled back. Feel bad that I messed up the finish to even give myself a realistic chance at a top 5 and a time bonus.
And onto day 3 and just a bit of climbing!
Dave Mingori
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
GMSR has been ... interesting ... thus far.
Day 1: No legs, good aero, okay time. 7th.
Day 2: Good legs, bad positioning, couldn't contest the sprint, 20th.
Day 3: Today I put days 1 and 2 together, in that I had good legs and great tactical positioning. I had talked early in the race with Owen from NCC and Tate about getting away over the top of Middlebury. During the last 3k of the Middlebury climb Owen and I built about a 10-15 second gap (Owen built, I followed), which we carried over the top. Tate didn't join us, but we did have another rider. Having done some recon of the descent I knew the corners and absolutely railed it. We opened up the gap to probably about a minute on the descent and organized ourselves to chase the break, which was still a couple minutes up the road. Nothing eventful happened until baby gap, aside from feeling absolutely amazing through the dirt section. We caught the 5 lead riders right at the bottom of baby gap and were told that we had over 2 minutes on the field. I was with them for maybe 30 seconds before my chain exploded. F************!!!!!!!! The wheel truck stopped for me, and offered to throw my bike in the bed and give me a ride to the finish. F that. I picked up my bike and started running.
The rest of my race was a combination of me making jokes at the riders passing me/spectators on the side of the road that they should be grateful that they still had their chains or that life is tough and you should wear a helmet, and talking to the race motos that periodically checked up on me. Apparently the officials were talking about the insane kid who lost his chain and was huffing it on foot (I took off my shoes and ran in my socks - my feet are dead) and every time a field passed me the official would pull over and ask if I needed anything. Unfortunately all I needed was a chain, which none of them had.
As I marched over the top of baby gap my saviors arrived. Quinn and Colin from B2C2 rolled up and pushed me on the flat stuff until we got to the descent, which I top tube tucked to build as much speed as possible to decrease my walking distance by maybe 20 meters. Every bit helps? But seriously, I can't thank those guys enough. I owe them many beers, or whatever Quinn can drink because he is allergic to everything. At this point it felt like my feet were bleeding so running was no longer a viable option, so I walked/limped for the rest of the climb. Once I got to the last 200 meters I could hear the race announcer saying that I had a snapped chain and that I had run/walked to the finish. He also mentioned that there was a rider closing in behind me, so I sprinted for the line, high stepping to try and get a few laughs. This turned out to be a mistake, as I scraped my foot on the ground and have a pretty decent cash in my big toe. Stupid. But funny, so almost worth it.
They better let me start the crit tomorrow...
I went into this race with the goals/expectations of placing top 5 GC, do well on a stage or two, and get enough points to upgrade to cat 2 for next season. Unfortunately none of those will happen, but I'm writing this next bit so I'll have to put my money where my mouth is: so help me god I am going to rain fire on the cat 3 field next season. All I want right now is to train my ass off for 2019.
Day 1: No legs, good aero, okay time. 7th.
Day 2: Good legs, bad positioning, couldn't contest the sprint, 20th.
Day 3: Today I put days 1 and 2 together, in that I had good legs and great tactical positioning. I had talked early in the race with Owen from NCC and Tate about getting away over the top of Middlebury. During the last 3k of the Middlebury climb Owen and I built about a 10-15 second gap (Owen built, I followed), which we carried over the top. Tate didn't join us, but we did have another rider. Having done some recon of the descent I knew the corners and absolutely railed it. We opened up the gap to probably about a minute on the descent and organized ourselves to chase the break, which was still a couple minutes up the road. Nothing eventful happened until baby gap, aside from feeling absolutely amazing through the dirt section. We caught the 5 lead riders right at the bottom of baby gap and were told that we had over 2 minutes on the field. I was with them for maybe 30 seconds before my chain exploded. F************!!!!!!!! The wheel truck stopped for me, and offered to throw my bike in the bed and give me a ride to the finish. F that. I picked up my bike and started running.
The rest of my race was a combination of me making jokes at the riders passing me/spectators on the side of the road that they should be grateful that they still had their chains or that life is tough and you should wear a helmet, and talking to the race motos that periodically checked up on me. Apparently the officials were talking about the insane kid who lost his chain and was huffing it on foot (I took off my shoes and ran in my socks - my feet are dead) and every time a field passed me the official would pull over and ask if I needed anything. Unfortunately all I needed was a chain, which none of them had.
As I marched over the top of baby gap my saviors arrived. Quinn and Colin from B2C2 rolled up and pushed me on the flat stuff until we got to the descent, which I top tube tucked to build as much speed as possible to decrease my walking distance by maybe 20 meters. Every bit helps? But seriously, I can't thank those guys enough. I owe them many beers, or whatever Quinn can drink because he is allergic to everything. At this point it felt like my feet were bleeding so running was no longer a viable option, so I walked/limped for the rest of the climb. Once I got to the last 200 meters I could hear the race announcer saying that I had a snapped chain and that I had run/walked to the finish. He also mentioned that there was a rider closing in behind me, so I sprinted for the line, high stepping to try and get a few laughs. This turned out to be a mistake, as I scraped my foot on the ground and have a pretty decent cash in my big toe. Stupid. But funny, so almost worth it.
They better let me start the crit tomorrow...
I went into this race with the goals/expectations of placing top 5 GC, do well on a stage or two, and get enough points to upgrade to cat 2 for next season. Unfortunately none of those will happen, but I'm writing this next bit so I'll have to put my money where my mouth is: so help me god I am going to rain fire on the cat 3 field next season. All I want right now is to train my ass off for 2019.
Tucker Wetmore
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AJ Camelio
- Voiture Balai
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:39 pm
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
I'm in the 4/5 Masters with a few cat 2 60 year olds thrown in for good measure.
Day 1 -- I time trialed for 16 minutes and a few seconds. Thought I was slow but most of the other people in my field were slower. Finished 11th.
Day 2 -- This was the circuit race, but since my field only got to do one lap, it wasn't really much of a circuit race. Pretty flat, with a flat, finish. The sprint got dangerous and a little physical with a lots of bumping. Went to the front to stay out of trouble, "sprinted", and finished 10th.
Day 3 -- This was the day I was looking forward to (and kind of dreading). Race started out pretty uneventfully, a few guys trying to pop off the front but nothing much sticking. At some point around mile 10, two guys rode off the front and got 30 seconds or so. They got reeled in before the sprint and then we were all together at the base of Middlebury. Middlebury wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and most of the group hung around until 3 km to go to the top. Started to thin out after that as the climb ramped up. I went over Middlebury with 6 others in the lead group with 5 others close by. Ended up a group of 12, not working very well. Some guys wanted to paceline it but I said the guys with teammates (two Rapha CC guys, two 1k2Go guys, and 2 guys from some Canadian team) could do the work since they were going to try to gang up on us later. Once the cooperation broke down two guys (Bill Thompson and a Canadian guy with a teammate) attacked and got a minute or so. They stayed away a while.
Once we got to the wall before Baby Gap, the race leader and one of the 1k2Go guys got a 30 second gap on the main group, with the other two still up the road. None of the guys with teammates would chase so I bridged across on the dirt section and then we caught the other 2 when we hit the next town. So now we were 5. Started working together and it was clear the 1k2Go guy was the strongest. Canada guy got dropped, so now we're 4. We hit Baby and the 1k2Go guy takes off. Nobody can cover it. Now we're 3. Halfway through Baby a Rapha guy joins us, so we're 4 again. We hit App Gap and 1k2Go hits the gas and is gone. At about 2km, the race leader and the new Rapha guy go. I don't try to follow since I don't think I can up the pace. The other guy that was in the break can't hold my wheel and falls back but a second Rapha guy bridges up to me. We ride together until 1 km to go when he gets a few seconds on me. Now I'm in 5th. But I was able to put in a few digs around 500 m and he couldn't quite hold it. So I finished 4th. 1k2Go held on the for the win, and the old race leader finished 3rd.
Good day and now I'm 5th on GC.
Day 1 -- I time trialed for 16 minutes and a few seconds. Thought I was slow but most of the other people in my field were slower. Finished 11th.
Day 2 -- This was the circuit race, but since my field only got to do one lap, it wasn't really much of a circuit race. Pretty flat, with a flat, finish. The sprint got dangerous and a little physical with a lots of bumping. Went to the front to stay out of trouble, "sprinted", and finished 10th.
Day 3 -- This was the day I was looking forward to (and kind of dreading). Race started out pretty uneventfully, a few guys trying to pop off the front but nothing much sticking. At some point around mile 10, two guys rode off the front and got 30 seconds or so. They got reeled in before the sprint and then we were all together at the base of Middlebury. Middlebury wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and most of the group hung around until 3 km to go to the top. Started to thin out after that as the climb ramped up. I went over Middlebury with 6 others in the lead group with 5 others close by. Ended up a group of 12, not working very well. Some guys wanted to paceline it but I said the guys with teammates (two Rapha CC guys, two 1k2Go guys, and 2 guys from some Canadian team) could do the work since they were going to try to gang up on us later. Once the cooperation broke down two guys (Bill Thompson and a Canadian guy with a teammate) attacked and got a minute or so. They stayed away a while.
Once we got to the wall before Baby Gap, the race leader and one of the 1k2Go guys got a 30 second gap on the main group, with the other two still up the road. None of the guys with teammates would chase so I bridged across on the dirt section and then we caught the other 2 when we hit the next town. So now we were 5. Started working together and it was clear the 1k2Go guy was the strongest. Canada guy got dropped, so now we're 4. We hit Baby and the 1k2Go guy takes off. Nobody can cover it. Now we're 3. Halfway through Baby a Rapha guy joins us, so we're 4 again. We hit App Gap and 1k2Go hits the gas and is gone. At about 2km, the race leader and the new Rapha guy go. I don't try to follow since I don't think I can up the pace. The other guy that was in the break can't hold my wheel and falls back but a second Rapha guy bridges up to me. We ride together until 1 km to go when he gets a few seconds on me. Now I'm in 5th. But I was able to put in a few digs around 500 m and he couldn't quite hold it. So I finished 4th. 1k2Go held on the for the win, and the old race leader finished 3rd.
Good day and now I'm 5th on GC.
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Holy crap Tucker - you're an animal! Chris Froome has got nothing on you. Hopefully you can get your revenge tomorrow (shreded feet and all)!
KT
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Epic everyone. Epic^2 Tucker.
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Ridiculous. Both the bad luck and what you did with it Tucker.
Awesome finish AJ. Great job.
Awesome finish AJ. Great job.
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Yeah, I think Tucker clearly wins the hard man award this year. (Almost) not worthy of any further blog reports.
50+ was much more animated from the gun in this year's weather compared to last year when most people were wet and shivering off neutral. Attacks started going right away and continued until a 5-man group including the sprint and KOM jersey along with Tobi Schultze got away before Granville Gulch at which point everyone else content to just wait for Middlebury.
Middlebury kept getting progressively harder when finally the field splintered for good in the final 1.5K. I was with a front group of 6 and at one point Cliff Summers and I got a bit behind 4 others. Then we realized we had gapped yellow plus rest of the field so we worked together to quickly rejoin and the 6 of us got into a nice rotation on the descent. It took almost the full Middlebury descent before another group of 7-8 caught back on, including Rich B.
Then after a bit to feed and get organized the 14 of us got into a good rhythm all of 116 and over Bristol Notch.
Into the dirt section and we caught a glimpse of the wheel car so absolutely drilled it and caught the splintered break as we turned thru town. Only Tobi from that break was able to stay with us so the group grew to 15.
Baby Gap shelled 4 (including unfortunately Rich) but I continued to feel good and controlled. No issues.
Into start of App Gap and I easily match the first moves and quickly moved into 7th. Just past 3K to go and power starts dropping and a few out of saddles pushes bring on the tightening, completely out of nowhere as there had been no indications at all. Then 2K to go and the inside of both legs are not allowing me anything over tempo. Then 1.5K and its down to endurance and full on cramps hitting. Passed by Bill McGreevey, then William Lopez, then Travis Dixon and just before 1K to go Bill Caligari. Last 1K was plain torture. And then hit 500 and lights went out. Saw Alice and just yelled for her to get up to the finish. Somehow able to barely move enough to cross the line. Lost over 3min on fhe climb. Tried to unclip which only brought on complete locking of both legs. A support person caught me and then then an EMT. Got off the bike and into a chair as Alice arrived with water and dill pickles.
Finished 11th which is solid in that field but really felt like I was ready to go after top 5.
Crit should be interesting tomorrow. The Heady Topper back at the condo was bit of consolation.
Oh, and the top 2 in the 50+ are 1sec apart so with 2 intermediate and at the finish time bonuses should be an exciting race.
50+ was much more animated from the gun in this year's weather compared to last year when most people were wet and shivering off neutral. Attacks started going right away and continued until a 5-man group including the sprint and KOM jersey along with Tobi Schultze got away before Granville Gulch at which point everyone else content to just wait for Middlebury.
Middlebury kept getting progressively harder when finally the field splintered for good in the final 1.5K. I was with a front group of 6 and at one point Cliff Summers and I got a bit behind 4 others. Then we realized we had gapped yellow plus rest of the field so we worked together to quickly rejoin and the 6 of us got into a nice rotation on the descent. It took almost the full Middlebury descent before another group of 7-8 caught back on, including Rich B.
Then after a bit to feed and get organized the 14 of us got into a good rhythm all of 116 and over Bristol Notch.
Into the dirt section and we caught a glimpse of the wheel car so absolutely drilled it and caught the splintered break as we turned thru town. Only Tobi from that break was able to stay with us so the group grew to 15.
Baby Gap shelled 4 (including unfortunately Rich) but I continued to feel good and controlled. No issues.
Into start of App Gap and I easily match the first moves and quickly moved into 7th. Just past 3K to go and power starts dropping and a few out of saddles pushes bring on the tightening, completely out of nowhere as there had been no indications at all. Then 2K to go and the inside of both legs are not allowing me anything over tempo. Then 1.5K and its down to endurance and full on cramps hitting. Passed by Bill McGreevey, then William Lopez, then Travis Dixon and just before 1K to go Bill Caligari. Last 1K was plain torture. And then hit 500 and lights went out. Saw Alice and just yelled for her to get up to the finish. Somehow able to barely move enough to cross the line. Lost over 3min on fhe climb. Tried to unclip which only brought on complete locking of both legs. A support person caught me and then then an EMT. Got off the bike and into a chair as Alice arrived with water and dill pickles.
Finished 11th which is solid in that field but really felt like I was ready to go after top 5.
Crit should be interesting tomorrow. The Heady Topper back at the condo was bit of consolation.
Oh, and the top 2 in the 50+ are 1sec apart so with 2 intermediate and at the finish time bonuses should be an exciting race.
Last edited by djming on Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave Mingori
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
103 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing with no feed = dehydrated and cracked
There was a stupid crash in the neutral roll out so our neutral lasted over 20 minutes. It was stupid how uncooperative the field was. We were either going 18mph and coasting or 28-30 totally strung out. People kept letting gaps open up for no reason then it was a mad dash to chase back together. This continued the whole day. I spent too much energy helping close them.
A few people got away at the beginning but we all stayed together over Rochester Gap. Groups kept rolling off the front and the panic chasing continued. The group kept getting smaller so I tried to get away a few times with no luck. Pack thinned more over Middlebury. I got dropped from the lead when the road pitched riding my own pace and knowing I could catch back on the downhill. I was close enough that the official vehicles were behind me at the crest of the climb.
Then on the sharpest switchback on the descent one of the race vehicles decides to pass me on the inside and scaring the crap out of me as I tried to avoid dying. Then I had to pass the car again 45 seconds later when I catch the group. A few riders had broken away so the group was chasing hard.
Attacks kept coming and Ken Greim from GLV and I helped pull back a threatening break after the descent had ended. When we caught the riders and were pedaling easy, the rest of the field let a gap open up to us. I turned to Ken and asked if he wanted to try to get away. The race leader (who had been attacking incessantly) joins us and we start hammering to the point where Ken and I are about to crack. We ease up but continue to work and catch a big chase group of riders who had gotten away at various points, before we turn onto the dirt section.
Still more attacking but I've been out of water for a while and starting to hurt. Got dropped on Baby gap at the feed zone where they finally had neutral water and I guzzled down the bottle. Rode the rest of the race solo but nearly caught back on the crest of baby after being revitalized by the water. Passed a few other cracked riders and finished 15th. I am shattered.
Side note, the race leader for stage 1 and 2 has 64 upgrade points as a cat 2 THIS YEAR...
There was a stupid crash in the neutral roll out so our neutral lasted over 20 minutes. It was stupid how uncooperative the field was. We were either going 18mph and coasting or 28-30 totally strung out. People kept letting gaps open up for no reason then it was a mad dash to chase back together. This continued the whole day. I spent too much energy helping close them.
A few people got away at the beginning but we all stayed together over Rochester Gap. Groups kept rolling off the front and the panic chasing continued. The group kept getting smaller so I tried to get away a few times with no luck. Pack thinned more over Middlebury. I got dropped from the lead when the road pitched riding my own pace and knowing I could catch back on the downhill. I was close enough that the official vehicles were behind me at the crest of the climb.
Then on the sharpest switchback on the descent one of the race vehicles decides to pass me on the inside and scaring the crap out of me as I tried to avoid dying. Then I had to pass the car again 45 seconds later when I catch the group. A few riders had broken away so the group was chasing hard.
Attacks kept coming and Ken Greim from GLV and I helped pull back a threatening break after the descent had ended. When we caught the riders and were pedaling easy, the rest of the field let a gap open up to us. I turned to Ken and asked if he wanted to try to get away. The race leader (who had been attacking incessantly) joins us and we start hammering to the point where Ken and I are about to crack. We ease up but continue to work and catch a big chase group of riders who had gotten away at various points, before we turn onto the dirt section.
Still more attacking but I've been out of water for a while and starting to hurt. Got dropped on Baby gap at the feed zone where they finally had neutral water and I guzzled down the bottle. Rode the rest of the race solo but nearly caught back on the crest of baby after being revitalized by the water. Passed a few other cracked riders and finished 15th. I am shattered.
Side note, the race leader for stage 1 and 2 has 64 upgrade points as a cat 2 THIS YEAR...
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Damn that's f****d-up. 103 miles and the neutral water is at Baby Gap. What's that like 10k from the finish? Hard man racing Robbie. You're a beast!
Too bad about those cramps, but still a good result Dave! You too AJ - awesome!
Too bad about those cramps, but still a good result Dave! You too AJ - awesome!
KT
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Wow. Kudos to everyone on the day, and hope you are all recovering
Robbie- having just done a 10k elevation ride, I can't even imagine racing it; hard enough just finishing, while taking stops whenever I felt like it
Tucker, 2019 cat 3 should be scared. Very scared. Wish I could have spotted you a bike
Robbie- having just done a 10k elevation ride, I can't even imagine racing it; hard enough just finishing, while taking stops whenever I felt like it
Tucker, 2019 cat 3 should be scared. Very scared. Wish I could have spotted you a bike
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
GMSR is too expensive to NOT have SRAM neutral support. Pathetic
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
some dumb Fondo probably secured them first...
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Technically it's now Look/NRS. Two cars there, and they followed the P/1 and the W's P/1/2. Agree they should ante'd up for a 3rd at least for Sunday's stage.
Anyway, Day 4 done and dusted.
Last night was tough. My legs would not settle down (despite the Heady Topper) and I continued drinking a ton. Friggin cramps suck!!
Finally got some sleep and woke up feeling very meh about the crit. After some mumbling, Alice turns around and says "I've been looking forward to watching the Crit all weekend so I'm going whether you race or not". Okay, let's get the head in the game.
Warm up and after some good spinning I force myself to do some efforts to get the heart rate up. Okay, not as bad as I was expecting. As I roll back to downtown, I get on the course for a couple laps with Cliff Summers and along those laps I decide I'm going down fighting. Somewhere I'm making a move. Problem is, we've got 1st and 2nd (Cary Moretti & Ron Amos) separted by 1 second. Also, 4th, 5th, 6th (Cliff Summers, Jack Jefferies and Tobi Schultze) can also theoretically completely swap. Even Travis Dixon in 7th could jump a spot. And I've only got 5 sec on Bill Caligari to secure a top 10 GC. So, with all those guys marking each other in some format I figure it's going to be next to impossible for a break to go before the GC time bonuses are up (20 to go and 10 to go). I'm right. Pace is crazy fast right from the start and with my cornering "skills" (HA!) I'm into the drill it all out on the uphill finish stretch to gain position. Also I'm right in that people try to go and everything is brought back. At one point Amos, Jefferies and Schultz get away and the field goes absolutely ballistic and I'm swallowed back to mid pack. Damn, here comes some more 150+% uphill drilling. I make it back to the front of the field.
Fast forward to after the 2nd time bonus sprint so now 9 to go. Except I had lost track and suddenly I see 7 to go. I guess time does fly by when you spend 30% of the race in Z6/Z7. Hmm, maybe I can steal a cash prime with the 5 to go. Nope, out of position to go. Into the descent, around the freakin' fast bend and onto the climb approaching 4 to go. I drill it, except this time I actually hit 3rd/4th wheel shortly after the finish line instead of almost to the corner. Here's my opening and I go all in, get a gap approaching turn 1 and take turns 1 and 2 clean, all-out and unobstructed. Committed now. Approaching turn 5 I look back and I do really have a gap. Then I pray that someone bridges but it's not answered. Okay, keep pushing. One more lap and now I see someone bridging. Joel Brown catches up and goes by but when I pull thru he stops working and the light goes on that he's going to sit as Tobi is his sprinter and the field is closing. On the back stretch with 1.5 left I go as hard as can to try to shake him but can't. I keep trying but the field swarms in thru turn 1 with a lap to go. I hold on mid pack to finish same time and keep 10th on GC.
Dave Mingori
-
AJ Camelio
- Voiture Balai
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:39 pm
Re: GMSR 2018 Report(s) Blog
Lined up early for the crit today, which turned out to be lucky as we avoided the heat that rolled in for three later races. Robbie told if I didn't podium, not to come back. He also gave me the wisdom Pat Collins passed on to him last year, "First or second through the last turn always wins," so I was thinking about both of these things at the start.
Once we started, it was a typical 4/5 crit. No break, no teams, reason attacks, random slowdowns. Lots of primes kept the speed high.
With about 3 or 4 laps to go, we were down to about 15 guys. A few moves, but nothing sticks. Just before the bell lap, I put the Collins/Raymond plan into motion and attacked on the downhill, moving from 12th wheel to 1st, and carry out through the uphill. Halfway through the last lap, I hear the race leader on my wheel, screaming "We've got a gap." I put in one more dig and wave him though. We go to 1-2 through the last corner and sprint for home. He holds me off for the win, and I settle for second, and 3rd on GC.
Great weekend with teammates and friends at a great race. Hopefully we get a few more MRC guys there next year!
Once we started, it was a typical 4/5 crit. No break, no teams, reason attacks, random slowdowns. Lots of primes kept the speed high.
With about 3 or 4 laps to go, we were down to about 15 guys. A few moves, but nothing sticks. Just before the bell lap, I put the Collins/Raymond plan into motion and attacked on the downhill, moving from 12th wheel to 1st, and carry out through the uphill. Halfway through the last lap, I hear the race leader on my wheel, screaming "We've got a gap." I put in one more dig and wave him though. We go to 1-2 through the last corner and sprint for home. He holds me off for the win, and I settle for second, and 3rd on GC.
Great weekend with teammates and friends at a great race. Hopefully we get a few more MRC guys there next year!