CCB Coastal Classic

[JeremyC]

I'm writing this report for Tom Coleman who is now all of a sudden too imprortant to write his own race reports...

A bunch of us went down to the New England Season Opener, a new race hosted by CCB called the Coastal Classic (not sure how it can be a classic already, but I digress). Its being held at the Hallowed Grounds of Ninigret Park in Rhode Island. Another solid weather day for bike racing, 40 degrees and rain. We had a smaller crew than last year's Chris Hinds opener, due to a bunch of guys frolicking in North Carolina and rubbing it in via social media and flooding my facebook account (along with Russ's London pictures)....

Ken Chadwick started us off in style by crashing in the Cat 4 race. There we're some new guys there as well, hopefully they can post up.

Anyway in the 3/4 we had myself, Oscar, Josh the HamBurgeler, Mingori, Scruffy McDuffy, and 2 Cratty Coaching Systems athletes, Mark and Tom. As DS I struggled with the strategy as we had a lot of solid all-rounders but no sprinter. The plan was basically to try to get in every move until people got sick of chasing us and one would get away. Not to spoil the rest of the report, but thats exactly what happened (pat on back). Pretty much everyone was on point, getting in moves while other guys disrupted the chase. Even Scruffy went in a solo move that lasted a while, at one point he had 10 secs on the field. At some point 1/2 way through the race, as a break was reeled in, Tom went off the front. I wouldn't call it an attach, which is maybe why it worked, he basically just rolled away until he had 50 meters and then we went to work on the front and he was GONE. This was an impressive feat as at one point he was 1/2 a lap ahead of us which what looked like an insurmountable lead. (as his coach I knew he had mad watts but even I was surprised at this effort)

I knew we needed to assist as much as possible because 30 minutes solo, in any race, is HAHD!!!!! We blocked the shit out of the race, people were getting literally mad at us, more out of frustration that we controlled it so well, not because we did anything wrong. in fact, they got so frustrated that one guy from CF racing actually tried to headbutt me out of the 2nd position because he knew I would pull through and soft pedal. Needless to say we had some words.

To give the field credit, there were still 5 or so guys putting in a solid chase despite our tactics, and the gap shrunk. Dan McCabe from Grinta jumped away and we let him go, figuring either he would die in no mans land or maybe even catch Tom and give him a breather. The chase continued...

I pause for a teaching moment. An MRCer who will go unnamed went to the front and put in a massive pull until I unleashed venom on him (which elicited laughter from the rest of the field). Later he would tell me he didn't know it was Tom who was in the break. Which leads to my teaching moment. If you don't know who is in the break, and the rest of the team isn't pulling, then, to be safe, find out who is in the break before chasing it down.

Anyway with 2 to go its looking good but not 100% done and people are lining up for the sprint. Josh and I are contemplating sprinting for placings, but the pace is really high and Tom still might get caught (kudos to Dan McCabe who successfully made it across). I knew Tom could outsprint Dan who is a TT guy, Dan made an initial attack that Tom covered. But the sprint trains made it a close call. The timing was so close that I couldn't decide to sprint or not because I just wanted Tom to win and be done with it. So we cruised in with the sprint and Tom ended up winning with a comfy 3 second margin.

All in all it was an awesome race. Tom's effort was truly spectacular, considering GLV and CCB had decent sized teams. But Tom wasn't done there.

Tom, Mark and I lined up for the P123, it was really fast out of the gate. After 4 laps or so all 3 of us we're near the front and we each tried to chase some moves. Tom's 2nd attempt was the charm as he got in an elite break with Keith Kelly, Cole Archambeault, Myerson, etc. It was GONE. They ended up lapping the field (which I was fine with) and Tom, dying a thousand deaths, held on at the back of the pack which was worth 9th place. MRC friend Pat Collins, which wasn't in the first move (which had CCB representation to his credit) got in a solid chase group and got 2nd in that sprint for 11th. Mark and I suffered tremendously and finished for the all-important "1/2" point doubleup. 70 miles at an average of 23mph and I was COOOOOKED.

Good times racing with MRC as usual!!!

[djming]

Yup, that 3/4 race was a blast. It's so much fun when others know exactly what's going on, but nothing they can do about it. And I think I may have conversed with that same CF guy (although after the race he did congratulate me, and the team). Same for Dave Shuck from Rockstar Games, who I almost took out when a Team Colombia guy chopped my front wheel.

I didn't do the "real" double in the P/1/2/3 but did provide cans of Wally for those that did!

Some drink and snack, warm up in the car, ride around for a bit and then watch the final of the P/1/2/3 race and line up with Fintan for the 50+.
My first time racing in this age bracket. I wanted to watch for and get in a break and see what happens. As the race started, I could sense my legs were lacking any real hard acceleration pop, but sticking with a good steady-hard pace seemed okay. I think 5 or 6 laps in a 4 person break goes clear, including Tom Frances and Tobi Schultze. I stupidly missed the initial move but got to the front of the main field and followed wheels of a few guys trying to bridge.
2 others and I get a gap and we're making headway. Crash coming out of turn two in back of us (as we discover next time around). We keep closing and get to a point on the final stretch where I'm sure we'll catch on after the turns when they neutralize the race. A couple laps of not really knowing what's going on. I sit up with one guy but the other keeps moving up to the break. Finally they signal for a restart. The break of 4 gets a 7 second head start. I'm thinking the 3 of us will be starting immediately after, maybe a second or two. Nope, they put us back with the main field (which there was a very clear gap to). All three of us make an argument but the response is "the tape shows differently". Oh well, guess we're not going to win this. Race restarts and of course the 4 just completely drill it and they stay away. There are really only 4 of us trying to organize a chase but nothing gets at all organized. Oh well.
Into the last lap and not able to muster anything even remotely resembling a sprint so just coast in with the field.

[Thomas Coleman]

too good for a race report sheesh lol

the plan we had for the 3/4 was a solid one. everyone was attacking and everyone kept following all the moves that every one was making, clearly tiring the players. then the group started to line out with Mark on the front. he easied up and the front 5 people buched and i went to the inside and rode away from the pack with a half hearted attack. when i saw there was a gap i just started drilling it. one guy tried to follow and he didn't want/couldn't hold my wheel and i dropped him and rode solo for 15 laps. dieing a thousand deaths. just picturing doing 2x20's in my head the whole time. i had no way to gauge the effort and it may have been a blessing cause my garmin wasnt working and rode completely on feel. having Ken shout the time gap was a big help and kept me motivated. i noticed that they were closing in on me slowly, i tryed my best to not think about it tho. with 2 to go a guy did bridge to me and the moment he caught me he attacked, but it was an easy one to cover. he was relentless with the attacks but wasn't able to shake me (i do have Gopro footage). and i just sat on his wheel and practice patience to the line (thanks Pare) lol, and came around him for the win.

after feeling completely shelled and bearly able to turn the pedals i tried my best to recover but the legs kept locking up. so i decided that i was going to jump in the P1/2/3 anyways and against all best judgment and even though i had a very hard time riding across the parking lot. we lined up. and got shot out of a cannon. the attack were fast and furious i just did my best to hold wheels at the front and respond. next thing i know, i look back and there is a very large gap and all the players are in the break. at first im rotating through taking pulls and riding like the best of them. some where just before the point when we lapped the feild i started cramping bad and did my best just to hold on to the back for a few laps. then when we lapped the feild i just sat in and tryied to finish the race. which i did in 9th my first time finishing in the money in a p123. afterward i felt completely sick to my stomach and wondered how i was going to get home....but it all worked out

[mfwestbe]

Nice work, Tom (and team)!

Clearly, your legs were not 'locking up' in the second race to come in top 10, drafting or not

[jraguin]

Awesome job Tom & crew.

So how does it work when you lap the field... did they have to move over or did the whole group just merge together?

[jraguin]

Awesome job Tom & crew.

So how does it work when you lap the field in a crit like that where they don't pull people? Did they have to move over or did the whole group just merge together? Then in the sprint, doesn't that mean a teammate who is a lap behind could conceivably lead out a teammate in the break who is a lap up?

[Fintan]

In the proud tradition of doing something rookie every race. In the Masters race I jumped on the wheels of guys I thought were attempting a break as we approached the bell lap. When they sat up after the finish line I realized they had lapped the field, leaving me alone up front. I stayed there to do the lead-out to the final turn, then was swamped.

[Fintan]

Awesome job Tom & crew.

So how does it work when you lap the field... did they have to move over or did the whole group just merge together?

They merged.

[kenchadwick]

Had a great race in the 4s until about 500 meters to go. Raced at/near the front the entire time, I seemed to be as strong as anyone out there. With about 500 meters to go I was about 10 wheels back with a seam right to the front. I was thinking I had a perfect launch. Next thing I know I was on the ground hoping not to get run over, rear wheel went out from under me, no idea how it happened. Pretty bad road rash on my a**, bike is fine, skin suit is toast. Disappointed, I had points in this one.

[Fintan]

Ken, the Cat 4 race, including the crash, is up on youtube:
https://youtu.be/-ccmABVdHu0

[jmorrissey]

I was watching the cat 4 video while on the trainer yesterday and thought that was a MRC kit hitting the ground. I'm glad you're ok for the most part Ken. Hopefully you be good for this weekend?

[ChristoT]

Hey everyone, new Cat 4 guy here, taking up Jeremy on his invite to post up. My rear shifter cable snapped off when I was adjusting the derailleur for the race wheels the night before the race. Met Amos Brumble early in the morning to try and fix it but the shifter was jammed and would've had to be taken apart or replaced, so my only option was to race with one gear. I tried to run close to the front but hide and save my legs, always looking ahead and coasting as much as possible before each turn. Attacks started on the second lap but there didn't seem to be any well-coordinated effort by any team, so they all fizzled quickly. Legs felt good and I chased down 2 guys who went on a break 20 minutes into the race but as I caught them one flicked his elbow and I just shook my head - I was running out of revs and starting to dip into the red zone, so I sat up. We went back for cover in the main group and somewhere around the 14-th lap of the race the group started stringing out and I ran out of revs and got dropped. Looking at my cadence data, I was in the 130s for extended periods of time and I was going at 135 on the entire back straight just before I got dropped. I usually train around 110-120 RRPs during sprint intervals and this was well beyond a level I could maintain the entire race. I got lapped with 3 or 4 laps to go and it started drizzling right around the same time - nothing major yet but enough to make it slippery in turns, especially toward the edge of the track where there's usually more dust. I was 5 or 6 riders behind Ken when he went down (this was the only MRC kit in the race, so I assume it was him) and was relieved to see that the rider immediately following him was able to go around him. It looked scary for a second! And speaking of crashes, I heard there was a pile-up in the sharp left-hander in the 3-4 race, did you guys see what happened?

It's impressive to read about all the teamwork in the 3-4 group, congratulations to everyone! Looking forward to Marblehead! It looks like we have a good size group, would be glad to help the team any way I can.

[Fintan]

I heard there was a pile-up in the sharp left-hander in the 3-4 race, did you guys see what happened?

No, I heard the clatter at the back of the group and saw guys standing off the track on the next lap.

[pcollins]

Stellar showing by MRC. Congrats Tom!