Cat 4
First off - it was great to see so many MRC guys out there today. People were not unaware of our presence... at one point I heard a "come on, you guys have like 12 people in this race".
The headwind on the finishing stretch was already pretty strong at the start. The first several laps felt quick, but there were also a lot of riders not keeping good lines, especially into turn 1. I suppose this should be expected, but it was also motivation to get closer to the front. Eventually, two guys formed a break, which appeared to be sticking after several laps. There was a little MRC work, but not many others seemed to be making progress on reeling it in.
Around 20 minutes in, I think it was John (please correct me if this is wrong!) who put in an attack that almost looked like it was on its way to success, but several people chased it down. I was a little far back, but when we slowed into the wind, I got out of the saddle and committed to bridging (I had my doubts about success). A quick look back and no one was chasing. Then I spent the next half hour in an incoherent state gasping for air, . A few others also bridged, including Mark P from 545, but he was pretty gassed and didn't hang on. The break probably could have succeeded, but it was not super-organized. At one point, I think 3 of 5 people just kind of sat up... Anyhow, Tucker also joined us at some point fairly late, and not long after the remaining 1/2 pack overtook us.
BUT - the joy in this is - is that I knew I was guaranteeing that Reese, Tucker, and our other guys didn't need to do any match burning. And, when Tucker went off the front the last few laps, we were still crushing people. I'm not exactly sure how the finish looked, because I was off the back at that point, but I rolled through to 'we took first and second!'. Great job to the team for making this happen! It was NOT chance.
3/4
I started this knowing I probably wouldn't finish, but then I actually felt pretty good once we got going, but then a split started happening, and I started my chase a little late (A GLV guy was soft pedaling as his teammate was off the front, and I caught this too late), then was in no-man's land for too long, and then guys were flying by me, and then I decided to bail because I'd already crushed myself for the hour prior and I've only been on the bike a week post-flu (and some of that nonsense still hanging around...). But then I got to watch the awesomeness that ensued.
Chris Hinds 2018
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
Great to see the team work so well together throughout the day!
The 3/4 race was pretty uneventful. Tucker got in a break with 2 others early on which held until the end. There was always someone from MRC patrolling the front and covering any of the half hearted attacks. The rest of the race I spent tail gunning or blocking. I think my favorite part of the race was when Nick Huber from GLV asked if that was Tucker in the break and I got to gleefully reply yes, with a huge smile on my face, which resulted in him uttering some profanity.
With a few laps to go, I started thinking about going for a late attack. I found my moment on the last turn with 3 laps to go when Rees and AJ were on the front with me. I told Rees to let a gap open then I jumped and broke away from the field for 4th place.
The 3/4 race was pretty uneventful. Tucker got in a break with 2 others early on which held until the end. There was always someone from MRC patrolling the front and covering any of the half hearted attacks. The rest of the race I spent tail gunning or blocking. I think my favorite part of the race was when Nick Huber from GLV asked if that was Tucker in the break and I got to gleefully reply yes, with a huge smile on my face, which resulted in him uttering some profanity.
With a few laps to go, I started thinking about going for a late attack. I found my moment on the last turn with 3 laps to go when Rees and AJ were on the front with me. I told Rees to let a gap open then I jumped and broke away from the field for 4th place.
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
That was my first Cat 4 race, and I was happy to see MRC get 1st and 2nd. I'm sure I did a lot of things wrong but I learned a lot and felt good about going off the front for a half lap chasing down the two leaders. I never got there but I did build a little gap and i'm sure some of the other teams had to work a little bit to reel me in. Next time I will start closer to the front and try to stay there, you could really feel a difference in speed through the corners when you were near the front compared to the back. The wind on the straight into the finish was brutal. Super fun time today.
Brian A.
Brian A.
Brian Anderson
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
The 40+ race went pretty much spot on our pre race plans. Josh was to be “break guy” with Dave Mc and I only spelling him if there were multiple counterattacks in succession that he couldn’t respond to. About 20 minutes in the most promising move went into the block headwind and Josh was able to go with it. Then things got fun.
One of the big guns and a few of the smaller guns didn’t make the break so they spent the next 10 minutes trying to chase. I was happy to let them chase and play every card in the book of “active blocking”. After 10-15 minutes or so it was clear the break was gone so I settled into a more passive role in the top 10 wheels of the main group.
There were many half hearted bridge attempts but Dave and I just let them go knowing that they would flounder in the wind and never make it across. Yup, it played out over and over like a bad horror film for those dumb enough to try.
In the last few laps Dave and I discussed that he would “late attack” with a third of a lap to go and I would sprint it out from the (chasing) field. Right before his preordained late attack point the field went into full chaos during some gusty wind and both Dave and I got boxed in on the final tailwind section before turning for home. We both managed to move through traffic and finish 10th and 11th in the field sprint. So 4th, 14th, and 15th in a field of around 60 seems like a pretty solid day (except when you compare to the 4 and 3/4 haha)
One of the big guns and a few of the smaller guns didn’t make the break so they spent the next 10 minutes trying to chase. I was happy to let them chase and play every card in the book of “active blocking”. After 10-15 minutes or so it was clear the break was gone so I settled into a more passive role in the top 10 wheels of the main group.
There were many half hearted bridge attempts but Dave and I just let them go knowing that they would flounder in the wind and never make it across. Yup, it played out over and over like a bad horror film for those dumb enough to try.
In the last few laps Dave and I discussed that he would “late attack” with a third of a lap to go and I would sprint it out from the (chasing) field. Right before his preordained late attack point the field went into full chaos during some gusty wind and both Dave and I got boxed in on the final tailwind section before turning for home. We both managed to move through traffic and finish 10th and 11th in the field sprint. So 4th, 14th, and 15th in a field of around 60 seems like a pretty solid day (except when you compare to the 4 and 3/4 haha)
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Ertcycling
- Domestique
- Posts: 163
- Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 3:31 pm
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
Fun race down in cat 5. Too bad the results were way off. I know I didn't get as high as it says on road-results.com. I look forward to revenge on that course next weekend sans two really dumb mistakes.
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
4
As mfwestbe said in his post above, "it was great to see so many MRC guys out there today" I knew my role was to attack late and I didn't have to worry about any breaks going off the front. With how many teammates we had in the race if any attacks were successful, then I should have a teammate in it. I started the race mid pack, thinking that if the field split I would have a better chance at staying with the lead group. After a few laps in the middle of the pack and a few sketchy turns (I am not the most comfortable in the middle of a big group) I decided that it wasn't worth the risk of a crash, so I moved my way to the very back of the group and pretty much stayed there until 5 laps to go. With 5 laps to go I decided I needed to work my way up. Over the next 2 laps I slowly made my way to the front of the group. As we hit the headwind straight with just over 3 laps to go I hit the front of the group and launched an attack with one other guy. He did one pull, look at me and said "I am toast" at this point I was unsure if I would be able to hold off the group, so I let up a little, but as the group got closer I heard someone yell "GO REES!!" hearing this, I picked up my pace, realizing that it didn't matter if I got caught. If I got caught, then I would have teammates that got a free ride up to me and would be fresh for the sprint. Lucky for me, the solo attack stuck and I took a win in my first race of the year!
3/4
Going into the 3/4 race, my plan was to go hard early. I launched the first attack of the race and had a big group group go with me. I didn't want that big of a group to stick, so I tried my best to disrupt the pace. After 10 to 15 minutes of time either near the front or in an attack. Tucker launched a counter attack with a couple of guys. I moved to the back thinking that I would counter attack as soon as Tucker's group got caught. Spoiler, that never happened. Once I realized that Tucker's group could very well be the winning move I made my way up to the front of the group to see what our team's strategy was. While I had been on the back, we had a few of our fresh riders trying to control the pace at the front and prevent any organized efforts. This should have been my job, not their's, it was my job to keep them as fresh as possible by doing any work that needed to be done, which would include controlling the pace at the front of the group. Once I was at the front I tried to help with this, but I wasn't very good at it. If I was at the complete front, I felt like I was pulling the group and as soon as one person passed me I somehow found myself at the back 10 seconds later. With a few laps to go I let Robbie roll off of the front in hopes that no one would chase him, no one did and he ended up in 4th! With 1 lap to go, AJ and I formed the lead out, AJ pulling first followed by me. I tried to match AJ's pace as I moved to the front, followed by slowly ramping it up to try and keep it strung out and hopefully give our guys a chance to do well in a sprint.
Overall a fun weekend. I'm hoping to improve on riding comfortably mid-pack, cornering, and coordinating with team members. This is going to be a great season to work as a team, looking forward to racing with everyone!
As mfwestbe said in his post above, "it was great to see so many MRC guys out there today" I knew my role was to attack late and I didn't have to worry about any breaks going off the front. With how many teammates we had in the race if any attacks were successful, then I should have a teammate in it. I started the race mid pack, thinking that if the field split I would have a better chance at staying with the lead group. After a few laps in the middle of the pack and a few sketchy turns (I am not the most comfortable in the middle of a big group) I decided that it wasn't worth the risk of a crash, so I moved my way to the very back of the group and pretty much stayed there until 5 laps to go. With 5 laps to go I decided I needed to work my way up. Over the next 2 laps I slowly made my way to the front of the group. As we hit the headwind straight with just over 3 laps to go I hit the front of the group and launched an attack with one other guy. He did one pull, look at me and said "I am toast" at this point I was unsure if I would be able to hold off the group, so I let up a little, but as the group got closer I heard someone yell "GO REES!!" hearing this, I picked up my pace, realizing that it didn't matter if I got caught. If I got caught, then I would have teammates that got a free ride up to me and would be fresh for the sprint. Lucky for me, the solo attack stuck and I took a win in my first race of the year!
3/4
Going into the 3/4 race, my plan was to go hard early. I launched the first attack of the race and had a big group group go with me. I didn't want that big of a group to stick, so I tried my best to disrupt the pace. After 10 to 15 minutes of time either near the front or in an attack. Tucker launched a counter attack with a couple of guys. I moved to the back thinking that I would counter attack as soon as Tucker's group got caught. Spoiler, that never happened. Once I realized that Tucker's group could very well be the winning move I made my way up to the front of the group to see what our team's strategy was. While I had been on the back, we had a few of our fresh riders trying to control the pace at the front and prevent any organized efforts. This should have been my job, not their's, it was my job to keep them as fresh as possible by doing any work that needed to be done, which would include controlling the pace at the front of the group. Once I was at the front I tried to help with this, but I wasn't very good at it. If I was at the complete front, I felt like I was pulling the group and as soon as one person passed me I somehow found myself at the back 10 seconds later. With a few laps to go I let Robbie roll off of the front in hopes that no one would chase him, no one did and he ended up in 4th! With 1 lap to go, AJ and I formed the lead out, AJ pulling first followed by me. I tried to match AJ's pace as I moved to the front, followed by slowly ramping it up to try and keep it strung out and hopefully give our guys a chance to do well in a sprint.
Overall a fun weekend. I'm hoping to improve on riding comfortably mid-pack, cornering, and coordinating with team members. This is going to be a great season to work as a team, looking forward to racing with everyone!
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
Wish I had results like some of you all did! Lol did the Cat 5 event, which was my first road race since 2015 and only my 2nd crit and it certainly showed. Somehow went from making a good move to hang on the front in the first couple of laps to off the back. Managed to catch up and work with a few (although according to one guy I did most of the work dragging people along) ultimately placed 23/49. Power was good effort (hard but had plenty in the tank at the end) but obviously I’d be in better shape by improving cornering and shelter from the wind and being able to stick with a group
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
4:
My assigned role in this race was to attack late, so I decided to practice moving up and down in the field within the bunch during the early stages of the race. Thanks for that idea, TrainerRoad podcast, it was extremely helpful. Fast forward to about three quarters of the way through the race there was a group of 6 or 7 up the road with Mike in it that wasn't getting pulled back. I decided to bridge up to make my attack from the break, but shortly after I made the bridge we were pulled back. My memory is a bit fuzzy as to how much time went by between the break getting caught and Rees going, but a short while after he attacked the guy who went with him popped. Que yelling at Rees to go for it! With Rees dropping a watt-bomb on the field I was able to police chasers and found myself in 4th wheel coming into the final straight. The guys chasing had done a lot of work throughout the race so my "fresh" legs had a decent kick at the end to come around them for a MRC 1-2!
3/4:
Go early, they said. It'll be fun, they said.
I spent the first couple of laps tail gunning with Robbie, as I'd never done this before and wanted to practice holding extra speed into corners to avoid having to sprint out of said corners. After a few laps of resting ... err... I mean practicing tail gunning... I moved up the field. As I neared the front a break was getting caught and I saw Mikey from B2C2 and Travis from Spin something go. Knowing that basically every result Mikey's ever gotten has come from the break and being assigned the role of 'attack early' I went with them. Once the break was established (which seemed to happen pretty much instantly, holy teamwork Batman!) I announced to my break comrades that I had approximately 18,000 teammates in the bunch shutting down moves and blocking, and proceeded to take shorter pulls. Why I kept pulling at all is beyond me. Fast forward 20 minutes, and I'm starting to hurt pretty badly. My internal dialogue progressed as follows:
"Wow our gap is pretty big, this is definitely the move"
"I really hope that the team is okay with getting third"
"Ahh crap your teammates have been working their asses off shutting down moves and blocking, if you pop and we have to chase a 40 second gap this late in the race... no. Hold that damn wheel"
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....".
Thankfully the race was a few minutes short instead of a few minutes long and I held on for third. Seeing Robbie off the front of the pack was icing on the cake!
My assigned role in this race was to attack late, so I decided to practice moving up and down in the field within the bunch during the early stages of the race. Thanks for that idea, TrainerRoad podcast, it was extremely helpful. Fast forward to about three quarters of the way through the race there was a group of 6 or 7 up the road with Mike in it that wasn't getting pulled back. I decided to bridge up to make my attack from the break, but shortly after I made the bridge we were pulled back. My memory is a bit fuzzy as to how much time went by between the break getting caught and Rees going, but a short while after he attacked the guy who went with him popped. Que yelling at Rees to go for it! With Rees dropping a watt-bomb on the field I was able to police chasers and found myself in 4th wheel coming into the final straight. The guys chasing had done a lot of work throughout the race so my "fresh" legs had a decent kick at the end to come around them for a MRC 1-2!
3/4:
Go early, they said. It'll be fun, they said.
I spent the first couple of laps tail gunning with Robbie, as I'd never done this before and wanted to practice holding extra speed into corners to avoid having to sprint out of said corners. After a few laps of resting ... err... I mean practicing tail gunning... I moved up the field. As I neared the front a break was getting caught and I saw Mikey from B2C2 and Travis from Spin something go. Knowing that basically every result Mikey's ever gotten has come from the break and being assigned the role of 'attack early' I went with them. Once the break was established (which seemed to happen pretty much instantly, holy teamwork Batman!) I announced to my break comrades that I had approximately 18,000 teammates in the bunch shutting down moves and blocking, and proceeded to take shorter pulls. Why I kept pulling at all is beyond me. Fast forward 20 minutes, and I'm starting to hurt pretty badly. My internal dialogue progressed as follows:
"Wow our gap is pretty big, this is definitely the move"
"I really hope that the team is okay with getting third"
"Ahh crap your teammates have been working their asses off shutting down moves and blocking, if you pop and we have to chase a 40 second gap this late in the race... no. Hold that damn wheel"
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....".
Thankfully the race was a few minutes short instead of a few minutes long and I held on for third. Seeing Robbie off the front of the pack was icing on the cake!
Tucker Wetmore
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
good writeups all. The TR podcast is great, I live vicariously through their wildly self-indulgent race prep. Rees that was me yelling at you, I was muddling a couple wheels chasing you and did not want you looking hesitant on that tailwind section where everyone's confidence suddenly returns.
Speaking of yelling, most of it I heard in the 3/4 was people telling each other not to let us in because we were not going to do any work. They were very right about this.
I evidently did not work hard enough on the 3/4 race, hashtag roasted, and my anaerobic work capacity went up.
cat 4
cat 3/4
Speaking of yelling, most of it I heard in the 3/4 was people telling each other not to let us in because we were not going to do any work. They were very right about this.
I evidently did not work hard enough on the 3/4 race, hashtag roasted, and my anaerobic work capacity went up.
cat 4
cat 3/4
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
MRC should also be in the lead of the Velotooler cup Team competition for the cat 3 field!
We were the only team to have 3 riders in the top 20.
We were the only team to have 3 riders in the top 20.
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
races would be a lot more interesting if there was a special, very valuable prize for 13th place
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
Sorry for the delayed post:
- My job was to get in the break. Several breaks chased down, feeling good. Pare said the next one was mine...Lap 21 to go a break forms slowly and when I see that it contains Miles Billings, Ciaran Mangan, Dean Phillips, and Eneas Freyre (don't know him), I chase onto it with a bunch of others. Eneas and Miles persist and all but Mangan and Dean drop off. Our gap to the group is 12 seconds, 15, 18 on consecutive laps, with Miles and Eneas about 3 seconds ahead and dangling - Dean and I work to catch the lead two and their gap does not increase. For some reason lap cards stuck at 11 for several laps and I am hurting. Apparently so is Miles as he drops off Eneas, who dangles for two more laps. Then we are all together with about 8 to go...With about 5 to go we are a half lap up and keep it moving for a couple. I am doing some work into the wind on the back stretch, probably too much, but also trying to skip pulls every now and then. 3 laps to go and Eneas makes a break, but is chased down by Miles and Dean. 1 lap to go and somehow I am on the front, but soft pedaling on the back stretch into the wind. I ramp it up around the 2nd to last turn, then punch it on the last turn but Eneas, Mangan, and then Miles come by. I think Dean was pleased with making the break (he had taken 2nd in the pro race) and sat up. While I was not super pleased with 4th, given the company, not a bad day's work. My first upgrade points as a Cat 3!
- My job was to get in the break. Several breaks chased down, feeling good. Pare said the next one was mine...Lap 21 to go a break forms slowly and when I see that it contains Miles Billings, Ciaran Mangan, Dean Phillips, and Eneas Freyre (don't know him), I chase onto it with a bunch of others. Eneas and Miles persist and all but Mangan and Dean drop off. Our gap to the group is 12 seconds, 15, 18 on consecutive laps, with Miles and Eneas about 3 seconds ahead and dangling - Dean and I work to catch the lead two and their gap does not increase. For some reason lap cards stuck at 11 for several laps and I am hurting. Apparently so is Miles as he drops off Eneas, who dangles for two more laps. Then we are all together with about 8 to go...With about 5 to go we are a half lap up and keep it moving for a couple. I am doing some work into the wind on the back stretch, probably too much, but also trying to skip pulls every now and then. 3 laps to go and Eneas makes a break, but is chased down by Miles and Dean. 1 lap to go and somehow I am on the front, but soft pedaling on the back stretch into the wind. I ramp it up around the 2nd to last turn, then punch it on the last turn but Eneas, Mangan, and then Miles come by. I think Dean was pleased with making the break (he had taken 2nd in the pro race) and sat up. While I was not super pleased with 4th, given the company, not a bad day's work. My first upgrade points as a Cat 3!
Re: Chris Hinds 2018
I was by far the race leader for dumb mistakes. First leading out the first lap and blowing my engine right away. Second taking way too long pulls when I could have saved a bit of energy. Unfortunately, the posted results are most likely accurate with regard to my placement. Lets see if I grew a brain by Sunday.Ertcycling wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:13 pm Fun race down in cat 5. Too bad the results were way off. I know I didn't get as high as it says on road-results.com. I look forward to revenge on that course next weekend sans two really dumb mistakes.