24 MRC racing across the various fields, so don't blame us for declining road numbers!
I originally had reg'd for the 50+ but suddenly Cratty and then Burgel last minute jumped into the 40+. I thought about switching, then didn't, but then at prompting from Cratty decided to join those two, along with Pare who showed for day of (although they ended up giving him a number for the 40+ 4/5)
Rain was ending but temps were still barely above 40. Had to have been the slowest ever neutral descent out of the park. Seemed the motos this year wanted us all to wear out our brake pads. My meter said 31W average for the neutral, but that's only because it was being a bit flaky early and reading 77W for an extended period while I was coasting along. Guess it was getting cold as well. It finally woke up properly.
Obligatory from the gun attack from someone. Nothing exciting for a bit until a group of 4 is off the front for a bit (including Pitney from Downeast) when Ahearn and Galleta start to go to bridge. Into the first big climb and I follow I think Koyle from 545 to bridge. We catch a CVC guy who had been dropped but neither he or Koyle seem too willing to continue to work hard to bridge. I feel good but shut down my effort, which is probably just as well.
After that the pace in the field overall quickens as 3 of the 5 get shelled from the break giving us carrots leaving just Ahearn and Pitney and, spoiler, they're gone for good. Onto 122 and thru the feedzone (there was a feedzone this year(?), I honestly don't recall seeing it) and we've shelled a half dozen and now the pace begins easing, then go into a random wicked hahd effort just to fall off again, then rinse and repeat. Still feeling good. On the last climb before the descent into Hardwick I decide I want to be at the front for the winding descent so drill that, keep going on the downhill and then the short rough uphill after the hard right. Good decision as I'm 2nd or 3rd wheel thru the descent towards the Quabbin gate which had lots of runoff including sizable rocks and plenty of dirt and I'm much more comfortable than being in the field.
At some point on the drag into Ware a group of 5 including Josh and Miles Billings gets a good little gap and that looks promising, especially with Pare at the front holding a solid steady tempo not letting anyone around. Until suddenly he's not, putting his hand up and yelling "flat" to me. Shit, now gotta get to the front.
Thru the side roads of Ware and onto Rt.9 and maybe halfway up the first climb Josh's group is caught. I go as we're over the top and into the descent waking up a couple others. As we approach the next hit, Sakalowsky (Romeo) and Boral (CRCA/Axis) go and I can't match them and they get a really good gap. Then Josh comes back, gives me a push and I go again, then Josh some more. We hit the park and Josh is still going hard at the front. The gap is coming down but not significantly. We're still maybe 4K out, the field is strung out but I'm feeling okay. I'm really expecting someone to go and I'm ready but nobody does. I decide can't wait any longer, especially after Josh's effort and I just go to bridge. Reach Sakalowsky who's been dropped by Boral. Go by, he does one pull thru but then I continue on. Catch Boral bit before 1K and he sits in. What was a sizable gap is shrinking. Try to get Boral to work. Nope. 500. Still nothing from Boral and getting closer. 200, ditto. ~100 to go and around me goes Boral. So much for the podium. Doubt creeps in. Oh wait, there's Alice with the cowbell. Start the bike throwing and noise making to hold off the field for 4th.
Quabbin 2019
Re: Quabbin 2019
That’s great! Now just get into your time machine, go back, and try it with the 50+.
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- Voiture Balai
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Re: Quabbin 2019
I was in the 4/5 40+ with Rob C., Christo, Doug, Kevin Young, Erik, and Mike Keohane. Before the race we identified Chad Young and Nick Nardelli from 545 and Nick Bevilacqua as the key guys to mark. For the first 25 miles or so nothing happened, with a guy from MIT trying to take off his vest for 5 miles or so being the only mildly interesting thing that happened. After the feed zone, there were a few attempts to get away by solo riders, but the group picked them up with much effort. A split happened for a bit after the rock wash-out section after Hardwick, but the group in front slowed after a while and it came back together. One guy from TOMBC racing tried to get away several times and somewhere around mile 55 or so, got a gap of 10 to 15 seconds and Rob C. bridged across. They stayed just off the front until one of the final two climbs before the entrance to the park, where a big move from Nardelli closed the gap. We hit the park with a decent sized group (25-30?) and I told Rob we were only going to mark Young and Nardelli. At the first ramp, I attacked to get rid of any sprinters who still thought they had a chance and split the group, about 15 now. Rob pulled hard for a bit to keep the tempo high and then Chad Young attacked on the second ramp -- Bevilacqua and I cover it -- and we're down to about 7 or 8 people. With 1 k to go, Bevilacqua was on the front, I was second wheel, then Young and Nardelli, and then 3 or 4 other guys. Nobody wants to go first. At 200m, Young goes for it, and we all go for his wheel, and start the slow-motion, uphill sprint thing that climbers do. Young gets a gap of a bike length or two. Bevilacqua holds me and Nardelli off for second, and Nardelli gets me at the line by a few inches. Seems like it was MRC's day for 4th place finishes. Doug was 12th and Rob 16th.
Re: Quabbin 2019
Really great racing AJ and Dave! Just awesome. Two different tactics but the same result. Podiums are tough... next time!
Re: Quabbin 2019
Cat 4/5 40+
Went into this one a little cocky and should have known better. Lets face it, I suck at long climbs. First 20 miles I am talking all kinds of crap and surfing through the field. Then I get dropped but am able to get back on. Around 25 miles I get dropped on another climb and it is solo - in the wind - for the next 20 miles.
I didn't have a good feel for what my position was. I knew there was about 30 ahead of me, but I didn't see anyone behind me. About 45 miles in a mixed group of about 8 with Christo and a frequent competitor of mine Matt Halfrey caught me. I jumped in with them for 10 miles, but the solo effort really took its toll. I drop off that group and it was solo to the finish.
Despite drinking plenty and having plenty of gel I was cramping badly. Had a sharp one go across my right thigh that actually made me yell out. Luckily it went away as quick as it came. Also had cramping in my hip flexers, which was weird since I haven't felt that since I did BMX. A lack of muscle endurance really showed, yet I was able to launch some reasonable bursts in the flat sections. Cardio certainly wasn't the problem.
Things done well: working through the field and finding holes. Descending improved quite a bit.
Things needing improvement: muscle endurance! Need to do some longer, hilly rides at endurance/low tempo power level.
Went into this one a little cocky and should have known better. Lets face it, I suck at long climbs. First 20 miles I am talking all kinds of crap and surfing through the field. Then I get dropped but am able to get back on. Around 25 miles I get dropped on another climb and it is solo - in the wind - for the next 20 miles.
I didn't have a good feel for what my position was. I knew there was about 30 ahead of me, but I didn't see anyone behind me. About 45 miles in a mixed group of about 8 with Christo and a frequent competitor of mine Matt Halfrey caught me. I jumped in with them for 10 miles, but the solo effort really took its toll. I drop off that group and it was solo to the finish.
Despite drinking plenty and having plenty of gel I was cramping badly. Had a sharp one go across my right thigh that actually made me yell out. Luckily it went away as quick as it came. Also had cramping in my hip flexers, which was weird since I haven't felt that since I did BMX. A lack of muscle endurance really showed, yet I was able to launch some reasonable bursts in the flat sections. Cardio certainly wasn't the problem.
Things done well: working through the field and finding holes. Descending improved quite a bit.
Things needing improvement: muscle endurance! Need to do some longer, hilly rides at endurance/low tempo power level.
Re: Quabbin 2019
Same as last weekend I lined up at the start line shivering ready for a cold and wet neutral descent, this time with Rees who wasn’t wearing and arm warmers. We got going with a pack of just under 30 riders in the P12. Pretty casual down the hill and I think the only neutral roll out that I haven’t had to do VO2 during a neutral start since upgrading!
Things stayed calm for the first mile or two out of the park then the pace picked up and several attacks went. I sat in being quite pleased with myself for not tailgunning and staying near the front. I drifted back a bit and was still happy that I was near the front only to look around and see only 2 riders behind me. Figuring that I’d not be able to organize a pee break like last year at Quabbin I thought I might as well try to go on a slight downhill and before the race really got started. No sooner had I prepared myself before several more attacks went and I had to scrap my hopes of emptying my bladder.
All the breaks were getting reeled in as soon as they started to look threatening. Rees bridged up to a couple of guys at one point but that got brought back quickly. I continued to sit in the field and not cover any of the moves.
By now (maybe 10-15 miles in?) the race had been hard enough that I was starting to get tired even sitting in and I hoped other people were too so I figured that a break stood a good chance of going. Then I saw Daniel Nuzzo-Mueller on Community attack with CCB Vitor on his wheel and Tim Mitchell blocking at the front. I jumped as did a few others and we formed a group of 7.
We got a rotation going and quickly established a large gap. 1 guy was dropped so it was now 6 of us and the field was out of sight. After a long painful time I looked down at my wahoo and realized we were only 26 miles into the race.... this is gonna be a long day.
I kept counting down the miles the rest of the day. We eased up slightly around halfway which was well needed. No sign of the field and no motto with us to give a time gap. Many pedal strokes later Daniel was keeping a moderate pace up a climb (I was doing VO2 power) when ccb says “Can we fucking go? I’m fucking bored”. That made me feel great about myself and my chances of not getting dropped at some point.
I tried to eat but have to space out each bite with many breaths. Probably spit out more food than I consumed. Sip of water here and there. Downhills are so nice.
Fast forward to the boulder field and Daniel hits a rock and flats out. Down to 5. Several miles later AJ Moran from GLV gets dropped on a surge on a hill. Down to 4 and I figure I am the weakest link. CCB continues to pull/surge hard and short. On the route 9 hills he starts to test us and I am barely hanging on. Just praying that I don't get dropped and consumed by the pack after all the time in the break (we still have no idea what the time gap is).
Hit the final climb. CCB says he saw someone chasing so we continue to work together. Can I keep hanging on? 1k to go and CCB attacks dropping us all. The other two guys accelerate and drop me but start playing games and I reel them back in at 200m to go. Might as well start my sprint. 50m to go and Hot Tubes still hasn't managed to come around me. Can I podium??? Right at the line Hot Tubes comes around and beats me. 4th place which is way better than I was hoping coming into this race.
30 seconds after we cross the line, Geno Villifano rolls across solo. He missed the break and chased by himself the whole race so good thing we didn't slow up. But turns out we had 3 minutes on the rest of the field.
Things stayed calm for the first mile or two out of the park then the pace picked up and several attacks went. I sat in being quite pleased with myself for not tailgunning and staying near the front. I drifted back a bit and was still happy that I was near the front only to look around and see only 2 riders behind me. Figuring that I’d not be able to organize a pee break like last year at Quabbin I thought I might as well try to go on a slight downhill and before the race really got started. No sooner had I prepared myself before several more attacks went and I had to scrap my hopes of emptying my bladder.
All the breaks were getting reeled in as soon as they started to look threatening. Rees bridged up to a couple of guys at one point but that got brought back quickly. I continued to sit in the field and not cover any of the moves.
By now (maybe 10-15 miles in?) the race had been hard enough that I was starting to get tired even sitting in and I hoped other people were too so I figured that a break stood a good chance of going. Then I saw Daniel Nuzzo-Mueller on Community attack with CCB Vitor on his wheel and Tim Mitchell blocking at the front. I jumped as did a few others and we formed a group of 7.
We got a rotation going and quickly established a large gap. 1 guy was dropped so it was now 6 of us and the field was out of sight. After a long painful time I looked down at my wahoo and realized we were only 26 miles into the race.... this is gonna be a long day.
I kept counting down the miles the rest of the day. We eased up slightly around halfway which was well needed. No sign of the field and no motto with us to give a time gap. Many pedal strokes later Daniel was keeping a moderate pace up a climb (I was doing VO2 power) when ccb says “Can we fucking go? I’m fucking bored”. That made me feel great about myself and my chances of not getting dropped at some point.
I tried to eat but have to space out each bite with many breaths. Probably spit out more food than I consumed. Sip of water here and there. Downhills are so nice.
Fast forward to the boulder field and Daniel hits a rock and flats out. Down to 5. Several miles later AJ Moran from GLV gets dropped on a surge on a hill. Down to 4 and I figure I am the weakest link. CCB continues to pull/surge hard and short. On the route 9 hills he starts to test us and I am barely hanging on. Just praying that I don't get dropped and consumed by the pack after all the time in the break (we still have no idea what the time gap is).
Hit the final climb. CCB says he saw someone chasing so we continue to work together. Can I keep hanging on? 1k to go and CCB attacks dropping us all. The other two guys accelerate and drop me but start playing games and I reel them back in at 200m to go. Might as well start my sprint. 50m to go and Hot Tubes still hasn't managed to come around me. Can I podium??? Right at the line Hot Tubes comes around and beats me. 4th place which is way better than I was hoping coming into this race.
30 seconds after we cross the line, Geno Villifano rolls across solo. He missed the break and chased by himself the whole race so good thing we didn't slow up. But turns out we had 3 minutes on the rest of the field.
Re: Quabbin 2019
Robbie insane result. Lucky for you it wasn't 2 laps this year ![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Re: Quabbin 2019
Sorry for the late reply everyone. Not much to add to AJ's report. For me, it was my best race result ever. 12/57 riders. Next up: Miles Standish.
Re: Quabbin 2019
Men's cat 3, sorry I forgot to post this for two days
This is twice I've done this race now and I have arrived at a holy truth of road racing: pissing on the bike is the most powerful skill. If you thought this would be a piss-free race report, buddy,
![Image](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmadmikesamerica.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F12%2Fdewey-defeats-truman-430a.jpg&f=1)
We rolled out, then got cold as shit in classic Quabbin tradition, then after neutral a young CCAPer goes off the front for 20 miles solo in classic Quabbin tradition.
Chase 1: The Chase: Dropped chain at mile 25. Most of this was uphill, but it seemed harder than the previous uphills? Lame.
Chase 2: The Pissening: Hate to keep harping on the piss thing, but man, I've spent probably six or seven gently sloping downhills coasting at the back of the group with my dingus out trying to make it work. Tim Gunn is there, in my head, going "make it work!" Is this a mental issue, or possibly a plumbing issue? It depends on how much time you want to spend thinking about your team-mate's bodily waste functions. The new kit is really well designed for coasting around with your genitals flapping in the breeze but it's wasted on me. So the group slows up for some easy coasting and I think it's now or never so I hop off and take to the woods. For several hours I stand there experiencing the total bliss of relief. Woodland animals greet each other in the mist. Elves and fairies check each other out. We are all connected, in the great circle of life then six minutes of VO2 catching back up. Was it worth it? Friends, no.
Wreck 1: The Fist of the First Wreck: We're noodling along on a flat non-problematic section around mile 45 when out of the corner of my eye I see an MRC kit eat shit hard. It's never a good feeling between wanting to stop to see if your boys are ok and needing to profit from your boys not being ok. The group that got out in front of the wreck started to push it and we kept a good pace directly into a downhill with BONUS washouts three miles later!
Wreck 2: The Battle of Wreckerfell: I'm at what I think is the back marking who I think was Dave Sutherland in the series leaders' kit, everyone swerves over to avoid a washout. Hugely sketchy, folks, hugely sketchy! Everyone is saying it. You know I went through this same washout, didn't go down. They said he's fine. He's great! He's the best bike rider. Anyway Dave low-sides on a sandy wash, a couple other guys dodge it then go down in the ensuing overcorrections; I go off road for a bit but am ok. Probably everyone after me got boned time-wise, and now there's a gap up to the front group.
Chase #3: The Sorcerer: There's a couple guys who survived Wreck 2: The Battle of Wreckerfell and we form a group along with Roy, who is there but then falls off. We get back to the group. I'm starting to feel some pre-cramping cramps. They feel like some large ticks nibbling around the pre-butt hamstring area. Hmmmm, ahhhh, oooh, I think. Love it. Paul and Derin have stayed out of trouble with Tucker up front, who checks in. He is now the designated sprinter. Paul is patrolling the front with the power and inevitability of a lava river.
At the bottom of one downhill about eight of us go over the yellow line to avoid a washout sitting right at the trough of the descent. The official picks out a random dude and penalizes. A couple minutes later a Good Guys rider (and the eventual winner) goes over the yellow double to pass the entire pissed-off pack in order to get away up the hill and gets nothing. All of which to say: Race motos should be staffed by a team of medusas where the snakes have memorized the usac rule book and are generous with their weekends. I am a reasonable online man.
Chase #4: Endgame: At mile 60.2 I flatted going into the downhill before the climb. The neutral support guys are really fast and got me going again in under a minute. I rode at threshold for the remaining 13-14 minutes or so and frankly did an admirable job holding off the next guy back for the all-important position of like 19th or 20th. A thing I realized on the way home is that Rihanna experiences domestic abuse the same way I experience bike racing. In conclusion, bike racing is a land of contrasts.
This is twice I've done this race now and I have arrived at a holy truth of road racing: pissing on the bike is the most powerful skill. If you thought this would be a piss-free race report, buddy,
![Image](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmadmikesamerica.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F12%2Fdewey-defeats-truman-430a.jpg&f=1)
We rolled out, then got cold as shit in classic Quabbin tradition, then after neutral a young CCAPer goes off the front for 20 miles solo in classic Quabbin tradition.
Chase 1: The Chase: Dropped chain at mile 25. Most of this was uphill, but it seemed harder than the previous uphills? Lame.
Chase 2: The Pissening: Hate to keep harping on the piss thing, but man, I've spent probably six or seven gently sloping downhills coasting at the back of the group with my dingus out trying to make it work. Tim Gunn is there, in my head, going "make it work!" Is this a mental issue, or possibly a plumbing issue? It depends on how much time you want to spend thinking about your team-mate's bodily waste functions. The new kit is really well designed for coasting around with your genitals flapping in the breeze but it's wasted on me. So the group slows up for some easy coasting and I think it's now or never so I hop off and take to the woods. For several hours I stand there experiencing the total bliss of relief. Woodland animals greet each other in the mist. Elves and fairies check each other out. We are all connected, in the great circle of life then six minutes of VO2 catching back up. Was it worth it? Friends, no.
Wreck 1: The Fist of the First Wreck: We're noodling along on a flat non-problematic section around mile 45 when out of the corner of my eye I see an MRC kit eat shit hard. It's never a good feeling between wanting to stop to see if your boys are ok and needing to profit from your boys not being ok. The group that got out in front of the wreck started to push it and we kept a good pace directly into a downhill with BONUS washouts three miles later!
Wreck 2: The Battle of Wreckerfell: I'm at what I think is the back marking who I think was Dave Sutherland in the series leaders' kit, everyone swerves over to avoid a washout. Hugely sketchy, folks, hugely sketchy! Everyone is saying it. You know I went through this same washout, didn't go down. They said he's fine. He's great! He's the best bike rider. Anyway Dave low-sides on a sandy wash, a couple other guys dodge it then go down in the ensuing overcorrections; I go off road for a bit but am ok. Probably everyone after me got boned time-wise, and now there's a gap up to the front group.
Chase #3: The Sorcerer: There's a couple guys who survived Wreck 2: The Battle of Wreckerfell and we form a group along with Roy, who is there but then falls off. We get back to the group. I'm starting to feel some pre-cramping cramps. They feel like some large ticks nibbling around the pre-butt hamstring area. Hmmmm, ahhhh, oooh, I think. Love it. Paul and Derin have stayed out of trouble with Tucker up front, who checks in. He is now the designated sprinter. Paul is patrolling the front with the power and inevitability of a lava river.
At the bottom of one downhill about eight of us go over the yellow line to avoid a washout sitting right at the trough of the descent. The official picks out a random dude and penalizes. A couple minutes later a Good Guys rider (and the eventual winner) goes over the yellow double to pass the entire pissed-off pack in order to get away up the hill and gets nothing. All of which to say: Race motos should be staffed by a team of medusas where the snakes have memorized the usac rule book and are generous with their weekends. I am a reasonable online man.
Chase #4: Endgame: At mile 60.2 I flatted going into the downhill before the climb. The neutral support guys are really fast and got me going again in under a minute. I rode at threshold for the remaining 13-14 minutes or so and frankly did an admirable job holding off the next guy back for the all-important position of like 19th or 20th. A thing I realized on the way home is that Rihanna experiences domestic abuse the same way I experience bike racing. In conclusion, bike racing is a land of contrasts.