Race The Ridge 2013

April 27-28 2013 marked the biggest weekend of my very short racing career. The always interesting Race the Ridge stage race organized by Local Ride Racing was being held in Maple Ridge. 

The road race and time trial were contested on Saturday, while the criterium was run Sunday. I had done a lot of riding leading up to the race and wasn't quite as fresh as I could have been. But I had signed up to race Cat 4 months ago so I went out to give it my best shot.

As with most early season races the weather always decides to play a factor.

My late race attack in the criterium getting shutdown.

Road Race
The toughest course I have raced on. It makes the Spring Series races look easy. 

A 10 kilometre loop with 5 kilometres of punchy hills and some tight corners at the end of long downhill straightaways.  I managed to get dropped quite early, tried my hardest to work with some others off the back, but the climbing was too much. The rain started with about 3 laps to go, adding insult to injury. 

Eventually I finished in 16th place over 6 mins down on the leaders. 

Pretty disappointed in my performance, I was hoping to stay much closer to the lead group.

Time Trial

I felt really good about my performance in the time trial. I had never raced a time trial before or even used aerobars. Ted Matson had withdrawn from the Cat 1 race and kindly lent me his helmet and aerobars.

The road surface got really rough about halfway through the TT which complicated things a little bit. Definitely made the effort a little harder to sustain.

I clocked 16:40 (44.97 km/h) over the pretty much flat 12.5 km course finishing in 12th. Lost another minute to the GC leaders.

The headwind riding back from the TT finish was even harder than the TT!

Criterium

I really enjoyed the criterium in downtown Maple Ridge. It's pretty awesome to have the roads completely closed to traffic. I found the course very fun course, a nice flow to all the corners. 

I flew off the front partway through and spent three laps alone out front. No one was willing to come across to me so I was caught. I tried again later in the race, but my move was quickly shutdown. Finished 17th.
 

Coasting in for 17th place in the criterium.

Overall it was a great weekend of racing. I finished 16th overall out of 29 starters. Not so bad for my first ever stage race.

Other links of interest

Results: http://www.localride.ca/wp/2013/04/28/race-the-ridge-results/

Local Ride: http://www.localride.ca/wp/2013/05/07/cyclists-storm-ridge-meadows-for-12th-annual-race-the-ridge/

Maple Ridge News: http://www.mapleridgenews.com/sports/205478301.html

Criterium Photos by Alex Pope: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157633375950010/with/8691672910/

Race Report - Barry's Roubaix

I was looking forward to Barry's Roubaix for several weeks. I felt good about my results in the Spring Series. I had won the novice race at River Road and did well sticking with C Group a week later.

It was a tough pill to swallow when I ended up with flu symptoms Friday afternoon. My wife had picked up something at work Thursday and despite our best efforts, two of my kids and I fell ill as well. Two sleepless nights with a fever isn't really the best lead up to a race.

I drew inspiration from Joshua Weiss, an accomplished cyclocross racer, who recently completed the Chuckanut 50, his first ultra marathon while under the influence of strep throat. Although he likely invested a lot more time preparing for his ultra marathon than I did for Barry's Roubiax, it's hard to let a non-life threatening illness get in the way. The weather was supposed to be pretty good, so I  decided I would race.

Waiting for the Category 3/4 race to start. Then it's our turn!

The novice men and women and the under 17 categories were combined, which meant we started with a field of 11. I took a couple Advil and a gel before the start and felt pretty good on the first lap. Our group thinned out quickly on the first lap as a rider crashed near the back of the group on the first lap, and the novice women and an under 17 rider fell back. Our first trip through the gravel was uneventful, although we passed a Category 3/4 rider with a flat tire. I jumped off the front as we approached our second trip through the gravel. It didn't amount to much at all. I could feel the lack of sleep in my legs and the desire just wasn't there.

A couple of the guys were setting the pace the whole race and they kept trying to wave people through to take a pull and complaining about nobody wanting to work. Despite their complaints, they resumed their pace making duties whenever their offer was declined. I felt there was no need to cooperate as there was no breakaway to close down. Perhaps I was wrong but to me, this is racing and there is no need for me to work for anyone.

Our group was down to 6 riders by the time we got the bell lap. I was sitting on the back just trying to finish things out. As we entered the final kilometre or so, there was a pretty big acceleration and I stuck with the group, bumping elbows with a guy to maintain position. He apologized and I gave him my best "I'm on the rivet at 38 km/h shrug" and said, "That's racing." Shortly after that, another acceleration came and at this point I just didn't have anymore to give. I wasn't mentally able to push myself to keep up and my legs didn't feel like cooperating either.

I finished 5th in the novice men's category. A pretty good result for being sick...except there were only 6 starters in the category.

On the plus side, I was happy with the 35 km/h average speed. Half of the race was on gravel and I was sick. I figured my speed might be a little slower. I've never really sustained much contact while riding the bike, so not going down in a heap when bumping elbows at speed is also a good thing to take away.

Despite the lessons I learned from Joshua's blog, I was pretty much mentally defeated during the race. I spent too much time dwelling on how I couldn't do well because I was sick and how I was tired and had to work that night. Also, I definitely need to work on my cornering. I wasn't ever happy with the line or my speed exiting the gravel dyke and getting back on the roadway. I had to chase back to the group every time. Perhaps my mental state had something to do with that as well.

It was definitely a tough race personally, but I enjoyed the course and the event was run smoothly. One thing that did bother me was even though we had fancy timing chips supplied by Cycling BC, there is no timing data available. I figured I would be able to see my lap times and the time gaps. Perhaps that information will be available in the future?

Doug Brons again took some great pictures of the race, I haven't seen any others posted on the internet yet. Local Ride has a detailed report on the other categories and the full results here.

Thanks for reading!

 

Race Report - Spring Series #2 (Aldergrove Long)

It was another cold and dreary Sunday morning. The perfect day for another spring bike race.

The second race of the Escape Velocity Spring Series was out in Aldergrove. There was no novice category offered at this race, so I was going to race with the C Group, a step up in difficulty. The course was also significantly more difficult than last week's River Road course.

Five laps of the 10.2 kilometre circuit was scheduled for the C Group. The 1.7 km climb up 272nd Street had an average grade of 2.9% with some sections greater than 10%. Also the long stretch along 0 Avenue was sure to feature some significant winds.

View Aldergrove Long RR in a larger map 

The Race


My wife dropped me off in Aldergrove and I rode down to the course. Of course it was raining. Registration was smooth and painless as usual. I love internet registration. In my books that is the best improvement Escape Velocity has made to the Spring Series.

The inclement weather didn't seem to deter anyone from racing. There were probably 40-50 people out to race in the C category. Fort Langley Cyclery was represented again. Jon and Dave had decided to move up to the harder group as well. We noticed several other novice racers from last week had made the same decision.

After the standard pre-race pep talk, we were off. It was pretty impressive riding in such a large peleton. This was easily the largest race I had ever ridden in.

The speed ramped up the first time the peleton rounded the corner and headed up 272nd Ave, which was pretty amazing but the entire race was still ahead of us. The road surface is fairly bumpy on the lower parts but throughout the race someone was always ready to put the hammer down and accelerate out of that corner. There was quite a bit of shifting about as the peleton went up the hill; definitely tricky to find a steady wheel to follow.

The pace was bearable the first few laps, the most challenging part was riding in such a large group. I was trying my best to hold my line through the corners and ride steady. It appeared several people need to practice this. A few people seriously deviated from their lines while grabbing their bottles or food.

Positioning was a bit tricky along 0 Ave. There was a strong crosswind and everyone wanted to ride in the gutter. I managed to stay out of the wind on most of the laps. I did get stuck a couple times in the wind, and the riding was definitely harder.

I don't really identify myself as a climber, but the steepest sections of the 272nd hill went fairly well for me.  A couple of times I went up in a gear that was far too easy. I was spinning like mad but not really keeping pace with the group. I fell behind a little bit and had to ride pretty hard with a couple of others to catch back on to the main group. At that point, the start of lap 3, I surveyed who was left and noticed Jon and I were the only ones left from last weeks novice group. That made me feel pretty good.

The next time up the hill, I rode a harder gear and it made it easier to stay with the group albeit a little harder on me. Jon managed to end up on the front of the peleton on the fourth lap and did a good job setting the tempo along 8th Ave. The fourth lap was to be my undoing however.

The usual acceleration out of the corner up 272nd Ave really put me on my limit. I knew I was going to be in trouble on the steeper sections. I tried my best to catch my breath, but I was dropped in short order. Another rider was dropped along with me and I tried my best to work with him to catch up. After a couple pulls with him, I told him I wasn't going to make it and away he went.

I looked back as I rode down Bradner Road and saw a couple guys in the distance behind me. I sat up and rode slow catching my breath hoping we could work together along 0 Ave. They got closer and I was a bit dismayed to see the familar pink and black jerseys of the Garneau Evolution team. It was the A Group breakaway. Riding alone in the wind wasn't as bad as I thought and I managed to keep the C Group in sight until they rounded the corner up 272nd.

The rest of the A Group passed me just as the steep final section began. I rode easy up the hill the final time and probably finished several minutes down. Jon managed to stay with the bunch until the finale, although he didn't really play a factor. Dave was unfortunately dropped after about a lap and a half, but he still finished the race riding solo for the majority of the time. A good training ride as he put it.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience of racing in the C Group. Although the win last week in the novice category was fun, I enjoyed the hard work of the race and I was definitely satisfied with my performance. I'm pretty confident with a little more work, I'll be able to stick with the main peleton throughout the race.

The race results are here (only the top five) and Doug Brons photos from the race can be found here.

Race Report - Spring Series #1 (River Road)

I looked out the window and watched the raindrops fall as I ate my breakfast Sunday morning. Oatmeal with blueberries, raisins and some almonds, thrown in for good measure, is my usual race day breakfast. My sophomore bike racing season was about to begin later that day near Fort Langley.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Team Escape Velocity Cycling Club was hosting the first race of the 2012 Spring Series. I had registered in the novice category, scheduled for 5 laps of the 6.2 kilometre course. I had convinced some friends to sign up as well. Jon, one of the owners of Fort Langley Cyclery, had decided to give racing a try. Dave, who raced with me last year in the Spring Series, was returning for another year.

Dave racing in the 2011 Spring Series

At the start line we almost looked a little too professional. Jon, Dave, and I were all in matching black and white Fort Langley Cyclery kit; sharks among goldfish perhaps? It was all too true as everyone, except Dave and I, raised their hands when asked if it was their first race. Shortly after that, we were off!

The first lap was a little nerve-wracking; the wind was buffeting us pretty good along River Road and up 264th Street. The wind died down a little along the back half of the course, probably due to the trees lining both sides of the road. On the second lap as we entered the back straight, I attacked out of the corner. I quickly opened a gap and nobody seemed to be chasing. I settled into a steady pace, but it was quite windy out on my own. I quickly decided this wasn't the smartest choice of action, so I eased up and allowed the group to catch me after about a 1/2 lap. It was fun to be out on the attack, but I don't think I have the fitness to ride solo for 3 laps.

The lone junior rider that was out with us went down on the fourth lap, and the guy behind him got tangled up and went down too. Dave and I were right behind the pair that crashed, but managed to avoid any trouble. It seemed like everyone was alright.  I didn't hear any screams of pain, only the sound of a tire releasing it's air. I never really found out what caused the accident.

Jon found himself stranded on the front for the first half of the final lap. I was chuckling to myself as he weaved from one side of the road to the other like something out of the Tour de France. Eventually, he was able to pull off and someone else took up the pace. I figured nobody would be attacking so I started thinking about the sprint. I knew Jon had practiced his final sprint prior to the race so I decided to follow his wheel. As we came out of the last corner, I jumped on another wheel.  It seemed like he was about to go, so I wound myself up for the sprint. Unfortunately he pulled off rather quickly and left me out of options. I opened up really early and went as hard as I could. I was pretty much out of gas with 100m to go but I glanced back and no one was close. I had accomplished the mission and won a race!

It's blurry but I have to give my wife credit for even getting a picture of me at the finish.
Keeping three kids happy at a bike race is a big job.

It turns out Jon was able to grab second place and out of nowhere, Dave picked up third. A podium sweep in the novice race for Fort Langley Cyclery! We all got a good chuckle out of that.

It was a good race.  We completed the race in about an hour with an average speed just under 34 km/h . Obviously my work over the winter had paid off. I was able to stay with the group the entire race and I had lots left at the finish. Honestly, it may have been too easy.

There isn't a novice category for Spring Series #2 at Aldergrove Lake, so I checked with the organizers and I'm now signed up to race with the C Group next weekend. I'm looking forward to the challenge of moving up into the faster group. Stay tuned to see how it unfolds!

There is more Spring Series #1 coverage from Escape Velocity here; some great photos from Doug Brons here; and read about Jon's thoughts on his first Spring Series race here.