The Race Reports Thread

tomb8555

Goodwood 23rd August - 4th Cat

First ever race, and second ever ride of >20miles... so was quite nervous. Didn't know what to expect and was basically bricking it.
I got to the course pretty early, there were only a couple of other people there when I arrived but they were very friendly and I soon started feeling more at ease. Went for a warm up lap on my own and then did another with the guys I'd met that morning. We got back with about 5 minutes to the start so just milled around for a bit getting nervous again.

For the start I put myself right on the line off to the side, as I was a bit worried about cocking up my clip-in, and getting dumped off the back immediately - as it turned out I was one of the fastest out of the blocks, but quickly dropped back and tucked in behind someone. The nerves instantly disappeared. The start was kind of interesting in that I didn't hear a countdown or a GO or anything, people just seemed to start riding!

I spent the first couple of laps in about the top 10 riders (81 were down to start) just learning about riding in the bunch and sticking on a wheel. As the race went on I got more confident about defending my position and not leaving big gaps for others to slot into in front of me, and more confident in getting myself into gaps. It was interesting learning about the bunch dynamics - how people move up round the outsides so the middle column keeps dropping further down the bunch whilst maintaining the same speed. Glanced behind me a few times and was suprised to see just a few stragglers behind, and that I was sitting right on the back of the bunch. I found it fairly easy to pull out to the side and overtake all the way back up to the top 5-10 and then sit in until everyone had done the same sort of thing and I was back further down. As the race went on I got more confident about moving up within the bunch or pulling out and moving up without going all the way to the back first.

I was amazed at how easy it was to just cruise around in the middle of the pack, so got bored quite often and did a bit of work on/near the front. The most exciting bit for me was somewhere near the far side of the course when I was about 4th down in the pace-line (is that what it's called?) with the whole bunch a couple of bikes behind me. The guy on the front pulled off to the side and the guy on the front went for it and got about 60m clear. The guy in front of me (now leading) took the pace up a bit and I kept on his wheel. I glanced back a couple of times and at one point we were about 10m clear, but that only lasted a few seconds from the initial acceleration. The guy who'd jumped off the front sat up when we'd closed about half the gap, but then the leader pulled off and I was leading the race!!! I stayed on the front for maybe 20seconds until I decided I should be a bit more sensible and conserve my energy (this was about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way into the race - it's all a blur so can't be more specific) and pulled off to the side and slotted back in a few riders down.

I stopped trying to count laps after about 4.... next thing I knew someone near me was saying 3-to-go, and then a bit later I heard the bell...... The pace picked up a bit going into the first bend after the line, and a few people took fliers off the front on that final lap. I found myself drifting quite far down the bunch as people were coming up the sides to try and get in position for the sprint or to get off the front.

I got myself back up to the top 15-20 about 2/3 of the way around the final lap, moved back down a bit (about halfway round the final lap the guy in front got forced off onto the grass as people were swinging out to take one of the bends) as I wasn't confident enough in the bunch with everyone pushing up to get in position. Coming round the final bend I was moving up past the bunch on the outside in a line with a few other riders, when someone about 5 bikes ahead swerved or something (i didn't see). What I did see was the person 2 in front of my lock his brakes, and end up going quite a bit sideways. I managed to avoid the crash and followed the guy in front onto the grass and then back onto the track. From here in I'm not sure where I was positioning wise as I had too many other things to think about. When I came back on the track I'm pretty sure I was still alongside the bunch, maybe about 1/2-2/3 of the way down as I squeezed back onto the track next to people. Unfortunately there was a second crash near what looked like the front of the pack where the chicane normally is (it had been taken out for our race), and I took a second quick detour onto the grass and then back onto the final straight!

By this point the sprinters had gone off the front and the bunch had spread out somewhat. I presumed the bunch split around the crash and I finished somewhere in the middle, I overtook a few people on the final straight as I thought i'd give it a bit of a sprint as it'd be a shame to finish my first race not 'in anger'. I never checked behind me to see if there were many (any?) there.. with the crashes keeping me on my toes and just being totally focussed on controlling my bike when rejoining the track next to the bunch (we were all at about 30mph for the two crashes, and I don't think I shed very much speed on the grass as I was only on it for a couple of seconds) the last 500m of the race is a complete blur!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first race. The sound of 160 odd tyres and 80 chainsets whirring away at 25mph was quite something. I learnt alot about riding in a bunch and gained so much confidence. I'd only ever done one group ride prior to this! My initial aim was to just finish with the bunch so I'm pleased with that, although if the crashes hadn't have happened I may have been able to get myself up to a better position for the sprint but would have been nowhere near contesting it.

Very much looking forward to my next race!!!

Thanks jibberjim for the photos, and for the average speed for the race (24.5mph). I didn't have the presence of mind to look at my computer crossing the line so had an average of 22.8mph including warm-down and some walking pace stuff in the carpark.

Thanks for all the advice from people on bikeradar, the 3-lap challenge thread was basically my motivation to give racing a go.

Tom

Toks

Well done Tom and a great write up to. Roll on the next race

surista

Sorry for the cross post, but anyway - my report from the Shaftsbury CC Day at Hog Hill:

I at least accomplished my goal of finishing a race while avoiding being the ‘lanterne rouge’.

The race was at Hog Hill, also known as the Redbridge Cycling Center. The whole complex was pretty impressive - lots of parking spaces, a big building with bathrooms, changing rooms, a small kiosk with cakes, water and coffee, vending machines – the whole works. Considerably nicer than my first race, which was at Ford’s Dunton Technical center, with nary a bathroom, vending machine, or water fountain in sight. It turns out Redbridge Cycling Center was opened recently; it was quite nice – up on a hill, you could see for literally miles around, including a nice landscape view of the City. Plus, it was only a 40-minute drive from our house. I’m going to be on the lookout for more events at this place next year. My wife also joined me, and we both enjoyed the day.

I should probably note that I was much better prepared for this race compared to my first race, where I basically showed up, changed, got to the line, and was clipping in as everyone started. This time, I got to the center a good hour in advance, had a bit of a warmup, and was relaxed and ready to go. Since I work in the City and have a tough time getting out of the office before 5:30pm, I don't know that I'll be able to make many weekday races...

Anyway - the Hog Hill course itself was quite a bit different from the Dunton track. The Dunton track had fairly big, wide turns – banked turns, which was a bit nerve-wracking at first since I’d never ridden on a track like that before. Plus, the Dunton track wasn’t exactly the smoothest surface out there - getting up to decent speed on the downhill section was a bone-jarring, water-bottle-jittering experience.

Redbridge, on the other hand, had beautifully smooth surfaces – instead, the corners were considerably tighter and the road itself was (felt?) narrower. I didn’t have a chance to ride the whole circuit before-hand, and it took me a lap or two to figure out good lines through the turns that didn’t feel scary. I wasn’t the only one who had initial trouble – on the very first lap at the very first tight corner coming down the downhill section, the guy in front of me did his best ‘Lance goes cross country’ impersonation, over-shooting the corner and ending up in the field lining the track.

As for the race itself – there were about 20-25 people or so in the race. I started out near the front, but since I was very unsure of the course and the corners, I let myself slide back a bit, and lost contact when the guy in front of me went cross country as I had to slow down to avoid hitting him. I stayed just behind the main group for the lap, but lost contact on the main hill. The main hill is relatively impressive - certainly felt harder than the Dunton hill.

Once I lost contact with the main bunch I spent the rest of the race passing some people, getting passed by some people – mostly getting passed, including by the seven female racers who started -15 seconds after us-. Yikes.

The race was only 30 minutes – and boy did it go by fast. I would have sworn I had only done 15mn or so when I heard the bell for the final lap. I finished definitely near the back, and the official times as per the British Cycling page has me second-to-last, but I know there were at least four or five people finishing behind me (plus one or two that retired early). Maybe the official results just captured the top 20 or so?

Anyway - I finished a race for the first time (granted a short race of only 30mn, but still), I wasn't last, and I got some group riding experience on a course with tight corners - definitely a good day all around.

I'm on vacation from tomorrow for a week, then have some work-related stuff that will eat into my weekends, so don't know if I'll get any more racing in this season, unfortunately...

jibberjim

Decided to try Palace tonight, despite swearing I never would due to the amount of mixed group riding that was on show 2 weeks ago (both the 3/4 and women's races were won by breaks that spent a lot of time riding with faster groups)

Felt pretty awful riding out there, struggled to hold Maryka's wheel as she navigated, but I often do when going to race (and have had reasonable results then anyway) Managed 3 laps of the circuit before, all of them pretty pedestrian but it meant I was lined up right at the back of the group.

The rider in front of me decided the best way to start a technical crit where early positioning is important by rolling gently off the start and letting everyone sweep past. So at the first corner, I'm in the last 5.

Going round the corner I hear a pedal strike the ground, down to the sweeping corner at the bottom of the circuit which I never managed to learn how to take well, but on the first lap I was taking it even worse. Coming out of another pedal strike sound... Up the hill, I pass a few people, but they were blowing and I was still really off the back and never on an actual wheel to follow.

Round the sharp first corner again, another pedal strike sound - that's when I finally realise it's me... I'm using the Giant not the Cervelo, it has longer cranks... My cornering gets even slower as I'm forced to leave my pedalling out of them even later. The hill comes around, I'm almost back on the group but now there's people blowing left and right and I'm forced to slow to get past them, the group remains elusively out of reach. I get close. And then there's a corner, and I get further away.

After a few laps of this I finally catch a group, it's only 5 and they're maybe 30meters off the real main group, I think great, get my breath and then work with these guys. Next time up the hill, they've all gone backwards again. In my little rest with this group Corinne Hall caught me up - the only girl in the race, and we spent the rest of the race together, she pulled nicely through on the long straight, and I took us round the rest. We held the main bunch in sight until about 4 laps to go, and picked off a lot of riders who were falling off. But we never really stood a chance.

Managed to keep the lapping tight in the sub 2:10 range (after holding 2:03's for the first 6 laps) and didn't tail off, just never enough to reconnect with the bunch.

A good hard workout, 314 watts average, Normalized Power 353.

Just annoying I couldn't corner, and was never in a bunch. It would've been nice, it was quite lonely out there, I guess it says something good for the standard of 3/4 racing here when 4.7 watts/kilo for 40 minutes leaves you well off the back.

More training required!

andyp

jibberjim - the Crystal Palace circuit requires good bike handling skills so maybe think about some training to improve yours too? If you can hang on in sight of the bunch for most of the race then I think your fitness must be good enough to compete if you can stay with the front group.

jibberjim

andyp wrote:

jibberjim - the Crystal Palace circuit requires good bike handling skills so maybe think about some training to improve yours too? If you can hang on in sight of the bunch for most of the race then I think your fitness must be good enough to compete if you can stay with the front group.

If I wasn't off the back at the first corner I think I'd've stayed in. Learning the circuit of course meant my lines weren't great in the corners early on, but had I been in the bunch to start with, I would've stayed there. Although the long cranks definately put me off as I lost the confidence of when I could pedal or not.

I'm always working to improve my handling, it's not perfect, but that was pretty much the only reason I was even racing at Palace anyway.

andyp

Sorry, reading my response back it came over a bit more harshly than I intended. I didn't mean to sound critical, rather I was suggesting that by improving your handling a bit, and the hairpin and the left hander at the bottom of the hill both require good lines, you'd be in amongst it.

It's a tough circuit and those who seem to do well on it are those who've ridden it a few times and know the good lines. It's a shame you won't have a chance to race on it again until next season now.

jibberjim

andyp wrote:

Sorry, reading my response back it came over a bit more harshly than I intended. I didn't mean to sound critical, rather I was suggesting that by improving your handling a bit, and the hairpin and the left hander at the bottom of the hill both require good lines, you'd be in amongst it.

It was interesting, I probably got a bigger confidence boost and a better work out from riding the entire race off the back and lapping respectability (I thought) than I would've from sitting in the bunch to the finish and getting a top 10.

Not sure I'll make it back there much next year either, Dunsfold and even Hillingdon are more my sort of thing. Good for a change though.

Mettan

jibberjim wrote:

.I guess it says something good for the standard of 3/4 racing here when 4.7 watts/kilo for 40 minutes leaves you well off the back.

I know the feeling

rjeffroy

A good hard workout, 314 watts average, Normalized Power 353.

Just annoying I couldn't corner, and was never in a bunch. It would've been nice, it was quite lonely out there, I guess it says something good for the standard of 3/4 racing here when 4.7 watts/kilo for 40 minutes leaves you well off the back.

Interesting. I was in the same race but finished in the pack, my average power was 250 watts (3.42 watts/kilo, I'm 73 kilos).

Sounds like you are easily strong enough already. Just need to work on that cornering.

jibberjim

rjeffroy wrote:

Sounds like you are easily strong enough already. Just need to work on that cornering.

Probably I should'n't've been so blase about getting left behind at the start thinking I'll be able to move up no problem, I won't get dropped in the first 5 minutes. I should've sprinted to the first corner to not leave myself so exposed. I was pretty sure a 3/4 race wasn't requiring more than the 350watts I did to stay in the bunch, and I'm glad you've confirmed that, thanks!

Toks

Mmm interesting Jim, I'm sure your normalised power output wouldve made you seriously competitive in the E12 race, thats assuming you haven't put on 10kg's in the last few months. Don't give up on Palace mate its a fantastic circuit and as Jon from LondonCyclespot once said "if you can race well at Palace you can race anywhere". Back in 2005 I got a Gold in the Etape and my handling of fast decents in groups and skill on hair pin bends was definitly down to racing at Palace.

gattocattivo

Monday 31st August - Southend Wheelers Crits (at Hog Hill), 3rds & 4ths

Oof. Last week I got 7th (out of about 20) in a go-race (4ths and novices) at Hog Hill (I gatecrashed Surista's thread with a brief report: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12644834), this week I was back in action, but for something much more severe. This was the first time I'd ridden against 3rd cats (I'm still a 4th and had only done 4 road races before - all at Hog Hill this year), the furthest race I'd ever done (50km/31miles), and the biggest field I'd ever been in (I think they said 68 riders).

The pace was pretty fast (for me, anyway) - about 24mph - but didn't feel that bad when I was properly in the bunch. The problem was that I started right near the back and never had more than 5 or 6 riders behind me. We were all fighting not to be in last place, and every now and then I'd realise I was in danger of losing contact and there was no one behind me so I'd have to get out of the saddle and sprint my way back onto a wheel. I managed to stick with it for 5 laps (one lap = 2km), but on the 6th lap a gap opened that I just couldn't close and I found myself disappearing off the back. The dispiriting thing was that there was no one else to work with: I could just about make out one other dropped rider behind me, but he was at least a minute behind, maybe more, and even though I slackened my pace off considerably he never seemed to make up any ground on me.

I rode around on my own for ages (6 or 7 laps) and eventually I could just about make out one or two more dropped riders up ahead who I might be able to catch and work with, but then the bunch came round to lap me so I upped my pace and tucked myself in the middle of them. We caught another lapped rider who stuck his hand up to say he was lapped and that everyone should come past him, and some people shouted as they had to slow down and swerve past him - he seemed to think you couldn't sit in with the bunch if you were lapped, but I was and I've done it before and I've never been told not to.

This time I stayed with them for just under three laps before getting blasted off on the climb. Again, I pootled around on my own for a while, determined just to get to the end (about another 11 miles left by now). Eventually the bunch came round to lap me for a second time and I raised my pace again and got in with them - this time I could only stay with them for a lap and a half.

I only had a few laps left to do on my own now. I looked at my computer on the descent and saw I'd nearly done 25 miles. I thought 'I wonder how long it's taken compared to my time trial PB' and pressed the buttons on it to move from distance to time (just under 1 hour 12 mins) - this was not a good idea. I looked up and realised I was right at the start of the first 180-degree bend going about 30mph and with almost no road left.

I braked and turned and skidded and then went off the road and tumbling over and over into a load of thistles. I had cuts all over and I've got various bruises and aches now, but fortunately nothing too serious. Amazingly the bike was more or less OK as well (except the handlebars had been knocked round and weren't straight), so after getting my breath back I got back on and carried on riding. What an embarrassingly stupid crash.

I did another lap and a half with blood over my legs and thistles hanging off my gloves and back, then I felt my legs starting to cramp so I pulled over to the side. About a minute later the leaders got the bell, so it didn't seem worth getting back and trying to grind my way through one more lap - I'd done enough damage to myself already, and I still had a hilly 10-mile ride home to come.

jibberjim

gattocattivo wrote:

The problem was that I started right near the back and never had more than 5 or 6 riders behind me. We were all fighting not to be in last place, and every now and then I'd realise I was in danger of losing contact and there was no one behind me so I'd have to get out of the saddle and sprint my way back onto a wheel.

Second race report in a row where the importance of not starting at the back is underlined! Maybe we'll all learn something soon

Good race report, try and start higher up next time. And watch out for the thistles

gattocattivo

Yeah, I've always made a point of starting from the front before. Normally you get about ten minutes for warm-up laps, so I just finish a bit before most people and park myself on the start line. But today they only gave us one warm-up lap so when I came up the hill I found about 50 people already lined up in front of me.

Toks

gattocattivo wrote:

.I braked and turned and skidded and then went off the road and tumbling over and over into a load of thistles. I had cuts all over and I've got various bruises and aches now, but fortunately nothing too serious. Amazingly the bike was more or less OK as well (except the handlebars had been knocked round and weren't straight), so after getting my breath back I got back on and carried on riding. What an embarrassingly stupid crash.
.

dear oh dear i read this bit out aloud to my girlfriend who is also a cyclist and she nearly fell off the sofa from laughing so much. I'm glad that its your pride that was slightly dented and not your bike. Well done for giving Hog Hill a go. I couldn't have surved hog hill as a 4th cat or even as my first year as 3rd cat. Well done

felgen

Yeah, don't start at the back.... I did once mainly cos I didnt know what was going on and wanted to observe. The second time I raced I was so late to the start they had already rolled over and I was still 100 metres behind - not recommended and definitely something you wont get away with. :shock:

surista

gattocattivo - great race report; sorry to hear about the crash (am I evil if I laughed? :twisted:

No way I would have been able to stick with the bunch after doing 25 miles; sounds like you are well ahead of me fitness wise. Expect more competition from me next year after I've put in a winter season of hard training! (Unless, um, of course, you train as well....maybe I should go steal your indoor trainor or something...)