bimini
05-28-2005, 05:26 AM
As soon as ya think you know what to expect it changes. This is my 3rd year doing this race. Normally is a massive peloton for 33 miles with a crazy group sprint at the end. Wrecks galore. I did well in the sprint last year and missed the money by a couple of spots.
In previous races the winds were low. At the start of this race thunderstorms were rolling through (and missing us) with strong gusty winds out of the WSW at 20-30+ mph.
The first 7 miles are ESE so the winds were on our right and a little behind. We line up by registration numbers and it was suppose to be a neutral start (I was 2/3 of the way back in the lineup). We start and a bunch of folks at the rear go zooming to the front while we were just getting clipped in (Aholes, just freken Aholes).
It is important to get to the front in this race, in front of the wrecks and in front of the accordian which is nuts towards the back. With the wind from the right there were often open paths to snake through on the right so I spent the first 4 miles working my way up. A couple of near misses that had the peloton slaming on the brakes and going everywhere but no wrecks up front.
Things settle down a bit and I find a comfy spot in the center of the road about 30 bikes off the front.
At 7 miles there is a corner and the road goes south. So the wind is coming in at a diagonal from the front and right. The front attacks going into the corner. I get up and sprint. I get in on the tail end of the lead group. But the side wind causes us to string out down the centerline. Finally the strung out bikes split about 4 bikes in front of me. I move forward to try to jump across but don't have the power to complete the bridge and am quickly reaching my limit just maintaining.
The next couple of miles is chaos. Random bikes trying to bridge but burning out. My nemisis from the previous weeks race takes a hard pull at the front and starts things to going. Three of us start a rotation, then 5. There was some idiot behind yelling "pull through" and barking orders, But the fwad wasn't taking any pulls. A couple of us turn around and tell him to shut the F up and take a Freekin pull.
Another group joins us from the rear and adds some muscle. There were about 10-12 of us rotating. We got within 50-100 yards but never got to the point where any of us could bridge. A couple tried but just couldn't get across solo.
We continue the rotations. At 11 miles to go our pace lets up a little, we all came to the conclussion the effort was futile.
There were some 30 odd bikes in the front group. Our 2nd group had about 20 bikes. We reach the mile to go. At that point I quit taking pulls at the front. We go over the rise and it's a half mile gradual downhill sprint to the line. I break off the fron and wind it up. A little before the line a bike slips in fron of me and I grap his wheel. Another bike gets a little in fron of me on the left. I get 3rd of the second group, but all in all it was a half hearted sprint by all. Our second group came in a couple of minutes behind the lead pack. The third group was a few minutes behind us.
This race never busts up, until this time. The wind was a new factor that tore the race to shreds. In hind sight I should of got further up in the pack before the turn, I knew the wind would be a factor but didn't think it would be this much of a factor.
I hang around for the finish of the pro/1/2 race. Same thing there. The field was torn to shreds. A two bike break won by a couple of minutes! Followed by another group of about 7-8 bikes with a couple of more minute and then the peloton.
At least I didn't have to dodge any wrecks and kept the rubber side down.
The Snake is today. I'm skipping that one because I suk at hills and resting up for the Crits Sunday & Monday. The race really took at lot out of me, I had to work the whole 33 miles. Normally it is just work to get in position, and then camp out in the peloton until you get close to the line. Not this time it was more like a 33 mile TT.
In previous races the winds were low. At the start of this race thunderstorms were rolling through (and missing us) with strong gusty winds out of the WSW at 20-30+ mph.
The first 7 miles are ESE so the winds were on our right and a little behind. We line up by registration numbers and it was suppose to be a neutral start (I was 2/3 of the way back in the lineup). We start and a bunch of folks at the rear go zooming to the front while we were just getting clipped in (Aholes, just freken Aholes).
It is important to get to the front in this race, in front of the wrecks and in front of the accordian which is nuts towards the back. With the wind from the right there were often open paths to snake through on the right so I spent the first 4 miles working my way up. A couple of near misses that had the peloton slaming on the brakes and going everywhere but no wrecks up front.
Things settle down a bit and I find a comfy spot in the center of the road about 30 bikes off the front.
At 7 miles there is a corner and the road goes south. So the wind is coming in at a diagonal from the front and right. The front attacks going into the corner. I get up and sprint. I get in on the tail end of the lead group. But the side wind causes us to string out down the centerline. Finally the strung out bikes split about 4 bikes in front of me. I move forward to try to jump across but don't have the power to complete the bridge and am quickly reaching my limit just maintaining.
The next couple of miles is chaos. Random bikes trying to bridge but burning out. My nemisis from the previous weeks race takes a hard pull at the front and starts things to going. Three of us start a rotation, then 5. There was some idiot behind yelling "pull through" and barking orders, But the fwad wasn't taking any pulls. A couple of us turn around and tell him to shut the F up and take a Freekin pull.
Another group joins us from the rear and adds some muscle. There were about 10-12 of us rotating. We got within 50-100 yards but never got to the point where any of us could bridge. A couple tried but just couldn't get across solo.
We continue the rotations. At 11 miles to go our pace lets up a little, we all came to the conclussion the effort was futile.
There were some 30 odd bikes in the front group. Our 2nd group had about 20 bikes. We reach the mile to go. At that point I quit taking pulls at the front. We go over the rise and it's a half mile gradual downhill sprint to the line. I break off the fron and wind it up. A little before the line a bike slips in fron of me and I grap his wheel. Another bike gets a little in fron of me on the left. I get 3rd of the second group, but all in all it was a half hearted sprint by all. Our second group came in a couple of minutes behind the lead pack. The third group was a few minutes behind us.
This race never busts up, until this time. The wind was a new factor that tore the race to shreds. In hind sight I should of got further up in the pack before the turn, I knew the wind would be a factor but didn't think it would be this much of a factor.
I hang around for the finish of the pro/1/2 race. Same thing there. The field was torn to shreds. A two bike break won by a couple of minutes! Followed by another group of about 7-8 bikes with a couple of more minute and then the peloton.
At least I didn't have to dodge any wrecks and kept the rubber side down.
The Snake is today. I'm skipping that one because I suk at hills and resting up for the Crits Sunday & Monday. The race really took at lot out of me, I had to work the whole 33 miles. Normally it is just work to get in position, and then camp out in the peloton until you get close to the line. Not this time it was more like a 33 mile TT.