post 'em if you got 'em

i'll start - bucknell cycling classic (collegiate - eccc) mens c (cat 4/5)

road race - 36 miles - 1 climb of substance per lap (4 laps of 9mi) but mostly rolling flat.
start near the back, easily move up on the first little rise, things are really slow/relaxed for the first few miles (did we have a neutral start?). i am up in the front 5-6 wheels, just cruising, there is a wreck as someone trys to attack a downhill, the field gets dragged up, things slow down. we hit the climb, im waiting for someone to go, but no one does, i just take it easy (little ring) and spin along. a rutgers rider sort of rolls off the front. he gets some gap. levels says hi to me, it takes me a minute to realize who he is. i am looking around, notice this one dude looks like he has his sh*t together so i decide to keep an eye on him. 3 seconds later he attacks, i follow. we get about 50m on the field, but he doesnt want to work (why attack?). another guy (one of cruzer's teammates) bridges, but pitt still doesnt work, i dont pull through, and we are back. rutgers dude is getting some a serious gap, and people start to talk about working to bring him back. i am stil up front, 2nd wheel or so. lap 1 ends. 1st little rise to lap 2, i attack. no one follows. my stomach starts to feel really, really weird. i realize im about to puke. istop, puke, field goes by, i drop out. day over. i must have aten something bad the day before, or i have been sick for the last week, so thats what im chalking it up to. i was still not going "that" hard. sort of a downer as i had been feeling really strong earlier. went for a ride and did some climbing to get in a real workout.

crit - 30 minutes, .85 mile flat course, rather interesting course (1 set of 3 turns right after each other, some other cool elements)

i start next to cruzer, guy in front of me cant clip in, i cut off cruzer (sorry again). cruzer gets about 2 wheels behind me, and we are in the low 30's. levels and 3 others go off the front, and thiings get lined out and fast. i try to move up, but cant. cruzer does the same (ill stop telling his story here). things stay pretty lined out most of the race. levels's 4 person break gets a huge gap. i finally get up to 5th or 6th wheel at 3 to go (after working really really hard to move up for most of the race), and people are saying the break is going to stick. i stay in the top 15 to make a feeble attempt at sprinting. 4th to last turn i ride through with all my wieght on the guy next to me, as things got wierd. somehow he managed to support my weight, and his, and the cornering forces and we seperated and came out alive. i was 15th (i think) coming out of the last turn. the sprint winds up, i watch things open up in front me, i go, i catch 2 guys, for 13th in the field, 17th over all. not great, but perfectly fine for a total climber in a crit that was rather tough. levels and cruzer both finished, but you can wait for them to post to find out more.

allons, it was good to meet you man...that sucks about the road race, next week at beanpot should be better. Here's my little report

RR:
My first race up in C's after winning 2 races in the D field. I see myself as somewhat of a sprinter so I was a little nervous about how the upgrade in categories and a longer race would play out. Field was REALLY slow, lots of messing around and low speeds resulted in a Rutgers kid getting two minutes on the field by himself. Strong rider. Haha, I saw AllonsY fly by me at the top of a climb and thought, "heyyy there's allons, I think he said he was going on a break, i'll go up to the front and block". They came back quick, then I just sat in the pack. Legs felt pretty good though.
For some STUPID reason I thought on the flat section on the back of the course I'd roll off the peloton and try a mini break that would never work, just to mix things up. Yeahhhh, dumb idea haha. At least I was having fun though, I realized lone breaks into the wind usually don't work well so I sat up and waited to be gobbled up.
Last lap things picked up, and with about 3/4 mile to go two insane PSU kids came flying up alongside the peloton and took each other out. I was 8th wheel at that point, lost the pack, finished 16th.

crit:
REALLY technical course. Just what I wanted, because I feel my bike handling skills and speed out of corners is a strongpoint. Three very tight corners and a small chicane I knew would tie up the peloton, so I planned to go off the front solo after the first prime if my legs felt good. In the first lap, in the first corner, someone went down and I saw a Rutgers kid go off the front. So I thought, "wellll this is it, now or never". Bridged up to him and told him I was leaving and never coming back, he obliged and the hammer had officially dropped...two other riders (Colgate, Army) bridged and we had ourselves about 8 seconds fairly quickly after two laps.

My legs felt super strong all day and all the guys worked really well pulling and communicating...I've always seen people in breaks like that and never realized how fun they are, especially when they are efficient. I think I've found a new hobby: breakaways.

*at this point i would like to say how much i love going into a corner way faster than you think is safe only to plow through it with perfect form and high speed...gorgeous*

With two laps to go it was obvious our break was staying away, we were realllly hauling butt. I then had a gut check and convinced myselfI had a really good chance of winning the race. Two laps to go and the pulls up front got real short, kept the cadence around 105rpm to spin my legs out before the big finale. At that point I was going through the psychological ramp up saying out loud, "head down, commit, head down, commit...go go go go"
There was one 90* corner into a slight uphill finish, and I came out of that corner third wheel. I saw a slight hesitation in the two guys and decided it was time to go to work (from ENTIRELY too far out....300 yards or so). Pulled off the two wheels in front and dove over to the right side of along the curb to shake their wheels, held off the three other guys and took the W.

First C crit and I won, I'm very happy with my performance and recognizing a winning break when I saw it. For being a relative racing newbie, I'm stoked. I REALLY need to work on my climbing and endurance though if i want to be competitive in long road races.

i didnt realize you attempted to block for me. much appreciated, i owe you one

and yes, it was nice to meet you and chat after the crit. and again, nice job out there, mr. crit specialist.

Whoa. I see we got some RBR love goin' on. Sweet.

Find me... I have pink bar tape. You can't miss it. I'll even put it on my brand spankin' new TT bike so you'll still be able to find me. I don't bite, I swear.

I skipped outta the RR. I was hardcore hurtin' after the TTT. Hurting just like it shouldn't... not that pain you get from working your body too hard. It didn't feel normal. We had 2 C riders and 2 D riders in my team. We dropped one D rider, and the other was hanging on for dear life. I was bloody hurting as this was my first ride since my viral throat infection that I've had for the past week and a half. Halfway through I looked up at my C teammate and said "I can't do this man... you gotta pull the rest of the way." I was impressed at how he buried himself. We came in like 9th out of 15 or something. Not bad for having 2 riders of dead weight, and only one guy working.

The crit... well... I had plans to try something early if I had felt good. I thought I felt good anyway. I almost went down in the first 50 feet... see reason in allons-y's post. I was glued to his wheel for a while... he tried moving up... probably gained 2 places. I tried moving up... the pack was a bloody impenetrable wall for the first few laps. By the time it thinned out, I was hurting really bad. I finished somewhere at the back of the pack.

Oh well... sickness happens. I haven't been sick in a few years. Its about time it happened.


-----------------------------------------
Edit: I bite if you're a 7+... and female.

Congrat's levels, and good work allons.

I figured I would post my results here, despite being in the mwccc men's D.

The race was at MSU, a 17.6mi road race consisting of 4 laps. 1.2mi of each lap was in dirt -- it had rained the previous days and it was tight-packed mud. Paris-Roubaix ftw (although not quite).

The field had only about 20-25 people, and this was my school's first appearance at a cycling race (Univ. of Illinois-Chicago). 3 of us showed, which was awesome. It was a neutral start through the first 1.2mi mud road, and then the race started. Instantly a break formed consisting of 6 riders, and one was from UIC. I quickly saw the potential and bridged up. 3 people dropped leaving the 4 of us (2 UIC). After 2mi we were only about 30 seconds ahead, and very disorganized (ie, my rider pulling everyone for 4mi). I yelled at him to drop back and form a paceline and everyone agreed. We worked together and almost lapped the rest of the field in a 4 lap race!

The final sprint was nuts. The winner took off with over 400m to go and no one expected it. I had a lead-out from my teammate but I didn't have much energy left and was barely holding on to his sprint. My cleat then came completely lose and I couldn't really pedal with my left foot. I told him to just go and he placed 2nd. I finally looked back, worried I would be caught in 4th only to find out that the other guy was not able to keep up with the initial sprint, and I was safe in 3rd.

UIC placed 2 and 3! Maybe I should move to C next race? We only averaged like 24mph in our 4 man break (and honestly, we weren't pushing it hard).

*edit* I'm the short rider in the white UIC jersey, and my teammate is the taller one. The pics are in the Results/Gallery page of our website:
http://www.uiccycletri.com

nice job iliveonnitro

as for moving up...

some will say go for it - others will say wait another race or two and see how it goes...ultimately you need to weight the pro's and con's of each and see how you feel.

I corner marshalled that MSU race, good times! The excitement of the day was seeing Greg LeMond, who was there supporting his son who races for Northwestern.

Sunday I did the Fisk Knob TT, very hilly and windy 17.3 mile course. I placed 12th in Mens 30-34 with a 22.57 mph pace. The last 4 miles were uphill and into the wind, which really sucked. I did the same course last year with a 19 mph pace, I'm really happy with the improvement.

I saw a slight hesitation in the two guys and decided it was time to go to work (from ENTIRELY too far out....300 yards or so). Pulled off the two wheels in front and dove over to the right side of along the curb to shake their wheels, held off the three other guys and took the W.

It sure doesn't sound like you went too early. That move will win more races from a brake then it you'd try waiting for the last second to sprint. Riders are already hesitating. Once they see they will have to work to grab your wheel they don't want to tow up the others only to be left with nothing. So they hesitate more.

3-500m, jump out of the saddle for a few to get the gap, head down and burry yourself. Now if someone has a teamate you might not want to play that game. One will cover and the other will take it from you.

Gotta take risks to win. You did both :thumbsup:

I corner marshalled that MSU race, good times! The excitement of the day was seeing Greg LeMond, who was there supporting his son who races for Northwestern.

Sunday I did the Fisk Knob TT, very hilly and windy 17.3 mile course. I placed 12th in Mens 30-34 with a 22.57 mph pace. The last 4 miles were uphill and into the wind, which really sucked. I did the same course last year with a 19 mph pace, I'm really happy with the improvement.

I KNEW THAT WAS HIM! I saw a young rider who looked exactly like LeMond and I just thought it to myself. That's pretty cool.

UIC placed 2 and 3! Maybe I should move to C next race? We only averaged like 24mph in our 4 man break (and honestly, we weren't pushing it hard).



I am of the thought that you should race at the highest level possible, because there you're constantly pushing yourself and the learning curve is much greater. However I spent the first two weekends in D, and I'm glad I did. If you're completely new to racing it's good to spend some time getting acclimated to racing in D, you learn alot of things quickly. When I first started racing I had no idea what to do, and even though I had the ability to race C I didn't want to just hop in with the people who've a little more experience right away. Patience.

Spend next week in D again, if you finish around the same results then move up to C. I'm glad I did, this weekend was tons of fun for me.

Looks like everyone had a pretty fun weekend of racing. Cruzer we've gotta meet up, I saw your bike a few times and never you next to it. Beanpot?

Copied from Blog - short report.
http://mlkimages.blogspot.com/

IN OVER MY HEAD!:mad2:

So I went into this race knowing the above. I just recently moved up from Cat 5 to Cat 4 on the road and for what every reason I still do not know - I decided to race the Masters 40+ for my 1st road race of the season. I guess there is no better way to get into shape than being hammered in March. Snow called off the race last weekend and was rescheduled for this past Saturday. I get to the race which was in Strasburg PA, there was slight rain and the roads were wet - this is a given for the first road race of the season. Registering was SLOW - not sure why since everyone was to have preregistered - had enough time to do a quick out and back and headed to the start line. Recognized a few Cat 2's and 3's.....what was I thinking?

Race is scheduled for 5 laps for 28 mile.

We start off and pace is fine - nothing too demanding.......and 1/2 way into the first lap the attacks start. Come-on! My goal is to make at least one lap with the group! This is not going to help. No one gets away, but I can see the tatics being played by two teams. Sending guys off the front and 2 or 3 members sit in on the front slowing the group down. No one was getting to far away and at times I felt good enough that I would go off the front pulling the group back up to the leads. I figured I would not be there long so why not! The race pace picks up and I am suprisingly hanging with the lead - usually riding in the top 5 most of the time. Roads have dried out nicely by now.....and then 1/2 way into the 3rd lap a surge happens to chase an attacking group and I'm off the back never to find my way back onto the group. Pretty much my race is over - my lower back was sore at this point so I roll into the start/finish and pulled out at the end of the 4th lap. Figured I would now grab my camera gear and Photograph the rest of the day.

All photos of the race can be found here:
http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/248104

Next week I have decided to try and smarten up a bit and signed up for the Cat 4 race at Kirkwood - we will see if I can hang with the main group a bit longer - Photographing the remaining races as well.

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487606-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487174-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487134-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487822-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487229-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487693-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487003-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138487576-S.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mlkimages.com/photos/138486973-S.jpg">

Michael
www.MLKimages.com

Great job guys. Congrats to levels! I will be on the lookout for those blue booties in the beanpot crit. I would've liked to have gone but I've been really sick and the drive to bucknell would've been about 10 hrs.

Allonsy- better to have tried a break and over did it than be packfill. Getting away is itself an accomplishment.

good luck at the beanpot, everyone!

How much color editing do you do with the photos?

Those colors are extremely vibrant on my lcd monitor at work.



Copied from Blog - short report.
http://mlkimages.blogspot.com/

IN OVER MY HEAD!:mad2:
Michael
www.MLKimages.com

No color correction were made to any of the photos. What you see is pretty much straight out of the camera with some basic levels adjustments and sharpening - nothing else. The last photo did had the color desaturated a bit too add to the emotion.

Michael
www.MLKimages.com


How much color editing do you do with the photos?

Those colors are extremely vibrant on my lcd monitor at work.

Looks like everyone had a pretty fun weekend of racing. Cruzer we've gotta meet up, I saw your bike a few times and never you next to it. Beanpot?

Def. Look for pink bar tape. There is a chick out there that races for UNH who has pink bartape too... Cannondale I think... Make sure it's a Felt, or my Jamis TT bike (which will have pink bar tape as well).

I'm kind of a big Asian... with a shaved head. Hard to miss.

-Cruzer

p.s. UNH chick with pink bartape... if you're out there, you're kinda cute.

Copied from Blog - short report.
http://mlkimages.blogspot.com/

IN OVER MY HEAD!:mad2:

So I went into this race knowing the above. I just recently moved up from Cat 5 to Cat 4 on the road and for what every reason I still do not know - I decided to race the Masters 40+ for my 1st road race of the season. I guess there is no better way to get into shape than being hammered in March. Snow called off the race last weekend and was rescheduled for this past Saturday. I get to the race which was in Strasburg PA, there was slight rain and the roads were wet - this is a given for the first road race of the season. Registering was SLOW - not sure why since everyone was to have preregistered - had enough time to do a quick out and back and headed to the start line. Recognized a few Cat 2's and 3's.....what was I thinking?


Whoa. Do you race for Trizilla? I bet I've raced against you before... I can name the like 1/4 of the guys in those pics!

No, I race for the Henry's Team - not many out racing right now - team does more MTB racing than road. I raced Masters 40+, but with my head back on straight will do the 4 race in Kirkwood next weekend. Most of the pictures I posted here were from the 3/4 race and I think one from the 5 race.

Michael
www.MLKimages.com

Whoa. Do you race for Trizilla? I bet I've raced against you before... I can name the like 1/4 of the guys in those pics!