I further violated my “no pack racing” rule this Tuesday by riding the 4/5’s at PIR. My first infraction was helping Dean (Mr. Blog”)at Piece of Cake in March and that ended well.

My stepson Aaron started racing this year after only 2 years of riding.  He rode with the PSU collegiate team as well as a couple other races.  He called me up and said he was going to do PIR again this week.  I thought it’d be fun (and it was) so I agreed, all the while remembering the reason for not doing pack racing was to not test the quality of my health insurance plan’s hospitalization coverage.

Looking around at the perhaps 35-40 riders, there was a very diverse group of barely teenagers, old guys with “enhanced” midranges, several collegiate riders, and a few regular teams.  With the “no crashes” motto running through my mind, I went right near the front and stayed there most of the time.  Aaron and I stuck reasonably close as well.

Fortunately, bike handling of those that remained in the group was not sketchy so that fear was reduced as the race wore on for 6 very short laps.  We yo-yo’d from 21-27mph, averaging around 24.5mph for the whole ride.

No real attempts at breakaways other than one brave soul on the last lap.  I bridged up but then it was gruppo compacto.  We would up for the usual bunch sprint at the end.  I had one dicey moment when a rider in front of me suddenly decided to pull right abrubtly and got against my front wheel.  I rode it out but wasn’t sure how it was going to end for a moment there.

Aaron put more into the sprint than I did, getting 10th, me showing at 22nd.  I sprinted some but didn’t really care about where I finished, just wanted to end the experience upright. Mission accomplished.

I did some quick math on my last PIR when driving to the track.

In fact, it as 32 years ago in 1977.  Man I’m old!

I meant to write a race report after I did the Silverton RR and a PIR, but the motivation quickly fled. I’ve been thinking about it since then, and Dean’s encouragement at PIR last night helped me decide what I would do. So, here is a brief (not in the literal sense of the word, but it’s all relative, and it’s true if you compare it to what you could have got — I mean, I can go on and on sometimes . . . like there was this one time . . .) summary of my races and experiences since joining North River Racing.

My first official event as a member of the team was Estacada TT #2. My first race of the season was a Tuesday nighter at PIR earlier that week in the Cat. 3/4 field, but I wasn’t flying the NRR flag, though I did finish alongside Joe C. The race had been easier than I expected. I thought I would get dropped. I didn’t know how the points worked and didn’t ride aggressively, something illustrated by placing 48th that night as Joe and I both sat up and avoided the bunch sprint for 30th at the finish. I think PIR will be a good place to work on tactics and positioning, and hope my teammates that come out can give me some pointers.

Estacada was hard. I got passed before the turnaround by a Portland Velo guy that went on to win Cat. 4, I think. I finished 5th (out of eight) with a time of 52:18, over three minutes off the winning pace. I felt completely spent at the line, though, so I definitely left it all on the course. I probably could have benefitted from better pacing and a more specific TT setup, but still happy that I did okay on that long TT.

Next event was another Tuesday night at PIR. I felt a lot more comfortable in the pack and tried to be a little more aggressive. I was part of a small breakaway at one point, but it seems so many of the guys in the 3/4 field bust their guts getting away from the pack and then slow down and give up. It’s frustrating to get up there and wish they were working harder and smoother instead of constantly looking back and giving up the fight before it has truly begun. Back in the pack, I worked on maintaining a decent position and staying comfortable. I did my best to sprint for the finish, but didn’t quite hang on to the wheels in front of me and ended up 12th for the night (highest placed rider with 0 points). I felt pretty good about that, although I obviously need to start getting some points if I want to do better.

That weekend was the Silverton RR. My expectations were pretty low, especially considering I felt ill the night before and didn’t sleep much. I was quite happy with my sensations (as the Euro-pros like to say) during the race. I was able to work my way to the front and didn’t feel like I was put into any real difficulty on the climbs. I tried to stay out of the wind and toward the front. On the third and final lap, I got a little too close to the front and in the wind coming through the start/finish area and rolling to the main climb. I was 2nd wheel behind a Team S&M guy who hammered it up the hill. I decided to let him go and not try to hold his pace, fearing I would blow up, so I slowly slid back through the pack. In retrospect I should have pedaled a little harder. I found myself off the back at the top of the hill and chased hard for at least five minutes, but I wasn’t gaining on the pack. I saw some riders behind me and thought we could work together. I waited for them, but they weren’t working together very well and my legs were fried and hadn’t recovered. I let them go, latched onto another rider here and there until I saw two guys up ahead riding side-by-side and chatting, their own groupetto. My brain checked with my tired legs and returned with the idea that it looked good to ride at their pace, so I got off the train I was riding and we made friends (my brain and legs with the other riders). Ended up 40th, but happy with my first two laps.

That’s about it. The OBRA TTT has been written about. I had a ton of fun and think we can go faster next year. I raced at PIR last night with Dean and John L., but I’m trusting in Dean to write up a report, as usual. I don’t think I could remember the details, anyway, what with my eyes being crossed so much of the time. There have also been RACC’s of pain, climbs to Mt. St. Helens, team rides in the wet and in Ridgefield, and Mari’s group rides galore. I’ve had a good time so far, and have enjoyed getting to know some of you (you being NRR guys and gals). I’m looking forward to more.

Justin

Seems all the TTT folks are too shy to post.  NRR did indeed have a very solid Sunday at the Team Time Trial with both teams placing 3rd in their categories and also Joe Cipale getting a bronze with some other Team Rose City men. 

The weather was certainly nice but on the hot side for sustained hard efforts.  Our team, NRR 2, was composed of Justin Griffith (a recent member), Colby, Dave Lofstead and myself.  Dave is a regular at the Mari Saturday rides and was on NRR 2 last year with me, Scott Goodrich and Cal Stone.  We only had one practice as a complete team but we worked very well together. 

 I had looked at last years times in Cat 4 and figured that we should be able to get 3rd if all went well.  There were less teams overall, but especially in Cat 3 and Cat 4.  8 teams this year, 15 last year.  I devised a plan to ride at 25mph on the first lap and each take 30 second pulls.  Ramp to 26mph on the second lap with the same pull time.  After that, it was more flexible based on how everyone was doing. 

 Colby was his usual strong self and Justin and Dave did well too.  By the 4th lap, my butt was really uncomfortable and my hamstrings were sore in a way I have never experienced.  Coming out of the corners, getting back up to speed wasn’t much fun:-).  We did all stick together for the finish which was a good sign.  We had passed at least 5 other groups in front of us and no one passed us so it looked good for a strong placing.

 The official times were certainly not right in our category but the relative placings seemed correct based on the groups we’d passed.  I’ll take it either way. 

It’s surprising how much the little things can add up in this event.  The cornering and getting back together are always areas to pick up time if you’re super smooth.  There’s also a bit of pushing your comfort on cornering speed.  Those small differences really add up by the end of the race, both in time and extra energy expenditure. 

 My wife Carol took a bunch of pictures, some good, some not as good.  I emailed the link to most of those interested as well:

 http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/garywatts/TTT2009/

Gary Watts

Wow, it looks like the medals are still rolling in. Colby started the weekend off with a gold medal in the Jr. 15-16 OBRA championship road race. I haven’t heard how it went down, but I can imagine that he rode away from the pack on the first sustained climb and no one ever saw him again……  Way to go Colby!! Your jersey drawer has to be getting full with all these OBRA Champion jersey’s you’re collecting..

 Sunday saw the NRR squads out again in the OBRA championship TTT.  Colby was part of the cat 4/5 Bronze medal team along with Gary, Justin, and Dave Lofstead. In the cat 3 race, the team of Allen, Ronny, Bruce, and John Obrien also brought home a Bronze medal.  Joe Cipale raced on a team with some Rose City guys and also brought home a bronze in the Master 160-199’s.

Great job everyone! What a great weekend for racing!!!!

Well, I finally managed to drag myself out to PIR on Tuesday for the first time this season. I haven’t raced in a month and a half and this was to be the third time I’ve been on the bike since I got back from vacation. My game plan was to sit in the middle of the pack and just get in some fast training. This worked pretty well for half of the race. I just sat there and watch break after break go and then get reeled in. I eventually got kind of bored sitting in the middle of the pack, so I moved up a bit just to feel like I was doing something. On what I think was 4 laps to go, Stephen (Liberty Cycles) and two other guys broke away on the back straight going into the wind. I figured “what the heck” and bridged up. A guy from Yakima Bike Vigilantes went with me. Once we bridged, four of us started working pretty hard. The 1/2/3 pack was coming up on the 3/4’s behind us, so once we saw them neutralize, we pegged it hard to open up a gap before we had to neutralize. We lost one guy somewhere during the neutralization, so Stephen, Yakima guy, and myself just kept motoring along as hard as we could. We eventually crossed the start/finish line again and the counter said 3 laps to go. We all groaned at it, but after we passed it we heard the bell. So, was this the last lap? or a sprint point lap. At this stage, I was pretty much in a fog and my brain was on auto pilot so I just kept pedalling. We caught up with our 4th guy somewhere around here and he jumped on. Then on the back straight he came by as I was pulling and said something about “pack” and “getting closer”.  I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying, but I jumped on his wheel. He gave everything he had and then Yakima guy pulled up and I got on his wheel with Stephen behind me. Yakima guy gave a monster pull around the last two turns and then down the finish straight. Stephen started to come around me, so I got up and started “sprinting…” as best as I could. At the finish line, Stephen was a bike length ahead of me, Yakima guy was a half a bike ahead and the pack was flying up on the left of us. I ended up crossing the line 4th. Once the sprint points were worked into it, I was bumped down to 5th. It was a lot of fun and me,  Yakima guy,  and Liberty Cycles guy (Stephen) worked hard together to get the break to pretty much stick, sort of… I’ll certainly take it given my initial goal.  I really need to figure out how to sprint better though.

 Dean  aka  Mai Tai Tiki

 Here are Ronny and Allen getting their gold medals for winning the men’s tandem division and becoming the Men’s Tandem OBRA State Champions.  Great job guys! Looking at the results, it seems we had some other racers there as well. Jeff Boehlke took 15th in the Cat 5s. I also heard that Colby was there racing in the 4’s but broke a cleat and had to retire early.  Way to get out there and represent everyone! Here’s a few more pics of the Men’s tandem champs that Colby sent me…

I am the great Mai Tai Tiki…. I have returned from Maui empty, fat and slow.  I will replenish myself with trips to PIR on Tuesday’s and the gruelling Mt. Tabor series and report my grand results here to you haolies.  Quiver in your Sidi’s as I regain strength and power!

John L. and I ventured out to Hood River on Thursday to try out the crit. John had raced last week and did pretty well, but this was my first crit of the year and the only crit I’ve ever raced other than the Courthouse Crit. Specialized/River City had 8 guys there and the race was pretty much dominated by them. I hung out near the front for most of the race figuring that I’d try to get into a break that looked good. The break finally came and I went for it too late. Four of us went, but not at the same time, so we basically had 2 chase groups of 2 with about 50 feet in between us. I was in the second of those and just couldn’t close the gap. Consequently, we rode hard for a couple of laps and then got caught with about 4 laps to go. I spent 3 of those laps trying not to hurl. I pretty much had nothing left on the last lap, but made a go of it anyway.  I was third wheel until just before the last tight right hand turn to the finish when half the field pulled up next to and past me. A few guys were looking to take really bad lines going into that turn, so I backed off a bit since I didn’t want to die sprinting for 20th.

John had a good race and finished 13th. I ended up 20th.

Also:  Welcome to our newest team member Justin Griffeth! He’ll be racing cat 4.

 Dean

Five of us made the trip to King’s Valley for what turned out to be a beautiful day of racing. Ronny, Bruce, Steve, Allen and I all showed up and raced in the Master 40+ / 50+ race.  When we lined up to start, there were about 80 guys ready to roll. Steve was the only one who managed to line up near the front and it took about half a lap for the rest of us to get up there.  In all honesty, my goal was to finish with the pack. This was the first road race I’ve done with cat 3’s in it and looking at the guys in the results, most of the pack were 3’s. About half way around the first lap, a break went off the front. Steve whipped around me and gave chase. Unfortunately, he got stuck about half way between the break and the pack. After a bit, Bruce shot up to him, hoping to take the peloton with him and get Steve out of no-man’s land. No one went, so Bruce got up there and pulled hard for Steve. From the tucked in saftey of the pack, I could see Bruce’s book of matches flaming away…… After a while of that, the pack brought them in and Bruce drifted to the back and off. The brightness of his burning splendor slowly fading to a shadow as I blinked the sweat from my eyes….  As I looked around, I could see Allen and Steve staying consistently near the front. Ronny would take forays up there while I tried to maintain my spot in the front third. I was continually amazed at how quickly you could get cycled to the back. I used these times as opportunities to practice moving up. We were pretty jammed from the yellow line to the fog stripe, so I worked on moving up through the middle. We strung out going up the hills, so I used those times as opportunities to get by some folks.

The second lap came around and guys started getting serious about pulling in the break. The pace picked up and we started moving at a pretty good clip.  We got them pretty much rolled in by the end of the lap, but the guys in front let ‘em hang for a bit. Eventually everyone was brought back together.  As we were rolling down from the finish line, I drank the rest of my 20 oz. bottle of Cytomax and ate my Cliff Shot. I had already consumed my Cliff bar and half a bottle of water. When we started to hit the hills, the surges started and my left leg was beginning to thighten and feel crampy. I finished off the water and just hoped for the best. At this point, I’m not sure where Steve was, but Ronny was around me somewhere and Allen was up in the front driving the pace. He was up there until he burned up… Allen eventually drifted toward the back, but never dropped off. Fortunately for me, when we hit a flat stretch about 6 miles out, the group slowed to around 17 mph, so that gave my legs a chance to settle down. About this time, I found myself packed in with 2 rows of guys ahead of me. I didn’t think this would really last and eventually some guys got around and went up the road. We never really got strung out and we hit the hill to the finish as a pack. I was on the yellow line with Ronny behind me when it started to accelerate up the hill. I went to drop into the little chainring and in my pain induced fog wasn’t paying attention. I ended up dropping the chain. I heard Ronny calmly say “Wow, that sucks”, and I tried to get it back on. By the time I did, most of the group was pulling away and I didn’t have enough in the tank to even think about catching back on. So I put it into grind mode and tried to pick a couple of people off.  Ronny came by me looking as fresh as a daisy and finished 22nd. I managed to pick off a couple of guys and finished 32nd. I’m not sure what the finish line folks were doing, but Allen was just two guys behind me and actually finished 34th. He most certainly did not DNF…. Bruce finished off the race 41st. Steve had the best finish of all of us, he had a nice 6th in the 50+. 

All in all, I feel pretty good with how I personally did. My goal was to finish with the pack. I didn’t actually do much of anything other than stay upright, but I wasn’t trying to, so I’m okay with that. The weirdest thing was how much my lower back hurt at the end. I leaned over to put my bike on the ground and I couldn’t stand back up. My back muscles just hurt too much to pull me upright, so I stood there with my hands on my knees until the pain subsided enough to let me stand. This is the first time my back has hurt this much, so I don’t know. I do know that I had a great time and it was a lot of fun to be able to look around the pack and see NRR jersey’s scattered here and there. Very Cool…

Dean

We had a decent showing of NRR folks at Estacada.  I had high hopes of a “good” time but it didn’t turn out all that “good” in the end. 

 Weather was sunny and reasonably warm but the wind was gusty with a headwind on the out leg.   I originally had my 90mm HED front wheel but after nearly getting blown off the road while warming up, I quickly changed to a 46mm which was a good move.   The wind wasn’t as gusty on the course thankfully. 

 I’m new to the HRM thing, having just used PE in the past.  This is the first race I’ve tried staying right at or below LT (159-160 for me) and got pretty close, average 156.  While I may have been able to improve the pace slightly based on the HR, I felt like I gave it my best. 

I had an approximate time of 26:30 so I went home really bummed about my performance.  The actual results were slightly better, showing a 25:51.  Still, I’ve got more work to do.  Pacing and guaging effort in TT’s is an ongoing learning experience.

Estacada TT has been put on for some years I believe but will say that the organization was rather sloppy.  The biggest error was the turnaround being placed at 10 miles out instead of 5 miles for many of the earlier starters, including young juniors.  That must have really been a surprise/confusion to the riders.  I realize that promoters are volunteer and do many of these races out of love for the sport but still…. 

Results were very late in coming due a mixup on where the printouts were.  Then there were multiple errors in placing etc.  Hopefully, it’s better next time.