Tour De Husker Road Race, Cat. 4, March 22, 2014. Raymond Ne. Temp: 23F
~~
I got a text after the race that asked me how I felt it went. I said something like, "Smart."
I've never really had any idea of what to do in a race before. I've only had the fitness for it to matter one other time. Even then, I wasn't exactly racing "smart."
I'm far from smart when it comes to racing tactics. I've learned a little from experience about not going in too big a gear too early, but otherwise I generally have no idea what to expect or what I should do in certain situations.
That's why I'm kind of glad I read This Book over the winter. It's a quick read and there's probably nothing in it that a Cat 1/2/3 guy doesn't already know. But as a lowly Cat 4, applying a couple of things they talked about helped me finish way higher than ever.
It talks about 2 things in particular that I have always done wrong in the past. Conserving energy and trying to figure out the winning breakaway.
First of all, after watching hours of the Tour De France every year, you can start to feel that all breakaways are doomed. This is hardly the case in amateur races.
Next, I always felt an obligation to do my fair share of the work in road races. I've changed my stand on that one also.
~~
I got a text after the race that asked me how I felt it went. I said something like, "Smart."
I've never really had any idea of what to do in a race before. I've only had the fitness for it to matter one other time. Even then, I wasn't exactly racing "smart."
I'm far from smart when it comes to racing tactics. I've learned a little from experience about not going in too big a gear too early, but otherwise I generally have no idea what to expect or what I should do in certain situations.
That's why I'm kind of glad I read This Book over the winter. It's a quick read and there's probably nothing in it that a Cat 1/2/3 guy doesn't already know. But as a lowly Cat 4, applying a couple of things they talked about helped me finish way higher than ever.
It talks about 2 things in particular that I have always done wrong in the past. Conserving energy and trying to figure out the winning breakaway.
First of all, after watching hours of the Tour De France every year, you can start to feel that all breakaways are doomed. This is hardly the case in amateur races.
Next, I always felt an obligation to do my fair share of the work in road races. I've changed my stand on that one also.
The night before the race, I looked at who had signed up. I knew that anything was possible, but I was mainly concerned with the people I know. I couldn't guess about the ones I don't
Of those, I thought the favorites had to be Travis Loewens, Jakob Wilson, Rich Anderson and Me.
Greg Hagele won the race, but I don't know him and had never met him. I think he was ranked highest on the USACycling race predictor thing, but since I didn't know which person he was, I couldn't really watch out for him. I don't know Rich Anderson either, but I saw him race at the Papillion Twilight Crit last Summer and he seemed pretty strong.
Travis and Jakob, I've ridden with on several occasions and we are all roughly at the same level.
So the people I decided to keep an eye on during the race were: Travis, Jakob, Rich, and Team Kaos.
Team Kaos and Greenstreet Velo each had 3 or 4 riders in our little 12 man group.
Husker Road Club had one rider. So I was the designated team captain, domestique, sprinter, etc.
Immediately after the neutral rollout is the first "climb". There was a little shifting for position. Tyler Loewens got to the front and was pulling. I was right behind him. I did not wish to pull. In fact, when I looked back, there was nobody behind me. The group was sitting about 5 yards back.
Screw that. I stopped pedaling and Tyler went up the road a ways until somebody from his team got his attention. He saw what was happening and slowed back into the group. Once we were all back together, Greg Hagele kind of jumped. He got about a 15 foot gap, then Jakob moved into action, grabbing his wheel. The rest of us didn't take it seriously and slowly got back with them where we all stayed a happy little group for the next 5 minutes.
Eventually, we turned right toward the east and had a cross wind from the left (North). I was three or four back, but I was on the left side (in the wind). I was looking around for an opportunity to get inside (the book warns about this sort of thing). Finally, I saw a spot and took it, nice and comfy along the edge of the road.
As I was settling in for a nice happy group ride and thinking about flowers and bunnies and stuff. The same Kaos Rider from before (Hagale) attacked. This time hard. Again, Jakob Wilson covered the move. They were moving away from us quickly. I saw another Kaos guy look at a GSV guy and kind of shrug. I was surprised. I didn't expect the members of these teams to give up the race so soon. Looking back on it, they probably all knew they had their best guy out there. They were happy to go easy and sprint for third place later on. That's when my team manager yelled into my headset, "Get the fuck in that breakaway! Allez, Allez!"
The Bunnies and flowers would have to wait. I looked down at ol' Bessie (I don't really call my bike that), tapped her gently on the top tube (not really), and asked her for all the speed she could muster. I had about 10 yards to bridge and I didn't want to pull anybody with me.
So I stood up and sprinted away, hoping like hell I wasn't dragging the rest of the pack. I did expect at least Travis or Rich Anderson to have hitched a ride. But no.
When I was about 10 feet from Jakob's wheel, I wasn't sure I would be able to grab it. I was beginning to get winded. Then Greg accelerated a little more.
Thankfully I got on as Greg let Jakob pull for a moment. When I went by Jakob to do my turn, I said something queer like, "Let's do this!" because at that time, I believed we'd be reeled in if we didn't all work together.
He nodded and we began to work beautifully together. Until 18 seconds later when Greg got to the front again and just hammered. Jakob and I basically just hung on from that point on. Greg didn't want to work together. We were ok with that. In the cross wind, he'd ride so we'd get the minimum benefit of the draft.
After about 3 or 4 minutes, I dared to look back at the main pack. I thought they'd be rolling right up to us.
They were not in sight. We had turned to the South and were on the dam with a tailwind.
Actually, I never saw the main group again during the race. I was positively giddy about that. Paul Sherwen kept saying "Out of sight, out of mind." I kept saying to Jakob, "This is so cool. They are not going to catch us."
On the second lap and going north into the wind up the hill, Greg went hard. I thought I might get dropped.
He did the same on the third (final) lap. Then finally, when we were getting to the top of the climb going east, Jakob, who was on Greg's wheel, let a gap open up. I went around Jakob and came close to getting on Greg's wheel, but could not. When I looked back, Jakob had popped.
I time trialed as best I could to keep Jakob away. All day, I had been thinking the worst I could do was third. Now it looked like second was the worst (and best) I could do.
When I approached the finish, it was so sweet to hear Lefler say my name (pronouncing it correctly and everything) and that I was coming in for second place. It was also awesome that he did not joke around when he said it. I would have been cool with it if he'd been like "What's this? Did Hinsley skip a lap or something?" Since last time I was in a race he was announcing was a cross race. I tripped over a barrier and fell face down into the mud. Lefler said, "Hinsley. Anything to get attention." He pronounced my name correctly that day too.
The next awesome thing was seeing that big old goofy grin of Munson's when I finished. I realized having a friend watch it happen was neat.
When Jakob came in and we were chatting about the day, he said, "I thought you'd drift back to me once you got dropped."
I might have if I hadn't lost to him on that unofficial hill climb race last fall. I guess that was another thing I learned.
When I was about 10 feet from Jakob's wheel, I wasn't sure I would be able to grab it. I was beginning to get winded. Then Greg accelerated a little more.
Thankfully I got on as Greg let Jakob pull for a moment. When I went by Jakob to do my turn, I said something queer like, "Let's do this!" because at that time, I believed we'd be reeled in if we didn't all work together.
He nodded and we began to work beautifully together. Until 18 seconds later when Greg got to the front again and just hammered. Jakob and I basically just hung on from that point on. Greg didn't want to work together. We were ok with that. In the cross wind, he'd ride so we'd get the minimum benefit of the draft.
After about 3 or 4 minutes, I dared to look back at the main pack. I thought they'd be rolling right up to us.
They were not in sight. We had turned to the South and were on the dam with a tailwind.
Actually, I never saw the main group again during the race. I was positively giddy about that. Paul Sherwen kept saying "Out of sight, out of mind." I kept saying to Jakob, "This is so cool. They are not going to catch us."
On the second lap and going north into the wind up the hill, Greg went hard. I thought I might get dropped.
He did the same on the third (final) lap. Then finally, when we were getting to the top of the climb going east, Jakob, who was on Greg's wheel, let a gap open up. I went around Jakob and came close to getting on Greg's wheel, but could not. When I looked back, Jakob had popped.
I time trialed as best I could to keep Jakob away. All day, I had been thinking the worst I could do was third. Now it looked like second was the worst (and best) I could do.
When I approached the finish, it was so sweet to hear Lefler say my name (pronouncing it correctly and everything) and that I was coming in for second place. It was also awesome that he did not joke around when he said it. I would have been cool with it if he'd been like "What's this? Did Hinsley skip a lap or something?" Since last time I was in a race he was announcing was a cross race. I tripped over a barrier and fell face down into the mud. Lefler said, "Hinsley. Anything to get attention." He pronounced my name correctly that day too.
The next awesome thing was seeing that big old goofy grin of Munson's when I finished. I realized having a friend watch it happen was neat.
When Jakob came in and we were chatting about the day, he said, "I thought you'd drift back to me once you got dropped."
I might have if I hadn't lost to him on that unofficial hill climb race last fall. I guess that was another thing I learned.
5 comments:
Aww, I'm flattered that you considered me to be someone to watch out for. :)
I'm crap at tactics as well, but I do know it's bad form to chase down a teammate which is why, though I really wanted to, I didn't go for the chase. It also helped to know that Jakob is riding strong so I had no doubt that he could do at least as well as I could in that break.
As far as me being crap at tactics, it was proven when I let the sprint for fourth actually come down to a sprint for me. I'm not a great sprinter. I expected one of the Kaos guys to attack on the last bit of the last lap and I figured I would counter, but it never happened. I should have attacked and seen if I had it in me to drop the others. Oh well!
See you at Twin Bing?
Nice write-up! I seriously thought about going to that break as well, but also thought that a nice group ride with flowers and bunnies sounded pretty sweet as well. :)
Actually my game plan before the ride was to work for the team and hush any ambition for a win for myself (Both Travis and Jakob are stronger then me anyhow). Probably why I went too hard on the first climb, but race and learn right?
One again nice write-up, and nice 2nd place!
When you came across the line in 2nd, I thought, "Well that makes sense." What baffled me was how much time you guys put on the pack. Very impressive. Not to take away anything from the pack as it sounds like there were enough teammates in the pack that they did exactly what needed to be done. Enjoy a lovely, albeit cold, ride around the lake.
First of all, thanks for reading. I would love to do Twin Bing. It may happen - and I'll be sad if I miss it, but there's a lot going on at the house these days and I must [try to] keep my priorities straight. I agree you guys (and the Kaos guys) were kind of stuck. If you were to jump, you'd have to make sure you didn't take anybody with you. I just knew I couldn't let Jakob go. He would have gotten too lonely without me there. The flowers and bunnies were a misquoting tribute to Munson from 2008! I just looked it up Good luck to all of you doing the TT this weekend. I'll be doing some overtime hours at work that morning wishing I could be meditating about bunnies and lollipops to quell the searing pain of my legs/lungs. -- Munson
Oh and for the relative newcomers: Here's where it all started (or ended) in my mind.
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