I'm pressed for time, but these were already mostly written via emails to others, so you get a crude paste up entry. Saturday was a trip out to Jiminy Peak. The past few years, this race has been a struggle for me, but I keep going back, thinking the moderate hill at the finish suits me well. You see, way back on June 9, 1991, JP was the site of the USCF district 16 (MA/RI) championships, and my first USCF win (30+). Well, the bad news is that was a LONG time ago.
This year in the 45+ race we had a full field of 100 pre-registered (only 84 showed up), plus 25 guys from the 55+ field started with us, but competed for separate prizes. The race filled up several weeks before the start. There were a lot of the best riders in there, but a lot of new faces as well. All I can say about that is, after riding with them, I think it's time for promoters to think about making Masters races Cat 1-3, and giving the Cat 4 masters a separate race. We may be old, but there are a lot of experienced, hard core racers who did not get in because the field was full. The riding was very clumsy and sketchy, and a third of the field was gone the first time up the climb. The second time up, a bunch more were off and we were down to less than 50 riders, and that included the many 55+ strongmen who hung in.
Our race wasn't slow (88k in 2:16), but at seven minutes slower than the 35+ race, it wasn't all that fast either. Many of those who entered were simply outclassed. A five man break went up the road early, and there was some spirited chasing, but nothing that should have blown people out. On the last lap the break was brought very close, with a couple of guys coming off, but with three soldiering on in a struggle to stay clear. The last time up the hill I just didn't have it at the base and lost ground to the lead group who broke clear. The break ended up getting swallowed right at the top. I fought to the end but was not quite in contact with the sprint by the line. I counted about 20 ahead of me, and ended up 22nd on the official results. My legs just didn't produce at crunch time. I haven't worked on my endurance and is showed. Having the shits twice during the week didn't help, but I ate normally Saturday morning, so I think it was a training issue. The Cronoman rode a good race and crossed in 16th.
Sunday was much the same story. Saturday afternoon we headed out to the Finger Lakes region of New York for the Hollenbeck Spring Classic. We had wonderful hosts put us up for the evening. Thanks to Abby and her parents Chris and Helen. That was awesome.
The race was hard. It was a 3/4, 45 riders starting, including a lot of masters(master race was only one lap, so many opted for the two lap 3/4).
I went at the gun just to warm up. Got about thirty seconds, then six guys
bridged. Five of them were working. We only had 15-20 seconds on the
pack at that point, but it got us to the first big climb. It is 400 feet
in about a mile, so 7-8%, pretty tough climb. (check this out. Coolest mapper yet) They dropped me but the
pack didn't catch me until the steepest pitch at the end so I crested in
good shape. Then it was single file in the 12 with crosswinds. I'll tell
you, this race is like a classic. Wide open fields, tough grades and
fall flats, bumpy roads with cow shit on them, and major crosswinds.
The field was split and of course the echelons were not that well
formed, but we did catch the break, but only a few made it across from
the back group, even though they were close. It was that windy. So now
we had about 30 in the front. Three guys got away approaching "the wall"
a short steep hill, maybe a quarter mile at 11% or so. Then one guy
bridged and there were four at 30 seconds. That concluded lap one. There
was only one team of three that did not get a guy in the break, but they
chased hard. I tried to help, but I backed off before we got to the hill.
There was some very skilled blocking going on, very impressive the way
these guys race.
On the big hill the second time I just put my head down and suffered. I
made it over, barely. Nobody was pushing it too hard. Then it was back
in the chase over the crosswinds. We were down to 17 guys in my group
with four up the road. We got closer to them on the wall and coming into
town they were at about 10 seconds.
The finish road ends on a 600 meter climb of almost 15% We were catching
the break, and I moved up as far as I could but when we hit the steep
part at the end I had to downshift and just put my head down until I saw
100m painted on the road and then I went all out but one guy got me at
the end. I was credited with 15th. It was a hard race, lots of fun.
That concludes 20 days of consistent training, with two training crits at Wompatuck, a duathlon, and five road races. This will be a recovery week, probably no racing this weekend. I'm skipping Wompatuck tonight too. I'll try to rest up as well as get caught up at my job, then finish the month with another good few weeks of racing and training. Hope you all had a great weekend too. Thanks for reading.
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