CBR Ride it Like You Stole It (4/10/2011)

All season I'd waited for a shot at improving my standing in CBR. Some Sunday when Swami's wouldn't control the outcome. As it happened, there was a conflict on this day and Dale Luedtke had no teammates on hand. This was my chance. Things didn't take long to develop. About ten minutes in a four man break had formed and had a six second lead. An SBW rider was dangling between. The points prime in these things usually comes up prior to halfway. I couldn't let that go, so I jumped. The catch took a whole lap and the SBW rider locked on my wheel as I came up. I pulled up and left the last bit to him as we closed in.

So now there's a six man break. Rich Keegan, a very strong 60+, had been driving the pace before I got there. My goal was to grab the points prime and keep the break going. This was pure gold, no-one else in the break was near the top of the points standings so if we finish out front I leap-frog up in the overall rankings. Besides Rich there were Alex Rodriguez, Rino Barbagiovanni, Brian Carrico and Tom Buescher. Six different teams, who was going to chase?

My concern right then was Fred Hoblit. I knew he wouldn't drag the pack up to us with a teammate in the break, but he's not going to give me the prime points without a fight. The prime would come soon (it's not fixed at a particular lap, but is always in the first half of the race) so I totally stepped on it. Nobody contested with me for the points and after some early scrambling we settled down to working together. Afterward I found out that Fred had jumped out of the pack and came within five seconds of us at one point. He must have temporarily opened a ten second or larger gap on the pack all by himself. Impressive!

Rino and Alex were under pressure, but hung in. Brian was okay and I thought Tom was mostly along for the ride. Everyone took his turn (mostly) at the front, but I'd say with some confidence that Rich and I drove the pace. Rich would take the bulk of the long uphill on the start/finish leg while I pulled us over the hump at the back into turn three. I could tell Brian, Rich and Alex were throwing everything they had into it. Tom was unreadable. I got the feeling he wouldn't be a problem at the finish.

I guess that I didn't actually believe we'd hold out. Then I saw the back of the pack as we rolled into the a long straight. I was kind of shocked. With five to go it almost looked like we could have lapped the pack. I guess I'm too unused to success. At this point I had five points in the bag, I knew that, aside from Rich, the other guys in the break were showing signs of wear. So I made the only mistake of the day. In my mind I counted this as a "win" since I'd get the most points on the day even if I finished somewhere in the middle. Maybe I thought the others owed me for some reason.

I pulled in behind Rich and he led the group into the final straight. When I saw Brian wasn't responding I went around Rich (who was guaranteed a 60+ win as they are scored separately) and headed for home. As it turned out, Tom had saved something for the finish. I think that the others in the break were a bit ticked off afterward at the concept of "saving" anything in these circumstances. Tom went around me with maybe 100 feet to go. Caught me by surprise as I was looking for Brian who had seemed stronger. I finished second.

I was pissed at first. I really think he wouldn't have even been there had I not come by and swung in where he could get to my wheel. But that's bike racing. He doesn't owe me a thing. Let me tell you the other thing about bike racing. There's no way I'm helping him up to a break ever again. The others I'd go out of my way for because I know I can count on them not to sandbag. This isn't malice, it's just common sense. Something I need to work on.

On the plus side I won a little cash and jumped from sixth to fourth in the standings. Not only that I had a fair gap on fifth and was closing in on Rick Shorts and Fred Hoblit. That's some fast company. Dale Luedtke is so far ahead it's not funny. At least I've got the chance to fight for second.

CBR Dominguez West 55+ (3/13/11)

So CBR has a new course, prevents boredom. Daylight savings meant that the Fives started at the crack of dawn. Foggy too. The new course is across Wilmington from the old one. Four corners, 0.9 miles with a little climb between turns three and four. The finish is a little downhill, but the climb sorts things out pretty well so not everyone is zooming around the final turn at the same time.

It was still somewhat foggy at the start of the 55/60+, with a field of about 50 total. It was sufficiently foggy that a guy was away on a solo break and I didn't know it. Not important except that I ended up sprinting for a prime which was already spoken for. This course is a little more tiring than the other, probably because of the little uphill. Turn three is a little nasty because it comes after a gradual downhill and the course narrows a little to accommodate traffic.

Long story short, I managed seventh in spite of some timidity on the final uphill. Advice here is that an uphill run prior to a field sprint calls for an attack. Don't wait - go.

Neuvation FC100 SRAM Force Review

The short answer is: yes, it's worth the money and more. With bike gear it's always been "cheap, light, quality, pick two" and this frame is a bit porky for carbon. At over a kilogram and without the gigantic head tube and BB shell it looks somewhat dated. Maybe it is, but when you can get the package below $2000 with SRAM force and fairly light wheels it's definitely the bike for me. I found I had cash left over for a Giro ProLight, Shimano S240 shoes, a 225 gram saddle and a carbon bottle cage. Whatever I gave up in frame weight, I got back elsewhere. At a little over 16lbs for the 51cm (when I put on the Neuvation C50s I already owned) this bike is about the same weight and exactly the same color as my cat! 

The only caveat is that I should have gone with the heavier version of the wheels (ie "M" rather than "R"). At peak fitness I weigh in at about 162 lbs, but found I'd beat the wheels up in the off-season when I floated up above 170. On the front I broke two spokes and pulled one out and the rear has required occasional truing. I will say that when I broke a spoke up front I'd just loosen the brakes and keep riding. The rims are incredibly strong and the hubs about the slickest non-ceramics I've seen. A local wheelbuilder owed me a favor and re-strung the front with somewhat thicker spokes and no problems since. Looking at online reviews, these issues are by no means universal. Some variability is inevitable at this price point. Also, I'm somewhat brutal on wheels, I don't know anyone else who has needed to have Ksyrium Elites trued up.

From the above you can conclude I've been on this bike a while and raced all of last season. Also rode a century as well as several other long rides. I've raced mostly criteriums, but a few road races as well. The frame is astounding in that it works flawlessly in all of these. The 73 degree parallel geometry might seem a bit slack, but there's none of that. Twisty mountain roads, elbow-to-elbow crits or all-day comfort - you've got it here. I race 40-45 events a year and frankly don't want to worry about a frame with a replacement cost north of two grand. Last I looked, John sells replacement frames at about eight bills (can't find this link on the site anymore, you'd have to contact him).

Regarding SRAM Force, it's hard to say anything new about the group-set which hasn't already been articulated by people with more experience than I. The only comment is I'd say SRAM is better to use and worse to maintain. I frankly didn't like the chain (1070) which wore out quickly I thought. The Double Tap system is just plain better, but many people prefer the Shimano ergonomics, up to you I guess.  Replacing the derailleur cable is much more fiddly than on Shimano (haven't used Campy in 20+ years, so no comment there). After a year and a half things seem plenty tight and work fine.

Unfortunately I see there's been a price increase since I got my FC100 and C50s, but it's still hundreds less than competitors. You could say the frame is "generic", but when you go with Neuvation you get their expertise along with the bike. All my questions were answered promptly via email and the bike came out perfectly according to the measurements I sent. Good luck with discount competitors where you don't even get to choose stem or crank length! Another plus is the fact that he'll put in an Enduro ceramic BB for a slight upcharge so you can avoid another ding in the pocketbook there.

Last note: I was chugging up Bear Divide from Santa Clarita and passed a couple of kids taking their BMX bikes up to play on the trails. One of them looked over and summed up the aesthetics succinctly: "Sick bike!" I'll post a pic later, I've been putting this review off too long already, so I'm going to publish it now. See you on the road. -pat

Velo Allegro/CBR Criterium (3/6/11)

It used to be that CBR held roughly half of their Sunday crits on this course, the dead-flat Hughes Park one.  It is natural to think of it as "easy" since there's zero elevation gain, but the speeds are pretty insane. The 55/60+ event was well attended, I'd estimate about the same sixty or so as the first race. Not much to say, I attempted one attack, somewhat later this time. It falls into a pattern. A three-man formed with riders from Swami's, Santa Clarita and Velo Allegro. Since all these teams had solid representation in the pack I couldn't let it go and jumped the gap quick enough that I brought nobody with me. When I got there the news was bad, the Swami's guy was a strong TT rider, but I think he was mainly just pushing the pace for his team so no other break could form. The VA rider is a ruthless sprinter who is notorious for ducking pulls in a break (you know who you are!) and the Santa Clarita rider wasn't Fred Hoblit so his teammates would most likely be defending third or fourth, which may not cut it.

Sure enough, after two laps Fred jumped the gap without bringing anyone up. Unfortunately, he's got kind of a target on his back and the pack wasn't going to let that stand. We got reeled in. It's too bad, I had high hopes for forming breakaways in some sort of coalition with other teams, but Swami's isn't gonna play and they seem to have come prepped to kill breaks if need be. The pace stayed very crisp with a few let-ups. I don't know, does 25.7MPH seem fast. given riders over 55 and four corners every .8 miles? It wasn't a killer, but it's faster than I expected when I moved up. Anyway, I found a path to the front after turn three on the last lap. I was close to the front going into turn four but had to maneuver around some guy I didn't recognize who was doing well up to that point and somehow decided it wasn't worth it. I finished seventh, which is good enough to hold seventh overall (I think, standings not yet posted) and maybe move up to sixth.

I then rode the 50+ and then 40+ 1-3. All that needs to be said is that the average speeds were 27.1 and 27.5 respectively. Couldn't even break the top 20 (out of maybe 65) in the 50s and was only just holding on for the workout in the 40s. I generally get better as the season goes on so I'm still hopeful for top five overall in the 55+ division, but that's not guaranteed by any means. At least I have a goal.

CBR Now Energy Bar Criterium 2011 (2/20/11)

After several days of rain it dawned clear and cold here in southern California.  This was yet another crit at the Dominguez Hills site run counter-clockwise, which I like. Going this way consolidates the uphill run almost totally into the straight from the third to the final turn. This rewards fitness, no sucking wheel to the bitter end and breakaway opportunities abound. It had rained the night before making the surface wet and clean. Warmers, knickers and fingered gloves comprised the uniform for a 7:45 AM start in the forties. The 55+ pack was small, but the contenders were mostly present.

In the rain I think it's a particularly good idea to stay at or near the front. A few riders jumped immediately, but  were swept up on the backstraight. Everyone slowed down and I led through turn three and hammered hard up the little rise to the last turn. Just then a black cat ran across my path. I must digress. In 2005 I crashed badly in a Tuesday night CBR race. When I finally came back to racing I joined CBR's "Insider's Club"  which entitled me to a permanent number. I chose 13. I wear it right-side-up and have raced around 130 times on the road without crashing. Anyway, I took this as a good omen and took off in hopes of getting a group together and taking off. I stayed off alone for three more laps. When caught, dropped into third, caught my breath and hit it again. This had the desired affect and I went off with three guys.

CBR has a 10-race points series and there's a points prime in each race. When the bell rang for that Fred Hoblit jumped the gap, but didn't have enough left and I got it. Going over the line the prime bell rang again and here's where I went wrong. I sprinted for that one too. I was momentarily confused (read: tired) and thought maybe the second one was the points prime. A note to promoters: when announcing a prime to a 55+ pack do so loudly. Some of us used to go to 70s rock concerts and are a might deaf. I should have let the box of NOW bars go and focussed on the breakaway, we had a chance. After two sprints in a row a couple of the guys began to fade a little.

I recovered pretty well after getting caught. There were attacks after that which I joined in. At one point a group of us sprinted for what we thought was a prime, but turned out not to be. It was odd. I think that we heard the bell for the Women's pack which was on the course at the same time. My wife said that one lap later the pack just rolled over the line and they picked some guy who probably doesn't know he won it. Stuff happens. At that point there were four laps to go and I tried to recover best I could. I faded to ninth in the print which was disappointing, but the points prime helped and energy bars you win taste better than the ones you buy. Currently I believe I'm standing seventh overall in points, the official results aren't on the website but I think that's right. All in all, not as good as I'd hoped starting out but I was somewhat under the weather for the first race back in January.

Swami's Blue Mafia holds the top two spots. Not surprising with the sprinting duo of Luedtke and Birditt. They usually have two or three teammates to chase breaks so moving up will be hard. Next time is the table-flat Long Beach course, which bodes well for the pure sprinters. Craig was not one hundred percent fitness and Greg had the flu, so maybe next time I'll have more help. Maybe Velo Allegro will take a bite out of Swami's since the next race is being run by their club, although CBR sanctioned. CBR is moving the Dominguez Hills course to the other side of Wilmington. The obvious rectangle will not be all that different, but may be slightly safer. All the uphill should happen in 200m before the finish line, which is good for me. Looks to be about 3 percent grade so if the big boys can still beat me, so be it.

Roger Millikan Memorial Criterium, 2011

Okay, I'm biased since this is my club's race, but it's always a good one. I don't know about other parts of the country, but in here in SoCal attendance is way up for the second consecutive year. The 4s and 5s both filled up in pre-registration. That's one hundred in each (two Cat5 races of 50). The P12 race had 83 pre-entries, and more were signing up all morning. The 35s and 45s were over a hundred each. Since 50+ included Cat5 racers it was limited to 75 and that filled in pre-reg. I think we may have made some money, credit to Greg Mathes and Ed Keck who steered the event.

My lackluster performance continues with a tenth place finish in 55+ and no primes. Just didn't feel as good as at Mothballs and my efforts came up short. This weeks' screw up was going on a 50 mile easy spin the day before. Not my routine before a race, but I've been trying to get my weight down and thought I could burn some calories and "rest" at the same time. Nothing is free. My warm-up was a little sub-par as well. There's this idea that I can warm up during the first few laps and then catch my breath and that way have relatively more energy at the finish. The fact is that this year's 55+ had the same average speed as the 2008 event's 50+ category. There are a few teams that keep the pace crisp in order to make the opposition really earn their success.

I will now digress into old-fogey musing about the fact that we used to have something called "off-season". I have some nostalgia for that. Casual rides, no set schedule, gain some weight. I'm going to blame Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael for killing that in the late 90s. Armstrong rolled over Jan Ullrich, who was favored by many experts to dominate the TdF, precisely because of good time management. Ullrich would gain 10 kilos and hit the clubs while Lance was measuring the mass of carbs in every meal, weight training and prepping perfectly for the following year. In the old days we were indoctrinated that if you got fit too early (back then, that meant "March") you'd be burned out by the time the important races were on. Oh well.

My thanks to Greg Mathes, my teammate who not only put in a lot of work running the race, but chased and helped catch a break with two to go. God only knows how far down the finish I'd have been with the first five places spoken for at the sprint. Just a word to those older guys who are new to racing: Just because Cat5s are allowed to race with all masters over 50, doesn't make it a good idea. You may even have the fitness to hang in, but the near-crash on the corner at the bottom on the final lap illustrates why we have Cat5-only races. The guys who led the pack into that corner have hundreds of races under their belts, some over a thousand. Maybe a technical course like RM ain't the place for newbies to mix it up with them. Try some flat-and-four-corner action first.

Mothballs Criterium, 2011

This is a traditional early season criterium in Goleta. It is a one kilometer "D" shaped course and normally the only dicey part is the last corner. There's a manhole cover in the middle of the final turn, which leads onto a bend. Things straighten out about 200m from the finish. I wish I could give some solid advice about the course, but it was a liquid day. Our event (55/60+) began in a driving rain. Guys I saw warming up in the parking lot 15 minutes earlier with numbers pinned were already in their cars on the way home. I kept at or near the front for three laps just to avoid drowning. I was doing fine hanging onto Dale Luedtke and Witold Czulak in prep for the finish. The rain had let up and now the only problem was the sun reflecting off the pavement going in to the final corner.

On the backstretch on the last lap a guy in a Time jersey took a flier. The correct response would have been swinging out and snagging his wheel, but I didn't react soon enough. As we approached the last turn Luedtke took off like a shot and frankly I didn't feel I would be safe entering the last corner that fast. He was right, I was wrong and dropped a couple of places while six guys shot off the front. I recovered well enough and with Harold Schneider on my wheel closed on the front group and passed one. Harold won the 60+, I got sixth in 55+.

It's interesting, the 60s have pegged me as their sled-dog. At the first CBR crit one surfed in on my wheel and passed me for third. This is actually very useful, it doesn't hamper me from doing better with positioning, but gives my opposition one more body to beat before they get to me. Now if Craig would get healthy, maybe we can accomplish something this year.

Poor College Kid's RR

This is a thiry-four mile out-and-back course near Los Olivos. It's a nice bike ride, but kind of a so-so road racing course. There are two real problems with it. One is the start/finish area generally. The course is totally open to traffic, parking area is dirt and so is the staging area for the racers. The other issue is the fact that the road is just too narrow, period. You start with about six miles mostly uphill, culminating in a minor climb. Even in the 55+ pack there were enough riders that moving up was nearly impossible during this phase. This is followed by a fast descent with a bumpy right-hand bend.

I'd be happier if not for that fact that I flatted at about mile eight. I was under no pressure and felt much better than last week until I sensed a certain softness in my rear tire. I had wheels in the follow vehicle so I raised my hand and pulled over. I have to say the guys did as well as could be expected. Here's a tip: don't be the first guy to put your wheels in the follow car. It took about a minute to fish them out. At this point I made the decision to chase. Since this was not the TdF, the follow car didn't let me draft and no teammates (since I had none in the event) slammed on their brakes to come back and help. I was chasing because this race was part of my training. I could have removed my number and cruised back, saving energy for the Mothballs Criterium the next day. I felt that I needed the work and I also wanted to gauge how well I could do in a crit the day after a road race.

Of course I couldn't catch back on and after about ten minutes I relaxed and waited for a group of six chasers which formed behind. Two of them helped and we made good time, but at the turnaround it was clear we weren't going to catch. The fast downhill is a nasty, if short, climb on the return. Only one guy stayed with me going up that and he fell off the pace on the way in. I went over the finish steering around a semi which was essentially parked there. Still I was eighteenth, which made me think others had mechanicals as well.

I have to say I wonder if I'll do this one next year. On the plus side the UCSB club which puts this on does a terrific job organizing and running the event. But the fact that there is only one lane available, including at the finish, makes this really dicey for any sizable pack. In particular the 3s had a nasty crash at their finish. I saw a video taken from a bike around tenth place and really didn't see anywhere he could have improved his position from about three miles out! Since my flat was really a slow leak I don't think I'd park in the main area, but rather find a place off the road coming into the general area.

Anger Management Criterium (1/23/2011)

I was more nervous about this event than I should have been. I had high expectations since October when I embarked on a twelve week interval training program scheduled to end January 16. One week of tapering and I'd come roaring out with guns blazing. Dumb. People in their fifties never feel up to snuff 12 weeks in a row. I found myself in the first full week of January feeling crummy and already one week behind, whereas in December I was just eating this stuff up. Hard to say what was wrong. My hay fever is bad enough that it masks other respiratory symptoms. Possibly I was over-trained and I was also trying to shed a few pounds prior to starting the season. Maybe I'm just old.

At least the sluggishness of early January had begun to subside by race day. I felt better in warmup than in the previous two weeks and had at lest rested well. Hopeful, anyway. From the gun 55/60+ was not going to be a cakewalk. This year's CBR opener had more than twice as many racers in 55+ as last year. I looked around and thought "these are a lot of the same guys as 50+ last year". Duh! Of course the strong 55+ers from last year were out in force as well. Teams had re-aligned, Santa Clarita made a bigger showing and Swami's looked downright impressive.

As for Velo Avanti, There was Greg Mathes, Ed Keck (60+), and myself. Craig Jones, our mainstay, had an asthma attack and couldn't race. Ed came out to race in spite of a busy winter which gave him little time to train. Greg was returning to the road after a season of dedicated MTB racing. We hadn't worked out any specific strategy, mainly because Greg and I were planning to stay close to Craig who has a refined sense of timing and, as a result,  the ability to stay at or near the front without blowing up.

From the gun it felt like 50+ pace. Swami's had a good strategy. With two top-notch sprinters their other team members kept the pace crisp. For myself, I knew early on I didn't have the gas I usually possess. I could maneuver and move up if I needed to, but trying to make an attack would be a bad idea.

On the last lap coming out of turn 3 I was near enough the front to have some hope. Unfortunately I fell into my old habit of over-thinking. When I heard I guy come up on my outside I assumed he was going for the front and figured I could hitch onto his wheel and move up. Wrong. I hereby swear that, unless that's a teammate, I'm going to contest that move from now on. He swung in front of me and slowed! I had to coast for a second to clear his rear wheel and get outside, but by that time there was a surge on the inside and I was nearly 20 back into turn 4. The only good thing on the day was that I was able to pass enough people to finish 14th overall and 11th among the 55+.

On balance, not a complete disaster. This was a couple of days ago and I had a good workout today for the first time in two weeks and am clearly recovering. Eleventh place gives me enough points to have a shot in the overall standings. There are at least eight more CBR crits so it was a good thing I wasn't skunked. Greg finished in the top twenty, Ed abandoned but he'll get in the rhythm soon enough.

At my age I shouldn't have to learn this lesson, but it's all about discipline. Being vigilant about over-training, resting when needed, getting down to weight prior to the season, and not trying to be too coy on the final lap are all rookie mistakes which can be solved by being disciplined about this process. So PCKRR and Mothballs this weekend! At least I'll get some exercise.

Back for More

Sorry for disappearing, I really should do this at least monthly, weekly is better. I've seen some daily bloggers out there, have to admit I'll never have that kind of energy. So this is mainly to let any readers know I've taken a lickin' and keep on tickin'. This was a good year, I had a decent run of form in late May into June except, of course, on the Championship dates when things just didn't gel. I got my Cat 3 upgrade in CBR, but haven't yet done the USAC (they claim to have reciprocity with CBR). The USAC category doesn't matter though, since essentially all Master's races are 1-4 and I have no desire any more to race with eighteen year olds.

The highlight for me was at the regular Tuesday night Eldorado Park race where I finally scored a win (pic1, pic2) and also a second place finish (damn you Allan Crawford!). In case you're wondering, the guy on my wheel in the race I won could have beaten me. The only reason he's with the Master's pack in these races is to pick up the pace when the organizers want to keep the packs from mixing. Toward season's end I could comfortably race in 50+ and turn around and either do the CBR 40+ (1-3) or SCNCA 45+ (1-4) with at least middling results. The only race left is Labor Day, when CBR holds Championships. Time to throw down, no more mister nice guy!

Ontario GP Course

There are generally five or six Ontario races each season, spaced out from February to August. This year it appears three of them are on the "Grand Prix" course, two on the "Crit" course and the remaining one is (I think) on the "Airport" course. The Crit course is just the southern segment of the GP, I've never ridden the Airport. The good thing about this course is that it's much less boring than the typical four-corners-flat we get most of the time. The GP course is south of Ontario Airport, east of Archibald in an industrial park. Plenty of warmup room on the other side off Archibald, parking is adequate.

A warmup lap has always been offered, so do this if you've never ridden the course. You go south 200m from the S/F line to an easy, wide lefthander. The wind is normally in your face between turns one and two, and this seems to be where a lot happens. For one thing, there are usually lots of primes (hint: the Sette minipump is piece of junk, but you may want the Schwalbe tires) so post-prime couterattacks get launched. Experienced riders know that they'd better be reasonably close to the front on the last lap before turn three so I'd say this 450m stretch of pavement is associated with lots of pain. It's a quick run between turns two and three, watch out for the lane dots and a persistent pothole near the middle of the road close to turn three.

I see more pedal-clipping in the exit of turn three than anywhere else on the course so beware. For some reason the 250m run from three to four usually sees the pack slow down and people are already looking for sled-dogs to pull them to the finish line. Not good, since turn four is a little tight in the exit. Three across is okay, but if you're on the wide line look out for getting squeezed into the far curb. The inside line is not much better and there are manhole covers. I've never witnessed a crash at this point, but have seen cleanup from earlier incidents.

So here's the scoop on the last lap. Turn four is one kilometer from the finish. From this point you go up a 1% grade to turn six followed by a 1% downhill to the finish. Mid-race, the run from four to five is usually pretty easy. Near the end, things are getting downright urgent. Speaking from my own variable results, I'd say the inside line on turn five is just a bad idea. If you have to brake, or even coast, you lose  more ground than you can possibly make up later. Spend some energy and carry speed through the following crooked straight. The finish order of this race is usually hammered out between six and seven since someone's always willing to turn it on and just go like hell. Turn seven is a powerful filter. The exit is a nasty little chicane with a half right turn onto the straight.

At this point there's 300m of slight downhill - things happen fast. This is a very wide street, but the far left and right lanes are closed to accommodate spectators and the announcer's booth. Crashes happen, keep your head up and remember it's just a bike race. If I had to say, being slightly to the left is probably safer, since that's the announcer's side and spectator behavior is less predictable.

Dominguez Hills Crit Course

This is the other CBR course where they generally run four or five crits per season. This differs from the Hughes Park course in that it has what some crit monkeys call "terrain". That's about thirty feet of altitude gain per 0.9 mile lap. Although it doesn't sound like much, this is going to add up to 600' of climbing in a 45 minute crit which will wither the chunkier riders pretty well (unlike Hughes Park which may actually have zero altitude gain.) The course is run both clockwise and counter-clockwise (CBR generally alternates). The start/finish is on Broadwick (see link)

Clockwise: Turn one is never very problematic, but you may find yourself braking on the inside line. The run between one and two is generally gnarly on the last lap or primes. Trying to move up on the inside is chancy because people nowadays seem to think that all corners should be ridden from outside curb through the apex and exiting wide. Turn two is sharper than 90 degrees, off camber and comes after a downhill. In Men's 4/5 and Women's 4 this is where riders pile up.  Crashes tend to happen on the entrance while riders brake too much going in.  The outside line is technically more difficult as it is off-camber in the apex, but I use it precisely because others avoid it. Turn three is structurally messy and the following straight necks down since that's where the coned-off car traffic is allowed on one lane. There are gutters and a few small fissures in the asphalt/concrete interface which can screw you up. It's slightly downhill going in. A little bumpy. Turn four has lots of space on the exit and the sprint is uphill. The dicey moments tend to happen on the short straights late in a race.

Advice: I like the inside line more when near the front and going fast. Back in the pack you'll find people slowing inordinately when they're on the inside. There are two distinct "humps", between turns 3&4 and to the finish. In spite of how things look, it's the little uphill from 3 to 4 that really seems to make or break the finish. I have actually seen the pack come apart at this point on the last lap. Be there or be square!

Counterclockwise: You go downhill into turn one which is narrowed (see above) on the exit but generally smooth. Turn two is bumpy, but less trouble this way because of the wide exit and (very) slight rise on the straight into it. Turn three and the straight that follows tend to cause the most trouble. The reasons must be purely tactical because anybody who races much should fly through without significant risk. It amounts to this, on a prime or finish lap I'd say you're about 40 seconds from the line when you enter his turn. The straight after the turn kicks uphill pretty quick. I've nicked a number of primes by getting a teammate to put me in front and accelerating at this point. Anyone who's going to try to take the prime from you at this point had better be on your wheel because a committed racer can quickly open a gap on the uphill. At the finish lap this tactic is suicide, because everyone's going to be going about 33MPH coming out of this and opening any gap is near impossible.

Advice: Crunch time comes on the backstraight - period. There will absolutely be an all-out sprint from turn 3 to 4 up the hill in every race, so you need to be placed high and going fast into turn 3 in my opinion.

Digression on the curb-apex-curb cornering technique: This would work great if (and only if) you are the only rider on the course. I've raced about 50 crits in the last year or so. In round numbers, that's about 1000 miles of elbow-to-elbow wheel-to-wheel hammering and I have not crashed in that period. I make that out to be about 5000 successful corners at speed. Any idiot who tries to take the whole road to complete a corner would become fatally unpopular pretty quick. Unfortunately there are bloogers and youtube bike racing professors who teach this. In most races you'll find yourself at least three across in any corner. Follow the guy in front of you, don't change your line or brake suddenly. Relax.

Racing at Hughes Park Long Beach

Lots of racing goes on at this course, some of it sanctioned. SoCalCycling lists this as a training ride Tuesday and Thursday evenings year round. Anyone who rides those regularly will have evolved into an official CritMonster and should be feared. I race there about four times a year at sanctioned events and the scary stuff I see just boggles the mind. I've been touched, bumped, leaned on and just downright pushed but have stayed vertical through about a dozen events. I've watched at least ten crashes, some of them quite impressive. My best finished was eighth in a 40+ 4/5 event. My biggest prize was a prime I got by TTing away after a crumbled breakaway and holding out for a pound of coffee (expensive coffee I'll have you know).

So here's a course map. The start/finish is on Via Oro heading north about halfway between the corners. The announcer's trailer is normally on the right. The one used by CBR is just huge and that affects how the pack maneuvers down the stretch. More on that later. Turn one is normally uneventful, but the streets are crowned so don't get too wide. Almost all crashes on this turn are caused by pedals touching down as racers try to maintain speed. They tend to pile up on the outside.

Last time out there was a big crash in the 30+ 3/4s early in the race on the exit of turn two toward the inside. This suggests that it resulted from people squeezing to the inside in the corner. Turn three isn't a turn at all, the road bends and things go on at full speed. Don't get wide though as the course narrows slightly on exit. Turn four is sharper than ninety degrees and has Bot's dots in abundance. Frequently one or two riders will hit them an go down here, but pileups are rare. In the last 50+ race the average speed was 25.5MPH until two to go. Kind of lazy. The next two laps went off at a hair over 27MPH. Last lap was 31MPH. Moving up with less than three to go is awfully tough.

Here's a general comment: everyone's going to want the inside line everywhere on the course. This minimizes potential for pedal touching as the crowning of the roads makes the inside line look "banked". On a small, but mostly wide course running along the gutter also shortens things. Finally, if you're outside on the last corner on the last lap you'll lose three places in an eyeblink. If you're on the inside you might get chopped. Good luck.

Poor College Kids' Road Race

Held on Jan 31st, 2009 start near Los Olivos CA. This is a 34 mile out-and-back (17 each way) course and the 50+ group did one lap. Here's the scoop: sit in until the climb on the return. The total climbing was 1800', which is neither trivial nor particulary much. It starts with a steady uphill for about four miles. A word to the wise, if you race in a big group (over 75 riders) you'll really want to be near the front at the beginning and the turnaround. The road is sufficiently narrow that team tactics can come into play. The 50+ group kicked up the pace in the last part of the outbound climb and and a few folks tried to ride off the front. We were all back together before the turnaround.

The road is narrow at the turnaround and if you're more than ten riders back you'll find yourself queueing up at 2MPH while a bunch of guys sprint back the other way. This is both ruthless and reasonable. The 50+ category is small enough that organizers don't care if you're a CAT5 rider. In particular, the race entry fee on this occasion included a one-day license (you are welcome for the subsidy, really!) The whole topic is enough for a separate blog, so more later. With about 5 miles to go you hit the real climb, even though it's only five minutes, it shatters the group. The finishing straight is way too narrow for any kind of group, so the way to deal with this is to go like crazy on the climb and hammer it home.

The Good:

• Nice location.
• Organized.
• It's a road race!

The Bad:

• Parking (suggest taking spot soon after turnoff and sign reading "park off road").
• A long way from civilization (2.5 hours from LA area).
• Gnarly full-stop turnaround.

The Ugly:

• Narrow road for a field sprint.

A Sprint, Followed by a Time Trial

XC mountain bike racing sounds like fun. Why not try? There are races practically year-round nearby so it makes a nice off-season training event. There was a series of three races this Fall known as the "SoCal Triple Crown Challenge". I thought I'd be sandbagging as a beginner, since I'd done lots of road racing and felt I was quite fit. Turns out sandbagging is the norm, the guy who won the series had over twenty MTB races under his belt and handed me my ass two out of three times. It made me wonder if there was any order in NORBA, but I suspect that mountain bikers generally are not big on rules - which makes sense. It's an odd undertaking, and the MTB crowd is more focussed on things like fun and adventure over results or racking up mileage. This is a good thing.

Since I've found that I'm not good at working on blog posts over a period of time (usually I just forget I started writing) I'll break down the races in other entries. Here are some general observations:

• The groups I started with ranged in size from seven to over a hundred. The promoters would decide between starting all Beginners (now Cat 3) together or dividing them by age category as well. Can't say I had a preference, but I did best when we all went from the gate together. My crit training came in handy, it could be some competitors were a mite nervous elbow-to-elbow going full blast.
• As a practical matter, these are time trials. You finish in a chute and I worried that things would get a little testy going into the last 400m or so. This never happened to me, even while trying to hold on to second place in the points series with the guy in third 20 meters behind in the last race.
• Skill and prep count big-time. In my first race I fell down fairly hard once and threw a chain getting third. Stayed upright for the entire race second time out and won it. Then got tangled up multiple times on the last and most difficult course, barely holding fourth. It's really hard to go downhill either chasing or being chased.
• Lots of waiting around. After a crit I would cool off for twenty minutes, go to the car and have a snack and then have a look at results. Since the MTB promoters are posting everyone's time for the course, things just take longer. Count on having lunch (or brunch) post race and hanging out with friends for over an hour or two.

Crits: Industrial or Festival?

I've been bad about blogging. I could say I've been busy, but the that was the case when I was doing it weekly. It boils down to this: You aren't interested in what my heartrate was while hammering during some age-group crit. Or in what place I got. Maybe if my racing was going better, I'd blog more. It's actually not that bad. I'm in the mix, racing and not just hanging on and that's what matters for me. For the reader I'll try to offer insights which make racing easier, safer and more fun. After racing about 500 miles of crits, circuits and GPs this season there are things about the courses and promoters you should know.

For me crits break down into "festival" and "industrial". The festival events (think Manhattan Beach GP) close major downtown streets and are generally put on by clubs with municipal cooperation or even enthusiastic support. Parking is always a huge pain. Bike clubs tend to put on one or two events a year so the person on the other side of the registration table is frequently an unpaid volunteer. Be early. REALLY EARLY! These are great if you want people to see you race. Onlookers want to know how fast you go, how much the bike costs and so on. There are nice cafes close by. Clean restrooms. Big value primes. If you want to see people and be seen these are great.

Industrial park crits can be club events, but you usually deal with the same small subset of promoters. I know some of them on a first-name basis. The sign on the table that says "Pre-Registered Racers" really means it. You give them your name and category and in ten seconds you have a number in your hand. Sometimes there's an extra local waiver to sign, depending on the venue. The primes are always pretty much the same with the same sponsors. Parking is free and plentiful (at least during age-group races, I generally leave before the Pros roll). The only people you might impress are close family members and your competition. The promoters know that if you don't like the racing you won't be back. Usually there's some sort of points series spanning a number of races to encourage repeat business. These are all good things as far as I'm concerned.

Some tips:

• Pre-register. It saves money and line-standing. Also it commits you to something so you're less likely to bag it come race day.
• Use this form when you enter USCF races so you don't have to fill it out on race day. It's a fill-in PDF widget, so you can complete it in Adobe Reader, print it out, sign and mail it in as your entry (usually).
• Scope the venue out if possible, riding the course with some teammates is ideal.

Hiatus, Part Deux

I've been busy. One time a biker passed me on a hill saying "Can't talk, breathing", and that's how I feel in general. Since my last entry I've ridden around 2000 miles, a lot of it pretty hard. Enough about me (strange from a blogger), I'll talk training later. A few reviews:

Wippermann 9 Speed Nickel Connex Chain: Wins. I got 1900 miles from one (last time I kept track I wiped out a Shimano in under 1500). This makes it about the same cost per mile, but it wins on convenience, even over the SRAM with master link.

Polar CS600, with power: Without going into too many details (waiting for phone support for 30 minutes, returning to bike shops multiple time and so on), it does function, and the ProTrainer software is a step up from PPP version 4. I haven't investigated the resonance phenomenon, but will eventually. This wins over the 720 since it has the following:

• More readable display
• 1-sec record rate
• More info in display
• Display flexibility
• Fewer data dropouts (none so far actually)

I also suspect that the accuracy is somewhat better. Power spikes occur on occasion still.

Day 23, Performancebike Holding Out

I guess once they've got your money there's no sense of responsibility toward the customer. If they want to be the Walmart of bike shops it's okay by me.

The Eldorado Tuesday night 40+ race had a weird vibe. In the last two I've shown for the Elite (I,II, &III) pack passed us with less than ten minutes to go. Now people are not supposed to improve their positions when the pack is neutralized and passed by other competitors, but somehow my position seems to get worse while I just follow the guy in front of me. In addition, riders who might have been blown out get a rest and figure that somehow they've magically become more fit as they find themselves still in it at the end. Unfortunately, many mis-measure the final sprint and sit up with about 200m to go. While I'm trying to find room, nitwits are flying back toward me at a high relative rate and I have to try to dodge them.

If that wasn't enough, some dude who must weigh in at 220+ found that he could make space for himself by riding up next to people and poking his elbows outward. I saw him do this between two riders and was sure a crash would ensue, but luckily did not. At one point he did this to me, but was lagging a little and I just felt some extra weight on my hip. Look, I can see this kind of thing if there's $1000 bucks witing for the winner at the line, but it ain't.

Unexpected Consequences

The thing about bike racing is that it cuts down on my bicycling time. Huh? After a dense schedule of four races in ten days my knees hurt. Between races I find I need lots of rest. Irony's a real bitch. So I took a week off the hard stuff, actually rode more miles than usual, and now things are better. Nice to get back in the mountains, more in another blog entry since I didn't get to do the intended ride. In any case, it's back to racing this week, two Tuesday night crits followed by the CBR series finale.

Unchain My Heart

If you're like me, you spend way too much time with a heartrate monitor strapped around your chest. It has to impede breathing, even if only a little, and provide the potential for distraction when you might want to be focussed on something else. I did my first Sunday crit yesterday. Let's just say it was a good workout. The nature of the event ($10 to the winner of each 1.3 km lap) were such that I wanted not to have any desire to look at my Polar, but wanted to record something in my computerized workout log. So I set it on Stopwatch and left the heartrate strap at home. The experience was liberating, and I know I was at lactate thresholf for about an hour (two races, no money).