Balderdash for May 24, 2010

By Daniel McMahon

A LONGISH and rather sleepy recap of the recent goings-on in my so-called comeback cycling season:

Been a couple of weeks since I wasted otherwise good bandwidth with a personal update post, but it’s been chaotic as I switched teams, searched for and found a new apartment in Brooklyn, and dug myself out from a mountain of work at my real job.

And there was the Giro, ongoing, and the California tour. These have been excellent distractions from the routine of park races, fun as they are, and in a way they offered some respite as I charge the batteries and I say goodbye to spring and get ready for summer races, and the good weather that I hope June will bring.

First off, though: this past weekend, the 12th week of racing in NYC, as far as I’m concerned. That is, since Branchbrook.  Anyway, last Thursday I tried my legs at the Rockleigh crit in Jersey. I’d never done Rockleigh but had heard it was a good course and not too far away to ride to from the city. What’s more, the weather last Thursday was heavenly. The ride out was relaxing as I spun along in the warm, sunny afternoon.

This was my brief report of the Cat. 4 Rockliegh crit. Sorry, it’s not exactly exciting:

It was a surprisingly fun and challenging training race. Probably close the max 50 guys on start line, I think. I wanted to string it out first lap to get the better riders at the front to make it safer and harder, so I led it out for a nearly a lap and it was single file. Like most crits, there were several flyers pretty much every lap, and I got into a few breaks but they were short-lived. With two to go another guy and I started a move that looked great, but we had two guys join us who were not smooth enough in the pace making and there were lapped riders in one turn who cost us valuable time as we had to slow and lost our rhythm. I stayed top five going into bell lap and though the pace picked up it was comfy and good enough to deter any swarming of the pack. Last turn I was second wheel and gunned it for the line, maybe 300 meters away. It was my typical move to go hard and get a gap, which I got, but two riders pipped me at the line. I’m not a pure sprinter so this is the kind of tactic I try from time to time. I just didn’t want to be involved in any sketchiness, so I don’t regret going early to avoid the swarming. There were two crashes tonight but all were OK in the end. Great speed and skills training for the weekend and for Somerville crits next weekend, which I’m excited about.

Saturday I did my first race with my new team, CRCA/Foundation, in Central Park. It was the CRCA club race for so-called power points. We raced six laps and, except for the first lap, sprinted twice for points each lap, both on Harlem Hill and Cat’s Paw. We had a good team for our B race, with some strong performances, but I was not among those performing well. I just didn’t have good legs. If I had to speculate why I sucked Saturday I’d say it was because I did the Thursday night crit at Rockleigh. I’m not used to racing Thursdays—just Tuesdays at Floyd. And I rode to Rockleigh and back, so it was four hours in the saddle or so. Worse, I skipped my recovery ride Friday because I was so tired Friday morning. That was a good combo for heavy legs Saturday. I knew on the first sprint up HH that I was not going well. I felt slow. I managed fourth or fifth up the hill each time, just out of the points for the sprint, but realized I was not on a good day.

The remaining sprints were much the same. I tried to salvage my outing by taking long, hard pulls at the front of the field to catch a break that had gotten away mid-race. I was one of the few guys actually putting in a good effort to catch the break. Anyway, in the finish up Cat’s Paw, I sprinted to third place or so in the bunch, but four or so had been away, so I was out of the points again by one place, but at least I felt better in this sprint, passing a number of sprinting riders up the hill. Overall it was a strange day because I had been having good days out racing pretty much all year, save for one or two races. It’s a little disappointing and surprising when you’re used to going well and placing but then have a bad day. But that’s racing. At the same time, my new teammates rode really strong and got themselves in the top 10 overall on the day. It was my first points race, and I have to say it was hard and fun. I look forward to doing another, and being better rested and prepared for it.

Sunday at Floyd Bennett Field I lined up for the Kings County Kermesse Cat. 4 race. This was my brief report:

There were 27 starters and 20 finishers of the 11 laps/25 miles, which we covered in just under an hour. There was one section, the third stretch, that presented a strong headwind, but the normally tough crosswinds were mostly missing today, and that made for some high speeds and added difficulty in getting away in a break. Most the race, lap after lap, was very much solo attack, a few guys bridge, the field brings them back, repeat. A teammate of mine and I were on the front most of the time, or in a break, or attacking or counterattacking. It just seemed that the field would not let things go and thus the elastic would not be snapped. Though it was a small field, I think there was a pretty high percentage of strong riders. Fast-forward to the last lap, and soon after we crossed the start/finish and got the bell, a guy takes a flyer and gets a good gap, and after turn one I and another guy jump hard to bridge to him. I was preparing myself for a bunch sprint but thought the flyer guy looked strong. We dragged another rider with us and so it’s four of us and we motor down the backstretch and have a gap of maybe 15 to 20 seconds. On the second-to-last stretch we are losing a bit of steam as one guy is cooked and sits in, but we keep things lively with hard pulls. As we are flying toward the last turn and the homestretch, the second guys appears to implode, so that leaves a Velocity rider and myself leading it out. The Velocity guy works a pull and I turn around nervously to see the arrowhead of the field about 20 or so bike lengths behind us, so I pull through hard and move far right to put anyone else in gutter, but that only works so well as the wind is pretty much coming straight at us, thus the Velocity rider is getting a nice draft off me as I continue to drill it. I look back one last time under my arm and see the field is really breathing down our necks at this point, so I am forced to begin my sprint and have to take the Velocity rider, who would not come around, with me. He gets a nice lead-out from me and passes me right before the line, but at least we held off the field. I was bummed not to have won but happy we held off the stampede. It was one of those tricky situations where in a second I had to decide to go for broke or be swarmed by the bunch. I don’t regret choosing the latter. My teammate did a nice job to grab sixth. Even though it was just a Cat. 4 race, it was pretty cool to be racing in what was a pretty dramatic finish, kind of like you see in the Tour or something. Good times. The weather was great, too.

So that was last weekend. Two weekends ago I was planning to do just one race, Bear Mountain, on Sunday. But a nagging ankle injury prevented me from wearing my left shoe tight enough. The ankle is better now. Doc said it was a repetitive sports injury, like carpel tunnel of the ankle. He prescribed Voltaren but said it’s probably going to come and go and I’ll have to deal with it as it comes.

The Tuesday before that, at FBF, in round two of the Tuesday racing series, I lost my Sprinter’s green jersey as a BH rider broke away and got enough points to tie with me and take the jersey home. I tried in vain to chase him down before the second sprint. To add insult to injury, I positioned myself well for the field sprint, about fifth wheel, then flatted with about 200 meters to the line. A crappy end to a crappy race.

At the Tour de Parc, I got into a break with about five others after a lap or two and we stayed away, then lapped the field near the end of the race. I jumped from my group on the hill and got a gap, but faded before the line and got passed by three riders. Good enough for fourth but bummer to lose steam so close to the line. This move must work for me one of these days! I’m determined to make it happen.

Catting Up
Well, after 23 races so far this year and with enough points to upgrade to Cat. 3, I’m looking at three crits this weekend at the Tour of Somerville as what I think will be my last Cat. 4 races. One of the goals I wrote down back in December was to upgrade to Cat. 3 by the end of this road season, so to be able to do this mid-May is just fine with me. It’s been a lot of hard training rides and interval workouts and sprint training, not to mention weight loss and redoing my position and fit on the bike and upgrading the bike and wheels and all that.

Perhaps the biggest difference has been getting a cycling coach, my first. An ex pro and coach to some amazing riders, he’s taught me tons. He’s learned my strengths and weaknesses and written me a program that’s made me a more competitive rider. As I upgrade, I look forward to getting my ass kicked at races like Floyd and trying to get faster. As a friend said to me recently, racing Pro123 races at Floyd is like participating in a different sport. But the reality is that even though it’s fun placing in Cat. 4 races, I’m not really getting any faster or stronger racing the same guys all the time. At some point you have to ask yourself, do I continue racing the same guys all the time and getting places, or do I upgrade and challenge myself to be competitive at a higher level? I’ve seen guys win a lot of Cat. 4 races, and they seem to have put off upgrading, and I’ve also seen guys upgrade the day they get their last needed point. In the end, it’s personal really. But I think I’m at the point where it’s time to move on up. I have not won a race this year, but with a bunch of top 10s I feel it’s a sign to move on. Besides, I look forward to racing against some of the elite racers in the area, even though they are going to make me hurt.

Catting up means giving up my KOM jersey in the Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup Series in Prospect Park and the Sprinter’s jersey in the 3/4s at Floyd, but it’s not worth holding back in the 4s for a couple of jerseys, is it?

Another big reason for the upgrade now, versus waiting till the end of the season, is cyclocross. Yes, racing 10-speeds in the dirt and cold rain. That sport. I’m hoping I can squeeze in another 20 or so road races between the beginning of June and August 22, when I plan to race the National Criterium Championships in my hometown of Chicago in the Cat. 3 event. It’s an annual tradition for me to race nats as they’re held in the Chi suburbs where I grew up. That should be my last road race of the season. Then it’s a little rest period, before CX training starts up in earnest.

This CX season I plan to go for the overall in the B masters in the MAC series, and though that may be a lofty goal, I want to aim high. I hope that with 45 or so road races in my legs, half of those racing as a 3, that I can up my level in CX too. Last year I was totally new to CX racing and woefully unprepared for the 45-minute efforts. I managed to improve but it seemed to take forever. With a better training program this year, a good coach, a power meter, a new CX bike, and lots of hard work, I’m thinking the necessary improvement to be competitive in the MAC will follow. I got hooked on CX instantly last year, and like a lot of friends I look forward to a good, long season on the cyclocross bike this time around.

Till then, criteriums are on my horizon. I think of races like Somerville, Harlem, nats, and all the little training ones along the way. For good measure, there are all the park races still to come, not to mention the great out-of-town races all around the region. We’re pretty spoiled with so much racing. Of course you always have Floyd.