Twin Bing Road Race - CycleRoad Race


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Climbing Hill, Iowa
United States
Sioux City Velo
48F / 9C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 3h 05m
Overall Rank = 62/72
Age Group = Cat 5 40-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

We drove down to Sioux City Friday night and stayed in a motel (we rolled in at about 11 and were inbed by 11:30) Believe it or not I slept pretty well.

I had the alarm set for 6am so I could go get some coffee and get my system rolling. Breakfast was pancakes at McDonalds.

I learned a valuable lesson as the race director for the team - do not delegate getting drections to the race to anybody! We ended up on a gravel road. There there was a sign that said "Gravel Ends" One would hope that meant asphalt - but no. What it did mean was a billy goat path plowed through the dirt!At the top of a hill we turned around - much further and we would have gotten the vehicles stuck.

We eventually got to the race site. I jumped out of the car ran up to registration. When I walked in the were announcing 1 minute left to register. Furthermore there was a 75 rider limit to the field. With the 6 of us there were 72 riders!
Event warmup:

Needless to say there was not much time to warm up! I grabbed my bike and started down the course (towards the first major hill and the up hill finish). My longest ride so far this season was 22 miles. I live on the edge of the prairie. This hill looked like a mountian! About 3/4 of the way up I looked at my watch and decided I need ted get back so as not to miss roll call.

On the way down I shifted up to my big ring and had the chain jump over the top! I stopped, put the chain on and made a mental not that any shift up had to be careful as the derailer was not adjusted properly anymore :)

The A race come blasting up the hill as I rolled back into the start. I heard the name "Steve Gerber" called out and yelled "Yo" I found out later that was his second time through the roll call list.
Bike
  • 3h 05m
  • 45 miles
  • 14.59 mile/hr
What would you do differently?:

Know the course
Post race
Warm down:

I rode back down the hill :) and then walked around a bit and changed clothes.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of road time this early in the season, riding extra miles due to m issing a turn.

Event comments:

They did post an apology for the missing corner marshal. I am still waiting for the results to be posted.




Last updated: 2009-03-14 12:00 AM
Biking
03:05:00 | 45 miles | 14.59 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/72
Performance:
Don't let that pace shock you. The race was 45 miles long. I actually rode 53 miles due to missing a turn. In actuality I had a pace of over 17 mph.
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: The uphill start spread the pack out pretty good. I was sstruggling a bit because i hadn't gotten in a proper warm up but I knew my legs and lungs would come around and I'd get in my groove. My hope was then to reel in some of the stragglers. I was passing some people on the hills and feeling pretty good. It was a sunny day, I was on my bike racing what could be better! Randell and I played a little game of cat and mouse for a while where he would pull away from me on the downhills and I would just barely catch him on the uphills. Did I mention there where hills:)? Eventually we hooked up with another rider (Heighlee - 20) and had a good paceline going. She was pretty new to this so we were working with and encouraging her. We were maintianing about a 20 mph pace at this time and I was starting to feel pretty dang good. We would time the pulls so I had the top 1/3 of the hill and Randell had the down hills. Problem was we missed a turn. There was absolutely nobody there directing the racers. Now as a an official I know the rule states the rider is respondsible for knowing the course and I take respondsility for missing the turn. From the race directors point of view on a first year race I would have though they would have either had a sign or a person there (they did at the next turn a mile further down the course). Fortunately a team care saw us and evetually chased us down ( a good 4 miles down the wrong road). We turned around, picked up a few more people who had missed the turn and got back on course. This little pack of about 6-8 riders was pretty discouraged at this point. There is no way we could make up 8 miles on that course in one lap. There was plenty of pissing and moaning and talk of bailing when they got back to the start finish line. Hell, I spent 5 hours in a car to go race in some of the best weather I haveen this spring - I didn't like this talk at all! Then came the real hills! My legs were feeling pretty good and I just settled into a pace and kept pedalling away. After a couple of hills I passed the last guy in our little "lost" group. A hill later I was free and clear. Looking back the group had totally blown up and spread out over several miles. This is when the next fear hit me. How do I know I haven't missed another turn (as I was out in front). I kept watching my mileage and hoped for a sign. I recieved it. Climbing a hill I saw a dead cat in the on coming lane. I recognized it from the drive in (crazy huh). Over that hill I saw the T intersection that took us into Climbing Hill and the cops directing traffic. Fear be gone. After I made the turn at the T it was straight into a 15 mph wind for 4 miles into town. I was on my own - there would be no reprieve from this so I just put my head down and ground it out. I made the turn into town and had to make the decision to do the 2nd lap or not. I asked some people in the feed zone if the A race had come by yet. They had once. That meant they had lapped me (due to the warm up ride in the middle of the race). I decided to see if I could finish my race in from of the A race:) The climb to the start finish was brutal. I was going to be on my own for the whole lap but I was REALLY enjoying myself. I got tucked in on one longer down hill with a sweeping curve and hit almost 40 mph :) On the back side in the hills I caught a gal from the B race. OK I wasn't going to finish last :) and of course I was ahead of all the DNFs. In the hills I kept looking back for the A race. Evetually I could see them. I wanted them to either go by me before or after the T intersection. My confindence on corners is down a bit after my crash. The breakaway group of 4 riders scared the hell out of me when thhey passed me. I would have thought they would have called out or something but nothing. That was before the T. After T I was strugglin in the head wind and figured the peleton would catch me easy but it seemed like they just weren't gaining ground. Again I wanted them passed me before the turn into town but of course that is right where they caught me. As i went through town there were some of my teammates cheering me on and snapping pics. I knew all I had left was climbing that finish line hill for the third and final time. The hill was kind of two hills with a false flat in the middle. The second section was steeper. By the time I hit the top the quads were crying but I was out of the saddle giving it all I had left. I finished and did not DNF. I hand ridden 53 miles which was well over twice as far as I had gone so far this year. I had played in some hills that have no chance of finsing around here.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 3