kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2011 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 75)

1 more question on drafting in the water.  I was trying to draft by having my body behind the person but slightly off to the side, so I could see her/him.  Are you supposed to be completely in the bubbles, directly behind as if in a straight line, while drafting to get the benefit?  If so, how do you see?  Exactly how close are you supposed to be?

I tried . . . .

6 doods over 200lbs with huge legs putting down ridiculous power in a pace line at about 30mph.

guys with a kick like a mule.

here is a race report from the weekend:

2011 Keith Berger Memorial Criterium

Cat 4 race was first up, pretty big crowd since there was some big fields, course is 6 corners about a mile long with 2 technical turns and a couple flat out corners, bike handling will be at a premium as well as position as the race nears the end. This race is dubbed the CT Criterium State Champs, so anyone living in CT has a chance to medal, if you are out of state, it rolls down to the next resident. The 20 lap race starts off pretty tame, and as usual i find myself shotgun on the field (dead last). Don't ask me why, i just seem to start off easy in the back and gauge the field, by the end of the first lap, i am still last, just in cruise mode, by the end of the second lap i am at the front of the field, i use the intermediate laps to see who looks strong, what teams are working hard and who their main horse will be. A couple of teams are working very hard, not too many breaks, which is no surprise as it is perfectly flat and breaks probably will not work. I spend the next 10 laps just kinda sitting in about mid pack, observing and learning, taking in the ebb and flow of the race, I let the primes go (which snowballed up from $10-$40 with some other nice awards thrown in) with about 8 to go i start moving up, the pace is quickening, some guys are trying to break away, but they are reeled in in short order.

    With about 3-4 to go one of the stronger riders jumps, he is quickly followed and not allowed to leave, but...it strings out the field a bit and i got on the donkey train that followed and was sitting in 6th spot (i use the term donkey endearingly, big boys with big legs and big power). Now the heat is on, the train is hammering, corners are coming and going, single file on the rivet. The big boys are leading the freight train and as we go by for 1 lap i am in a good spot. The field slows a bit as we come around the first corner, no surprise really, it happened all race, i knew at this point if i had a chance i had to leave shortly after that corner. Now don't get me wrong, i don't mind a field sprint, i can usually hold my own in one, but i much prefer to narrow down the chances of 75 guys to about 10, especially this course as a couple of the corners really kill the speed of guys following.

      So as we come around corner #1 and the field settles, I jump...hard...31mph, i keep the sprint up for about 15 seconds and glance over my shoulder, i catch sights of 2 other white jerseys and then a gap...success, 2/3 lap left, as i am pushing in the drops, one of my followers goes around me on the inside (a guy who was in the donkey train and looked to be on of the strongest in the field) he looks over his shoulder to gauge just what happened and i can see in his eyes he liked what he saw, it is now a 3 man race.  He jumps on it, at this point it is all HTFU and adrenaline, i get on his wheel and we go around the next corner nose to tail, down the back shoot, bikes sliding and dancing under the feet and pedals, second to last corner, 2 man race, short chute to the finish sprint, quick right 250 meters to go, flat out through the corner, bikes sliding and dancing.  Before we even straighten out we are on the power, wheels flexing, gears making that loud clack noise as you shift down on aero wheels under hard power, 2 big ole' clydes in a donkey drag race, we are both flat out, i gain a few feet, i have a wheel to the right his rear wheel, neither one is giving in to the pain and absurd heart rate, the meters are clicking away, neither of us are gaining or losing an inch, the crowd is screaming and cheering, 33mph 184bpm, never sat down..... and never caught him, we cross the line him to my front left about a bike length ahead....2nd place....AWESOME. The guy that won was from NY, so the roll down for the gold medal went to me!!!  I'll take it. 

garmin data (no power) for those interested

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95041344

hope you enjoyed!!

Jeff - I know there isn't a standard sprint distance, but it would be nice if there were.  The randomness of it all is bizarre to me.  1/4 mile swim seems silly, too.  That's a warm-up.  LOL  Anyway, it will still be fun. 

I am sure most of you know that Crowie won Coeur d'Alene yesterday!!!!  And Julie Dibbens . . . even after a blow up on the run!!!

 . . . and Crowie is off to Kona!!!

Is there anyone else dorky enough to sit and watch the race live on their laptop all day????

So I've been trying to come up with a realistic time goal for my first Oly at the end of July.

Figuring that I'll run 10:30min/mile or a little slower, 17-18mph bike, and not sure on the swim, what's a ballpark goal?

I THINK about 1:10-1:15 for the run, 1:20-1:30 for the bike, and :35 for the swim, does that seem right? So 3:05-3:25 or so?

ha, ha, just saw IMTX on tivo the other night.  Tim O'Donnell???  He will be a force very, very soon . . . heck, he almost won TX on his first try!!

And does anyone else follow the short course stuff?  That woman from Canada, Paula Findley . . . WOW!  Also, Macca is doing the short course stuff . ..  he did not do well at all in his first race.  Lost his goggles on the swim, came out of the swim 1 minute back, and I think 2-3 minutes back off the bike, they never showed where he ended or even during the run.  Whole different strategy!

If your inputs are accurate this is a pretty useful tool:  http://www.triathloncalculator.com/

For those who haven't seen her yet -- this is Paula Findlay: