Twin Bing Road Race

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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

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2009-03-22 8:44 AM

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Expert
1135
100010025
Delano, MN
Subject: Twin Bing Road Race

2009-03-23 4:46 AM
in reply to: #2032699

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Master
1397
1000100100100252525
Granvile, Ohio
Subject: RE: Twin Bing Road Race
Climbing Hills, Iowa, what a name for a race town!

Way to go Biker stud!!!!  EXCELLENT work on  your first outing!  Congrats for toughing it out and hanging in there when others quit.  I'm glad you finished what you started and had a good time doing it.  You're going to have a great season!!!
2009-03-23 7:51 AM
in reply to: #2032699

Subject: ...
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2009-03-23 6:12 PM
in reply to: #2032699

Extreme Veteran
506
500
Twin Cities, MN
Subject: RE: Twin Bing Road Race
Of course you did the second loop. And I totally get the dead cat in the road as a marker!!  Way to go, Gerb! I was pulling for you all morning!
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