So this week I got in 50 Monday; 70 Tuesday with 40 on the WOD and 30 slammin 300+ watt miles at Wakefield; 50 Wednesday; and then I cracked myself yesterday. I keep riding by the Herndon group ride at the caboose but never go on it. Yesterday, I figure since I don’t have a race until Sunday, I’ll get 40 on the WOD then jump in that ride. Probably a little much. I can’t help but ride hard, which I did. Plus the ride ended up being 40 miles, so by the time I rode back to Vienna to my car it was 9PM and dark. And I was frigging toast. 250 miles in 4 days. Today is a rest day for sure. Bunny Hop, Hunny Bop or whatever our race is called is going to be a blast. I’m doing 2 races again and looking forward to it.
Hagerstown Cat 3
Aside from being busy, the other reason I probably haven’t written anything is these reports and frankly the racing, are starting to wear on me some. I’ll try not to bitch but maybe point out a few things that might help new Cat 3s. I sat at the back for couple of laps just to cruise around. A couple of guys proceed to lay it down in turn 2 right away. Should have seen that coming. That turn is not that hard to ride but if you ride a wide, round line, the off camber part of the turn will pitch you to the outside. Lean the bike over on top of that, and you go down. Set up wide, cut hard across the turn, no problem.
So I promptly got my ass up front. My race plan is / was the same as all recent crits. Mark anything that looks good, try to create breaks. 10 or so laps in, Ted Michaels (Evo) rolls off the front on the home stretch. Ted is a really good racer and time trialist. I was pretty far back but I threw down a big effort to jump up to him. Now we have two of the stronger guys in the field hopping off the front. We come out of turn 2 and both look back. No one is coming. So we just go.
Some might say, great you are off the front, go. This is one of the key differences between Cat 3 and 1/2/3 racing; and I wish guys in our races would realize this. In a 1/2/3 race, attacks are constantly happening. The race kind of boils at the front. If an attack happens, several guys are going to vault off too. If it stays off for a lap, then they will try to stay off. If not, there will be an inevitable counter. I was hoping Cat 3 would be better than Cat 4 at least. Not really. I said to someone yesterday that the tactics are pretty much the same; we are just in better shape.
So no on comes across and we stayed out for 5 or 6 laps. We tried to roll solid but not completely kill ourselves because we were only 2 and we had 20 laps left. We got caught and I rested for a half lap and then just went back to the front to counter and patrol and make sure I was near the front all the time.

Getting the break going...

Probably not where I should be but makes a good pic...
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Here’s my weekly stupid, fucking mistake. I planned before the race to get through turn 2 first on the last lap, which I did. My choice were to bury it the whole last half of the last lap to the line, or get a couple of guys in front of me to set up for the sprint. Halfway down the back stretch I pull left just a little, figuring that at least 2 guys would be flying and come right by and I would instantly drop back in. Nope. People fucking sit up! This is the last lap of a championship crit and guys were sucking my wheel enough to literally stop pedaling behind me. Wtf? At this moment on the right, Jesse from Rte 1 buries it and starts their lead out (nice move btw). So I am over on the left and hit. I rode a typically mediocre sprint ad lost a few spots for 6th. A crappy result. The only good thing from the day is I protected the lead I have going in the BAR.
Ryan Bracken said it well after the race. “When in doubt, lead out”. I have enough races now to know better. I’m still pissed about it. The Rte 1 guys at least had a plan from the beginning to go for a field sprint. They executed a real lead out and won the race. You have to respect that. Otherwise, though, the racing is really not racing. It’s ride around in a pack fairly fast. A single guy, maybe two, attacks now and then but not much else. At least we are having more legitimate break attempts in Cat 3 this year. Ok enough about that.
1/2/3 Race
The two hours between the 3 race and the 1/2/3 race is plenty of time to eat, drink and warm up again but it’s almost too long. It was long enough where I was starting to think about a sandwich, beer and my couch. This was my 8th double of the year and I think I was a little tired. The race wasn’t very exciting and thus, not much to say. It took me probably 15 laps to get to the front. One of our guys had just been pulled back. A counter with Harley and Richmond Pro went and I jumped in. After 1 lap I just pulled out of the break of 4. The field was chasing and 3 or 4 more guys hopped up and I got back in line but I could tell I didn’t have it. I spent the rest of the race staying in front of splits to keep racing and helping block a little when our guys were up the road.
I was toast afterwards. At Ride Sally Ride, I did the same double in 100 degree heat. In that race, I helped create and stay in the winning break for 50 laps. But in Hagerstown there was no question I didn’t have full gas.
Ryan Bracken said it well after the race. “When in doubt, lead out”. I have enough races now to know better. I’m still pissed about it. The Rte 1 guys at least had a plan from the beginning to go for a field sprint. They executed a real lead out and won the race. You have to respect that. Otherwise, though, the racing is really not racing. It’s ride around in a pack fairly fast. A single guy, maybe two, attacks now and then but not much else. At least we are having more legitimate break attempts in Cat 3 this year. Ok enough about that.
1/2/3 Race
The two hours between the 3 race and the 1/2/3 race is plenty of time to eat, drink and warm up again but it’s almost too long. It was long enough where I was starting to think about a sandwich, beer and my couch. This was my 8th double of the year and I think I was a little tired. The race wasn’t very exciting and thus, not much to say. It took me probably 15 laps to get to the front. One of our guys had just been pulled back. A counter with Harley and Richmond Pro went and I jumped in. After 1 lap I just pulled out of the break of 4. The field was chasing and 3 or 4 more guys hopped up and I got back in line but I could tell I didn’t have it. I spent the rest of the race staying in front of splits to keep racing and helping block a little when our guys were up the road.
I was toast afterwards. At Ride Sally Ride, I did the same double in 100 degree heat. In that race, I helped create and stay in the winning break for 50 laps. But in Hagerstown there was no question I didn’t have full gas.
