Tour of the Dragons (Dragon Slaying)

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May 07, 2013 at 02:33 AM

This race deserves a proper race report...

So, 3 stages in two days. Most categories had TT then circuit race on the first day but we did it the other way around. Our circuit race went off at 8:30 or so. 3 lap on a 16 mile circuit with 6 miles of dirt (loose gravel, really) and 1,500 feet of climbing each lap. Lined up with Craig and Joe and the plan was basically to make it to the end and not lose any time. If we were all there at the end, Craig would be our sprinter. The race was much harder than I had expected, with a couple of teams who seemed intent on making it rough. We were all there at the end, but Craig told me he wasn't feeling it and then someone else should sprint. I led Joe out, but was cramping and couldn't quite kick into high gear. Joe went 10th, I hung on for 12th, Craig 14th. A good showing.

There was barely time to digest lunch before we had to warm up for the TT. This was an awesome, rolling TT course on absolutely gorgeous roads. Swayed by Marc and Adam's insights on aero bars, I decided to go cannibal style. I felt like I rode a great TT. I stayed low, measured my effort, diced corners that I'd practiced 4 times each on my pre-ride the night before, and just drilled it. When it was all said and done, I'd shattered my own power records. 314 watts average for the 28:45 effort, and I'm weighing in at 139 lbs. Stronger and lighter than ever. I can't go faster. At least not without a TT rig. And, that was good enough for (drum roll please) 22nd place! I was a bit demoralized. But Joe had ridden a solid TT and was sitting top 10 with a chance to move up, so I resolved to go to work for him.

Brendan Rigby

May 07, 2013 at 02:34 AM

i'm new to this, and my category doesn't even have upgrade points, so what i say is probably irrelevant. but i think some of the dynamics described are a function of the sport, not USAC upgrade policies. you win a (non-stage) road race by pedaling marginally faster than the others. first place is first place whether it's by the hair of a tire or 30 minutes. so long as we rank people by their finishing order across one line, the reasonable racer holds back at mile 20 of 30 in order to ensure she'll have more energy than the next gal 10 miles down the road.

there's no certain reward for using up all your energy in a fantastic effort unless you have knowledge many riders lack: (1) exactly how long you can hold a certain power output regardless of unfamiliarity w/ terrain, course, etc.; (2) whether the folks behind you can catch up at that pace on that terrain. many racers cannot pin down both those two variables with enough certainty to justify the risk of blowing up and finishing below their perceived ability. the only race i won was because i knew prospect park well enough to know i could hide behind the wheel of the series leader and jump around him in the final moments. i'd done countless laps around that park, and i knew i was not working that hard at the pace others set. that was on a course i ride every day. reading a race with unfamiliar riders on new terrain takes a whole lot more experience than i have.

maybe i raced like a pansy, but if i used all my energy for no gain outside of the cat5-try-anything race, you'd insult my judgment instead of USAC's wisdom. it's easier to just stick with the herd. sticking with the herd is so common in cycling that we grant it an honorific: it's not the herd, it's the peloton. or maybe that's just french. anyway, there is little applause for the terminal midrace effort that kills its creator with a stinging lactic death.

it is strange when people sit up at the front because they have no reason to go any faster. my first reaction to bicycle racing was "why isn't everyone going all out all the time?" i think the answer is "it's a marathon, not a sprint." until it is a sprint. after you've covered a marathon of miles. i hope one day i'll know myself and racing well enough to know when i can jump ahead. for now, i don't. but it's not because of USAC upgrade points. it's because this sport rewards the marginal effort. and everyone wants to podium. and i'm not sure what my limits are. who wants to sell me a bb30 power meter?

Ryan J

May 07, 2013 at 02:48 AM

Day 2...

Woke up feeling shitty - as you're supposed to on the last day of a stage race. But as I got warmed up I felt better, and I liked the idea of working for Joe as I felt I could climb hard enough to really impact the race, especially if I was free to sacrifice myself in the name of killing others.

Early on I could tell I was on a good day. The two hardest climbs happened in the first 20 miles. Loose gravel and steep pitches, and the race was shattered ten miles in. The first climb was followed by a long - and at times a tad scary - dirt descent. I was a nervous but stayed calm and descended fast enough to stay in the Top 5 for most of it. By the end of the second big climb, we were down to 15 or so.

This is where the BS started. Nobody wanted to go fast. "Long way to go." "If they couldn't keep up on that climb, let them chase back on, they'll just get dropped again." etc. As the miles ticked by, I realized the group was getting bigger, not smaller. This was not going to help our goal of moving Joe up the GC. So, every uphill there was, I went to the front and drilled it. I negotiated with Anthony Fatuzzo and Shane Moran and a couple of the other guys who I know can climb like demons. "Let's kill these steep pitches and thin this out," I said. "Long way to go," they'd say. "Too early." "Not enough of us." These were the typical responses.

So, I said fuck it and just kept going. Not attacking, just driving hard. On one climb I ended up gapping everyone by ten seconds or so. At that point the guy in the green jersey rode across near the top. "Dude, you are an amazing climber," he said. "Yeah, well, its all relative," I said, thinking of the carnage from the Pro 1/2 race we were seeing all over the road. He said he was hoping that if he rode across a few others might get nervy and we could have a group that could actually do something. But, it never happened, and we kept letting the guys who were cracking fight back on.

Ryan J

May 07, 2013 at 03:01 AM

So, as the race whittled down and the climbs were behind us, it became clear we'd have a bunch sprint. At least it was an uphill sprint. There was about a 20 man group that was rotating nicely, with a tail of about 6 or 7 guys sitting on the back and not rotating. That group included Joe, which was what we wanted, but Joe told me he was cramping and that I should go for the result and forget about him, he'd manage on his own.

I kept rotating through. With 5k to go it got fast. There was an attack by a teammate of the race leader, and I followed it, mostly just instinctually. We had a gap that quickly got shut down, and then - boom - an attack BY THE RACE LEADER with just over 1k to go. Not what anyone expected at that point. I thought to myself "damn, they set that up and I took the bait." I tried to jump across but didn't have the legs. It was a flat, head-windy stretch and the guy up the road was a big tall masher. No chance. And really the truth is the race leader and his team had just taken the race by throat all weekend, and they were putting the final exclamation point on it by winning the final stage in boss style. Kudos to them.

Everybody looked around at each other and bitched but no one could shut it down. One guy jumped across, and I was too late to catch his wheel. So, sprint for third it was. I did a pretty good job of fighting to stay at the front. Came out of the final turn with 200m to go 6th wheel and started the uphill sprint. I finished sixth out about 15 in that group for 8th.

Overall, I feel good about the weekend. I really enjoyed racing with Joe and Craig, and I gained confidence in my climbing that leaves me excited for Fitchburg and others. I do sort of feel like a podium spot was there for the taking if I'd been a little more alert at the end, but at the same time I handled the end of that race better than any other time in the past. At this time last year I was 8th at Killington in the 4s and now I'm 8th in the 3s so I feel like I'm learning and improving and that's the main thing. The coaching by Eric and the advice from Marc and JP have been extremely valuable.

Ryan J

May 07, 2013 at 03:09 AM

Oh, and I just noticed: max speed of 55 mph - not sure but I think that's the fastest I've ever gone a bike!

Jules

May 07, 2013 at 01:47 PM

Awesome report (and results) Ryan!
That was truly a sneaky and "Boss" move by the leader at the end.

josephmueller

May 07, 2013 at 04:07 PM

I wanted to give Ryan a good teammate shout-out on here. My bike is still in the shop from the crash at Quabbin so he let me borrow his Giant. Then he worked for me at the end of the Crit and the Road Race. Hope I can repay you at some race soon dude.

Thanks

Adam

May 10, 2013 at 12:41 AM

I was checking who's registered for Hunter Mountain this weekend. A Team called Grinta have the biggest group (3). Checked them out, apparently they're good. Recognise the Jersey Ryan and Joe? Yellow, white and black. Turns out it's the team that won your field at Dragons. The race leader will be riding Hunter this weekend. Guess what wheel I'll be following!

If you are interested, this is their race report in their own words for Dragons: https://www.facebook.com/GrintaCycling

Ryan J

May 10, 2013 at 12:51 AM

Their report is pretty much dead on. I was the "one rider" who he took with him. This was the move I was talking about in my report.

"The final climb was wide and exposed into a headwind. In the early part of the climb, Reid attacked from the middle of the 15 rider pack, taking one rider with him. They shared the work into the headwind, but weren't getting much of a gap. As they were reeled back in, Johan exploded out the peloton."

Yeah, Adam, they're super strong and they ride as a team. And they're pretty nice guys too. They'll be good guys to talk to if you want to try to get something up the road because (A) they'll be good in a break and (B) their super strong teammates won't chase.

All that said, I'm confident we could've dropped them if the better climbers had gotten their shit together. They were both suffering bad on the steeper climbs. None of those at Hunter of course...just saying they're not invincible.

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