Watermelon Criterium - Forum Archive

Jun 01, 2014 at 12:26 AM

Race report from the 35+ field. After battling massive traffic where Eric's zippy driving foreshadowed what was to come, we got to course with JUST enough time to pick up numbers and warm up a bit before the small 15-ish rider field toed the start line.

From the gun, Vlad P. puts our plan into action. Instead of simply sitting on the field's favorite TT ace, Mike Novemsky, we all decided that putting the business to the field was good too. He gets a gap immediately and holds a 15 second gap for around 5 laps. Novemsky has a single teammate who's singular goal is to ride high tempo at the front. There are moves, little short lived splits...

But Vlad is still out there. Eventually he comes back and the field is active again. We're all over Novemsky, he's not getting away. And then there's a split, Eric gets up the road with group of 6 or so. Novemsky puts in a big effort and gets away from the field. Except I'm on his wheel like white on rice. Another rider bridges up, and after carving through turn 1, I look back to see we've got a gap. I'm pretty psyched. Except I'm not. Because I'm in the pain cave. And I haven't even pulled through, not once.

I would have loved to pull through. Once we had a gap, then it's in my interest in helping us all get across to the group too. Because then we've got two in the move. Except I couldn't, I just didn't have the legs to pull. I mean, maybe if Novemsky gave us a little breathing room to echelon on the cross wind false flat climbing stretch, I could have...

I don't know how long I lasted in this chase group, (it's all kind of a blur) but on the right cross wind back stretch, I lose contact for good. DAMN. DAMN. DAMN. Novemsky also, dropped the other dude, and did eventually bridge up to the Ragot group. It was the one thing I was determined to NOT happen. And it did. It f-ing happened to me. #becausefat #becauseslow Still this race and report isn't about me, it's about the team.

Vlad riding like a maniac, finds me in no-man's land and starts pounding it out on the front for a few laps with me clinging to his wheel. "How is he even doing this?" Despite the mass crank-a-tude watts of Vlad, the second half of the field, with Dan Strika keeping an eye on things jumps back to us. I'm hurting and nearly lose that group one moment, but Dan hollers and makes sure that I'm on his wheel and gets me back in the action.

The winning group is away, Eric was up, but I don't know what things are looking like ahead. Is he hurting? Is he killing it? Is he dropped? Is he leading? Fortunately, Jeff White is on the side line to let us know that Eric is sitting comfortably in the group of now 7 (assuming Novemsky bridged). The field pulls back the other guy who clearly wasn't able to ride Novemsky's wheel either. And then we get a mysterious message from Jeff.

"It looks like Eric is going to lap you guys!"

What? I look back for two laps and don't see any sign of the breakaway group. Huh? Okay, keep riding steady, Novemsky's teammate is still on the front of the field riding tempo. A couple of laps later, I look over my left shoulder and see a single lone figure with faded orange locks helmet , pedaling his way towards us with NO ONE IN HIS WAKE.

Holy...what the what!? Eric is bridging solo? I ride up to Vlad and Dan to make sure we're on the same page. We can't help Eric bridge, but once he's back in the group, we can and should get to the front and start hammering away to prevent Eric's leftovers from finding their way back to us again too.

And that's what we do. It all felt very pro. It wasn't the smoothest rotation at the front I've ever been a part of (in part due to Novemsky's teammate refusing to get off the front, but also I was going too slow for my guys so they came around me hard enough that it put me more than a few riders back from the business end of the rotation); but it was ultimately effective.

We come around and surprisingly got the "2 laps to go" call (we actually should have had at least 3 to go, maybe 4, it was weird the race felt really short), I took another pull or two, kind of blew up with one to go, content in the knowledge that the breakaway was never going to catch Ragot at this point.

Rolled up the grass, completely forgetting to cross the finish line (doh!) to chat with Jeff and thank him and the guys for giving us sideline reports that were VERY helpful.

David Yang

Jun 01, 2014 at 03:27 AM

Every dog has it's day. Being really out of shape, I came into this race with no expectations and was planning to help lead out one of the Jeffs or Niall out for a sprint. Knowing my limitations, I hid behind the biggest guys I could find (one of them being the guy who took 2nd*) throughout the race, letting others try to break, bridge, or chase. Thankfully Whitey, Ian, Jeff A, and Niall made it easy by getting into solid breaks pretty much the entire race forcing others to do all the work at the front. Seriously, there were maybe 2 laps without a Kissena off the front, so major respect and props to them.

Before I knew it there were 3 laps to go and Jeff A was up ahead in a break, so again, I had the privilege of being able to sit on wheels as riders chased them down. Whitey had made a shrewd observation earlier during our reconnaissance laps: The massive tailwind and downhill finish would make it very difficult for someone to come around in the sprint. I kept that in mind and stayed close to the guys chasing Jeff A's break. On the bell lap, corner 3, as we caught and passed the break I had a lock on the big guy in front of me and took the left hand gutter up the short hill. As we rounded corner 4 I knew we had it in the bag. Big guy started his sprint and I went with him, but he started dropping anchor because he had been in the front pretty much the entire last lap chasing down the break. I am, unfortunately, out of shape so couldn't come around him and an MTBNJ rider zoomed by both of us in the last 5m and won by a bike length.

This is the first time I cracked top 3 so am very surprised and happy with the result and couldn't have done it without the rest of the team working so hard. I couldn't share this delicious watermelon with them so they'll have to settle for muffins or a round at the next race/meetup. Cheers

*2nd place finisher Jonah Coste is an unattached but strong rider from PA that has been on the podium for his last 4 races and not finishing outside of top 10 since his first race according to usac.org

Phil Maronilla

Jun 01, 2014 at 11:09 AM

Congrats Mr. Yang. You should be "out of shape" more often...ha!

Jules

Jun 01, 2014 at 01:41 PM

Congratulations Dave!

Yet another less in how racing "scared" often turns into racing very, very smart. Well done!

Marc Bertucco

Jun 01, 2014 at 05:22 PM

Jules said:

Congratulations Dave!

Yet another less in how racing "scared" often turns into racing very, very smart. Well done!

I think this is a really important point that Jules makes. It's been made before, but always worth repeating.

When we are not at our best, we are forced to think critically because we know that there are only so many mistakes from which we can recover. Conversely, if you are riding like Superman, you can easily throw away a lot of good legs making up gaps/splits/whatevers that you should have never been behind in the first place. (I think some of my best races have come when I've been at 80-85% fitness.)

Also the team. Awesome job all around. Love to read/hear stories of guys laying it out there on the line for each other. The cherry on the top is when a teammate comes through with a result. But actually, the sundae before is sweet too. And it's fun right? Tell your friends.

Kayt Mathers

Jun 02, 2014 at 02:43 AM

Better late than never race report from the W 4 race yesterday. I pre-rode the course with the Jeffs and David and was also privy to Jeff White's wise observation about the importance of the last turn before the downhill. I watched the guys race, then put in an hour on the trainer--I learned the hard way after my first race at Orchard Beach that a solid warm-up does wonders.

There were about 25 of us in the field--pretty large by women's racing standards. At the whistle, two women shot off the front and would remain the lead duo for the next 40 minutes. A group of us set chase, but every time I looked back, there were fewer and fewer wheels. By the 15-minute mark, there were just 3 women from David Jordan and myself, but I thought there was surely another group behind that would catch us. Then I noticed the officials had started pulling riders off the course. Andy asked me from the sidelines: "Are you in a break?" I can't remember what I responded, but it dawned on me that hell yes, I was finally in a meaningful break. And while we probably were not going to catch the lead group, I had a good chance at top 5 if we all worked together--taking turns pulling and taking some of the strong wind that, as Vlad said, "shattered the field."

Which I guess was the wrong approach. In retrospect, Marc's yelling from the sidelines: "There are three Jordans. THREE!! DO NOT work for them!" was very good advice. But I just couldn't make myself skip a turn. I am still sightly tormented over this--is working with other teams in a break scenario only for longer road races? Maybe it was just a matter of numbers being highly in the Dave Jordans' favor in this particular case. Either way, I was probably too nice. Lesson learned.

The cheering from Kissenas was very appreciated, and they were the only ones giving solid advice (including the aforementioned tip about not working). So I was ready when the lead two lapped us and I jumped on their wheels, clinging on for dear life as we came through the finish and the bell was rung. They picked up the pace, and I was unwilling to give up my position, which was behind the leaders but next to one of the Jordans. As we came up the final hill, and around the corner, I gave it everything. I made a strange sound when I realized her sprint put her ahead of me by half a wheel coming across the finish. Damnit.

I stopped pedaling, looked back, and see the Jordans are going at it again. "There's one more lap!" they tell me. But I thought..?! Oh NO! I hop back on, now in the back of the pack and out of gas, come across the finish line, put my head down in defeat and try to think of all the positives. David, Wes and the Jeffs met me at the finish line and told me the good news--"crit rules, man." Fourth! Progress, definitely progress.

mperlberg

Jun 02, 2014 at 10:30 AM

Great report Kayt!!!

On the point of working in a break, it's really just about numbers and odds.

No need to tow a team around that is totally out numbering you. In that scenario, with 3 people from another team and you, you could skip pulls and even sit in because tactically it's nearly impossible to not get beat by all of them. That you managed to beat 2/3 means either you were a beast or they didn't know how to play their cards.

The big question in, did you win any pie or melons?

vlad

Jun 02, 2014 at 12:06 PM

It sounds like the Jordans blew it because they didn't understand that, once lapped by the leaders, you all finish on the same lap except you're scored -1 lap down. That's why if you saw Eric's finish, he rolled in dead last in the field sprint, but still won the race. Everyone else was -1 lap behind him at that point.

At this stage of your development, I think that having fun is still the most important thing, but learning the rules and the finer points of how to race gives you a huge advantage. I'm surprised that the Jordans didn't try to drop you. They should have constantly attacked you to make you repeatedly jump over to the one(s) off the front of your group until you blew and they rolled away from you taking all that fruit remaining on the table. That they didn't do that (along with thinking that they had another lap), shows their inexperience and lack of knowledge and allowed you to walk away with what could have been their fruit.

When you're new to racing, these things are hard to remember in race situations, but they pay great dividends when you do.

Erika Tarte

Jun 02, 2014 at 01:00 PM

@Kayt, take the USAC rankings with a grain of salt, but the woman who came in 2nd is the #3 ranked cat 4 road racer in the country, and the Jordan woman you beat (the one who came in 5th) follows her in the #4 slot. They're both further down the rankings for crits, but the Jordan woman ranks (ranked? hehe) higher than you. So good. effing. job.

Kayt Mathers

Jun 02, 2014 at 02:05 PM

Thank you for your insights, @Vlad and @Mike. I'm also surprised they didn't try to drop me, but I think the main reason they didn't is because I was taking pulls. Also because they couldn't--they were just as beat as I was. What does surprise me is that Maria, the Jordan who took third, is a pretty experienced racer, as @Erika mentioned (thank you Erika!), and she definitely sprinted on the bell lap. I've been in a field with her before (I think she used to be on Radical?), and she was definitely running the Jordan show. And while I didn't get any fruit at the race, I did have some sweet, personal victory watermelon later that day.

Thank you again to all the Kissenas cheering, heckling, encouraging, and advising--before, during, and after the race. Really was a memorable day.

Marc Bertucco

Jun 05, 2014 at 09:18 PM

mugwump said:

Marc Bertucco said:

eragot said:

I fully plan to win this sucker and Novimsky isn't getting away. He can do so because people are unwilling to chase. But if he goes, I can bridge.

You won't even have to bridge. Seriously. That guy is marked. He is not to get away without one of us on his wheel. If it's me, he's not getting a single pull. If it's Ragot, I expect you can better match his 340-watt threshold power and you can take pulls if you so desire. The best he gets is 2nd.

FWIW, if it's me hitching a ride on the Novemsky train, I'll communicate to any Kissena's on the side line if I need Ragot and Co to chase me/us because I'm dying and about to be dropped.

He should have been marked at Somervill on Monday. But the several masters "teams" let him go. And then decided not to chase.

That was some crazy shit. It's not like the New Jersey teams don't know who the state TT champion is, right? I don't know if he always races to simply crack off the front, but seeing him do it once on Sunday at Bound Brook was enough to alert me to who he was. He tried again in the cat 2 race, but the field was fiery enough to have none of it. Well, honestly, if I had a trick that netted me 2 wins out of 3 attempts, I sure would use it as much as possible too.

Marc Bertucco

Jun 05, 2014 at 09:18 PM

mugwump said:

Marc Bertucco said:

eragot said:

I fully plan to win this sucker and Novimsky isn't getting away. He can do so because people are unwilling to chase. But if he goes, I can bridge.

You won't even have to bridge. Seriously. That guy is marked. He is not to get away without one of us on his wheel. If it's me, he's not getting a single pull. If it's Ragot, I expect you can better match his 340-watt threshold power and you can take pulls if you so desire. The best he gets is 2nd.

FWIW, if it's me hitching a ride on the Novemsky train, I'll communicate to any Kissena's on the side line if I need Ragot and Co to chase me/us because I'm dying and about to be dropped.

He should have been marked at Somervill on Monday. But the several masters "teams" let him go. And then decided not to chase.

That was some crazy shit. It's not like the New Jersey teams don't know who the state TT champion is, right? I don't know if he always races to simply crack off the front, but seeing him do it once on Sunday at Bound Brook was enough to alert me to who he was. He tried again in the cat 2 race, but the field was fiery enough to have none of it. Well, honestly, if I had a trick that netted me 2 wins out of 3 attempts, I sure would use it as much as possible too.

jim_nelson

May 12, 2015 at 11:02 PM

May 30th this year.

I'm going to do either the 4/5 or 45+ (or maybe both).

I will be driving and have room for 3 more.

Kayt Mathers

May 27, 2015 at 02:02 PM

@jim_nelson Are you still planning on racing for watermelon this Saturday? I'm contemplating racing twice that day.

Anyone else have this awesome race on their calendar? I don't see a lot of Kissenas reg'd.

SeanMiles

May 27, 2015 at 04:43 PM

I'm probably going to register tonight.

Marc Bertucco

May 27, 2015 at 06:51 PM

No Watermelon for me this year...because saving money & training day. Good luck everyone!

jim_nelson

May 27, 2015 at 07:17 PM

Kayt Mathers said:

@jim_nelson Are you still planning on racing for watermelon this Saturday? I'm contemplating racing twice that day.

Anyone else have this awesome race on their calendar? I don't see a lot of Kissenas reg'd.

Planning on it but need to confirm childcare. Should know by late today. I think I would need to be back in Brooklyn by 2:00ish so not sure if I could hang out for the later women's race.

jim_nelson

May 28, 2015 at 12:30 AM

OK, I'm in. leaving Brooklyn at about 6:45. I'm only going to do the 4/5 race but happy to hang and cheer on others.
Need to be back in Brooklyn by 2:00 at the latest so need to leave there by 12:30.
Kayt, happy to give you a lift if you want. Anyone else want to share a ride out? I can fit 3 with bikes.

Kayt Mathers

May 28, 2015 at 04:57 PM

Thanks Jim! I'll take you up on that if the offer still stands! I'll email ya.

JulieJones

May 28, 2015 at 07:09 PM

Kayt I'm probably going to go...I would be happy to give you a lift there, however I will probably be staying in NJ since i have lunch/dinner plans :-( sorry

jim_nelson

May 28, 2015 at 08:14 PM

Offer stands. Plenty of space.

Bruce van-Schalkwyk

May 28, 2015 at 08:44 PM

In. I'll need to register when I get home tonight. Jim, I'd like to grab a spot in your car if there's space.

jim_nelson

May 28, 2015 at 10:25 PM

You got it Bruce.

Bruce van-Schalkwyk

May 30, 2015 at 06:52 PM

Cat 4/5 Watermelon crit, .7 mile course with 3 turns.

The morning started overcast and humid and I drove out with Jim, Eloy and Kayt. We got there with plenty of time to kit up and warm up on the course since ours was the first race.

A small field of about 35 or so at the line, including Jeff White who registered day of. Windy on the straight past the start/finish and into turn one.

The race started fast and I kept waiting for it to slow, lap after lap, but for the most part, the speed kept up, or any time it slowed a bit, someone would attack and get the group going again.

The first turn wasn't too bad, a corner letting out onto a wide road, though there were bad sections on the left and right, keeping us centered. I found I could move up spots on this road as other riders eased off the gas after the turn.

Turn 2 was tight, there was a dip in the road before the turn and ruts on the left. It wasn't a difficult turn, but the most difficult of the 3 because of the bumps slowing everyone down. I had to check my water bottle each time and shove it down until I had gotten half way through the bottle and then it stayed put. It had an uphill so I got out of my saddle every other turn to keep pace. On one of the warmup laps, I overcooked it and almost went into the grass on the right, so not only remembered to ease into it, but watched a couple of guys go onto the grass toward the end of the race.

Turn 3 was an easy turn onto nicer, smooth asphalt, and you could pedal through it, so I have no idea why a guy crashed himself out on it. He just went down and hit hard. He didn't take anyone with him.

It was fast and humid and gaps would open now and again, or guys would throw themselves off the front and dangle and get caught. You could always see someone off the front on this course. At one point, toward the end of the race, 2 guys jumped and stayed there. They never got caught.

Jeff jumped off the front on one lap and looked good, kept the power going for a while. He said to me during the race one of us needed to jump off the front and the other counter. As we came up on him, I was too far back in the pack - his jump made everyone speed up - I couldn't get there.

With one to go, he came up on my left and yelled to me to get on his wheel, he would pull me to the front. I jumped behind him on his massive pull and we just pulled away from everyone. People yelled that we were going, but not sure there was any movement in the pack.

Sitting on his wheel on the last lap leaving the pack behind was an amazing experience. There was no sitting, I was working hard to keep up and I could see Jeff throwing everything into this final lead-out. He was working very hard to get me forward and I wondered if he would keep going and take 3rd place. I was worried for a split-second about making too much effort because we had the rest of the race, and remembered that this was it, this was the end and I had to get ready to be in the wind and throw everything at it I had.

Turn 1 we took solo and half way along the straight I pulled out left to get past him. He yelled to stay on his wheel, so I slotted back in just as a couple of guys threw themselves past us, so pulled out again and chased.

Turn 2 I took hard and had to ease it back, glad no one was around me because I moved across the road. One guy up ahead on my left had nothing left and faded back. There were the two guys up ahead ready to finish the race so first and second were out of contention, and the group that had pipped us.

Turn 3 I pedaled through and was behind that line of guys. I gave it everything I had, as everyone else was also, and didn't get out of the saddle. Guys came up on my left full bore just before the finish line.

I got 11th.

My thanks to Jeff for the killer lead-out and that hard effort which no one else in the race was making, even those with teammates.

Thanks to Eloy for the advice, talking with me during the race, and the rear wheel I grabbed a couple of times when I was gassed.

Jim for giving me a wheel, too, and the support. I lean on your racing experience and it's incredibly powerful to ride with teammates I trust, with people I trust.

And to Kayt for the shout-outs! Go pompoms!

17.4 miles, 24.5 avg mph, 42:38. Strava shows other averages around 25.3

Yeah, I didn't make top 10 and I'm pissed with myself about it and also amazed at how incredibly hard we are on ourselves.

So, that's the best placing I've had in a race. Eva. (Except that 10 ten Masters CX with 13 people!)

I've never been in a position to be given a lead-out before - great experience. Let's do it again.

I've come back from a tough 2014 and hard injury and feel pretty damned good. Not going to use that one any more. Moving forward.

Good race. Thanks, guys.

Marc B, I printed up your most recent Crit advice and read it a couple of times last night. Speed coming out of the corner. Yep, it worked for me. Thank you.

Still, didn't make top 10. Must go faster.

We watched Jeff C. and DS in the Master's 45, then Kayt and Julie mix it up in the Women's 4, and part of the Master's 35 with Jeff C, Jeff W and Vlad.

Full day of racing out there.

jim_nelson

May 30, 2015 at 07:07 PM

Tough day for me but fun nevertheless. Apparently riding in the park 7 times in the month of May, including one L&C race, didn't translate to very much form. I was having difficulties making my way to the front and holding wheels once I got there. About half way through someone slid out in front of me on turn 2 and I had to slow down just enough to loose the back of race by 6.5 feet and just didn't have the legs to get back on. Soldiered on to finish because obviously I need the miles. Everyone else looked good out there today.

Marc Bertucco

May 30, 2015 at 07:46 PM

Great job, great team racing! Keep it up and hopefully I'll see you at the White Plains crit on the 14th!