Wait a minute are those/these line breaks?

From my IPad?

Things ARE starting out to be a little different this year already...

"Well, that was hard."

Shorewood continues to impress. Great neighborhood. Homestretch on "Main Street," Backstretch and side stretches through residential neighborhood where there were families on yards EVERYWHERE. Seriously, the kids race? There had to be 60 kids. Backstretch featured a crowd prime line set up by some neighborhood families. I think one of the Pro women scored $600 back there.

No prime for the Cat 2/3 race, but manning the line was a little girl who was quite possibly the best cowbell ringer ever. She had 3 bells in each hand and would do this up and down push/pull ringing action that would get them all going. Coolio.

Basically a 4 corner crit, with a chicane thrown in for good measure. Got there plenty early, and kitted up for some easy warming up. The first race after so much driving, is rough on the legs, and I'm prone to these debilitating cramps that, once they arrive, don't leave for days. It's kind of brutal. Naturally, I felt them coming on as I was pushing like 50 watts going around and around. Spent a lot of time stretching after that, and by the time race came around, I was pretty good to go.

Except. Ouch. We'll see soon enough how much of my perception of this race being "hard" was due to my general travel legs, and just how much was actually honestly hard. But if I'm honest, this cat 2/3 race was faster, more kilojoule-y, than any other crit I've done this year. Including all those Pro 1/2 crits over Memorial Day weekend. It was the first race this year (Delaware/Baltimore being the notable exceptions), where I really found myself so often feeling desperate for wheels to draft. Where I had to work to jump around when guys were falling off.

My computer decided to stop working, so I don't have any numbers to back up the sensations. Blurg. With one lap to go, riders were all over the road, and I just lost the gumption to aggressively push my way to the front. And in the end, could only manage a 40th place finish. Back of the pack. Ugh.

Other notes:

• Josh Rovner now riding for Van Dessel Factory (he reports going over to "the shop" and being all like, "Hey Edwin, do you have any extra kits?" And voila, he's in a kit and on a Hellafaster.) took 2nd in the field sprint for 6th overall. 
• P 1/2 field was won by Scott Sunderland of Budget Forklifts after his team took control of things with 5 to go.
• P 1/2 field lap times were about 6 seconds faster than the 2/3 race. Biggest difference I think was the cornering speed. I was pretty close to the front most of the race and man we were bunchy-bunchy too much in many of those turns.
• BrittLee is out here, and looked good riding herd at the front early in her race when a teammate was in the break.
• Smaller than usual contingent of NYC racers though overall. Normally you get a few Foundations and Mengonis. Tonight just Eugene from Mengoni. He looked solid as always, even bridged up to a late break that was doomed but had some serious firepower in it.

Next up is East Troy. And extremely short course with 8-ish turns. I expect 1 minute laps and plenty of crashing. Giddyup!

http://www.tourofamericasdairyland.com/schedule/troy-description.php

Nice Marc — photos?

JohnMalcolmson said:

Nice Marc — photos?

Left my camera at home. And there was some other dude who stole my leaders jersey. Haha. Going to kill it today. GOTTA kill it today.

It's ok to admit you're sipping G&T's on a lawn chair in Bermuda Marc.

"Well that was better...sort of."

Day 2 of ToAD, featured the tightest course of the series. 1k long, 6 turns, changing pavement surfaces. I've learned my lesson about these courses and while others were taking warm-up laps, I was waiting off course to guarantee a front row start.

When the whistle blew I was off like a rocket, CX/crit style. For anyone who's done my crit clinic, I run a "race to the first corner" round robin elimination style race for a reason. Starts are important. Stayed out front for most of the opening lap, before I slipped back into top 15-ish.

But others were restless and too soon I found myself too far back. Near the end of the race, it was time to move up, and by taking a wider line onto the home stretch, I had a pretty free path to move up. I was pushing some wind, but I wasn't exactly working that much harder than chasing wheels in front of me. With about 3 or 4 laps to go there's another crash in the field. Guys are everywhere, I hammer the breaks, put a foot down, kick start my way between bikes and bodies, and got to chasing. I caught and passed more than a few, but ended up in a group that never quite made it back. We needed a few more laps. Finished in 43rd. 

Race notes

• The legs were feeling better today, my hour long warm up plus more stretching surely had something to do with that.
• Had a nice chat with Laura Van Gilder, who reported she too felt blocked up yesterday. She also offered to talk with me after her race about the dreaded "end game." She is so awesome. Also gave me a nice compliment about how I was racing at Rariton...which, hellsyeah, she would know because she's LVG, and we spent a fair amount of time trading positions on that day.
• Caught up with an ex teammate who had some knowledge of why certain hammerheads aren't on pro teams this year, even though they clearly have the legs and results. Seems being a douche bag doesn't help when your contract is up.
• Team Budget Forklifts, the Aussie track and road pro team, discovered last night that they in fact could not ride to and from all the races from their centrally located hotel. So there they were in the dark, asking the promoters for a ride. Sunderland won a 1000 dollar prime today, so they should be able to rent a van or something. I guess they don't have google maps in Austrailia or something.
• Most bizarre scene of the day? Group of locals having a full on BBQ, complete with yellow tape to ensure no intruders in front of the pumps at their gas station. Because you know, gasoline, open flames, drinking and smoking just go so well together.

Next up is Grafton, then Waukesha, two days of racing on courses that deviously challenge both one's ability to handle a bike, and brut strength. Fields will be bigger as it's the weekend. 

"Can I have a rest day please?"

Days 3 and 4 of racing, cap off a nice block of racing while I rest up on Monday, for a race around the Schlitz Park Brewery on Tuesday. This race with its short steep climb and deviously fast and technical twisty descent, is more carnival ride than bike race, but I'm determined to finish this year before getting pulled. I'll have to poach the start line call ups, and be ready for max climbing power immediately, but I'm hopeful.

Giro d' Grafton has features similar to White Plains, but is a longer all around. Plus turn three's off camber sweeper and turn four's screaming fast descending 120 degree turn onto a long home stretch ensured out of the saddle hammering for most everyone in the field.

Thinking about some advice I shared on the white plains thread, I went into the race with a plan, and with 10 laps to go I gave myself 5 laps to get to the front of the race. Then I knew I was going to have to work really hard to hold that spot until the end. Well, I got to the front as planned, but some serious swarming, plus a nasty home stretch crash by others, against the barriers saw me too far back for the end of the race. I was choosing some lines that were giving me good exit speed, but I ended up being buried in the pack on the straights. Which was good for reducing my work load, but terrible for moving up. Some times I would drift back looking for an opening, then open up the turbos to pass. But that mostly ended up being a waste, because turn 1 would invariably come up too soon and I'd have to slot back in not that much further up than if I just stayed in the pack.

In the end, I could only get 42nd place for my troubles. 

Waukesha, the next day I faced a surprising obstacle. Despite my close attention to the "call to the line" procedures this series, the officials deviated from there usual operating procedure, and I got stuck at the back on one of the worst courses to get stuck at the back. So I went in with a plan, and even before the whistle blew, I had to switch it up. Fortunately, I know this race really well, and so I gave myself some room, started a good 15 feet behind the last row and set about shooting gaps, avoiding the severe breaking that plagued those ill-positioned into an extremely tight turn 1 (not even two car widths wide). And after a patient but urgent 18 minutes, I was in the middle-ish of the field. Hoping to be more aggressive, I thought about a recent conversation I had with an ex teammate, who was a national caliber cat 1 crit racer. He said something that really resonated with me.

To be a really good crit racer, "you have to have the delusional belief, that that is your spot, and no one else has the right to be there."

And so I would look ahead, see guys where I wanted to be, and told myself, "I deserve to be there, that is MY spot." Of course as college kids were dive bombing me in corners my desire not to crash took over and I probably spent more time giving up spots than taking them. Sigh.

A couple of crashes in the last two laps, that I narrowly avoided, but threw me off my rhythm, and left me chasing a bit more than racing at a critical moment. In the end I finished a touch better than previous races. I earned 32nd place.

Other Race Notes:

• BrittLee is crushing it. She took 2nd at Grafton to the legendary Tina Pic. Next day, was 6 or 7th.
• Laura Van Gilder never leaves the top 10 of her races. She is outstanding, and while missing a win, she is a constant in the top 10.
• Adam Myerson's Astellas team continues to be the most organized team here, and was finally rewarded with a win yesterday. Big group of 10 or so escapes the field, they lap the field and with just one lap to go, Stephen Hyde gets his guy from the back of the pack, to the front in time to contest the bunch sprint. On the last lap. yikes, that's impressive.
• Robert Mecca from Brooklyn drove in in time for yesterday's race. He was suffering from stuffed travel legs not surprisingly, but with a 38th place finish, not too far from me, he handled his business well.
• For racing, my speedo goes by gps/stages only and so I don't know how accurate this is, but at Grafton, it says I hit 45.5 mph. I can assure you that the fastest part of that race was not a short descent, but the home stretch.
• Watts wise, I haven't fully engaged my do or die go for the line sprint, and I haven't seen stars, but I've been hitting 1000-1174 pretty routine feeling max watts each day. I mean actually my computer has registered an 1800+ watts, but I don't believe that for a second. Will have to wait for a data upload, for more details. Not sure what I weigh these days, but based on past appearances, belt notch placement, and past daily weights, it's definitely less than 157 and more than 150.
• Getting to races two hours early, allows for great warm ups. Also, staying late and not having family with provides time for long cool down rides. These are two of the details that effect performance that I can control, so I am. You know?
• Switched to Michelin Pro 4s and latex tubes from my conti all season armadillos these last two days, and wow, the difference is palpable. Noteworthy enough to open myself up to lots of "I told you sos" by the usual crew. But important to note in case any of you are still resistant to going racing with proper racing tires and latex tubes. Which will come as no surprise to anyone, but yikes. Now if I had some fast hoops to go with them...

I give a hundred +1's to the latex tubes.  Admittedly, where I am in Cali the roads are amazing so wear and tear on wheels/tyres/tubes is an order of magnitude less than NY.  Absolultely one of the most noticeable upgrades you can ever get, and for super cheap too.

True story- went up a road the other day on one of my usual routes.  Said they were resurfacing it over the coming days.  Odd, I thought, as it was immaculately paved.  No potholes.  Would easily be in the top 5% of well-paved roads in NY.  Two days later my suspicions were confirmed- road was resurfaced and WORSE than before!!  They went from some lovely asphalt tarmac stuff to a more chip-seal jobby. I actua-lol'd.  They must have an infrastructure budget that they have to spend.  When the roads stay good 7+ years as there is no harsh winter, when you get round to repaving them and the intermittent SOP changes meant that the department for roads has switched to a cheaper surfacing, the roads actually got 'worse' after an upgrade.  Silicon Valley problems...

"Well that sucked."

Unforgiving course with a stiff climb, and a terrifying 6 turn descent. Poached the start, Got on the front row, nailed the 50 meter dash to the first corner. Got passed by a few on the climb, a few more on the top straight-away, nailed the descent pretty well, but kept taking on water on the pedal hard sections (basically everything but the descent). Gapped and continuing to drown, then I was swimming okay, pulling guys back, including Josh Rovner who was not having fun either. Too little too late. Pulled and placed after just 18 or so minutes for 36th place.

Every field today finished with just 20-25 riders. Robert Mecca tried to get me to do the masters race...I resisted, but probably should have, given that I was actually warmed up then.

Crap, warm-up fail...rookie mistake. Well, F me.

• Ran into another ex-teammate, we reminisced about the good old days, including watching Levi Leipheimer lap the field at this race THREE times. Little doped up fucker just couldn't help himself, could he?

"6 races in 7 days...and counting..."

In a bid to overtake Vlad for racingist, racer, I added a race today that was not on my original schedule.

Held on the famous Road America race track, the cat 2/3s took on the rolling 4.4 mile loop 13 times. I've raced this circuit a few times in my career, but this was the first time I could think realistically about winning. As such, I approached each lap thoughtfully, careful to use my resources only when necessary.

If you ever have a chance to race an automotive circuit, like Lime Rock in Connecticut, I recommend it. It's a unique racing experience that should be tried at least once. One thing that sets it apart from a typical circuit race held on public roads, is that these roads were literally designed for speed and flow.

And during my race, many of my competitors struggled with fast sweeping turns, taking lines that either forced them to double apex a turn that needed no such clunky technique, or simply going off course over rumble strips meant for cars and into the grass. Both of which caused undue stress in the pack.

What is important to think about, is to know that these turns are built to handle speeding vehicles. So lean that bike, sink down into your saddle, carve through that turn without touching your breaks. The road and your bike can handle it!

The advertised "long climb" to the finish, was a sort of stair stepper, max gradient about 6% with some flat bits in between. I little ringed it mostly just to save my legs, but the big ring was not out of the question. I would say 10 of 13 laps I was in the top 10 guys going over the climb. I just didn't want to climb others rhythm and when they all got blocked up on the inside, I just kept my pace and by the top of the first stair stepper, I was in the front. Then the steeper/harder second pitch, I just took my own rhythm again and let the heroes go for non-existent KOM points. There was just way too much down hill fast bits for anyone to stay away.

On some laps some guys tried their best to hammer away, and rather than jump like a maniac after them, If the field was going, I employed my "count to 10" technique, where I gradually come up to speed and slot in and let the hive mind reabsorb them.

Second to last lap was the only one that felt hardish to me. A break of four and then two chasers, were out there, and the field was strung out for much of it. Coming into the last climbing section whIch ends about 150 meters from the finish, all the guys were coming back. My position wasn't as good as it had been, but there was plenty of time to move up.Hitting the steepest pitches, I started cranking mega-watts. I could taste it...a top 10 for sure, maybe better.

And then from nowhere, a terrible hamstring cramp. I had to unclip and finish the climb with one leg. My stages power meter read 400 watts. Go lefty! I actually stayed in front of a guy that way. And some were dropped with one lap to go so I finished in front of them too. Totally surprised by the cramp...usually you get clues that these things are coming. 47th place officially.

• I had park racing flashbacks as we came into the climb on one lap, about to catch a field. I couldn't figure out what field it was. Until we passed them. it turns out we lapped the Masters 1/2 field that started 5 minutes behind us. That's usually a very tough crew and I actually thought, because our race felt so dawdly at times (Josh Rovner actually took a selfie of the field. Groan. Sometimes I feel like an old man.) that the masters might catch us.
• Tomorrow is a day off then finish off the series with 3 crits. Just a few more chances to get it right. Can't believe it's almost over...sad face. 

More pickle juice in your pantleg is needed.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Day 9, and I lined up for my 7th race. And I'm feeling great. A new course that featured some challenging pavement, 7 turns in a figure 8 course that was .76 miles long. I loved it. Well most of it.

The part where a handful of riders crash in front of me with less than 2 laps to go, I hated. I don't know whether to be annoyed that I keep getting caught behind idiots, or happy that I've managed to avoid getting up close and personal with the pavement? The answer of course is, "both."

36th place after chasing the field for 1-1/2 laps and getting jumped by two dudes who sat on my wheel, while I was cranking 500 watts.

Tomorrow's course is more of a long flat rectangle. One tricky turn, but I'm planning on taking out some rage on the course and my competitors tomorrow.

• Autolap by gps position doesn't really work that well on a figure 8 course. Some laps were 1:40, others were 0:40 whoops.

Marc, do you ever stalk your competition on Road Results to find the right wheel?

JohnMalcolmson said:

Marc, do you ever stalk your competition on Road Results to find the right wheel?

I do, and I know who some of the better guys are in my field...but my real problem is when the yahoos chop the fuck out of my wheel, I usually give way in the interest of a peaceful flow through the turn. But point taken...tomorrow, I'm going full metal jacket. Whatever that means...

"okay, now I'm tired."

There was some stupid stuff in my race, like crashes where like 40 guys took free laps, even though I'm quite sure, all those dudes didn't suffer mechanicals. Just got caught behind the crash. Frustrating because if they were made to chase, there certainly wouldn't have been 70 dudes in this race at the end.

Ultimately, I just didn't have the pop in my legs to position myself well. Dieseled most of the race, had laps where I was in good position, but ultimately finished at the back. Im almost too tired today to be annoyed at myself. Almost.

One more day. Then it's time for some rest.

Keep at it, Marc, enjoying your race reports.

"It's over, really, is it over?"

With $8000 worth of crowd primes to go in two big 4k chunks to the pro men and women, crazy crowds, and racing past multi-million dollar homes at Saturday's Downer Ave, Sunday in "East Tosa" has always felt a bit anti-climatic as the official close of Tour of America's Dairyland. But it's an excellent race in its own right too.

Thanks for following along with me on the forum.

As I arrived to Sunday's finale, I realized that all my time spent visualizing this deceptively challenging 4-corner crit was for naught as they changed the course this year. Ironically, they had to make the changes because of new traffic slowing islands and bike lanes that peppered the old courses' finishing climb.

No matter, the course still raced the same, and as it turned out, was nearly as hard previous editions. Re-engergized from somewhat flat legs on Saturday, I was ready to rock the last day. Unfortunately, the dude who I lined up behind was not. For like the 5th time this series, I get stuck behind some jamoke who can't clip in to his pedal. I always manage to pick the wrong line at the grocery store, and I don't appear to be much better about start lines in crits!

And there you have it, I start a race with a number of tight turns already on my back foot. Guys are starting to pop on the first 2-5% backside climb. And I'm glad. Seriously, I'm so sick of chasing the finishing sprint in a field of 70 guys, that I want this field to get shredded. I'm popping around the gaps with little grief. It's work, but I've got the legs.

Unfortunately, so do like 50 other dudes. Turn two is painfully slow, leading to out of the saddle hammering up the climb just to hang onto the better wheels, Turn 4 is fast and wide open, but the concave finishing stretch, launches the field into Mach 3 single file Top Gun action, down a dip, then as the road rises, turn 1 approaches way too quickly. A lot of guys spent all race dive bombing corners on the inside; often forcing me off my line abruptly. Drove me nuts. I got into it with a young punk after one particularly egregious move. But worse than pissing me off, this kind of careless/reckless bike handling basically put me on the defensive and didn't help as I tried to move up.

In the end I finished at the back of the pack, beating just 10 guys. Which is like less than 1 guy per every hour of training I put in per week. Which is totally awesome. And by "awesome," I mean, "totally sucks."

Series Thoughts and Notes:

•  This continues to be the best crit series in the world. IMO. But not just me, a couple of guys who also did the famous "Speedweek" crits in the southern United States felt similarly. So, so much better run and organized than the old Superweek series that it essentially replaced.
  
  
• The races were tough and fast. Some tough guys might scoff at my "meh" collection of 32nd to 63rd place finishes, and to be sure, I'm disappointed too. BUT, consider a couple of "facts" to put this all in perspective.
  
  
• With the exception of the road race, and once or twice during a few of the crits, I literally could not get to the front of any of these cat 2/3 fields. COULD NOT GET TO THE FRONT. Compare that to the Pro 1/2 races over Memorial Day Weekend, like Bound Brook? I was once in position to have Adam Myerson chasing/passing me on the home stretch, and found holding my position near the front-ish significantly easier. White Plains Pro 1/2 I literally coasted off the front of the field one lap by accident.
  
  
• ToAD gives good points. Unlike crossresults.com, I'm sort of luke-warm on USA Cycling's point system which they basically stole from crossresults.com. BUT...if you buy into their point structure (lower points = better), then my 95 points for finishing 46th place at Tosa beating just 10 guys is far and away better than any points I earned for higher placed finishes here on the East Coast. By comparison, for example, 49th in the Pro 1/2 race at Rariton earned me 122 points.
  
  
• Josh Rovner described the last race we did, as the first "real crit." I gently corrected him by suggesting that East Tosa was one of the crits where we were forced to pedal hard for a lot of the time, while other crits required other racing skills, bike handling, more sudden accelerations, etc. Such an interesting series, every day, every course was just that wee bit different emphasizing diff't skills. Like cross, you cross fanatics should embrace crit racing in a bigger way next year. There is so much similarities between the two disciplines. I'm not saying it's practical/possible to travel out to ToAD for most, but when real deal crits appear in this region, sign up and give them a whirl. You'll be a better crosser for it!
  
  
• By the numbers, and according to my muscle memory, Day 3's race in Grafton was the biggest kick in the nuts of the series. I had to accelerate from 10 watts/kg to higher more than 30 times over 50 minutes of race. I blame turn 4. Although the backside climb was entertaining in its own right.
  
  
• I will never join a team that puts something on their kit I would not be able to explain to my toddler son. At White Plains the ass panel of one team read, "Well Hung." In Milwaukee, the series' winners' kit featured "HTFU" on the ass panel. To that I say, "WTF?" I think it's totally inappropriate to put something like that on a kit that can be seen and read by all.
  
  
• Had several nice chats with Laura Van Gilder over the course of the week. She was expressing some frustration by the antics of her field too, and during the course of that conversation, when I suggested that she should race the way she always does, "at/near the front," she sighed, and said, "But that just takes so much energy..." Which was eye-opening for me. Because she makes it look so damn easy. I always just assumed that racing the right way (at the front) was easy for her. But no, it takes a lot of work, even for legendary racers, and proven winners.

Guess, I need to just HTFU, and get er done already. When's the next race?

Marc, you almost make me want to race crits...

PatrickG said:

Marc, you almost make me want to race crits...

This. Key word is "almost"

Adam, good question. In one of my posts, I quoted a former teammate who was a national caliber Cat 1/semi-pro crit racer who talked about having a delusional belief that, THAT is your spot and no one elses'.

So, in a sense, you're not too far off when you talk about having to "want it." You definitely have to want it enough to be an active thinking racer. But, crits and crit finishes don't have to be crazy. I've been replaying my race series quite a bit since I've returned, and I could go on and on and on about each race and where I made good choices, where I made poor ones. Even more than I did here on this thread. This post is going long, apologies in advanced. And I'm about to spend a big chunk of this post talking about how tough the races were; in order to answer your question by providing more detailed context. Because the specific context is important here.

Beyond the jerk-holes, and the crashes, there were a number of factors that must be considered when evaluating these races.

• Field quality and DEPTH. I alluded to it earlier when I remarked that my back of the pack finishes were netting me USA Cycling points above anything I've done out here. To explain a little further, figure, in a field of 70 guys from this region, maybe 10 or 15 are really, really good. At ToAD, in a field of 70 guys, 60 at least are really really good.

Okay, let me flash some numbers by you to quantify the "really really good" part of my statement.

• At Bound Brook in NJ over Memorial Day Weekend, pretty much one of the top Pro 1/2 crits in this region, there were 84 finishers. The first place guy scored 61 points; the last place guy scored 184 points.
  
• At ToAD's series Cat 2/3 finale there were 58 finishers. The first place guy scored 67 points; the last place guy scored 98. So at ToAD, every single guy who finished the race scored under 100 points. In a cat 2/3 race!
  
• Now guess where 98 points gets you in the Pro 1/2 race at Bound Brook? 26th place. That means in that race, there were roughly 60 guys who finished/scored "worse" than the last place guy in one of my ToAD races. 26th place, by the way at Bound Brook? None other than John Durso. And that guy is hella good, right?
  

Okay, but even if you don't totally buy into USA Cycling's version of point distribution, consider the fact that, if you are a dedicated crit racer, and you are spending money to travel to races, you are going to ToAD. No question. Best value for racing travel dollar, best crit series in the country. My field had riders from 16 different states. You can bet that they weren't the crit scrubs traveling to Milwaukee, you know?

Okay, so practically, when I'm talking about the field quality and depth, what does this mean come race day?

• That means that on those straightaways where shit gets real and strung out, it stays strung out until the next turn.
  
• It means that average speeds stayed high throughout the race.
•  It means that the power required to blast out of some corners was kind of sick.
• This all means that moving up, holding your position, was just proportionally harder than other races I've done this year.

For example, at the Grafton race, I had to put in 38 accelerations of at least 10 watts/kg. That's a minimum effort of 710 watts...38 times...during the course of a 50 minute race.

Contrast this with the dynamics of the pro 1/2 race at White Plains. On that short course, most laps, on the finishing stretch, we'd be single-ish file out of turn 4 about halfway up the road, to where it would crest, then bunch up, then launch again. But that bunching, that happened lap after lap? Made it easy-ish to get to the front. Same with the back stretch. Single file through turn 2, up the climb, then voila, the field invariably sat up after the crest of the climb. I just kept on moderate gas and easily got to the front up the left side often, even if I was at the back of the pack.

Back in Milwaukee, at East Tosa, on the home stretch, we were strung out and single file, going, EVERY lap (I have the data) 32-34.5 mph. At those speeds, you duck out of the draft, sure you're going to move up a few maybe, but turn one is going to be there before you can blink, and you can either dive bomb the corner, and keep your fingers crossed, or you can slot back in and flow it fast and easy through the turn and try your luck on the backside. Except, I wasn't very "lucky" there either.

So what about that slower backside stretch? Where we were climbing a 2-5% grade doing only 25mph-ish? Well, looking at the power peaks, 869 watts, 750, 609, 735, 740, 726, 907, etc. It was work just to stay on the wheels and bridge a few gaps.

So, my point here is that when the quality and caliber of the field is that high, you are going to be more limited to what you can do. I mean, the legs and lungs are/were good, they just weren't good enough. But that's one thing that I love about crits. You don't have to the be the strongest, or fastest. You can compensate with good skills, good tactics and good luck. But there are a number of things you, me and anyone can avoid.

• Poor start line position. So getting stuck behind a guy who couldn't clip in, meant going into turn 1 I was basically the back of the pack. And given what I described above, it should come as no surprise that I spent the first 15-20 minutes of the race inching my way up to just the middle-ish of the field. Some racers will swear it doesn't matter where you start, that starting at/off the back is better. In some, limited cases, this can be true. But as a general rule to good crit racing? Good start, is the first and most important step to a good finish.
• Poor warm up. Racing day after day...9 out of 11 days...the legs were pretty much always warm. So my warm-up routine was pretty chill and wasn't a problem for me in most of my races. But if your legs are cold, you are praying that they warm up before you get dropped, or the race is gone up the road without you.
• Poor position. In the corners, in the straights. So here's where I made some choices that maybe weren't the best. I don't know. On the one hand, I managed to nail most of my turns with good speed and flow. So even though I put in some serious accelerations throughout the series, for the most part, I flowed pretty well. BUT that did mean, that when I saw danger in the form of dudes trying to stick their square peg asses in round holes, I backed off for my own safety.

I could and have broken down every race like this in my mind. You've already been patient enough with me to get through this long post, so I'll close it down by coming back to your question:

"Do you have to race like that?" With the chopping and the general douche baggery? No, you definitely don't. If you are relatively strong and smart enough, you're at the front all day long. But that's hard. Even for a proven race winner, constant podium threat, like Pro Laura Van Gilder who is the class of her field. She said as much to me on that last day.

The better you are in comparison to your competition, the easier all this is going to be. And for most KCC racers who stay local, they won't be racing against an entire field of studs from across the country, so compensating for weakness/mistakes here or there can still net a good result.

And as far as the crashing. Well, I think if you race, you generally have to accept that you are going to have to deal with one or two crashes per race. That's about what it was at Dairylands, but that's also what it is in Prospect Park. It's impossible to know if I had been more aggressive if I would have crashed, or placed better. Maybe both. Maybe neither.

Thanks for the post, Marc.  I like the way you deconstruct what you do and present the things you learned as actionable steps for both you and others.  Truly a skill.

Hitting up the July 4th Crit in downtown Davis, CA tomorrow evening (yeah, evening, for some reason my Cat 3 race is the final of the day at 510pm.  Sweet).  Will take all this to heart.

Marc awesome insights and how you've critiqued each race, thanks for all your reports.

I'm curious, did you consider racing any of the masters races? Real deal crits where you can't even put your nose out the front of the field are super fun, but were you not tempted to take that crazy form you were riding into and try to cash in on a slower field?
My (limited) experience of crits at that level is there's a real attitude of entitlement in the higher ranks, where if you're not in xyz team then you're way more likely to get a chop or pushed off the wheel. There's also a kind of pecking order based on how big you are and how much shit you will take from other riders. That and a bunch of punks with FTP's in the later 300's must make for some serious pain cave. 

Lastly, can you talk about equipment choices, hydration/feeding, clothing and tire pressure? 

Hopefully this is not too much info for you John, but if you are interested read on!

To "Master" or Not?
Master's racing can be hard to figure. A few years ago, I jumped in with the Master's 1/2 field and it included an ex-pro-ish rider, plus a truly scary dude who I used to race a lot back in the day who later moved to California joined a bunch of other studs and brought his scary bros to ToAD. I got destroyed way worse in that field than the 2/3 field. That said, I was in poor fitness then and the last couple of years the Master's races have been more moderate for sure. This year's overall master's 1/2 winner, a guy I used to trade punches with back in the day, asked me a similar question about field choice. He mentioned that the master's races tended to be pretty tactical. One day, we lapped them on a road racing circuit.

Maybe next year, if I have the time/money to race ToAD, I'll switch it up and go for the Master's races. One CLEAR advantage they have over the 2/3 races is that they were on average 10 minutes longer. Racing 50 minutes this year was something I struggled with too. I'd look up and see the lap counter, and every time, it seemed like it was 12 laps to go. I'd be like, "WHAT THE WHAT, we just started racing?!!!"

But this year, I had goals and expectations (that I ultimately failed to meet) that wouldn't have been possible had I raced the master's field. Another possibility that I will consider next year, is just doing the Pro 1/2 races and focus on hanging and solid pack finishes in 90 minute suffer-fests. Depends if I can take my fitness up another 1/2 to 1 whole notch next year.

Race day eats?
Since I was on my own without my family, and the races were more or less the same time every day, I was able to get in a good routine that worked for me. I've seen Edwin "Mr. Van Dessel" Bull eat a full sized sub sandwich an hour before a cross race...I could never ever ever do something like that. Everyone is going to be different here but..

The big thing about doing 9 races in 11 days is to keep on top of your eating and drinking every day. It wasn't blazing hot this year, but it's still easy to get dehydrated, and put yourself in a hole that is tough to claw out of. One day I noticed the urine was dark and it scared the shit out of me. Get dehydrated seriously and game over. I started drinking more all the time after that.

Another principle that I held true to was that in a 50 minute race in only moderate heat, if you "need" to be squeezing gels, and downing drink mix, you're kind of doing it wrong. My focus was topping off my energy stores before the race.

And a big focus on post race nutrition and cool down rides (Adam Myerson, notes that in race series like this, the recovery ride is more important than the warm up ride). This being the Tour of America's Dairyland, this was EASY. Big coolers filled with ice cold low fat (boo) chocolate milk were always available. So after 30-60 minutes of post race riding, I'd spin over to the milk tent (usually right next to the CycleOps trainer tent for those who didn't know all the great double secret trails and roads to ride on) and drink 2 8-oz cartons.

But back to breakfast? Since my races were generally at 2:30 in the afternoon (give or take), I made sure I was done eating a hearty breakfast by 11am. Usually it was:

2 or 3 scrambled eggs
2 or 3 pieces of bacon or sausage patties
2 medium glasses of orange juice
1 large bowl of cereal, with organic whole milk, combining Grape Nuts and Cinnamon Life.

On the 1 hour or so drive to race venues, I'd suck on a large water bottle, and often stop for a large cola or Dr. Pepper.

Once at the race, I'd go out for 30-50 minutes of easy riding (no openers required because of the day after day of racing routine), drink most of a small bottle, and down a package of cola/caffeinated chews and/or double salt margarita flavored clif shot bloks. I'd also chug one small can of Red Bull about 30 minutes before race time.

During the race, I basically had one small bottle of Osmo until I ran out, then just straight water. Which was fine, because honestly, the pace was usually such that reaching down for the bottle was basically out of the question. More often I'd drink 1/2 the bottle while listening to race instructions, then finish the rest after the race.

Interesting to note anyone who has listened to the Training Peaks food nutrition webinar from some time back. One point they talked about was the good in having a distended belly from drinking a lot immediately before the race. And while in theory, I understand the concept of increased surface area for more rapid absorption, I found that technique, tested over memorial day weekend, did not work for me. My belly needs to feel empty or I'm in trouble.

Also, during that seminar, I learned that the recommended dose of caffeine for someone my size is 240mg, or roughly 3 cans of Red Bull. I learned pretty quickly that I didn't need that much stimulant for these races. Although for the upcoming race in Albany, I might go there.

Racing Equipment
I raced my CAAD 10 with Ultegra 10 speed. Compact cranks, with an 11x23 in the back. I had plenty of gear for the climbing during the road race, but did notice that I was not infrequently in the 11 on some of the faster straightaways at crits. Never spun out, but still, I was in the 11.

And after the first two days of banging around on heavy training tires in the form of Conti Gatorskin Hardshell 25c tires, I thankfully switched to some "vintage" race hoops in the form of paired spoke Bontrager Race Lites shed with 25c Michelin Pro4 Comp tires, and latex tubes. I pumped them up before every race (they would lose about 20lbs overnight) to 110 in the back, 105 in the front. Sometimes a bit less.

I wish I had better race wheels, but I also do feel a certain amount of freedom racing with older hoops that are not very valuable anymore. Namely, when the road gets shitty, I don't start to twitch and weave to save my delicate $2800 wheels. I choose my line, I ride over shit and get it done.

Related, I find that organizers often go a little crazy with the orange paint and "over spray." It's important to circle the course enough times to know what you can ride over and what you need to avoid. YOU NEED TO KNOW. You cannot trust the orange paint.

Clothing
On most days, I wore the cheapest Champ Sys style shorts and the cheapest jersey.

Honestly, for summer racing the cheap jersey is a little thick, and so when I did the road race on the car track, where I knew it was going to be extra hot and no shade, I busted out a summer weight jersey that I ruined in a too hot dryer a few years back. Basically, it kind of looks like someone melted crayons all over it. But I knew that there weren't going to be spectators and it was going to be hot, so I wanted to be cool.

All days I wore a sleevless baselayer, my favorite being one that I won as a prime at White Plains from Sommerville Sports. Temp wise, I could have done without the baselayer, but during summer racing, the bib shorts can chafe something fierce.

I also brought a fleece long sleeve jersey and wore it during one particularly cool evening's cool down ride. Short fingered gloves always. I did not bring my skin suit because while it does have a little pocket up by the neck, I learned the hard way last year that a big honking set of rental car keys jammed up there by my neck was no bueno. Also, getting the numbers pinned just right by yourself is tricky. So I always had my car keys stuffed in one my jersey pockets.

Marc, thanks for the big download. You're race day eats I could not weather, but respecting the Belgian pro menu!

You're biggest gear with the compact is 50 x 11, that's still a 119" gear bigger than 53x12! Did not know that.

Re caffeine, there's newish research that calls for a lower dose (0.45-1.4 g per lb) of caffeine, above that the data says no ROI. 

Next year let's get you back there with some aero wheels, aero skinsuit (put keys in the Champ-Sys radio pouch), aero-lid. I'd bet you're looking at 30 watts savings any time you're eating wind, more than training could bring. Now where's my Lotto ticket ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDtmE5XnUOc

This racing sounds amazing. Maybe I'll come do masters with you next year

  

JohnMalcolmson said:

Next year let's get you back there with some aero wheels, aero skinsuit (put keys in the Champ-Sys radio pouch), aero-lid. I'd bet you're looking at 30 watts savings any time you're eating wind, more than training could bring. Now where's my Lotto ticket 


  

To be fair, most $2800 carbon fiber-rimmed wheels these days are stronger (more-impact resistant) than box-section aluminum rims.  It's amazing that Marc takes his delicate antiques out to bash them on rough roads.  

And the summer skin suit is not only sleek, but cooler than a jersey, and comes with pockets in back.  (the skin suit might save nearly as much as the wheels, depending on both wheel aerodynamics and how a jersey fits, and much better bang for the buck, think they run around $130)

The aero lid is a tough call on hot days.  I think the heating factor might overwhelm the speed advantage.