Adam 5th. Rode really well as a team. He made a pre-planned move and it was executed perfectly. I don't have much to report. Sat behind the chase. Lost a bottle on the bumpy descent and struggled to wrangle water the whole race on a hot day. Cramped at the end. I'll let adam tell the story. But really from my POV it was about as well executed a team plan as any I've seen.

Two strong riders and I jumped off with 20 miles to go. Bridged up to the break of two who were up the road. Another 3 later joined. It stuck. Did a fair amount of work to drive the break so was a little bit of a lottery at the end regarding what we/I had left and as to what'd happen on the final climb, I probably could have taken 4th, so let us down a bit. One guy played it brilliantly, he didn't take a turn for the last 10 miles, looked spent, took 2nd! Fair play, I didn't figure he was sandbagging.

If we'd have had a Kissena up the road for me to come up to, would have been superb. Would have posted an A-Team .gif: I love it when a plan comes together.

This is a tricky one. The more I analyse it the more I think we didn't do so great. Joaquin, Konrad, Ryan, Jeff: what do you think? If I would have been offered 5th with that roster before the race, I wouldn't have taken it.

Generally try not to complain about race organization as I can see how hard these events are to do, but in this case I will have a little grumble.

We won money but I wasn't able to collect it. 90 minutes after the race and an hour after results were posted the protest period had still not expired so I couldn't get our muffin money. Then, some guy protested so for an indefinite time they were resolving the issue. We had to leave, we have a three and a half hour drive back to NY and as it was I managed to get back home just before midnight, would have got home the following day if we had waited! They told me that they wouldn't post it to us either. Poor form. If you want guys to come to your event from far and wide, that's a BS move. The 'protest' did not succeed in altering anything in the end. There are rules for that very eventuality and it is unclear why they made up their own.

@Adam, you went from multiple attacks and solo riding off the front in the first few minutes of the first race of a hilly stage race, to observing a strong break up the road, letting it get established, bridging to it, working to help it stay away and then taking 5th.

(I daresay, "Adam from KMSR" might have attempted to solo off the the front of the break in the last 10 miles, gotten chased down, dropped on a climb, then swallowed up by the chasing peloton and finished DFL)

Next time you are in a similar situation, you get to fine tune your tactics so you've got the legs for podium. In the mean time...enjoy an excellent result garnered from A+ legs and AT LEAST A- tactics.

#perspective #bigpicture #greedycat3s

I guess one take home is details, I think we missed a fair few details in the race.  You mention a few that you overlooked in your preparation/racing, I too have a few things I overlooked.  From us not pre-riding the final climb before the race which we had ample time to do, to us not all lining up front row at the start.  We were just lacking in details I think.  I kind of see those things as "free speed" and any team would be foolish not to take them.  It's a lot easier to do the little things than improve your threshold power 5% so we should be doing them.  I guess that's a lesson for anyone at any race and wasn't specific for us this time around.

High School football coaches?

First off, this is a great race. It's super well run, and though a bit far, definitely worth the trip. Jeff and I had ~8am start times, so he booked a motel 8 minutes from the start and we went up the night before. This thing is organized as well, if not better, than "premier" races.

The race is kind of an interesting one -- an 11 mile circuit with a long, 3+ mile descent and a solid, but not insurmountable, climb at the end of each lap, leading into a false-flat finish. The final climb starts at around 15% (think the kicker on Ash in Piermont) but continues for a while.

My race was four laps. During the first, I decided to just chill, as it was unlikely for anything to happen with that long descent coming after the neutral rollout. The main key was to survive the descent, start moving up toward the climbs, and let the real race begin after the climb and into lap 2.

I do just that, and as we approach the climb at the end of lap one, the moto rolls back and yells "2 minutes!" The field was not very motivated, and since I wanted to try and win this race, I decide at the end of lap 1 to organize the chase. On the climb we hammer up, probably picking up some time, and try to get a break. I succeed in getting a group of four or five to work, and we rotate through. This goes on for a while, but once we reach the descent the field moves back up, and I just cruise down, conserving energy in the mix, before moving back toward the front at the bottom. 

This goes on a for a while, and I realize that a break isn't going to happen, and that we'll likely catch the rabbit without trying too hard. Those other guys, though? They're SUPER committed to making a break. It seems that in my effort to organize, I also somehow convinced them to absolutely bust their asses for the entire race. When I realize this on one for the descents, I actually laughed out loud. This was the essence of Tim's "Narrow the odds" mantra during the Peaks race tactics seminar. Sure, my work didn't yield any immediate results for me, but it DID lead to undesired results for my competition. Sweet.

Sometime toward the end of lap 2, I'm again at the front, and we can finally see the leader. He's within about 30 seconds, and others are yelling to go get him. A young junior turns to me and says "let's let him hang out there" -- turns out the leader is a super strong guy who finished third at Battenkill. I agree, and we "lead" the charge to do nothing. He's caught on the climb and seems happy to be back in the pack.

At some point toward the end of lap 3, I found myself thinking that this would be a grand time for something to actually happen. Guys were content to try and rest before the final lap. I was sitting around 4th wheel considering this when two guys at the front literally stop pedaling and look like they're about to have cup of tea. This is my sign -- I yell "fuck this shit!" and gun it. I quickly have a really nice gap and ride high tempo until the climb. About midway up, I'm caught, but the chase group -- led by my friend motivated friend from earlier in the race -- is huffing and puffing. The breakaway didn't work, but it tenderized my opposition. Mission accomplished. 

Final lap, we're on the descent, and this is clearly going to be an uphill pack finish. I'm ok with this, but know that there are legs still in the race. The big guys and trying to keep it mellow so they'll be in the mix, and I know that after the descent, it'll be time to start racing for real. As we're going down, I hear someone yell, and look to my right. There's Mr. Battenkill, moving off with a mechanical. Odds narrowed.

Coming into the last climb there are some rollers, and this is where guys started to get aggressive. Someone attacks. I follow, someone counters -- it was hard. Eventually, one guy countered the counter and got away. He solo'd and got the win. On the final climb, guys go bananas and start gunning it. I keep it steady but hard, and pass those who attacked early. Near the top, I jump around someone and realize that I'm pulling a pack up. Fuck. With about 200m to go a guy jumps around me, I get on his wheel, but in the end can't get around him. I'm in a group that's four or five wide. I got pipped, which gave me 7th, but after the race I find out that my friends from early on were also there -- largely behind me (I pipped one - Yale - at the line in the sprint). 



Looking at the numbers after, this was a really tough race. My NP for the whole race was above my FTP. I obviously worked harder in places than I should have, but I think it had the desired result. While checking results, a guy from RBNY (the only other NYer in my field) came up to me and mentioned how well I controlled and drove the race. He said that when I attacked late in the last lap, that he knew he had to be there. It was a nice compliment, and it's a good feeling to know that I can be aggressive, control the race, and still get a solid result. I'm at a point know where I feel like I should be in the top 10 of any field on any given day. Now it's time to figure out that finish so I can find the podium. 

Hoping to upgrade to Cat 4 next week and possibly, maybe start thinking about this race.... Reg closes June 7
https://www.bikereg.com/purgatory

Any takers?