Wenatchee Omnium 2008, TT first results.

It was very hard TT. Strong sidewind. I did not push hard enough, was struggling to keep bike straight. So it was probably my worst TT, with average power 255W, and 43rd (!) place. Or well, at least I got some training. Crit is in few hours.
Here is picture of the results. It is hot outside. Probably 90F. Everyone seems very tired. But I hope for the better :-)

Ravensdale - Cumberland Road Race 05/10/08

The coarse was changed this year. Infamous “wall” was eliminated, due to the condition of Franklin road. Instead we were climbing 392nd street. 62 miles total.

Cycle U had better showing in CAT4 this time: me, John and Mark were racing in CAT4, and Kenton was stuck in CAT5 since he has not upgraded. Sabrina was doing women’s race.


There were few short climbs on the route, but not as bad as during Longbranch race. First hill was right after the C2 turn, we actually did 3 times.

The C2 bump was about the minute time ( 45 sec last time, during attack). Power for this hill was like this:
Lap#1-360W, Lap#2 412W, Lap#3 510W

The wall replacement climb, was SE 392nd street, is about the same length as C2, but steeper.
Lap#1-415W, Lap#2 493W ( ~ 1 minute duration)

There were few other smaller bumps, like one after the bridge. I felt pretty strong up the smaller climbs this time, cold must be over now. There was once serious breakaway attempt on Lap 1 ( by Avanti Racing?), in the right place. Carter guys were fed up and chased it down.

John did really well, staying close to the front of the pack during the first lap. Second lap, I spend mostly close to the front, but a little behind 1st row. Mark did extremely well, and was following me when I was moving to front. We did few pulls of the pack. On the second lap, we played little blocking. Mark followed attack of one rider, and I sit for awhile in front. Pack reacted pretty fast though. But it was good teamwork trial. We did not have real breakaway plan, but still. I did not ride with Mark before, he is definitely very strong rider, and good addition to CU team. With John tremendous progress and good power/weight ratio we have a good team this time. It will be interesting at Wenatchee with Ryan and Nelson in the pack as well. Both are excellent climbers, probably few of the best in 4th.

On the last turn from Retreat Road, young Rad Racing guns tried attack on C2 hill, then there were 3 more attacks I’ve help to chase, which was probably a mistake. After chasing 3rd attack I readlined ( 1 mile to go), and thought I will not make it to the finish, but pace slowed and all peloton caught up with us. I had 2 minutes of rest, but was boxed, since I was more concerned to get rest after the chase.
The sprint finish was not what I expected. It was much longer. I sprinted too hard out of the corner, passed people and died on the second hill up. At that point big group, who sprinted at slower speed passed me. The same happened to Mark, he started too strong too, I guess he recovered a second sooner, and passed me just before the finish line. We did not place.
I think just a bit above normal pacing up the finish hill, and we have chance to place. No biggy.

John, cramped before the finish hill, unfortunately, but did all the race strong. It was great training. I think my cold is over now. I need to regain my strength back. which means only one thing, more training and more rest :-)


Here is the power file from the race.


It is interesting to compare to Brad’s Cat3 file. Looks like the pace in 3s was 1.6 mph higher. It will take some training to get into 3s.
PS. I stole pictures from Beki's gallery. Hope she doesn't mind.

Not if, but when. Seward Park Crit 05/08/08

We had pretty good Cycle-U showing today for the crit at Seward park. I got there earlier and registered for A ad B races. (My rest week, so coach said I need to do both).
Evan and Doug just arrived there as well. I went for few laps around and listened to FRM guy’s clinic, mostly to see proper line around the corner. It was my first time doing the Seward crit. Then I saw Ryan D setting up his bike. I showed him how to use the camera. He did outstanding job filming the crit and making helpful comments.

CRIT-A (4/5) video is here

My goal for the crit was to get comfortable with cornering at speed and get some workout. It is only 3rd crit I’ve done so far. Mixed 5/4 field was sketchy as usual. Speed up the hill was OK, but not killing my legs. On one lap I even ended up in front passing field up the hill, then staying in the first line until next lap. I paid for this next time up the hill, but recovered quickly.
On the bell lap up the hill, I geared up and started to pass people on the left. Unfortunately guy in front of me slightly to the right, got pushed, and ended up hitting the curb and going down. There was no way for me to avoid it, since my speed was around 20 mph, going up the hill at 700W for the last 10 seconds.
Oh well, my front wheel went up, bike down, and me on the pavement. Guy was sorry, but it was not really his fault. He helped to get my chain back, I’ve checked for damage. Bike seemed to be fine. I had few scratches on the wrist, elbow and outer knee. And, the SRM’ computer shell, where it mounts was broken and computer was hanging loose. Hmm.
Here is power file from the race until the fall. Suffice to say I did not sprint, but it seems like Jim, Doug and Evan finished good. It seems like Dough is really improving (11th?).


Anyway, I rode back to the start line just in time to jump into B race from the end of the pack. No power data for this ride, since I had to disconnect SRM computer with broken mount.
The race was going in clockwise direction. Great, new corners to learn! I’ve hanged with the field for 7 laps, but then got gap opened and pulled out. Adrenaline ran out after the crash! Later I found my front wheel was not true anymore, so it was probably bad idea to do fast right turn on this wheel anyway.

Well, if cyclocross season taught me anything, it is not question of if you’ll crash, but when. But, I’ll get crash like this any day.
I’ll do this crit again. Next criterium though is at Wenatchee Omnium.

Here is video from CAT 3/4 (I shoot after I’ve pulled out to my disgrace :-0)
Ryan D (who directed Race-A video) stayed strong and in front. He said he started sprint too yearly. Sure, probably saving yourself for the Wenatchee, right Ryan? LOL. Stay strong.

Best of all, it was good to see Cycle U team-mates finally coming to the races.

Longbranch RR, 05/04/08

2008 Washington State Senior Road Race Championships. The race was held at the Longbranch, WA. Quite nice place. It was pretty warm, SRM was showing nice 68F before the start.

Here is course profile from the last year race I found online. CAT4 was 4 laps: 975 feet gain per lap, or 3902 feet total elevation gain.

I’m not sure which hill people call the wall, but one I had most problems with was 250 feet climb, not the 150 ft climb after the bridge. There was only one tricky left turn, but on average the route was not as technical as at Elma week ago. The race was much tougher though, at least for me.


Here is how it went.

First lap started OK, I’ve tried to stay close to head of the 70 people pack. I did not know the course. So first time after 100 degree left turn, I was in a line of 5-6 people in front of the pack. We went pretty fast over the first bump at 340W and 1:30 minutes, and then fast short downhill again, and then there was wall. I was trying to hang to the very head of the pack, and made it through in 2 minutes and 417W. It definitely cost me a lot of matches. I did not know how many times I could do it. The short uphill on the first lap was not bad, since I timed it just right to ride it up carrying speed after the bridge without breaking. Or 1 minute at 400W. Second lap proven to be tough. Speed picked up
Second time up the wall I just was glad to make it with the main pack. Third time, I made it in the very end of what has left of the pack, but lost few seconds, and hold on to some guy in green jersey to get 5 seconds back to the pack. I was oh so close to drop off. I hardly stayed with the pack up the short climb at the bridge, after being stuck in the back. The pack got neutralized on the 4th lap after the passing start line/gradual hill, due to the crash ahead. It screwed up everyone’s legs. After we were moving again, before the left turn, I went on the right of the pack to get in first group of 6-7 people. Unfortunately it did not help me. Fast descent, up the wall last time, my legs just seized after a minute of the climb. I’ve slowly finished the hill the best I can, but was 10 seconds behind the pack, at that point car has passed me. Even though my legs went back good as new in 2-3 minutes. I’ve set in my TT mode until the finish line,crossing it 14 minutes later with total time 1:57.


Wall time and watts ( ~0.39 miles) :
1:57/417W (5.7 W/Kg)
2:15/370W (5.0 W/Kg)
2:05/373W (5.1 W/Kg)
2:22/332W (4.5 W/Kg)

I felt like mine endurance was not enough for this race that I neglected to do long rides lately. Granted, I still coughing up mucus, but cold is pretty much over. Maybe I need to give it another week, and continue training.


Power file is here:

After the race, I’ve stayed to watch CAT3 and 1/2 race.
Brian (BI), Zach (FRM) and Matt (NRC) joined me later.
Mark T. of Cycle-U had his first road race, did not crash. Here is he warming up:

Bradley was there too and had fun race. Chris of Cucina was late to register and had to start race late and chase the pack, but never caught it.

Here is I, after the suffering.

Invasion of Powermeters, 05/01/08

Right on time, May 1st 2008, Competetive Cyclist announced availability of Wireless SRM with Garming Edge 705. Details are here.
Price is $3800, and Edge (GPS) is included, cranks are Dura-ace. Please note, that according to SRM website, SRM’s powercontrol VI will come out in July.

Of coarse, yesterday Quarq sent email, announcing production of their power-meters with shipping in May, though NO particular date is set, AGAIN!

How much will it cost you, let's try to count:
FSA team carbon crank set–240+,
Quarq’s Cinqo $1200
Garmin 705 ( HR+Speed sensor) $600
=$2040.
I think Quarq has mentioned that you have to sent cranks for the install, so there might be some additional cost involved.


And, in case you have missed the news, earlier this year Saris has released Powertap disc-wheel with build in power meter:

At the cheapest it will cost you $3K for the 900-tubular model, and 3,500 for the Sub9.
So, say Quarq+ZIPP 900 ($2100+ ZIPP 900/$1500)=$3600. So, unless you have spare old SRM, Powertap disk is still cheaper.

Is it time to upgrade? Hmm….
I like price of Quarq, but not the current supported crank’s choice. SRM might be the most reliable way to go, especially if you want to try it during cyclocross season, but 3 month of Quarq usage should give you us a picture of reliability. Also, Garmin…. There are some concerns with power drain there.

Vance Creek Road Race 04/27/08

Yesterday night, I was pretty much set to take it easy next day, skip the race and recover. But, somehow I woke up early. My resting heart rate finally was out of the red zone. I’m still coughing and sneezing, but legs felt fine. I decided to go for it after all. I knew that 5 or 6 other CU guys are going to be there, so I thought I’ll come race with them in Masters C/D this time, see if I can give support and get some work out, and maybe not to get dropped. I only had some cereal for breakfast, dropped in my bike in the car, and departed for Elma, WA.
Guys were surprised that I’m going to race masters with them, since I always race Cat-4. It looked like Gary and Doug seems to have good legs, so it was a plan to help them in the race as long I can. There was total 6 of us from Cycle U team, plus Sabrina’s father came for his first race. Somhow Gary forgot his helmet. I rode around the parking lot for a while asking everyone for the helmet. Luckily Jeff from Byrne Invent had a spare one. By that time, Gary was able to secure helmet after all from organizers, though initially they could not find one. Anyway Jeff thanks for the help. We owe you one!

It was the biggest field I saw: 99 people in Masters C/D. So our 6 people team was a drop in the ocean. The sheer amount of riders, made it hard to execute any team tactics. Race started at very hard pace, and apparently we lost Doug in the very beginning due to dropped chain. I even have not seen it. I kept in contact with Ken, Brad, Jon, and saw Gary further in front. The course was quite technical with a lot of turns, narrow road and finally hills. First time around hill felt fine. I got stuck in the middle of 80 some people pack after the hill, but still saw Gary somewhere ahead of me, but lost other people. On the lap 2, up the hill, rider in front on me went down, and I had to literary ride over his nice ZIP 404 looking wheel. This fall, created split in the field, and I had to follow other rides up the hill at high pace to stay in contact with the pack, but had not enough gas left for the short uphill, where the gap between main pack opened. Me and another guy from Wines were behind and I don’t know how many behind us. It took two of us about 5 minutes of TT effort to chase it back to the main pack, with total 7 minutes over my threshold power. Apparently, another group of riders were able to join main pack as well, including Gary. He stayed behind me for 10 minutes, but on the flat section there was another huge crash. It looked like 10-15 people went down in the middle of the pack. I was lucky enough to swirl around them just in time. Another chase! Gary said he has no gas left and told me to go. I had to put 380W for a minute @27 mph to bridge to the pack again, but it was not bad, since It was not after the hill. But big hill was yet to come. Pace picked up. Final climb lasted for 3 minutes, which I apparently took at my VO2Max. I’ve finished with the main pack, thou it was quite shuttered. It was 38th place ( out of 99 people).


I had to say, C/D race was not anything like I expected. Firstly, pace was much harder than I remember in any of CAT4 races. Secondly, it was not safe at all. There were a lot of crashes ( most I saw whole season) , mechanicals, bad bike handling up and downhill. I blame it on people using carbon wheels and huge field on a technical course. With carbon wheels you have to be careful how you break. Modulation is not as good as with regular rims. It is easy to lock it, if you a little bit off. And virtually every second guy in masters was on carbon rims. Here is the power file from the race.
Mission accomplished. I rode with the team, got workout. Everyone finished the race without the crash. Hopefully I will ride back into the form, and get over this damn cold!

UPDATE: race results can be found HERE

Green Valley Time Trial or Never play chicken with cars.

I’ve arrived earlier to setup CU tent there and put more time in warm up. I’m still suffering from cold, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday at home, recovering. Last 2 days were better ( and one has to work ☺ ), so TT was the test of current condition. (I’m still sneezing and coughing and resting heart-rate is in Polar optimizer 9 – overtraining, which is just a cold).

On the start, timer guy noticed that I am in a small chain ring, and I’ve switched into big one right away, 15 seconds before the start :-) Not sure how did I miss that one. Anyway, I’ve struggled to get in balance a bit, but trusted the holder guy and started clipped in. Initially, it felt OK, and I was ready to treat turn around like a finish line, but somehow it did not come after the turn I was expecting it to be. It was just orange mailbox (LOL). I made the turnaround slowly, but without unclipping this time. That probably saved me 5 seconds. If only I did not break this much, I could have saved another 5. Anyway, on the way back legs started to hurt. I felt, what I did not expect, IT-bands were not ready for lactate shock. I’m quite sure, that all those days skipping the training and trying to get over the cold caught up with me.

It was a struggle to get back. I only found a little bit of will to stay over 300W for the last 1K or so to go.

So, I’ve ended up 18th in CAT4. 29:02. Average power was 10 Watts below last TT, and only 8 Watts better then last year.

Here is power file, and here are the results.
I'm still questioning where should I do race tomorrow or just get some rest.

BTW, I had almost near death experience there, which somehow did not bother me during TT ! Just as I looked down for 2 seconds, then up, some car looking like Ford Victoria was passing big white truck, behind a rider in the left lane. So this Ford in my lane, coming directly towards me and is what feels like 30 feet in front of me. Anyway, I guess I was just right enough or both me and car driver had enough time to react, but he passed a feet or 2 on my left, he is completely over yellow line on my side, Big white truck in another lane and me somewhere 2 feet on the left from the white line. I think he tried to pass that truck in a turn and did not realize I was coming. Anyway, always look up! Always.