Ninigret p-1-2-3 Final lapA team win! Tim Mitchell soloed to victory after winning the Waterville Valley time trial on Saturday. Lots of solo riding for Tim this week.
Here is how it went down. Four riders on the team. Tim,Sasha,Chandler and me. Conditions were typical Ninigret windy! The plan get in a break. On windy days more often then not Ninigret ends in a small break or solo. The course has too many corners making for numerous apparent wind direction changes which causes lots of chaos in the field. This means it is difficult for any group to get well organized. A early break works here most of the time when there is a mixed 1-2-3 field also there are lots of masters doing their second race making for some tired bodies who do not want to react to attacks. If you decide to wait it out you will almost always be racing for the minor places in races like this,the strong guys just take off and don’t look back.
The whole team lined up on the front row or the second row making for a good start position. I made a a attack right from the start riding about half a lap fast Nick Pignatello came by me to continue the high speed. This move did not work but my teammate Tim countered and I did work. he quickly opened a gap in the majority of the field didn’t even realize that the attack was gone. Since Tim is such a good time trial rider he had no problems riding and even pace on his own while the field attacked, attacked, slowed the gap kept getting bigger. After maybe 5 to 10 laps the gap was so big that very few people even knew that he was gone they thought they were still racing for first. The rest of us just stayed near the front covering any moves that when in waiting to see if anything else worked.
Once Tim finally lap the field we went back to racing to try and get in another move so we stopped blocking or being passive and started going with attacks and working. A good group formed with my teammate Sasha, Adam Meyerson and Chris Fisher. This group stayed away with Sasha getting second and back group and Sprint. I was in the middle with Ward Solar chasing hard but I blew up with two laps to go and finish at the back of the field. Tim went out the field sprint in Chandler was second in that. So the results for the day were Tim 1st Sasha 3rd and Chandler 7th and me 35th. A good team race!
some of the other riders that I coach the results to! Ale won the cat 5 race! Jim was second at the Waterville valley tt. Nick was 13th at Ninigret. Kelly was 11th at Ninigret. Mark the 22nd and did two races.
See you at the races. Amos
Welcome to another race report. So this weekend brought a 80 mile Sterling road race a classic New England event. The course is a 8 mile loop with a long flat section on a wide two lane road that lead into a longish climb that starts out with a short steep section a small downhill then a moderate rise that then turns into a false flat to the highest point on the course. You make a right turn onto a slight downhill that goes steeper roll up and down twice then make a right turn to another road that rolls up and down a few times before leading to a faster section where you make a fast left then a hard right back onto the long flat road. The course is fairly easy as road race courses go. Pavement is anywhere from very good to pretty broken up on the side of the road.
Weather was a factor this year,cool conditions 56 degrees with anything from no rain to torrential downpours. Since I raced in the afternoon it was wet then dry and the last few minutes were a heavy rain. Now you have to realize that when conditions turn for the worse it will take more then a few of your competitors out of the race,either they don’t bother coming,start the race but really lose motivation or quit early. Needless to say I like it when the competition makes it easier to do well so poor conditions are better for me.
I was asked a few times how to dress for this type of condition so here is what I wore. Helmet no hat(it was not raining enough and I would have been hot). Craft pro cool sleeveless base layer(good for intense racing) team jersey. A Castelli Sottile vest(it is clear so they can still see the numbers which is a rule if you didn’t know it I did take this off in the race when I was getting warm I threw it to someone in the feed zone). Arm and knee warmers from Assos they have a fleecy lining so not the straight Lycra kind some people use. Team shorts. Assos Lycra shoe covers with Craft wool socks. for the hands Santini neoprene gloves(which I took off because I was getting too warm).
How about food did you say? Well for 80 miles of moderately hard racing I ate 3 gels(whose wrappers I kept in my pockets which is a rule if you didn’t know it plus littering makes a race look bad. Have you ever ridden a race course after the race? Try it it looks bad.) 1 banana(I admit I did throw out the peel biodegradable) two bottles with Gatorade endurance(3 scoops per bottle) and half a bottle of water(I threw one bottle in the feed zone to someone I knew and got it after). I had no feeds at this race which lasted about 3 hours and 10 minutes. I did have to force myself to drink since it was cool and wet but I did need the water and food. If you tend to cramp later in the race look to eat and drink better.
We showed up with a good size team Dylan McNicholas,Matty O’Keefe,Chandler Delinks,Sasha and me. Now this race usually works out the same way most years, a early break takes the race. There is always a possible late race move that works but in general the move will be established before half way and stay away the whole time. So our basic plan was to get in the early move. Chandler took the first group Sasha the next. It came back together (team blunder) but split again on the hill with another attack which we missed(mistake number two). Sasha set steady fast tempo and brought the break back into bridgeable distance at the start of the climb. A few riders jumped and Dylan went with them. A rather large group bridged up making for a large split up the road with only one rider from the team in it. A little more pressure and that group split again with Dylan in that. For the rest of the team we made efforts to get in any move that looked like it was going to be organized and tried to make it so we could have a second rider or more in case the front group were to slow down. One key thing to remember is that having your rider in a break is great but at the same time if the break is let’s say 6-8 guys and he has a problem you do not want to block yourself out of the race if he has a problem. We lucked out with no problems for Dylan.
Mid race Sahsa bridged up to a group and they stayed out. In the mean time Matty decided to lighten his load and threw out his water bottle when he hit a crack therefore he was destined to ride it conservatively in order to finish. He did a long push on the main flat road while I took a nature break. Next time up the climb the remaining horse power in the field took off on the climb with about 4 laps to go. We had Sasha in the middle but this group went through them on the way to the break. At this point the race turned into a recovery ride so in order to make it worth me going I rode hard for a minute and then attacked to get in a small chase group. We spent the last three laps riding fast and finished about 3-4 minutes down on the break.
Up front a late bridge to the break was made by a few riders including former ccb’er Will Dugan, Jeremy Powers and a few others. Dylan’s group had been checking their weaknesses so they slowed down enough that they were caught but since they had been riding easy while the chase group Dylan was still able to power away at the end and win the race. I would like to embellish that more but i wasn’t there.
Other Good news is that Ale won the Cat 5 race so the coaching must be working. Dave had a good race in the p-1-2 making the move,Nick did a lot of work in the race which will benefit him later. My masters guys Scott,Mark and Kelly rode in terrible conditions I am happy they finished. Amos
So this weekend was my first race for the year over 100 miles. The race story from Turtle Pond sounded like a classic strong team working over the field…Rapha took the locals to school.
Team members:Dylan M,Tim Mitchell,Yahor,Sasha and me.
The plan:based on my previous long race experience a early move would work and stay away to the finish. So the plan was to try and get someone in a early move who was capable of staying away to the end. Based on last weeks Battenkill Invitational Tim and Dylan were the people for the job.
What happened:We started off in the rain,downhill neutral with most people shaking by the bottom. A relatively fast start ensued with attacks and counters and some chasing. Since we missed the move we needed to move towards the front and keep the move in check. The break consisted of 4-5 riders with only one Rapha rider in it the rest were locals.
Now the next part gets a little tricky. You have to understand you do not always want to chase and catch the break. Remembering the pre-race plan we want to be in the early break but we only have 5 guys and of them only two that can do something for the end. If we catch the break then we need to be in the next move. A strong rider would be able to bridge a 15 second gap on their own without any help. What Rapha and any strong team could do is get a rider up to the break before we get there and then ride further away. If we were to miss the move,get the wrong rider from out team in the move or our key riders has a problem we are out of contention.
So we set about chasing when the gap had grown too large. But with one longish pull by me and then Yahor and a few others the group came back into sight. At this point it was better to leave the break a little room to keep riding to leave our options open. One thing to realize is that if a break thinks their move is doomed they often sit up, again putting the race in a difficult situation to control with attacks and counters etc.
When the gap was holding steady Dylan made a counter attack and was joined by three others. This would have been good except they missed the turn went back and kept going. The field closed in and a Rapha rider countered through the group I followed. I refused to work because the guy just would have ridden me off on some rise and then the team would have been in a defensive roll again. Then his team mate bridges up with a few riders. I sit in and try and make it over the next rise which I do with the groups help. I continue to sit in in hopes that someone from the team will bridge up.
Tim comes to the rescue. Bringing the group up to about 15 riders. 3 Rapha riders a few westwood velo a few ccns, two Mengoni and some random guys with no team mates. Again this is still not great for us since we are out numbered by Rapha. We roll through for awhile with the weaker riders including me having trouble keeping the pace on the rolling hills. Notably there was a rider who keep forcing the pace on most of the climbs making it harder then needed. More on him later.
With a little less then a hour to go on a longish climb the inevitable attack came and the race for first was over. Two Rapha guys and Roger Aspholm were gone. By the time I bridged back on the race was for 4th. With half the guys in the bag and the third Rapha guy sitting on it was just a matter of riding it in not with any chance of catching the break away. I was not a whole lot of help since most of the time I was getting dropped and chasing back on. I let Tim know not to tow the group around,extra work here would not catch the break and would also likely lead to a worse finish. Just ride with the group and then make a move later. I didn’t say to Tim to attack because with a long way to go the group will normally out pace a strong solo rider or what happens more often then not the group breaks down so badly they get caught much sooner.
I finally came off the last time and rode in at my own pace. Being caught and passed by the groups. I looked up and upon turning into the park entrance I could see that Tim’s group was about to get caught by the chase group. I hoped he had enough left to make a run at the finish. I was cramping badly and was blown out the back of every group and was riding 8 mph all the way to the line. One thing to note was the guy who was forcing the pace on all the climbs and was amply strong didn’t make the move and was in the group that I was in. He should have been in the break.
Race recap
Battenkill 2×100 km loops.
We had two guys that were ready to race this race and 4 guys to help out.
Pre-race plan was to ride conservatively but stay in contention. Everyone was there to help Dylan and Cameron get the best result possible. If anyone had a problem they were to make a max effort to get back into contention,this could prove valuable even if was just handing up a wheel to someone else etc.
As a team we had a good race putting our most capable riders in a position to do something towards the end of the race. Help included giving bottles,pushes,encouragement and what ever else was possible. Feeding and all bike prep was handled by Arnie.
Contrary to some of that online writer bull that you may have read the amateur teams did not come to spectate,but you have to realize that the longest race we have done was the week before at 80 miles. Most regional teams have only done a few races, look for them to produce better results when the middle of the season come relative to what the pro’s results are.
My own race was anti-climatic. I was doing better then last week staying in on harder parts of the course but did get popped off at the top of the first hill on meeting house. I keep going hard and latched onto the back a small group skipped a few pulls and started to work. My first two or three pulls I could barely get by the guy but then we turned onto a small rise and the group just broke down. They said I was pulling too hard,but when I looked around I see 5 “pros”. Contrast this with last week when I was with 5 “amatures” we chased for miles and caught on only to get dropped on the next hard section of the course. Now the end result isn’t really different but how I felt about the race was. So I went home frustrated to not have gone to my own limits. Next week!
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