Masters Omnium Criterium - 7 seconds can be an eternity

Sunday evening was the final event in the Washington state masters omnium championship. Shortly before 7pm, the masters C field rolled off the start line for a 30 minute long criterium. I managed to have probably the worst start of my career. As can happen occasionally, I had difficulty getting my foot clipped into my pedal quickly. No big deal. I figured I'd pedal a few strokes unclipped to stay near the pack and try again. In the process of doing that, my chain dropped off. With my speed dropping, I urgently tried to shift my chain back on and get my foot in my pedal. Just as I was about to hop off and put the chain back on by hand, it finally shifted on and my foot clipped in and I was off in pursuit of the pack. It seemed at the time like this crisis had taken forever, but in watching video today that my wife shot, I saw that the whole mess transpired in seven seconds. Still, I was left with a pretty good gap to close to the pack. It took half a lap but I managed to rejoin the group and try to settle in for the race. Fortunately, masters tend to ease into their races. If that had been a category 4-5 pack, which usually start full gas, I'm not sure I would have gotten back. As I caught the pack, I took a deep breath and told myself that must have been my bad luck for the race.

The course was basically flat and sort of triangular in shape. Each lap was about a kilometer in length and enclosed a few blocks around city hall. The pace was fairly quick but steady. Only a few attacks tried to get away during the race. Unlike most of my criterium experiences in recent years, I was quite comfortable and was able to focus on positioning and trying to get a result rather than just hanging on. As the race wore on, I tried different pack positions and lines through the last couple corners to see what might work. As the last lap began, the pace elevated as expected and I was only able to hold a mid-pack position. We all got through the last two corners safely and began the sprint down the finishing straight. Although, I didn't manage to move up more than a place after the last corner I also managed not to lose any spots. After crossing the line, I counted the riders in front of me and realized I had finished 13th. With points going 15 deep, I was in a points paying position.

I had been sitting 5th in the omnium standings after my strong time trial result earlier in the day and these few points from the criterium might help me keep a high omnium finish. They did. I slipped one spot, but finished the weekend in 6th place in the omnium standings for the masters C field. It was easily my best complete weekend of racing of my career. Its been a while coming, but it feels really good.

Masters Omnium TT - That's what I'm talking about

Usually, when I go to omniums, I put in good time trials. I'm usually in the points and generally somewhere between 7th and 10th place. I've been waiting for the day when I put it all together and jump a little further up the results table. Today was that day.

Today's TT was eight miles in length and started at the Padilla Bay Interpretive center and headed north. The profile in the tech guide made the course look like it had a good size hill to climb over in the middle of it, once each way. The reality was that it started on a plateau overlooking Padilla Bay for a couple miles and then dropped down onto the flats for a couple miles until the turnaround. The only real hill was on the return leg climbing back up onto the plateau and it wasn't all that bad.

I started well and settled into a pretty good pace right away. Typically, the first challenge in a TT is to avoid going out too strong and blowing up. With tired legs from yesterday's road race, I don't think anyone had that problem. I overheard numerous comments in the parking lot after the race regarding rider's inability to elevate their heartrates to their usual levels. Today was less about finding that perfect max aerobic pace and more about just pushing through the pain and fatigue caused by yesterday. It was akin to the last rep or two in a weightlifting set in the gym. The whole race was just trying to keep pushing a little more.

I dropped off the plateau and down onto the flats. This stretch of the course to the turnaround was dead flat and straight for two miles. It was a little like being on a treadmill, there wasn't much sensation of movement. I made a decent turn, maybe a little wider than necessary, and got back on the gas for the return leg. The flats passed quickly and I was faced with getting back up onto the plateau. Again, blowing up wasn't much of a risk, so I just stood and kept the wheels turning as quick as I could.

Back up top, I could see the rider who started thirty seconds ahead of me, and although I wasn't going to catch him, by marking his time as he passed the 1k to go mark I could tell I was a couple seconds ahead of him. I dug in and really tried to lift my pace as all I could think of is that it would be a drag to lose a place to him when I was up with a kilometer to go.

I crossed the line and saw on my watch that my time was in the neighborhood of 18:30 for the 8 miles. Not too bad. I was sure I'd be in the points and probably well in the top-10. When the results were posted, I'd managed 2nd place, only about 5 seconds behind first. And my thirty second man? He was in third, two seconds behind me.

2009 State Masters Omnium - Road Race

Today was the first event in the Washington State Masters and Juniors Omnium Championships. Unlike most omniums which start with a time trial, today featured the road race with a time trial and criterium on tap for tomorrow. The road race was held on the challenging Northshore road race circuit which is about 8 miles per lap and has about 500 feet of climbing per lap divided primarily between two main climbs. A strong wind was blowing as well providing that extra touch.

After my disappointment with my effort and result at last weekend's state TT championship, I was hopeful that this weekend's racing would help me put that behind me. I didn't get a chance to pre-ride or drive the course so when I rolled away from the start with 36 other masters C riders, it was a little bit of a voyage into the unknown. Our race was to be 6 laps plus another time up the first climb to the finish at the top. This would leave us with a tally of about 50 miles and 3300 feet of climbing for the day.

In less than a mile, the first climb began. It was kind of a stair step affair with sections of various steepness but gained a couple hundred feet in about a mile. The pack took it at a fairly relaxed pace, with everyone still loosening up a little bit. After the "frontside" climb, the course had a long mostly flat, downwind leg that kept the speed nice and high. At this early point in the race, I was mostly still settling in and taking notice of any riders whose pack riding skills, or lack thereof, might make them a hazard to be avoided. Usually these riders are no longer in contact after a lap or two. Today was no exception. The rider that most worried me today had a habit of changing which wheel he was following without making sure he was clear. It's fairly amazing he didn't take anyone down, but he was off the back on lap two.

After the fast downwind section, the course turned and headed back into the wind and towards the other main climb, which also had the feed zone located at the top of it. The wind on this section was strong and as we turned onto it, the pack would stretch a little and riders near the back would have to sprint out of the corner to close back up with the group. I suspect more than a couple tired riders lost contact at this point today as the wind took its toll.

The "feed zone" climb was simlilar in size to the frontside climb, but was much more steady in its grade. It was followed by a fast, steady descent back down to the start area. On the descent, there was a couple spots with crosswinds that seemed to make life difficult for those racers running deep section wheels. You could certainly tell who had ridden their fancy wheels in the wind before, and those who had not.

The first few laps were marked by occasional attempts by riders to form breakaways. As would be expected on this course, the pack was also steadily losing numbers out the back. I think it was on lap four that a breakaway of four or so riders finally got a good gap and disappeared off into the distance. By this time the remaining field was down to about 15 riders or so. The pack had been pretty quiet up to this point. Generally, there is a little small talk going on between riders throughout the race, but I think today's effort kept the chat to a minimum. On lap 5 that changed, I think we all came to the same conclusion, the break was gone and with two laps to go there was no reason squander our individual chances chasing it. With omnium points going 15 deep, everyone still in the pack was in the running. The pace eased noticeably and the small talk picked up. Even approaching the feedzone climb for the last time, guys were chatting away like it was a weekend club ride.

We came down the descent quite leisurely, as everyone was waiting for the final time up the front side climb and the "bonus" 200m long climb on a side road to the finish line. As we rolled onto the bottom of the climb, I tried to be patient and get up it at my own pace, but obviously as fast as possible. I was pretty spent by this point and although I lost contact with the group, I was still hopeful I might pick off a straggler or two by the top and get into the points. As it was I caught and dropped only one but was able to hold him off to the line. The final 200m turned off onto a side road and was the steepest part of the whole race. By the time I was halfway up it, I was seeing stars. I got across the line and was quite relieved to be done and extremely happy with how I had ridden on this challenging course. For the record, I missed out on the points, but I did finish 17th out of 37 starters. Hopefully, I've got something left in the legs for tomorrow's time trial.

2009 State TT Championship - Dealing with disappointment

When I reconned the course for this year's time trial championship a few weeks ago, I realized it was going to be a challenge and that conditions would play a big part. As I arrived at the race site this past sunday, a stiff wind was blowing and it was clearly going to be a big headwind for the return leg of the race. The course also featured a sizable hill to climb over within a mile or so of the turnaround point. This was going to be a day where correct pacing would be critical. I felt good warming up and although I didn't expect to set the world on fire, I felt I was ready and capable of doing a good ride and turning in a solid time.

I rolled off the start line quickly and settled in to a slightly reserved pace. The small roller a half mile into the race passed easily and with a strong tailwind, I was flying right along. Knowing I had a big hill to get over twice and a strong headwind to battle on the return trip, I tried to hold back just a bit on the way out and not give into the temptation to ride like a wind-aided hero only to half nothing left for the second half. At mile 10, the kilometer long climb began, and I got up it fairly quickly and down the other side without being blown off the road at 45mph in the buffeting winds. The climb broke my rhythm a bit, but I found it again just before the turnaround.

The turnaround was uneventful. Usually, I wouldn't even mention the turn, but this course was on a highway that had "rumble strips" on the centerline. I hadn't even thought about them until the manmade potholes appeared before me as I rounded the cone. The wind was immediately apparent as I headed back towards the hill. The return side of the hill was a little steeper and featured the headwind as well. I struggled a little on it and probably lost a fair amount of time. Over the hill and down the other side, all that was left was to fight as hard as possible into the wind back to the finish. I struggled at times to keep my speed above 20mph and dropped as low as 17mph at times. I got back to the finish with a time on my stopwatch of about 1:02. I knew it wasn't a great time, but given the conditions, I thought it might place me mid-field or so.

I went and cooled down and then back to the car to change clothes and have a snack. An hour had passed since I crossed the finish so I headed over to check out the results. To my shock, I was listed in last place with a time of over 1:24, worse yet the results had been posted a half hour earlier, so by rule, it was too late to protest them. I asked a volunteer if the officials were still around, but was informed that they had left. My correct time was only going to move me up a couple places, it really was a poor ride, but I at least wanted to know what my actual time was. I sent an e-mail to the results company when I got home pointing out the error and they were able to get my correct time to me the next day, 1:02:12. It was only good enough for 15th out of 18 riders in the masters C field.

After getting home that evening, showering, and eating some dinner, it struck me that I really didn't feel all that tired. I definitely did not "leave it all on the course". For whatever reason, I had a bad day and couldn't or didn't push myself hard enough. This event had been a main priority for my season so I am pretty bummed, but life goes on. My next race is the state masters omnium championships in Bellingham next weekend. At the very least, I'll try to get back on track in the TT.

Tdf Team Time Trial - F1 on a dirt oval?

Today's team time trial stage of the Tour certainly proved suspenseful and exciting but at times it also seemed a little absurd. I'm all for a technical time trial course rather than just a straight wide highway but asking nine guys to ride full-gas with precision and focus on a narrow, super twisty course in a windy part of the world is a little like asking Formula One cars to put on their best performance on a 1/4-mile dirt oval.

Pros riding a team time trial should be about speed, power, and poetry in motion, not who can navigate a super complicated roundabout without falling over or blasting off into the weeds. Furthermore, a course like today's puts the lower budget teams at even more of a disadvantage as they probably don't have the time or resources to dedicate to the ultra-thorough reconnaisance required to ride the course at top speed without falling all over themselves.

Lets keep the dirt track cars on the dirt tracks and Formula One cars on the road race circuits.