Race Result

Racer:	Richard Gendron
Race:	Ride Sally ride
Date:	Saturday, June 7, 2008
Location:	Sterling, VA
Race Type:	Bike - Other
Age Group:	Male 40 - 44
Overall Place:	6 / 50
Comment:	A Mountian Biker, a Pro Triathlete and 48 CAT 5 Roadies

Race Report:

Course was a 1K bowed triangle. The streets were closed, so the course was wide open - four lanes of traffic. The finish was particularly nice without any pinch points. The big boys with high-end power should definitely be able to find their way to the front of this finish.

Race was scheduled for 25 laps or 15 miles. Despite the course favoring a field finish, we knew there would be some guys trying to break away and win the race on pure fitness/strength. Ted from Evolution (an experienced Mountain Biker with a huge engine and good power) recently won Kelly Cup on a break. On Friday night we heard about a PRO triathlete entering the CAT 5 race. Mike from Team Accelerade is not a Pro, but he is really close. I had one teammate in the race, wiki-Mike, who has been riding really well lately. Our strategy was to mark Ted and triMike and get one or both of us into a break with one or both of them. We were not going to initiate attacks, but rather save our energy for counter punches. Nathan Miller was also there from Coppi - we knew we'd have to keep an eye on him, but also know he would help us keep an eye on Ted.

The Race started out slow. I jumped on Ted's wheel and we spent a 1.5 laps chatting about family, the weather, work and generally bonding. (not really, but it felt that way) On lap two, the race started with a half-attack from Ted. I covered and we strung out the field by turn 3. The attacks started coming about every half lap. Ted, then tri-Mike, repeat. wiki Mike and I were taking turns covering with help from Nathan and a couple others. At one point there were six of us with a gap (Ted, Mike, me, wiki and two others). I made the mistake of pulling during that break, when I should have been recovering. It was pretty furious up front, and the large field was hanging in there.

On lap 8 Ted put in an attack that I could not cover. I had been on tri-Mike and got in a bad position. I then saw tri-Mike go after Ted, with wiki-Mike on his tail. In a matter of one lap they were a good 5 seconds off the front. I started to block and generally disrupt the field until it was clear that the break would stick. I thought - "this is exactly what we want !" wiki-Mike will podium, and I get to sip tea and kick back until the sprint for 4th. Nathan was doing all the work for the field. I swear he pulled us around for 2 full laps. I felt for him, but was not going to help bring wiki-Mike back.

Four laps into the break I was flabbergasted to see wiki-Mike's head go down as e dropped from the break. It was a good 10 seconds out at that point. (In all fairness, wiki-Mike torched himself at Wakefield on Thursday night - just 36 hours prior to the race). I would have bet 3 to 1 on wiki sticking in with the break. It took me a lap or two to work my way back to the front. I found wiki-Mike, asked him if he wanted me to pull him back to the break after a rest. I think he said, "I'm toasted". (he later said he was close to DNF) Game plan change - get to he front and help pull in the break. In the meantime, I think they got 18 seconds out. with 8 to go I started swapping pulls with Nathan, but did not appear be having much effect. Some others joined in and we made a bit of progress.

With 5 to go, I decided to pack it in and rest up for a sprint for 3rd. To his credit, Nathan kept working with a couple others.
With 3 to go, we had them back to 8 seconds. Stupidly, I moved up and put in another pull - and I could have bet we would catch them. I also realized that if I kept working to pull them in, I would finish in 20th.

I dropped deep into the filed for a 1 lap breather and tried to think my way through the finish. There was not a single wheel in the field that I wanted. Nathan finally popped. Then I saw wiki up front still hanging in. I worked for most of the last lap to get to wiki-Mikes wheel, sitting in about 12th. He started to sprint the second I got on his wheel, so I let him lead me out for 50 yards and then pulled around and hit the burners. Somewhere around 75pct of full speed, I realized something was wrong ("what?"). I looked down in horror and saw my hands on the hoods. Then the line hit me as I made it to 6th.

After the race, CAT 4 sprinter extraordinare Mo-Joe Mazza had these encouraging words. "You have disgraced yourself, don't ever refer to yourself as a sprinter in my presence again". Actually it was something like " always in the drops for the last lap". But I know what Joe wanted to say.

Up front, Ted attacked tri-Mike on the last lap and got away from him to win. Tri-Mike said he was close to folding, but found the courage to make his hard work pay dividends and took second.

I let my PT time out before the race and only noticed a few laps out, so here is the last 28 min. It missed the part of the race where we were covering attacks.

Mini Geek Data

Duration: 28:03
Work: 360 kJ
Distance: 11.9 mi

------------------Max-----Avg
Power: ----------1,061----214 watts
Heart Rate:--------189----175 bpm
Cadence: ----------178-----78 rpm
Speed:-----------35.77--25.48 mph

Added Later - My Son's Race
Race Debrief
Racer: Richard V. Gendron
Race: Ride Sally Ride Kid Race, Age Group 4-6
Weather: Pretty Hot
Result: 1st in age group, 6th overall

[This debrief is recounted from dinner conversation as we were informing mom about the race]

Me: So how did you like the race today ?
Richard: I LOVED it
Me: What was the best part ?
Richard: I didn't fall over
Me: What did you like about being a road marshal ?
Richard: Making the cars go really slow and stop
Me: Me too, did you enjoy meeting all your teammates ?
Richard: Yes, but I don't have the same shirt as everyone else.
Me: Who took care of you during the race ?
Richard: Mr. Ryan, I like him
Me: Did you know that Mr. Ryan won his race too ?
Richard: REALLY, did he beat all the other kids in his class ?
Me: Yes, by a long shot
Richard: Is Mr. Ryan a MONSTER KILLER ?
Me: Uh, Well, I guess you could say that
Richard: Will I be a MONSTER KILLER like him when I grow up ?
Mom: You can be anything you want to be if you try really hard

Ryan, Liz and anyone else who helped put on the kid race - Many people deserve thanks today, but we want to specifically thank you for the special effort with the kids. Richard was very proud of his medal and very proud to have been wearing a whole wheel shirt while racing (thanks to Gus for his Cafe Press efforts)
And thanks to Gus and others for making it possible for me to break away to get him in time for the race.