CU Bikes ‘n Bunnies crit
Boulder, CO / March 23, 2008
Both Eric and Greg were hanging strong for much of the race until a couple crashes forced them to bridge a gap to catch the field shortly before some strong attacks that managed to shell the riders off the back. Craig and I had plenty of face time at the front of the field the whole day and I took several attacks off the front to string out the field and make the race a little more interesting.
Koppenberg Circuit Race
Superior, CO / April 6, 2008
Ryan Hughes said:
The 3s were clicking pretty well today. Craig, James Sharp (anyone know his email address?), and I rocked the 6 lap, 30 mile sufferfest today. None of us got decent starting line positions, but immediately all three of us were at the front pulling the pack. As soon as we’re on the dirt, Craig lays down the law on the front and pulls the pack for the majority of the first lap. I think “take it easy” doesn’t register here.
The pack stayed together through the koppenberg on the first three laps and nobody put in any serious attacks at this point. Immediately after the climb, the pace increases, but everyone stays together. On the third lap, coming downhill on Marshall road, I’m off the front while Craig and James are in the pain pack. A touch of wheels (so I hear) and 6-8 people go down. Some guys overtake me at the start finish line yelling to hammer and the pack splits in two. James got caught behind the crash and never caught back on.
Craig and I stay with the main pack of 30 or so riders for the next 3 laps. On the 5th lap, a Vitamin Cottage guy attacks on the headwind section immediately after the koppenberg and gets a gap. He increases the gap on Marshall road to 10-12 seconds and thats the last we see of him. He solos for 1 1/2 laps for the win. We all stay together again through the Kop on the final lap and at the dirt in the headwind, a Velonews guy launches off the front. He gets a gap of 200 yards or so and looks strong. On the downhill before the righthander onto Marshall, I slide up to the front. I start pulling the pack up the hill, then launch an attack of my own from the pole position. Craig is on my wheel and tries to go with, but fades slightly and stays with the pack. I end up getting about 40-50 meter gap and bury myself to the finish. This section is uphill, but has a tailwind, so there’s not much benefit to staying in the pack. I narrow the gap between me and the Velonews guy, but he crosses the line in 2nd, about 15 meters in front of me. The pack comes through several seconds later and I think Craig finished somewhere in 10-15th.
Pretty sweet day for RM. I’ve never had any luck at this race, so I’m definitely psyched with the result. The 3s are rollin’ now…
Tokyo Joes/AST Crit
Golden, CO / April 13, 2008
Ryan Hughes said:
People either love or hate this crit. It’s a 1k loop, half uphill, half downhill, and very safe. Greg, Craig, James and I were representing for RM out of between 75-100 starters. As usual, no attacks got more than 10 or 15 seconds on the group. Craig nearly got a $50 prime, but got pipped at the line by a Velonews guy. I got a prime a couple laps earlier for some SKINS sock-dealibobs.
We all rode very strong yesterday. We all had some face time at the front for some reason or another and it was a relatively crash-free race. With two laps to go, the pack goes into swarm mode and we start looking like that scene out of the Matrix 3 where the Sentinals are swarming around the human base defense area. On the last lap, I move up to the front and get in great position for the final sprint corner at about 3rd or 4th. I didn’t have the speed after the work required to get to the front and ended up losing several spots on the sprint – ending at 7th by inches with my bike throw. I think Craig was swarming alongside me and we were really close together at the finish. Craig took 9th. James and Greg were also in the main bunch sprint with James at 21st and Greg at 33rd. Both of those guys did the TTT on Saturday too!
I’d say we did not work together, but with more experience racing with each other, we could definitely try some things this season.
Colorado College crit & Air Force Academy RR
Colorado Springs, CO / April 19 – 20
Ryan Hughes said:
This is a double race recap, so get comfy (it’s interesting, I promise).
Colorado College Crit 3/4s
This race was really fun. We had 56 starters and it was a pretty short race. The course is awesome. This isn’t your AST criterium boring donut course. It starts on a flat straightaway that heads directly into a 180 degree hairpin turn. Then, you’ve got a headwind for the next 1/3 mile with a chicane thrown in for variety on wide open roads. There’s a sharp 90 degree turn right and you descend about 50 feet, then rail around this 1/2 circle in your 53t, then you’ve got a steep hill (1/2 the length of the Stazio hill), then a left onto the final straightaway with a tailwind.
I forgot my trainer, so I tried warming up on the local roads, but it was pretty fruitless. As such, I felt pretty lethargic for the first 15 minutes and was hanging mid pack. There were a couple flyers, but they were immediately pulled back. The pack was pretty strung out for most of the course, then the usual swarm up the hill before the finish. About 20 minutes in, they call a prime for some tires, so I figure I’d give it a go and move to the front coming up the hill. I sprint it out with a purple Dentist 1 team guy and take the prime. Two new tires – cha-ching.
With 6 or 7 laps to go, a GS Boulder guy takes the hairpin too sharply and goes down. I’m behind him, but because we’re already going slow, it wasn’t a big deal and we’re still in the hunt. Blah, blah, blah, 2 laps to go and the pack is all together still. Vitamin Cottage has a few guys at the front setting the pace. 1 lap to go, a VC guy takes off the front and gets a decent gap. He stays away through the downhill and 1/2 circle, then we catch him on the climb. I move up to about 5th going up the climb and as soon as the leader of the pack slows, I attack on the right side. There’s another attack on the left side and we merge together coming around the left hand turn to the finish. There’s still 2-300 meters to go and I’m in second. I turn on the throttle and pass the leader, but a purple Dentist 1 guy comes around and maintains about a bike length gap on me to the finish. I take 2nd. Winnings? $75
Air Force Road Race 3/4s (and 35+ and 45+, etc.)
This was the hardest race I’ve ever done I think. It was about 51 miles, (4) 13 mile laps, so not terribly long, but it’s either a long uphill climb or a long downhill with 3200+ ft. elevation gain total for the race. Also the 1984 worlds cycling road course. My goal here was to hang on to the pack to the finish. A full 100 rider field made this race quite interesting. There were a lot of 35+ and 45+ riders here too. We had some killer 20-30mph wind, tailwind for the downhill section, headwind for the uphill section but slightly protected with trees. The pack hums between 40-50mph (est) on the downhill sections, so it’s important not to get gapped anywhere in this race.
The first lap is freaking fast. The field is shattered from the 100 riders to about 50 or so. A few guys go off on the 2nd lap and get a huge gap. There’s a Einstein’s, Mix1, and GS Boulder in the break and they’ve got lots of teammates doing their job. There is a lot of blocking going on and the gap holds. The pace is still blistering, and the pack thins by 10 more riders on the 2nd lap.
I now know what it feels like to be a climber in a criterium. I’m a 180 lb. crit racer in a climber’s race and it’s brutal. I’ve been doing these workouts called OverUnders, where you ride for 5 minutes at near a 20 minute lactate threshold power level, then ride for 2 minutes above lactate threshold, then repeat both intervals 2 more times for a total of about 21 minutes. This is EXACTLY what the climb felt like for me. Repeat that set 4 times for this race. I’m on the rivet for the whole ~20 minute climb, just hanging on, hoping the top will come around the next bend. (BTW – for the OverUnders, I try to peg 335 watts, then 371 watts, for the two intervals) Anyway, the pack gets thinned with each lap and at the top of the hill on the final lap, there’s just 15 of us and 3 guys up the road. They stay away and take 1-2-3.
There is a short downhill and flat before the finish and I manage to recover before the final 3-400 yard uphill climb finish. I move to about 5th going up the hill and attack our little group of 15 or so. There is a little bit of confusion with other racers finishing and a car on the road, and I get a gap on the pack, thinking that I’ve got 4th in the bag, but I think one of the guys in our group snuck off and I didn’t see it. I still took 5th and am super psyched with that result. Winnings? $10
Conclusions:
I’m ridiculously happy with my form this time of year. 7 races so far with a 12th, 1st, 3rd, 7th, 2nd, and 5th. (Granted, I’m peaking much sooner than everyone else, so I have a bit of an edge) I’m 10 days away from the Tour of the Gila and I’m confident I’ll be able to survive for the 3 road race days. Will I have a shot at the overall? I doubt it. There’s no way I could attack on a climb, and I don’t have any TT gear. However, I think I could net a top 15 or 20 if I can stay with the pack on those days, do well on the crit day, and do ok on the TT day. Deer Trail next weekend will be the next test – longer and flatter.
Deer Trail Road Race
Deer Trail, CO / April 26
Ryan Hughes said:
This race has been described as extremely boring by some people. Today, this was definitely not the case. It looked like all 81 preregistered riders showed up for the race today despite the occasional gusting
snow and early spring conditions (windy, very gusty, temp in the 40s). Craig, James, Andrew, Grant and I flew the RM/Izze flag today.
The race started off easy enough. We had a tailwind for the first 11 mile leg and James went straight to the front from the gun. The pace was moderate (~30mph) for this tailwind leg and we took up the whole half
of the road. At the turnaround into the headwind, James and a Dentist 1 guy jump off the front and get a gap. Soon enough, they are joined by several others and the breakaway swells to around 12 strong and
organized riders. Dentist 1 has 3 riders in the pack and they do a great job blocking and disrupting the chase. I try to bridge up to the pack when the gap is about 30 seconds and get to within 5 seconds on the
pack, but they had too much firepower and organization and I couldn’t make it.
I drop back to the main field with Craig, Couch, and Grant. Meanwhile, Grant gets DQed for getting bumped over the centerline, even though he didn’t advance his position. total bull. Couch is in worker bee mode
and pulls me up to the front after I’ve recovered from my bridge attempt. He then drops to the back of the pack to pull up Grant and realizes that everyone he is around is 35+. Uh oh. Unfortunately, when Couch
dropped back to pull up Grant, the main field merged and passed the 35+ field (they started 10 min ahead and this is around mile 17 to give you an idea of our speed vs. their speed). In the confusion, Couch
loses the 3s field and it’s game over for him.
Back to the peloton.. we hold the ~1 min gap to the breakaway for the next 40 miles, all the while shredding our main pack. Around mile 35 or so on the headwind section again, James loses the breakaway and drops
back to the field. We were definitely not messing around in this race and the pace was too much after working so hard in the breakaway and James gets dropped from the main field. On the tailwind sections, every time, we’re bookin’ at 35+ mph for 11 miles. (average spd. for the race on my cpu was 26 mph for 69 miles) Craig was a monster today.
Pulling into the headwind, tailwind, crosswind, whatever. He was always up at the front pulling through our pitiful paceline (3s do NOT know how to do a paceline in crosswinds) and basically forcing the issue on
everyone.
The pack thins down to about 12 riders before the final east/west leg and the gap has swelled to over 2 minutes. game over, we’re racing for 10th or so now. The pace is moderate for the next 14 miles to the
finish. Craig gets popped on the final uphill before the finishing straight and I take the pack sprint finish. How did I manage to take the final sprint? For the last 4 miles or so, I basically held 2nd or 3rd position, hugged the centerline, and forced anyone attacking to attack into the wind. I latched onto two attacks within the last mile, then attacked on my own about 300 meters from the finish, hugging the centerline
and nobody came around. Too bad we couldn’t catch the breakaway! Still, an awesome and exciting race. Wish we could have gotten at least ONE time split from the moto.
Tour of the Gila – Stage 1
Silver City, NM – Mogollon, NM / April 30
Ryan Hughes said:
Stage 1 is in the books. 79 racers, 73.1 miles, 4,530′ climbing. This stage starts with a gradual descent for 15 miles or so, then throw in some rollers, then a small ‘800 foot climb, then a CAT1 1,800′ climb with the final 3 miles of between 10% and 19%. The pack held a pretty nice pace for most of the day. The first bonus sprint was at mile 20.5, and your truly took it.
Shortly after, two groups of two got away, then joined together and built up a lead of up to 3 minutes at a point. They stayed away for the next 30 miles or so and were all reeled in except for the eventual stage winner. He had a minute gap on us by the time we started the final climb and won in impressive fashion. I held it together with the pack until mile 70. The pack shattered on the final, steep 3 mile climb and I was holding top 5 until mile 71, when the elastic snapped. I then got passed by several riders, who I would hop on for 10 or 15 seconds, then realize the pace was too much and pop off again.
I ended up finishing the stage in 13th, and 2min 45 seconds behind the leader. The sprint bonus I won also drops 10 seconds from my GC time and nets me $60. The winds have picked up and tomorrow is a harder stage than today with more climbing and more miles. I felt great throughout the day, but just can’t get my 180 lb. body vertical as easily as many of the riders here.
Tour of the Gila – Stage 2
Bayard, NM / May 1
Ryan Hughes said:
So it looks like I’m actually an ok climber. I was fearing this stage. Actually, I was fearing the first stage also, and now I’m fearing the final stage. This one was 77.9 miles with 5,854 ft. of climbing. yes, ouch. Luckily, none of the ascents are above 10%, so I didn’t get popped on any one climb. The pace was hard on the climbs, but not TOO hard. Two guys jumped at mile 1.5, and one of them took the first bonus sprint at mile 6. dang. They came back and the pack stayed together through the first climb. I think some guys got popped on the second climb up to meadow creek as the pack was whittled down to about 40 or 50 guys.
On the extremely steep Sapilio descent, a few guys got away and built up a lead of 5′20″ over the next 30 miles. One of them took the 2nd bonus sprint. While we are chasing, I get a flat and have a quick wheel change, then a 10 minute blow-up session to catch back on. I recover in the pack and we end up catching the leaders on the final climb of the day. The pack was now around 20-30 guys and with about 4 miles to go, one of the Blue Sky Velo guys jumps and gets a big gap. Great move. Two guys join him and they build up a lead of 30″ or so going into the final mile. The pack pulled them back a little bit, but we didn’t catch them and they go 1,2,3.
I was sitting tight in around 2nd place of the pack and a guy jumps up the left side at about 500 meters. I wind up the legs to catch him and he basically leads us out to the finish. Around 150 meters or so, I launch around the right side and manage to take the bunch sprint. So, I got 4th on the stage, with a time gap of maybe 10-15 seconds from the leader. Unfortunately, only the top 3 get time bonuses, so I missed out on that one. Still, it felt good to take 4th even though all the main GC riders get the same time. So, I guess I’m sitting pretty in 11th before tomorrow’s time trial, which will be a disaster since I don’t have my powertap and I haven’t done a TT in literally years. Hopefully, I can stay in the top 20, but only time will tell.
Tour of the Gila – Stage 3
Silver City, NM / May 2
Ryan Hughes said:
The Alien Race. Today I felt like I had shown up for an important interview in sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. What was the suit that I should have worn? It’s like this: Take your normal road bike, then replace the frame with a time-trial specific frame (ovalized tubes, bladed fork and headtube, different tube angles, super-aero), then replace the handlebars/brakes/shifters with bull-horn bars with bar end shifters, then take your normal wheels and throw them in the garbage. Put on a solid disk rear wheel and a deep dish front wheel. Replace the 53 tooth chainring with a 56 tooth and increase the length of the cranks. Now, take your jersey, shorts, helmet, and sunglasses and throw them in the garbage. What you need is a skinsuit, a TT-specific helmet that makes your head look like a comet, and a visor on the front of the helmet to complete the alien costume. Now practice in this getup once a week prior to the event. That’s what I needed and that was the kit and bike that all 5 guys had in front of me when I lined up to start.
Needless to say, I did not pass anyone today. Their bikes and kits were probably more of a blow to the psychy than a huge time benefit, but I ended up 35th on the stage and 4′ 30″ behind the winner. It’s pretty obvious that I’m no time trialist. I tried to catch my 30″ man and stayed close to him on the initial 5 miles of uphill in a headwind, but once we descended, he was gone and I realized that I had a hard and demoralizing effort in front of me today. That drops me from 11th to 20th and 7′ 15″ down on the GC. It was pretty much exactly what I expected. 16.2 miles, solo, with constant 23+ mph winds and 1000′ elevation gain total. I got passed by my 1′ 30″ man at mile 7, then passed by my 2′ 30″ man at mile 15. On the return leg, I spun out of my 53×11 at 45mph.
Overall, I really don’t feel bad about my effort. I gave it all I had and I knew that I was going to lose a lot of time. I feel really, really tired now and I think the first two days are catching up on me quickly. I’ve got a crit tomorrow that I am looking forward to, but I really hope I can recover more in the next 12 hours.
Tour of the Gila – Stages 4 and 5
Silver City, NM / May 2
Ryan Hughes said:
Stage 4 was the crit. I drove the course and thought it was a pretty dangerous loop. It’s a 1 mile square with a high-speed 4th corner, two hills, and a San Fransisco-esque transition between the two hills that you could probably catch some air on if you were going fast enough. I took a prime about half way through for $40. It was a pretty fast crit and on the last lap, two guys banged together and crashed directly in front of me on the transition between the two hills. I was in about 10th place and the crash was somewhere in the top 5 or 6, so I went down and didn’t get to contest the sprint. I’ve got some road rash on my arm, leg, shoulder, and cracked helmet, but everything else seemed ok.
Stage 5 was the last day, the Gila Monster stage. This day proved my climbing prowess. I can hang with the pack on CAT 4 and CAT 3 climbs, but on CAT 2 or CAT 1 climbs, I get dropped. I hung with the pack until about mile 52 when the CAT 3 climb started on an 18% grade, then between 7-10% for the next several miles. I hung for about ten minutes, then the elastic snapped. I found a group of like riders toward the top of the climb and we survived to the finish at mile 73. This day had 5,800 ft. elevation and I think I was just too tired and wasted from the previous 4 days of hard riding to have anything left. I ended up losing another couple spots on the GC to finish in 22nd. I finished the stage 29th at 3′48″ behind the leader. I finished and survived the Gila, so jeez I’m glad its over.
Overall, I’m really glad I did the tour. I learned a bit about myself, met a lot of other riders and made some new friends, crashed, won a bunch sprint, won a bonus sprint, held my own with the climbers on one day, and tested the limits of my riding capacity. Thanks to all the emails and support I received throughout the week. Good times.
Sunshine Hill Climb
Boulder, CO / May 10
Ryan Hughes said:
My 39×28 was not enough for this beast. The pain started immediately as the pace was locked above the redline for me starting at mile 0.5. I hung with the main pack for 3 of the 9 miles, then gradually lost touch. I could still see remnants of the pack up the road around mile 8, but I never closed the gap. It was snowing on us on the top part of the course. Boups did well as he came past me around mile 4. I never saw the time trial master again. Good training, but my hands just about fell off on the descent from the cold. I finished in 13th. Boups finished in 8th. I’ve had a weird week of non-training, eating bad food, watching lots of tv, and seeing how my body recovers from the Gila. I feel good now, so hopefully I can get back in the training rhythm to peak for Longmont in July.
Wheels of Thunder
Englewood, CO / May 17
Ryan Hughes said:
James, Greg Pent and I raced the 3s yesterday. It seems like the wider the course is, the more dangerous. This race seemed fast to me, but compared to last year’s race, it was actually easier. I had my powertap on my bike for the first time in a race this year to gather some data. I had a tough time figuring out the finishing straight. I tried for primes 4 times with different tactics each time – sprint from the corner, breakway off the front 1/2 lap out, sprint from the hill, follow wheels to finish. I never got a prime. Maybe I just didn’t have the legs. Anyway, Pent and Sharp were 2-3 coming through the last corner, but got swarmed in the final, deceivingly long 500 meter finish. I was moving up in about 15th with about 300 to go when some guy in front of me put his front wheel in his neighbor’s rear derailer. Almost at the same time, someone on the left side and up front did a somersault into the grass. It was bad positioning on my part. I finished somewhere around 15th. I’m not sure if I passed Pent and Sharp or not. ahh well.
Coal Miner’s Classic
Louisville, CO / May 18
Ryan Hughes said:
Hometown race, yeeha! This one was just a couple miles from my house, so I didn’t need to drive. The organizers decided on a new location and the course was awesome. It had 8 turns in the shape of the tetris piece that looks like a thick T. The finish is the one long edge.
Yelena and I rode down to the course in the morning on our cruisers so that I could get my number and see the course. Pretty much a perfect day in the morning with little wind. Later in the day, the wind picked up and made the course just that much harder. We started at 4:20pm Craig, James, Greg Pent, Boups and I representing RockyMounts.
This race was fast and the field shredded. It looked like we started with 80+ riders and only 37 finished. This is rare in CAT3 races when almost everyone starts, finished. This is the difference between CAT 4 and CAT 3. In CAT 4, the pack gets shredded at every race and really only 20-30 guys are racing for the final sprint. In CAT 3, everyone has good endurance, so almost nobody gets dropped. Anyway, back to the race. Boups, the time trial master, was leading and pulling the pack for most of the race. About 20 minutes in, he gets a gap of about 10 meters or so, and I jump and bridge to him. I then try to encourage him and another breakaway rider to work together, but they think it’s too much, so we get swallowed by the pack shortly later.
On and on, people are getting blown off. This is a bad course to be at the back of the pack. It’s constant braking into the corners, sprinting out, trying to hold the wheel in front of you, then braking into the next corner. When you are at the front, it’s smooth and no braking into the corners. I found myself getting quite tired at the back and feeling better at the front or middle.
With 5 to go, Boups is still pulling the pack. He starts to fade back and I check to see if he’s ok. He is. With 3 to go, Boups goes up the left side and I get his wheel. We launch an attack off the front, but the pack just lets us dangle for a 1/2 lap and doesn’t give us a chance, so we’re reeled in. Boups pulls for the rest of the race and I’m in 5th wheel coming around the last turn. Then, chaos occurs and the field is all over the road. Two trains come by and I get boxed in. The right side train fades and one of the riders makes an extremely erratic move and chops James’ wheel in front of me at 30+mph. James doesn’t go down, but it certainly halts our progress. James, Greg, and I finish around 15th. Boups faded on the finishing straight to 18th or so and Craig came in around 29th.
We’ve definitely got a strong team in the 3s, but we haven’t quite figured out how to make our strengths work for each other yet.
City Park Criterium
Denver, CO / June 1
Ryan Hughes said:
thought I’d give you an update on my inagural P-1-2 race at the City Park criterium in Denver today. We had a pretty full field of 80+ riders for the 75 minute criterium. I was the lone RM/Izze wolf. Anyways, the entire race was blistering. I was about mid-to-back of the pack for the first 10 minutes, then moved up to the front. I was here to race, not just wait to get dropped right? So when I saw the opportunity, I took it and put the pros in the hurt locker by trying to get into a couple breaks.
Ok, so I didn’t really make them work too hard since the two breaks I got in only lasted.. oh, say 30-45 seconds. Still, not that anyone knew me, but I wanted to show that I wasn’t afraid of the pros.. and I wanted to get some “face time” and do some racing!! Maybe it was just to prove it to myself. Anyway, about 45 minutes, the legs start disagreeing with the effort and I drift to the back gradually. At minute 51, I lose contact with the pack, so I time trial it alone for the next 25 minutes. I ended up getting caught on the last lap by the breakaway, but the main pack never caught me, so they let me place. YESS!! 54th — one spot behind Corey Carlson.
It’s a start.
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