Welcome to the B5 racing blog! I will try and keep this updated with Thursday night race reports and tips. Email your comments, questions suggestions, etc! Thanks! - Mike M.
2007 B-LOG Entries
09/18/08 - Chili - Racing into the sunset
A small group, but lots of attacks and primes every lap made for some great racing on the Chili course tonight. The night was ignited by a 2 lap break away attempt by Brent who picked up 2 primes for his efforts. In the bell lap, Rob went for the solo win, but ran out of gas just 500m from the line, Brent proved to be the fastest of the bunch and took a well deserved win. Nice job!
Well, maybe racing is a friendship festival after all: I'm out next week, so tonight was my last night for 2008. Thanks to everyone for showing up, racing hard and putting up with me. It's been a pleasure getting to know all of you personally, and It's been great to watch each of you improve throughout the year... whether you were working hard to hang on to the pack, or have upgraded all the way to the A group. Congratulations to everyone.
See you all on the winter rides. Races are won in the off-season and the first Giro 2009 is only 20 weeks away!
09/11/08 - Victor - Nice blown apart race, and what's up with the 4s???
At the start of the race the B5s discussed how everyone in the group has already had a great season and that no one has anything left to prove in these remaining races. And by that I don't mean just sit in to the end, I mean attack hard, take some chances and see what you can do.. even if it means getting dropped. That's just what happened last night with the Mac5s attacking hard on lap one and setting up Bohn for the solo winning break. Nice riding! The race for scraps was heated up by Aarron who took off before the final climb and tried to make it a Mac5-1-2, but he was spoiled by a charging Josh who nailed back the gap by himself and took the sprint for second. Great racing tonight!
Pacelining: in the chase group, the paceline was a bit disorganized. I am somewhat to blame b/c I don't encourage pack welding. I'd rather see you guys attack and try and get a smaller chase group going - say 3-5 guys. But if you are going to chase as a group, the line should be smooth... single file, guy at front pulls 10-15 secs, then flicks his elbow to signal he's pulling off... pulls off and backs way off the gas to immediately get to the back of the paceline. This is on the track, but it essentially should look the same as this: team pursuit
B4 riders: Attention: group rides start November 1st! You have the rest of the winter to ride easy, now is your last chance to try and get a result... and by that I don't mean the same 7th place you've been getting all year. Go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain in confidence. Everytime we looked up the road the 4's were 6 across on the road, one big happy group. Our breakaway rider caught and passed your whole group, and our chase group was nipping at your heels. AND we didn't pick up any stragglers, AND even Steve P was in there after a whole season off nursing a broken shoulder! Can someone explain to me why this happens? Especially with 3-4 big teams??
Your average B4 rider is wearing a team kit, has a carbon bike with deep-dish wheels worth more than my kids college fund. If you're not racing hard, then you're posing.
Flat vs Uphill Finishes: Everyone need to practice finishes on various landscapes, that's why the 5's vetoed the vote and finished on the flat last night. All finishes do not need to be uphill. Heck, I'd love all uphill finishes personally, but what good would it do? I already know I can sprint fast vertically. I want a variety so I can train my weaknesses and practice for real racing on the weekends. Flat finishes are not dangerous. What is dangerous is a massive field of riders with a few squirrels in there to cause some havoc. That's why you guys need to ATTACK. Get a smaller group to the line. Drop the squirrels!
09/04/08 - Rush - big group at the finish, but excellent race winning move
Adam, our 16 yr old junior, showed the B5's how to win tonight. He rode smart the entire race, staying on the wheels and only sticking his nose in the wind when it counted. He first showed his muscle on the first prime and then 3 laps later on the final climb he did it again...a vicious big-ring attack on the hill that nobody could follow. Great job and congrats, Adam!
repeat: here is an entry from last years b-log:
Everyone repeat after me: 1. I will attack. 2. I will not aimlessly pull the group. If everyone does these two things, a basic race will materialize. An important component of racing is energy management. Races are won when maximum energy is used at key moments. In order to be able to do a max effort and attack and drop the group, or win a field sprint - you cannot waste any energy by pulling the group around aimlessly.Every effort should have a purpose towards your goal of winning.
The race is not a team time trial. The race is not timed or judged on average speed. It is OK if the group slows down. Just be sure to attack when it does.
You have to be selfish. Stay out of the wind. Suck wheel. When the right moment comes, you will be fresh enough to make the winning move. Conversely if you have been dragging the group around for 2 miles at 90% effort- what will you have in your energy reserves?
If you find yourself with a rider who has a known sprint, attack, and counter attack him constantly. You can't wait till the end b/c he will have enough energy to counter your moves. There is no point being the first loser. Be in it to win it!
Do this (click on video links):
Match sprint Boiled down, racing comes down to this. Energy managment, tactics, drafting and max efforts. Note how slow most of the race is and then how fast it is when it really matters.
Attacking Take a look at Contador... out of the saddle and multiple attacks and counter attacks. Ouch.
Attacking the group This guy is sitting on at the back of the group drafting, resting , getting ready... he is not attaacking from the very front of the group where everyone will see him. He starts his attack form the back.
Out of the saddle The climbs around here arre short power climbs. You should be going over them hard and out of the saddle... look at these guys... when they are on the attack and accelerating, they are out of the saddle.
08/28/08 - Mendon - Lots of attacks, but still a group sprint
Big John sprinted to victory by a large margin- good payback for all the riding he's done throughout the winter and racing season. We had some great racing the first four and a half laps with ton's of attacking that splintered the group throughout the race. Great riding!
In the last lap, the momentum fell apart and what was 3 groups on the road, merged into grouppo compacto. Not good - except for John who was dropped and in the third group but rode is way back to contend for the win. Lesson learned - when you're in a break, don't waste it. Get your group organized and hammer. If the guys with you aren't riding, then attack and drop them. You have to ride hard. I mean really hard. You can't give the guys chasing a moment of hope.
Habits and instincts: racing requires good habits and instincts -- so you don't have to think - you just do it. Some examples are: You see a rider being caught and instinctually, you know you have to counter attack. Your teammate is in the group and without even talking to you, he sets you up for the sprint with a nice leadout. You have good habits about sitting in and not attacking from the front of the group. You are in a break and you know you have to ride hard and get your break away companions organized. You know how to react when a rider crosses wheels with you. you know how to avoid crashes, etc etc.
Your racing will be much better the more organized and programmed your mind is. Let's keep it up, just a few more races left in the season! - MM
08/20/08 - Riga - Welcome Back Cotter
Class back in session.. good to be back. Great racing tonight with Mike B, John, Jerry and Jochen wasting no time and sneaking off in the first lap. The quartet worked smoothly together maintaining a 25 second gap until the final lap when the chasers closed in. Once the break was in sight, Josh launched a solo bridge across a 10 second gap on the flats leaving the chase group in the dust and putting him in contention for the win. In the end, Mike B took his second win in a row followed by Josh in a well deserved 2nd place. Nice racing everyone!
If you are the strongest in your group: Don't waste your energy - even if you feel great. Mike was clearly the strongest in the 4 man break, and several times he found himself 100m ahead waiting up for his break away companions. In a long break - keep it smooth and work together. Even if you're stronger, you need the other riders to go the distance. Or, if you are that much stronger - *attack* them and go it alone. And by attack, I mean - out of the saddle- fast- hasta la vista. Don't get stuck in no man's land.
If you are the weakest in your group: By all means - sit on. There is no USAC rule against wheel sucking. However, if you don't want to annoy your fellow riders, at least pull thru in the paceline. If you find yourself annoyed with a wheel sucker, it won't do much good to yell at him. Instead, *attack* him repeatedly and drop him. And by attack, I mean - out of the saddle- fast- hasta la vista wheel sucker.Do the talking with your legs.
7/31/08 - Parish Hill. Persistence pays off
Phil proved himself to be King of the Hill on the year's toughest course. He wasted no time and attacked form the gun and then repeatedly attacked until he broke free on lap 3. Jochen bridged across and the pair rode smoothly together, gaining time on the peloton each lap. On the last roller on Boughton Hill Road, Phil decided he didn't want to let it come down to a sprint and stepped on the gas, gapping his breakaway companion and soloing in to a well deserved victory. I was happy to see Phil take the win, not only because he was aggressive from the start of the race, but also because he has been aggressive all year. He is always on the attack and trying to bridge across to breaks. Many of those attempts failed, but he never gives up. Persistence paid off on Parish Hill!
CAT 4's: Nice sprint by Jack on the final climb, but what's going on with that big finishing group?? On a course like Parish Hill, the group should be coming in in drips and drabs. There's no way that everyone in that group was at the same level. Especially with teams in the B4 peloton, there should be more action!
Sunday Training Ride: 07/27
Meet at 7:30AM Sunday. Canal town Coffee Pits. We'll ride and go over some bike handling techniques and cornering. Great opportunity to practice before the Rochester Crt. All welcome. Fine print: This is not an official event, no sign in, forms etc. This is an informal training ride. Ride at your own risk. See you this weekend.
Follow up: Thanks to all that showed up for a fun morning. You guys were hitting the corners fast and smooth-- nice job! Keep practicing the bumping and wheel touching.... hard at first, but it will make you a better and safer rider in the end.
07/10/08 Rush - King of the Hill - Again
Win 2-man break. Check.
Win field sprint. Check.
Win solo 7 mile TT to line.....CHECK!
After winning the 3rd hill prime, Brendan kept the legs turning for a full lap and a half finishing alone - well ahead of the pack.Nice job! I'm not around next week - so have a good ride- keep the attacks going and save the friendship festival for a post race beer at McGreggor's. See ya'll in Wheatland.
Training ride: Sunday July 27 7:30AM. A handful of riders are planning to meet for an informal training ride to practice some cornering and bike handling. Not a GVCC event- ride at your own risk. If you are interested in joining us,email: gvcc@minervadesign.com
06/26/08 Riga - King of the Hill
Half way though the 45 mile race, a nice 3-man break stayed away for over 10 miles. However, the effects of the chase splintered the pack into a select group of six. In the end, Brendan proved to be King of the (Riga) Hill sprinting to the win over Mike B and Nick (2nd and 3rd for the third week in a row). Nice racing!
Overheard in the peloton: "why should I attack or break away? I'll just get caught.", or " I tried that last week an it didn't work" Remember that luck plays a big role in racing. You never know what will happen. For example - I have rarely seen anyone stick a break on the Victor course from the top of the hill to the finish - but that's happened a few weeks ago. You have to keep trying - the result is not always the same. Take a chance--you have to play to win. Keep attacking and counter attacking.
Getting tough. Some extra words from me last night to get the attacks going. I'm especially tough on the strong riders who will be upgrading the 4s soon. You need to race hard here in the 5's and show the panache. If you're a conservative racer in the 5's, you'll be pack fill in the 4s.
Training ride: A few of you mentioned that you'd like to get some criterium practice in this summer. We can meet for an informal group ride on a weekend AM and practice bumping, wheel touching and cornering in a safe spot (parking lot or Fishers course). If you guys are interested send me an email and we'll get it organized: gvcc@minervadesign.com
06/19/08 Parish North - Ilya-aaah! Best race of the year so far
Friendship Festival shut down tonight. Great racing with attacks from different riders throughout the 6 lap race. The big move of the night came from Rob who attacked and soloed the last lap. Unfortunately the race ended uphill and it was too much to hold off the charging field. Ilya rocketed out of the pack with a long sprint to the win. Mike B was 2nd with Nick in 3rd for the second race in a row. Nice job by everyone! Let's keep it up next week.- MM
Ride with panache. During the race, Ilya and I had a discussion... instead of sitting in and waiting for the sprint which he knew he could win, I suggested he ride with panache. What does that mean? The phrase is often used to describe riders who race in the aggressive style of Merckx and Hinault who raced with complete confidence in an intimidating way. OK, I realize that these two racers retired before Ilya was even born, but they are greatest examples of how to win. Bottom line: style matters. Looking strong and confident plus being aggressive is all part of the head game that is major part of racing.
06/12/08 Chili - Another two man break makes it to the finish
Jochen and Mike B took advantage of the lap six prime with a hard attack just as the riders up front snagged some prime points. The duo hammered the final 3 laps with the peloton chasing in vain. In the end, Jochen beat Mike to the line and Nick won the field sprint for 3rd. Nice racing! - MM
06/05/08 - Victor - Friendship Festival shut down in final miles
At the start of the race we discussed how important it was to ride just as hard on the down hills as you do on the uphills when in a break. Ilya did this to perfection as he put in a sharp, all-out attack on the final climb, then continued to hammer downhill to the finish. Brendan rocketed across to Ilya and with 1k to go the duo had a comfortable lead on the peloton. Brendan took a well deserved win, followed by Ilya. Mike Bohn picked up the scraps for 3rd. Nice finish! Let's keep on attacking and riding hard. See you all next week - MM
Come on guys. We had an incident at the end of the B4 race where the 4s ran into some of the 5s and took down a rider. I wasn't there to see what happened and get all the details, but in any case this should not happen. Communicate. Keep your head up in the sprint. If you see something in front of you - call it out. Yell up the road to warn riders you are overtaking. Stop sprinting if it is not safe. What if there was a recreational rider, a jogger, or a dog walker on the side of the road. Would you plow through and knock them over too? Just so you can get a top 10 g-tour placing? Come on.
05/29/08 - Wheatland Short Course - Two in a row for Nick
It was grouppo compacto with 1.5 miles to go when Jeff put in an awesome uphill attack. Unfortunately, the race was 100 yards too long as Nick overtook him and nabbed his second win in as many races. Even though Jeff finished 6th, he took a gamble and went for it - max effort and *almost* won. That's just as worthy as a win in my book! Great job!
Get out of the saddle. You heard me say "get out of the saddle" a lot last night. On your attacks and bridges, you need to get out the saddle and really put the force on the pedals to accelerate. ..be in a big gear, stand up, and push down hard on the pedal while pulling up hard with the opposite leg.
If you are feeling uncomfortable riding out of the saddle, practice this on your training rides. Pick a quiet road, and practice accelerating for 200m. Practice riding in the drops, keep your head up and practice shifting through your gears as your speed increases. Riding out of the saddle take a lot of core strength (lower back and abs) so consider that when you are planning out your training programs.
See you on the road - MM
05/15/08 - Parish South - DFF
Dead F'ing First! Gotta love it when I guy wearing a DFL jersey sprints to the win. Parish South is a hard course to break away on due to the flat terrain, but we still had riders attacking and going for it. Good job everyone!
Tip: Decisive splits. There was a moment last night when the field was single file and we lost a third of the peloton off the back. Pay attention to what's happening in front of you during moments like this. If the riders in front of you are struggling an leaving big gaps during a hard effort, get out of the saddle, jump around them and *sprint* towards the back of the group to make contact. Anytime you are dropped and no longer in the draft of the group - you have to get out of the saddle and start sprinting like its the end of your race - otherwise it will be!
05/08/08 - Rush
Mark Blakley set up the winning move (again) by riding everyone off his wheel. Even with Blackley and Lytwynec off the front, the rest of the group remained animated with lots of attacks from various riders. I was impressed with the guys I was riding with in the breaks... good sharp attack followed by a solid TT effort. Nice job!
Tip: Crossing wheels. If you cross your front wheel with the rear wheel of the rider in front of you - don't panic... don't brake hard or drastically steer. Stay calm and let the situation correct itself. If you are leaning your front wheel on the rider in front of you, your natural reaction will be to steer away... don't do that.. you will go down. For example, if you are on the left of the rider in front, overlapping wheels and for some reason you are rubbing wheels, your instinct will be to steer away to the left, but that will only cause the angle of your bike to go in the wrong direction.. straight down onto the pavement! Instead, keep your bike as straight, or even steer slightly to the right and lean your front wheel on the riders rear wheel to push yourself upright. If this is confusing, take your bike and lean the front wheel against a wall. Lean the bike and then see what happens to the angle of your bike when you turn the handlebars.
Good luck at Bristol, see you next Thursday. MM
05/01/08 - Riga Explosion
When an explsion happens, pieces fly out in all directions. That's what we happened in Riga due to some decent attacking. The early acclerations were hard - sending riders off the back and a solid break of 2 off the front. The break stuck with a solo chaser and a group of two coming in for 4th and 5th just ahead of what was left of the peloton. GREAT RACING!
For the 4th and 5th placed riders, sorry for myextra yelling (encouragement?!). You had a nice gap, but the group was closing. Remember, if you made the effort to create a break, don't waste the opportunity. The effort to the line has to be an all-out-tip of the saddle-saliva hanging off your chin effort. There is no time to pause think about giving up. It pays off to ride beyond your limits.
Euro Pro Do's and don'ts: DO attack and counter attack. Be aggressive. It should look like the Belgian classics you've been watching on Versus. DON'T go into a faux TT position (forearms on your tops) on Thursday nights - that's a crash waiting to happen. DO put your hand up when you have a flat. Hold your line and move calmly over to the shoulder. DON'T toss your water bottles. Our races are for training.. we're not finishing up Ventoux.
Nice job everyone. Let's keep it up next Thursday!
04/24/08 - Mendon...
Another big field! Great to see all the new faces. Again, a fast night that ended in a bunch sprint. Andy (Full Moon Vista) put in some nice attacks throughout the race... and there were a few other good moves during the race, but we need more attacks. As the season progresses and everyone gets comfortable in the peloton - keep trying to attack. It takes some time to learn the timing and the effort, but once you get it, your racing and results will improve tremendously!
Tip: Only be at the the front when it counts! A lot of riders ride at the very front of the pack because they're afraid that they'll miss a move. It may seem counter intuitive, but the best spot to be is further back. If you're at the very front, you're in the wind all the time wasting energy. When the attacks happen, you're surprised and you end up having to react & close the gap with everyone on your wheel.
The view from the back is much better... you can see the attacks forming... you'll see a rider moving up, looking back for traffic, shifting up a gear or two. When the rider jumps, you're right there and you can attack with him/her.
See you all in Riga.
04/17/08 - Warm Chili.
Wow! What a field! With all the upgrades to cat 4 last yr, I was expecting a small B5 group for our first night. We had a huge field. And the cat 4 field was just a big. Welcome to all the new riders!
2 warm up laps and then 5 laps of racing saw some spirited attacks by Mark and Mike, but in the end, the night was settled in a field sprint with Andy (Full Moon Vista) taking a well deserved victory. Nice job!
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