Stages 1-4

Stage 1
ITT 14.3k (8.8mi)
What a cool race! Racers from 35 states, and 7 countries.
The course was just 1.5mi from work for me, so this stage was very convenient.

The start was complete with the ramp like the tour and the beeping clock, intervals were every 30seconds. I entered the Masters35/45+ field and my start time was 11:06:30,

The rain was pouring as I left my office around 9:30 to warm up. It receded quickly as I got dressed and started my warm up. As I headed out, I was trying to think of the last time I had aerobars on my bike??? 3-4years ago? It was ok though, and as I approach the ramp I was #3 in line for my start and the rain had stopped. I step up into the start house and I felt like a Tour competitor, well for the moment! As the countdown reach zero, followed by the long beeeeep! I was off, down the ramp and after my :30 man. I had a good start and felt strong. Then about 2.5miles in, I spot my :30 man approaching the first hill. Up and over and he?s out of site I keep chasing to the turnaround with my head down I hit a couple of potholes that nearly take me down (yikes) not a good feeling, and just before getting there I am caught by my :30 second man. As I make the turnaround and sprint out of there my 1:00 man passes me.(whoa!) I soon forget about my :30 man and begin chasing those whose passed me. I was just trying to keep the pedals turning, and reel those guys back in. The last bit was really tough, the course ends with a sharp uphill and I wasn?t catching those guys. I see the 1000m sign and then the 500m sign, and up we go, my legs are burning and I still can?t see the finish. At the 100m sign I see the finish and gave all I had left till the end.
I finished 63rd/74 with a time of 23:00:95, the winner did 18:27.33.
Not that great, but I left nothing out there.
Results here: http://www.longsjo.com/Results_files/Stage_One_Results.pdf
And here comes the rain!!

Hope today is a better result
Stage 2
5k (3.1mi) circuit race
9laps 28miles

Stage 2 ( 9 laps/3.1mile=28miles)

Wow, 74 riders on the start line. The top ten GC place holders were announced with some being former pros, now I don?t feel so bad about not having a good ITT.

The course was went along a flat dropped down into two tight and fast turns followed by a long slightly uphill straightaway with bumpy pavement, round a 180? turn and down the fast backstretch, one last right turn 90? and up a wall that stair stepped to the finish.

The race was delayed 10 minutes while they cleaned up a pile-up from the previous event. When the whistle blew it was at least 5 seconds before I even moved as I was in the rear of the field. It went very well the riding was smooth no accidents, extremely fast at times. It was tough to find the good lines on the turns and to determine where to be to avoid most of the potholes, but I took most of the turns on the outside as they proved much faster because of braking on the inside. Anyway, on the 3rd lap we were neutralized because of a wreck, (women ?) who started 2 minutes behind us on the course. After 2 laps of neutralization, we ramped up again, next lap the women ? ?s are neutralized and we passed safely. Then near the end lap 6 that climb is became ever so hard. On the left side there were some road cones marking some really busted up pavement which I had been aware of, however I was forced into it while avoiding other riders and thankful I have been spending some time on the MTB, so as I went airborne I was able to land on two wheels without incident. Lap 7 I was almost popped off the back and was just able to keep low enough to catch a draft and pull back to the field. Lap 8 on what I thought was the last lap I gave all I had left climbing up to the finish. I quickly realized they were ringing the bell for the final lap, No way I was thinking, I was spent but I wanted to finish in the field and so I chased that last wheel across the top flat, but the gap was about 30 yards, I thought I have no chance, but as they braked in the next two corners, I didn?t because I was alone and soon I was back on for the final lap. The speeds were brutal coming down the final stretch and up the last climb I just barely hung on the back of the pack but as things split up on the climb things were not intact so I got a time :31 secs back of the winner. Our winner today was retired pro Chris Fisher who had ridden for Saturn, Jelly Belly, and Colorado Cyclist-7up (avg spd 26.09mph). I was 60th of 74 scored, and improved my GC by 2 places moving from 64 to 62. Todays RR will really split things up.

Stay tuned????.

Stage 3 Road Race 64mi (11.4mi laps x 6)

Course: From Wachusset ski area to a sweeping downhill 50+mph, right turn at the bottom and then rolling slightly downhill to a right turn where it gradually turn back up. Right turn at Princeton center where a wall of a climb awaits you, after crossing the finish, head through the feed zone, then several tough rollers back to the ski area start area.

Lap 1 very fast start, all the way till the uphill at Princeton center, wasn?t too bad the first time up, I guess they were taking easy? Once making to the downhill portion I was relieved to know that I would be around for another lap.

Lap 2 I was good through the Princeton center hill, but effort there never allowed me to recover before the rollers that followed and the peleton would split into two groups. 20 in the front, and 40 or so back from there, I was in the second group, which I lost contact with just before the downhill and then it was pretty much solo from there.

Lap 3,4,5 I just had to maintain good speed, keep eating and drinking to prevent cramps, I have to say that I looked forward to the Princeton climb each lap b/c Brandon B was there cheering me on each lap till the end, and also in meant one less lap to go. Thanks Brandon!

Lap 6 misery at this point, will it ever be over and am I going to make the time cut (20% of the winner?s time)? I made it just over 3hrs10min -- +29:45 back, and just under the time cut by a couple of minutes. I still had to ride to the car another 5 miles mostly uphill, cruel punishment, by the race organizers?

Finish
I was 56th
5 did not make the time cut and 5 more DNF?ed, so I improved my GC to 58th.


Stage 4 to follow??..

Stage 4 Criterium ? 0.9mi ? 19 laps

Course:
Long front stretch slightly uphill
Left turn, sweeping 180? turn
Long backstretch slightly downhill
Then a 90? left turn, followed by a 50yd straight, then another 90? left,
and back up to the finish.

I was tired from 3 days of racing and after a grueling road race, the crit still started fast. Each of the prime laps and sprint point laps stretched the field out single file, and I dangled near the back 10-15 riders. On the non-prime/points laps it would bunch up across the road and you could move up and recover a bit, but I never got close to the front. I noticed my HR was not maxing out during the hard efforts, signaling I was tired. With 4 to go (sprint points lap) I slid off the back with 3 to go, but got back on, this was followed with a prime lap for $$ keeping the heat on for 2 full laps, and off the back I came this time for good, with 2 to go. It was as if the engine blew, I was done. I managed to stay on course dropping my pace significantly, but not getting lapped before the finish. I was 1:33 back of the winning time.

59th Crit
57th Final GC +36:14min

Fitchburg. It's sort of like a four letter word but for some reason I can't just leave this race alone. This was my 4th time racing Fitchburg. I raced it twice as a 4 when I lived in NYC back in 00 and 01. Then last year, of all races, I decided to get up and go "race" Fitchburg when I was trying to decide if I should just quit the road forever. I finished last year and I finished this year. There is just something about this race that is different from anything else I've ever done athletically. I think it's the competition, it's just so good that the race is totally and completely humbling. It's also just so cool to be at a race that attracts the best women pros in the country, and some from outside the country. This year JEANNIE LONGO WAS THERE IN THE PRO WOMEN"S FIELD!!!! TOTALLY inspiring!!! The race is also incredibly well organized and the courses are epically great. And it's hard to find four days of racing for 120 bucks that I can drive to from my house. This year I did slightly better but not by much. My overall GC finish was 33/44, 52 women started the race but some crashed out, and some didn?t make the time cut over the four days. I?m really happy that I finished, and completely and totally exhausted. My field was very very strong, women were there from all over the US and some from outside the US. The skill level was variable and the field was a bit ?sketchy? with some incredibly talented but very "immature" racers. I was afraid a lot in the races. Details:
TT ? Course ? 14.3 km, gently rolling mostly flat. my finisih - 43/52. My time ? 25:42:86 which was 3:31 off the leader. The leader speed 24.45 mph/39.35 kmph. My speed was 33.36 kmph (sorry but my speeds are going to be in kmph because that's just the Canadian in me). I really suffered on this, it was cold and wet and I just couldn?t seem to get my ?motor? running. Three women passed me. I warmed up for 30 minutes but maybe needed longer and maybe needed to wear more clothes to the start as well. I am getting old and the warmup I could use at 28 is just not the same as the warmup I seem to need at 40.

Circuit race ? Course ? 7 laps to total 22 miles/35.2 km. Each lap ends on a short, very steep small chain ring sort of hill. I finished 35/ of 52 starting women, not so many women finished due to a rather epic and totally unnecessary and stupid wreck in lap 1. Unlike last year I was able to be in with the field a lot in this race but kept getting gapped on the hill. I would fight to get back in, cruise around the course to the bottom of the hill and promptly get gapped again on the hill. I definitely suffered due to weaker climbing ability but I think I could have placed better if I had positioned myself better in the field going into the turn that leads into the final hill so I could have hit the bottom with more momentum. The wreck in the first lap totally freaked me out which did not help me at all, I know how to ride this course better and have had an 8th place in this particular stage as a younger, more aggressive 4. But in any event, I am happy to have been mostly in the field. This race really and totally exhausted me like nothing has for a long time. I felt like I was going to die during and for several hours after.

RR ? Course ? 41 miles/65.6 km. 4 laps of a course that is about 11 miles and 5 of those miles are climbs ranging from 1 ? 5% grades. This is a really challenging course for me. I finished 34/48 women and was off the leader by 10:05. I was dropped from the pack on the first section of the 5 miles of climbing, on the first very steep (5% grade) portion of the hill. I worked with some other women and we chased back onto the pack by the beginning of lap 2, but got promptly dropped again at the first hilly portion. Then I rode with another woman to finish the race as fast as we could to try and be sure to make the time cut. This worked well as she was a good climber and I was a better descender so we were able to keep our total speed up and make the time cut. The leader?s average speed was 19.25 mph/30.99 kmph. My speed 28.55 kmph.

Crit ? Course ? 17 laps, 15 miles. Flat downtown crit. Very rideable. I finished 33/44, at the back of field in the final sprint. If I?d been more aggressive and moved myself up in the pack I could have had a much better finish as I have outsprinted some of the women ahead of me before. But then again if wishes were bikes I'd have the new Orbea Diva with SRAM Red componentry that I want too.... shoulda woulda coulda. Our average speed was 20.82 mph/33.50 kmph, which is pretty awfully slow for a criterium but then again, four days of racing and leaders who just don't want to risk crashing always makes this one a slow crit in my experience. My odometer gave me an average of 23 mph so I?m not sure I totally believe the official average. It felt good to be in the field in the bell lap.

My GC was 33/44, off leader by 14:18 (leaders time in total was 4:10:51, my total time was 4:25:09).

Will I do it again? Well, despite the fact that I told Tim every day in the car that I absolutely was too old for this *&^(* crap... and was going to do Master's Nationals instead next year, I'm pretty sure my ass will be there getting the (&() kicked out of it next year barring any unforseen adverse events. I am a sucker for this race. Just finishing at Fitchburg motivates me to ride my bike like nothing else in bike racing does. I love it and I hate it all at the same time. What more can you ask out of a race? If I quit doing this I am going to get really, really old, really really fast. I rode with a woman who told me about her 68 year old friend who is still racing. Fantastic. You gotta love riding bikes fast.
Loren

You two write the best race reports.

" I felt like I was going to die during and for several hours after. "

" I love it and I hate it all at the same time"

These are feelings I have during each race.

Tim, if my wife raced bikes I would surprise her with any bike she dreamed of even a " new Orbea Diva with SRAM Red componentry"

Loren he is just concerned that with a machine like that you'll beat him.

Good job guys thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the race reports. Congrats to both of you. I too enjoy reading your accounts.

Ryan

[quote:2f4f9ca6fe]if my wife raced bikes I would surprise her with any bike she dreamed of even a " new Orbea Diva with SRAM Red componentry" [/quote:2f4f9ca6fe]

OK, quick everyone, give me the easiest shortest bike race you can think of in this region. Looks like I can get a new bike!

:lol:
H
 
It doesn't matter where you go in life .... it's who you have beside you.

Ride a leg of the Pinnacle Challenge....13 miles....road bike. you only have to suffer 3/4 of a mile on the hill, the rest is easy.... 3/4 of a mile.......new bike.......time to climb.

PJ