Macon Cyclocross Race

I bought a Redline Conquest Pro cross bike last fall to use for winter dirt road training. We have a million miles of dirt roads in Jasper County. It's a size too big, but with a short stem it works quite well for winter training. But I havent' raced the bike until this past weekend in Macon.

The race was every bit as fun as I had been told to expect. The racing was crit-like intensity with a laid-back atmosphere. I loved it.

Here's a video Dan Coy made at the first barrier in the first lap in the CX4 race. I started at the back of the 63-rider group 'cause I had no idea what to expect and didn't want to pull a rookie move and create a big pile of 4s in the first turn. So I had to soft pedal a while while it thinned out. I think I was about 30 seconds back from the front group after half a lap! I come through in the video at about 23 seconds - notice my flawless form, particularly on the re-mount. I think that needs a little work, ya think?



Unfortunately my 2010 training schedule won't allow more of these this year, but I may have to shuffle things around to accomodate at least a short cross season next fall.

Macon Race Weekend

There's far too much to try and say in one blog at 8:30 on Monday morning about our Macon race weekend; so I'll let the words ease out over the next week or two. But I will say it was a tremendous success. Thanks so much to our volunteers for frying in the sun for two days to make it a great success. And thanks to our sponsors for their support of cycling.

Here are a few of the many great pics from the weekend:









Our new 55+ Crit State Champion


The Masters State Champs


















Chad's rewarded for his 2nd state champ jersey in as many months.

My sister with her family watch their first bike race.

Security Bank riders called up for the Masters Crit

Drew with two of our fabulous podium girls.

My wife, Betty Jean, and I warm up for the Prologue.

Can't Catch a Break

It's been sort of a frustrating spring. Nothing terrible, just a bunch of annoying things.

First, I was hit head-on by another cyclist while I was warming up for a prologue. For a few mintes I thought that one might go in the 'terrible' category, but luckily not. That put me out of commission for a couple of weeks and broke my HED tri-spoke front wheel and TT helmet.

About the time I began to feel normal again. I strained my back lifting something stupid. Two more uncomfortable weeks. The back is almost normal again.

Last week my eye became infected somehow and I battled that for a week or so.

I've been able to train and race through much of the spring, so my form is pretty good. I was happy to finally be training and racing pain-free this weekend.

On this morning's ride I broke a rear derailleur cable about mid-ride. Shimano cables need frequent replacement and I didn't do a very good job of it. Oh, well - a good excuse for some good muscle tension training.

After the ride I went to Bike Tech to get a new cable installed. While replacing the cable, Lou found a big crack in my Specialized Tarmac SL frame! It's on the downtube about 2 inches above the bottom bracket (about where the internal lug would connect to the tubing). It couldn't have been there very long because I'd have seen it while cleaning the bike. It looks like the type of crack that could cause a serious problem if it decided to suddenly fail. It would be a cat's ass trophe for sure.









Now I'm not sure if I'll be racing on Monday and don't really have a plan for what to ride in the immediate future. If I'm lucky, Specialized, a first class company from what I can tell, (are you reading Specialized? You guys are the best. A really, really great outfit. Best damned bike company in the world is what I always say.) will replace the frame. I haven't crashed it since I bought it. If not, I'm screwed. Guess I'll be riding the black 1983 Cannondale 3.0 series I have on the trainer in the basement. It has Suntour Superbe Pro components! And down-tube shifters! Eight gears, I think.

Here she is, but this one's a lot better looking than the one in my basement:

Georgia State TT Championship

First, a lot of credit where credit is due: Congratulations to Steve Murray of Columbus Bicycle Racing on an incredible ride and win in Ringgold. Steve finished in 50:16 with an average speed of 24.94 mph. That doesn't sound incredibly fast, but on that course it was smokin'. The course was H-shaped, with three very tight u-turns. It was very hilly -- it didn't have many real climbs, but the rollers were constant. It was twisty and technical. But most of all there was what seemed like a constant very blustery head wind for the last half of the ride. Steve's time was good enough to win the Cat 4 division by over a minute and a half over the 2nd placed rider. He would have also won the overall in the masters division by a minute and 15 seconds.

I had what felt like a pretty good day on the bike. I thought I'd paced myself pretty well and was feeling confident and passing other riders. But at the 35-minute point when I was passed by Shannon Wredge of Fulton Flyers, who had started a minute behind me, I knew I was toast. I can't say I had a bad day, bad luck, or didn't ride well (I averaged 23.3 mph). There were simply 8 riders in my category who rode faster. There's always next year.

Six Cramp

2008 Six Gap Century: I felt pretty good early on. The Black Mountain rollers and the Neels climb went fine. I caught up with some Macon riders somewhere near the Apple store. I stayed within sight of them up Jacks even though they pulled away a little bit. I started to feel an unusual twinge in my hamstrings at the bottom of the climb, but it went away pretty quickly so I forgot about it.

I was out of water already at the top of Jack's (unusual for me), so I stopped quickly to fill up both bottles. I jumped in a fast little group and caught the Macon group on the long, gradual descent. As we turned the corner and started climbing Unicoi, I got sudden painful cramps in both hamstrings. I’ve never had cramps, so I didn’t know how to handle the situation. I mentioned it to Drew and he just said "wine" (I had done a bike tour of wineries on Saturday).

I stayed on the bike, standing and sitting until the pain eased a little. The Macon guys pulled away up the climb. Once I worked out the cramps and got back into my rhythm I felt fine. I passed a few folks on the climb and felt good by the time I reached the top. I caught Drew at the bottom of the Unicoi descent and we rode in a group of 6 or 8 to the Hogpen turn. As I approached the right turn to Hogpen my hammies locked up completely. It was both strange and intense. I've had cramps off the bike sitting on the sofa, but not on the bike. I couldn’t turn the pedals - now I know what people mean when they say "my legs locked up." If we’d been on a climb I guess I’d have fallen off the bike. I worked it out again and caught back to Drew’s group just as they crossed the timing wire to start Hogpen.

I had very little power climbing Hogpen - on a few sections I was climbing just fast enough to stay upright and was kicking myself for not putting on the 12-29 pansy cassette (I rode a 12-26). Just after the first ‘false downhill’ on Hogpen, my hamstrings locked up again. It hit me fast and I yelled so loud that I scared the crap out of two guys riding beside me who had entered a silent Zen state. This time I couldn’t coast, so I laid down in the grass on my back and massaged the knots out. The pain stopped after a minute or two. The rest of the climb hurt some, but the cramps did not come back. At the top of Hogpen I took an Advil, two race caps, drank about a gallon of water, refilled my bottles, and scarfed down a bunch of PB&Js and apples. I cramped some on the descent, but they gradually went away by the time I reached the base of the Wolfpen climb. I climbed it pretty slowly but faster then Hogpen. I felt better by the time I got to Woody, and then limped home solo on rollers that felt much bigger than they really were; finishing time 6:07.

Next year I’ll chase every glass of wine on Saturday with a glass of water. It had to be the dehydration. I ate and drank everything in sight for the next 12 hours and still only weighed 147 pounds the next morning (after weighing about 150 on Friday). I’d bet I weighed just barely over 140 at the top of Hogpen. I drank 8 bottles on my bike plus several cupfuls of Gatorade at the Hogpen stop and didn’t stop for a single nature break. Live and learn.

Dahlonega Race Report

"KOM Championship"
This was an interesting idea, but it didn't work. We mass-started (combined Competitive 34- and 35+) in Suches and raced 7 miles to the top of Wolfpen. It was a 7-mile road race. Our race was slow until the bottom of the climb. I felt terrible that morning and was at the back as we approached the bottom. I popped immediately and finished 8th in Competitive 35+. I think Stoney attacked early and was caught on the climb, finishing about 12th in Elite. Christian said he had bad tactics - I think he finished 5th in Pro12. If this had been a time trial, it would have been a fun course and good stage, but as it was, Jay shouldn't repeat it next year.

Circuit Race
2-loop, 9-mile rolling circuit. I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I sat at the back of a very small Competitive 35+ field (maybe 20?). The race wasn't all that hard in the back and I felt better as it progressed. I was sitting about 10th as we made the last right turn to a 3 or 4% uphill finish. I passed a few guys and finished 8th in the sprint. Steve Murray was at the very back talking to the official about whether they were planning to open both lanes for the finish. When he realized we were there, he got a late start on the sprint but ended up winning it. I guess everyone else went way too early. Jeff took 5th in a good sprint. I think Christian took 4th or 5th also.

Road Race
I thought the new road race course was great and I felt much better on Sunday. The start was interesting: a 2- or 3-mile twisting descent right from the gun. At 3 miles in, I found myself in a group of 5 about a minute back from the front. There were other groups behind us. A little early work was required to bring it all back together. We caught and passed the under 34 peloton about 15 miles into the course after giving them a 10-minute head start. I guess they were taking it easy while we were chasing guys off the front.

At Skeena Gap, about half way through the 45-mile course, our group split into two packs of about 20 each. I was in the front group, but could tell that the rear group was gradually coming back, so I sat in and waited. Some of the front group was trying to organize a rotation to stay away from the rear group, but I figured even if they caught us they wouldn't be climbing competition on Wolfpen, so why work to stay away from them.

Soon after they rejoined us, the steeper short hills started. Over the next 15 miles the hills (particularly on Owltown road) whittled the front group down to about 13 or 14 riders as we began the climb onto Wolfpen. As we passed Vogel, I went into time trial mode for the climb. The group broke up and I passed a few guys, finishing somewhere around 10 or 12th, I'd guess. Probably good enough for a top 5 GC, but not what I had hoped for the Dahlonega weekend.

Stoney was in a break that was caught late and he finished about 10th or 12th, I think. At Moe's after the race, the guy behind me got a text saying that Parrett was in a break off the front of the P12. I don't know how he finished.

Damn Crashes (and Dog Days Race Report)

If you're going to race, crashes are unavoidable, I realize that -- but they still suck. I've had more than my share of crashes this year, three. I figure one per year is inevitable, but three is more than I bargained for. If I was a sprinter mixing it up to every line, I'd expect it more. If I raced the under 35 division, or in cat 5, they say I should expect it more. If I raced crits a lot, I should expect it more. But my crashes have been in training rides, 35+ road races, and straight 4 road races. So much for those theories.

In March, I think it was (I'm sure Trey can tell you the exact date), Trey and I both went down at probably 15 mph on a gravelly turn on a training ride. I got road rash, an involuntary goatee from my inability to shave my chin, and soreness for a week - he got a fractured trochanter and an unfortunate end to a season that had barely begun.

On June 22nd in the LaGrange RR -- about 300 m from the finish -- we were winding up for the sprint on an uphill grade. The guy in front of me touched a wheel, I guess, went down and I went over the top of him at 23.5 mph. I think it was my hardest crash ever, but luckily I escaped with lots of road rash, a black eye, a week-long limp from a swollen hip joint, broken handlebars, and a snapped brake lever. I think I broke my finger, too - it's still swollen almost 60 days later - but it still works.

Yesterday at the Dog Days Road Race in Canton we were approaching the finish line (200m?). I was accelerating steadily, moving up the right side, and looking for a top 10 sprint finish (that would have been a good result for me because I can't sprint at all). Just as I stood up to begin my last kick, the two guys in front of me decided to zig/zag different directions at the same time. As I remember it, the guy on the right swerved hard left and the guy on the left swerved hard right. They hit each other hard and went down hard. I had probably a full second to anticipate going over the top of them. At the crash I was at 121 rpm, 442 watts, and 42.2 mph (see graph).

Oddly enough, I only got relatively minor road rash in all the normal places -- elbow, knee, and hip - and no bike damage, although I did total my helmet. You'd think the faster the crash, the more injured you'd get. But so far there's not much correlation. Maybe there's really something to the skidding hypothesis.

I've had three crashes (so far) this year. If you 'believe' in statistics, that means 2009 will be completely crash-free. Maybe I'll only order two kits for next year.

One last crash note: On Jake's advice (and he should know), I bought some Nexcare Tegaderm transparent 'fake skin', I guess you'd call it. It works like a charm - good call - highly recommended. And it even has picture of a cyclist on the front:

Dog Days Road Race

The Cat 4 division rode three 16-mile laps of a rolling, somewhat technical loop. I had no teammates -- Iron Data, Reality Bikes, Cycleworks/HDR, and Aarons seemed to have the biggest numbers. I thought the race was a little harder than our typical GA Cup 4/5 races. I jumped off the front and bridged to other jumpers a few times, trying to get a successful break going, but was having no luck making anything stick. About a quarter of the way into the last lap, I ended up off the front with riders from Iron Data, Reality Bikes, and Aarons. I thought we had the right combination to stay away, but we were reeled in - by Cycleworks, I guess. Everything stayed together until the finish. I moved to the front without too much difficulty with a couple of miles to go. I think I was in a pretty tired field. There was a little two-tiered climb up to a right turn with about a mile to go till the finish. I figured if there was any way I could gather enough juice to jump at that point, I might get away. But the climb took so much out of me (and everyone else, I guess) that I could not make a jump. I was sitting about 10th in the field as we started the long downhill sprint. We had a headwind, so I planned to wait as long as possible to make my final jump (there was actually a pay-0ut to 6th place - wow). Then there was the crash.

A rider in front of Bill went down and Bill went over him in the Cat 5 race. He didn't have too much road rash, but he injured his hip that was broken a couple of years ago. He was hobbling around, but hopefully will just be sore for a few days.

I understand that Doug and Jeff did lots of good work for Jake in the Cat 3 race. Doug was sick and didn't contest the finish. Jake made a very last second, very fast punch to the line and took 2nd in the Cat 3 race. From where I stood, it looked like he passed 20 guys in the last 20 meters and would have won it if he'd had 25 more meters to the line. Congratulations.

I'm not sure how Eduardo fared other than he finished with the pack.

Elberton Race Report

State Championship TTT
Bill pulled the 5-man train out of town very quickly. We caught our first 2-minute team at about 10 minutes into the 19.5-mile course. We were rolling very fast at mile 9 when Chad flatted (the 2nd TTT flat he's had this year - very disappointing). We didn't miss a beat and four of us kept rolling. At about mile 9.3 I noticed that the back end of my bike felt 'loose.' When I realized I had a slow leak, I chanced one more pull downhill, then faded to the back and told my teammates that I'd flatted also - extremely disappointing. Todd hung in and powered for a while with his recently-installed disc wheel, then handed it over to Bill and Ron, who finished the ride alone and won the event for us by over 2 minutes over the 2nd placed team. A great ride by the elderly contingent.

Criterium
I almost arrived late to the start line after warming up away from the course and lined up at the back. When the race started, a little lane opened up, so I shot through it and kept on the gas. By the first turn I had a little gap, so I kept pedalling. I was joined by two others and we stayed a short distance off the front for about the first 8 or 10 minutes. It was our plan to make other teams work early so Bill could attack later, but we initiated the plan a little quicker than I expected. When my group was caught, Bill attacked. At first he was hanging by himself about 10 seconds off the front. When Randall Roland from Antarus bridged up, I knew they had a good chance to stay away. They had 45 seconds on the field with 2 laps to go and Bill flatted in corner 4. A missed victory opportunity for Bill and more terrible luck with flats for Security Bank.

Road Race
We traversed a 30-mile loop twice. It was a little technical with some rollers, but not much climbing. It was very hot. Bill was tied for 2nd in the GC with Ron not far behind, so Chad and I planned to work for them by attacking early and chasing breaks. At about 7 miles into the race, Outspokin, who had a guy tied with Bill in GC, were sitting 3-abrest at the front and controlling the pace. Then their GC guy flatted. All three of them pulled off to help and to try and pace him back (they never did). Bill attacked immediately, about 2 miles from the first of two KOMs. He stayed away over the KOM and picked up 7 KOM points. He sat up and we regouped. A mile or two later, at about mile 10, all four of us were on the front. I increased my speed a little and noticed that I had a 20-yd gap on the field, so I kept on the gas. I glanced back again and saw that I had 200m and they weren't chasing. I decided it was too early for a break to stick, but that I'd just keep it on 300 watts and not look back until I was caught. At least the other teams would have to do some work.

After about 5 minutes, I heard someone shift behind me. I figured it was the peloton. It was a welcome sight to see only two guys - Star Bridges from UCBI and Andrew Stephenson from ATS, a great pair - they both had teammates behind us. We worked together well, increasing the gap from 30 seconds to two minutes pretty quickly. Eventually we stretched the gap to 4 minutes at the 2nd KOM - mile 40 of 60. Andrew cramped badly with about 5 miles to go, but stayed ahead of the pack to take 3rd.

I was positioned perfectly behind Star for the sprint, but every time I 'found another gear' on the sprint, so did he. I could not come around him on the downhill sprint. He took first with me sitting on his wheel. It's great when a break sticks, and even better when you're in it!

Jake had a similar day in Elite - he finshed 2nd in a four-man, 52-mile break. I think Bill took 2nd in GC and Ron likely had a high GC finish as well. Elberton brought lots of racing success and was a great venue.

Rome Race Report

We started the TTT with five riders. Four minutes into the ride Chad flatted, which was a disappointing loss for us. We reorganized without any trouble and had a pretty strong ride. I ended the ride with a bone-headed decision: I did one last hard pull about 300 m from the finish, and since I suck at the u-turns, I figured Bill and Todd should sprint it out to the finish without me (time was taken on the 2nd rider). I sat up and rolled in about 15 seconds behind them. Due to the gap I didn't get any omnium points. My personal finish time was 32:50. The biggest disappointment came when the results showed us riding the course in about 34 and a half minutes. The timing official added 2 minutes to our time. I pointed out the error, but he basically said "tough luck." Maybe they added 2 minutes to all the other teams' times also -- I don't know. All I know is that we had at least two clocks that showed Bill and Todd finishing in a time no worse than 32:35 (around 28 mph).

The second night a big fight broke out just outside our hotel room door. It sounded damn serious. Jake looked out and saw two different guys fly out of a door, then run back in for more. It turns out we were rooming next to some of the competitors in the Rome cage fights or ultimate fights or whatever they call it. I guess they were getting in a little training.

The crit had a lot of climbing. I thought it would suit me, but I found out differently. I held onto the main group for a few laps, then slowly slipped off the back with a group of three or four and was pulled 20 minutes into the race. Bill and Todd hung tough and finished with a final group of about 15 riders. I figured I'd just had a bad day, but my numbers show that I rode OK but was just outridden on a tough course. My NP for the first 15 minutes of the race was about 315 watts. So my expected power was there, I just needed more of it for that field.
Rome Crit Video

The first lap of the road race was pretty uneventful for me. I got into a pretty good rhythm on the first climb and was less than a minute behind the leader at the top (AP 315W, NP 317W for about 10:45, 7.5% average grade with a 39-26). I chased back on with others. Bill got a rotation going up front and I jumped in. Only a few folks wanted to work in our group of 19, and eventually everyone decided to take it easy and wait for climb two. I didn't want to be caught by the other 25 riders behind us, and most of the 19 riders in our group had outclimbed me the first time over -- I didn't expect a great finishing result. So I went to the front and did tempo to the base of the 2nd climb just to set a decent pace. I finished the RR in 16th. Bill climbed very well and finished 14th, almost a minute ahead of me.

LaGrange Race Report

Congratulations to Bill on a well-deserved road race podium (2nd). He surged off the front after the 2nd KOM and gelled with a group of four to stay away for the remaining 10 or so miles. I was very glad to finally see a breakaway stick in one of our races, and even happier that it included a teammate.

I didn't race Saturday, but I know Drew took 2nd in the prologue and Todd took 4th. Jake had about the same time in Elite, taking 10th, I think. Jake took 4th GC.

As we approached the KOM on the 1st lap, I didn't intend to contest it. But I looked around at about 3/4 way up and there were fewer than 10 guys in front of me, so I hit the gas and took 2nd with a wheel throw at the top. The 2nd time around we were more spread out and I took 3rd.

About 3 miles from the finish I tried an attack, but didn't have the legs to stay away for very long.

With 300 meters to the finish I was positioned exactly where I wanted to be (Bill and 3 others were up the road), about 3rd or 4th man back in the left center of the right lane. I felt great and was winding it up to catch a sprinter's wheel and open it up in the left lane and have a good finish. Then someone decided to try and shoot through a very narrow gap up front. He took down the guy in front of me and I went over the top of him. It felt like I flipped end over end a couple of times. I felt a few bodies and bikes go over me. I remember two things: hearing my helmet hit the asphalt and thinking, "wow, that's loud!" and thinking "damn, there goes the Rome weekend." Ron can probably give you a much better description of what happened; he was right behind me. Luckily, I got away with some fairly minor elbow, knee, and hip road rash, a black eye, and a sore hip. My bike fared a little worse: a broken handlebar (carbon), a broken right brake lever (carbon), and some other scrapes (carbon). Amazingly, my helmet seems to be OK. Looks like Nate will have a little extra work to do before Rome.

Tour of Atlanta Race Report

Stage 1 - ITT - Buford
The 7-mile TT course was not technical on paper, but it felt very technical while riding. There were constant small rollers, gradual bends, changes in pavement, intersecting roadways, steady swirling winds, driveways, manhole covers, potholes, traffic, etc. I found it mentally exhausting. I never felt that I got into a rhythm, and when finished, I didn't feel that I'd ridden well. But after discussing the ride with others afterward, I realized everyone felt that way. It turns out that I rode well after all, and so did my teammates. Competitive 35+: Me - 1st; Chad Davies - 2nd; Todd Wilson - 16th (with a wrong turn). Elite 2/3: Doug Ott, 12th; Jake Andrews, 16th. In yellow for stage 2!

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Note added later: Please keep Tiago de Paula in your thoughts and prayers, and make a donation to help him out. He was severely injured warming up for the ToA TT yesterday. More at http://probikewrench.blogspot.com/2008/05/call-to-action-help-tiago-tiago-de.html
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Stage 2 - Sprints - Buford
The course was about 650 meters, slightly downhill with a gentle s-curve. The line was 200m from the end of the final bend. Todd rode in the 1st heat - I thought I saw him out front, but couldn't see well. Turns out he won going away! He used great tactics and had a strong sprint. In the 2nd heat, Chad was boxed in and didn't get into the top 3. I was in the 3rd heat (10 riders). We started slowly, jockeying for position. At 300m I was sitting 3rd wheel. I thought, "I'll jump at 250." At 275, 4 guys came around, two on either side, and I couldn't get out to even try to go with them. It was very disappointing - I wanted to go, but could not. After exceeding 1100 watts twice in warmup efforts, my max power output in a competitive sprint heat was only 748 watts - heartbreaking. I had no expectations to do well in the sprints; but in retrospect, I had the power to contend at least in the first heat if my tactics weren't so shitty. But that's obviously part of being a good sprinter - you have to have good instincts about how and when to use your power. I obviously do not have good instincts.

Todd took 3rd in the final round of the Competitive 35+ division.

Jake won his first round in Elite by half a bike length. He barely missed 3rd place on the 2nd round. Doug had a photo-finish sprint for 3rd/4th place in his 1st round, but ended up 4th and didn't get a chance to continue.

A very successful first two stages for Security Bank. I look forward to tomorrow.

Stage 3 - Circuit - John's Creek
Tough course - about 8 or 10 bends/turns with a couple of u-turns. My crit was hard (281W NP for first 15 min, 275W overall). I stayed near the front for the first 15 minutes, then started to fade more with each new surge. I was sort of dropped about twice, but chased back on. I finished 15th, in the back of the front group. Chad "Doc" Davies was right behind me in 16th, and Todd only lost a few seconds, I think. If the right folks picked up the time bonuses, I should still be in yellow tomorrow.

Jake fought hard and chased for a long time in no-man's land, but eventually lost some time in Elite. Doug was in a chase group that had closed to within 10 sec of the lead group when someone in front of him went down and took Doug with him. He broke his bars, got some road rash, DNFed, and had to get Bike Doctor to install new bars for tomorrow.

I think we can pick up a chunk of time tomorrow in the TTT. Ron and Bill will bring fresh legs and needed speed.

NP=275w (4.12 w/kg). Ave speed 24.9 mph.

Stage 4 - Team Time Trial - Monroe
The course was lengthened from 10 miles to 13 miles, which was good for us, I think. It was out and back with gentle rollers. Bill, me, Ron, Todd, and Chad ramped it up gradually and got to the turnaround in about 13 minutes, I think. Two cars were blocking the turnaround, which cost us maybe 5 or 10 seconds. Ron overshot the turnaround a little and had to hammer pretty hard for about 30 seconds to bridge back to us. We finished hard, with Bill doing a little more than his share of the work. Our time was 29:30, which puts us close to 28mph if the course was a little over 13 miles - I didn't measure it. We took 1st in the TTT by 61 seconds.

Jake, Doug, and Jeff formed a 3-man team in the Elite division, taking 11th, I think.

Stage 5 - Road Race - Monroe
Only about 2 hours after the TTT we started the 50-mile road race. There were no real climbs, just one decent hill for the KOM. I stayed in the front 20 riders all day to avoid crashes, etc. About 5 minutes into the race Bill reached down to adjust his speed sensor and lost about a pound of flesh from his hand in the front spokes. We all thought he would bleed to death, but he decided to surge and attack the group for the next 48 miles instead. He got away at about 6 or 7 miles to go and stayed away until about 5k to go. There was a crash at about mile 33 that took down about 15 riders from what I heard. The crash happened about 10 feet behind me. Todd and Chad just missed getting caught in it, I think. I raced very conservatively, finished safely in 12th place, and lost no time in GC.

Magnum Drew Slocum raced solo in the Competitive 35- division, and after freeing himself from the teammate baggage that had obviously been slowing him down, he broke away, stayed away for (17 miles maybe?) and took 1st! in a 2-man sprint. Congratulations Drew - job well done.

The Elite division of Security Bank had a tough road race. Doug and Jake got caught behind a railroad track crash in the rain and burnt all their matches on a long chase back to the main group. Doug took a KOM, but then his overworked, recently-crashed legs froze up on him with cramps. The broom wagons were all full with other elites, so he rode back to the start in the back of a sheriff's car like the common criminals he'll be prosecuting in a couple of years. Jake had better accommodations back to the start in Kristy's Tahoe. Jeff avoided the crash at the tracks, hung in there, and took, 25th.

Our Director Sportif, Eduardo Hudspeth, riding for Economy Honda, launched multiple attacks, but could not get them to stick in the Masters Road Race.

As far as we know at this point, Chad and I lead the GC by about a minute over the chasers. The scorers messed up Randall Roland's time and put him ahead of us, but he told me he rode a 32+ minute TTT solo. The results say he bettered us in the TTT by a minute. Todd moved up to 9th in GC, so that's 3 for Security Bank in the top 10. We have two difficult crits yet to go.

Stage 6 - Crit - Gainesville
I was a little concerned about the Gainesville crit. I raced the exact same course this spring(Gainesville Georgia Cup) and was hurt pretty badly early. My NP had been 310 or so in the first 10 minutes, I faded to the yo-yo back, and I couldn't hold the pack. I lost lots of time in that race.
This time was different. I started fast and absolutely would not let myself get more than about 10 riders from the front. If I felt 11th spot coming, I'd jump out of the saddle and do whatever it took to get back to about 5th. The strategy worked. I didn't have to hit my brakes on the turns and I could pick my own line most of the time - a much more efficient way to ride. About 20 minutes into the race, Ben from Cycleworks/HDR took a flyer off the front. He was sitting 3rd in GC. He's a big guy for a cyclist and if you didn't know him, you might not take his attack seriously, but I knew he could roll. Nobody seemed to want to chase, so I went to the front and worked hard for about a lap to prevent the small gap from growing. When I looked around for some help, I saw two of his teammates on my wheel. The only way to solve the problem was to completely turn off the gas. I did, and he was eventually chased down. It got pretty fast in the last two laps, I faded back a little and finished about 20th. Chad and Todd finished safely as well. Kudos to Todd for doing a lot to keep me out of the wind up front. Still in white with one crit to go. NP=275w (4.12 w/kg). Ave speed 24.8 mph.

Stage 7 - crit - Buford
I arrived just in time to see Drew's crit and snap a picture of his road race podium - he took 1st in Monroe.

The Buford course was a long rectangle. Turns 1 and 2 were smooth and easy. The back stretch had a small roller, but was mostly downhill. Turn 3 was tight and a momentum killer as the little 75m, 6-7% climb started. Turn 4 was at the top of the climb 250 m from the finish. I used a different strategy for this course than in Gainesville. I was concerned that if I tried to kill the climb on every lap, I'd go too deep into the red and might get dropped if there was an attack or prime at the wrong time (concentrating on not getting dropped is a really bad strategy for winning races, but I wasn't trying to win this one); so I used the back straight to move to the front on almost every lap. It was easy to move up in that area because the wind was from the left and everyone would swing out to the left as they came around turn two. I took the inside line if possible, moved to the drops, and went pretty hard down the right side as the leaders recovered and got organized for the next climb.

I often entered the climb on 2nd or 3rd wheel, and without blowing myself up, could come out of it no worse than 10th or 15th. I'd move back to the front again and repeat - I did that roughly 15 times. The only times I didn't do it were on time bonus laps, when the pace was too high to move up.

There was a crash in front of me at about 15 minutes in - a clipped pedal, I think. I was lucky that the the guy fell straight down and allowed me about a 2-foot gap between him and the curb to get around. I knew turn three would be dicey on the last lap, and I had 90 seconds on everyone but my teammate, Chad Davies, who was 10 seconds back. So Chad and I moved to the back of the group on the last back stretch, sacrificed a few seconds, and stayed out of trouble. Sure enough, on the last time through turn 3, all the riders turned together but one, and the guy to his right went straight into him. Because we'd let a 1-second gap form in front of us, Chad and I had time to get around him without stopping. I shot left through the exact same 1-foot gap as I had 15 minutes earlier. Chad and I finished together a few seconds off the back. Mission accomplished - 1st and 2nd in the Tour of Atlanta for me and Chad. Todd took 9th to give us three in the top ten. NP=282w (4.22 w/kg). Ave Speed 24.5 mph.

Cumming Race Report

Security Bank had a great showing in the Cumming TT on Saturday. The 7-mile out-and-back course was very hilly - there wasn't a flat spot on it. There was a 1/4-mile 6% hill right off the bat, and at the top I was concerned that I'd taken the first climb too hard and blown up. The back side of the first hill was the longest downhill section of the route. As I crested the hill and dumped the rear derailleur into the 11, I heard a clicking sound and realized that I couldn't use my 11 cog. I had changed lockrings, causing the chain not to engage fully on the 11. So a good portion of the ride involved either painful climbing (most climbing on a TT bike is painful) or 120-cadence spinning on the downhills in my 12. Who knows, maybe avoiding the 11 saved my legs for the hills.

Anyway, we had four riders in the top 11 of the Competitive 35+ division: Ron Hill, 11th (riding the Hill Classic and dominating the homemade bike category); Todd Wilson, 6th (ROLLing with his deep sections); Bill Causey, 2nd (powering his neuvo-waifish 6'3" frame over the hills); and I won it - my 1st ever win - finally.

Christian finished well (find out why). He was 6th in the Pro-Am, and was the top 'Am.'

I had fun in the Masters RR (had to leave early and couldn't race the Comp 35+). Sitting in the field was not too difficult - a little harder than a fast Competitive division race, but there was lots more activity up front. There was constantly one or two groups of two to four riders going off the front and others trying to bridge. That kept the field in a long single- or double-file line much of the time (unlike the Comp division). There was a 2- or 3-rider crash in front of me on the 1st lap, but I went around it. About 8 or 9 riders eventually got off the front (I didn't know it at the time). On the 2nd KOM I worked with a Jittery Joes rider to pull my way up to a small group (he did most of the work). I looked around soon after and I was in a group of about 7 riders - but because of all the carnage I didn't know if I was racing for 15th (accurate) or 55th. I guess we were in a chase group, but I never knew it - and I guess the others either didn't know it or had no more gas. I guess it was just what was left of the peloton. That was the biggest difference about the masters race - it became hard lots of times, but I never got the 'oh crap I'm about to be dropped' vibe from the group. It seemed to be more of a silent, controlled aggression, if that makes sense.

We weren't going fast in the small group, so I knew we would soon be joined by others behind us. I didn't have the legs, myself, to go off the front of the small group, but tried to go with every surge hoping to get separated from the small group, but nothing ever gelled. In retrospect, I should have made much more of an effort to get away when the group lulled - I think I could have done it. I didn't know at that time that there were only 8 or 9 riders in front of us. We were eventually caught by a few other riders from behind, swelling the group to about 16 riders. I finished last in the field sprint with toasted legs in 24th, but had a fun race. I'm sure I have more Masters field racing in my future.

Chattanooga Race Report - two more podiums

We had a great weekend of racing in Chattanooga. Here's a summary:

Time Trial
Doug, Drew, Jake, and I represented Security Bank at the 5.6-mile rolling course located about 15 miles east of Chattanooga. It was sunny and cool. As I was warming up on the trainer, my tubular flatted on my disc wheel. Not good. But I borrowed a HED Jet 60 from Doug, so no major problem. The first 2 minutes of the TT were a steady 2 percent climb. I was the first Competitive rider to go off, so I caught a few ladies, but didn't feel all that fast. I finished 8th at 13:31. Jake had a good TT, placing 6th with a 13:18. Drew powered his non-aero road bike to a 14th place finish with 13:47.

I quickly returned my bike to the start where we adjusted the saddle up a little to fit Douglas and he started with his warmup. He'd been riding his Tarmac with short aero bars and we figured he'd do much better with an aero setup. Doug rode a 12:27 to finish 8th in Elite.

Four good starts to the weekend.

Criterium
L-shaped fast course with open corners - very windy through the tall buildings with shifting directions and lots of hard gusts. Drew had a flat as he started to warm up. He fixed it and had a second flat, which he repaired just prior to the start. So he only had a 5-minute warmup. As we started and he went through turn 1, he felt a squishy rear tire and realized he had a 3rd flat. He was out of spare tubes and had to abandon the race.

I felt much better in this crit. I tried to stay in the front half of the group, which wasn't too difficult. Jake got in a little 3-man break early but was caught pretty quickly. For the next 20 minutes he stayed midpack. Then with 2 laps to go, Jake tore off the front at the finish line. He was making good progress and the chase was having trouble getting organized. Turn four is a left into what we called the wind tunnel. Lots of gusty wind. Jake took an aggressive turn and the wind hit him at the wrong time. He slid across the asphalt on his shoulder and landed sitting on the sidewalk, where I saw him as we rode by. The gusts hit us as we went by - so I knew immediately that the wind had played a role in his crash. I finished 22nd. Jake had more road rash to add to the prior weekend's barrier kiss, but no structural damage to body or bike.

Doug had a good mid-pack finish in his first Cat3 crit. Lots of riders were shelled from the race, and Doug finished comfortably in a pack that averaged over 30 mph.

We ordered some pitchers of beer and watched an exciting Pro-Am race with lots of tactical work by the Toshiba team. Chad had a very strong race in a very tough field.

Road Race
The cove route was twisty with lots of small rollers - a great and very scenic 22-mile course (we did two laps). It had one climb in the middle about like the Pate interstate climb, but maybe twice as long. It was about 45 degrees and breezy, we were cool at that start, but the sun warmed us up pretty quickly. The first half of the first lap had lots of braking, which sucked. Jake attacked at least once before the first climb but was brought back. We had a mid-pack crash that took down or stopped the back half of the field. I barely avoided it by veering into the left lane.

We hit the first climb and a group of maybe 20 riders clumped together at the front as we approached the top. I was a few meters off that group but feeling pretty good. I know Jake was in the front group and Drew was either in the front group or somewhere near me. I easily chased up the the group just over the top. On another long but less steep climb the guy in front of Drew and I went down and Drew had to stop, but he chased back on with no problem. Lucky for me, Drew handled the situation well and did not try to swerve around the crash (he would have taken us both down); he just stopped in front of it and waited for the traffic to clear. I think Jake attacked again at least once on the first lap, but I'm not sure. Every time he'd go, the riders around me would say "Damn, your buddy is doing it again!." He was truly playing Badger.

Jake attacked again early in the 2nd lap and was reeled in. He attacked again just before the climb with a Cannondale rider. A assos jersey rider bridged up to them just at the climb. Just as the group caught him, the assos rider's front Zipp 404 wheel came off and was rolling around in a little circle on the road. His front end dove into the road just in front of Drew, who swerved off the road to avoid him and almost was lost for good down a 30-foot cliff but recovered without stopping. Jake was obviously toasted from the attack efforts. I passed him on the climb like he was standing still. He was standing in his 39-25 and doing about 5 mph. I thought his day was over and I was sure he'd be very disappointed not to have finished in the front group after all the effort he'd put into the race. I thought to myself "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Drew put in a surge effort to join two or three others as the group was getting back together after the climb. I thought for a minute that he'd make it, but it was brought back. Five minutes later I heard another loud crash behind me on a descent as folks were trying to chase back on. A few minutes after that, I felt a little tap on my hip. It was Jake. He'd had a hard chase back to the group. He immediately moved back to the front and attacked again with 7 miles to go in the race.

At this point there were 20 riders in the front group, including me, Drew, and 3 or 4 Krystal riders. After winning some KOMs, the Krystal riders now had calculated that they had all three GC podium positions locked up. They knew Jake had lost time in the crit due to his crash. It was clear that they were racing to keep those spots. I don't know if Jake was using that to his advantage, but it worked. He killed himself to hold a 20-second gap for just about the entire last 7 miles. It would have opened up more, but twice there were bridge attempts by other riders that were pulled back by the Krystal team. I figured they were using Jake's gap to prevent other attacks, but as we neared the finish, they weren't closing down the gap to go for the win. I still don't know what their strategy was or if they had one. But if they were trying to win the race, they either didn't execute, had a bad plan, or just couldn't catch the Badger. Jake crossed the finish line with a 15-second gap to take the win! Drew took 7th and I took 12th.

Doug started his first Cat3 road race just after we finished. I don't have many details, but he attacked his field halfway through the first lap. Two other riders bridged up to him. They dropped one of the guys in the second lap, but Doug and the other rider held off the entire field for about 50 miles. Doug took 2nd place! He had a 3-minute gap over the field.

Eddie attacked a few times in his race, but could not get away. He finished 10th in the field sprint.

Doug took 2nd, I took 6th, and Jake took 9th in GC. Drew won't get a GC result due to his terrible luck with flats. Another strong weekend for Security Bank.

Same Tune, 2nd Verse: Perry-Roubaix 2008

A little moisture made Firetower Road easier to ride this year, but the dirt and wind were still more than I could handle. My power output was much higher than last year, but evidently so was everyone else's.

Here's some 2007-2008 comparison data for those who are interested. This is for the Competitive 35 and under field (I weigh 149 lbs):

My NP for the first 45 minutes of the race in 2007 was 224 watts; in 2008 it was 270 watts. My NP for last 8 minutes prior to losing the group in 2007 was 204 watts (remarkably low, even considering that my FTP was only 235 or 240 at the time). In 2008 my NP for the last 8 minutes before catching the autobus was 301 watts, which makes more sense - that's about 15 watts above my current FTP. I can only hold 4.44 watts/kg for a while before popping.

The climbs were tougher this year, too. Here are my average power numbers (with watts/kg) for the two short climbs on the front part of the course for the first two laps (L is lap, C is climb):

---------L1/C1------- L1/C2--------L2/C1--------L2/C2

2007---298(4.4)-----378(5.6)----233(3.4)-----307(4.5)

2008---371(5.5)-----376(5.6)----347(5.1)------362(5.3)

Augusta Georgia Cup

MAX had another solid Georgia Cup weekend. A short summary:

Prologue
TT was a 4K relatively flat loop around a pond in a park. The first 150m were uphill, then most of the remainder was pretty flat with a few technical turns. Only Drew and I raced from Macon. I took 23rd with a 5:18 and Drew took 27th with 5:23. Drew lost a few seconds avoiding a car, but it was otherwise uneventful.

Crit
After inspecting the 1K crit course with a chicane at one end and pronouncing it 'wrecky,' Drew kept the rubber side down. (Drew, Trey, Jeff, and I all rode in the competitive crit). About half way through, the guy in front of me went down in turn 4. I had no where to go but over the top of him. Luckily, he and his bike padded my crash pretty well and the only major damage was a chainring tatoo on my hip and a little upper arm road rash. I replaced my chain and took to the pit for a free lap. I got back in an held on to the back of the main group for a 27th place finish and no lost time on GC. Jeff took 5th and picked up a $50 prime, and Drew placed 13th with a strong finishing sprint. Trey got caught behind the crash and delayed, but he didn't get a free lap because he didn't go down, so he was forced to battle for the remainder of the day.

Road Race
Jeff raced in the elite division in the morning and took 2nd in a 3-man breakaway! Congratulations, Jeff. It was very hot at 1:30 when Trey, Drew, and I got started, so they reduced our race from 4 laps to 3 (about 44 miles). The 14.6-mile loop course has a couple of significant hills early, rollers in the middle, and a little climb to the finish. Other than one long solo breakaway that got about a minute on the field in the middle of the race, it was pretty uneventful. We finished in an uphill sprint. Drew took 9th, I took 12th, and Trey was a few spots behind us. Only Drew and I from MAX entered all three races. I snagged 5th in the GC and Drew took 8th GC to finish off the season with a positive note.

Dahlonega GA Cup Race Report

Here's my biased, mostly accurate, but certainly incomplete account of the Dahlonega Georgia Cup race for MAX Cycling Team:

Neels Gap TT
The course was about 5.1 miles up Neels Gap at 5.6%. The first bit was downhill, followed by a 1/2 mile of false flat, then a steady climb to the top. This was my first time trial using a power meter because I used my road bike -- having it to aid me in pacing was a big help. I stayed steady a little above my threshold power and had a good ride for me - 21:43. That put me 24th for the competitive division. Doug turned in a great ride at 19:55 or something like that to grab 2nd in competitive - 30 sec off the leader. Jeff 'Stoney' Clayton was 3 seconds off my time and Jake and Drew were not too far behind us. Christian rode 17:55 in Pro-1-2 to take 8th.

Black Mountain Road Race
It was a hot 19-mile loop with a short, steep climb up to Stonepile Gap early in the loop and lots of small hills to follow. Doug and Jeff both tried to go off the front, but both efforts failed. I think those were the only real attacks in the race. I started at the back of the 75-rider pack and spent most of the 45-minutes trying to fight my way forward around a couple of small crashes, flats, and chain drops, finishing maybe 30th (I was the last rider to get the same time as the winner). Jeff took 5th in a tough uphill sprint finish. Doug and Drew were somewhere ahead of me in the sprint, and Jake fought his way back to finish just behind me after getting caught in the yo-yo back part of the peleton.

I have to learn to either start closer to the front and stay there or I need to get better at moving up - but it's very difficult in a short, intense race with narrow roads. I burned a lot of unneccesary energy yo-yoing at the back. I need to be more aggressive on shooting through gaps in the peloton whenever possible.

Doug remained in 2nd for the GC race.

3-Gap Road Race
We rode a few miles, then Jake went off the front and gapped the peloton over the steep Stonepile hill. He was caught at the base of Woody's by a group of about 25 or 30 that started up Woody's together. I dropped off the front group to stay in my zone. A little later, I passed Jake, who was still recovering from his hard early breakaway effort. Then I apprached Drew in a group of about 6 half way up the climb. I accelerated and passed them, hoping he would jump on, but he stayed with the group. After I had a good gap on that group (30 sec?), I settled back into my rythem. A few minutes later, it was great to see that Drew had put in a huge effort to drop his group and bridge up to me. The two of us worked together and topped Woody's alone, then made a hard descent int Suches, where we caught a few others and rode to Wolfpen in a group of about 6 that included Tres Cordin, the big guy in the green Kenda kit (same guys I was with in the chase at Rome), and the red-haird guy from Harbin.

I accelerated on Wolfpen and had a gap of maybe 25 or 35 seconds on the group when we topped Wolfpen Gap. I tried to kill the very technical descent and felt I had done pretty well. At the bottom, I was amazed again to see that Drew alone had out-descended his group and caught me - Mr. D has found that going down hill quickly is a strong point of his to say the least!

Drew and I worked together up Neels, catching a few folks until he told me to go ahead about half way up as he jumped into a group of about 4 or 5 riders. I think I had about 30 or 45 seconds on his group at the top of Neels. I descended as fast as I possibly could down Neels, hoping to find another group to ride in from Neels to Stonepile, but I'm light and not very fast going downhill. Drew's group caught me at the false flat on Neels where the time trial started.

Then I made a huge tactical mistake: At the TT I had stashed a water bottle in the grass on a false flat going down Neels. I was completely out of water with an hour left to ride, so I made a decision to sprint a little ahead of the group, thinking that I could easily pick up the bottle and rejoin for the remainder of the descent. It only took me about 10 seconds to grab the bottle, but all my efforts could not get me back on the group. I almost caught them at the bottom of the climb, but by the time we reached Turners Corner, they had about 20 seconds on me. I chased hard for another 5 minutes, but was loosing ground on them. I had spent lots of energy for nothing and lost the group. Utter stupidity on my part. They probably gained 2 or 3 minutes on me between Turners Corner and Stonepile Gap, and I was very tired from the chase.

I didn't know it, but Jake had been chasing just behind Drew and I for most of the day. Jake caught up with me on the 2nd Woody's climb and we worked together for a while. About half way up, Jake told me to go and I went as hard as I could to the finish. Jake outsprinted a couple of chasers at the top when he arrived.

Doug and Jeff spent most of their day at the front and Doug picked up some KOM points and time bonuses, which may break an almost exact time tie and put him in 1st place in GC. Jeff's strong finish will probably put him in the top 10 GC. Drew's very strong descending, steady effort, and smart tactics might have moved him up into the top 25 in GC. Jake and I both felt good about our rides, but likely did not get any top 25 GC points.

If Doug wins GC, that's 2 races in Georgia Cup yellow in a row for him and for MAX - a very strong showing.

MAX took Rome

A follow-up to my last Rome Georgia Cup report:

MAX Cycling had 5 riders in the top 20 GC and would have had 6 but for Drew Slocum's flat in the road race (our 7th, Todd Wilson did not compete in the GC). Also, Jeff would likely have taken 2nd, but got caught behind a crash with 2 to go in the crit. A very strong showing -- we're ready for Dahlonega next.

Doug Ott - 1st
Jeff Clayton - 3rd
Robert Jordan - 7th
Trey Gavin - 19th
Jake Andrews - 20th

Rome Georgia Cup Race Report

What a great race! The MAX Racing Team was born in Rome this weekend, and I hope we can keep it rolling. There is so much to report about Rome that it's impossible for me to give a complete report. This is not intended to reflect everything that happened -- I'm sure there's lots of stuff that I missed and it's probably unintentionally biased, but here's some of it from my perspective:

Racing for MAX in Rome:
Drew Slocum
Todd Wilson
Trey Gavin
Jake Andrews
Jeff Clayton
Doug Ott
Robert Jordan
(Chad Madan also raced for Pacesetter)

TTT - Great conditions, relatively flat 14-mile course with some rollers and false flats, four U-turns, and one 90d turn. We started well with 30-second pulls in a single paceline. After the first turn I still felt good. We shortened pulls to about 15 seconds and I was starting to struggle somewhat when pulling around Jake at the front. Jeff instructed us to move it 'up' to about 90% effort. The problem was that I was already way above that. At the 6 mile point I knew I was weakening and would not be able to hold out until the end, so I decided to do three more pulls as strong as I could, then get out of the way. I did that and peeled off at about mile 8 or 9 because I felt that I had started to slow the team down. I kept up a steady pace and eventually joined Trey and Todd, who did their work and peeled off later as well. Doug, Jeff, Drew, and Jake drove the train for the last few miles with Drew then Jeff peeling off nearer the finish. Jake and Doug drove the train into the station with Doug nipping Jake at the line. Average speed was around 26.1 mph. We later learned that we finished 3rd. We hoped for a win, but it was a strong first-time performance.

Crit - Downtown Rome, long, rectangular crit course with a significant little bump after turn 2. The field included about 70 riders. The race started very fast, as usual. Four of our 7 riders had never raced a crit, which put them at a big disadvantage from the start. Todd and I ended up starting at the back of the pack because of our late team podium presentation, so that made it even tougher to get started. I struggled in the first few laps, but finally clawed my way up into a more comfortable spot in the peloton where the yo-yo action was a little less severe. I could see Doug and Jeff constantly at the front attacking and bridging to other attacks. The PA announcer was constantly talking about the MAX attacks and tactics. Jeff and Doug even tried once to bridge together, which the announcer called a 'very rare move' I think. Being new to crits and getting caught behind crashes (and in Drew's case, in a crash) eventually caused Todd, Jake, and Drew to lose contact with the peloton. Jake made a valiant solo chase to no avail. Trey and I did some blocking in front a couple of times as Doug and Jeff set off the fireworks at the front, but it was a pretty uneventful race for me. Jeff got caught up in a crash with two laps to go. He got back going, but lost 1 minute to the field. I finished last in the peloton sprint (26th) as Trey sprinted around me for 24nd place. I don't know Jeff's and Drew's finish places, but they didn't podium. Of the four of us, only Jeff lost any time in GC. That was my crit goal, so I was satisfied. Doug, Trey, me, and Jeff sat at 5th, 6th, 7th, and 11th in GC, respectively after the crit thanks to the strong TTT.

Road Race - The 70-rider field started rather calmly over 5-8 miles of rollers with a couple of breaks that went nowhere. All 6 MAX riders sat in the top 25 spots, but did little work except for Jeff doing some. After a 1K climb that got everyone's heart pumping, we started a long false flat, then a long (5 mi) very gradual downhill run to the base of Horne Mountain (a 3K 6% climb that took about 13 minutes). During the 10-mile run-in to the mountain, Drew and Jake did lots of hard work and drove the MAX train in the front and completely controlled the race, not allowing anyone to think about getting a break before the climb. Doug sat out of the wind in 3rd acting as gatekeeper so Jake and Drew could roll unimpeded. As we reached the climb, the pace was very strong and all 6 MAX riders were near the front. I was amazed at how hard some of the riders started the climb. Did they not realize that it would last 13 minutes? The peloton quickly ceased to exist. A long string of riders intermittently topped the mountain, with Doug and Jeff getting KOM points and time bonuses. I'd guess I went over in about 20th place. I worked very hard on the descent and eventually gelled with 8 other riders to form a chase group behind a lead group of 7, which contained Doug and Jeff. We passed the feed station with a 30-second deficit to the 7-man break. It took my chase partners a few minutes to figure out that I had two teammates in the break and was more than a little unmotivated to chase. I gummed up the works as best I could for 5 or 10 minutes as about 10 to 15 more riders bridged to us. After the 1K climb, I was pleased to hear that the lead group had expanded it's lead to 1:10. I sat on the back and had an easy next 8 miles. The next time check was 2:20 to the lead group, so I knew Jeff and Doug's group would not be caught. About that time, Jake pulled his group of about 8 (I think he did most of the work) into our chase group. He had been working very hard to rejoin. We hit the base of Horne Mt. for the final ascent with about 30 riders. I got in a groove and was doing well -- sitting about 4th in a long string of 30 from the chase peloton. About 200m from the finish I stood up to 'sprint.' I think fast-twitch muscles do not exist in my body anyway, and any that I had at the start of the day were dead. A couple of riders passed me within about 25 feet of the line and one guy went around me on the finish by half a wheel - I finished 14th. Doug finished 2nd and Jeff finished 3rd for the stage. Drew flatted on the 1st climb, but restarted and passed lots of folks before the finish. Jake and Trey finished well also on the tough climbs.

The GC finish order was not posted when we left due to a scoring problem, but I think Doug might have won the GC! Jeff was probably top 5, and I might have squeaked into a top 10 GC.

It was a super successful first-time team effort for MAX. And we probably had as much fun away from the races as in the races. I'll update with more info as I have it.

How to win the flats - Savannah

The Savannah Georgia Cup courses last weekend were flat - that was no surprise. The TTT course had a few rollers and some breeze, but the crit and the circuit were open, flat, and the wind effects were present but minimal. I assumed going in that I had virtually no chance to win or place high in races on flat stages where a sprint finish was very likely. I've been thinking about why I made that assumption beforehand and about why it was an accurate assumption.

Trey and I formed a 2-man team for the TTT. On a flat course with a couple of short, small grades (2-4%) and a light breeze, we averaged 24.3 mph over about 14 miles. That corresponds to something between 280 and 300 watts average power output over half and hour. That seems reasonable, because my FTP is about 270 and Trey's is probably somewhere in that range also. That means each of us was essentially doing 1-minute intervals at 280-300 watts with a one minute 'rest' at about 240 watts or so. Our TTT experience was virtually identical to what one would expect to face in a two-man break off the front of a circuit or crit (except for the less aero road bikes vs. TT bikes).

The average speeds for the competitive division (4/5) crit and circuit were just under 26 mph, and both races had fairly consistent speeds. That means that the riders at the front of the peloton at any given time were riding at about 325 watts on the flats with no wind. That number seems reasonable. In order for any rider or pair of riders to get off the front and sustain a gap, they would need maybe 30 seconds of 400 or 450 watts to get away, then a sustained 325-350 watts just to maintain the small gap. Unless I'm mistaken, there aren't many category 4 or 5 riders who can generate that kind of sustained power. I can sustain 385 watts for a couple of minutes or so, but would probably not be able to ride at a sustained 300 watts for any length of time afterward. That's why my assumption about not being competitive in Savannah held true. As a matter of fact, both the crit and the circuit ended in a bunch sprint. Evidently there were no riders in our races that had the kind of power I described above.

And it gets even tougher in the elite and pro, 1, 2 races, where I think the average speeds were at least 27 mph and 28 mph, respectively.

Thankfully for me, all that I have said above goes out the window on courses like Dahlonega, where pure wattage takes a back seat to watts/kg and top speed pretty much disappears from the equation. It doesn't mean I'll podium in Dahlonega, it just means I'm not almost mathematically eliminated before I start.

Savannah Georgia Cup

The GA Cup races this weekend in Savannah were very flat and very fast. Racing from Macon were Trey Gavin, Jeff Clayton, Chad Madan, myself, and Richard Cook.

The Saturday morning Team Time Trial was the toughest of the three stages for me. Trey and I formed a two-man team (the minimum for Competitive division). It was a flat 14-mi course with a few small inclines and a light breeze on half of the route. We started out too fast with too much adrenaline, I think, and had to struggle to keep up the pace at the finish. But all in all we had a good TTT, passing the groups that started 1 minute and 2 minutes ahead of us, both of which were 3-man teams. Our average speed was 24.3 mph. It would have been very beneficial to have had one or two additional teammates. The draft effect would have been larger and it would have provided a critical extra few seconds for catching our breath between pulls. But it was a fun ride. We finished 11th of 20 teams and beat all the 2-man, 3-man, and 4-man teams. A GA Cup screw-up on the web site caused Jeff to miss his TTT start. Richard was paired with another single and had a good ride. I think Chad's team took 4th.

The Saturday afternoon 'crit' was hot. They called it a crit, but really it was a short, half-moon shaped circuit race with two open, wide turns. Trey and I both stayed with the front group in a race that was very fast by cat 4/5 standards (25.8 mph). I moved up to the front a couple of times, but didn't have enough juice to try anything. Trey raced aggressively and stayed up front a lot. He took 2nd in a time bonus prime and finished top 20 in the sprint. I was probably at about 30th. I didn't realize until after the race that they didn't give the same time to everyone finishing together in the final group, so I lost a few seconds there. Jeff raced well but finished mid-pack in his race, and I think Chad finished mid-pack after doing quite a bit of up-front work for Pacesetter earlier in the race.

The Sunday circuit race was on a wide, fast mini-Indy car track with about 7 turns. It was another very fast race (25.7 mph) with wide open turns and some breeze. It finished similarly to the crit for Trey and I, but included much more carnage. At least four crashes occurred during the race, with one guy breaking his collar bone, I think. Lots of scraping aluminum and cracking carbon (road rash makes no sound). Jeff covered all the breaks in his race, but none of them stuck. He finished mid-pack in the sprint.

I guess you can see that the theme down there was fast, open, sprinter's races. The TTT pretty much set the finishing order in the GC, and we don't have many sprinters from Macon, so we didn't bring home any hardware, but it was a fun weekend. Dahlonega in two weeks will see an entirely different list of names on the leaderboard.