FLCC> Tuesday Night A Race Report And Commentary (long)

[Steve Edgar]

> Now, how about a B report?

Okay.  Here's one.

My current fitness level has me as a 'tweener; in-between the A and B  
groups.  I can stay on with the As at B-dale, but can not last up any  
type of sustained climb at speed.  Since it was Ringwood Night, I  
rode with the Bs.  My focus would be keeping the racing interesting  
the whole way.

Just as we rolled onto Midline, I looked over at Rhino and said "I'll  
go if you'll go".  So we took off.  Ben comes with us.  Mike bridges  
up, and we have a group of 4.  My intent was to keep this beak going  
no matter how close the main group got.  The B field can lose its  
resolve quickly when not climbing, so hard and steady it was.

I coached Ben some, getting him to use bigger gears on the fast  
sections.  He was feeling it a bit on the down hills, but was strong  
everywhere else.  (Use those drops dude!)

The field gets close on EHS but we keep it steady and start to roll  
away again.  The field closes again as we near Ringwood.

This is turning out just like I had hoped.  We had a nice break on  
the fast section of the course.  We had to ride hard, and some folks  
behind had to ride hard to keep us close.  Now the folks who have  
been sitting in will blast the hill, making selections.  There will  
be lots of good chasing, and then we'll hit Synder.  This is, in my  
view, the perfect Tuesday Night.  Action for all from start to finish.

Laura leads a string of riders past us.  They are going quite a bit  
faster.  I'm working hard, but not quite on the rivet yet, so I move  
up to Laura and say "I'm invoking old man rule number 29.  No counter  
attacking the break."  We smile.  I have to drop back, but am still  
attached to the group.

A few guys push it over the top and get a gap, but it doesn't look  
threatening.  I go over on the tail end of a string of 5 or so.  We  
collect the riders in front of us.

We have more than enough to ride a circular pace line but,  
understandably, some folks are pretty tenderized, so the pace line  
never really forms.  I feel okay and stay near the front, driving the  
group with Casey.

We roll into the pitch on 79 and Rhino hits it hard, getting a big  
gap.  This is great.  Rhino is throwing down early.  Will the  
youngsters catch him?

I ride about as fast as I can to the "steep part" of Snyder, with  
Casey and Brian.  Rhino is still up the road.  Ben and Keith look  
good, and are head of us, as is Joe.

We ride up to Rhino on the pitch.  Brian pushes Casey over the top.   
Casey hits it on the short down hill and across the flat.  Brian  
takes over.  I follow Rhino and we pass Joe near the line.

Not sure if Keith or Ben won, but they had a nice gap, and didn't  
fade to take the 1 and 2 spots.

It was a fun ride.

Oh... I'll be missing the next few Tuesday Nights.  I'm typing this  
from Southern VA.  What am I doing here?  The answer is at ...

http://web.mac.com/steve.edgar/

-- Steve.

On Jul 20, 2006, at 3:25 PM, mgarcia at borgwarner.com wrote:

> Better late than never ...
>
> "So how come no one writes up Tuesday night race reports any more?"
> I asked Glenn, riding back down from the Observatory on Mt. Pleasant.
> "Because it takes up a lot of time, and I'm too busy" came the reply,
> or some words to that effect.  Now I know, he is right about that.
> Maybe if I *just* wrote a race report I could make it short.  But  
> somehow
> I always feel the need to add my musings and rantings, which makes
> for a nice long boring read.
>
> -> IF YOU WANT TO JUST READ THE RACE REPORT, SCROLL DOWN TO THE  
> SECTION
> -> THAT SAYS 'RACE REPORT BEGINS HERE'.  IF YOU WANT TO READ MY  
> RAMBLINGS
> -> ABOUT PRE-RACE ANXIETY, KEEP READING.
>
> I'm an indecisive and anxious person by nature.  Tuesday nights  
> tend to
> bring out the worst in my indicisiveness and anxiety.  First of all  
> comes
> the weather forecast check.  I don't like to get wet or I melt.  Hmmm,
> 40% chance of storms. If its 20% or 30%, I typically risk it.  If  
> its 50%
> or greater, I usually don't risk it.  If its 40%, then I check the  
> radar
> every ten
> minutes starting around 3PM and fret about what to do.
>
> Then appears a special weather statement that looks like this.
>
> ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...
>
> A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA THIS  
> AFTERNOON.
> THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO FORM ALONG THE FRONT, WITH SOME STORMS  
> RAPIDLY
> BECOMING SEVERE.
>
> THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE BETWEEN 1 PM AND 6  
> PM.
> THE ENTIRE REGION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RECEIVE SEVERE WEATHER, BUT THE
> HIGHEST PROBABILITY WILL BE FROM THE NORTHERN TIER OF PENNSYLVANIA,
> THROUGH THE SOUTHERN TIER OF NEW YORK, AND INTO THE NORTHWESTERN  
> CATSKILLS
> REGION.
>
> Now I'm thinking about not going.  Some emails float around work with
> the subject line "Should be a fun ride tonight......bring your body  
> armor."
> Mike Sobol thinks it will miss us because he has already been  
> hailed on
> twice
> this year.  I decide to check the weather radar at 4PM and make the  
> call
> then.
>
> After the weather check comes the family check.  Leaving my wife to  
> tend
> three
> kids through dinner and get them ready for bed (after a whole day  
> of being
> with
> them) while I am out playing on the bike is not her idea of quality  
> time.
> Still,
> she lets me get out on occasion.  Our two girls are with their  
> grandparents
> in Albany for a few days, so that makes it a bit easier this week.   
> Except
> that
> our godson has a birthday party that I am going to miss.  If the  
> weather
> turns
> bad, then I will be there.  The joke is that I am a 'bad-weather  
> friend'.
> Or is
> it a joke? I can't tell.  This is worse than usual, it's only 1PM  
> and I am
> anxious
> already.
>
> Before I know it, its 4PM and Mike stops by to ask if I am going to  
> do a
> pre-ride
> with him.  After more sighing and agonizing I get changed and  
> follow Mike to
> East Hill.
> I can always change my mind, skip the race, and go home when we get  
> back,
> right?  Right.
> Besides, I'll feel good about doing this when it's all over.
>
> Mike and I take our usual route, ambling over Snyder Hill, then  
> Landon and
> Lounsberry,
> returning via Thomas and Ellis Hollow Creek.  I like these roads.  The
> weather seems
> nice, and I think maybe I will stay and do the race after all.   
> This is only
> my
> second Tuesday night race of the year.  Maybe I'll ride with the  
> B's.  We'll
> see ...
>
> We gathered with the crowd at HSBC.  Seems like a smaller crowd  
> than usual.
> Danny is there, but I don't see Andy M, Scott, Andrew B, Glenn, or  
> any of
> the
> usual enforcers that I know.  That might make for a less painful A  
> race.
> At the last minute, I see Andy, Glenn, Ryan M, and a few other A's  
> show up.
> Uh oh, so much for an easy race.
>
> Riding out to Ringwood, I chat a bit with Mark Rishniw.  He  
> promptly gets a
> flat.
> I catch up to Andy M, hoping maybe if I chat with him, he will also  
> get a
> flat.
> It doesn't work. He reminds me of the 1995 Empire State Games team  
> time
> trial, when I
> crashed on the last turn before the finish, slowing the team up  
> just enough
> to
> miss out on a medal by a few seconds.  He loves to tell that  
> story.  He is
> probably
> getting back at me for trying to give him a flat tire.  I change  
> the subject
> to
> the Tour and how the Ukranians are doing (Andy is of Ukrainian  
> descent, and
> I am
> 50% Ukrainian).
>
> Finally we are at the top of Ringwood and the racecourse is  
> announced.  The
> A's will
> go up Hurd, then Ringwood and finish on Mt. Pleasant.  In a moment of
> delirium I
> decide maybe it won't be so bad, so I decide to go with them.
>
> ->
> ->  RACE REPORT BEGINS HERE.
> ->
>
> Off we roll down Midline at a relaxed pace.  I still can't get over  
> how nice
> the
> pavement is, even though it has been like a year or more since they
> resurfaced it.
> No more anxieties now; I'm committed to this and just need to see it
> through.
> Pretty soon, the pace picks up and we are strung out at over 30 mph.
> Somebody up
> there wants to go fast but I don't know who it is because I'm  
> hanging out at
> the back.
>
> Another group is off the front, and we take a few pulls and reel  
> them in.
> Down the
> rollers to Rte 79, then we approach the turn onto Ellis Hollow as a  
> group.
> We make
> the turn onto Ellis Hollow, and there about 100 yards in front of  
> us is a
> big John
> Deere Farm tractor going slower than we are.  I wonder if we will  
> neutralize
> the race
> until a convenient time to pass, or if we will just be dumb and  
> pass on the
> double
> yellow.  Silly me, of course we will pass it.  We charge recklessly  
> around
> the
> tractor and up Ellis Hollow.  The look on the face of the tractor  
> driver
> suggests that he is not used to being passed by a pack of crazed  
> cyclists.
>
> Normally I like to put in a good effort up Ellis Hollow to help string
> things out a bit.
> However I have learned the hard way (the 'Hurd' way?) that if thou art
> planning to race
> up Hurd, thou mustn't kill thyself on Ellis Hollow, or else thine  
> legs will
> not have a
> chance to recover before thou climbest up Hurd.  So I more or less  
> stayed
> tucked
> on Ryan Morris's wheel over the top, only to see a small group up  
> the road
> (with Danny
> in it) once the road flattened out.  Uh oh, time to chase.  So much  
> for not
> killing myself.
> Well, I didn't kill myself.  But I took a few pulls.
>
> We catch the escapees just as we turn onto Hurd.  On paper, Hurd is  
> not
> quite as bad a
> climb as Ringwood.  But I find it mentally harder because it starts  
> steeper
> from the
> get-go, and then flattens enough to allow some big-ring attacks.   
> By 'big
> ring attacks'
> I am referring to other people's big rings, not mine.   I didn't  
> really know
> what to expect, not having raced much this year.  But I found  
> myself able to
> keep pace
> with the leaders (except Danny, of course) only killing myself a  
> little.
> Once the road
> starts to flatten a bit, that is the spot where people (like Glenn)  
> usually
> launch
> attacks that leave me struggling to respond.  I found myself at the  
> front
> waiting to
> hear the familiar sound of a derailleur behind me being shifted into
> successively
> smaller rear cogs.  Then I thought to myself, "well, if I keep the  
> pace high
> enough,
> maybe no one will feel like attacking."  (I finally learned  
> something from
> all these
> recent years of following the Tour).  So I slowly ramped up the  
> speed to
> discourage
> anyone from charging ahead, and the tactic seemed to work.  Out of the
> corner of my
> eye, I saw Twinkie spectating on the other side of the road,  
> apparently
> recovered
> from his flat.  At least I think it was him.  Or maybe he hired a  
> look-alike
> because
> he was back robbing the HSBC bank and needed an alibi.  Ya never know!
> Anyway, where
> was I?  Oh yes, going up Hurd painfully fast.  Over the top of Hurd  
> there
> emerged a group
> of four - Glenn, Danny, Andy M, Matt Schectman, and myself.  I  
> guess that is
> five,
> but I must have forgotten to count myself.  Maybe there was another  
> body
> there, not sure.
> That would be six.  I can't do math when my heart rate is over 190  
> beats per
> minute.
>
> Until this point, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get  
> in the
> front group
> over Hurd.  After this point, it became an unpleasant surprise.  Glenn
> seemed to have
> some preconceived notions about not getting caught by any chasers.   
> Danny
> seemed pretty
> excited to finally start getting a workout.  Andy is just always  
> excited,
> period.
> Keeping up with a bunch of excited cat 1s and 2s is not a lot of  
> fun.  I
> could be
> sitting on my deck drinking a cold beer right now, but instead I'm  
> ruining
> an otherwise
> pleasant Tuesday evening expending calories needlessly.
>
> Down to Rte 79 we flew, then over to Ellis Hollow.  No tractors  
> this time!
> I sat on
> Glenn's wheel up Ellis Hollow.  Over the top, I am still trying to  
> take a
> pull here
> and there but being largely unsuccessful.  Poor Matt ... I think we  
> barely
> dropped
> him on Ellis Hollow.  Or maybe he was lucky that he got to slow  
> down a tad.
>
> Finally I give up on trying to take pulls on the flats, and I just
> concentrate
> on holding on for dear life.  Once in awhile I glance up to see  
> various
> riders
> riding in the opposite direction from us, but I don't know what  
> groups they
> are
> from or where they are going.
>
> I like to play a game at the finish of the Tuesday night races.  I  
> call it
> the '1k-
> to-go' game.  Actually it is more of a cop-out than a game.  But
> '1k-to-go-game'
> sounds better than '1k-to-go-cop-out'.  Anyway, it is based on the  
> Tour de
> France
> rule that any mishaps in the final 1k of a flat stage result in  
> everyone
> getting the
> winner's finish time.  Or something like that.  Except in my game,  
> it works
> for hilly
> races also and you don't need to have any mishaps.  My goal is  
> always to get
> to within
> 1k or thereabouts of the finish with the lead group, then let them  
> go to
> sprint it out
> amongst themselves while I roll in for last place.  I figure I can  
> expend
> the energy
> to sprint, and end up last, or I can just accept my place and not  
> hurt my
> legs too much.
>
> So my main goal now is to just get close to the top of Ringwood  
> with Glenn
> and Danny.
> Then I can let them go.  We roll up Ringwood to the bridge, and  
> sure enough
> I am starting to
> see stars.  Where the heck did Andy go?  Turns out he never made  
> the turn
> onto Ringwood,
> but I don't know this at the time.  Would it be easier or harder if  
> he was
> here?
> Oh well, doesn't matter now.  Up, up around the turn, to the last  
> steep bit,
> trying
> to stay on Glenn's wheel.  Just as I am coming unglued, we crest  
> the hill
> and I manage
> to claw my way back to Glenn and Danny as they increase their  
> speed.  Oh
> boy, that was
> dumb.  Now I can't relax yet, I have to stay on and work a bit  
> more.  For
> sure, they will
> drop me once we turn onto Midline and then I can take it easy, I  
> think.  We
> turn onto
> Midline.  Oh blast, they aren't dropping me.  Can't they just  
> attack one
> more time and
> put me out of my misery?  We turn onto Mount Pleasant, the last  
> climb.  I
> wonder if Glenn
> and Danny are trying to be nice to me in their own way.  Even if I  
> wanted to
> sprint
> (which I don't), it wouldn't be right, given all the wheel-sucking  
> that I
> did.  Plus
> it seems like a painful idea and I am not getting paid to do this.   
> Just
> before the dip, I bail out, leaving Danny and Glenn to sprint it  
> out and I
> crawl in
> just after them.  Matt S and Field F roll in shortly afterwards,  
> followed by
> Nick R
> and a few others I might have missed.  Sorry about that.
>
> It sure feels good to finish one of these darned races.  A  
> beautiful view of
> the sunset,
> friendly chatting, and a leisurely ride back to the parking lot  
> makes it all
> worthwhile.
> Maybe I will be able to do another one before the summer is over.
>
> Good luck to anyone racing at Owasco this weekend ... I'm hoping to  
> get a
> chance
> to sit on my deck, drink some beer, and learn how to relax.
>
> Now, how about a B report?
>
> Cheers,
> Ano
>
> "The less I ride, the faster I get."
>
>
>
> Mariano Garcia
> BorgWarner Morse TEC Inc.
> Ithaca Technical Center
> 770 Warren Rd.    Ithaca NY 14850
> Ph: 607-266-2136 (desk) 607-266-2243 (recep)
> FAX: 607-257-5033
> email: mgarcia at morse.bwauto.com
>
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