2013 CCTT and Reston Grand Prix: I am not Gene Kelly!

Race Report

Dana Stryk

Evolution Cycling p/b Long and Foster

Race	Church Creek Time Trial and Reston Grand Prix
Date	June 22nd and 23rd
Field	2 and 20+
Field Demographics	W1/2 and W1/2 racing with W3
Weather	Sunny and RAIN

Title for this novella:  “I am not Gene Kelly”

Saturday, June 22, 2013:  Church Creek Time Trial, Cambridge, MD, 40K, flat with wind.

The weekend began with the Church Creek Time Trial in Cambridge, MD.  Forty kilometers of pain and suffering in the Black Water Wildlife Refuge with a little wind added into the mix was the perfect way to start a beautiful Saturday.  Prior to the race, road-results.com predicted I would finish in 2^nd place for the WCat1/2 behind Katy Giles.  The forecast was accurate.  Before you praise the wonderful race prediction algorithm, keep in mind the following information: (1)  Katy and I comprised the entire field.  (2) Katy easily goes under an hour for this TT.  Last year, I set a PR on the course with 1:04:05. 

With second place locked up and my medal secure, I needed a goal.  Last year I wanted go under 1:04 (well, under an hour, but that is not probable) but fell short by 6 seconds.  The start times for this TT gave a 5 minute break between the last person in the field in front of ours, so I was without rabbits to chase.  Since the TT is totally flat and wind too unpredictable, CA (who doubles as my coach) wanted to ensure that I did not go out too hard or slack between the 20-30K mark, as I am prone to do.  He set my Garmin to use the virtual partner option (which I have called Dave, Garmin Man), set at a 23.5 mph pace.  If I could stay ahead of Dave, I would reach my goal of under 1:03:50.

After a restful night’s sleep in the Race Vehicle, CA and I began the race day prep of coffee, number pickup, wishing we were noodling around the beach on our bikes rather than donning on skinsuits (and the people with whom I work wonder why I pass on doughnuts…the words lycra and skinsuit should explain it), and so on.

After carefully pinning CA’s race number onto his skinsuit while he was wearing it (TOWC number pinning involved some blood and a few interesting words learned perhaps from his Navy days….), CA was off to the races, so to speak, while I waited for my start time.  I rolled to the start, clipped in as some guy held up my bike and waited for the count.

The power file from the TOWC TT showed that my start, for lack of a better phrase, sucked.  I lost about 15 seconds and never back them back. With that in mind, I decided to get ahead of Dave for the first 5K. Go.  I sprint off the line, hit the start button and hit a nice head wind.  Ugh.

Katy passes me reasonably soon, which I expected.  My pace was a couple seconds ahead of the target which made the pain in my legs a little more tolerable.  The second leg of the course, normally quite bumpy, as in knock the Garmin off your bike and your bottle out of the cage kind of bumpy, was reported to be repaved.  The last email from the promoter hinted of PRs to come.  Sadly, most of this road was unchanged, and I watched my lead over Garmin Man shrink until I was behind. I hate TTs!!!!!

Finally the bumpy, makes me want to unhydrate, section was over and I worked on catching Garmin Man.  I pass the 20K marker (thanks to the race promoter who labeled every 5 K….) and was ahead of Dave by 30 seconds.  Could I keep this up?

As the top Men 1/2 passed me, I focused on Garmin Man.  On the third leg of the course, I was making up time.  I would crush Dave.  My feet were tingling and my shoulders sore, but Dave was going down.

A right turn brought me to the final leg which for me is the hardest part of the course. At the end of this road, more than 10K away, is a blue tent and white line where my pain whould end.  At this point, I had a 40 sec lead on Dave but my legs were tired.  When the road was without trees, the wind (real or imagined) seemed to pick up.  At the 10K to go point, I realized that if I could withstand the pain, I would post a decent TT.  With 5K to go, Dave gained some time and my lead was down to 25 seconds. Argggh.  I shifted into a bigger gear, put my head down and stood up to get a little more power.  Yikes.  So tired I forgot I was in my aerobars and I lost a few seconds with a bobble that could have taken me down.  Focus, Stryk.

3K to go.  I focused on increasing time on Dave.  Back up to 28 sec lead. I could see the line.  Attempted sprint.  Finish.  Turn off Garmin.  Wobbly legs take me to the congregation point around the start/finish.  Katy posted an amazing just over 57 minute effort.  I crossed the line, I later learned, in 1:03:01.  While 2 seconds faster would have been amazing….I shaved more than a minute off my TT following a crit-based training plan.  Very pleased.  Thanks to CA and Dave!

A shower and recovery drink in the Race Vehicle and a long wait for results later, CA and I head to Reston for the Reston Grand Prix, my team’s race.

Sunday, June 23, 2013:  Reston Grand Prix, 1 hour criterium, 8 turns, wet pavement, rainy weather, one hill, Joe Jefferson announcing…..

This year’s Reston would be my third.  As a new Cat 3, I raced Reston in the rain and ended up DNF in rainy conditions due a crash in turn 5 which snapped my handlebars, bruised some ribs, cracked my helmet and scared me (I know…what doesn’t scare me?).  Last year was my second Reston race in hot and sunny conditions and was the first time that I ventured out of the back of the peloton.  I ended up 11^th overall, 5^th in the Cat 3 women and popped off the back with one to go.  With a little more confidence after last weekend’s TOWC crit, I wanted to race well in the team-sponsored race.

I don’t mind rain.  As a child, I watched old musicals and became a Gene Kelly fan.  It would rain, I would run out into the driveway, umbrella in hand, and entertain my neighbors with my off-key rendition of “Singing in the Rain” (singing was horrible but…

Had the rain created something like him
in Corner 5, eating cyclists for breakfast?

my rain-splashing tap dance….top notch).  Fast forward many years.  Kelley (Bethoney, not Gene) and I warmed up under the awning of the Race Vehicle.  It was pouring.  Gene Kelly would have modified his song to “I’m singing in the rain.  And headed to the car.  I am not going to be racing.  In this rain it is too hard…”   Reports came in that turn 5 was, and I quote, “eating riders”.  Great.  Maybe it would be too full during our race to bite one of us.

Words cannot adequately express how much I did not want to race.  Other women either changed into street clothes to watch the race or turned around and went home.  We watched a couple of women from Velocita warming up.  One of them, Ali Ingram, wiped out in the parking lot.  Just a little road rash but….she has great handling skills and if riding the parking lot caused her to go down, what would turns 3, 4 and 5 bring to the field?

Kelley and I ride a couple of laps around the course and Wendy joins us.  I think we all have the same thoughts….the wet roads and drizzle have made us all extremely nervous.  CA tells me to go off the front.  I stare at him blankly (thoughts in my head:  to do that, I actually have to start the race.  If I start the race, I will have to continue the race.  I could be sitting in Starbucks).  I am at the line in horrible position.  Kelley is to my right…also in not so good position.  Wendy is to our left with a clear shot to the corner.  The whistle blows and we are off. I have problems clipping into the pedal and the small group swarms around me. 

We make it through turns 1 and 2.  The group is to the left of the double yellow.  I am at the back of the pack, exactly the WRONG place to be.  I ride up the ride side of the road to get toward the front as the aforementioned Ali attacks.  Dori, Michelle, two others and I catch her.  She hammers for the next lap and a half and we have a break.  Due to the rain, I decided to forgo glasses…the spots from raindrops drive me crazy.  This meant that the water from the road and the wheel in front of me went into my eyes.  For the next few laps, I wanted to quit because I could not see very well.  We took turns rotating to the front to widen the gap on the field.  We had success.

At some point the rain let up.  Our group was down to five, with two very good sprinters.  I remember seeing the lap counter at 23 to go and thinking….TWENTY-THREE???  We had a couple of premes, one of which I won. 

The rain took its toll on the race.  As we started to lap riders, we passed several crashes.  Luckily, cases of road rash were the only injuries as far as I know.  As the laps became fewer in number, I contemplated how I could win this race.  The technical nature of the course sets it up for the two sprinters if we are a group after the last turn.  In drier conditions and a sudden influx of courage, I would have tried to get away using the corners to create a gap.  Given the course conditions, I tried to create some distance on the hill on the second to last lap, to no avail.  It would come down to a sprint.  I ended up 4^th overall, 2^nd in the W1/2. Kelley rounded out the top 5 in the W1/2.

Apparently, the preme I won was a "slumber party preme".  CA's happy dance as I sprinted to the line apparently was the hit of the crowd....

Lessons Learned:

TT:  For me, the Garmin Man pacing was effective for race and course conditions.  Now if I can only find a way to get Dave Zabriskie’s voice from my Race Vehicle Garmin to my Edge 800….

Criterium:  Once I knew the gap was large enough that I could still get (in this case 5^th) last place in the lead group if I get popped off the back, I should have tried the Sufferfest Revolver skill set of my rivals. If I attacked 1 minute on and 1 minute off, would I have shelled a couple of people to give me a better overall finish? 

Kudos and Shout-outs:

Wendy and Kelley:  Had you not been at the line with me, I would have gone to Starbucks.  Thanks for helping the break stick.  I love racing with you both.

EVO teammates:  Thank you for cheering for me during that race.   I have not had such an awesome cheering section at a race.

CA:  With all the cheering from the crowds and the fear of crashing in my head, this is the first race that I could not hear you from the sidelines except…..your voice was in my head when I wanted to quit because I (1) could not see (2) felt my rear wheel skidding on a turn (3) hate rain and (4) had sand in my eyes and dirt in my mouth from the water scouring my face.  MUSHY ALERT:  I kept going through the worst part of the race because I wanted you to know I could face my fears (and get a big hug at the end of the race.)

2013 Tour of Washington County: Life is like a (empty) box of Cheez-Its

Race Report

Dana Stryk

Evolution Cycling p/b Long and Foster

Race	Tour of Washington County
Date	June 15-16, 2013
Field	20+
Field Demographics	Women's Open

Race Results:  7^th RR, 13^th TT, 4^th Crit, 9^th GC

Title for this novella:  “Life is like a (empty) box of Cheez-Its”

When the schedule for a new season becomes populated with races, I look for the Tour of Washington County (TOWC), circle the dates and surround them with stars on my calendar.  TOWC, a stage race in, not surprisingly, Washington County, MD, is always an enjoyable weekend of pain and suffering.  This stage race opens with a kick-off criterium which is outside of the general classification race (GC) on Friday night in downtown Hagerstown, MD.  Saturday brings a road race (RR) with a marvelous uphill finish and cows along the route.  Sunday is particularly torturous with an early morning time trial (TT) followed by a downtown criterium complete with time-bonus premes (translation:  more peloton induced pain).

The women’s kickoff crit began at 6 PM, earlier than last year which for me had one plus (daylight so I could see) and one negative (with traffic, we could not get to the race in time).  My teammate Kelley represented Evo quite well, finishing 5^th in a field filled with fast women.

Since this is a race report that will turn out to be far too long, I will minimize one aspect of the weekend. CA and I decided to acquire a Race Vehicle - others may MISTAKINGLY call the RV a Recreational Vehicle, but they are incorrect.  It is a RACE  VEHICLE.  We were able to camp at the start/finish line for each stage.  Given that my idea of camping is a 4-star hotel with a nice view from a balcony, the Race Vehicle is camping.  Given CA’s WV roots and deployments to war zones, he thought me a bit wimp-ish and rolled his eyes when I packed a hair dryer….The weekend was enhanced having a place to shower, fresh water, COFFEE, apple tv, my own bathroom, etc.  End of Race Vehicle Report.

Smithburg Road Race:  6 laps, 2 smaller bumps, one larger bump, uphill finish.  Cows.

Saturday morning dawned.  Kelley and I sit around thinking of ways in which we could position one of us in good standing for the GC.  The field consisted of one team and many solo strong riders and we were not sure how the race would unfold.  We assumed the well-represented team (ok – we all know of which team I speak – ABRT) would launch attack and counter-attacks.  We needed a plan to cover and, as many do, made race-day alliances. 

At the start, I told Kelley that I would, to the best of my ability, sit on Katy’s wheel.  I would ignore the rest of the race and sit there.  If she stopped to pet a cow, so would I.  I would knock others off the wheel to maintain it (not literally).  When we rolled out, ABRT was toward the back. While I have improved my ability to stay at the front of the pack, I did not want to test that ability to both match Katy’s jump and navigate through riders simultaneously.  I stayed toward the front and Kelley sat on another ABRT wheel.

From past years, I knew that I could save a ton of energy maintaining good position through the turns.  A gap can easily form and the chase to reattach wears on you.  I also wanted to avoid being on the front – a difficult battle to maintain 2^nd or 3^rd wheel and not end up without wind protection as the person at the front tried to get off the front.  After a couple of attacks that failed to sustain, I found myself on the wheel of Ms. Giles.  Focus. 

(Writer’s note:  These are my impressions of the race, which may be entirely different than everyone else’s recollection, especially Katy’s.)

Katy launched a couple of attacks and I was able to stay with her.  One of these efforts had success for a period of time.  Despite the efforts of Kelley, Laura and Katy’s teammates, the group caught us.  For a few moments, I had such hope…. Back to sitting on her wheel while Kelley maintained watch over a couple of the other threats in the group.

Choosing one wheel on which to sit is a suboptimal strategy when someone not named Ms. Giles attacks.  Alas, we were not party to their team strategy and Sue from ABRT attacked with success and her lead soon grew.  She would go on to win the race.  Kudos to her on a strong TT effort!

I wondered about my strategy.  In other races, I noticed that Amanda (also ABRT) would jump once her teammate’s time gap was large enough for the break to stick.  I decided to sit on her wheel.  A couple of times I noticed Katy on the front with Amanda sitting 2^nd wheel and thought…this is it…Amanda will go and Katy is there to create the gap.  Sadly, my expectations were similar to someone shorting the euro recently….wrong.  On the final lap, Katy jumped several times.  I made it with her on a couple of them but the final one, I was gassed and she, along with another rider, had a break.  Phooey.

Now we are racing for 4^th. 

My legs feel like jello and I am falling back through the pack.  NOOOOO.  I did not stay at the front of this race to finish at the back of the pack.  Kelley calmed me and told me to rest at the back.  At Tour of Page County, I felt the same way – I had chased and worked at the front and gave up on the final sprint hill.  This was different.  I bided my time after the final turn.  There are two hills and many people power up the first only die on the second.  I used the first hill to move forward and left where my climbing line was clear.  At the bottom of the final bump, I stood and sprinted, stupidity mistaking the white line on the road “almost” at the top of the hill for the finish…which cost me one position.  Evo ended up with two in the top 15 – I ended up 7^th and Kelley 14^th.

Willamsport Criterium:  25 laps (I think), one tight turn, one downhill fast turn and a hill that increases in grade as more laps accumulate in your legs.

Kelley and I rolled around the course to loosen the legs after the TT warmup.  Last year, I sat in the back of the pack and had a painful last half of the race, getting popped off the back with 2 to go. CA was “suggesting” a race strategy. Given my lack luster TT performance, I was 30 seconds out of fifth and out of GC contention.  Given that information, he thought if I jumped, the GC podium contenders would let me go.  He made me promise to use the first 20 laps to pick my attack spot and then jump with 5 to go.  Avoiding all eye contact I muttered something that he interpreted as an affirmative response.  I was tired and irritated with my TT – which was 19 seconds slower than the previous year.

During the race, we would have 1 prize preme and two time bonus premes, which translates into massive amounts of pain for those laps.  Last year, this is what slaughtered my legs.  This year I wanted to learn from my mistakes.

Throughout the race, I tried to remain no further back than 5^th wheel.  Without video proof, I can only guess, but I think I achieved that goal.  For each of those painful premes, I sprinted up that ever increasingly steeper hill.  I even managed to swipe one of the 3^rd place time bonuses for the last preme. 

As we approached five laps to go, I still could not find a good place to attack, if I overcame my nerves and executed.  On the flat stretch after the first turn there was a strong head wind….bad.  The downhill into the turn into the chicane had a chance.  The uphill was too expected.  As I contemplated this and we hit lap five, Ms. Giles of aforementioned wheel sitting (mine on hers) attacked a hair before the turn into the downhill, which was a great place and about which I had not thought.  With the turn, one tends to slow and she accelerated through the turn.  Luckily, I heard someone moving on my right and was able to follow suit.  I am sitting 4^th or 5^th and we have a gap on the rest of the field.  Through the chicane, into the sharp right and up the hill.  I am not sure when to start to sprint up the hill – and go when I see Michelle Miller start her sprint. I cross the line in 4^th…..Kelley finishes a few seconds behind in 12^th.

Kelley and I were 12^th and 9^th respectively in the GC.

The title of my blog comes from our RR cool-down ride, where a local gentlemen in a truck showered us with a gift....an (empty) Cheez-Its box.  The next day, Michelle Miller stated her depression stemming from the fact the box was empty....

Lessons Learned:

Using “bad” race memories can really motivate when one is tired.

I am now uncomfortable in the back of the MABRA pack – a big change from last year when moving to the front was almost asthma inducing.

Those Sufferfest Revolver workouts are golden.

Kudos and Shout-outs

Kelley:  That was an awesome weekend of racing!!!!!!

Michelle:  Great win!  The best quote of the weekend belongs to you and therefore is the title of my blog.

Joe Jefferson:  TOWC simply rocks.

Mark:  Thanks for a wonderful dinner and glass of wine!

CA:  What a great weekend – from the Race Vehicle to the “Youarenottheonlyonewhoistired.Everyoneistired.Justgirlupandrace” pep talk before the crit.  I am getting closer……One of these days my race results will correspond with your prediction.

2013 Air Force Association Cycling Classic: Tactically Deficient

Race Report

Dana Stryk

Evolution Cycling p/b Long and Foster

Race	Air Force Association Cycling Classic
Date	June 8-9, 2013
Field	40+
Field Demographics	Pro/1/2

Title for this novella:  “Tactically Deficient”

This past weekend, Arlington County was the host location for a weekend of pro criterium racing, as well as amateur men’s races.  For women, the only race option was with the pro women’s peloton, which necessitates being a Cat 2 or higher.  Until this year, this race was (happily) out of reach for me and was one that I pledged never to do.  Last year, I had “official” race duties as podium girl for the amateur races, which was just fine.

This year, I traded bike shop employment for the US Department of State and podium girl for peloton girl, as I decided that my week up to the race was not filled with enough stress and registering for another pro race was a good idea.  I missed the online registration due to an excellent demonstration of procrastination and wandered down to the race hotel during a heavy rainstorm to register.   As people queued up to pick up their packets for the citizen’s Sunday morning ride, I found the sign that announced “Pro Races” and paid my registration to Jim Patton, who, despite my best smile and winning personality, would not let me negotiate a fee based on laps raced, for my attitude was not when I finish the race but how many laps could I complete before being pulled.  I had realistic expectations.

Saturday:  Clarendon Cup, 50 km distance, 1 km lap course, 5 turns, off-cambered road surfaces.

Race day dawned.  Nerves almost made coffee a moot point (key word:  almost).  Car packed.  Shoes packed despite an attempt to leave them behind.  This race would be unique in several ways: 

(1) In the past I swore I would never, ever do this race even if someone paid me to do so….yet I paid $50 to register.

(2) I was joined by two teammates, Wendy and Kelley.  Today was only the third time we lined up together

(3) Wendy and the Boy live about 2 blocks from the race course.  We could warm up on her front porch.

I have ridden the streets of Clarendon for years, perhaps the source of the fear I have for this race.  CA and I did a couple of laps before his race and I happily realized the road surface was much better than I expected.  I was concerned about the corners, since this race has the reputation of being more of a NASCAR environment, with lots of crashes and near misses.  The pre-riding calmed my nerves a bit.

After warming up with Kelley and Wendy at Chez Cassius, we rolled to the line.  As with Wilmington, there were some impressive call-ups.  By this point, I realized that I was actually going to do this – ride around and around and around with the national champion of New Zealand, an Olympic silver medalist, and Laura Van Gilder. I should have brought my sharpie for autographs.

I made Cycling News.....one benefit of being in the back
of the group.  I am number 69.
Photo credit:  Cycling News

The whistle blows, I easily clip in only to find the person in front of me had not accomplished the same task and I had to slow and move to the right and my decent starting position was lost.  Yikes.  We go through the first turn and I started looking for my slow-mo button on some remote control that could slow the group.  The acceleration out of the corners was fast and I found myself getting gapped through them.  I knew I should try to move up but the course was short and technical, which made that difficult to do.  It would take more aggressive riding that I was comfortable executing.  Instead, I fell into the rhythm of coast and then sprint.  Those ladies would also pedal through corners that I was certain would grab my pedal if I tried to follow suit.   Later in the race, when I was off the back, I was on the wheel of one of the pro women and followed her line through the corners….wow.  It can be done but with 40 others around me….hmmm.

I popped off the back on one of those corners (after 5 turns per lap x 50 laps = 250 turns during the race, they are a bit of a blur) and tried to time trial it to others who have suffered the same fate.  I was in the same situation as Wilmington and I knew I was in danger of being pulled.  Darn it.

CA was positioned on the course to be able to see the part after the sort-of chicane and the last turn.  He noticed the officials pulled riders behind me.  He yelled at both Kelley and me to sprint from the last turn to the start/finish to show that, while out of contention, we were still “racing”.  We both followed his orders and I think that saved our race. We ended up with a group of seven or so and started working together.  We were lapped by the field and re-integrated.  The field was then lapped by the break-away and things settled down for the sprint finish. 

I was a bit deydrated and very
 happy after the race

CA keep yelling for me to move up to the front on each lap.  During this time my thoughts were many:

“I am not moving to the front of a pro race even if I could.  I am happy in the back. “ 

“I wonder if he knows I can hear him, but choose to ignore him.” 

“Will this race ever end?  Still 10 to go.” 

“I am never riding on Wilson Blvd. again”
“OMG.  I am going to finish.”

The podium girl hand the flowers and kiss the riders
was tough....and I made cycling news on the podium....

To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt:  I did the thing I thought I could not do. 

About an hour later, I learned that I received a podium girl promotion to the big leagues of the pro men’s race.  After an interview on the podium about Freshbikes which landed me on the news (perhaps showering after the race would have been a good idea), I returned to hand out the flowers to the men’s podium. 

Sunday:  Crystal Cup, 1 hour, 2km lap. 7 turns with one of them 180 degrees, very poor quality road surface.

In the paraphrased words of Scarlett O’Hara, unfortunately, tomorrow is another day.  After a great Saturday, Sunday brought another race.  CA and the US Military Cycling Team had ride ambassador duties for the Crystal Ride, so Kelley and I had a leisurely morning and headed to Arlington around 10:30.  Parking gods were with us and we found a spot very close to the course. 

I should know by now…..within the 2 hours to start window, I hate racing.  I will think of any excuse to pull out of a race.  After pre-riding the course with Kelley, I wanted to use Sunday for a long training ride.  The roads were filled with potholes.  I like skin on my body and not the road.  I was tired from Saturday.  It might rain.  I just saw a Cicada.  Jupiter is aligned with Mars and Venus.  I forgot my front wheel.  I plan to give up racing for Lent and want to start early and the list goes on.  Kelley and CA calmed me and we headed down to the car to get ready.  Larry and CA played the role of soigneur and set up our trainers and made sure that we were set to go.  I did leave my front wheel at home but….funny how CA lent me his 303 tubular.  So with mismatched Zipps (first world problems) I started the warmup.

As we were finishing with the warm-up, we heard the sound that no one wants to hear – ambulance.  Later than evening I learned the story (the falsehoods making the rounds of the race watchers were many) and I am amazed at Tim Rugg’s bunny hopping ability and the luck that no one was seriously hurt.

With a very gracious
Laura Van Gilder after the race 

We queued up with the other ladies waiting for the kids’ races to finish.  The threatening skies were gone (along with that, “I don’t do crits with pro women in the rain” excuse) and I readied myself for the impeding pain.  Gun goes off and so do we.  The corners were more forgiving than the day before and I would be doing less of them.  Unlike Saturday, there were longer stretches which allowed me to move a bit more forward in the pack when I lost my head and forgot with whom I was racing.  The wind after the second turn was brutal and the sprints after 250 corners the day before were taking its toll. 

I fell off for about half a lap but was able to re-attach.  Jenette Williams, with whom I battled the prior week in WV, yelled at me a couple of times to get back onto her wheel – which kept me with the pack longer than I would have without her.  With about 7 or so to go, I popped off the back for the last time.  I was tired – although I think the fatigue was mental rather than physical.  When you exceed your expectations, it is good but…..I did not expect to still be in the pack and when the pain started, I only could tolerate so much.

I was pulled with 4 to go.  I ended up 26^th overall for the omnium,

Lessons Learned:

1. Training:  When we looked at my powerfile from Saturday, the numbers showed that I was well trained for this race.  I did not set any PR for power for either race.  I have trained harder than I raced this weekend.
2.  Given (1), in the words of CA, I am “tactically deficit”.  As everyone knows in these races, to sit on the back is to wait to be popped off it.  I knew that but…..I don’t want to be the amateur that takes out the women’s pro peloton in a corner or for the sprint.
3.   Given (2), time to spend more time cornering at faster speeds.
4. Sometimes you surprise yourself…

Kudos and Shoutouts:

• Kelley and Wendy:  Rolling to the line with you on Saturday made my nerves and desire to vomit better.
• Kelley:  Thanks for keeping me sane on Sunday when I wanted to quit and cheering for me for my remaining laps.
• Larry: EvoFemme soigneur – want the job?  You are a great friend and I think I can rent you out on race day…..
• Jenette:  It is always an honor and pleasure to race with you.  Thanks for keeping me in the group a couple more laps!
• CA:  I did it.  You made that possible. 

2013 McDonald's Tri-State Criterium: Super Size Me!...French Fry Premes

Race Report

Dana Stryk

Evolution Cycling Club p/b Long and Foster

Race	McDonalds’ TriState Criterium
Date	June 1, 2013
Field	10
Category	Women 1/2/3 racing with Cat 4, scored separately.
Race Data	0.8 mile rectangular course, flat as a pancake.
Weather	Sunny, hot and humid

Title for this novella:  “Super Size Me:  French Fry Premes”

In a month called January, when 3H weather (hazy, hot and humid) was something of which we could only dream, CA and I decided that a not-to-be-missed race this summer was a criterium in West by God Virginia.  The small town of Huntington, WV, is CA’s home and the opportunity to race before a hometown crowd is something he did not want to miss.  I didn’t want to miss the chance to race in front of his dad, Butch Kyle, who seems to be my PR department.  So last Friday, I packed up the car, picked up CA from the 5-sided wind tunnel and off we went to WV.

When I teach international trade and talk about the benefits and costs of trade liberalization, Huntington stands as one of the examples of the costs.  The shift from a manufacturing (steel particularly) based economy to one of services (health care and a university) leaves scars.  These scars were visible along the race course, a landscape of cute bistros and boutiques peppered with empty buildings  and abandoned steel mills.  This race was in downtown – and unlike many other race venues, the local population seemed excited to have an invasion of lycra-clad people with shaved legs who dressed alike.  The race promoter and key sponsor lined the finish line with professional barriers, a grandstand, and finishing arch.

The McDonald’s Tri State Criterium had several fields, including kids races (which was several laps of the course), race for police and firefighters, and a citizens race.  Now I must share the most interesting part of the race….let’s just say cycling fashion in WV will hopefully stay there……

The reverse belly-halter white tee
was an interesting twist!

To warm-up for his race, CA and I rode a couple of laps of the course before heading further away for some more intense efforts, pedaling down a four lane road across from the university.  As we rode the course, I noticed a head-wind on the start/finish leg, left turn, left turn, headwind, left turn left turn, back to the start with a headwind.  The course was a rectangle…how a headwind exists on both sections, I am not sure.  When I asked Butch, he simply said, “That’s Huntington.”  The 4 corners were all very open and my field small, so my plan of surging through each corner to try to burn up others’ matches seemed sort of silly.  I only knew one woman in my race, Jenette Williams of Jeff’s Bike Shop,  and she is very strong.  I knew that I needed to cover any attack she made, for she is someone that would stay away and she had teammates.

CA’s race time was almost three hours before mine, in the heat of the day.  

At one point in the race, he was gapped and reattached by the next lap.  I can only imagine the watts needed for that effort.  For the details of CA’s race, I will leave that to his race report (The Journey of an Amateur Cyclist).

Since I had warmed up with CA and the temps were well above 90, I decided that staying cool was more important than hopping on my bike again and found air conditioned solace with Butch in Starbucks.  When the course opened for warm-up, I took a couple of laps, then lined up.  CA overheard one team’s coach telling them to treat the start as a CX hole shot, so I kept that in mind as we waited for the whistle to blow.

As the race started, someone from the McDonald’s team (title sponsor….leading me to have expectations of French Fry premes) sprinted to the first corner and the race began.  I know the smarter thing, as someone riding without teammates in a field with two teams, could be to allow the two teams to chase down each other’s attacks and wait for my chance to counter. I thought if I let others chase, I may end up in a position

unable to respond to an attack that would result in a break with one member of each team.  Better chasing and tired than rested and relegated out of a break.  So….as I threw out this idea and found myself responding to alternating McDonald’s and Jeff’s Bike Shop attacks, I thought about Sufferfest’s Revolver which consists of 16 1 minute 110% FTP efforts.  From these workouts, I know I can do 32 1 minute efforts as long as I get some active recovery time, my crit training plan for the last few months was to do Revolver twice, back to back. Since crit power files seem to be a split between AR and Zone 6, I knew this training prepared me for the race.  The attacks came frequently but were shorter than a minute, so I figured I could cover 40+ of these short surges. I said a quick prayer to the higher cycling power that the attacks would be of a smaller magnitude.  I did not know the strengths of others and I knew what I could do so……BAMMM.  <sound of bike crash>.

After about 20 minutes of racing, someone slid out on a turn, clipping my rear wheel and generating mayhem in the back of the pack.  I slowly rode to the pit to have my rear (wheel) examined and repaired, then waited to rejoin the pack, along with some other riders.  With adrenaline coursing through my body, I willed my breathing to slow and my nerves to calm.  Didn’t work.  Ack!

The race continued as before – attacks and chasing.  Until 9 laps to go, we had no idea how much longer we would race, since the officials did not post lap cards until that point.  Not ideal.  I was sitting 2^nd or 3^rd wheel for the remaining part of the race but found myself sort of tentative through the turns after that ^th…..but….I actually did sprint to hold off those behind me. Two riders from Jeff’s Bike Shop made it into the corner first and I was sitting in sixth. After the sprint, I moved up to fifth to solidify my $102 worth of winnings.

crash

.  For the finish, there are 2 quick lefts before the final sprint.  The sprint is long enough to perhaps move up or down a spot but….you need to be top 3.  I knew that but lost position in the second to last turn and ended up 5

 

The final sprint

Lessons learned: 

1. While I perhaps threw away a podium spot due to nerves, I started thinking about what to do at the end of the race more than 250 meters from the finish line.
2. Have confidence in my training.  When I caught someone (from which team, I no longer recall) on the penultimate lap, I should have countered and attacked for about a minute.  All the other attacks were short and maybe the others would not be able to sustain a longer intense effort.
3.  Our MABRA officials are simply the best.

Kudos and Shout-outs:

Jenette Williams:  Congrats on the win - especially after the crash and then jumping into the Mens 1/2/3 immediately after our race.

Butch Kyle: Thanks for being my cheerleader, taking care of my bike after the race, holding the car door and all your charm.  I know from where your son gets his charm.

Butch’s neighbor – The race fotos you took are amazing!  Thank you.

MUSHY ALERT….

CA:   for sharing your hometown race with me and many other things.