VCL Latoria - April 20

[sylvan]

B Race Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80496305 - only 8 laps/20 km/32 minutes!!!

Anybody with race reports?

[RyanC]

For all those who heard my little F bomb on the finishing stretch, I apologize for an inexcusable display of poor sportsmanship.

I promised myself I would not take racing seriously enough to let myself behave like that. I got boxed in simply because I was dumb enough to let it happen on the last lap. Fortunately, I had the good sense to sit up when I got bumped outside the yellow line in the fray.

No excuses. It won't happen again.

Other than that, three things stand out in my mind about the A race:

Bob Cameron's work ethic
Josh and Adam fighting to make the race active up front.
Bizarre tactics by everyone else aside from Russ Hays, who rode a tactically astute race and put Emile up the road with no argument from the group. No response. Bizarre.

Glad everyone stayed safe as far as I could tell. Lots of craziness in the bunch tonight.
R

[Roland]

Well, I probably shouldn't be racing B. I guess I should move back up to A before I get called a sandbagger. Still, I only finished 20th or so.

[sylvan]

I guess I should move back up to A before I get called a sandbagger. Still, I only finished 20th or so.

You were a dominant force and belong in A if you want to race there.

[Lister Farrar]

Well, I probably shouldn't be racing B. I guess I should move back up to A before I get called a sandbagger. Still, I only finished 20th or so.

No fair, that's just hints. Report please!

[steve]

Good turn out again in the B's, probably close to 30 riders, with 8 TSC riders (Jim, John, Quentin, Sylvan, Roland, Kevin, Brad and myself) and we talked strategy prior to the race. Either send up Sylvan early in the race on a break or keep the pace hi and try and get Kevin into the final sprint.

Much faster pace tonight. I had originally wanted to do some work up at the front but I never got there secondary to the pace. We did a good job staying together as a team and a couple of early attacks were reeled in quickly. The young fellow tried a break with 3 laps to go and Sylvan just marked him. Once he got caught, Roland mounted a great attack, pulling two other riders with him with about a lap and a 1/2 to go. Pace was quick on the last lap and Kevin somehow managed to bridge to the escape and stay with Roland who was just off the main pack coming along the last straight away. I could see he was giving just a monster effort, very inspiring. For much of the last lap Sylvan was just off the front of pedaling hard enough that we weren't catching the escape group but not so slow that everyone flew by him - very well played.

At the last corner there was probably 20 riders left and I was sitting somewhere around 15th - I really need to make an effort to move to the front and stay there in the last stretch. I managed to pass a couple of people on the hill but its a narrow stretch and tough to get by anybody. I was close enough to see Kevin take the win but I don't think I placed in the top 10. Congrats Kevin, well done.

Interested to hear everyone's perspective.....

[Kevin F]

The B race was a good race We had a bit of plan together before the race and we executed well. I stayed off the front and tried to shadow fellow TSCer the whole ride. I think I put some time in behind everyone . It was fairly uneventful from 2/3 of the way back. I kept an eye on the front but trusted Steve to Shepard me through. There was a one man mini break from Joel the 14 year old around lap 6 but it didn't last. Another jump happen shortly after and was sustained until Roland closed. Then the group started to close the gab a bit and few people started to ramp it up with Sylvan in the mix. I looked for a friendly wheel and Brad came through followed by Steve. I jump on their wheels as the pace quickened. Then there was another jump that looked like it would close Roland and Kelly. I jumped on that wheel and we closed the gab to a four rider break for the bell lap. We managed to stay away the whole lap. Roland pulled the most until Kelly and I came around him for the hill climb. I made sure I was pedaling throughout the cornered and sprinted from the bottom to the finish. I had more momentum than Kelly but I had to close a few bike length and managed to eak him out at the line for the win. Big thanks to the whole group for the advice and support without it, it would likely be another 8th.

[sylvan]

B race. Only an 8 lap race! So short. Seems bizarre having a 20 km bike race. It started really fast. I was right at the back and it looked like there were all kinds of moves going off the front, but as the lap finished it all came back together. End of lap 2 I moved up to the front. For the first half of the race everybody was full of piss and vinegar so every time I relaxed a bit a whole whack of riders came past. It was never tough to get back to the front but there was always the chance of a move getting away while I was mid-pack. At the end of lap 3 or 4 one of the VAC riders jumped away. I got to the front of the pack at the top of the climb and chased hard enough to peg him close enough to know that he wasn't going away, then relaxed. When he was caught, Roland countered with the kind of move that I'm too scared to try! He got a gap and I switched to sucking wheels. I don't remember how but I think Kelly of IRC got up with Roland and down Latoria I ended up side-by-side with Chris Paul of IRC, just soft-pedaling, not saying anything to each other but we knew that we were both just trying to let Roland and Kelly get away. Emile lapped us looking like dominant like a pro about this time. Vinko went hard just before we got lapped to try to bridge across, but didn't make it and sat up before Latoria. Just after that, 3 1/2 laps to go, I think, I launched really hard to bridge up, but I could see a shadow glued to my wheel so I sat up. It was Steve Lund, who went past and said "if we work we can get up there, we have a gap" but I saw there wasn't really a gap behind and wasn't interested in going ahead unless it was alone. Then Kevin went past. I shouted at him go go jump hard blah blah I can't remember exactly what I said, but he got away and was able to bridge across, and one other guy got across, too. I was tempted to mark him, but I was afraid if I chased I'd pull the whole pack closer, so I let him go. So it was four guys with a decent gap, two from TS. At the start of the last lap, a VAC dude showed good character, went ahead and went hard to try to bring the front 4 back solo. I felt pretty lame just sitting on, but with two guys ahead we had a good chance and I was feeling good about sprinting now if it came back together. I could tell the pack was getting tapped out because very few riders had been going past me towards the front, unlike the first few laps. We basically caught the front 4 with about 400 metres to go, but Kelly attacked the break just before we got there, and Kevin went after him. Half a dozen riders went past me into the last corner, oops, probably shouldn't have let that happen. Followed them up the first climb, a bit frustrated, then my gears started clunking and slipping, ugh, changed gear a couple of times, another clunky slip, argh, then I found a gear and went hard for the line up the last climb, was pretty squeezed towards the cones on the left, got in Vinko's way, sorry dude. I managed to sprint up to something like 4th place I guess. Kevin won! Cool!

[Josh.E]

The A race was a bit bizarre, as Ryan was saying. Emile rode off the front on lap 1, and no-one wanted to chase, and there were plenty of guys in that group strong enough to catch him if we'd worked together. I tried to move to the front and get the group moving a couple times, but it would just slow back down as other teams came to the front. I think I heard Jamie say after the race that our pack average speed was around 38.5km/h, so not very quick. The front 10 or 15 of us would often get gaps coming over the top of the hill, but it would never stay fast enough on the flat on the other side to keep the gap open. Unlike the looks on people's faces from the last A race at Latoria, which looked to be a slaughter, I never once felt uncomfortable out there tonight.

Slow race + narrow road = you better be in the right position at the finish. Ended up too far back in the pack on the last lap, and tried, but couldn't find any holes to move up to the front in time for the final sprint. Totally my own fault for not paying attention to how many laps we had done, as the bell caught me by surprise. On the last lap, the moves got a little stupid from a lot of people as everyone wanted to move forward. I found myself thinking at one point it wasn't worth it to me to take stupid chances just to move to a better position. Did the final straightaway climb boxed in mid pack sprinting at about 85%, watching the race up the road. meh. Adam managed to get himself up front on the last lap, and had a pretty good finish. Ryan got run off the road in front of me.

Nice work, all you guys in the B race.

[sylvan]

http://duanebc.smugmug.com/Sports/Victo ... pr-20-2011

[jj12]

It was good race for my second, happy to stay with the pack the whole way even after the breakaway a rider had split it up for a bit. I think it takes alot to breakaway and be able to find that extra push when your already burned a bunch of matches in the book, so great work to roland for chasing the breakaway and catching him also good work to kevin for the win! Next race should be just as fun a little more confidence and hopefully i'll help make a breakaway happen

[jeremy]

I took a little bit of video of the races with my new little camera

http://www.youtube.com/user/jeremymeric ... mjAOYz_Yuc

[RyanC]

...I had more momentum than Kelly but I had to close a few bike length and managed to eak him out at the line for the win.

It looked like a pretty convincing win from both pics and Jeremy's video, Kevin. It sounds more like you rode a smart race and timed your sprint to perfection. To continue with the Phil Ligett-isms: you stamped your authority on the roads of Happy Valley.
R

[Josh.E]

To continue with the Phil Ligett-isms:

(and a couple Paul Sherwin-isms)

He's gone - and he's got the gap. My goodness me!

And you know Paul, they didn't even look at him

Emile must be feeling quite frisky today! He turns around to look, but he's not going to see any riders back there, not even with glasses on, because they're all far, far behind him. He is really plowing a wide furrow through the field today.
I'm afraid the dream is over! There is now a chief among the Indians!
He looks between his legs and sees.....nobody there!


The peloton is riding like scalded cats. The riders are starting to get a bit twitchy now! And the wise move to the front.
Bob is cleaning the road on this sprint. He's all over his machine.
Hats off to him as well! The best of the rest, as it were. And the crowd are going berserk!

That's what you get when you suffer - you get results.

[Plawless]

Awesome work TEAM!!! Sounds like there was a real team approach. Great set up by Sylvan of what to do on the Forum and solid execution by everyone.

Best quote from the above: That's what you get when you suffer - you get results.

[4827north]

Yes! An excellent "B" race. Congratulations to Kevin on his first win! Superb racing. The pace was very impressive, and as with any criterium-esque circuit I found it much easier near the front, where I stayed for the first 4 laps. I went back to see if we were planning to group up and ramp it on the front, but then a lap or two further, Roland took off on Happy Valley like his pants were on fire! I wrestled my way close to the front to help an attentive Sylvan 'block'. On the penultimate lap, I was a bit too courteous when the lead motorbike honked for Emile. I heard "riders up" assuming the whole A field was catching up to us. I got squeezed off the road into the gravel. That inattentiveness cost me about 6 bike lengths. The increased pace leading to the bell lap, I just could not close despite trying. I decided to call it a race, and watch the sprint. And what a sprint! Kevin carried much more momentum out of the last turn then his rivals and used that momentum and power to surge ahead to take the win by a half bike length. Superb racing!

I was happy with my effort and fitness for my first road race in a decade. I'm looking forward to the next time I can get out there. The TSC attendance is impressive. A few more and we might as well call it our club race!

[Roland]

Emile has updated his Blog. Worth a read, he is a very good writer.
http://emilederosnay.com/2011/04/21/som ... -the-bear/

[quote=Emile]the basic premiss of a breakaway is that you don’t think you can win in any other way: it’s a strength based on a weakness.[/quote]