Caleb Pike B Race

[sylvan]

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36336091

B race was a neutral lap to the finish line, then 11 laps from there. Steve Lund's top 2 charges took off on lap 2, we saw them for the next 3 laps or so, then they were gone 'til the finish, like Peter and Bill in 2010 race #1. Charge #3 took off shortly after that, then Lund bridged across to him so we were thus mired in the pathetic situation of having all 4 of the Aviawest-branded riders off the front, then everybody else. Lund came back shortly after that and started blocking for his youngsters up the road. We were getting totally skooled. It was appalling. We had me and John and Al working for Tripleshot, my old drinking buddy Rhonda and Shannon were working, Marcus Durrant was working, um, one other dude, Lund blocking, those were literally the only riders I saw between laps 3 and 10, but I think there were another half dozen hanging on the back. We got Aviawest #3 back with about 4 laps to go, so we were racing for 3rd. The sprint, for me, was a disgrace, and I apologize to the club for bringing it into disrepute. At least I wasn't wearing Tripleshot kit. Being daft, I waited way too long, then got stuck between John and I think Shannon, started bouncing off both of them, felt like an idiot, had to stop and let John get ahead, go to the right of him, gave up for a second, then decided to go again, went to the right of the young Aviawest dude who attacked hard twice in the last two laps, way to go, awesome effort, I almost rode completely off the road, and just missed getting him by half a wheel with John slightly ahead, I think in fourth, me sixth, Lund 3rd, two Aviawest guys way up the road 1st and 2nd.

So it was all awesome and it was great riding with John (4th, yay) and Al (top-10, points, yay) and the rest who participated. Yay, Tripleshot, yay to Josh, Gav and Shawn who got 5th, 8th and 11th in the A race.

[JohnT]

No doubt I've repeated much of what Sylvan wrote, but it's too late to edit it now.

Looked like rain when I left the house, but it was dry at Caleb Pike. I got there a little early so I could break in new tires – the red sidewalls are something to see! Signed up as a B because I haven’t been able to keep up with the A’s.

It was a small field; less than 20 in both groups. The first lap was neutral – don’t know why, but it was a nice way to start. As we crossed the start-finish line for the first time one of the young AviaWest guys that Adam warned us about, tried to break away. I chased him and then sat on his wheel. This happened again on lap two – fun, fun, fun. A lap or so later another one of those young guys in blue-and-white-but-no-pink jumped and got away. Then another bridged up to him. Shoot! It happened a third time a lap later, and then Steve Lund (the captain) went after his proteges. This was too much. Four AviaWest guys in front and away. The B’s and the women that survived those first four or five laps cooperated well – it was Friday on Blenkinsop! We ran a rotating pace line for several laps and caught Steve and his number 3 man. In fact, as it became clear that the chase group was going to make the catch, Steve dropped back to try to slow us down. He’s good. He got into the pace line and messed it up. He also tried to lead into as many corners as he could. This allowed him to do a little more braking than was necessary. Cunning. Nonetheless, with some encouragement, the B’s managed to pace line around Steve and catch #3. It felt good. To his credit #3 (Gordie or Jordie?) made a few more attempts to jump the pack. A great effort for a guy who’d been alone for sometime. These jumps didn’t stick, though he was still there at the end.

We didn’t get within sight of the first two, so the battle at the end was for third. Al and Sylvan were in the pack. Hugh (Mr. Fenders) was with us for about 4 laps. Rita and Jen started with the group too – I am sure they’ll have their own stories to tell. Jeremy too. He broke a chain.

Al chased Gordie (AviaWest #3) on the bell lap. That attack had potential, but I don’t think Gordie was motivated to pull him. On the back straight we were all lined up, initially behind Ronda, one of the strong women in the VCL. There were a few moves, but nothing too strong. Gordie went again and Steve shouted to him that he was away. Nope. On the final descent Al and I were near the front. Sylvan too, but I have trouble recognizing him without the suitable kit! I made sure to get around captain Steve Lund because it was clear he was taking his role as protégé protector seriously. The sprint started early. I could see only Steve and Gordie, but there were many more. I felt a wheel on my left foot (turned out to be Sylvan’s). As we crossed the lone Steve was third, I got fourth, Al and Sylvan were right behind.

Racing is way fun again. We’ll need to get some more people out if we want to battle AviaWest.

JT

[Rita]

Hey Sylvan,
I keep reading your posts and wondering who this guy with the long blond hair is! I didn't realize that you were out tonight. If you ever spot me on a ride, I'd be pleased to meet you

I had my best VCL race so far. I think it must have to do with the super sweet orange glasses I bought of Gavin just before the race. They were one of Gavin's prizes from the Bastion Square crit.

I raced with the Bs: After the neutral lap, the speed picked up and on the 2nd lap, I lost the wheel of my front person after the first corner. It's a nasty one because it's the place on the course where you have to work hardest to keep with the pack. So, off the pack went and I thought, d'oh, I don't think I'll reach my goal of the season, which is to eventually stay with the pack for an entire race (on Caleb Pike).

It took a long time before the A's passed me, don't know if that meant they were going slower than usual or that I could maintain my speed better. Maybe the former as it was the rare occasion that the As didn't lap the Bs. I had about 5 or 6 laps to go when the B pack came by, notably smaller than when we started. I jumped on and the usual thing that happens is that I can stick with them for one or two laps. This time though, Shailie, who usually wins the women's cat, hung out in the back because she was tired. She encouraged me and was looking back frequently to make sure that I stuck to her wheel, which worked to my surprise.

At about 3 laps to go, we lapped Peter and he hung on to the back to coach us a bit. That coaching was in form, "Rita, don't loose that wheel! Come on, you can do it! Al, get in front! Jen jump on!" etc. I'm pretty sure that Peter's present made me work harder than I would have otherwise done (Thanks Peter )

I stuck with the pack 'til the very end, finishing in a pack for the first time! It felt great, but afterwards, I had to sit down for about 10mins and concentrate on not puking (Thanks Peter )

Thanks for Geoff to come out to cheer us on!

[jeremy]

Not too much for me to report, I was able to stick with the B's a little longer tonight that I usually do, and I was feeling good at going hard up the hill. Tonight we did the first ever C group, me and some 15 year old girls, I was pulling away from them on lap 4 when going up the hill me chain broke which quickly ended my night. Then I got put on picture duty by Duane, that camera had more buttons on it than the space shuttle. I had fun watching all the finishes. We need to get more TS's coming out, it's fun to have lots of teammates out there, and more war stories to hear after we all finish.

[Josh.E]

Not sure about blocking and paceline interrupting in a VCL B race when you're really the only full team out there. Would be nice to see less negative racing strategies generally.

[AdamD]

Unfortunate i couldnt be there tonight, sounds like it would have helped a lot too have a few more guys to work with.
This being his second long break on Caleb perhaps Chad(Aviawest) will have earned himself a promotion?
Good job to everyone that was raced, maybe we could even sneak pete into the B's!
-Adam
ps Jeremy, you must be putting out crazy power these days to snap your chain!

[coach]

Wow, some great race reports!!

I am not trying to hijack the thread....just heard that we were getting bashed on the TS Forum, so I had to check it out. Glad to see that's not the case.

Thanks to everyone for another great race, the VCL's are a great place for the young riders to learn how to race physically, technically and tactically. Craig Logan won the B overall a few years ago at 16....he just got back from a month of racing with the Junior National Team in Europe. Many others have gotten their start in the VCL's and have gone on to be some of our top racers, so it's great to read that you are impressed with how well the current 15 and 16 year old guys are racing. When a guy like Craig or Ryan Anderson comes back to Vic and does a ride with them, relaying stories of their own experiences racing in B at Caleb Pike, it is very inspirational. For me it's perfect to be able to ride along side them and give them the occasional tip and some encouragement, especially when it leads to them pushing their limits or learning some team tactics as it is a lot easier to learn the basics and try some different strategies in a VCL than when they have to race in the BC Cups.

I'm glad John picked up on my subtle blocking....but trust me, I came back to the group because I didn't have the legs to stick with Geordie! I do have fun "messing" with the B group some days, hopefully a learning experience for everyone else as it's not a difficult situation to deal with....but I'll let you all figure that out....trust me, it does not involve anything drastic like running anyone into the ditch! In fact the rule in the pack is simple. Tell a rider who is not working to stay out of the way of the paceline....that's all it takes...but if you don't say something....

All the attacking I encourage the guys to do does make for some fun racing, much better than the negative dump and chase style where we all just wait for the sprint. I don't want to see them win so much as race hard and try some things. Hope everyone had a fun ride....if you ever have questions about what's going on or what we are doing, please just ask!

And don't worry....the guys all knew that this was their last B crit of the year...they are a lot more excited about racing A than I am.

Steve Lund
CSC-Pacific-Victoria Academy of Cycling
p/b Aviawest

[JohnT]

Team tactics add to the excitement and show that there's more bike racing than fitness and carbon rims. Adam sounds like he'd rather have been racing than attending his prom - that tells you something!

Keep it up Steve. Also good to hear about Craig Logan. One day we're going to be thrilled to say we raced with him.

John

[Josh.E]

Race strategy and team tactics aren't really the same thing. That first race B race of the season, where Peter and Bill rode off the front from the gun, while the rest of us in tripleshot ran interference in the pack, never sat quite right with me. We were the only "team" in the race. I did very little work for most of the race, I ran active interference, then when it was clear Peter and Bill were away, I rode off the front of the group for third. After that race, to be blunt, I felt like I was sandbagging.

I figure it's a recreational local race series that everyone should be able to come out and have a good time with, especially the B race, which is the equivalent of "citizen" class. Team tactics are great and fun if you happen to be on one of the teams. For other people who come out to race as individuals and aren't on a team, probably not so much. It puts them at an immediate disadvantage, and probably discourages new riders from coming back. I would think getting new riders excited about racing and helping the sport to grow locally is one of the primary purposes of a race series like this.
Learning to watch the ebb and flow of packs, how to time an attack, how to counterattack, how and when to bridge without working for everyone else, how and when to form alliances with other riders, when to chase a break, how to organize a chase with other riders who aren't part of your team when it's mutually beneficial, etc, etc, etc are all valuable and positive race strategies that can be employed and learned. Blocking, not so much.

I think what you do for local bike racing is awesome, Steve, and I realize how well the VCL races work to teach race strategies to your team. I am definitely not trying to "bash" anyone, as I did exactly the same thing in an earlier race this season. It's awesome to watch your guys progress year to year. It'll be fun to have them in the A races.

just my $0.02

[AlW]

This is my first season of racing in a long time and one of the biggest challenges I found was the ability to process everything that was going on around me (a lot like driving a car for the first time). The first few races I was focused on trying to hang on and not screw up and was oblivious to pretty much everything else. Last night was the first time I had the capacity to recognize the very subtle tactics being employed by Steve and react accordingly (at least try to). Thanks to JohnT for ensuring that Steves nefarious activities were exposed to all and encouraging the group to work together. All in all, a good learning experience.

[bikehart]

My first road race....fenders and all!

Great discussion and although I did not get to see as much of it as the rest of you I though it was a great race.

The race: I went a little hard and did a little too much work in the first couple of laps and was not able to stay with the group after the third climb..I could see the pack and just about made it back on but that little hill before the second corner killed me.

I did a couple laps on my own being cheered on by Jeremy, Geoff and Oscar until I felt the A pack coming up behind me as I approached the second corner. To keep things simple I pulled off and let them all go by...and then I saw Jen hanging on the back of the pack, wow I though she is doing really well, wait is she racing as an A?

For the rest of the race Jen and I worked together and avoided being lapped by the B pack until the final lap. We let them go by and then joined them for the rest of the last lap. That may have not been so cool but it did allow me to see what the uphill sprint was all about...

Peter was trying to clear the way up the RHS this looked like at good idea but he was not the only one with this thought so I wound up with a clear path up the middle.

Again it was a great race and ton of fun / pain, see you all on Friday!

Hugh

[coach]

Hey Guys,

Check the link....especially the part about Saxo Bank blocking....

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/3/30/815 ... w-to-win-a

It's why we try to send or young riders to Belgium...but they have to learn a few things here first!

How to Win a Bike Race in Belgium (or anywhere really!) in Seven Easy Steps

Step 1 Sign with a strong team. You want team-mates with big legs who love to suffer. Total headbangers, really.
Step 2 Don't miss the break. Either make your own break or join someone else's. But don't miss the winning move.
Step 3 If you miss the winning move, make sure you successfully completed Step 1. You may yet have a chance.
Step 4 Don't let anyone slack in your break. Make them work. Verbal abuse may be necessary.
Step 5 If your team-mate makes the winning break, cause trouble in the chase. Verbal abuse may come your way.
Step 6 Check for nasty headwinds before committing to an early sprint.
Step 7 Get on the race favorite's wheel. Let him lead you out. Thank him later.

So simple, this bike racing.

Keep the rubber side down!

[Lister Farrar]

Not sure about blocking and paceline interrupting in a VCL B race when you're really the only full team out there. Would be nice to see less negative racing strategies generally.

I agree; but there are degrees to all of this. Blocking can get dumb with braking, taking a deliberately wrong line through corners and pushing into the line to interrupt the chase.

But teamwork can also be teammates taking turns attacking or chasing, or making sure you have a guy go with each of the other strong guys in the race, or TTT'ing on the front to soften it up until your strong guy can jump away.

[Josh.E]

Yeah, Lister, those would all follow under positive team tactics, where you are working with your team to improve your result vs working against the field to limit their results relative to your teammates.

This aint belgium. It's a local B club race where the majority of the field has no teammates to work with, and a lot of the field has little race experience. Saxo-bank was not the only organized team in the race in that link. All the strategies they employed were to work against other pro teams in a pro race. Even playing field.

Now, I'm gonna go do some donuts in my trans-am. I just got the governer taken off.

[jeremy]

Now, I'm gonna go do some donuts in my trans-am. I just got the governer taken off.

Took the restrictor plate off to give the Red Dragon a little more juice