Newton Heights: July 7th!

[Roland]

Last Newton Heights of the year. 30 degrees!

Well, that was fast!

Here are my stats.... look at that first lap: 2 minutes 43 seconds... Kaboom!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39621887

[sylvan]

Awesome Tripleshot representation tonight. We got 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the B race, a couple more in the top-10, many others, inspiring performances in the A race, enthusiastic Tripleshot supporters, it was all very beautiful.

Here are my stats, which was for 5th in the B race, about 20 seconds off the front guys, what crushed me to a pulp with about 3 laps to go.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39619797

[sylvan]

I set my Gremlin GPS unit to do auto-lap at the finish line. It missed one lap but it's kinda interesting, especially if you're a geek like me. Normally my HR got down to about 160 on the downhill bits, but when I crunched it at the front a bit on lap 9 it didn't go below 179 and our lap time went from 3:25 to 3:11. I think that got the 5 of us clear of the rest for good, maybe we were gone already anyway, I don't know, but it was all she wrote for my efforts, and I done blowed up good at that point. A bit disappointing but it wasn't too bad with 3 of the 4 who shelled me being Tripleshotters. I'm glad I have at least one finish at Newton after the DNF last time, and it was very cool to hear the final result

I thought we did pretty good work in the B's. When we got lapped by the main A pack on lap 8 they didn't really get away, and then we actually went back past some of them when the pace went up for the last few laps. Scary to hear stories of how fast the A's started, though, yikes, ouch.

[shawnc]

I agree, tonight was great, especially since I didn't know how I would fare after 2.5 weeks off the road bike. Turns out touring 700 km carrying 50 pounds of gear keeps you reasonably fit

The A race started out fast and I found myself hanging out on the back for a lap or two. A few of the usual suspects opened up a gap a couple of times, but the main pack would catch up to them at the hill.

However, after a number of laps it seemed that group cohesion was starting to disintegrate, and I knew I had to put some effort in or I would lose the lead group permanently. I managed to bridge up with Vaughn Hildebrand and I'm glad I did, because the break stuck that time.

Vaughn, Matt O'Hagan, Ralph Lalumiere and I rode together for a while, and we reeled in another guy who was off the front (Marcel, maybe?). I thought that was it, but turns out another guy or two were still off the front. Sneaky!

Anyway, we stuck together and on the final sprint I got past Vaughn and then proceeded to blow up on the finish line trying to catch Ralph, who seemed to have slowed down ahead.

Hopefully I won't be castigated for saying this, but I'm sad that was the last Newton Heights for the year.

[Ian]

I had a blast tonight! I have to say that's a pretty fun course, although I'm concerned about the consequences of such a statement, if Shawn's worried about being castigated...

I stayed with the pack for about three laps. At the beginning of the third lap, Adam and another dude made a bit of a break, and as I was already moving up in the pack when they went, I went with them. Oops. I caught wind too early, tried to pull out and jump on the back and got dropped.

The positives:
- stayed with the pack for longer than at Caleb two weeks ago
- felt good enough to go with the break (even though it ended up being a bad idea)
- kept a pretty good pace up once I got dropped
- felt way more confident out of the turns
- 9th!!

Lessons learned:
- be patient!
- if I have to take a pull, don't pull until I'm cooked

Overall, definitely happy with the race!

[sylvan]

Hopefully I won't be castigated for saying this, but I'm sad that was the last Newton Heights for the year.

I'm with ya.

[Lister Farrar]

I had a blast tonight! I have to say that's a pretty fun course, although I'm concerned about the consequences of such a statement, if Shawn's worried about being castigated...

I stayed with the pack for about three laps. At the beginning of the third lap, Adam and another dude made a bit of a break, and as I was already moving up in the pack when they went, I went with them. Oops. I caught wind too early, tried to pull out and jump on the back and got dropped.

The positives:
- stayed with the pack for longer than at Caleb two weeks ago
- felt good enough to go with the break (even though it ended up being a bad idea)
- kept a pretty good pace up once I got dropped
- felt way more confident out of the turns
- 9th!!

Lessons learned:
- be patient!
- if I have to take a pull, don't pull until I'm cooked

Overall, definitely happy with the race!

I can tell you're a coach. Good points. You'll be coaching cycling soon!

[JohnT]

Tripleshot dominated the B race even before it started! There were about seven of us and only about 12 starters.

I confess right from the start that I wanted to beat Alec this evening. Sorry Alec. "One for all and all for one" should be the rule. But, I've been telling Alec about my riding group for some time - he was a student in one (maybe two?) of my classes. He was supposed to be a rower! Then he shows up one morning at 6 am and a few weeks later I can't catch him at Caleb Pike.

The race started smoothly, but not slowly. Adam frequented the tete de la course in those opening laps and didn't let us relax. Sylvan was also on the front on several occasions. Me too. Gradually people dropped off the back and at about lap eight (of twelve total) one guy rode past me and called out that there were four of us and we should go for it. I don't think he realized he was with three TS team mates; me, Alec and Adam. We didn't really hammer at that point and didn't drop the others, including Sylvan. But the game had become fairly clear. Plans for late attacks were also a little messed up by the A's. As Sylvan said, some passed us but then didn't get away.

With three to go, 'that guy' decided to go alone. We were among the A's at that point, but no one abused the situation. I figured Adam, Alec and I would be able to work together to catch him, so I didn't respond. Alec did. That might have been the heroic move of the evening. Adam and I followed Alec for the 3/4 lap it took to reel him in. After that there were no other B's in the hunt.

Adam then began to make ground off the front. By now we'd repassed many of the A's that had lapped us. Alec was second and 'that guy' was third (I was 4th). Despite what I said above, on the bell lap I was happy not to challenge Adam or Alec. The idea was that they'd lead the way and I'd run around 'that guy' at the end for a Tripleshot 1-2-3. So, I wasn't really as determined to beat a team mate as I indicated.

The final climb played out like this: Adam lead, Alec in second was toast, not only from his bridging efforts, but also from the Tuesday morning A+ hammerfest. He planned to follow, but not challenge Adam. That guy and I, it turned out, had a little in reserve. We passed Alec just before the final right turn (half way up the climb) and there is Adam, all done but with 20 m to go. Up a gear and go for it. Jeremy calls out from the sidelines that he's right behind me ( 'he' could have been any one of the three of them). Can't feel my legs, but mustn't stop pushing

Thrilling to win after two years trying. Great going everyone. Points for many TS racers as far as I know.

Thanks Steve for bringing the cheerleaders, and of course for adding to the TS points haul.

Just read Ian's post: This system of asking if you want to modify your submission is cool. I noticed that effort. Lead for a lap and then move to the back fairly quickly. Everyone does that at least once.

JT

[BearPope Recruit]

[watwin]

Haha, its actually been three classes John, but I'll forgive you for bio 230 as it was a pretty huge group to keep track of names. First off, congrats to John for the win, he sportingly didn't mention his time on the front of the pack but was quite right in saying I was cooked by the end. I started off up the first hill towards the start and immediately missed that extra spark in my legs, that'll teach me for trying to outsprint Bryan in the A+ on Tuesday! Managed to bounce off the back of the front group for the majority of the race untill just four of us were left. The one non-TSer broke off the front at the hill with about 3 laps to go and I felt that, as Adam and John had both taken turns on the front and I spent Caleb happily drafting then popping round at the end, it was probably my turn to catch him (with the group 3/4 tripleshot it would've been a shame to lose 1st place). Unfortunately, chasing him down was about all my legs had left, I obviously need to hide being tired a bit better as John apparently noticed.

In the end it worked out great; John you shouldn't worry about coming round at the end at all, today I just didn't have a sprint left and 'mystery non-TSer' would've taken it otherwise! Really fun second race on a new course, just sorry I don't get another crack at it having had a bit of practice learning the ropes...

[Roland]

Oh ya, and on the way home I ran over a rat.

[Roland]

Shawn, do you have your garmin stats from the race? Did it really slow down after the first few laps? Once I got lapped and jumped back on, I had no problems hanging on.

[Rita]

Woohoo! Way to go Tripleshot!!! What fantastic results. Special congratulations to John for his first win - very cool

[shawnc]

Roland, I didn't have my computer on my bike during the race (have to save weight!).

Once the break stuck, I think it did slow down. Kind of makes sense, since the lead group doesn't have to work as hard anymore. The chasers face a big psychological hurdle because they can't see the lead guys anymore, and it takes a lot to get organized and try and catch up.

Roland, you were riding with a couple of others when we lapped you, but did they fall off after a while?

Since John won the B race, does that mean he'll be back in the A race next week? Great job by the way!

[Roland]

Roland, you were riding with a couple of others when we lapped you, but did they fall off after a while?

I was riding with Brian and Doug. When you went by we jumped on. I don't think Doug lasted more than a lap or two and I think Brian lasted until the bell lap.

[Lister Farrar]

Tripleshot dominated the B race

JT

Well done John, and Alec and Adam (and Shawn). But I heard you didn't do the moose victory salute John. You know, it's not a cult until everyone does the salute, wears the gear, then drinks the Kool-a-, oops, I mean, coffee.

[AdamD]

Race was fun last night. It was a smallish field for the B's and so I thought I may as well try some stuff. For the first half of the race me, John T, and Sylvan were really setting the tempo with most of the other riders behind us. We kept the pace pretty fast on the hill but it was reasonable on the flats. We were dropping almost a rider every couple laps and with 5 or something to go Sylvan put in an effort and we got rid of the rest so it was now down to just 5 of us.

Then with maybe 3 to go Andy (non TS) but in a huge acceleration on the main part of the hill and got a decent sized gap on us. Like John said Alec led the chase but unfortunately on the one 90 degree corner I got caught behind the A's who weren’t going fast and once we were on the flat section I had to put in more work than I would have liked to go around them.

In the final lap I used the corner to try and get a gap as much as I could. I knew Andy and john had crazy power on the hill so I thought my best chance at winning would be to get there first and I was hoping Andy would be the one leading on the flat. However half way up the second part of the hill after right turn I blew up and JT and Andy went by me like I was standing still. Still managed to hang on for third, had an awesome time probably the most fun I have had at one of these races yet. My cardio felt great but my legs were exploding, my muscles felt week after the insanely fast A+ ride the day before. John was smart to do normal A's.

PS: Lister the new bike setup really allowed me to stay seated longer on each climb. Everything about it feels better!