Well done all in what was difficult weather. I am looking forward to hearing some race reports. In the meantime, here are some photos and videos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77856849@N ... 828100502/
Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
Moderator: mfarnham
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barton bourassa
- Posts: 1141
- Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2007 10:16 am
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
The roads were damp, but someone said: "No worries, this sun will dry things out". That's what it was like at sign-in. After a lap or two of sun (and wind and cold), we had rain, then hail, which was painful, then snow and then sun. Then more hail for those who rode home.
The big news I think was the performance of our riding mates and former team mates, Dylan and Kevin - second and fourth (actually 7th - I missed a 3-man 1st chase group ahead of Kevin's chase group) in the A race. Great going guys. In the B race, Brent had a well-timed sprint and ended up 3rd (I believe - yup). I don't think he was aware that there were two guys up the road, so for a few moment I think he thought he'd won.
Nice to get the first race done. As a team, I think we'd benefit from a little more communication during the race, but that will come with practise. Our plans going in were great and we'll get better at carrying out those plans, and/or adjusting them to match our strengths. Another meeting on Thursday?
JT
The big news I think was the performance of our riding mates and former team mates, Dylan and Kevin - second and fourth (actually 7th - I missed a 3-man 1st chase group ahead of Kevin's chase group) in the A race. Great going guys. In the B race, Brent had a well-timed sprint and ended up 3rd (I believe - yup). I don't think he was aware that there were two guys up the road, so for a few moment I think he thought he'd won.
Nice to get the first race done. As a team, I think we'd benefit from a little more communication during the race, but that will come with practise. Our plans going in were great and we'll get better at carrying out those plans, and/or adjusting them to match our strengths. Another meeting on Thursday?
JT
Last edited by JohnT on Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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norman marcy
- Posts: 322
- Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:17 pm
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
Barton in the Baby Blues sure stood out in the videos
"im just sayin"
stormin
"im just sayin"
stormin
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
Dylan had an awesome ride today finishing 2nd. I bridged up the group chasing Emile early in the race, which included Steve Bachop, Chuck, and Dylan. Right as I got on the wheel of the group, Dylan took off and bridge up to Emile, dropping everyone else in the chase. Quite an impressive bit of riding..
Kevin did great his first time out in the A's, finishing 7th (there was the 2nd chase group of Steve Bachop, Chuck, and Raph that also stayed away). Kevin's going to do well this year.
Kevin did great his first time out in the A's, finishing 7th (there was the 2nd chase group of Steve Bachop, Chuck, and Raph that also stayed away). Kevin's going to do well this year.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
I've written a blog post about the race here, if anyone's interested.
I feel like I did well for my first race, but am definitely eager to actually apply some of the strategies and tactics we've talked about now that I've got the first one out of the way. John and Brian in particular spent alot of time near the front of the pack. With a bit more awareness, communication, and confidence on my part I think I could have contributed more to an attempt to catch the break (knowing that there was a break away at all would be a good first step) or another attack on the group.
I look forward to another meeting to hash out some more concrete strategy for next week, particularly now that I know the course and have a feeling for the group. Wednesday is actually better for me than Thursday for a meeting, but I can probably make Thursday work again if that's the group consensus.
I feel like I did well for my first race, but am definitely eager to actually apply some of the strategies and tactics we've talked about now that I've got the first one out of the way. John and Brian in particular spent alot of time near the front of the pack. With a bit more awareness, communication, and confidence on my part I think I could have contributed more to an attempt to catch the break (knowing that there was a break away at all would be a good first step) or another attack on the group.
I look forward to another meeting to hash out some more concrete strategy for next week, particularly now that I know the course and have a feeling for the group. Wednesday is actually better for me than Thursday for a meeting, but I can probably make Thursday work again if that's the group consensus.
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
An interesting day to say the least, with all manner of weather to contend with.
My primary goal was to stay with the main pack for as long as possible and try to help out where I can. Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit cooked on the last few laps, so hanging on became the primary goal.
We definitely had the numbers near the end and hopefully with more experience and practice we can get together and put in a cohesive effort.
Congrats to Brent on a strong finish for 3rd and Bill and John for top 10 placings (I missed 10th place and a point by 1/2 wheel
). Also to Dylan and Kevin with 2nd and 7th in the A race.
Found a couple of related blogs (in addition to Brent's)
http://emilederosnay.com/2012/03/11/the ... ght-moves/
http://victoria-bike-racing.blogspot.co ... -hail.html
My primary goal was to stay with the main pack for as long as possible and try to help out where I can. Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit cooked on the last few laps, so hanging on became the primary goal.
We definitely had the numbers near the end and hopefully with more experience and practice we can get together and put in a cohesive effort.
Congrats to Brent on a strong finish for 3rd and Bill and John for top 10 placings (I missed 10th place and a point by 1/2 wheel
). Also to Dylan and Kevin with 2nd and 7th in the A race. Found a couple of related blogs (in addition to Brent's)
http://emilederosnay.com/2012/03/11/the ... ght-moves/
http://victoria-bike-racing.blogspot.co ... -hail.html
#24
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
Great day out there. Loved the weather!!!! Now if we only had cobbles!
Thanks for the updates and the photos.
Thanks for the updates and the photos.
Bill Ethier
www.PropertiesinVictoria.com
www.PropertiesinVictoria.com
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
A race from my perspective:
Right from the roll out, I missed my cleat, and found myself off the back of the group, but with a little effort, I found my way back on. The group was in pretty much single file, with a few bulges, not because of pace and high and everyone needed a draft, more because they were saving energy. This was a perfect opportunity for me to move up to the front with a little burst effort, fortunately Geordie (pro city) thought the same thing, and I was able to draft him not only to the front off the front of the group. Then I took a little jump, taking only Chuck Detheridge with me. This was good, if a 2 man break could get clear, my teammates wouldn't do any chasing and discourage the group from doing one of there own. Then I noticed Emile dart passed me, Chuck in pursuit and hopped onto Chuck's wheel. We were soon joined by Steve Bachup, after about 30 seconds of watching the other two pull me around, Josh came rolling up to make the chase a little bigger. My only thought was "hm, I don't like these odds". So as Chuck and Steve sat up a little bit to wait for Josh, the road pitched up a little bit and I took off in a bridge to Emile.
That was far and away the most pain I've put myself through lately, catching Emile, who was trying to establish his own break was fast. Fortunately by virtue of body weight, he slowed on the climb, I accelerated through and caught him half way up.
From there it got much easier. We both established a steady tempo, taking pulls where either of us were strong. From there team tactics came into play, Raph had joined the chase group and sat in, acting like an anchor, discouraging the from working too hard to tow him up. and the rest of the team was on the front of the pack, marking everything that moved, knowing that if the race didn't come together, we would take 1-2.
Off the front we worked hard to increase the gap between us and the chasers, getting time splits every lap. 40s, 57s, 1m15s, 2m, and after that it became an exercise in managing the gap. Emile wrote a good blog post about it http://emilederosnay.com/2011/04/26/ont ... breakaway/. For those of you who want the shorter answer, a breakaway is not a time trial, you aren't racing for best time, you are trying to manage the gap to the point where you stay away to the finish, because a road race isn't for the fastest time, just to cross the line first.
All that aside, there was a great tripleshot presence out on Sunday. I noticed Peter, Steve, and Evan in the a's, and lots and lots in the b's. Let's keep it up throughout the year!
Right from the roll out, I missed my cleat, and found myself off the back of the group, but with a little effort, I found my way back on. The group was in pretty much single file, with a few bulges, not because of pace and high and everyone needed a draft, more because they were saving energy. This was a perfect opportunity for me to move up to the front with a little burst effort, fortunately Geordie (pro city) thought the same thing, and I was able to draft him not only to the front off the front of the group. Then I took a little jump, taking only Chuck Detheridge with me. This was good, if a 2 man break could get clear, my teammates wouldn't do any chasing and discourage the group from doing one of there own. Then I noticed Emile dart passed me, Chuck in pursuit and hopped onto Chuck's wheel. We were soon joined by Steve Bachup, after about 30 seconds of watching the other two pull me around, Josh came rolling up to make the chase a little bigger. My only thought was "hm, I don't like these odds". So as Chuck and Steve sat up a little bit to wait for Josh, the road pitched up a little bit and I took off in a bridge to Emile.
That was far and away the most pain I've put myself through lately, catching Emile, who was trying to establish his own break was fast. Fortunately by virtue of body weight, he slowed on the climb, I accelerated through and caught him half way up.
From there it got much easier. We both established a steady tempo, taking pulls where either of us were strong. From there team tactics came into play, Raph had joined the chase group and sat in, acting like an anchor, discouraging the from working too hard to tow him up. and the rest of the team was on the front of the pack, marking everything that moved, knowing that if the race didn't come together, we would take 1-2.
Off the front we worked hard to increase the gap between us and the chasers, getting time splits every lap. 40s, 57s, 1m15s, 2m, and after that it became an exercise in managing the gap. Emile wrote a good blog post about it http://emilederosnay.com/2011/04/26/ont ... breakaway/. For those of you who want the shorter answer, a breakaway is not a time trial, you aren't racing for best time, you are trying to manage the gap to the point where you stay away to the finish, because a road race isn't for the fastest time, just to cross the line first.
All that aside, there was a great tripleshot presence out on Sunday. I noticed Peter, Steve, and Evan in the a's, and lots and lots in the b's. Let's keep it up throughout the year!
The day I quit is the day I die, and probably not even then.
Re: Caleb Pike March 11th 2012
My triumphant defeat is a cautionary tale of bad position coupled with a sorry story of soft-headedness.
The A race hit a frantic pace right out of the gates, and even before I settled into the pace of the pack a handful of hammerheads had made their breakaway. As Dylan noted, the Russ Hays and Pro City people left behind did a fine job of controlling the pace. I attacked the big group a couple of times in an effort to speed things up, which did little but wear down my legs…and my spirit.
Midway into the race I got caught behind a crash on the second corner…just enough of a slow-down to separate me from the pack. I chased quasi-heroically for another half dozen laps till my back started to spasm and my leggy-wegs cried for mercy, and I pulled out with just a few laps to go.
It certainly wasn’t my plan to start the season with a DNF, but I feel I’ve now honoured Josh’s ‘Code of Cannondale Conduct’, and I go into the next race with a potent combination of vengeance, self-loathing and unsullied underdog status. Yay me.
The A race hit a frantic pace right out of the gates, and even before I settled into the pace of the pack a handful of hammerheads had made their breakaway. As Dylan noted, the Russ Hays and Pro City people left behind did a fine job of controlling the pace. I attacked the big group a couple of times in an effort to speed things up, which did little but wear down my legs…and my spirit.
Midway into the race I got caught behind a crash on the second corner…just enough of a slow-down to separate me from the pack. I chased quasi-heroically for another half dozen laps till my back started to spasm and my leggy-wegs cried for mercy, and I pulled out with just a few laps to go.
It certainly wasn’t my plan to start the season with a DNF, but I feel I’ve now honoured Josh’s ‘Code of Cannondale Conduct’, and I go into the next race with a potent combination of vengeance, self-loathing and unsullied underdog status. Yay me.