Comments for Elkhorn Valley Cycling

Comment on EVCC Club Tshirt by Jon Downey

Jon Downey — Fri, 04 May 2012 05:23:40 +0000

Dang fine looking shirt!

Comment on Good Luck JMSR by Joe Savoie

Joe Savoie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:54:42 +0000

Had a fun weekend racing with my teammates and other Nebraskan riders.

The previous 2 years I have done cat 3 but this year I raced in the Mens Master's A race which includes categories 1 thru 4. When your a cat 3 it is a toss up on which group to race with. You can ride with Masters A or your Category. Matt O'Donnell signed up for the Master's A so I thought I would give it a shot too.

In the time trial, I was just looking to impove my time. I am riding better this year but I didn't think I could improve 2 minutes to crack the top 10 riders. The goal was simple - ride hard ride fast for 2.5 miles uphill. Last year, a lot of other riders passed me. Talk about
de-motivating. This year was different..I didnt catch my 30sec guy but didn't get passed either. Looking at the TT results I was close the slowest time of all the riders. Bummer! On the bright side my time was ~:45sec faster.

The road race I faired better. Like the previous years, the first time I hit "the wall" I didn't have the strength to stay with the leaders. This "wall" is a stretch of road on a 15% grade and I'm guessing about 400meters in length. It is like a huge kidney punch. It can knock you to your knees all by itself or soften you up for the next hill to take you down. Luckily I was not the only one that fell off the lead group. Initially there were 3 riders with me but the group grew in size to about 10 riders. Including Matt O'Donnell from team Kaos. This was the chase group. I felt like one of
the stronger riders with this group. I tried several times to go with a break or get one going. I couldn't get away. Sometimes, I got on the front to do some long hard pulls. The group stayed right behind me. Matt told me to get off the front because I was giving the rest a free ride.

With 5k to go there were a couple attempts to break away to the finish. They were brought back. The action started a good 1k to go with the finish visible in the distance. I was on the front just keeping tempo and waiting. If someone attacked, I rode hard to get on his wheel. Then I would grab a quick rest in the slipstream. After a couple more short lived attacks came a stong effort from a OKC rider. He was on the other side of the road. It was so strong and close to the finish... I thought this is the one to get a good result from the bunch
sprint. Inside the finish line barracades (barracades - thats so pro), someone else got a good jump. There was no way I could catch him. I resigned myself to second. Then another guy edged me out for second so I got 3rd. I 'll take it.

The crit was a hard battle too. I was looking to hang on to the group. The one obstacle to that was a short punchy hill. The finish line was right on top of this hill. The rest of the course was mostly downhill with a slightly uphill section leading to the finish line hill. The game plan was work hard on the hill to stay with the group and recover as much as possible the rest of the course. The first 10minutes were torture. I was still in the group but remember hearing 23minutes to go. 23minute?? I thought that I wasn't going to survive this. I don't know when but they switched from time to
counting down the laps to go. In my mental state, 6 laps to go was easier to swallow. Down to 2 laps and having a hard time staying with the group. I was thinking to myself - "come on you can do anything for 5 minutes, sometimes twice" The speed was much higher now. Just one more hill to survive then I would be with the group on the final lap. I did it!!! I was already happy with myself. Then I heard Jordan Ross yell for me to move up. It was the perfect time for me to do it too. On the downhill section, there was a gap growing just behind the top 5 riders. I powered to make that gap before the left hand turn at the bottom. The group took the two bottom turns into the slight uphill section. I was able to get a good draft before the final climb. I climbed that hill on shear adrenaline and finished the crit 11th. I am good with that
too!!

From: Rich Anderson
To: post2nencycling@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: Good Luck JMSR

Great race report Sam.

Thursday time trial, not much to say here except that i need to improve my time trailing. My time was 12:13 about two minutes off of the leaders time.

Road race, my better discipline. The pace from the start was really slow. Fifty riders all bunched up, there were a few attacks and two riders (not together) off the front. There were a few surges, but nothing was happening. We hit the first serious climb (at the pro feed zone). This is a short steep climb that is not really that bad. The group takes this climb at a reasonable pace, i was wondering if it was the climb since it seemed fairly easy to me. Then after a quick decent i realized what was next. The longest climb of the day. Here the paced picked up and a few riders were "riding backwards" which made holding place a little hard. A few riders were not heeding the yellow line rule and going around that way. I survived this climb and was recovering. A little while later on a flat section of road i was taking a drink and the group slowed down. This put me into a
riders back wheel and sent me to the ground along with a few other riders. I lay there for a bit while bikes and people detangle the mess. I get up trying to straighten out my shifters, the support ask if i need wheels. I say i need a new bike, they notice my rear derailleur is not in the right position, and my weekend is done. During this time Sam stops to check on me (thanks). I get my bike loaded on a following vehicle, the we speed down the road to catch back up to the group.
It was the first time i had that perspective on the race. As for my condition. Right elbow, scrapes. Minor scrapes on a few fingers. Hematoma on my right hip. A minor scrape on my right ankle. A six inch mark on my back, someone riding over me (not Kevin Murray this time).

Hope fully the bike is ok.

Rich

On Apr 30, 2012 8:37 AM, "Sam Oakes" <samjoakes@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone who knows me knows that I "slightly" "obsess" over time trials. I paced myself poorly last year and ran out of gas about halfway up the climb. It was only by being extremely light that I could hold on to a sub 12 minute time on the 2.5 mile climb.

This year, I had a power meter on my side to avoid going out too hard. I had estimated that the time trial should take me about 12 minutes under proper pacing. I had been playing around with my power meter to set a 12 minute power that also factored in that I'd need to race later that day. I did a dry run on Friday to verify my power numbers, which put me at about 30 seconds faster than last year.

On race day, I felt very good and decided to race a little above the numbers I previously set, but tried to stay under 400w. I managed to be 50 seconds faster than last year with an average power of 281w (5.2w/kg) for the ~11 min effort. This got me 17th place. In such a talented field I was very happy with this result, especially since I typically do better in much longer individual time trials. Last year I questioned if I could even start the road race and this year I felt fine.

The road race didn't go as well for me. As the field began to pick up the pace, I didn't quite have an answer to the pace with the time trial in my legs. I began to lose the pack. I was able to climb at my own pace and started to close down a fairly substantial gap. I saw Rich on the side of the road by the wheel truck and decided to stop and try to work to see if I could catch him back on. It didn't take long to see that his bike was done dealing. Not seeing that he crashed, I thought he had a flat and catching him on was better since Rich consistently does well in road races and crits. I lost the chance to catch up and burned too many matches. I was able to find small pockets of riders, but most were toast and couldn't work with me. Had I not stopped, I might have finished with the bunch. I think this means we need could use a few more EVCC/TT1 riders at Joe Martin. ;)

Crits aren't my specialty as is. After the tough races the day before, I was fairly spent. I couldn't handle the start and was instantly gapped. I managed to ride up to a small chase pack and ride a few laps before being pulled. I joked that I was going to be pulled after the 1st lap, but managed to hang in there for a few more. My legs hurt so bad that I wasn't upset to be pulled. I plan on working on my crit efforts for a few more crits later this season.

All in all, not a bad weekend. I should have done better in the road race, but hindsight is always 20/20. My primary goals were improving my time trial and getting some power data.

On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Nancy Stirek <nstirek@yahoo.com> wrote:

Nice results, guys.

On Apr 28, 2012, at 10:36 PM, Glen Houts <glen.houts@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry to hear about Rich's race.

Here's the results I'm seeing:

Oakes TT 17th

Anderson TT 46th

Oakes RR 43rd

Savoie TT 30th

Savoie RR 20th

Full results @ www.joemartinstagerace.com/results2012

Nice work all around!

On Apr 28, 2012 10:01 PM, "Jon Downey" <jon.m.downey@gmail.com> wrote:
I have gotten some information from Rich Pearson about our squad at Joe Martin:

Rich wrote: "Rich Anderson crashed out. no injuries other than road

rash but his bike is hurt bad. Joe Savoie finished in a chase group

with Matt Odonnell. Sam Oakes finished in the cat 4 second group a few

minutes back. we all just finished a nice meal at a local italian

place where we had a good time rehashing the races. Rich P"

Comment on Good Luck JMSR by randerso

randerso — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:46:06 +0000

Great race report Sam.

Thursday time trial, not much to say here except that i need to improve my time trailing. My time was 12:13 about two minutes off of the leaders time.

Road race, my better discipline. The pace from the start was really slow. Fifty riders all bunched up, there were a few attacks and two riders (not together) off the front. There were a few surges, but nothing was happening. We hit the first serious climb (at the pro feed zone). This is a short steep climb that is not really that bad. The group takes this climb at a reasonable pace, i was wondering if it was the climb since it seemed fairly easy to me. Then after a quick decent i realized what was next. The longest climb of the day. Here the paced picked up and a few riders were "riding backwards" which made holding place a little hard. A few riders were not heeding the yellow line rule and going around that way. I survived this climb and was recovering. A little while later on a flat section of road i was taking a drink and the group slowed down. This put me into a riders back wheel and sent me to the ground along with a few other riders. I lay there for a bit while bikes and people detangle the mess. I get up trying to straighten out my shifters, the support ask if i need wheels. I say i need a new bike, they notice my rear derailleur is not in the right position, and my weekend is done. During this time Sam stops to check on me (thanks). I get my bike loaded on a following vehicle, the we speed down the road to catch back up to the group.
It was the first time i had that perspective on the race. As for my condition. Right elbow, scrapes. Minor scrapes on a few fingers. Hematoma on my right hip. A minor scrape on my right ankle. A six inch mark on my back, someone riding over me (not Kevin Murray this time).

Hope fully the bike is ok.

Rich

On Apr 30, 2012 8:37 AM, "Sam Oakes" <samjoakes@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone who knows me knows that I "slightly" "obsess" over time trials. I paced myself poorly last year and ran out of gas about halfway up the climb. It was only by being extremely light that I could hold on to a sub 12 minute time on the 2.5 mile climb.

This year, I had a power meter on my side to avoid going out too hard. I had estimated that the time trial should take me about 12 minutes under proper pacing. I had been playing around with my power meter to set a 12 minute power that also factored in that I'd need to race later that day. I did a dry run on Friday to verify my power numbers, which put me at about 30 seconds faster than last year.

On race day, I felt very good and decided to race a little above the numbers I previously set, but tried to stay under 400w. I managed to be 50 seconds faster than last year with an average power of 281w (5.2w/kg) for the ~11 min effort. This got me 17th place. In such a talented field I was very happy with this result, especially since I typically do better in much longer individual time trials. Last year I questioned if I could even start the road race and this year I felt fine.

The road race didn't go as well for me. As the field began to pick up the pace, I didn't quite have an answer to the pace with the time trial in my legs. I began to lose the pack. I was able to climb at my own pace and started to close down a fairly substantial gap. I saw Rich on the side of the road by the wheel truck and decided to stop and try to work to see if I could catch him back on. It didn't take long to see that his bike was done dealing. Not seeing that he crashed, I thought he had a flat and catching him on was better since Rich consistently does well in road races and crits. I lost the chance to catch up and burned too many matches. I was able to find small pockets of riders, but most were toast and couldn't work with me. Had I not stopped, I might have finished with the bunch. I think this means we need could use a few more EVCC/TT1 riders at Joe Martin. ;)

Crits aren't my specialty as is. After the tough races the day before, I was fairly spent. I couldn't handle the start and was instantly gapped. I managed to ride up to a small chase pack and ride a few laps before being pulled. I joked that I was going to be pulled after the 1st lap, but managed to hang in there for a few more. My legs hurt so bad that I wasn't upset to be pulled. I plan on working on my crit efforts for a few more crits later this season.

All in all, not a bad weekend. I should have done better in the road race, but hindsight is always 20/20. My primary goals were improving my time trial and getting some power data.

On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Nancy Stirek <nstirek@yahoo.com> wrote:

Nice results, guys.

On Apr 28, 2012, at 10:36 PM, Glen Houts <glen.houts@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry to hear about Rich's race.

Here's the results I'm seeing:

Oakes TT 17th

Anderson TT 46th

Oakes RR 43rd

Savoie TT 30th

Savoie RR 20th

Full results @ www.joemartinstagerace.com/results2012

Nice work all around!

On Apr 28, 2012 10:01 PM, "Jon Downey" <jon.m.downey@gmail.com> wrote:
I have gotten some information from Rich Pearson about our squad at Joe Martin:

Rich wrote: "Rich Anderson crashed out. no injuries other than road

rash but his bike is hurt bad. Joe Savoie finished in a chase group

with Matt Odonnell. Sam Oakes finished in the cat 4 second group a few

minutes back. we all just finished a nice meal at a local italian

place where we had a good time rehashing the races. Rich P"

Comment on Good Luck JMSR by sam

sam — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:37:33 +0000

Anyone who knows me knows that I "slightly" "obsess" over time trials. I paced myself poorly last year and ran out of gas about halfway up the climb. It was only by being extremely light that I could hold on to a sub 12 minute time on the 2.5 mile climb.

This year, I had a power meter on my side to avoid going out too hard. I had estimated that the time trial should take me about 12 minutes under proper pacing. I had been playing around with my power meter to set a 12 minute power that also factored in that I'd need to race later that day. I did a dry run on Friday to verify my power numbers, which put me at about 30 seconds faster than last year.

On race day, I felt very good and decided to race a little above the numbers I previously set, but tried to stay under 400w. I managed to be 50 seconds faster than last year with an average power of 281w (5.2w/kg) for the ~11 min effort. This got me 17th place. In such a talented field I was very happy with this result, especially since I typically do better in much longer individual time trials. Last year I questioned if I could even start the road race and this year I felt fine.

The road race didn't go as well for me. As the field began to pick up the pace, I didn't quite have an answer to the pace with the time trial in my legs. I began to lose the pack. I was able to climb at my own pace and started to close down a fairly substantial gap. I saw Rich on the side of the road by the wheel truck and decided to stop and try to work to see if I could catch him back on. It didn't take long to see that his bike was done dealing. Not seeing that he crashed, I thought he had a flat and catching him on was better since Rich consistently does well in road races and crits. I lost the chance to catch up and burned too many matches. I was able to find small pockets of riders, but most were toast and couldn't work with me. Had I not stopped, I might have finished with the bunch. I think this means we need could use a few more EVCC/TT1 riders at Joe Martin. ;)

Crits aren't my specialty as is. After the tough races the day before, I was fairly spent. I couldn't handle the start and was instantly gapped. I managed to ride up to a small chase pack and ride a few laps before being pulled. I joked that I was going to be pulled after the 1st lap, but managed to hang in there for a few more. My legs hurt so bad that I wasn't upset to be pulled. I plan on working on my crit efforts for a few more crits later this season.

All in all, not a bad weekend. I should have done better in the road race, but hindsight is always 20/20. My primary goals were improving my time trial and getting some power data.

On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Nancy Stirek <nstirek@yahoo.com> wrote:

Nice results, guys.

On Apr 28, 2012, at 10:36 PM, Glen Houts <glen.houts@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry to hear about Rich's race.

Here's the results I'm seeing:

Oakes TT 17th

Anderson TT 46th

Oakes RR 43rd

Savoie TT 30th

Savoie RR 20th

Full results @ www.joemartinstagerace.com/results2012

Nice work all around!

On Apr 28, 2012 10:01 PM, "Jon Downey" <jon.m.downey@gmail.com> wrote:

I have gotten some information from Rich Pearson about our squad at Joe Martin:

Rich wrote: "Rich Anderson crashed out. no injuries other than road

rash but his bike is hurt bad. Joe Savoie finished in a chase group

with Matt Odonnell. Sam Oakes finished in the cat 4 second group a few

minutes back. we all just finished a nice meal at a local italian

place where we had a good time rehashing the races. Rich P"

Comment on Good Luck JMSR by randerso

randerso — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:17:27 +0000

Right after i finished the time trial i got an e-mail with my time, which is nice.

On Apr 28, 2012 10:36 PM, "Glen Houts" <glen.houts@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry to hear about Rich's race.

Here's the results I'm seeing:

Oakes TT 17th

Anderson TT 46th

Oakes RR 43rd

Savoie TT 30th

Savoie RR 20th

Full results @ www.joemartinstagerace.com/results2012

Nice work all around!

On Apr 28, 2012 10:01 PM, "Jon Downey" <jon.m.downey@gmail.com> wrote:

I have gotten some information from Rich Pearson about our squad at Joe Martin:

Rich wrote: "Rich Anderson crashed out. no injuries other than road

rash but his bike is hurt bad. Joe Savoie finished in a chase group

with Matt Odonnell. Sam Oakes finished in the cat 4 second group a few

minutes back. we all just finished a nice meal at a local italian

place where we had a good time rehashing the races. Rich P"