The race started out very fast and part of that was my fault. I was pushing the pace, knowing what I was doing was stupid. However, there was a number of us working at the front trying to catch folks off guard. Honestly, for a 60 mile 3/4 race it was too much too early. I did 250+ watts for the first 10-12 minutes, which is not much but definitely wakes up the legs quickly.
For 3 laps I tried to pedal 0s as much as possible and was pretty successful doing 0-5 watts for over 30% of the time for those laps. Furthermore, I was able to move from the back of the pack to the front in about 10 seconds due to the rolling enclosure and the fact that there was only 50 or so riders at this point.
At one point, I go OTF after counterattacking a break attempt that had just been caught. I dangle about 15 seconds in front of the pack and decide since no one is coming to join me, I'll sit up and wait. Decent sized match was burned attempting this. After that I decide to sit in and wait for the field sprint, nothing was getting more than 200 hundred yards up the road if that before the group chases it down. The racing was pretty negative the whole day. The reason why 3/4 races end up as bunch sprints 90% of the time is because no one lets a break form and when they do, some dumbass drags the whole pack up to the break thinking they are "attacking" or "bridging". One guy pulled a break back (only guy on his team in the race, by the way), looks at me, and goes "We got em, you can thank me for that!" I just rolled my eyes at the guy...
Well, after I had all buy given up, Avery Wilson (a fast junior) goes OTF with one lap to go. Immediately an All American Bicycling Club guy goes with him. I knew this move had a chance. So, I actually attack when the break is 50 meters up the road to make sure it doesn't drag the pack up to them. I put out my peak wattage for this attack, and it worked. I made it to the break and recovered for a minute before working. Within 5 minutes we were out of sight of the pack and had probably 30 seconds or more! It was the winning move, I could feel it. We were working really well together and I was pulling us up the final climb, feeling great, when the moto ref told us to pull over so the 1/2/3 field could pass us. Argh!!!! Ok, not a big deal... he says we have 30 seconds on the group. "Ok... " we say, "but how do you know?", they haven't even made the turn onto the climb and we are more than half way up, almost over the top. He says they checked it and it was 30 seconds and they will keep that gap. Still, 30 seconds is pretty good since we are out of sight.
We wait 5 minutes, the 1/2/3 field goes by, and then the 3/4 field starts coming up the climb. The ref had told us they would bring them up to us and then stop them and recreate the 30 second gap. Well, when the field is 1/3rd of the way up the climb and about 15 seconds from us, the other moto ref yells at us to go! We complain but he just yells "Go Go Go!!" Great... now we are in sight and the pack has momentum coming up the climb.
Well, long story short, we got caught, I recovered, was 5th wheel going around the final turn, and then blew up on the "sprint to the sprint" with 1k to go. Really what happened is my motivation went out the window. In retrospect I might have finished in the points if I didn't sit up.
Anyways, here is the ride file for the race with some comments.
Luke - so, a 'bridge' is a sharp move from the front of the pack to the rear of the lead rider(s)that is timed only when there is enough distance to require a hard sprint, which will dissuade the peloton from charging en masse?
ReplyDeleteThe dumbass who drags the whole group with them who thinks they are bridging is a much slower rollout. Kind of like a 3 minute head down TT effort...
...and, since the guy who dragged the whole group back was a team of one, it didn't benefit him to re-connect the two groups because he diluted his chance of winning in a now-larger group sprint. He would have been better off sprinting to bridge the gap, correct?
...and, you rolled your eyes because of his thinking, correct? Not because of the bring-the-whole-group-with-him bridge manoever, because (assuming you were in the peloton with him), he brought you up to the front at his expense.
Pretty much. Dragging the whole pack back when you are the only person on your team accomplishes nothing for you and just makes the race the blob that always ends in a bunch sprint.
ReplyDeleteYour definition of a bridge is very precise, I like it. If you "bridge" too early, you're going to drag the pack exactly like you said. You don't want anyone to a) catch your slipstream or b) get too excited and think it is just a regular part of the peleton's acceleration.