Race Reports: Vint Hill, Walkersville, Tysons, Chantilly

Whew, I've got a lot of catching up to do. Lot's of racing over the last month or so. The local racing scene is really heating up. Great races every weekend. This is my first official season as a Cat 4 racer and it feels good to have the upgrade...well sort of.

Let's get this started.

Vint Hill Classic - This course is one of my favorite courses to race on. I did the 540 Development Series races on this course last year with a couple of really good results. It's a classic 2km course with a nice little uphill kicker about 200 meters from the finish.
The race started off pretty fast, and it was clear that the bunch wanted to shell as many riders as they could in the beginning of the race. I was able to find a couple of good wheels to draft on, but it was clear to me early, that this would be a race that I would just hang on to the bunch until the finish. I found a good wheel to hang onto and survived to the finish with the pack.
The biggest lesson learned in this race was to move up to the middle of the group for the good draft. Also I was WAY overgeared going into the turns. Crit racers always sprint out of the turns, and I was in too heavy a gear to stick with the group.
FINISH - Group finish somewhere in the 30's (100 starters)
Here is a video of my race. You can see me about 14:40 into the video.

Vint Hill Crit1 Cat4-5 2010 from Marcus Floro on Vimeo.

Tour of Walkersville - 40 mile road race out in Walkersville MD. The course had about 650 ft of climbing each 8 mile lap. Not typically a course that favors my style of riding, but I need the conditioning and my teammate Joe Praino talked me into it. Joe unfortunately flatted 2 miles into the race and I was left on my own to suffer.
The race blew up after the second crash in the field, and I found myself stuck behind the crash as 24 riders went up the road. I got into a chase group of about 10 riders. There were only 3 of us that wanted to do any work, so we shelled the other 7 riders from the group and I was stuck with 2 riders from Syn Fit who worked together to drop me with about 7 miles left in the race. I ended up finishing the race solo and totally spent.
The biggest lesson learned in this race was to hydrate! I should have consumed 2 bottles. I only went through half of one. Not good.
FINISH - I finished 27th out of 49 starters. Not bad for a course with a lot of climbing.

Tysons Corner Circuit Race - This is a brutal circuit race out in Tyson's Corner. The course is a boring oval with a nasty 800 meter 7% grade climb to the finish. The prospect of hitting this climb 20 times with the group was terrifying. I did this race in 2009 and got lapped by the field. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to doing this race 1 day after Walkersville and now in a new category.
As I predicted, I got shelled pretty early. I wasn't really that bothered by it. I hung in for about 4 laps, then my legs went dead. I am pretty sure I was pretty spent from the day prior racing. My heart rate never hit higher than 160. Chalk this race up to good training.
FINISH - DNF

RGS Chantilly Criterium - New race for me out in Chantilly, VA. The course was a dead flat 1 mile loop with 2 90 degree turns. Dream course for me. I would have liked it to be a bit more technical, but it was a nice course.
The weather was pretty decent. The wind was kicking pretty hard and I wasn't sure if using the carbon wheels was going to be an option.
I got in a good warmup with my team on the trainer. I used a new warm-up workout that got me ready pretty quick. 5 min steady state, 2 min fast pedal, 1 min rest, 1 min max, 1 min rest, 1 min max, 2 min rest.
Got to the start line and the race official said there would be a preme on the FIRST LAP! That is nuts and a guarantee that the race would start off fast and hectic. Much to my surprise the pack stayed together pretty nicely. I found the sweet spot in the pack and stayed out of the wind most of the race. I had a teammate up on the front keeping an eye on the attacks so it was all good.
I knew the race would pick up with 3 or 4 to go and it did. My teammate Gregg was doing some good work and we re-grouped with 2 to go. I really felt like I had super legs and found myself in perfect position coming into the last lap. I had a moment of hesitation on the back stretch going into the last turn and lost my good position. For some reason I didn't have the confidence to make an attack. I had the legs, but not the confidence yet. Oh well. Now I know I can challenge for top 10's in these type of races. Bunny Hop Criterium is next up. I am going to be ready for that one!
FINISH - 41 out of 80 starters.

Getting Dropped For Dummies

Alright settle down folks, class is in session. If you are here for Getting Dropped 101, you are in the right place.

If you find yourself asking the following three questions before your next race, you might want to move to the front row and take good notes.
1. Does anyone know what the average speed is in this race?
2. Do you think I need a triple or compact cassette?
3. Are you really a Cat 5 racer?

Now getting dropped doesn't only happen in bike races. I've been fortunate enough to experience it in other walks of life as well. Note the following experiences:
1. My first girlfriend dropped me when she found out the mixtape I made her had another girls name on it.
2. At the gym the guy next to me on the bench press kept adding weight to his bar trying to out lift me. I didn't know half-wheeling happened in the gym. Needless to say he dropped me by about 50 lbs.
3. The middle school lunch room. My family moved a lot. Starting 7th grade in the middle of the year sucked. Having braces, high water jeans, a Capri Sun backpack, and Michael Jackson Thriller t-shirt = Table for One. Nothing like getting dropped in the lunch room.

In order to truly understand the fine art of being dropped in a bike race, you need to understand and anticipate the critical moments just before the actual drop.
Most riders actually get dropped weeks before they actually race. Here are the pre-race instructions for getting dropped.

1. Sign up for a race twice as long as you have ever been on a training ride.
2. Tell yourself that 4 weeks is more than enough time to train.
3. Two weeks out repeat step 2 and replace the 4 with a 2.
4. The week leading up to the race, frantically scour the internet for race reports on the race. Pay special attention to whether you can "big ring" the climbs.
5. Get sick, miss a few days of training, and find something wrong with the position on your bike. Getting the excuses ready early never hurts.

Ok so now it's race day. You have all of your excuses lined up. Maybe you thought of a few others on the car ride to the race. Pay close attention to the following.
1. Position yourself at the back of the group at the start line. Misery loves company. It's a motley crew of riders at the back of the start. It's usually a nice mix of sandbaggers and fellow droppees. (I know that's not a word)
2. Thank the race officials for volunteering their time, especially the ref on the motorcycle. When he passes you later in the race, you don't want him riding too close to you.
3. Attack early. Right at the start attack hard. The group will let you go, because they know you don't stand a chance. It makes for a good photo opportunity.
4. When you see that last wheel start to ride into the distance and your fate is sealed, you have two options. You can either pull over and toss your bike with your best David Millar impression, or you can slog your way to the finish not making any eye contact with spectators.
5. Look out for photographers. Especially ones that write blogs about being dropped.
6. When you get home post pictures of your race and tell your friends that the pictures of you getting dropped are actually photos of you in a daring solo break.

There is no shame in being dropped. It is a right of passage. I will leave you with the following..."I didn't get dropped, I just discovered a bunch of new ways to get shelled off the back of the pack"