2011 Hau-Dong Race Report

DAY 1 - 143KM

I can honestly say I hate this stage. About 20km there is a series of climbs that are a few km long and steep enough in places to shatter the group. My goal is always to make it over this section in the main group.

This year was no different.

It was a beautiful day: sunny with a slight headwind but not too hot and no humidity. That would change.

The race started as usual with a long neutral, then we hit the first little rise and it was game on! Right away the race cranks up to 50~60kph and pretty much stays there until we hit the first section of the climbs which is through tunnels.

As much as I hate this stage I really do like climbing through the tunnels. It's fast but interesting at the same time. I came out of the tunnels in good position and then proceeded to get trailed off as we progressed through the rest of the climbing.

Based on my fitness it was pretty much what I expected.

I nailed it on the descent and gathered up a pretty good posse. Last year I managed to bridge from the chase group into the main field after about a 15km chase. This year we got close but the main field was also chasing a break and the wind had picked up considerably. We got within 30 seconds but then they were gone.

I told my team mates before the race that if you were not in the main group by this point your job was to sit in and do NOTHING. Suck wheel until the finish and stay fresh for day 2. I did just that.

The wind got stronger and stronger and by the time we finished, more than 3 hours later, it was hella strong. It really cooked the guys in my group and several just disappeared off the back.

The only way I could contribute to the team on this day was to finish as high as I could in the Elite Masters 40+. (Pro Elite/Espoir/ Elite Masters 30+ and Elite Master 40+ all race together). Even if I could snag a few points for the team this was an 'A' category race so points went pretty deep and it could help in the season overall.

With this in mind there is a climb with a tunnel in the middle and a second grind after that that is about 15km from the finish. I went off the front here hoping that the few remaining guys in my cat would be dropped here. The group just let me ride away. The wind was so strong that I just sat up. It wasn't worth it to kill myself to the finish for a few points and waste myself for Day 2.

Bunch sprint (of our little bunch) and I finished 4 or 5 .

The bad news? There was a 10% time delay in effect and we were just outside of it. DSQ'd every darn one of us.

Now the funny thing is I didn't know about this time delay AND there were riders who realized they were outside the delay so they got off their bikes and got in the team cars. They would be fresh for day 2.

Now how is this possible you say? Aren't time delays for STAGE RACES?!? And if so, if you are cut you can NOT RACE THE NEXT DAY!?!

Yes, this is true. A time delay that lets you race the next do is just DUMB. Obviously no-one at the organization who made this race understands what the heck a time delay is for or how it is used.

I am not surprised...

The Good new is our designated guy finished 2nd in Elite Master 30+. Sweet.

DAY 2 - 178km

Rain. It was going to rain for day 2. I really didn't care as long as we started in dry conditions.

I got my wish and we were off in another painfully slow neutral start. Once we finally got going the pace jumped, there was a string of attacks and the first real break went away. It ended up being the right mix as two of the Continental teams went to the front and for the rest of the day chased EVERYTHING that moved.

It ended up being a 4 hour interval session.

This stage has a single climb after 110km that shells some but doesn't break up the race like on Day 1. At the pre race meeting we were told the roads were all in excellent condition with the exception of one area of construction just over 30km from the finish.

Perfect. We would attack there.

Up and over the climb (I ran over one of those meter tall orange pylons, gave everyone a good laugh but didn't go down). I got pushed into the rough by a Nervous Nelly on the decent but got back on the line and moved to where I wanted to be.

Shortly after the group came together I launched an attack hoping to set Gavin up with the counter. Nothing doing. We were back to the same attack, chase and sit up we'd been doing for the last 100km.

When we got to the point we'd hoped for nasty roads the conditions were actually pretty good. There were pylons and the road narrowed and did some weird gymnastics around the work that was going on but the surface was smooth. We also weren't the only ones with this idea so the pace was fast and the group strung out a bit so it was pretty smooth; Not at all what we wanted.

Eventually I dropped to the back and signaled for our team car so I could get some water. I sat there for a while as other team cars came past me and fed their guys. Finally I waved my arms in frustration and the race director rolled up beside me and gave me a bottle of water from his car. He said our driver probably just didn't hear the race radio.

I have no idea what happened to our car but soon after I took a slug of water there was a big crash in front of me and at least 30 guys went down. I rolled past the group yelling for Gavin but he wasn't there. Alex was extracting himself from the pile but I had no idea how long he would be so I jumped around the mess and started to chase.

I dropped the half empty bottle of water and buried myself trying to catch the back of one of the few teams cars that had made it around the crash. I couldn't quite get on the back of the last one but eventually I caught the back and made my way through to the race directors car. I took a moment and then jumped across to the group.

A little while later Alex, Steve (a former team mate) and one other rider caught back onto the group. The rest who went down never made it back.

I checked Steven's ass for him (let him know how bad it was or wasn't) and we continued in the rain until the finish.

On the finish climb we kept above 40kph but I was able to hold a good position. The last 3km are slightly downhill and a 2% final km to the finish. I picked my wheel and hung on to the end. All I was looking for was a good a placement as possible for team overall (season).

I finished off the podium by a tire width.

No hardware for me this year but Gavin was 2nd and we did manage points for the season overall.

The Pain Cave - Feb Training Camp 2011

DAY 1 - 20 min Power Test

We had a short training camp this year because the Chinese New Year Holidays were so short. We started off with a 20 minute Power test to establish early season FTP.

We decided to invite a few other racers to suffer along with us. We had a nutritional lecture and some coaching about training with a Power Meter as well. As the above picture indicates a splendid time was had by all...

DAY 2 - 160km 1600m elevation gain.

For day 2 we went for a nice ride in the nearby mountains. I was shooting for 2500m elevation gain on the day but logistics prevented this. The ride was just under 5 hours on a beautiful, sunny day. Temps were in the low 20's C and the wind wasn't kicking us in the teeth for a change.

I think the best part of the day was finally getting the guys all together for the first time. This has only happened at races so far this season. We should be able to organize this a little better in the near future so I'm not too concerned about this.
This was a pretty enjoyable ride. I took the guys on some of the smaller, nastier back roads that I like before we hit the main climb for the day. The ride back was rolling and pretty fast.

DAY 3 - TTT Practice.

I've done more TTs than any of the guys on the team and certainly more TTTs. The first race we have for the season long Giant Cup Race Series is a TTT. We skipped it last year and, I believe, missed out on some points that hurt us for the overall at the end of the season.

I got a chance to blather on a bit about the technical aspects of a TTT. We did one last year (there were 2 last season) and we lost considerable time because of a series of technical errors we made repeatedly.

A good warm up and we basically did a TTT. The pace was in the 45~50kph range for most of it, which was good. Also the course we chose to use was pretty windy and the wind switched direction in several places so it really simulated the conditions we expect for the TTT in March.

At the end of the camp we hung out for a bit and jaw wobbled about various nonsense. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed and I have a good feeling about the personalities and the intelligence of the team this year.

Our next training camp is set for 23/24 April and is ALL about elevation. We should easily be over 4000m elevation gain for those 2 days.

O' joy. O' bliss...

RACE REPORT: Nantou County 22 Jan 2011

I just couldn't sleep.

I tossed and turned all night and just couldn't slip away into blissful slumber. I don't think there was any real reason other than I kept thinking about my 4am alarm.

I think I finally dozed for about 90 minutes when my iphone iwoke me up. I dressed, downed a lovely cup of coffee, stuffed some bread and fruit down my gullet and headed down to meet the guys.

We met at my house so it was easy for me this time. We packed up the team car, headed off for one more coffee and then drove 2 hours to the start.

It was a bit crisp during the 5km neutral but once we got going things cranked up to 60kph and I warmed up pretty quickly.

It was basically an out and back course that then turned onto a 5km climb to the finish. Not exactly the best for me. The plan was to get Gavin into a move after the turn around and if that got caught then Shou Ciao would nail it on the finish climb.

My job was to keep things together and lead Gavin out when it was time. This meant I needed to be active at the front. Early on there was a rider away who was just up the road but slowly rolling away. He had team mates massed at the front so I decided not to let them set up their rabbit.

I rolled to the front and picked up the pace with the idea of bringing this guy back. As I got pretty close to him I glanced back and realized that I was alone - they'd let me go off the front. This was the same team I was in a long break with in November. Maybe they thought it would help out their whole rabbit thing.

I closed on the rider and we rode together for a few more km when the bunch decided that it was time to end this silliness. Thank GOD. I had no desire to be there in the first place.

Lots of attacks and chases and I had to go to the front several times to bring the pace back up when it came time to get Gavin off the front. I was at the front pushing the pace when I glanced back and saw Gavin on my wheel. I figured he was ready to go. I notched it up and we strung out the group and pulled away. Then we jumped.

We got a gap and a decent rider from a team with numbers was with us. Gavin went around me and he went with him. I drifted back to the bunch to set up shop minding the bunch. When I got there 2 of my team mates had seen us go and were also in place.

Gavin and the other rider rode away. The plan was in motion.

A few km from the bottom of the climb Gavin started to not feel so great. The other rider sensed this and backed off a little. As we started onto the finish climb Gavin was reeled in and it was time for Shou Ciao to set to work.

Shou Ciao has been doing mostly base work (as all of us have) and didn't quite have the snap he needed at the end. He managed 9th overall. Gavin held on for 16th and I rolled across at 21st with our other rider at 23rd, just behind me.

This was only our second race together and the first race I'd done with the new riders. We were also down 2 riders to the flu. I was pretty happy that we executed both our plans and that riders were reading each others' moves and intentions. This bodes well for the season.

We have a 3 day training camp Feb 5~8 with a 20min power test on the 5th. This should be interesting...

The Limit

Recently I thought about the how many times I'd pushed myself beyond the limit of what I could do while on a bike. I've been in other situations in my life where this has happened but cycling is different.

Cycling isn't about survival. It isn't about having to overcome some life threatening or life altering challenge or event. it isn't about life or death choices.

The difference is that it is willful. Pushing yourself beyond what your body is prepared for using only your will is a different thing. At any point I could have just stopped without loss of life or limb yet I chose to keep going despite my body's clear signals that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea.

A few examples:

1988. Some goat path over a mountain in Spain. It's my third day in big mountains. I am WAY over geared and grind my way up this thing for an hour. I sit on a bench by the side of the road at the top and cry. Really.

1989. Some road race in NY State. I make the mistake of jumping into a break with the big boys. I am so nervous I don't eat or drink. An hour later I get head spins and have to sit by the side of the road until the ambulance scoops me up.

1992. Somewhere in Quebec. I flat after about an hour. I get a wheel change and then the neutral car drives away leaving me utterly alone with no food, 1 bottle and 100km of windy rollers. When I crawl across the finish line there is no finish line. They've torn it up, taken down the stage and most everyone is long gone including the jitbags on my new team who were supposed to be doing support for ALL of us. I find my rental car and sleep in the front seat until morning - still in my kit.

1997. A World Cup track event in Trexlertown is canceled. The riders are already on this side of the pond so the event is quickly relocated to Victoria where I lived at the time. After the WC many stick around for BC Superweek.

80 lap crit. All I remember is the silver rear hub of the wheel directly in front of me for the first 40 laps. Once the break goes the pace drops off slightly. My memory of the race starts there.

1998. A RR in Vancouver. Brian Walton leans on me in a tight corner and then jumps on the way out. I think "Well, there's a good wheel to follow." I jump. There's nothing. I slip into the group. I slip out the back of the group. The race rides away from and I can barely hold 20kph.

The next day I go for a blood test. I have a hemoglobin count of 19 with virtually no stored iron. All a result of the last few years of big training trying to be a bike racer.

2004. I black out for a second at 2500m trying to chase down the main bunch so I can hide from the wind. I barely avoid riding into a huge ditch on the side of the mountain. I blackout again while driving on my way home. I almost drive into the median.

2010. I nearly burst a blood vessel in my head after a relentless series of "why", "because" with my 3 year old son.

The worst part is that I know that this list will continue to grow.

O' what a fool am I?

The Long Way Home

Motivation.

It's cold, windy as hell and I'm 2 hours into a ride that could either take 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 hours depending on what I decide at the next intersection. What I need is the 4 1/2 hours. I need it today and I need it tomorrow and I need it each time I ride for the next few months.

It used to be that I could drop to race weight in a month. But now I'm older and the process is slower and the volume needed is much greater. But slogging out this distance seems harder and harder to do.

What I need is some motivation.

It used to be pride. I would put in the extra time because I didn't want to get dropped at a crucial point in a race because I didn't have the depth or because I was lugging around an extra kilo or two. Vanity was also a good one. Who wants to look fat in their kit? Looking tanned, lean and ripply always made me fell kinda sexy. Who doesn't want to feel sexy?

Money. Money is always a good motivator. Producing results to keep sponsors happy could push me to put in the extra time. Happy sponsors means more cash and more stuff. Pretty good motivation.

I guess the real struggle is the difference between how much time I can ride purely for the love of riding and the extra time I really need to be fast. It's the struggle between watching a good movie and throwing a leg over on cold, windy days where the drizzle feels like icicles tearing at your face.

And then there is today. Today was the same ride with the same choices. But today I was in a slightly bigger gear over the climb. Today I chased a truck and caught him on a set of rollers that I'd slogged over a few weeks before. Today I got up out of the saddle and big ringed my way over a 3 km long climb.Today the choice was easy.

Tomorrow is another day.

'That Guy'.

Every now and then, as we gather up for the regular weekend hammerfest ride, there will be some new guy all full of piss and vinegar strutting around, talking too loud, and jumping into the middle of conversations about gear or training or some recent race with comments that just don't fit.

Somewhere around 5k in, as the group rolls out for the 5 hour ride- settling in, chatting a bit - this guy will go to the front and push the pace. It's never enough to stop the conversations but it's enough for guys to close up the gaps and get a bit annoyed because they haven't switched on their iPods or finished the apple they were eating.

As the ride progresses the first little rise approaches and this same guy goes to the front then shuts it off at the top. The ride jams up and spreads across the road.

The riders sort themselves out again as the pace picks up on the way back down.

Each small rise, overpass, or grade of any kind the same thing happens.

Finally the pace picks up and as riders rotate through this guy hits the front. He accelerates; Not hard enough to worry anyone, just hard enough to be an annoyance. Once again the rhythm of the ride is disrupted for no purpose what so ever.

The group settles back into a groove. Finally, attacks come but they are real attacks. Jumps that force people to dig. Jumps that drive snot out of your nose and blur your vision as you fixate on the rear hub in front of you. Attacks on climbs that carry speed up and OVER the climbs and force guys to chase on the descents.

Breaks form. Chases form. The ride regroups.

Hours later we all cool down together minus a few guys who know their way home.

We stop, chat, throw back a coke, finish a power bar and the group fragments into many smaller groups who spin their way home.

No one asks about 'that guy' or even remembers when he came off the back.

We usually never see him again.

RACE REPORT: Pintung County, Southern Taiwan 28 Nov 2010

I got a call from a former team mate Friday afternoon about a race on Sunday. We hadn't entered but his team had and 1 rider had to back out at the last minute. If I wanted I could go and use his race number.

"Sure." I said, "Why not."

Small scheduling conflict. My wife's co-worker was getting married Saturday night. As the hubby I had to attend and, as this was business, celebratory drinks were in play.

Needless to say I can lay claim to at least 1 bottle of red wine...

4 hours sleep and I'm off in search of a start line.

I drive through the backwaters or rural Taiwan and viola, a start line. I prep, meet up with the guys from the team who give me a bib number and we're good to go.

Then one of my team mates shows up. Huh? This race is 15 minutes from his home and it seems I missed to email about it weeks ago. Fine.

We warm up, stage and we're off.

The course is basically 80km of flat road with 180 deg turn-arounds at either end. 10 laps.

There are 3 major teams present and 1 team has 15 guys in our 85 rider field. I had to deal with these jokers a few weeks ago at another race and I was not going to be manhandled by sheer numbers. My plan was to attack and attack until I could get in a move with riders from at least 2 of the 3 strong teams present.

Even if I failed I was looking at this as training anyway so what the heck.

Lap 1 I attack and there are plenty of takers. I attack again and I have just as many friends. The field is aggressive but there are plenty willing to chase and nothing gets even a few seconds.

Lap 2 rinse and repeat. There is a crash behind me. It doesn't seem to thin the field at all. Just after the turn around I see my team mate standing on a barricade shouting that I am now on my own. He was fine. He went down but not hard, but he got tangled up and ripped some spokes from the PT wheel I built for him 2 weeks ago.

I guess I know what is next in my truing stand.

Then there are a series of attacks and a rider unclips in front of me and goes down. He takes another rider with him. I see this kid hit the ground in front of me and I NARROWLY avoid running over his head. His neck was stretched out in front of my wheel like a holiday turkey. This required some minor acrobatics and I had to lean on a buddy to make it around.

This scared me a little.

Adrenaline is my friend. I go to the front and put it down into the wind in the hopes that several of the riders from the larger teams were caught behind the crash. A few were.

We go through the 180 and just after the inevitable jump out of the corner and regroup I attack hard.

I taste a little vino.

When I finally look to see who is on my wheel there is 1 rider from each of the two bigger teams. A good mix. We put it down at 50+ to open a gap.

As we go through the start/finish and hit the turn around, we have about 20 seconds and I see a group of 3 or 4 trying to make their way across. We keep it going and I decide that we really need those other legs to stay away. I communicate this, we agree and take the edge off slightly.

Three riders join us with 1 more rider from the strongest team there. There is also a former team mate who rode some UCI races with me about 8 years ago. He's a steady wheel and I'm glad he's there.

We settle in quickly and I move to the front and give the signal to echelon. We get the rotation going ( a bit choppy at first) but by a lap later we are working together and opening up the gap.

It seems as if the teams represented are working for this move. We are committed to the end now.

At the next turn around I see that the guys from the team that invited me have moved to the front and are leading the chase. I wonder if it occurred to them that I wouldn't even be there if they hadn't called me on Friday.

Each lap the gap grows and I throw up in my mouth a little. Twice. With about 3 to go I start having that internal battle about sitting up because I just can't manage 1 more pull. I rotate through and the internal dialogue continues.

Two to go and I tell myself to STFU and keep going. Then we catch the Masters race that started after us. This means that we put about 6km into them.

One joker tries to slide into our echelon as we roll past but I put my hand on his hip and gently put him back where he belongs.

He curses at me in Taiwanese.

Idjit.

We get the bell and it's clear that we are not getting caught. We have minutes on the group.

I know the attacks will come as we turn around for the last time with 4km to go and sure enough, a rider from the stronger team jumps. I sit. He was easily the strongest rider in the break and I don't want to blow what little jam I have chasing this move only to be countered out the back of the break.

With a 20m gap he glances back and then buries himself. Another rider goes and we all react. We're together and then another attack and together and finally the second rider from the same team goes.

I hesitate. I calculate that the rider from the other big team has to chase this. They are the local team and it is his responsibility. He hesitates and I roll the dice and wait. He finally accepts and goes but we've given them too much and now we're within 2km.

Crap.

I'm pretty spent and now fighting for third. Then there is a strong jump from behind me and I am up. He gets a good gap. I close on him with the other two on my wheel but I can't get him before the line.

I hold off the other two and finish fourth.

Not a bad outing all things considered.

On the podium they make fun of the white guy (all in good fun), which is always a good photo op, I take my medal, my money and hop in the team car for a thankfully short drive home.

I think I'll avoid the Shiraz for a while...

YUENLING SR 19-20 JUNE

I had a very bad start to the season. I injured my neck in the fall of 2009 and couldn't ride for almost 3 months. I lost fitness and gained weight. I started training again in January but it was much too late to have any real fitness or to get back to racing weight by Hau-Dong in April which was our first "A" race.

Because of this my best placing at Hau-Dong was 8th on DAY 1 which put me very far down on the points competition for the season. I was looking to these races to get back in the hunt for the season long points competition. I was lingering in the lowly teens and needed good results both days to move up significantly.Although I am starting to feel better and lose some weight (It gets much harder as you get older!) I still don't have the kind of power I would like for a course like this.

I could tell this after I tried to bridge to the first attack.

My first strategy was to get into an early move that had riders from at least 2 other strong teams. This was a technical course where riders would be out of sight after about a minute gap so I thought it was a good course for a break. The only problem with Plan ‘A' was that Bo Zhuo was fighting for top spot in his category and if I was riding in a break it would only help him if CKT had to work to try and bring us back. This was a gamble.

I tried to bridge across to a move I saw in the very beginning of the race but my legs were not as willing as my heart or head was and the group was too interested in not letting an early break go.

This course had 5 corners with the 3rd corner being a 180 turn. After riding the course I realized that after the 180 turn there was a sprint point into the wind, a bit more of a straight and then a right turn, a few pedal strokes, a left turn and sprint to the finish. I decided that the key place on the course was the headwind straight after the 180 and before the right-left onto the finish straight. I knew that if you weren't in position by then you would be sprinting for 20th place.



This was Plan B.

Keeping the group together and then getting Bo Zhuo into position here became the best plan for us and it would also allow me to help, if I could, at the end. By virtue of simply being in the mix at the end I was pretty sure I'd get a podium spot for myself as well.

There were lots of attacks over the rest of the race and Gavin and Steven worked well together to chase down dangerous moves. I rolled to the front a few times to lend a hand but mostly I kept in the group and watched key riders.

In the last laps a break had formed off the front. I had done some work to bring the gap down and I figured we would catch them just before the finish.

Coming into the last lap I prepared to place myself and Bo Zhuo. Coming out of the 180 corner a rider crashed in front of me and I just avoided him but I lost momentum and several places. I was now out of position to help anyone but I still had time to move up.

I positioned my self as best to sprint at the finish.

We caught the break just before the line and I ended up 3rd in my category. Bo Zhuo finished 4th in his cat but it wasn't enough and he slipped into second place for the season.

We had 1 more shot for him the next day.

DAY 2

This was a flat and windy road race. I spent most of the day hiding and keeping a good position in the group.

Today we were really riding to get a good result for Bo Zhuo to move him back into 1st place for the points competition. We didn't want to have him go head-to-head with the CKT rider in a sprint. This would be playing to his strength.

We decided that we needed either Bo Zhuo in a break or another rider in a break and to force other teams to chase. For me this meant I was chasing moves or leading out Gavin. Again Gavin and Bo Zhuo were busy at the front and we placed them in moves that looked promising but nothing was sticking for long.

As sometimes happens an innocent move rolled off the front and suddenly a few more joined them and there was a break and we were not in it. Crap.

We chased for a while and brought them back to withing a 10 seconds and then the bunch just stopped chasing because they though that the break was finished. WRONG! This was a serious mistake.

The break rolled away again and stayed away until the end.

When we had looked at the course profile we decided that I would lead Gavin out after a sprint point that was about 20km from the finish. We set up and jumped as planned but it was pretty windy and too far for 1 or 2 riders to go it alone. we needed others to come along.

After digging for a few minutes we realized we were just dangling and no-one was interested in our idea. We sat up and the bunch swallowed us up.

This meant my next task was to lead Bo Zhuo out in the final sprint.

With just over 3 km to go I got into position and got Bo Zhuo on my wheel. I flashed him 3km and started to move up. I flashed him 2km and rolled up next to the rider he needed to beat. I flashed him 1km and boxed the rider and started to jump.

The same bone head that had crashed in front of me on DAY 1 now pulled off the front and sat up. He was right in my line and the barrier was on my left. I wasn't sure what he was going to do and, instead of being aggressive and stuffing us in the small gap that remained I hesitated.

I had talked with Bo Zhuo about my lead out before the race. I told him that I would position him as best as I could but if he felt he needed to move to a different wheel, at any time, then he should do just that.

I'm sure Bo Zhuo felt my hesitation and he jumped around me into the tiny gap that was left. As he jumped in and through the gap it closed and he was gone.

I was still near the front and very much in the sprint so I kept it going. I was moving up and was looking at a good result.

There was a meeting the night before this race and at that meeting the organizer disclosed some changes to the course and other information. I was about to discover what the last change was.

The finish was down the main street of same small town on a double lane road with a divider. There was a long, straight run in: A perfect finishing straight. Now, mid sprint with about 150m to go, the course veered off of this road onto a single lane road with scrub brush and ditches on either side. I had no idea this was coming and barely kept my self out of the ditch.

As I straightened up my bike and tried to shift into a gear I could continue to sprint in riders shot past me and I lost several places. I got it going again and caught 2 riders but watched a rider in my category finish half a bike length ahead of me.

I was 5th in my cat and just out of the top 20 overall. Crap and double crap.

Bo Zhuo finished ahead of his rival but didn't finish on the podium or earn enough points to move back into 1st place. Not good either.

The positive from this is that we now know that Bo Zhuo and I can work together for his finishes. We've talked a bit and have a better strategy for next time. Long term I think this could work out well for us.