Randy

Friday's time trial was a riot! Thanks to all those who hooked me up with wheels, helmets (just one), power meters, TT bars and seat stems. I felt like a rocket. Not a great result (22nd @ 24.22 avg) but I have new motivation to get faster....Curtis Jackson! He got me by a few places averaging 24.95mph. I blew up the second half, so maybe I can meter it better effort next time. Thanks to Brian Kadiens for the setup and strategy help.

Saturday's race Brian K and I both agree was epic. The course is insane and anyone who wins the French Broad omnium is ridiculously strong. Plantec's wheels were a major help in staying in the front with the accelerations and even on the climbs, but I couldn't hang at the big climb at mile 23ish. Blew up 1/4 way up but had a great descent with a group. Out of water bottles, I cramped immediately at the base of the last climb, walked until Debbie Gillespie gave me half a bottle and then noodled up the last climb. At least I didn't have to walk the whole way. I did catch a couple 4's on my noodle fest though. Much better than last year, so I'm pleased with 41st on the day. Peter got 15th, Kadiens 33rd, and Flinte 37th. Freaks live in Asheville and the proof is in the Cat 4 results.

Sunday: Kadiens and I warmed up in the rain and then the clouds parted for some great weather. Kadiens was arguing with his bike and decided to take it to the parking lot to work things out. It had been a long weekend of racing and they weren't getting along. Since my noodlefest final climb on Sat. and carbfest Sat. evening, I was feeling ok. Took a pull, then the break went. Stupid, should have waited for the move. Saw the break slide away a foot at a time. Tebbetts and I were with the remainder of the field racing for 7th. Only socks for primes. I've got plenty of socks so I tried to work for Tebbetts since I had no hopes in the omnium. Put in some efforts to try and bridge to no avail. Finally gave a lead out to Tebbetts for the finish. He got second in our pack sprint, 8th overall. I puttered in but did beat one rider popped off the back. Still really fun and felt strong. I think I could have stayed in the break. Have to give a shout out to the wifer for supporting me in my dreams of racing for a weekend. 33rd in the omnium. Something to try and beat next year.

Peter:

I spent the first half of the RR trying to maintain a decent position in the field and not expend any unnecessary energy (Pete trying to ride smart, what?). The not expending extra energy was working out ok, especially when Kirk thought I was busting and took to pushing me up hill, but I couldn't seem to keep my field position as well as Brian and Randy. At the first major climb I tried to stay with the leaders, but it seemed like I was having to close a lot of gaps to get up there. By the time I was finally on, there were 10-12 riders left and I was about to crack. I kept hoping that the next turn would reveal the crest of the climb, but no such luck. About 2/3rds up the climb I dropped off, not wanting to wait until I was completely busted (just mostly busted). I think a few people from our field passed me up the rest of the climb, but it's a little hazy now.

On the way down I was caught by about 20 riders and we proceeded to rip down the windy descent, pretty much continuously running the two- line echelon. Rotating through that paceline while railing through turns was the most 'fun' I can remember having in a road race. We caught about five guys that I don't think had made the selection.

By the time we reached the final climb I was somewhat unmotivated and definitely undergeared (a 42/24 doesn't cut it on that climb when your legs are just saying no to standing). I was actually paper-boying it at one point. I thought I was racing for about 20th, but apparently a couple of those guys were 50+ masters.

It's interesting to have this omnium during the TdF, since it is one of, or the only race around here that really favors a GC-type, climber/ time trialer rider. I'm interested to try at least the RR again next year, though it is hard to imagine anything better than a top 10 finish for me. To get into the money you'd definitely need to make the selection on the first climb, not get caught on the descent, and still have enough left to bust some of the 'selected' guys on the final climb. Even though I see no hope of ever winning this race, I still have to like it. Its just dumb and hard!

Allen:

CAT 5 Perspective

My expectations for the race were low as I got worked over by Randy and JD the weekend before in the mountains. I was going to be happy if I could stay with the leaders until the final climb. That goal was lost when I let myself drop through the group on what I thought was the big climb in the middle. I heard a couple of guys yell something like "this is it" before we started going up. The pace was fine for a shorter hill, but I didn't know we were on a short hill. I was thinking there was no way I could go this fast up a 5 mile climb. Turns out we weren't there yet.

I was pissed that I let myself fall out of the group, because I didn't know the course. I chased back on with 2 or 3 other riders just in time to see the ubiquitous CAT 5 crash before the climb that JD described earlier. It didn't slow me down as I just rode around it. The leaders had a gap, but I knew I had to ride my own pace up the hill. I dropped a few people, caught a few people and only one person caught me right at the top. He and I worked hard the rest of the way. I saw JD in front of me on the climb, and I wanted to get back up to him. Apparently he was crushing it though since I never caught a glimpse of that Spinners Green again.

The race was a blast, and I'll be back for more next year. I'm happy with 16th out of 50.

While some of my Greenville Spinners Racing Teammates are going for the omnium, I participated only in today's Road Race. This is a very hilly 40 mile route

Several of my teammates ride in the Cat 4 group. In chatting with them briefly after the race, it seems they felt pretty good overall, but each was challenged on the most significant climb of the day. The best result was a 15th place for Peter with Brian, Kirk and Randy coming in 33rd, 37th and 41st respectively.

I'm still riding cat 5, and this makes my 6th race. A few more and I won't have a choice but to cat up to 4. No problem, having fun is what it's all about anyway. Today Allen joined me in the Cat 5 group. He made a difference for me in the beginning. I really felt like he was watching over me because of my shifting problems. Probably my imagination, but hey, I was glad he was there. Allen pulled a 16th on the day so a great result for him.

The ride actually starts off flat for about a half mile. Wouldn't you know it, as we turn on Marshall's main street, I shifted up into my big ring and the chain popped off the pedal side. Bummer, I pulled to the side (but kept rolling) to get it sorted out and had a super nice guy ride up next to me and push me for a moment. I said thanks to him, but that I had it. He continued and I got the chain back in place.

The route turned up pretty quickly for some big rollers - I would almost say these were bordering on actual hills based on the length of these things. I did my best to stay with the lead pack and found the pace to be hard, but manageable.

Shifting was a big problem for me today. Obviously, I damaged the big ring in last week's crash. Every time I shifted from the small ring to the big ring (near the top of the climbs of course), I had to be super careful. I found if I shifted while in the biggest cogs, it wasn't too bad, but if I was in any of the 4 or 5 smaller cogs, the chain wanted to go over to the pedal side of the chainring. A number of times I had to use my foot to insure the chain stayed on the ring. Things worked out ok, but it took energy that I needed for the climbs.

Around mile 13 or so, the road turns up for the first part of the biggest climb of the day. It's really two climbs with a descent in between. The first climb is not too bad - the grade is manageable and the pace was not crazy. I managed to stay mostly with the lead pack. Occasionally, a gap would open (as normal) through turns between the riders at the lead and the riders further back. I tried not to let this happen, but I was staying away from the very front - probably in the top 20 riders or so. That far back, the accordion effect is pretty pronounced. Burned some energy pulling back up to the pack when that happened.

As we finished the descent from that first part of the main climb, we entered into a relatively flat and very straight section of roadway. Wouldn't you know it, a crash occurred about 10 bikes in front of me and I had to take evasive action.

Thankfully, I heard after the race that no-one was hurt, but I watched one guy go over his handlebars when he hit the guy in front of him. Unfortunately, a very strong rider I know and who I have ridden with several times got caught up in the crash and it took him out. Not because of injuries to his person, but to his bike. Bummer as he was riding really strong today.

For me, my evasive action put me into the grass. I kept the bike upright and got it stopped in time, but that was the problem, I couldn't go around the crash due to the terrain - I had to stop. Meanwhile, the lead riders who were in front of the crash kept going.

I quickly dismounted and brought my bike back around the other side of the riders who were now untangling their bikes and bodies. I re-mounted and took chase. I caught up to a 2nd group that was chasing the lead group. One guy commented to me "I guess they're not going to wait up". "Nope", I said, "they're going to make us work for it".

Then, the gradient increased and we were into the largest climb of the day. Not the steepest, but certainly the longest. It was about 5 miles long and as I rode up the early part of the ride, I managed to gap that 2nd group I briefly rode with, but the lead group was gapping me. I did not push hard enough to reel the leaders in.

I did manage to collect and gap a number of riders on my way up, but one rider who I have ridden with in the past caught my wheel as I rode past him. He and I worked together on the climb, then we collected Senior on the early part of the descent.

As we passed Senior, I called out to him "Come on Senior!", and sure enough, he grabbed our wheels. The three of us worked together as we rode through the very beautiful North Carolina countryside. It was mostly a descent, but the grade was not steep. Still, we could carry (relatively easily) 25 - 29mph in most places. Senior and Tom would pull for long distances in the beginning, but as we all began to tire, they slightly shortened the time they spent out front. This left a little more load for me, but I was feeling pretty good (and if you know me, I love to get out and pull anyway).

As we started the final 2 mile climb of the day, Senior called out his thanks and began his own pace. Tom and I tried to keep a solid pace up the hill. It was funny, because as with other riders I have known, he was commenting on his physical condition. I actually told him he can't look at it that way - it is self-defeating to talk about how tired or sore or how badly your legs want to cramp.

In fact, my legs were getting pretty tired by that point as well. I kept it to myself and as the grade was not getting any easier, I kept up my pace. Tom did a great job of staying with me, and in fact several times he pulled slightly ahead. But I knew based on the way he was talking that I would be pulling a gap on him later in the climb.

Sure enough, with a little over a half mile to go, the gap started widening. We thanked each other for the work as we rode along the river, and I started to slowly pull away.

There was no other Cat 5 riders close to me, but I continued to pass the stragglers from the womens / masters / cat 4 group that started in front of us. I crossed the line by myself thinking maybe I got lucky enough to make top 15, but surely I got top 20.

When I pulled up the results, I was quite pleased to find that I actually crossed the line 10th for the 50 rider Cat 5 field. That makes me feel pretty damn good!

Reviewing the race after the fact: I felt good and did well up until the crash. I was riding with the lead pack and even with the shifting problems, I felt like I could hang with them. When the crash occurred at the base of the most significant climb the lead group gapped me.

The question I ask myself - would I have been better off to bridge up to that lead group? I had been keeping with them for the entire ride to that point, but once the gap formed, I went into my climbing mode - not necessarily my race mode mind you. I went into my little zone where it is me, my bike and the road. I could see those guys for a while, but it got a little confusing as we were catching up on the tail end riders from previous groups who set out before us.

Had I bridged up to the lead pack, I may have pushed myself a little harder on the climb which could have resulted in a better finish.

However, they obviously were good climbers as they were pulling a gap on me as I climbed. It is also possible that I could have blown myself out on that first climb and had nothing left for the relatively flat descent along the river. I suppose I'll just have to keep working on my climbing and try again next year. Until then, I'll have to accept the 10th place.

Another great weekend of riding here in the upstate. It started with a ride from Tigerville, over Callahan Mountain, up the watershed, along Mine Mountain and then up a dirt road past Pearson's Falls. That road brings you out right at the Bakery in Saluda. From there we went out Holbert Cove Road and circled around to climb the switchbacks on Green River Cove Road.

Wow! What a great day of racing! The weather was nearly perfect (some wind late in the day) and the Greenville Spinners brought it to the table and kicked some serious butt!

I arrived at the final race of the spring series near the 2nd half of the Cat 4 race. There was three Spinners out there working the peleton - Tim, Clark and Robert. When I arrived, they were just coming through for their final lap.

What a sight when they came around for the sprint! Since I had been otherwise occupied in the morning, I wasn't sure who was out there, but what I saw when they came across the line was two Spinners' kit at the front! Clark and Robert brought it home for the top two podium spots! What a great job by those guys. Really great to see team-mates getting those podium positions.


The cat 4 race results from Day 6 of the Greenville Spring training series - Spinners Represent!
As for other races that the Spinners were involved in, the race in which I would normally be participating had just one of my Teammates representing - Ed (my Polka Dottay team-mate from the Austin Ride) rode to finish with the peleton.

Where was I? I was taking a chance that I would be able to stay in the Spring training series ominium top 10 without racing at Donaldson today. Instead, I represented the Spinners in an off-road triathlon.

These off-road tris are a little different from the traditional tri - the off road tri (of course) includes three events - a trail run, a flatwater paddle (kayak or canoe) and a mountain bike ride. I had signed up for this event weeks prior to signing up for the spring series, so I decided to get out there and have some fun. After all, there will be plenty of opportunity to get out and ride laps around Donaldson center this summer!

I loaded up my boat and my mountain bike saturday afternoon, so I was ready to leave bright and early sunday morning. I was about the 2nd person to arrive at the event site, and immediately met a first timer as she was off-loading her boat. She asked me a few questions, and we had a nice chat. She would be doing the 'sprint' event, while I would be doing the 'endurance' event. I outfitted myself in my Greenville Spinners Racing kit so I could represent the team.

What's the difference? The sprint event is a 3 mile trail run followed by a 2 mile paddle and a 7ish mile mountain bike ride. The endurance event is a 5 mile trail run, followed by a 4 mile paddle and a 12ish mile mountain bike. When I had checked earlier in the week, the field for the endurance event was only about 20 participants (women and men). When I asked about it during packet pick-up, they told me the field would be about 35 participants. A good number of peeps waited until the last minute to get signed up it seems.

The two events would start together and follow the same course for the first ~1.5 miles of the run (and the last mile), the early part of the paddle and parts of the mountain bike. This made it interesting as I was doing my event - At times, I wasn't sure who was doing the sprint and who was doing the endurance.

Another of my Spinners team-mates was also there at the off-road tri. Abhay came out with his rowing skull and his mountain bike to give it his shot.

The run started on an uphill, but thankfully, my buddy Pip suggested a warm up so I started off feeling good. By the time we crested the climb, a clear seperation had formed between the top 10 or so runners and me. My first mile was 7:24, which was a bit faster than I expected - especially with that hill. Pip was up in that front pack as they pulled away from me. I could hear some peeps behind me, but it was pretty spread out.

The run came through the transition area on it's way up to a trail called Grinder. You can imagine - this trail is aptly named. It is a long grinding uphill about a mile long. Not terribly steep, but you feel it - every step of it.

We came out on a paved road for a short distance before plunging back into the forest to run down the Clemson Freeride Club's downhill course. It's pretty fun to run down that course.

Before we arrived at the boat transition (about a 1/2 mile from the boats), the leader of the sprint race was already on his bike and heading out. Super strong effort from that guy (he did end up winning it).

I arrived at the transition with three other runners from the endurance race. The three of us ran together for most of the run. I got suited up with my camelback and my pfd and jumped in my boat.

I knew I had to make up some time on the boat - I would only be able to make up so much on the bike. As there were many peeps from the sprint event out on the boats for the first half of the race, It was difficult to tell who was who, although the speed differential was somewhat obvious.

The sprint boaters turned right at the 2nd bouy, but the endurance competitors kept straight to round a third bouy before turning back to the takeout. As I came around a point of land, I could see the endurance competitors spread out in front of me. I counted the boats and I found that I was in about 7th position (or 6th maybe). One of these peeps was the woman who was right behind me for most of the run. That put me in 5th or 6th place at the end of the boat.

I ran up to the bike transition and began to get myself squared away. The woman was staged just a few bikes away, and I saw her take off slightly before me. I got on my bike and gave chase. As far as I knew, no-one had escaped on the bike in front of me (from the endurance event - i.e. left the boat after me, but made a faster transition).

It took a few minutes, but I caught and passed the woman (who ended up winning first overall for the women in the endurance event) and kept chasing those in front of me. This first two miles was on a fire road and there was a good number of sprint event peeps out there. The only thing that made it obvious who was doing the endurance was their relative speed - we were traveling quite a bit faster than the sprint folks who were out there (because the fast guys / gals in the sprint event were already out on the singletrack part of the course).

I can't say for sure if I passed any of my endurance event competitors during this initial fire-road portion of the ride. I was tucked and in the big ring going about as hard as my legs and lungs would let me go. These fire road portions of the course had to be taken advantage of.

When I crossed into the singletrack and onto the Lawrence trail, I noted a rider behind me (to be called red shirt because of his red jersey). Anyone I saw on these trails was an endurance participant, so I knew I had to do what I could to overtake and prevent myself from being overtaken during these periods.

I learned a little about this guy on the climb up lawrence trail - I am a stronger climber than he is. I pulled a larger gap on him on this little climb coming out from the five forks intersection. He was a better mountain biker though as he reeled me in a little on the flatter portions of this trail.

There were periods where I was riding in the middle ring on the front and the smaller cogs on the rear. When I was in this configuration, I began to hear rattling from my rear hub! I was also having a bit of trouble shifting - thankfully, there was no ghost shifting, only imprecise shifting - I could live with that.

When we turned to go up collarbone, I could see two or three other guys in front of me. I was trying to count, but I was unsure of where I stood because of the confusion of the shared courses. These guys became my next targets and I dispatched two of them on this climb up collarbone. The third would fall (as in I would overtake him) as I rode down the dam road.

The Dam road was really fun. Once again, I was in the big ring and pushing for all I had. A big part of this fire road is downhill, so the speeds were probably over 30mph (maybe as much as 35mph). As I approached the intersection with the lake trail, I looked back to see two guys behind me - blue shirt who I passed on the dam road, and red shirt who had been following me since the lawrence trail.

Red shirt had passed blue shirt and began to gain on me quickly as we made our way along the lake trail. As he was getting close, I came upon a root system that stopped me in my tracks. I tried to quickly get out of his way, but was not able to. He had to stop, and because I felt I owed him, I told him to go ahead and pass me.

Luckily for me, his body chose that moment to cramp up on him. I waited for a moment, but when I realized he wasn't going to be able to pass, I continued on my way. I think blue shirt passed him at this point.

The rattling in my rear hub was getting worse - I can remember clearly thinking "ride it until it breaks!" The shifting was getting worse - It's critical to be able to cleanly shift into the proper gear when on a technical trail and I was fighting the imprecise shifting.

We were overtaking a number of the sprint competitors on this trail, and they were really great about moving off to the side to let us pass. since I was in the front of this little 3 bike train, I would call out "rider coming behind" and the would pick a safe spot to pull over for me (and the guys behind).

As we began to run out of lake trail, we came upon another root system that hung me up. Blue shirt was able to get by at this point, but I felt pretty confident that I could catch him on the fire road if I could just keep him in sight.

He exited the singletrack a few moments before I did, and red shirt exited a few moments after I did. I was in chase mode to catch blue shirt when red shirt pulled up next to me. We chatted for a short time before I let him pull a little in front of me. I pulled a roadie on him and began to draft. He pulled for a bit as we passed by blue shirt, then he pulled out to the side and told me "I think I'll let you pull for a while". Who was I to argue - turn about is fair play (only later did I talk to a friend of mine who told me that drafting was usually not allowed in traditional triathlons). I don't think it was an issue, I pulled him for at least as long as he pulled me.

I knew the course, and so did he. He had gone to school at Clemson and started mountain biking on these trails. I knew we had one final climb on this fire road before the trail went down hill to the finish.

I opened it up on him a little as we made that climb - the strength I have gained from road riding payed huge dividends here. As I crested the hill, I looked back to see I had pulled 10 or so bike lengths on him. At the top, I clicked it over to the big ring and started hammering. He was working hard to reel me in, but the gap appeared to hold steady.

I crossed the line with that gap intact. I was pleased. I felt I did well - perhaps in the top 5. Red shirt, blue shirt and I chatted a little as we made a cool down ride up the hill (same as where the run started). It was great fellowship.

When I got back to the bike transition area, I hung up my bike and started to get out of my biking gear. About that time, I looked up to see Pip crossing the line. He was about 5 minutes behind me. Great result for him.

Somewhere in there, I walked over to the folks doing the scoring. I asked how I did overall, and they said I was 29th overall (sprint and endurance competitors). She asked if I was in the endurance race, and told me that I might have gotten third place! Third!! I was stoked, but I was trying to keep myself from getting too excited before she finished with the official results.

Abhay came in while I was at my car getting my bike squared away. He had fun, but he had trouble with his racing skull that delayed him for about 10 minutes on the paddle.

We hung around for the results and I was super-stoked to find that I actually came in 2nd overall for the endurance event! What a great way to finish a race.

JD takes 2nd overall for the Clemson Off road triathlon!!

And what about the spring series for me? Without racing today, I dropped in the ominium standings from 6th to 8th place. I'll take that - a top 10 finish in my first ever road racing series, to include a win.

Cat 5, 35+ ominium standings as posted at Donaldson this afternoon

It seems to me that when it comes to racing, you have a choice. You can sit in and let everyone else do the work, or you can get out there and make a race of it. After last week's win, I really didn't want to 'sit in to win', I wanted to make something happen out there at River Falls.

I felt a little nervous going into the race despite the preview ride I did on Thursday with a number of my Spinners teammates. I understood the course and I was prepared for it. We had three spinners lined up in the Cat 5, 35+ group. The field was about 25 to 30 riders.

As we stood at the start line, I looked over the field and saw 6 riders from the Spirited Cyclist team. I knew these guys were serious. Two guys from the Harris Teeter team lined up near the front.

Today was different from all of the other races so far. A break went and it stuck. After cresting the climb for the second time, two of the spirited cyclist guys attacked and pulled a gap quickly. I saw it happen, but didn't react quickly enough. Although I was near the front of the pack at the bottom of the hill, they had hit it really hard. This was my first mistake - letting them make that gap. I set off in pursuit to see about reeling them in.

Half way between turn 1 and turn 2, I was still gaining, but I could see that one of the two had dropped off the pace. I managed to get past him and was within 200 meters of the leader when I decided it would be better if I had someone else up there with me. Looking back, that was my second mistake. I should have just kept at it and made the bridge.

When I became absorbed back into the peleton, I realized how foolish these two mistakes were. This guy's five team-mates were doing a textbook block on the peleton. They would get out in front and sit up. Taking up the whole lane and coming over on other riders to squeeze them out.

I wasn't interested in a 'sit in' mentality, so me and my team-mate Hudson started kicking the pace. We pushed it pretty hard, but those guys kept trying to block us. They would ride in second or third position and as soon as Hudson or I rotated out, they would sit up and do their best to block us. We had another guy or two occasionally get out in front, but it seemed they would drop off the pace and no-one would come in to help out. Of course, Hudson or I would be right there.

So, while the rest of the peleton was sitting in, the Spinners began to dismantle the field. If no-one else was going to work, Hudson and I were going to punish them as much as we could. Hudson worked super hard out there and was always there when I needed a break. When I could sense him slowing up, I would get out and do what I needed to do. We drove the pace up to nearly 22 mph in those last two laps.

I had something happen to me several times today that hadn't happened before. It seems I was a marked man. At times when I found myself recovering in the pack, two of the spirited cyclist guys would single me out and block me directly - one to my front and one squeezing me to whichever side of the road I found myself on. I didn't exactly catch on to this immediately, but by about the third time it happened, I figured it out and decided I wasn't going to play by their rules - so what did I do? I got back out in front and continued to hammer the pace.

In order for me to get past them, I had to do some squeezing myself. As they tried to squeeze me, I drifted towards them. Nobody wants to crash, so they would give way. It was pretty interesting, and I suppose I should take it as a compliment that they would see me as that much of a threat.

With all these hijinks going on, it was still Hudson and I driving the pace. The field had completely shattered and there was only about 10 guys left in our chase group. We did what we could, but the break stuck and the Spirited cyclist guy won the race. The teamwork by those guys was textbook. Their tactics were very well executed. I have a healthy respect for this team and the way they worked together.

How did it play out? Despite the work I had done on our preview of the course - finding my markers on the climb so I would know where to begin my sprint - On the final climb what remained of our original field started earlier than I thought. I let them go - mistake number 3. When my marks came up, I was on the gas, but it wasn't enough to take back more than a few positions.

How do I feel about this after last week's win? Today I had a choice to make - sit in and go for a group ride and go for the sprint (like last week), or get out there and try to make something happen - make a race of it. For better or worse, me and Hudson got out there and made something happen. There's a lot of satisfaction in that, even if it only results in 7th place.