Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

(not my knee, this belongs to Colavita-Spokepost.com teammate Jason Haight)

First race of the season, first getting dropped of the season, hopefully the last. When Phil and Paul refer to pro cyclist as “turn their legs in anger” it is not much of an exaggeration. You have to have a little extra spark when racing. I was anxious to get that feeling back in my system very soon which is why I ventured out to the Rochester Giros.

Doing your first race is a jolt to the system, and it is even more of a jolt when you join in a six race series on the last race. Oh well, no more excuses. I did get to throw my body into “race pace” for the first time this year and it felt painful, but I am glad to get that experience out of the way so I can get ready for the next race.

(Jason and Matt)

It was great to join Matt Howey, Jason Haight and William Nicholson for my first race of the year. This trio has been racing several times already in March. They raced in at least two other Giro races and went down to do the Grant’s Tomb Crit. They are already humming along in fitness, and I decided to finally join them in my first outing. My getting dropped was not all bad since I missed out the horrible B Race crash.

The B Race started fast as guys from Rochester’s own Cochran, Cochran and Yale team (whose jersey’s are based off of Saunier Duval’s) lifted the pace immediately from the parking lot. The quick blistering pace up the hills was ok at first, but not easy to maintain for repeated hill climbs. I was not long for the pack as I tried to catch back on but to no success.

Up ahead, Jason and Matt were working their lactic thresholds in the pack. As the CCY guys calmed down Matt launched an all out attack to get a gap. No success, but it was worth a shot. In the finish Jason was in the top 15 heading to the finish when an erratic rider jerked into his handlebars. The result was a crash that took down six other riders and caused a nasty puncture wound to Jason’s knee. This was in a sprint for 6th place in a training race.

Matt Howey puts it best:

Jason was over to the left ahead of me a bit and had a chance to be in contention for 3rd – THAT IS BEFORE HE WAS BODY CHECKED. 6 guys go down at about 30 mph. The sound of clipless pedals unclipping, tires and brakes skidding and screaching, and metal scraping across the pavement was in my periphery. Didn’t realize Jason was in the mess, and after sitting up with another guy that was right next to the crash, we both rolled across the line. I looked up, and didn’t see Jason and thought, “uh oh”. Turned around and there he was, sitting dejected, on the side of the road. Pulled up to get a closer look at the damage – nice “puncture wound” (as Todd Scheske called it) in his leg, some hamburger on his thumb, bloody knuckles, ripped clothing, couple other substantial scrapes and bruises – NO BROKEN BONES – ALL HIS TEETH IN TACT – BIKE RELATIVELY UN-SCATHED. Phewww!!!! Jason is now officially a gladiator.

It was reported that one of the Cochran, Cochran and Yale team riders is who crashed into Jason in the final sprint. The CCY guy ended up in bad shape as he had to be taken away by an ambulance. Hope everybody heals up quick. Update: see comments below.

Lessons to remember:
One critical point to hill climbing that is easy to remember, but hard to keep doing is that you should not rest once you crest a hill. You need to maintain your speed all the way through until you start descending. Many riders get dropped at the very top of the hill when there is a natural lull. This is what caught me out today as I tended to relax at the top of the hills and lost many bike lengths. I am not used to powering through the top and will be working on this in the next week or so.

Training this week
Earlier in the week I rode the climb from Jamesville to Pompey via 91. This climb is famous to Syracuse based cyclist since it is a favorite climb. Seven miles of gradual 6% climbing give a great hill workout. I was surprised this week when I ascended the seven miles faster than I ever had in the month of March. The weights are working.

Next Race
Next race looks to be another Rochester based affair as Perinton calls on April 23rd. It is a circuit race of 6 mile laps. This looks to be a goal for many of the Colavita Spokepost guys and hopefully we will have a our cool gear by then too.