Tour of Walla Walla - Stage Race

[Eden]

looooong - well I am trying to describe 3 action packed stages
Stage race season has started! Our field was limitied to 50 and a few people did not show so we started with about 47

Day 1
Stage 1- 7.5 mile TT
This is my weakest point! I started very early, 5th I think and I really thought I had a pretty good run. The course is mosty up out and mostly down on the way back. I passed my 30 second person and caught my minute up by the turn around, she gained a bit on me on the way back down, but I caught up to her again near to the finish. I could see my minute 30 person at the finish too, so I was pretty psyched. When the results were posted - blast! 18th, the 3 in front of me were just slow.... I really need to work on my TT's, though with the course I think it will never be to my adavantage. I can climb great, but I'm too light to really rock the descents. I was going as fast as I could - hit higher heart rates on the way back than on the way out!

Stage 2- 38 miles 1 circuit, 2,800 ft climbing
Coming off of the heels of the TT (we had about 3 1/2 hours between the TT and the RR ) this can be a daunting race for people who have never done it before, but to tell the truth the TT acts like the ultimate warm up and this race has felt great to me both the times I've done it.
We do the finishing climb twice, but the first time up is neutral. This year it truely was neutral. The orgainizers had a goal that we should not drop anyone... (it has happened in the past) so we went up it at about 7.5 mph. Then the race was on.
A field of nearly 50 is pretty crowded for us 4's and moving around was interesting. I started very near to the front, but the pack really is alive and you can very suddenly find yourself near to the back. I was about mid pack when we hit the first small climb. Crap! I was stuck behind a couple of my own teammates that were slowing down. I finally asked one to move over and went shooting up between them. I caught the front of the group and I was feeling really great, since it didn't feel like I was even working to get up that hill and catch the front! The course is kind of twisty and rolling for some time from there so the pack kept stringing out and bunching up
I think I probably did a lot of b!tchy sounding yelling during this race, but there were some really sketchy riders!!! One pushed me out over the center line when there was a car coming - I yelled at her a lot. Sure lines move around and its cool to try to hold the wheel of your team mate, but you should not do it if you are going to push someone over the center line!!!! Another gal was just an all around sketch ball and I wasn't the only one yelling at her, she nearly knocked me and most of me teammates over at some point in time. Someone said she was a cross racer and this might be her first road race - she was still riding as if it was cross....
We hit a fairly flat point in the race and one of my teammates was up at the front. She'd done a bit to try to heat up the race, but no one else was interested in working. They were just snaking along behind her, unwilling to be out front. I took advantage of the single line and moved up beside her. We decided we would sit up there and just keep it slow until someone else decided that they were tired of our sit on the couch pace.. Finally someone tried something. It didn't really get her anywhere, but at least we were racing again and there were more people willing to get on the front.
We turned the corner at about the mid point of the race to what I remembered as the very windy side of the race, but this year it didn't seem as bad. There are several steady climbs on this side so I was keeping myself pretty close to the front. Techinically I was working for the front runners on my team from the TT, but not much had happened so I hadn't really needed to do much... The two people (not on my team) who were in the lead from the mornings TT launched an attack on on of the hills. I took off chasing with my teammate who was our currently best placed rider. To my surprise I was the one giving her encouragement to try to catch the break. I went past and caught the other two and now I wasn't sure what to do... do I work, do I slow them down to get my teammates back for the finishing climb. Fortunately I didn't have to think about it for too long as we were caught again shortly. My teammate then (no pressure right...) came up and told me to win the stage..... since I was probably the only one who could climb with the front runners.... (no pressure right....)
There is a good descent then a few miles into town and the finishing climb. The leaders made those last couple of miles hurt pretty good, but I got into town sticking to the leaders. We hit the bottom of the climb and away they went. I hit it as hard as I could, but the first two were just way to strong for me. I was keeping number 3 in sight, but I also had two on my tail. One kept yelling encouragements at me - I really just wanted tell her to shut the f up and just go past... If she could yell at me, she obviously wasn't working hard enough.... Finally they did pass me, but I kept on plugging. This is a stage race and time counts so the faster I could get up that climb the more places I would gain. I finished the stage 6th and moved myself up from 18th to 9th overall. (must improve that TT!!!!)
Day 2
Stage 3- Downtown Walla Walla Criterium, 25 minutes, 6 corner flat course.
We had a very early start (8am!) so I had to get up at 5:30 and it was raining... I'm not really a huge fan of crits and especially not in the rain, so my goal here was to just stay safe and finish with the front so I wouldn't lose any time or places. The sketchy riders from the day before had me a bit worried. Doing a wet crit with newbies.... mmmm not my favorite kind of day. The race official told us to go easy for the first few laps - yeah right, I prefer the tactic that was employed. We did not go easy and none of the ones I was worried about were around for very long! It was pretty strung out so the corners were not too bad and I only hit that man hole cover that gave me a flat last year once this year! We had an entriely safe race, yeah! and goal accomplished. Finished 11th in the crit and did not lose any time, so I kept my 9th overall! Top 10 in a stage race, not to bad. Now I just need to improve that darn TT....
For the team we had a great race - we had 4 in the top 10, my teammates taking 5,6 (me)9, and 10.

[SheFly]

I really need to work on my TT's, though with the course I think it will never be to my adavantage. I can climb great, but I'm too light to really rock the descents.

Nice job! Here, we are opposites - I don't climb well, but I am big, so descend really well. Were you on your TT bike? Did you stay in the aero position while climbing? I have found that sometimes, I need to come out onto the bullhorns going uphill to maintain a descent speed.

I think I probably did a lot of b!tchy sounding yelling during this race, but there were some really sketchy riders!!! One pushed me out over the center line when there was a car coming - I yelled at her a lot. Sure lines move around and its cool to try to hold the wheel of your team mate, but you should not do it if you are going to push someone over the center line!!!! Another gal was just an all around sketch ball and I wasn't the only one yelling at her, she nearly knocked me and most of me teammates over at some point in time. Someone said she was a cross racer and this might be her first road race - she was still riding as if it was cross....

Oh boy - can I relate to that! It seems that there is an inundation of new Cat 4 women this year, who don't have a CLUE about how to ride in a pack. We had a girl in my race yesterday that literally was ping-ponging off of us. She bumped me a minimum of two times! You and I should race together, Eden - sounds like we have the same approach with these types .

I finished the stage 6th and moved myself up from 18th to 9th overall. (must improve that TT!!!!)

Congrats! That is an awesome move!

We had an entriely safe race, yeah! and goal accomplished. Finished 11th in the crit and did not lose any time, so I kept my 9th overall! Top 10 in a stage race, not to bad. Now I just need to improve that darn TT....

What a GREAT finish! Congrats to you and your teammates on a great accomplishment.

SheFly

[Eden]

Nice job! Here, we are opposites - I don't climb well, but I am big, so descend really well. Were you on your TT bike? Did you stay in the aero position while climbing? I have found that sometimes, I need to come out onto the bullhorns going uphill to maintain a descent speed.
SheFly

I used my tt bike, but not the disc, since its only an 8 speed and has higher gearing than my other wheel. The TT course isn't a really steep climb - more of a steady 3-4% with a few bumps (I could almost wish for it to be steeper, better for me...). Only a few spots kick up enought to want to get out of the aeros - right around the turn around is one of the steepest spots. I was keeping an eye on my speed - a lot of the time I was up around 15-17 even on the climb - did up around 30 or better on the way back
I'd love to know what people's split times were - up to the turn around and then back down, to see if I was really losing much time on the way back. Last year it seemed pretty clear. One of the people I had caught and passed on the way up passed me back on the way down....

[mukluk]

Congratulations, I think you did really well. Sounds like so much fun!

[li10up]

Hey Eden, congrats on your 9th place finish! I know this is a little late but I have a question for you. Isn't CAT4 for new racers? You mentioned some sketchy riders that were new. How long does someone race CAT4 before moving up to CAT3? Also you said that you thought one of the riders was in her first road race, that she was a cross racer and that she was riding as if it was a cross race...what does that mean? SheFly said something about new CAT4 racers not having a clue about riding in a pack...I would think they would have done some or they wouldn't be racing...but anyhow...what specifically do the new racers do that is wrong...although I thought all CAT4s were new...but I guess a couple of races under your belt would make a big difference between new CAT4s and experienced CAT4s. ??

Anyhow, I really enjoyed reading your race report. Makes me think about trying it. Do you happen to know how I can find a race in my area that I could go watch? Seems like that would be fun.

[Eden]

Wow! thats a lot of questions
Not all Cat 4's are new. It depends on how you do and how you feel about upgrading. They pretty much don't force women to upgrade unless they want to or they basically win every race, because here you go from a 4 to racing with the pros.... the races almost always are combined cat 1/2/3 without separate scoring. Some of the 4's have been racing as 4's for years and are very good bike handlers. We don't have them in Washington, but some states have "citizen's races". Its a category under 4 for which you don't need a USACycling license.
If you want to move up you need to accumulate points. You get points by getting high placings in races 1st - 6th place get points 7,5,4,3,2,1. 30 points in 12 months is supposed to be an automatic upgrade and 20 points is where you can request one. If you have been racing for a long time it is sometimes possible to upgrade based on experience. For women, since there are so many fewer of us the rules are often loosened a bit.
Anyone who wants to can come and race - there are no prerequisites other than a desire to do it. This does mean that sometimes there are people who may have never, ever ridden in a pack racing. Most of the time it doesn't matter, because they get dropped quickly, but sometimes they are strong - for example triatheletes can often be very strong and quick, but since they never race with other people they can be frigtening to ride with.
This http://www.txbra.org/home/index.asp looks like a good place to start looking for events in your area. www.usacycling.org will give you good general information about racing and you may be able to find some local clubs there too.
As far as what do new racers do wrong in a pack... there are dangerous things - sudden movements, especially without looking, half wheeling (overlapping wheels), pushing the bike back when standing on climbs, braking suddenly, taking a bad line in a curve, over agressiveness - basically pushing people out of the way, not knowing how to corner safely, you get the idea. Then there are things that are just not smart like sitting on the front for long periods of time needlessly, surging in a paceline, chasing your teammates down....

[Mimosa]

You just know when someone is not used to riding in a pack. Last sunday I rode in a group with some inexperienced riders. One of them kept telling everybody around her where she was. Like in a left curve she would shout to me "I am on your left" (multiple times). Or the get really nervous when they get enclosed by other riders causing them to sit almost shaking on the bike (no joke).

The whole race went fine, only some minor errors during the race, but at the very end it still went wrong. Two girls were sprinting for the finish line and one lost her balance coming over the line. Her bike moved to the right and she was no longer able to compensate causing her to ride into the girl next to her. They both had to be brought to the hospital by ambulance

[li10up]

I know on club rides when we have a lot of people and I get stuck in the middle I get a little nervous. You just don't know what the people around you are going to do. How would someone get experience racing in a pack prior to starting to race CAT4? Is riding with a large pack with your club good enough experience? It all sounds so exciting. I've seen some youtube videos of races and it looks pretty scary...people moving all around within the pack...but it also looks so very cool...a living, morphing entity.

[Mimosa]

I think what you are doing with the clubrides already helps a lot. You can't be better prepared, you just have to take the next step and join a race. In my experience it's not that scary because you all ride at the same speed and in the same direction. Of course you have to keep being alert, that's one of the hard things about racing ... keep being focussed!

[SheFly]

Does your club offer a racing skills clinic? Are there any in your area (maybe another club)? this is something that our club offers that is great for new racers. Teaches everyone basic skills like pacelining, as well as incidental contact, what happens when you touch wheels, etc..

Don't be put off by my comments, or Eden's. We have been racing for a couple of seasons, so have some bike handling skills, and know the intricacies of racing. Like Eden's area, if I upgrade I am also forced to race with the pros...

That said, there is no way to tell how you will do besides jumping into a race. Most people will be pretty helpful, and will give you pointers. If someone yells at you, it's more because they want you to be aware of what you are doing - learn from those instances.

Do you have a friend or teammate who has raced? Finding a mentor can also help a lot, even if you don't race in the same categories. And Mimosa is right - the club rides definitely help to get you comfortable in a pack.

Good luck!

SheFly

[Eden]

Look on your local calendar and see if you can find anything that is labled a training race or that might have a class before hand or mentors that ride along. We have both around here. Tuesdays there is a circuit race series that has beginner and cat 4 categories for women and has ride along mentorship. Thursdays there is a crit series that has a beginner/cat 5 field (unfortunately no separate womens field, but women and juniors get half off the entry fee...) that has a class before the race that is free with your entry.
She Fly is totally right there really is no way to tell if you are ready than to jump in and try it since there is no experience quite like the pack, but I would strongly encourage basic group riding skills to any one first. At very least you should know how to safely draft and paceline and you should know how to corner safely. You should be comfortable riding in your drops, epsecially through corners and down hills. Don't get discouraged or insulted if someone says something to you. It can be tense and since no one wants to fall they can get vocal. Just try to listen objectively - you may be doing something without realizing it.

[AZSpinner]

I enjoyed reading about your stage race. Congrats on the top 10 finish! As a rookie racer, I appeciated the tips you gave Li10up. I'm looking forward to hearing about your next race!