ACCC Collegiate Conference Races.
nms
Posts: 671
Since Mule posted his bike racing weekend, I'd figured I'd join in.
This weekend was our regional ACCC Collegiate road racing conference, hosted by Wake Forest Univ in Winston-Salem. This was the first race I'd attended since halfway through February due to my broken collarbone. In that time I'd gotten about 4 good rides in (had a shifter die right as I got back to riding >:-| ), so I was anticipating getting my **** kicked pretty hard.
Saturday morning our road race was supposed to start at about 8 am, but we didn't roll out until almost 45 minutes later because someone forgot we needed 5 chase cars, not 3. The start was a "neutral" rolling start: we rode to the starting line as a group, not really racing yet. Va Tech managed to get 3 riders on the front and controlled the pace for the rolling start. No one was clear on where the course actually started, so they kept the pace easy for the first leg of the race, until the second turn. Va Tech jumped hard out of that turn and the race was on.
I should mention that I'm racing Ds, which is the lowest category. These guys have been improving all season, but now they think they are better than they really are, so they are somewhat scary to ride with. I was not riding well from the technical standpoint either, so there were a lot of near misses and tire rubs that really should have put me on the ground but somehow didn't.
During the first lap the pace stayed fairly high and we didn't have any major breakaways. Towards the end of the lap a rider from UNC Wilmington broke off and stayed away for a bit, and I bridged up to him just as we crossed the line for the second lap. Just after the line was a right turn which I came into way too hot and almost dumped it altering my line around a patch of dirt. I sat up and dropped back into the pack.
With about 8 or 9 miles to go Va Tech led the first serious break away attempt that ended up being about 8 guys. At this point I was really hurting and could barely bridge up to the break, but I made it. I was riding very close to the edge of my output, when pulling I could barely accelerate enough to pull of in front of the guy who had pulled off in front of me. However, I managed to stick with the group, how I don't know.
With about 1.5 km to go the main field caught us. I managed to stay near the front for the remainder of the race (again, I don't know how).
My positioning for the spring was terrible, so I ended up getting 6th. One of my team-mates (a guy named Chris) took second place in this race. For being off the bike for 2 months, I think a 6th place finish is not half bad!
Sat. afternoon was the team time trial. I was absolutely fried, and it started to rain just as we left the starting line. Chris and I were a lot stronger than the other 2 guys on the TTT team, so there was an imbalance of effort, to say the least.
About 3 miles in one guy had his calf cramp up and he dropped off. (The rule is you must have 3 guys cross the finish line). About 2 miles later he caught back up, and about a mile after we dropped the other weak guy. Now calf-cramp guy is managing to keep up, but he's emitting a constant stream of moans, groans, curses, and the like. Keep in mind this entire time it's pouring rain, and drafting the guy in front of you means eating his tire spray. Riding without glasses means you get all kinds of crap in your eyes, riding with them means you can't see the guy's tire in front of you - scary.
At the half way point cramp guy flats his rear tire, so we have to wait until our dropped rider catches up and swap out his rear tire. Then we're off again. Chris and I take turns pulling cramp guy in until about 5 miles to go when I run out of steam. Chris pulls us both the remaining distance to the line. Not the best ride I'd ever had ;-)
My total mileage for Sat was just under 50 miles at an average of 20+ mph!
Sunday there was a Criterium in downtown Winston-Salem, but I did not participate because my collarbone is still healing. Chris again did very well, taking 4th place.
So, even though I only raced 4 events this season, I managed to come in 8th in overall standings for the D class!
This weekend was our regional ACCC Collegiate road racing conference, hosted by Wake Forest Univ in Winston-Salem. This was the first race I'd attended since halfway through February due to my broken collarbone. In that time I'd gotten about 4 good rides in (had a shifter die right as I got back to riding >:-| ), so I was anticipating getting my **** kicked pretty hard.
Saturday morning our road race was supposed to start at about 8 am, but we didn't roll out until almost 45 minutes later because someone forgot we needed 5 chase cars, not 3. The start was a "neutral" rolling start: we rode to the starting line as a group, not really racing yet. Va Tech managed to get 3 riders on the front and controlled the pace for the rolling start. No one was clear on where the course actually started, so they kept the pace easy for the first leg of the race, until the second turn. Va Tech jumped hard out of that turn and the race was on.
I should mention that I'm racing Ds, which is the lowest category. These guys have been improving all season, but now they think they are better than they really are, so they are somewhat scary to ride with. I was not riding well from the technical standpoint either, so there were a lot of near misses and tire rubs that really should have put me on the ground but somehow didn't.
During the first lap the pace stayed fairly high and we didn't have any major breakaways. Towards the end of the lap a rider from UNC Wilmington broke off and stayed away for a bit, and I bridged up to him just as we crossed the line for the second lap. Just after the line was a right turn which I came into way too hot and almost dumped it altering my line around a patch of dirt. I sat up and dropped back into the pack.
With about 8 or 9 miles to go Va Tech led the first serious break away attempt that ended up being about 8 guys. At this point I was really hurting and could barely bridge up to the break, but I made it. I was riding very close to the edge of my output, when pulling I could barely accelerate enough to pull of in front of the guy who had pulled off in front of me. However, I managed to stick with the group, how I don't know.
With about 1.5 km to go the main field caught us. I managed to stay near the front for the remainder of the race (again, I don't know how).
My positioning for the spring was terrible, so I ended up getting 6th. One of my team-mates (a guy named Chris) took second place in this race. For being off the bike for 2 months, I think a 6th place finish is not half bad!
Sat. afternoon was the team time trial. I was absolutely fried, and it started to rain just as we left the starting line. Chris and I were a lot stronger than the other 2 guys on the TTT team, so there was an imbalance of effort, to say the least.
About 3 miles in one guy had his calf cramp up and he dropped off. (The rule is you must have 3 guys cross the finish line). About 2 miles later he caught back up, and about a mile after we dropped the other weak guy. Now calf-cramp guy is managing to keep up, but he's emitting a constant stream of moans, groans, curses, and the like. Keep in mind this entire time it's pouring rain, and drafting the guy in front of you means eating his tire spray. Riding without glasses means you get all kinds of crap in your eyes, riding with them means you can't see the guy's tire in front of you - scary.
At the half way point cramp guy flats his rear tire, so we have to wait until our dropped rider catches up and swap out his rear tire. Then we're off again. Chris and I take turns pulling cramp guy in until about 5 miles to go when I run out of steam. Chris pulls us both the remaining distance to the line. Not the best ride I'd ever had ;-)
My total mileage for Sat was just under 50 miles at an average of 20+ mph!
Sunday there was a Criterium in downtown Winston-Salem, but I did not participate because my collarbone is still healing. Chris again did very well, taking 4th place.
So, even though I only raced 4 events this season, I managed to come in 8th in overall standings for the D class!