Posts tagged ‘usacrits’
Sandy Springs – USA Crits Speedweek Finale
Quick summary – chasing after avoiding early crash, riding in a cold hurricane, slideout crash with five second slide, another near-crash, 20th place!
The details – I drove over from Birmingham past all the craziness that is talladega – partly cloudy and I’m thinking that it’s not going to rain. By the time I make it over to Sandy Springs, it is sunny and HOT. I thought about moving my car to find some shade, but by the time I picked up my number and changed clothes the clouds were starting to get much thicker. Still, there were periods of warm sunshine as I was riding over by the Chattahoochee River. When it started to get closer to race time, I headed back towards the course and suddenly encountered very wet streets with steam coming off them b/c it was still sunny where I was. Apparently while I was out warming up it started to downpour on the women’s race — whereas I didn’t get a single drop of rain or even know that it was raining just a couple miles to my east!
The sun was out, though, with no rain clouds anywhere close (although there were some ominous looking clouds visible south of town). The firefighter’s race scheduled between the women’s race and the men’s race was cancelled b/c of the wet course so there was about 20 minutes of time to ride on the course. With a bunch of riding laps easy on the course, it was drying out pretty quickly. Still, the course was by no means dry on those first laps. We did a reasonable 23 mph on the first lap even with a $200 prime on the line – but apparently that was enough to give the guys at the front confidence to ramp up the speed for the second lap. Unfortunately for those of us at the back, that means even faster speeds around the corners to keep from having a gap open up. So that second lap was absolutely insane. The course was drying out pretty fast, though, but not quite fast enough as there was a nasty crash at the front of the race about three or four laps into the race. I was far enough behind it to maneuver around, but ended up in a second group with people not chasing very hard.
This only lasted for a few seconds though b/c a rider behind me attacked seeing that this group was not going to make it back up to the field. Sergio Hernandez (Predator) and I both followed making for a three man chase group. The rider who attacked never slowed down and did all of the work. Fortunately for us, the course was almost dry by this point so the three of us could fly through the corners whereas the field was a bit more tentative. So after almost 10 laps we finally made it back up to the lead group that had maybe 30 riders still left in it. Sometime during our chase, Frank Travieso (Mountain Khakis) and Karl Menzies (United Healthcare) escaped. Since these were the two strongest teams in the race, they were happy to let them go meaning that the overall pace of the field dropped with only Empire Foundation (NYC) chasing. The next five to ten laps were sporadic with various surges, but the pace always seemed to ease up. I came off the back once or twice through the start finish with the moto-official even passing me, but just steady chasing through the corners meant that I was able to catch back up to the field.
Then the rain started again – fairly gradual at first – so that we had about two or three laps of rain with a course still dry enough to go pretty fast. Then it was a crazy downpour / hurricane. Very hard rain with some high wind gusts dramatically slowed down the field – but because I was at the back, I had to risk the corners at a bit higher of a speed to keep from getting gapped. The last turn was the trickiest. About every other lap, I would be gapped off b/c I would still be taking the turn slowly while the front of the group was already attacking up the hill. This meant that a gap would open up, and it would take me about half a lap to close it back down. The irony was that once I was off the back, I could actually go faster through the rest of the course then when I was with the group because it was easier to pick a line.
Eventually, during one of the laps where I was chasing and hadn’t quite caught back up yet, I tried to take the final turn a little bit faster to carry some momentum up the hill. Without warning, though, both wheels slid out from under me and I ended up sliding on the ground for a good five seconds through the turn. It took me a while to get my chain back on the bike b/c I didn’t realize I had bent my rear derailleur and the chain was off the pulley wheels. Once I figured that out I was able to get the chain back on the bike and pedal back to the pit where I thought I was going to have to use one of the SRAM neutral bikes. One of the mechanics was putting zero pedals onto the neutral bike while the other mechanic worked to straighten out my derailleur. Amazingly, he got it working so I was able to hop back on my own bike and into the race with 9 laps to go.
I got put in on a particularly fast lap b/c everyone was strung out single file through the pit area. I quickly drifted to the back tentative through the corners not wanting to crash again. A lap or two later the rider in front of me went down on the same corner that I had fallen. I was able to get around but there was no way I was going to be able to go fast enough to catch back up to the pack. I settled into a pace that I was hoping would keep me far enough ahead of the leading duo of Frank and Karl, but with three laps to go the head official pulled me. The field was so small by this point that I ended up in 20th place, anyway!
Sandy Springs USA Crits Speedweek Finale May 5th, 2013 20th place Lap Time AvgPow MaxPow HR RPM MPH Comment 1 1:34 274 808 140 77 23 Wet 2 1:21 265 836 160 84 25.8 Insane 3 1:23 273 883 164 78 25.2 4 1:22 241 932 169 77 25.5 5 1:23 256 871 171 75 25.1 Chasing after crash 6 1:19 292 864 177 74 26.3 Chasing 7 1:19 252 909 177 77 26.4 Course starting to dry out 8 1:19 226 876 174 77 26.1 Chasing 9 1:19 294 846 177 77 26.7 Chasing 10 1:19 232 865 177 79 26.3 Chasing 11 1:19 266 890 175 77 26.5 Chasing 12 1:17 272 893 176 79 26.8 Chasing 13 1:18 239 892 176 77 26.8 Chasing 14 1:20 224 981 173 76 26.2 15 1:26 212 872 169 78 24.3 16 1:21 230 1009 169 78 26 17 1:18 244 893 173 80 26.5 18 1:23 188 873 171 77 25.3 19 1:18 248 913 171 78 26.8 20 1:21 227 875 170 77 25.7 21 1:22 210 946 171 76 25.2 22 1:24 212 972 168 83 24.8 23 1:23 207 896 168 75 25.1 24 1:21 228 824 171 77 25.7 25 1:27 202 913 168 75 23.9 Heavy Rain 26 1:30 231 906 167 76 23.2 Heavy Rain 27 1:31 217 894 166 71 22.9 Heavy Rain 28 1:30 214 866 167 77 23.1 Heavy Rain 29 1:27 198 680 170 78 24.1 Rain 30 1:31 233 803 168 80 23.2 Rain 31 1:27 214 845 169 74 23.9 Rain 32 1:27 206 832 167 75 24.1 Rain 33 1:24 221 876 168 73 24.4 Rain 34 1:27 204 667 167 77 23.9 Rain 35 1:27 219 744 166 75 23.7 Rain 36 1:24 198 818 164 75 24.5 37 1:26 202 889 164 75 24.2 38 3:22 73 491 155 60 23.7 Crash 39 3:43 73 816 128 66 6.2 Crash 40 1:32 185 784 154 70 5.3 Bad speed 41 1:31 209 587 160 74 5.8 Bad speed 42 1:37 199 644 157 75 5.8 Bad speed 43 1:34 187 642 156 75 19.2 44 1:42 149 603 155 72 20.4
Sandy Springs power map – you can say that 1/3rd of the course is hard and the rest is coasting/braking (click to enlarge)
Annotated plot with crash data (click to enlarge)
Heartrate zone summary
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- Talladega race day from I-20 on my way to race sandy springs usacrits ncc
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- Sunny chattahoochee river while the women were finishing their race in a downpour!
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- Cycling will have made it when they start flying ad planes on the course. On the drive past talladega today.
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- Yes, that’s the speedplay grease port screw turned sideways inside the pedal.
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- Strangest thing in my crash today – all four safety pins on my # came undone and look at how this one got bent.
Athens Twilight 2012
Race summary
If last weekend’s Sunny King criterium was dominated by Kenda, then this weekend’s Athens Twilight Pro Race was quite a show of strength by Team Mountain Khakis. They had riders in just about every move. And then they were still able to set things up in the end for their sprinter Luke Keough, who edged John Murphy (Kenda) on the line with Emile Abraham (Rosetti Devo) rounding out the podium in third. Even the announcers were getting in on the action. I remember rounding turn 2 maybe 30 laps or so into the 80 lap race and Jeff Hopkins (announcing from the back-side of the course) was already saying that Team Mountain Khakis deserved most aggressive team. Kudos to the whole team for quite a performance and the huge win!
I did not do the grid qualifiers so I started at the back of the 130 rider field. A minute or two before they said go, I realized that I should be on the left side of the group so I turned around and rode around to the left side to be ready to take the outside line in Turns 1 and 2. This worked out really well because the guys in front of me clipped in well and we were able to pass a few people within the first few seconds of the race. On the second lap I was still on the outside and was able to shoot up the hill coming out of Turn 2 passing 10-20 riders. I had tons of momentum across the top of the hill, and the group was still going fast enough not to bunch up on the approach to turn 3 – so I was able to carry my momentum all the way down the hill passing another 10-20 riders. I went from the very back of a large field to mid-pack by the end of the 2nd lap. I continued to fight for position moving up every time the pace slowed down even a tiny bit. The extra energy burned to move up was well worth it for the faster lines you could take through the corners.
By the midway point of the race, I had worked my way to nearly the front of the field with a two-man break a few seconds up the road. The front of the field slowed down coming up the hill out of turn 2, and I decided this was my moment to do something in the race whether it worked or not. I attacked hard up the left side with Jeff Hopkins calling out my name over the PA – something along the lines of “and there goes a move from Brian Toone”. Coming across the top of the hill, I could hear Chad Andrews (who was announcing the start/finish line) mention something about “rider from Alabama”. Then going into Turns 3 and 4, I could hear him mention “Toonesfanclub”, which is the twitter handle my wife uses to announce updates during races (see sidebar of tweets to the right). So by the start/finish line I was caught, but I was elated to have at least done something in the race. That is always a goal for this race – not only to finish well, but also to do something in the race. Last year I was able to win a prime. Three years ago I was in a late race break of 10 riders that eventually produced a smaller break (unfortunately without me in it) with the winner Heath Blackgrove.
After getting caught, I fought hard to maintain my position but had slid back to maybe the top 40 riders with 5 laps to go. This worked out well, though, because with 5 laps to go and again with 4 laps to go there was a bunch-up on the hill as the front riders slowed down which meant that those of us a little farther back were able to shoot up the sides. By the final lap I had moved up into the top 20 and maintained that position all the way to the line taking 20th – my best Athens Twilight finish yet … DNF in 1997 and 1998, 48th in 2007, DNF in 2008, 27th in 2009, DNF in 2010, 26th in 2011, and 20th in 2012.
Here is all my data and graphs from this year’s race.
2012 Athens Twilight Lap Data POWER (watts) Lap Time Avg xPow Max HR Spd 1 01:19 330 292 820 168 27.2 2 01:12 267 228 827 172 29.2 3 01:14 270 236 975 173 28.8 4 01:11 305 261 851 177 30.1 5 01:13 257 228 895 178 29.5 6 01:12 256 226 845 176 30.3 7 01:16 234 212 890 173 27.5 8 01:15 243 219 919 173 28 9 01:18 258 223 891 174 27.2 10 01:18 231 211 860 176 27.6 11 01:18 272 238 873 178 27.3 12 01:13 271 235 918 179 28.6 13 01:11 284 239 931 179 29.8 14 01:10 250 212 821 182 29.6 15 01:14 249 223 973 179 28.7 16 01:10 280 235 917 180 30.1 17 01:13 234 203 901 179 28.8 18 01:11 268 229 876 179 29.3 19 01:15 261 232 884 179 28 20 01:12 236 210 934 179 29 21 01:13 249 216 903 179 28.7 22 01:10 262 230 864 178 29.5 23 01:18 234 214 897 177 27.1 24 01:17 262 238 896 179 27.6 25 01:17 244 215 920 178 27.4 26 01:15 256 224 976 178 27.6 27 01:18 238 218 903 177 27.2 28 01:16 226 203 790 175 27.7 29 01:16 216 190 794 175 27.7 30 01:14 235 199 706 175 28.5 31 01:13 239 209 885 176 28.8 32 01:13 253 220 875 177 28.6 33 01:18 260 235 900 178 27.5 34 01:13 247 223 933 177 29.3 35 01:13 218 198 885 176 28.7 36 01:19 257 234 883 172 27.1 37 01:16 232 205 842 178 27.4 38 01:16 232 200 881 172 27.5 39 01:14 222 195 832 173 29.3 40 01:16 241 210 856 172 27.8 41 01:13 262 223 930 176 28.9 42 01:12 228 200 820 176 30 43 01:19 224 202 800 171 26.9 44 01:21 215 193 862 169 25.8 45 01:14 267 232 775 172 28.3 46 01:15 244 214 755 174 28 47 01:19 229 206 817 169 26.9 48 01:19 214 191 851 169 26.6 49 01:20 191 186 813 171 26.3 50 01:17 246 222 821 166 26.7 51 01:12 225 199 775 170 28.8 52 01:13 251 218 868 171 29.1 53 01:14 240 213 844 170 29.2 54 01:12 259 225 802 172 29.8 55 01:15 214 186 816 171 28 56 01:16 280 228 842 171 27.3 57 01:13 325 280 971 181 28.9 58 01:21 202 170 783 174 25.1 59 01:17 243 213 701 169 27.5 60 01:14 212 190 743 170 27 61 01:19 224 199 852 167 26.8 62 01:14 232 201 816 169 28.6 63 01:12 244 215 832 173 28.8 64 01:15 245 225 885 173 28.4 65 01:14 261 229 731 172 27.7 66 01:14 232 203 827 172 28.2 67 01:11 238 211 876 173 29.6 68 01:16 244 216 846 173 27.8 69 01:17 239 211 854 174 28.1 70 01:14 212 189 817 173 28.9 71 01:15 236 206 879 172 28 72 01:12 253 217 875 174 28.6 73 01:16 243 218 812 176 27.6 74 01:19 261 214 782 174 26.5 75 01:16 280 233 865 175 28.3 76 01:12 254 221 919 178 29.1 77 01:13 226 190 827 176 29 78 01:13 284 236 850 176 29.4 79 01:10 276 233 922 180 29.5 80 01:07 363 304 1088 184 31.5
Heartrate zone summary. 47.6 miles is a long way to race in a crit!
2012 athens twilight heartrate power data (30sec smoothing on power data) – click to enlarge
This was what a pedal force / pedal velocity graph looks like the more “bursts” of power you have. The black dots are from my long-warmup. The red dots are from the race. Click to enlarge.Grafton Criterium – Tour of America’s Dairyland – Day 3
Dropped a LOT of money at the bike shop today to buy replacement pedals.
Today started out with a trip to Wheel and Sprocket – very nice bike shop based out of southeastern Wisconsin. I picked up the Speedplay pedals shown above for $352. With that fresh on my mind, I was really hoping to win some money in the race tonight at Grafton. I finished 14th last year, but this year I rode a really good race until 2 laps to go and finished out of the points and out of the money. The highlight of the race turned out to be taking 4th in the mid-race USA crits points prime. I missed the counter-move that ended up sticking even though I was right there when the move went. I was still recovering from trying to go for the prime and then being in a five-man break for a lap. I fought hard to stay towards the front, and with two laps to go I was sitting third wheel. Unfortunately I got bumped kinda hard going into Turn 5 and started losing position from there all the way to the end of the race and finished maybe in the top 40 or maybe not. Update – just saw the results – 51st. Wow, there were a lot of people in front of me.
Here is all of my power and heartrate data…
Strava map highlighting one lap of the course. Here is the link to the interactive Strava data – http://app.strava.com/rides/763664
One interesting note about the power graph below is how visible the mid-race prime and break are — particularly in terms of cadence and heartrate — much, much smoother in a break than accelerating, braking, etc… constantly in the field.
iBike power data for grafton criterium
NAME DIST SPEED POWER HR TIME 1 lap 0.8 mi 24.2 mph 310 watts 152 bpm 0:02:04 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 400 watts 163 bpm 0:01:49 1 lap 0.9 mi 27.2 mph 420 watts 162 bpm 0:01:50 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.0 mph 388 watts 165 bpm 0:01:51 1 lap 0.9 mi 27.0 mph 422 watts 167 bpm 0:01:51 1 lap 0.9 mi 27.2 mph 440 watts 166 bpm 0:01:50 1 lap 0.9 mi 27.0 mph 422 watts 165 bpm 0:01:51 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.7 mph 419 watts 161 bpm 0:01:48 1 lap 0.8 mi 29.7 mph 440 watts 165 bpm 0:01:41 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.2 mph 403 watts 166 bpm 0:01:50 1 lap 0.9 mi 27.0 mph 400 watts 166 bpm 0:01:51 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.7 mph 436 watts 163 bpm 0:01:48 1 lap 0.9 mi 26.3 mph 385 watts 160 bpm 0:01:54 1 lap 0.8 mi 29.1 mph 476 watts 166 bpm 0:01:43 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 415 watts 162 bpm 0:01:49 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.3 mph 430 watts 168 bpm 0:01:46 1 lap 0.8 mi 29.4 mph 481 watts 169 bpm 0:01:42 1 lap 0.9 mi 29.1 mph 495 watts 170 bpm 0:01:43 1 lap 0.9 mi 28.8 mph 482 watts 168 bpm 0:01:44 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.5 mph 430 watts 166 bpm 0:01:45 1 lap 0.8 mi 29.1 mph 467 watts 168 bpm 0:01:43 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.7 mph 413 watts 169 bpm 0:01:48 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.0 mph 420 watts 169 bpm 0:01:47 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.5 mph 412 watts 167 bpm 0:01:45 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.5 mph 405 watts 168 bpm 0:01:45 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.2 mph 386 watts 176 bpm 0:01:50 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.7 mph 394 watts 170 bpm 0:01:48 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.3 mph 393 watts 168 bpm 0:01:46 1 lap 0.8 mi 26.7 mph 385 watts 165 bpm 0:01:52 1 lap 0.8 mi 26.0 mph 307 watts 166 bpm 0:01:55 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.0 mph 422 watts 167 bpm 0:01:47 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.0 mph 420 watts 171 bpm 0:01:47 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 390 watts 170 bpm 0:01:49 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.2 mph 388 watts 171 bpm 0:01:50 1 lap 0.8 mi 29.7 mph 453 watts 173 bpm 0:01:41 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.8 mph 429 watts 169 bpm 0:01:44 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.8 mph 447 watts 169 bpm 0:01:44 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.2 mph 388 watts 165 bpm 0:01:50 1 lap 0.9 mi 26.3 mph 399 watts 168 bpm 0:01:54 1 lap 0.8 mi 26.0 mph 360 watts 168 bpm 0:01:55 1 lap 0.8 mi 26.7 mph 416 watts 174 bpm 0:01:52 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.0 mph 319 watts 170 bpm 0:01:51 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 434 watts 172 bpm 0:01:49 1 lap 0.8 mi 26.7 mph 379 watts 174 bpm 0:01:52 1 lap 0.8 mi 26.0 mph 412 watts 174 bpm 0:01:55 1 lap 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 378 watts 177 bpm 0:01:49 1 lap 0.8 mi 28.8 mph 467 watts 184 bpm 0:01:44
Finish of the women’s race
This looks dangerous – bike swallowing railroad tracks encountered during warm-up ride (not in the race)!Sandy Springs crash, videos, and race report
Summary – racing well, but missed break which lapped the field. I was working hard to stay at the front with 2 laps to go when my front wheel started to slide out on the fast downhill turn #3. I straightened up to stop the slideout, but that meant that I wasn’t going to be able to finish making the turn at 32+ mph. I ended up slamming into the barriers shoulder first at 32.3 mph according to my iBike. Here’s the same explanation in video form at the hospital:
I am incredibly sore on both sides and the back of my neck. Here is a picture showing the bruising and swelling around my neck and where the helmet straps cut into the skin. Same thing on the other side of my neck. Ouch.
bruising around my neck
shoulder swelling
Sandy Springs crash power data annotated
Warm-up, race, and trip to hospital
More videos from the race…
Heartrate and power data…
2011 Sandy Springs power data annotated
2011 Sandy Springs heartrate data annotated
2011 Sandy Springs heartrate data summary
Strava lap data… http://app.strava.com/rides/536484
MI FT MPH WATTS HR TIME
Sandy 0.6 32 15.3 143 118 0:02:22
Sandy 0.6 32 14.2 112 117 0:02:33
Sandy 0.6 32 16.8 136 115 0:02:09
Sandy 0.8 32 10.3 135 119 0:03:31
Sandy 0.6 32 25.5 310 150 0:01:25
Sandy 0.6 32 28.9 423 166 0:01:15
Sandy 0.6 32 29.3 449 168 0:01:14
Sandy 0.6 32 28.9 425 168 0:01:15
Sandy 0.6 32 28.1 386 169 0:01:17
Sandy 0.6 32 28.5 435 169 0:01:16
Sandy 0.6 32 28.5 418 173 0:01:16
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 401 173 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 26.7 357 174 0:01:21
Sandy 0.6 32 28.5 433 173 0:01:16
Sandy 0.6 32 26.1 354 171 0:01:23
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 368 172 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 27.4 381 174 0:01:19
Sandy 0.6 32 30.9 518 178 0:01:10
Sandy 0.6 32 29.7 454 176 0:01:13
Sandy 0.6 32 26.1 331 172 0:01:23
Sandy 0.6 32 27.4 384 174 0:01:19
Sandy 0.6 32 27.4 367 174 0:01:19
Sandy 0.6 32 26.1 322 172 0:01:23
Sandy 0.6 32 26.4 354 172 0:01:22
Sandy 0.6 32 30.1 456 176 0:01:12
Sandy 0.6 32 26.1 357 172 0:01:23
Sandy 0.6 32 28.9 452 180 0:01:15
Sandy 0.6 32 28.9 456 187 0:01:15
Sandy 0.6 32 26.4 354 182 0:01:22
Sandy 0.6 32 26.7 363 171 0:01:21
Sandy 0.6 32 27.1 370 168 0:01:20
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 371 170 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 29.3 407 174 0:01:14
Sandy 0.6 32 27.1 343 171 0:01:20
Sandy 0.6 32 27.4 383 171 0:01:19
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 361 173 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 371 172 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 359 172 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 27.1 353 172 0:01:20
Sandy 0.6 32 25.2 311 173 0:01:26
Sandy 0.6 32 25.5 324 172 0:01:25
Sandy 0.6 32 26.1 323 171 0:01:23
Sandy 0.6 32 25.8 324 175 0:01:24
Sandy 0.6 32 26.1 337 175 0:01:23
Sandy 0.6 32 27.1 349 174 0:01:20
Sandy 0.6 32 27.1 352 173 0:01:20
Sandy 0.6 32 28.9 428 175 0:01:15
Sandy 0.6 32 27.4 363 176 0:01:19
Sandy 0.6 32 27.8 401 178 0:01:18
Sandy 0.6 32 28.1 409 179 0:01:17
Sandy 0.6 32 28.1 405 180 0:01:17
Videos from Dilworth and Spartanburg
I wrote up my race reports from Dilworth and from Spartanburg. Here are the missing videos taken by my lovely wife:
View my topocreator maps
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