Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the Mid-Atlantic. Forecasts were dire. Rain, wind, end of days. So, we loaded the CR-V up with all the foul weather gear. Rain pants, boots, even a bucket and bottles to wash bikes in the pits. I had been coordinating with Mark Skubis and Jeff Fleming about getting the tents to the parking lot. Jake, Liam, and I packed up the car at 7:15 to head to Anne Arundel County, just on the east side of the beltway, with no rain falling, but the radar showed a hug swath of rain just on the edge of Annapolis.
This is a new race, part of the Sportif Cup series. There was a very steep hill that was just rideable for me and Jake but many others were running. It was a bumpy course, a lot like the old Tacchino courses at Ida Lee park, with nice rolling terrain. At first in warm up I wasn't loving the course, but I will say that it rode with a better flow at race speed.
It was a pretty setting
Panarama shot with the iphone chopped this poor guy off
Liam went off first. Group of about 25 10-14 juniors. He got a terrible start and was stuck behind a bunch of people. The climbing and bumps don't work great for him (I noticed his saddle probably needs to go up too). He really settled into a position. He finished up 12th, not bad but not a super day for him. He can do better. (some photos by Iain Banks)
Liam in traffic at the start
Liam through the dip in the woods (by Iain Banks)
I did the 3/4 35+/45+ immediately after Liam. My main
goal was to beat Pete Lindeman for the 45+ win. I was on the second row and got a decent start but then was slowed by some bad traffic in the first
minute.
That's me getting off my bike in the melee (photo by Iain Banks)
added Monday AM: You can see me in 19th-20th by my count at bottom of hill (there shouldn't still be that stand still at that corner 200 meters after the start)
I was in top 20 but maybe 15-19th. Pete Lindeman was up
ahead. I was feeling ok and able to move forward; I passed some guys and
followed some wheels trying to pull toward Pete. I was passing at strategic
times to leap frog forward.
I passed these dudes (I think they're lapped 55+ traffic) (photo by Iain Banks)
At one point Patrick Dolan joined me and I followed
him a bit to try and get up to Pete. I was feeling ok. It became clear that my
advantage was on the hill. Mid race I had caught up to Pete and was close to
top 10 or just inside top 10. we had a small group of me and Pete and Patrick
and another or two. (as an aside, maybe someday Joe Jefferson will learn my name; I talk to him practically every weekend at this point, but I'm still just "Squadra Coppi" during races).With 3 laps to go I rode the hill as I had each lap and
created a small gap but Pete and Patrick caught back up after 3/4 of the lap. With 2 to go, same thing and this
time the gap was bigger and I held them behind me the whole lap.
On the move (by Iain Banks)
I knew if I
could get to the hill that would be the end. I did and it put a very big gap on
Pete. In fact, I had caught up with the group of 3 ahead of me; I got to the
back of them but couldn't get passed. I finished 7th
overall and won the 45+ subgroup by beating Pete. It was good to feel pretty decent the whole race.
Immediately after me, Jake lined up in the Men's Category 3/4. He was on the 2nd row as well. I didn't see it because I ran to the car to get his pit bike, but he finally got a decent start.
Jake tops the climb at the start (by Iain Banks)
When I got back he was in the second group and easily and quickly moved across to the front group. So he was in a group of 3 with Tanner Browne and another guy I don't know. They were off the front, but looking at each other a bit and a group was chasing so I yelled that they needed to stay on the gas. Jake applied some pressure and it hurt the 3rd guy. Going up the hill with 4 laps to go (so mid race) the 3rd guy clearly nearly stalled and Jake and Tanner were gone off the front. They were riding well. Not sure when but Jake opened a bit of a gap and Tanner had to change bikes as his rear tire was losing air. At that point Jake had 20 seconds. He extended it to 45 seconds with 2 laps to go, and he held it.
He came across for the win (I didn't get a great photo)
Jay Dove had fought his way up and got 2nd, with a guy from Winchester Wheelmen 3rd and Tanner 4th
It was incredible. I'm thrilled and proud. Jake now has the points to upgrade to Cat 2, which was his goal. He'll do some more Cat 3 races. If he wins again, it will be a mandatory upgrade.
At the same time as jake's race, Luke and Andy raced the 15-18. Luke won and Andy got 3rd after a tight sprint. So more HPC junior podium action
DCCX is the biggest race (in numbers) of the Super 8. I've done it every year since its inception. This year it was fast and flowing, but hard with seemingly no recovery.
Loren was out of the town since Friday so it was just us boys. On Saturday we went up and pre-rode the course. I was horrible for several laps but finally dialed my tire pressure and lines. Liam was running the steep off camber U-Turns but I convinced him to ride it to show him he could. Jake was going so fast that I had a hard time following (Jake said "did you do any hot laps?" and I said "yeah that one just following you" Jake responds "I wasn't going that hard" -- yeah, great, damn kids)
this morning we were running a bit late, but already had our numbers from Saturday so we were ok. Dan Klausen was just in front of us and we threw up the Coppi tent next to my car in the parking lot, which was nice.
Dan & Liam early
Liam before his race
It was a big group of 10-14 and Liam got a decent start, but someone crashed in front of him on the back side of the course which made him lose some spots. He came into the U-Turns looking good
But his front wheel slid out so he had to run (video by Jake's iphone). The Second lap (they only did 2) was ok. Liam was battling with Marc Klien's son and another boy from NCVC, but they were on mountain bikes so he was faster in some sections but they were good on the turns. Here he gets the ride the U-Turns on the second lap
He ended up 16th out of 30, so not as good as the past few weeks, but not horrible.
My race started well, perhaps too well, with me slotting into 5th or so in the prologue, but it was all backwards from there as I leaked power at an alarming rate. I got passed by 2 guys in national champion jerseys (both who started 1 minute behind me) Paul Curly, a living legend, and Fred Wittwer another legend. I ended up 19th. Yuck. We won't speak of it again.
Liam and I had some BBQ while the other races were on the course
Then it was time for Jake's race at 2pm. After missing Hyattsville with his injury he slipped to the 2nd row for the grid. It was fast and chaotic. I told him he had to get to the first turn by the pits in the top 5 or he'd get stuck.
Here they come off the pavement:
Ok, he wasn't bad. But then they came back around to the stair about 1 minute later and he'd slipped back to 16th. Not good
By the time they came off the backside of the course, Jake had moved up and was using the road hill to make time. But still was battling traffic at the U-Turns; a group of 5 was off the front already
By the time they came back around jake was in 7th. He came up the road hill with 3 guys on his wheel, and he just rode away from them.
At that point he was in pursuit mode. He had ridden laps 2 & 3 significantly faster than the leaders simply to get to where he was but the lead group of 5 was still ahead of him by maybe 15 seconds (I don't remember when he moved into 6th, but I think it was on the 3rd lap.
With 2.5 laps to go Jake caught up to Jay Dove (who won at Seneca last week) and they were 3rd and 4th (someone had dropped out of the lead group).
Jake and Jay went back and forth
I thought that Jake had the advantage on the climbs
With about 1 and a quarter laps to go Jake took John on the hill and gapped him in the soft grass leading into the U-Turn hill He was in 3rd and closing on 2nd (and I was going nuts; I was furiously live-tweeting and sending text messages to Loren who was driving home from NY)
Coming into the pits on the last lap, Jake was closing on the guy in 2nd.
At the right turn around the tree just past the pits, the guy in 2nd went down. He got back up but jake passed him on a little rise going toward the stairs. He was in 2nd with 1/2 a lap to go. No more video but by the U-Turns (which were immediately before the pavement finish) Jake had closed on Justin Matajasic who was in 1st and had won Rocktown last Sunday. Jake finished 2nd just 7 seconds behind 1st. Incredible. What a ride. If he had a better start and didn't have to spend so much energy catching he could have won (or if it was 1 lap longer). Jake was kinda plegmy afterward
Sinking in just after the race
Going hard is phlegmy work
Podium Boy is Back!
It was a beautiful two days. A big crowd. It was a great party. And what a huge result for Jake. A win has to be coming soon.
this poor guy caught his bike on a tree branch
Fall colors over the Armed Forces Retirement Home Cemetery
Saturday Team Thompson & Sons (me, Jake & Liam) went to a new race held at Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg, just 30 minutes north of here. So an easy drive. Part of the Sportif Cup series we would do the Liam/Me/Jake schedule again. On some level this schedule is tough. I need to be warming up while Liam is racing and Jake needs to be while I'm racing. In warm up I found the course difficult to figure out. It really turned a lot (and remember I like turns). It was almost hard to keep track because it turned back on itself. Jake came by me at speed in warm up and I couldn't even keep up.
Liam and Dustin Goodwin got lined up and started well.
I got a few more videos and then had to hop on my trainer.
Here's a photo that Jay Westcot got of Liam:
Notice me taking video by the side
But then while I was on my trainer Liam came over while the race was still going. he had crashed and hit his head. He said that his head hurt going over the bumps. he was crying, more out of being upset about not finishing I think. he was clearly ok so I wasn't worried about a concussion or anything. But my legs weren't opening up. They were sore. They had been sore at practice on Wednesday and then on Thursday I had to fly to/from New York.
I lined up in the 3/4 Masters. With points from last week I was in the 2nd row next to Pete Lindeman. I got a decent start, and was in the top 10 but I was laboring to hold the group. I lost contact at some point. The only highlight of this race was I rode the sand the last 3 laps, and by doing that I dropped Al Greene who was tight on my wheel. Otherwise, it was just bad. I finished 16th overall and I think 3rd in the 45+. Blah.
A few photos that Jay Westcot took:
I rode this in later laps
Then we got Jake lined up. He scrumed into the 4th row, but then 10 seconds into the start at the end of the sprint, tragedy. the idiots around him bunch up and stop at the slightest little kink in the course. He is stopped, then someone hits him from behind and his chain is off. he's off his bike and putting his chain back on, literally last and 15 seconds behind the back of the field. I yelled for him to go and do like Joe Dombroski (i.e. chase from behind). Jake set off at speed. He was flying and quickly made his way through half the field.
chasing more
With 3 laps to go or so he had made his way into the top 20-15. Here he's with a group (Tanner Brown had been leading but 2 crashes took him backward)
In the meantime, his teammate Andy Fleming was in his first race of the year in the 15-18 race that started behind the Men's 3/4
Jake stayed with the same group with 1/2 lap to go
He finished 16th, which is really pretty good given the start. He was upset, understandably. I tried to make him understand that he had gone much faster than anyone in that 2 lap effort to move WAY back up. Afterward we did a little interview practice while he was cooling down on the trainer, for when he's on www.cyclingdirt.com
SUNDAY
Today, Jake & I made the trip down to Harrisonburg, Va
for the Rocktown CX.
It's always a beautiful drive out through the mountains; these iphone photos from the car don't do it justice:
I was 4th there
last year in the 45+ 1/2/3. It’s basically a climb up a hill then a
slalom down, although this year it seemed even a little tighter.
My legs
felt sore still, until the gun went off. I was in about 5th
off the pavement and onto the hill, I just stood up and just went by everyone,
I was 1st up the hill and figured “ok”, and I held that for the
first few minutes until Ron Heubner decided it was time to go bye-bye and shot
by me. I let Jon Hicks slip by and then Scott Stahl, so I slotted into 4th.
I was there for a lap or so, then Scott crashed coming into the barriers and I
was in 3rd. I was going back and forth with a guy from
Tri-Power, a Richmond team (he won the 45+ VACX series last year I think, his name now escapes me [post edit -- Bill Gilmer is his name, sorry I couldn't remember that last night]), but I
was faster up the hill. Scott Stahl came back by and then so did
Scott Paisley from Charlottesville when the tripower guy was slow over the
barriers in front of me. Then I slid out in some leaves and
crashed. I lost a few spots and had to regroup. With 2 laps to go I
was catching up to 2 guys in front of me and figured I’d get them (or much closer) on the climb
in the last lap, but as I came through the finishing pavement the officials are out stopping us. I was like
“I’m in the top 10!” they had stopped everyone in the 45+ who was 4th
and higher. Just stupid. We weren’t lapped, we weren’t going to get
caught by the 35+ leaders, and we were in the top 10! If I’d know I had
only one more lap to go when I saw 2 laps to go, I would have blown it all out to catch
them. Anyway, I was 7th. Not as good as last year, but
it was a strong field and the crash took me out of the top 5.
Jake got warmed up and lined up in the 2nd row of the Men's Category 3/4 race.
He got a decent start, in the top 10 of the road (that guy in front in the video shot off the front and never looked back -- upgrade time maybe)
Jake was moving forward even within the first few minutes. here they are coming through the tight wooded turns coming down the hill
After the first lap he was 6th. And after the 3rd lap was in 4th, but was doing battle with a guy from a Richmond team (the guy in red ahead of him on this run up, who he ultimately passed on the hill).
I stopped to talk with Joe Dombroski who was going to pop in to the Elite race. We watched the elite race a bit. Joe was clearly being conservative. You don't want to tell the folks at Sky Pro Cycling that you've hurt yourself bunny hoping a barrier in a local cyclocross race.
Pro Tour....swoon
With 4 laps to go, Jake dispatched that guy on the climb up the hill, and was chasing the guy from Rocktown Cycles who was in 3rd (Jonas something). Jake got very close to him going up the hill but the guy was a mountain bike racer and extended his gap in the turns. In fact, Jonas made a big effort and was getting closer to 2nd. In the end, Jake had a solid lead over 5th and finished 4th.
They only did a podium 3 deep so no photo, but I thought it was a good ride for him. Hopefully it gives him a little boost. His starts need to improve so that he's not fighting through the crowd to get to the leaders.
I was on the fence about Rocktown but I'm glad we went. It was fun and a nice change of pace.
