Green Mountain Stage Race GMSR Race Report – View from the 4s

After having a mediocre spring, I was looking for a little redemption building up to GMSR. I was feeling good during late July/August and was able to stick to a pretty regular training schedule (thanks to Bake for the help with the plan).

Racing in the 4s this year has been humbling. Battenkill, Turtle Pond, Hilltowns (flat) have added a little fuel to my fire for a little redemption. I was lacking in the satisfaction department. Either under-prepared or having some bad luck. Tokeneke would have been great except for a massive hamstring cramp that almost made me jump off my bike.

I jumped in to do GMSR with the other Thresholders. I arrived the night beforehand after learning from Tokeneke that my legs don’t really respond well to long hauls in the car. I was the lightest I’ve been in a long time @ 73kg and had a nice 1 week taper and shave on the legs. I hadn’t shaved since my days back in the pool so I was thankful there was no blood loss. It felt good and fast. My threshold wattage numbers seemed to be up and I set a personal best on the Dover TT loop in training with Mover.

Having a bit of trouble getting my powertap working I called on Fabio to see if he could help me troubleshoot it. His solution was to take his pimped-out Zipp 808s with Powertap to the race. Greed took over and I accepted the generous offer. It turned out that I had 2 bum Ptap harnesses so it really wasn’t the wheels that were the problem…. but it gave me a good excuse to snag his killer wheels.

blingity bling

Thanks Fabs!

Day 1: TT 5.7mi,
The TT starts out with a gradual to painful 2.3mi climb. I really relied on the powertap to find the right pacing. I also knew that with my girlish compact crank I’d be spinning like Soozie, the Spin Instructor.

2.3 mi for 9min – avg 342 watts, cadence 100rpm
Felt pretty good. My 30 second man was within sight but he seemed to keep away and even gained some once I crested the climb. Once I got over the climb it got really fun. I was able to lock in a nice rate of speed and keep the wattage a little under threshold.

3mi @ 27.2mph @ 285watts, cadence 99rpm

The final 1/2 mi was definitely tricky. A quick deep dip down and then up to be greeted by a pretty nice headwind. The sign read ’500m’ but I suspect it was a practical joke because it seemed to take a really long time to finish it out.

I ended up coming in at 17:03 in 30th overall. I was pleased with the pacing and the effort.
Final stats:
5.7mi in 17:03
325 avg. watts (340 without zeros)
with zero’s subtracted avg cadence = 102rpm

Day 2: Circuit Race 57mi
I found the circuit race to be trickier than anticipated. There is 700′ of climbing on each lap and the pace at which we hit it was pretty intense. On the first lap I was eager to warm-up so I was sticking my nose into the wind a little. The pack seemed happy to let the (strong) yellow jersey chase down any breaks. Matt Miller wasn’t shy about doing some work at the front either.

Go Tofu!

I thought it was only sporting to lend in a hand. At one point early in the first lap there was a rider about 1/2 mi up the road. I went to the front to help reel him in. It was really enjoyable. I tried to get some other guys to pull through but only Miller and the yellow jersey would help.

At one point, there was a little lull and I thought I might try to bridge up to the break. Nothing doing. A couple of guys shut it down pretty quickly – although the consolation was that it got the pack speed so it would close the break in the next few miles. The other consolation was that I hit my highest peek wattage ever @ 1290w.
Dig: 2min @ 26.5mph, 430w avg, 1290w peek, cadence 98rpm

By the time we came up to the start/finish everything was back together. I contested the sprint at first but eased up once I saw that I wasn’t going to contend.

We came up on the KOM/hill and I would pay a little price for my antics on the front. I started pedaling backwards and was shot out the back of the pack until a very sporting Geoff Martin (NEBC) gave me a little push up near the crest of the climb. Very classy. I have to admit that at the time I thought it was the hand of Jesus at that point.

Little did everyone know that JC rides for NEBC. Classy rider.

There was a crash on the climb – presumably someone was slowing and touched wheels. There was some distinctively NY dialect profanity being thrown around. It caused a small separation in the pack. I was in the second group and it took us the better part of the 2nd lap to close it. Kudos to Mike & Matt from Back Bay Bikes, Greg ‘H-to-the’ Izzo from Green Line Velo and Miller for really hammering it to bring it all back together. The Boston crew really worked well together. That was probably the most dramatic part of the race. It was very cool and I was happy to be part of it.

One bummer was that Mover was just to the side of the wheel van when he flatted and wasn’t able to get a new wheel and was consequently not allowed to start the next day. Total bummer for him to train so hard only to be abandoned at the side of the road.

Once it was all back together the final 7 miles were pretty quick:
26.5 mph @ 301w, 98 rpm
I started to make a move on the far right when the road opened up towards the finish. I felt like I was about 10th wheel but a huge rush on the left put me in no-man’s land. Tucker and Miller were on my wheel hoping to get some lead-outs. Nothing doing. The headwind was pretty stiff (or at least felt that way) so I eased up a bit coming into the final 200m. I finished in 23rd. Tucker and Miller were right on my wheel.

This was a breakout day for me on the bike. I recorded my highest wattages across almost every time segment. Peak(1290w), 5min(390w), 20min(340w), 60min(280w) and 120min(275w) #s were all record highs. This gave me good confidence that I was well tapered and ready for the mountain stage.

Day 3: Road Race with finish up Appalachian Gap (75mi)

I had a World According to Garp moment at the start. (my day was pre-disastered)

Apparently, Tucker’s pump gauge was a bit off so when I thought I was inflating it to 110 I was actually getting it up to about 140psi. I blew the front tire on the neutral rollout. A quick wheel from the neutral wheel van got me back into the pack before the race even started. Thanks Wheel Guys!

The pace was surprisingly conversational as everyone was thinking about all the climbing yet to come. Only when the sprint points were up for grabs did the pace pick up. I decided (late) to try to mix it up. I think I was about 6th wheel in the sprint behind Greg (green line). Not the smartest move to spend energy there.

Coming up the first climb I was hanging right around Miller’s wheel. It was a long climb. In fact, it was about 2 miles longer than the tech manual had said. I spent a little too much energy towards (what I thought was) the end. It turns out that cost me and I started to fade a little on the last 1/2 mi. I got unhitched and Tucker came by me right at the crest of the hill. I was descending right behind him. He was pulling away from me.

The next 15 seconds descending went by in blur. There was a sharp left-hand bend coming up. Not knowing what was coming next I touched the brakes. I looked down as I braked to see I was up around 49mph. Tucker and another guy went into the turn faster (and wider) ahead of me. As I came through the corner all I saw was dust in the drainage ditch to the right. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tucker’s Fred-ly helmet poke up through the dust. Two spectators were running towards him and the other guy. I thought to stop but I felt he was in good hands with the spectators. Tucker ended up relatively okay considering how fast he was going and how much worse it could have been. Five broken ribs and a collapsed lung. His bike seems to have come through fairly well with only a sheared seat post and a trashed rear wheel. Other riders behind the crash described seeing Tucker’s saddle in the road looking like a dead crow. Scary stuff. Glad Tucker is on the mend and had some help from his lady, Becca. Oh, Tucker’s new name is Bbox.

Brandon Gap + Approach:
8mi, 28min, speed 17mph, avg watts: 315, cadence 105,

So about 10 of us drilled it at the base of the descent to get reattached. Geoff McIntosh from NHCC was particularly great to ride with. He was very vocal and made sure to keep things safe. He was a great rider to race with. If there was a sportsmanship award either Geoff would have been a front-runner.

The next challenge on the day was the dirt section. I wish I hadn’t hit it so far back in the pack but I was busy eating and recovering. It was tooth-rattling and scary at some points on the skinny tires.

Steven Senne was having a great race and had an unfortunate flat right in front of me. He definitely deserved some good karma based on the quality of the crepes he served us at the house. Peach crepes with a raspberry reduction??

Man, that was the best food of the entire weekend. Incredible, Thanks Steven!!

Coming out of the dirt the pack was moving along with a little bit of urgency. While I was back sagging, Mike (Back Bay) had gotten into a strong break and was working hard to keep it away. Mike wins the Jens-of-the-Day award. The pack brought back the gap before the base of Baby App. The pace up Baby was not too bad. I hung in the back and tried to eat and drink and get the (now tired) legs ready for App Gap.

Towards the approach of App I started to really feel the fatigue. Mike, Zach and Greg were all struggling to stay in contact. Miller was looking really strong in the lead group. Once the pack hit the starting segment of App I had to let it go. I rode at my own pace, sometimes with Mike and Zach. Greg was cooked. Zach was bonking. Mike and I climbed the majority of it together. Once it pitched up the final 1k I put it into Soozie mode and spun as best I could up the final 2k. It really wasn’t spinning looking at the #s. (73rpm avg. up App Gap). I did manage to pass a few guys along the way. I lost about 5 minutes on the leaders and slid down on GC. Overall, I was happy with my performance. I really loved the whole climb and the vibe at the top was fantastic. High fives, fist pumps and hugs were in order since it was a pretty hard day in the saddle. I slid down to 37th on GC after finishing in 44th place on the day. A little disappointed but looking at my power numbers I have to take consolation that I put out my best power numbers of the year.

Final App Gap Climb:
2.5 mi, 17.5 min, avg speed 8.5mph, 310 watts

Day 4: Burlington Crit

For me, this was definitely anti-climatic. I screwed up the start and then rode a pretty ugly race in a 2nd or 3rd group on the technical crit. Our group was pulled about 1/2 way through the race. A bit embarassing, and I slid further down on GC but I was happy to get a finish time and thus get a final placement. If I knew the start was going to be so chaotic I might have paid a little better attention to being at the front. It was much like a CX race where shooting the hole was pretty critical at the start. Miller, Greg, Mike, and Matt represented Boston well and all hung with the leading group. I’ll chalk this one up to a learning lesson for next year. I slid down to 42nd on GC after being pulled in a group and placing 55th on the day.

Final Thoughts:

I thought the race was fantastic. It was well run (other than Mover not getting a wheel change), challenging, very scenic, great housemates & teammates and some great guys in the peloton. I was pleased with my power improvements and will look to improve next year. I thought the crit was a bit anti-climatic after the circuit and road race but that’s just because crits aren’t my favorite. I hope to be back for many years.