Killington Stage Race – Cat 4 Composite Report

The view from the 4s by Randall, Mover, and Jeff

Day 1 — Circuit Race

Randall:

The circuit race was really a misnomer. This was a full-on road race. 18 mi laps x 3. Each lap had a fast (22+mph) 5 mile climb. It was never very steep but the pace kept it hard. I felt like dog poo on the first lap but the magic of 3 GUs on the downhill made the body come to life a little. I had learned on the first lap that because of the high speed of the climb that being tucked in the pocket of the peloton was MUCH more restful (morerestful even than the left or right side of the pack). So after getting to the ’1k to go’ on the climb (and feeling pretty rested) I decided to slide to the front and contest the KOM. I found myself behind a sketchy rider and forcefully told him “On your right” to let him know not to sketch his sketchy swervy sketchfest into me. I snuck in for 3rd.

Feeling recovered, I found myself in front of Travis approaching the sprint line on Lap 2. We decided to goose it a bit and I’d give him a little lead-out – which could have been perfect for his bigger frame (downhill sprint started at about 40mph). I hit the gas on the front with 1k to go, thought we had a miniscule gap, and held it to about 500m. I was spinning out at about 47mph with my Jennie-The-Spin-Instructor compact crank. Ipulled off way too early and Travis was swarmed. If I could have held it for another 300m I’m pretty sure no one would have been able to come around him. Good lesson for the future.

The next lap was more of the same recipe – GU up on the downhill, hide in the pocket on the climb, then unleash some GU-soaked Ibizan dance party with 100m to go. I took 2nd in the KOM.

The finish was frenetic. The sprint started again at about 40mph and I managed to tuck
in and finish 11th (Vic to my left took a top 10) Travis and Shane were right on my wheel.

Mover:

Rand was spot on with his course description.  The race was fast due to the 95% downhill nature of the course.  24.something mph AVS.  Pack was twitchy and I was uneasy riding comfortably in the middle.  Spent a lot of time catching maybe more wind than I should have on the left or right side.  After learning the course on the first lap, I moved to
the front for the second lap.  I used the PT to gauge my effort and rode tempo at the front with some Sunapee guys.  A few riders went up the road, but I gave it no bother and just kept the pace steady. There were some “we must stop that break” attacks, but I just
followed.  Coming into the sketchy one lane bridge, I made sure I was very near the front and, to my joy, it was not as sketchy when you don’t try to take 110 guys and smoosh them through a small space. Stayed toward the front for the KOM.  I was looking for Shane (having no idea that Rand had attempted some points early), but lost some position toward the top due to my continued uneasiness with this field.  After the KOM, I moved up and went by Rand saying “letsssss goooo” and didn’t understand immediately why he looked like he had just earned some KOM points.  Hit 49mph on the steep descent after the KOM, took the corner fast and flew off the front saying something like “there are going to be GAPS” and getting some response that sounded like “woooosh wooosh Gaps”.  I put down 400w for a minute and then a group of riders including Vic bridged up.  I took a strong pull and then another and then the field was there.  At this point my body was like “cool, your 40mi race is over, nice work.  WHAT you still have to race 18 more miles?”  I was hurting bad.  Shane came by and gave some words of encouragement, but I was going backwards.  Slotted in as best I could on the last lap, but still my pack confidence was waning. Nearing the single lane bridge I moved up for safety and saw that Jeff was OTF in a small group catching two Sunapee guys who successfully broke away after my failed attempt.  I sat up over the bridge to let a gap open, unfortunately dudes just swarmed and my position gains were lost.  The remainder of the KOM climb was pain pain pain and the cramps were starting.  After the steep descent there was a gap to the field and I found myself on Jeff’s wheel.  I felt bad that I wasn’t able to come around and help close the gap, but my legs were gone and becoming solid.  Reconnected, and kept contact to finish s/t, but with both calves cramped and some bad lower hamstring pain.  Ride back to the car was difficult.  It was awesome to hear (and see the picture!) that other dudes were so well placed.  I found that with this finish I was spinning out my 53×12 with 2k to go.

Jeff:

Saturday morning breakfast, packet pick-up and sign-in went without a hitch (the latter two are a huge credit to Gary Kessler, the promoter of KSR and GMSR and a guy who really cares about the experience of amateur racers). End up cruising with the rest of the cat 4 squad up and down the road in the nervous pre-race minutes. Knowing that my season has been spotty at best, but feeling pretty confident in my recent training, I mention to the guys that I might be interested in aiming at the points jersey. We roll over to staging.

The course can be divided into three parts – first six miles shallow downhill with some rollers, second six shallow climbing with a couple little kicks and the third six really fast descending with a stupidly fast (and therefore generally safe) finish. Having not recon’ed the course, I didn’t realize when we were coming up on the finish and I was poorly placed, a bit sketched out and already spinning wildly. Points jersey – conceded. Now it’s time to hang around and not get dropped. Lap 2 is pretty uneventful. Lap 3, I bridge up to a break with two Sunapee guys in it and as soon as I get there, they give up the ghost and I head off with a couple other guys who have bridged. We don’t really get much of anywhere, come back and I make another push up the KOM with the eventual KOM winner. Turns out he climbs faster than I do. Who knew? I sit in the back of the pack for the descent (and burn a bit of carbon because, like a fool, I am behind people who don’t know how to go down hills – baffles me every time) and bring a cramping Mover back onto the back of the group while trying to ward off my own cramps. As Mover said, the body was confused at the length of the race, seeing as it was the second longest I’ve done this season (prior to Monday). I sit in and prepare to dodge carnage, cross the line and call the day a success.

Day 2 — Time Trial

Randall:
Two words: Holy wind. The 4s had it easier than the 3s. The first 5 miles of the course were pretty ideal for a TT — Steady rise uphill allowing for good tempo. There were a few sneaky risers (bridges over the scenic river) that snuck up on me. I was able to dial in my target wattage of 300-310 for the first 5 miles until the Skyship chairlift (which marked the 5.5mi of 10.5). From that point on it was a mental and physical battle. The wind really zapped the speed. Attempting to get really small and aero was really hard. My wattage was all over the place based on the gusting, swirly winds. If I wasn’t at 360w I was at 220. I was fairly gassed at the punchy hill at the turn point (which came at about mile 9). I had a pretty weak finish and ended up with considerably lower avg wattage of 286 than I had hoped for. I chalk it up to some fatigue. I slid back 1:30 on GC into 30th place. Spin instructor avg cadence of 102rpm.

Mover:

TT time. Legs HURT from the day before for sure. Got in a good warm-up with Shane and hit the line for my start. I planned to keep my watts somewhere just under 4w/kg for the first few minutes and then up it. I had a very hard time finding a good rhythm and saw my wattage go up and down between 280w and 180w. The head wind was particularly tough! I caught my 30″ man pretty early, but was passed by both my
+30 and +60 second men. Aero position felt comfortable, but that plus wattage did not translate to a particularly fast time. I did turn in negative wattage splits covering the final 10′ at my target 260w. 253w AP/172AHR (which is low)/92AC for 30:10 21mph AVS. At the end, I had successfully blown out whatever had built up in my legs and felt better than that morning.

Jeff:

I’d never done a TT before, so my goal was to pace myself well and see where I end up. With Dan’s helmet and my friend Christine’s clip-on aerobars, I set off on course. As it should be, the TT was uneventful, I felt good, got myself into a good zone, realized that for the next TT I do, I should really get a saddle with a softer nose. I pull across the line a bit over 29 minutes and am totally stoked because I know I really went for it. I’m now 46th on the stage and overall. Power file was, sadly, lost to the ether.

Post-TT:

Went back to the house and on Nick and Lodrina’s urging, I put Lodrina’s compact crank on for Monday’s mountain stage which, after driving the finishing climb, was going to make the peloton look like a war zone. Also, I threw a 100mm stem on instead of the 110 I’d been using because, dammit, if I’m going to suffer, I’m going to be as comfortable as I can. Also, I move my saddle back just a touch to compensate. I’m a professional, I mess with things. I opt against putting my fancy rear wheel with the 26t on in favor of the powertap with the 25t figuring that with the 34 up front, climbing will be ok and that power will be more valuable than aerodynamics. Anyway, my plan is to get dispatched early and roll in alone 15 minutes up.

Day 3 — Road Race

Randall:

Race is cheery and conversational for the first few miles until the first climb @ 6 min into the race. My legs asked me WTF IS THAT??? My front derailleur also decided not to let me shift off the big ring just to add to some of the mental stress. I kept thinking…. am I going to BB this whole race in the big ring?? I don’t have kahunas like BB . . . I have little bird balls.

First climb is 8:30min @ 320w. that was a wake-up call. Legs feel like DEATH. Time to apply a base layer of GU. Lots of downhill action and stressful avoidance of road cracks and crevices for the next umpteen miles. I keep having flashbacks to Hilltowns where my tire went into a groove and came out flatted. I slowly began to feel better and was really psyched to see Vic and Travis patrolling near the front. Jeff and Shane are also looking great until Shane pulls over with a flat at about mile 10. Bummer.

1st KOM climb. Chain is back to being stuck in the big ring for the first few hundred meters. A lot of playing with both shifters and I get some relief to get it on the little ring. I had lost some positioning and WOW this hurts WAY more than I thought it would. I set a new PR 5min wattage at 380 — over my threshold of 320 trying to hold on — it was a
bit more than the legs could handle. My left quad starts cramping and generally feeling like someone stabbed me. I ask the right leg to carry more of the load. It responds with apathy. The next 5 min are at 280w. The elastic band snaps. A rider passes me. Then another. Double punches in the gut. I am going as slowly as I feel.

Time to salvage the race. I grab a wheel and slowly work my way back to a foursome that’s going well. We pick up a few more and now we’re 10 working together. We get some cheering from Curt, Paula, Dan and Sara at the feed zone. I was looking and hoping for Mexican Curt wearing a sombrero. I am happy to get a fresh bottle and dropped an empty. We chase HARD for a bit then get caught behind Homer Simpson and his giant crappy 1974 Motor Home doing 15mph down a hill.
We double pace-line until we pick up Shane. Shane’s rear wheel is running at max 40psi. Being a bruiser, he doesn’t really care. We make it to the base of the last KOM climb @ mi 55 and we grab him a flashy Zipp wheel from the SRAM guys. We ride on the climb together but since he now has air in his tires he becomes smaller and smaller in my line of sight. Having stopped for SRAM we had given our pack of 10 a head start up the hill. I salvage some pride by passing about 8 of them. Shane caught and passed them all.

Great atmosphere at the top. I discover Jeff rode out of his shoes as did Vic and Travis. So proud to see some great performances from some great teammates.

I was humbled in many ways. The power tap gives me some salvation and understanding. I have much to learn. I have much to eat. Cheers and thanks to everyone for a great weekend.

Mover:

Driving the road course the day before was both extremely helpful, but also very scary. I was worried that my pack confidence would still be stuck back in Brookline and that the 25mi downhill was going to be a shit show. Thankfully, this was not the case. The first hill took about 10′ of near threshold work. It wasn’t comfortable, but I wasn’t put into trouble. I made a conscious decision to slot toward the back of the peloton for the start of the downhill. I knew there were a few easy places to move up later. Riding in the pack was much better and wasn’t the pedal-pedal-brake-brake I was expecting. At about 5k to go to the sprint and start of the climb, I checked on Vic to see how he was feeling about his position. Dude was cool and looked ready for a fight. Slotted in and chatted up Rand for a while, only to see Shane pull off with a hand in the air.
Hit the first KOM climb. At the turn into the climb there was a crash (two dudes got tangled, pretty stupid). Pace was fast, but I was trying to stay as steady as possible. My goal was to make it to the 5K to go (to the KOM) sign, as I knew the steep stuff was over after that point. I tried to hang with Travis and Jeff, but those dudes were mega-diesel engines and just rode away from me putting out 5w/kg. We reach the KOM and I’m in a group with the race leader, trying to chase on. Dudes are hauling ass and I’m just trying to stay attached. We roll through a sketchy intersection, I miss a wheel and then start to lose contact. I set my own pace from there to the feed zone. I see Curt (no sombrero) holding a bottle for me. Next thing I know, a dude from another team grabs my bottle! Curt yells at him and the dude relents and hands back the bottle. I slot down a bit to grab the bottle, only to realize it isn’t mine and that Dan has my bottle and is up the road a bit. A little more bottle shuffle and I’m ready to hammer the downhill. Good thing I didn’t lay into the guy, since we had to ride the rest of the race together. Chased like mad. MAD. At the start of the dirt road climb we were in 10m of the field, but never made contact. Once they hit Rt. 4, they were out of sight and it was two-man pace-lining (until we picked up a HUP rider) to the start of the final climb. On the way there, we passed a NASTY crash from the peloton. Bodies, bikes and blood. Not good.

At the final climb I tried to drop my group mates. Somewhere around 1k to the KOM, the HUP guy passed me and I couldn’t keep pace. I was in survival mode here and didn’t want to end up cramping or destroyed with 5K more climbing to go. I saw Dan and Curt at the KOM and their cheers totally lifted my pace. I tossed Dan my flat kit, since I didn’t want to haul that stuff any further. In the last K I started to close on the HUP rider, but no dice for the catch. I crossed the line and saw everyone and was so happy to be finished. Awesome part was seeing Shane and Rand finish not that far behind. Would have been more awesome had I known I could have been racing the final two hours with teammates. Finished 59th on the stage and also 59th on GC @ 15:30.

While I’m not blown away by performance this weekend, I know that finishing my first stage race is a mighty big accomplishment. Huge props go to my roommate Travis who absolutely crushed it. I’m really proud of everyone who represented the Lion at this race.

Jeff:

On the rollout to RR staging, I was breathing pretty hard, which for me is a good sign. We roll out and are, as Rand said, very chatty. The sketch factor has gone down dramatically with familiarity and a realization that the only goal of this race is to make it to the end. I’m feeling good drifting around, chatting people up, even when we’re in the first climb. Pretty pleased thus far. Shane gets a flat, which is a bummer. Other people get flats, which is less of a bummer. The road quality is kind of bunk, but it’s Vermont, it happens.

As we approach the easy, slow corner onto the first KOM point, some guys decide to try riding on their sides and find it doesn’t work so well. A rider decides to get off his bike on the left side of the road instead of riding up the hill. Another interesting decision.

I try to hold on up the climb, but my gentleman’s slide goes a bit further than I’d like and I end up in chase mode with a Luzzo’s guy, the Cycle Loft guy who rides a Parlee (and is a really nice guy). We hammer for a while, get caught by a bunch more guys (a Bikeman guy, the GC leader, two Drummond guys including actual Drummond, who is absolutely burying himself for his teammate). We try to work as a group, but being in chase mode, the stronger of us dump the rest periodically, who chase on, do one pull and fall off. I feel really bad for those guys. The peloton is in our sight almost this whole time and after that really long descent, four of us make the catch. Stoked. It’s 40 miles in and I’m on the lead group.

I sit in and recover for what feels like forever and it’s fantastic. My legs are back under me and I go into pack ninja mode, cruise to the front and say hi to Trav and Vic. We talk about plans for the rest of the race and Travis and I decide to pin it to keep people honest until the climb. No sooner do we say this than a huge crash happens for no reason right behind us. Quick survey of who’s in front of me reveals that all is well as far as team and friends go. Great. Business time. Trav and I string out the field. My goal is to bring the break back (3 guys at 50 seconds) before the climb and we bring them to about 15 seconds when the road goes up. We make the left onto East Mountain Road. Vic takes off, Trav and I bump fists for a job well done and settle into the pain zone. At the 1k to the KOM sign, I decide I’m tired of my legs hurting and that I should get this done with sooner rather than later. One “SHUT UP LEGS” later, I’m kicking the gears into action and start to bring back people who have gone too hard, too early. At the KOM, I catch Vic and try to give him a draft, but at this point, I can’t slow down. I hammer the short descent, pass the GC leader, whose mechanical issues have just gotten worse and worse as the stage went on. Bummer for him, because he busted his butt to defend his jersey. As we pass the Grand Lodge, inside of 1k, I turn it on again and pass a bunch more people on the climb into the finish.

Result: 22nd on the stage @ 3min. Could not have been happier. New PRs: 5min, 10min, 15min, 30min, 90min, 120min.

Overall: 25th @ 5 minutes. Very satisfied for my first stage race.