The new junior team bikes were built up last week by
teammate Billy Innes and they are sweet.
All twelve teammates will be racing on the new bikes, as well as this junior
team director. We’re switching to the
Specialized aluminum Allez mostly
because in the past two seasons the juniors have broken eight carbon frames. But, we also like the way that they race!
I raced on my new Allez at the 27th annual
Snelling Road Race last Saturday. There
is a particularly rough section of the course which Strava appropriately calls “Equipment
nightmare” and the roads put my new ride to the test. The Specialized Allez passed with flying
colors. I entered the masters 35+ 1/2/3
race because the 45’s had sold out and there was the opportunity to race with
my teammates, which is always fun. Winds
at Snelling were epic! About 16 miles
from the finish a large group scooted off the front and I went with it. At first it was too large to stay away but
then eventual winner Nick Thiebold (Safeway) pressed for another break, was
joined by me and four others, and we were gone.
I did less than my fair share because the odds did not favor us,
especially with teammates Bubba Melcher, Don Langley, Chris Lyman, Craig Roemer,
and Billy Innes still in the pack. I
also did less than my fair share because I’m not as fit as these young
riders. I have arthritis in my right hip
and its causing me daily pain. Most that
hear of my aging woes wonder how I can soar off the front of a 100 rider field. I’m not lying, the pain in my hip is real. Some days are good, some days are not so
good. I finished 4th.
Craig ended up attacking out of the pack on the last lap and
almost caught our lead group. He took 8th. Chris ended up in 11th.
Finally, as the former Nor Cal “upgrade coordinator” I’m
sensitive to riders desire to upgrade, as compared to the relatively high turnover
on our sport. And, yes, there is a
correlation as many riders upgrade to fulfill a goal or to escape “dangerous
races” (without looking in the mirror at their own skills). I’m bringing up this point because Strava
helped me to see the big differences in speeds between categories at
Snelling. Yes, these are road races and tactics
will always trump average speeds, but these were 12 mile loops that offered some
interesting data. Bottom line – Category
3’s need to be very careful before they jump into a 1/2/Pro category!
Snelling 2012 Lap times/ MPH
|
Masters 45 4/5
|
Masters 45 1/2/3
|
Masters 35 1/2/3
|
Category 3
|
Category 1/2/Pro
|
Lap 1
|
32:28-
22.1mph
|
29:40- 24.2mph
|
29:24- 24.4mph
|
30:04- 24.0mph
|
26:55- 26.6mph
|
Lap 2
|
34:02- 21.2mph
|
31:07- 23.2mph
|
29:06- 24.8mph
|
33:45- 21.3mph
|
28:10- 25.5mph
|
Lap 3
|
34:38- 20.9mph
|
32:58- 21.8mph
|
28:48- 25.0mph
|
33:54- 21.2mph
|
28:21- 25.4mph
|
Lap 4
|
36:45- 19.6mph
|
35:13- 20.4mph
|
28:43- 25.0mph
|
35:15- 20.4mph
|
29:17- 24.6mph
|
Lap 5
|
|
|
28:41- 25.0mph
|
36:36- 19.7mph
|
29:18- 24.6mph
|
Lap 6
|
|
|
|
|
31:21- 23.0mph
|
source - www.Strava.com
My advice? Stay in
your category until your competitors beg you to upgrade! So what if you are called a “sandbagger”, you’re
getting experience (and results!) that you may not see for some time when you
upgrade. Good luck! Larry Nolan
3 comments:
That pro 1/2 race was insane.
out of curiosity, which E3 did you copy data from? I didn't think it was a particularly fast race, but when I sent mine to strava the "Snelling Road Race Lap" segment had the following times.
30:01 @ 23.5 mph
29:12 @ 24.1 mph
28:59 @ 24.3 mph
29:44 @ 23.7 mph
31:42 @ 22.2 mph
I agree, the E3 numbers in the table seem low. I get about the same numbers as Mulvihill for my version of the E3 race when I upload to Strava.
29:58 @ 23.5mph
29:10 @ 24.2mph
29:25 @ 24.0mph
29:24 @ 24.0mph
31:46 @ 22.2mph
And looking at the whole race on my power file it was 23.5mph ave for the whole race.
I agree with your comment about not focusing on upgrading, but, mostly because I'm a 44 year old man racing in the E3 and am having enough trouble being competitive, much less thinking about upgrading.
Post a Comment