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Race Result
| Racer: |
Richard Gendron |
| Race: |
RFK Criterium |
| Date: |
Sunday, May 24, 2009 |
| Location: |
Washington, DC |
| Race Type: |
Bike - Other |
| Age Group: |
Male 40 - 44 |
| Time: |
0:46:08 |
| Overall Place: |
23 / 100 |
| Comment: |
Some Days You Hit the Post |
Race Report:
This was my first attempt at RFK in a combined CAT 3 and CAT 4 field. There are plenty of more experienced racers I know who kind of poopoo RFK - "It's in a parking lot after all". After racing it, I don't know why it gets a bad rap. It's the kinda course you would set up if you were a 9 year old kid with lots of slot car track to play with. From the Start/Finish it's about 400 yards to a hard right turn, couple hundred to a 180 turn, then another couple hundred to another full 180 turn, then strait for about 7-800 yards to a jig left and then a jig right, then a gentle loop to the right leading into a hard/open right turn, then a long strait open stretch to the final turn, about 200 meters from the finish. It is pancake flat, and the CAT 3/4 race was scheduled for 20 miles.
Course map on this page:
http://www.hubracing.com/criterium/rfk2009/
There was neutral support from SRAM there, with plenty of Zipp 400s in case of the inevitable flats (it is in a stadium parking lot after all).
Things started out bad for me, I flatted my front tire during warm-up. I was lucky to have enough time have support change the tube. Note for next year - bring a trainer to this race - there are few options for sufficient warm up.
Right from the start this race was "on the gas or on the brakes". There was a strong headwind on the long back stretch leading to the final turn, so it was going to take something special to stay away from this large (about 100 starters) peleton. The boys were a little twitchy in the first couple times through the 180s, but we started to settle down after a few laps, the real danger was in the jig left/jig right. The open outside of the jig left got compressed into the cones on the jig right, I only took the far outside line once and realized how dangerous it was, so I stuck to middle right for the rest of the race and that seemed a bit safer, but still required some nervy handling and a little bit of calm talking
After about 4-5 laps I realized 1) how hard we were all working to close up the gaps after the turns and 2) how darn good I was feeling - it felt virtually effortless to put out big watts after each turn. I kept finding Coppi Jason's wheel. I took it as a good sign that I was being efficient - Jason is a strong CAT 3 sprinter and knows how to hide from the wind. I started to think I might have something special for the finish. Right about then, my rear wheel flatted. I was lucky enough to be on the outside of the peleton and easily found my way out without causing any problems. I was also lucky to be 400 yards from the support tent and still able to get a free lap.
Support took my Reynolds and gave me a Zipp 400 - great wheel, but no PT, so no sprint data. I rested while the group did lap 4-to-go and paid the price when I had to sprint to get back in with 3-to-go.
When I got back in, I still felt good, but had lost some of my tactical understanding of how the final lap was going to develop, so I looked for my only surviving teammate, Ryan, and got on his wheel about 40 back with a little more than one to go. I told Ryan I was there and needed him to take me up. God bless Ryan, he got right on his horse and started to work us up. I had to pull him back a couple times for fear of getting into the wind too early. We were moving up nice, when we hit the first 180, Ryan took a nice line and passed about 10 riders, but his speed took him to the open (for him) outside line. Unlucky for me, it was not open for me, there was an NCVC rider there, who not only blocked me from Ryan's wheel but then took a line inside of Ryan cutting us off. I spent the next half lap trying to get back to him and finally found him, but I think he had given up contesting and we were both boxed in on the last strait away.
We had no time to work together, so I took it upon myself to get into the fight. Try as I might, I started my sprint 40 back and found a nice clean line to sprint for 23rd. The results say I earned 3 points, but I don't understand what that means.
This feels like a day when I should have have been able to do something more. Like a soccer game when things are going right, the pressure is there and when the opportunity comes, I hit the post. I think I should have trusted my 2 minute power especially given how good I was feeling in those last few laps and given it a hard push from much farther out rather than trying to find Ryan, who had no idea what had happened to me. I also could have aimed for fellow RAT Nathan Miller - I knew Nate was going to try something, and he ended up going 5th through the last turn - that would have worked. Lesson learned.
Power data confirms what I was feeling. My normalized power was pretty tame @ 228, but I hit 900 watts at least 10 times, and 800+ at least a dozen, which is normally pretty easy for me. The final three laps where much hotter/faster. It was alot like a weightlifting contest rather than a pure bike race ....I like it and am looking forward to next year.
Duration: 30:42
Work: 383 kJ
TSS: 42.6 (intensity factor 0.913)
Norm Power: 228
VI: 1.1
Pw:HR: 8.34%
Pa:HR: 0.22%
Distance: 13.063 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 962 208 watts
Heart Rate: 99 180 159 bpm
Cadence: 34 141 95 rpm
Speed: 3 31.9 25.5 mph
Pace 1:53 19:42 2:21 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 381 55 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1324 195 lb-in
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