race report from the Classique Nord Charente
 
The day before Paris Roubaix, is a "mini Paris Roubaix" in north western France. 

Thursday 7th April, I get an e-mail from my DS who has just returned from the tour of Majorca saying that I am racing both Saturday and Sunday.  But Saturday is not just any race.
 
Friday 8th, I load up my car and drive up to Castelsarrasin to the team house where I sill spend the weekend.  John is at the house (of course, he lives there) and so is another team mate who is from central France in Poitier and had to spend most of the week down south for some tests being run in Toulouse.  A number of other people are also at the house this weekend as Saturday morning will be an early start.  We are supposed to have a team meeting Friday evening to discuss our racing schedule for the rest of the season... but in typical French style, the meeting is first put off for about an hour, and eventually put off all together.
 
Fearing that the team meal that night might be a big plate of simple pasta with no sauce etc, John and I sneaked out to get some food, and I also needed a new cassette and some brake pads.  So we hit the bike shop which was miraculously still open.  I got what I needed and we headed towards the shops.  Realizing that if we got some food, everyone would eat it thinking it was team food, we decided against getting actual food and sneaked into the local McDonalds for some rather inappropriate fare.  Making ourselves feel better about our sinful act by recounting the story of Chris Horner's fight to get a burger and fries during last years Tour de France, we munched our food quickly and headed back to the house.  The guys were waiting for us to go and eat... so we all piled into the team cars and went out to a cafeteria for dinner, paid for by the team.  So John and I got in 2 meals that evening.  Americans. puh. (** - see editor's note below) 

Saturday, the big day.  The team loaded the vehicles and got everything ready for the long drive up to northern France for the Classic Nord Atlantique.  2 cars and a mini-bus, 3 drivers and more wheels than you can shake a stick at accompanied the 11 rider team for this mini Paris Roubaix.  After about 2 hours of driving, we stopped for lunch.  John and I looked at each other and people started to pull out Tupperware full of food, we had prepared nothing.  A moment of panic went through us until we found out that 4 or 5 of the other guys also had nothing.  So the team paid for our cafeteria lunch.  The choice was limited, and we needed some kind of carbs.  So I went for fries and sausage, far from ideal.  Back into the vehicles we piled for more driving.  Eventually we get there.  The team helpers get all the bikes out, get everything sorted, fill the water bottles, get our race numbers etc etc.  I had put on my new chain, so I got changed and went off to shake the legs out after that long drive.  5 meters out of the parking area and of course the chain is slipping all over the old cassette.  So I go hunting in the back of the van, all we have in 9 speed is a cosmic carbon with a TT cassette, so I put the cassette on my wheel and off we go to race 130km of dirt on a 11-19 cassette that isn't shifting very well anyway.
 
The race gets underway with a 10km neutral start, after about 20km is the first dirt section.  There are 15 in total, each one named and with a big sign at the entrance with the name and distance up for all to see.  The first hour of racing was at 44km average, and there was no hiding in the field, it was strung out all the way.  I really didn't feel well at first, and not long into the race, that greasy sausage and fries started to come up.  I threw up 3 times and got dropped twice.  I sat in the cars for a while and waited until Marion pulled up in our team car.  For some reason I was really thirsty and had gotten through a whole water bottle in only 30k.  She told me that there was a little group of riders behind me with Thibault Marc (one of our guys) in there, so I could wait for them... she was a little surprised when I asked her for a water bottle this early into the race.  In fact you are not allowed to be fed within the first 50km of the race, but I'm guessing no one saw because we didn't get a fine.  Then I worked my way through the caravan and got back into the race.  Sadly a little later the food came up again to say hello, and I was off the back, this time with Couscous (Christophe Cousinie, one of the area heroes who is on our team this year), he's not in great form at the moment as he was sick over the winter.  I sat in and let the other guys who were with us do a little work, but seeing it wasn't doing much I took control of things.  I worked my way through the caravan and got back into the race once again.  I think Couscous followed me but the other guys dropped.
 
About half way into the race, a break had got away early and we didn't have anyone in it.  As we headed up a little hill John attacked at the perfect moment, it strung us all out and I wanted to kill him because here came the food again.  Sadly for John it came to nothing.  So we put 3 guys on the front to try and close the gap to the group off the front, the 3 were Beaudet, Parks and Trouche, then we had 3 other guys sitting in the field.  As we hit another dirt section everyone flatted, there were guys all over the place.  Seemed like all but 2 or 3 of us from our team flatted.  A few meters later John got a flat too.  This race was absolute carnage back in the team cars.  Cars were stopping all over the place, they were running out of wheels, there was dust everywhere.  Seeing as we no longer had our 3 guys up front I got myself up to the front and tried to control the attacks.  But by the 2nd section of dirt near the front I started to drop back as people let gaps open.  Frankly from this point on I don't know what happened.  There were cars all over the place, riders in ones and twos, guys crashing in the middle of the "road", motorbikes going through farmers' fields.  I do remember being amazed at the amount of spectators out watching the dirt sections.  We would come crashing over the dirt, through a field out in the middle of nowhere, and there were all these people just standing in the middle of a field in the north of France cheering a bike race.  Well the rest of the race is a blur of dust and confusion.  All I know is that less than half of the field finished.  Only 2 of us from our team finished.  I was quite happy to be one of them even if that northern style of riding with lots of accelerations isn't what I'm best at.  I actually didn't flat.  Although a lot of it is luck, I think that my years of mountain biking really helped me to choose the right gear and adopt a pedal style that minimized the risk of flatting.  I was quite amazed actually because before the race I pulled out a big chunk of glass that left a big deep hole in my rear tire.
 
I'm pretty bummed for John who flatted, and then (maybe stupidly) waited for a team mate who also got a flat.  John was riding a very smart race.  Now he wouldn't have been able to do anything about the group that was off the front and stayed off the front, but I feel pretty sure John was on a good day and could have got himself a top 20 finish... which in that race would have been more than respectable.

I may not have got any flats, but I did crack my rim.  I'm pretty annoyed as I now don't have a rear wheel.  That was my race wheel, and I only have a really heavy and crappy shimano rear wheel now.  Sucks.  I also tore my saddle.
 
After the race, it was back in the cars for the long drive home.  We got in at 11pm, and it was off to do it all over again early the next morning for 150km of racing with a slightly different team consisting of 5 riders who had done the Classic Nord Charente.  John and myself were there, but that's a different story.  Another slightly modified team race on Monday as well.  I wasn't part of it, John was the only one to do all 3 days.  He didn't have to, but he chose to go monday anyway, and was totally toasted.
 
Classic Nord Charente (Paris Roubaix) in a few words and numbers:
 
130km
15 dirt section:
1st hour at 44kph
41kph average for the whole race.
 
website: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pascal.baudouin/velo.htm
France 3 coverage:
http://jt.france3.fr/
and click on 19/20 Poitou-Charentes and then click on Dimanche 09 avril.
around  7minutes in
 
Results:
1- LEBRUN Charles Henri (CC Marmande)
2- Limoges V. (Blois CAC 41)
3- Mainguenaud (Deux-Sèvres C)
22- Pozza S. (CC Castelsarrasin)
36- Siméon G. (CC Castelsarrasin)

(** editor's note - - - there is no real literal translation for what sim is giving you here: "Americans. puh."  the french have a stunning array of dismissive gestures and phrases.  the gestures tend to be small.  you are generally not deemed worthy of any sort of vocalization or arm waving unless you run over their citroen with tractor or you're caught stealing their heating oil or groceries.  as a result, the most common thing you're likely to encounter is this "puh".  it's very amusing as i knew immediately what sim was talking about.  to make this work, you puff out your cheeks ever so slightly, form your lips like you're going to say the letter "p" or the beginning of the word "pug" and then push the air out your lips.  the rest of your face is motionless.  to add emphasis, you can supplement this with an almost indiscernable shrug or a barely detectable flick of your hand.  try to look off slightly from the object of your disgust.  these small gestures speak volumes.  oh yah, and i'll try to get some pictures up fairly soon from the race.)

my post from yesterday brought out frustration in the comments

While I don't want to burden you with drama :), I will say that many people credit their recent emphasis on customer service (including the web site) on the very guy they just booted (Bisceglia). I dealt with USA Cycling pre-Bisceglia on a race I helped promote and the customer service was appalling -- not answering phones, not replying to multiple emails or voicemails begging for a reply, etc. It was like a black hole. This was part of the reason that you saw quite a few local associations break away from USA Cycling. It was Bisceglia that brought most of the local associations back "into the fold."

So, hopefully they can retain the customer service ethic that he instituted. If not, we could see the local associations pull away from USA Cycling again. While in the end I don't care if a cool race is sanctioned by USA Cycling or someone else, there could be more "drama" over the next few years as the local associations (and the members) figure out which way USA Cycling is headed.

i think there are two major issues raised here: whether the clear progress usac has made in what used to be it's abysmal customer service will go out the door as fast as bisceglia and what the relationships between the local associations and the national sanctioning body are.

• first, i don't believe that bisceglia was booted.  i saw some emails from usac staff indicating they were surprised by the announcement.  no one in my immediate peer group really knows what happened.  there are assumptions that are likely driven by the suddenness and unexpected nature of the departure.  but until someone comes across with facts, it's prudent to withold judgement. 
• second, i strongly agree with mitch that customer service used to suck and that it has improved dramastically.  the web site alone makes things so much easier.  i deal with the colorado springs staff on a very frequent basis and you can tell that the web site is handling the mundane stuff so they are free to put out the inevitable fires.  work seems to be smoother there than i have ever seen.  my impression is that these types of changes are implemented by the lower-level staff.  they may have been initiated by higher-ups, but they are now routine tasks.  usac sees the benefit in these and i cannot imagine anyone there not seeing the benefit in maintaining what they have (as customer service standards and technology enhancements) at a minimum. 

i know that i sound like an apologist.  a lot of people have been burned so badly, and so repeatedly, that usac has lost the benefit of the doubt.  permanently.  i would suggest having another objective look.  usac was aware of the problems back then and i, personally, have noticed a significant improvement in customer service of late.  there is still room for improvement, but what group cannot say that.

the second issue deals with the nature of the relationship between the local associations and usac.  this is an area that's clearly misunderstood by a lot of people.  you can tell this is the case from emails asking quesitons that confuse the roles of usac, mabra, promoters and indiciduals.  mitch is correct that at least one group that used to be a local association has left the building and started their own thing.  another splinter group was making rumblings about doing the same in pennsylvania this past spring.  i had hoped to interview them and find out what their progress was but have lost contact.  they were unambiguous about their goals: supplanting usac as the dominant sanctioning group in competitive cycling.  some of the people who are influential in mabra made some really disparaging remarks about that group and their goals.  i thought it was silly at the time and i think it's silly now.  usac doesn't have some sort of divine right to run cycling in the states.  if it is inefficient, other options will spring up and usac will be replaced.

which brings us to the crux of the issue.  in our current litigous society, usac will be very difficult to supplant primarily because there are not a lot of other options in terms of getting insurance policies to run races.  read the sentence several times and think about it.  i have contacted several insurance firms.  i've talked to multisport promoters and their insurance companies.  i've talked to adventure racing promoters and their insurance companies.  i have yet to find an organization that can come anywhere close to allowing you to put on a race for $2 per racer.  that's the reality.  you may not like usac, but the promoters in this area can't leave.  they need insurance to run races, and they can't afford to use the other options that are out there.  i played around with the economics of putting on some supported training rides (roling enclosure and catering before and after) this past winter and it simply won't work.  i played around with trying to get third party insurance for a cyclosportif and it will not work.  actually, i should be more accurate and say that i could not make it work.  my breakeven number of riders was ridiculously high and implausable.  i have not given up (i'm still courting alternatives in terms of motor marhsalls and police) but i have to be realistic. 

racers want to race and promoters provide that option.  there are not many practical alternatives to promoters for sanctioning and insurance.  ergo, most use usac.  please note that this is really different than the way that most promoters use bikereg.  promoters love bikereg because it kicks ass.  racers love it because it kicks ass.  but there are still people who use active.com or sportsbaseonline.  promoters can, and do, choose to use whatever service suits them.  the insurance marketplace is really differnet.  i would guess (as an actuary) that the insurance companies see this as low reward and relatively high risk.  if they knew what a bunch of yahoos most bike racers are, they would probably run screaming from any business proposal. 

i think where most of the people who agitate for change fail is in assuming that others are as interested in alternatives (on principle) as they are, and in providing an easy and practical and useful alternative.  anybody can be a hater.  providing an alternative structure is hard.  you must enter whatever marketplace it is you are choosing to compete in, and you must convince others that your way is not just right, but preferrable.  for some you must prove that it is preferrable for economic reasons.  for others you must prove that it is preferrable for social or practical reasons.  you may be able to leverage popular unhappiness.  but the bottom line is that if you don't offer a solution, the status quo has tremendous inertia.  mabra has contractual agreements with usac and is their agent in the mid-atlantic.  so even if the promoters and racers of mabra chose to pull up stakes and go their own way, it's not clear that mabra could come along for the ride.  if you've ever been to one of the late fall annual meetings, you know how hard it is to get the team representatives in the room to all agree on anything.  it would be exceedingly difficult to get them to organize a completely new structure. 

there are not good options for insurance other than usac.  promoters need insurance and support.  they will go where it's easiest to get these things.  local associations that break out will pay a premium for these services so it must provide some sort of abstract return on investment to be free of usac.  i think that it can be done but it will require a comprehensive list of services offered to promoters.  i don't think it will happen until something like tort reform completely changes the landscape of insuring sports events and signed waivers become bulletproof.

- - - posted by scott

I guess we all got the news last week that the previous ceo of usa cycling made a rather hasty departure from his colorado springs suite.  thought there is a brief communication to be found here, he has already disappeared down the memory hole and is gone from the staff directory at the usac site.  a conference call was held last friday between the usac exec-utariat and all of the local cycling associations.  the call was straightforward, and the people from usac basically communciated the same thing you got in your email from them yesterday afternoon.

i have not asked any questions to see if there is something interesting behind his sudden exodus, and to be frank, i don't care a whole lot.  there are two reasons for this.  the first is that i'm not a big fan of drama.  the second is simply that from most of our perspectives, it simply does not matter.  local associations do most of the work that you see on saturday and sunday so virtually nothing will change.  yes it's true that this situation is surreal, like you awoke in some parallel universe to find yourself surrounded by wierd objects, and very, very disoriented. 

but the truth is that if there's drama, it just doesn't effect us in a practical sense.  races will still be promoted, officials will still show up and handle protests over who got 37th place.  racers will still show up and put in 100% and have fun with their comrades.  the reason for this is that a lot of people who you may know do a lot of work behind the scenes.  they don't talk about it, they just do it. 

i am constantly amazed by the amount of actual work that goes into trying to keep mabra organized and running as efficiently as possible.  i don't always agree with the decisions that are made, or how they are made, but i have come to see that the people who make these decisions do it for sincere reasons and a laudable commitment to moving things forward.  and this is how i view the usac by extension.  i don't care for a lot of their initiatives, i don't agree with their view of how to grow cycling here in the states, and the cost of an annual license galls me.  but i know from experience that they work long hours and they want to see cycling move forward.  they have a practical monopoly on road racing in the states and i worry a lack of competition can lead to complacency.**  but some of their recent improvements, most notably the web site, are really aimed at improving the user experience.  they seem to understand that customer service is not a platitude, a nice thought to hang on a wall.

so don't sweat the drama.  thank the officials and the mabra people who make it all happen.  focus on the priorities: people, power, pedals.

- - posted by scott

** (there are groups that are working with a mission to change that and i will address that in a subsequent post)

read your manifesto.  the principles of the racing union offer peace, prosperity and longevity to all who embrace it's message.  progress will later have been seen as inevitable.  the somnabulent and the complacent will be unable to shelter themselves from the towering tsunami of change we bring.  free you mind and your ass will follow.

people, pedals, power.  the virtuous circle.  josh, roy, alec, myself and a few others will be doing a skills workout and fun ride at hains point on wednesday night.  we're meeting at 6:15 at the tennis court parking lots.  if you're lurking, feel free to come out, meet us, ride and have a good time.  right on.

- - - posted by scott

i posted some whining about a training ride last week here.  roy came through in the comments with considerably fewer complaints and a nice picture of his bike after a rainy morning ride amidst the cherry blossom effluent.  picture is below.  notice anything?

all sorts of cherry blossoms build up on the down tube, bottom bracket area and all over the little ring which appears to have been completely unused.  not a cherry blossom to be seen on the big ring.  roy lives in the big ring and we applaud him for it.  go get it roy.

also, another allotment of respect for mike bradbury after the comments by mitch.  i still have not seen the seaford results but lots of people were talking about it down at hains point.  sounds like a hard race.  congratulations to everyone who went down and gave it 100% for themselves or for their team.

i had planned a long training day for thursday.  my plan was to ride from work out to the thursday herndon ride sponsored by the ever friendly reston bicycle club and then ride back to the union's command bunker.  the rbc rides are generally fun and i know a number of the people who do them so that's nice.  my plan was to wide out the custis trail to the wo&d where i would meet some friends and fellow revolutionaries and continue on to herndon. 

it was just shy of the vienna community center when the motif for the days ride became apparent: flat tires.  a slow leak caused me to dismount and begin a quick change.  luckily, i do not travel light and always have the tools of the trade. 

for this ride i was carrying two (2) tubes, one (1) superflate and four (4) 12g co2 cartridges.  i demounted the tire and swept the inside.  i checked the tube but nothing was obviously wrong.  i was just taking out a new tube when comrade rottier rolled up on me.  he offered humor and verbal support while i completed the job.  we were soon rolling on the trail and hooked up with mike bradbury from evo.  we chatted aboyu the races this past weekend and i was very impressed to find out that mike had done the 1/2/3 at walkersville followed by the 3 and 1/2/3 at tysons.  man, that is a lot of time, going very fast, in the saddle.  he did not seem to be sporting any ill effects and that in and of itself seems a bit intimidating.

we hooked up with some more people and old multisport friends as we got closer to herndon.  the weather was nice, the crowd was fairly large, and i was looking forward to the ride.  the ride took a route i was unfamiliar with.  it can tersely be described as the following: accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light, accelerate hard from red light, hammer, hammer, hammer, stop at red light. 

you get the idea.  we were rolling back down algonkian parkway when i got my second flat.  i was riding near the end of the group when i heard this "click-click-click" sound.  i mentioned to the guy next to me that he might want to check his gear.  he calmly informs me that it is, in fact, my bike making that noise.  and sure enough, my tire is steadily losing about 5psi every ten seconds.  great, flat number 2 and the likely end of the group ride pour moi.

same process: sweep tire and tube, remove the rather sizable nail from my tire and tube, install new tube, pop a co2 and inflate.  this time the tube exploded immediately.  i did not overinflate, but i suspect there was something i did not catch in the tire casing.  regardless, i am now on the side of the road, a ways from home with no more tubes and no more riding partners.  time for a mcgyver.  now pay attention kids: you may never need to do this, but if you do, it can mean the difference between an okay ending and a really, really miserable day. 

i found the hole in the tube i has just installed.  i went over to the nearest metal guard rail and rubbed the tube really hard back and forth until i cut through the tube.  i knotted both ends of the tube.  i now have a "straight" tube.  i inserted it into the tire which was still half on the rim.  don't be surprised when you try this that the new tube is shorter than the circumference of the wheel and tire.  (you knotted it twice!)  be careful to try to get the tube to lay flat when you install it.  inflate slowly so the tube can expand to cover the area inside the tire where it is not.  if you don't get this part of what i am describing, try it some time when you are changing a tube and you have an old one and floor pump and a few minutes.  the skill is a handy one to have.  i used my third co2 cartridge to inflate the mcgyver tube.  it went well and i started rolling down algonkian and had made it a whole 800 meters when (blam!) i picked up a nail and blew my mcgyver'd tube.  not sweet.  not good.  at all.

i pull into the food lion and beg my wife to come get me.  she negotiates over the time frame and informs me that there are some articles of jewelry that she has had her eye on and strongly implies that my intentions regarding acquisition of said items would have a direct impact on the timeliness of her arrival to pick me up.  not sweet.  not good.  at all.  luckily, the day is saved by solidarity.  i get a call from two teammates who have noticed my absence and are backtracking to bring me valuable provision in my war against underinflation.  they arrive and immediately bail me out.  a quick tube change, the final co2 cartridge goes "pfiisssssst", and i am good to go. 

it was a long training day.  it did not pan out the way i had hoped, and it was dark by the time i got home, but it was satisfying.  i'll try to post some pictures some time this weekend of how to mcgyver the wheel so you get a better feel for how the process works.  i hope those racing at seaford or philly have a safe and enjoyable time and best of luck to everyone doing training rides locally.

- - - posted by scott

simply brilliant.

>>>-----Original Message-----

>>>From: Steve Jones [mailto:velo_steve@hotmail.com]

>>>Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 7:40 AM

>>>To: uscf-district20@topica.com

>>>Subject: RE: VAcycling: Re: [Fwd: VAcycling: Re: D20: Jefferson Cup

>>>results

>>>

>>>>Now I understand why I can never get a good result in a race...... 

>>>>I must be the only guy in VA who has a job.  You guys have way too much

>>>>time on your hands if all you can do is spend your time arguing over

>>>>minor issues.

>>>>And for the record, some of you are just plain ignorant. 

>>>>(You know who you are.)

>>>>

>>>>Tom String

 

Maybe you just suck?  Seems to be my main problem, maybe it's yours too...

 

Steve

there is a long history of the court jester speaking truth to power.  it's a good paradox, where only the "fool" can speak with wisdom.  syncophants, who are cautious of their social or economic position are leery of sticking their neck out and risking something by telling the emperor that he wears no clothes.  but the jester fears none of that.  he speaks from a place of confidence and understands his place in the order of things.  steve shows us all a bit of wisdom.

alas, i believe the lesson is lost on messr. string.  his point is difficult to follow at best.  he's the only guy in virginia who is gainfully employed.  check.  everyone else has too much time on their hands, based upon some specified volume of email traffic which he has characterized as argumentative.  check.  and some of the readers of that same forum are dumbassess.  and they know who they are.  check?  that last bit is difficult to understand.  it looks like he's calling people(s) out but it's not clear who exactly he's referring to.  it seems that if you're going to go to the trouble to call people out, you should name them.   that's pretty weak.

you think this guy is going to come out on the stage, down the ramp, and up onto the top rope and tell people that there will be beatdowns of unspecified individuals?  that someone-or-other is in for an ass kicking?  that unspeficied wrestler-athletes have pushed the bounds of good behaviour (they know who they are!) and that's good enough?  no.  you see what i mean?  it's all posture and it's not even good posture. 

steve was just trying to help this person out.  it's a shame ot see this kind of useful effort spoiled.  like day old croissants thrown out in the street, pearls before swine, etc etc, etc.  but there's another whole element to steve's message that has probably escaped many.  you know the first step in making a change is to admit that you have a problem.  steve is light years ahead of most of us (including me) in this regard, and i offer him my congratulations.  many people struggle and limp along, never quite figuring out why they can't get where they want to be.  it takes confidence and humility to take that bold first step and admit that you suck.  but once you take it, you will never look back.  this is the first step in properly placing cycling as a hobby amidst all the other interests and issues in your life.  balance, son, balance.  it's what we seek, so onwards and upwards with the 12 step program for those who suck at racing their bikes:

step 1: admit that you suck at bike racing.  truly admit it, and be humble in accepting this fact.

step 2: stop taking yourself too seriously on the bike.  it's counterproductive for you and it's embarrassing for us to watch.  really, just stop it.

step 3: catalog the dumbass things you have done on a bike while hopped up on cytomax and hammer gel.  think carefully.  consider these events form a neutral or detached perspective.  keep a mental inventory the dumbass things you have done.  try to come to a true understanding of why you did them.

step 4: seek out those cyclists you have wronged and make a show of contrition.  apologize to your teammate for that time you chased down his break because you were clueless or because you really wanted the win for yourself.  apologize to other riders for cutting a corner short and then endangering them as you have to slot back into line.  apologize to every single person who was in the field at that criterium where you took a few free laps that you didn't really deserve.  note: your contrition must be sincere.  if you don't really mean it, go back to step one.  we all know the difference between a platitude and a genuine sentiment.  also note that others do not have to accept your apology.  for this purpose, it is enough that you make a solid effort.

step 5: truly, truly understand that cycling is a hobby.  find a way to balance it with all of your other obligations and interests, and by investing a good dose of passion and hard work, you can be a better cyclist.  if you fail here, go back to step 2.

step 6: learn to enjoy riding your bike again.  remember why you started doing it in the first place: it's fun, it's good exercise and it's liberating.  join a neighborhood bike gang and ride hard after work.

step 7: help others to rekindle their enjoyment of cycling.  join your friends on rides and don't worry about your average speed or wattage or whether the pace line is rotating the proper way.  tell jokes, share food and have a good time.

step 8: benchmark multiple aspects of your current fitness in an objective way.  record data for use in steps 7 and 8.

step 9: seriously and critically assess your weaknesses.  be honest.  this is where most cyclists fail.  ask others to give you feedback on your tactics and racing habits.

step 10: set reasonable goals.  don't just set the goals based on some abstract level of desired achievement.  figure out how much time you have to train based on all the other obligaitons you have.  pick an attainable goal and work hard towards it.

step 11: develop a serious wattage based training plan, using common concepts, peer reviewed literature and peer feedback to work on your limiters.  your time is valuable, you should train as if you realize that.

step 12: radiate a beatific calm as you exude a sort of centered happiness while racing the wheels off your bike.

okay, it may not be perfect.  there's clearly room for improvement and i'll happily take comments in the place where comments go.  but i do think it's got promise and i've tentatively booked the airport hilton for seminar in late april.  tell your friends that i'm coing to town to have the biggest intervention ever.

- - posted by scott

there's been a very interesting discussion thread on the d20 list regarding results and expectations.  thread starts here with a post from patton but drags ass and doesn't really pick up steam until bill comes through with some good material here.

the best post, hands down, was this one from cusmano:

I was liberated from the tyranny of the numbers when I realized that some of my fondest experiences racing did not result in a strong finish. I mean, some of my other fondest did -- don't get me wrong -- but rocking out with a leadout or a strong chase or getting in a break, even if I got dropped, those were great things. For those of us maybe not born to win the field sprint, the sport still offers these great experiences. Although sometimes just knowing that two-thirds of the people who started either didn't finish or finished behind you can be a cool thing, too.

yup.  liberated from the tyranny indeed.  he could have inked some sections of the manifesto himself.  if i was capable of getting religion, i'd say hallelujah.  however, i cannot.  i am told that i am on the bullet train to hell.  (c'est ici, le train a grande vitesse (tgv) for you angry french strikers who keep posting in the damn comments) 

so i will simply say "right on" to comrade cusmano and echo his sentiments.  bicycle racing is a hobby.  the reality of this hobby is that virtually all local races pay only a few spots, the uscf offers upgrade points to only a few spots and local recognition is available to a portion of the riders that finish.  the reality of the situation is that there are a few riders in the lead and a number of other riders who all finish at roughly the same time.  the reality of the situation is that most of us do not get the filthy lucre or the upgrade points or the local recognition.  we just don't.  you race because it's a whole lot of fun.  you race because you love to race.  you race because you want to see if you can do a little better by whatever standard you measure your performance by.

i would politely suggest that if an extremely accurate accounting of your time and/or place is critical to you, then you should not race.  you should begin to move towards events which cater to this such as cyclosportif, time trials or multisport, or branch out into touring or adventure racing.  these are tremendous fun and rewarding adn you generally won't run into issues where your competitors tell you to slow the %$#@ down.  that seems to be the issue here.  people out of contention are told patiently and logically not to sprint for placings.  they are told why it can be a problem.  they don't have to agree with me that sprinting for 39th place is stupid.  however, they can't deny the fact that the majority of people who are obviously out of contention are sitting up, and they are accelerating into or through those riders at a reckless pace (high risk) for a low placing (no reward). 

please note that i am not saying that finishing a race has no value.  it's just where the value is.  i sometimes worry that prize winnings or reimbursement concerns or bar points or other forms of recognition motivate people to do things that they would not do ordinarily.  isn't drugs in sports just a particularly egregious form of this exact same concern?  people have lost the concept of amateur athletics as a hobby, a recreation, a productive outlet.  you can be passionate about cycling while still keeping everything else in perspective.

- posted by scott

a lot of love for arch, and team snow valley, and the town of walkersville for hosting us this past saturday.  a really nice event.  the course is hard, but not too hard.  i like that a lot, as i think that it allows the racers to make the race.  from a promotion standpoint, the event went off very smoothly: on time with no hassles, smoooooth registration, great police support and generally helpful disposition from the locals who were no doubt surprised to see huge masses of cyclists swarming down the roads. 

there are lots of ride and race reports out there right now.  my personal favorites of late have been coming from the rockville harley blog where robb hampton is dispensing some good material.  in addition, we were unable to deliver the results that i had hoped for at walkersville, so i will not dwell on any sort of blow by blow.  i do have some general things i'd like to say which are inspired by that particular (30+/40+, walkersville) race but apply to a lot fo the races we do.

yellow line fever: I want to talk about yellow line races, riders getting DQ'd from yellow line races for crossing the yellow line and the exceedingly tough balancing act required of officials in maintaining order.  a lot of people have strong feelings about yellow lines races.  think you're the only one that's upset about double yellow enforcement?  think it's easy and clear?  think again.  and again (sort of off topic).  and again (completely off topic).  maybe there's something about the human or competitive psyche that doesn't do well with artificial limitations.  maybe racers press for advantage right up until the point where the officials start dq-ing whole fields.  you can like it or you can not like it, but in our area, you can pretty much be assured that most road races will be yellow line affairs.  that's just the way it is. 

yellow line racing has a very tight dynamic to it.  there are not a lot of places to pass, and the riders need to be mindful that when the occasion arises, there are others who are also thinking about moving up.  in our area, it appears that the most common technique for handling these races is for one or two of the teams that are greatest in terms of numbers or strength to mass near the front, send off a small combination of riders and then congest the front.  you can be sitting in the third row of riders back, and watch helpelessly (as i did on saturday) as several waves of riders jump off the front.  this induces a seething frustration that i hereby name "yellow line fever".  yellow line fever is characterized by aggressive behaviour and poor judgement.  racers opt for suicidal attacks into the wind rather than get trapped in a rolling mass of unmotivated riders.  this malady is easily identified in those racers, helplessly trapped at the back of a 100 rider field, whose only recourse is to yell "go" and "up, up, up" and 'let's get moving" as they watch yet another group of three slip off the front.  this produces a secondary frustration effect in the riders who are near, but not exactly at, the front of the pack, who desperately want to "go go go!" but are not able to because there are two rows of riders in front of them, from yellow line to road's edge.  so the people near the fornt want to block, the people right behind them want to go and the people in the back are just screaming.  did i summarize that appropriately?  in this race, there were actually a considerable number of places where people could move up but chose not to because of the wind.  so i was getting frustrated hearing people yell when i thought there were lots of places where they could move up.  so there was something for everyone.

i would also like to go on record as saying that i appreciate what the motor refs did.  they walk a very fine line.  at one point or another, almost everyone was over the yellow line.  but the motor refs in the 30/40 field seemed to show excellent discretion.  there were times when an accidnet occured or people needed to push out for safety.  as long as riders were not taking advantage by moving up when this happened, the officials seemed to be willing to let it go.  and they seemed to be just vocal enough to keep us from thinking we could get away with it.  they made an example out of tony which was regrettable.  but tony chose a really bad time to attack and he attacked waaaaay over the yellow line.  no matter what you heard, i was there and riding right next to bill, his teammate and we both just shook our heads.  i heard the motor official coming up the line and he had just yelled at us a few minutes earlier to express his frustraiton that we were not staying on our side of the yellow.  the fever was peaking, tony attacked and the refs threw him out.  simple.  and after that, people were better behaved.  i like the enforcement.  i think this is the rare case where "if you haven't done anything wrong, you haven't anything to fear" is appropriate.  everyone benefits from yellow line enforcement.  we have all seen races where the enforcement is lax and the liberties taken get greater and greater until something bad happens.  i doff my chapeau to the motor escorts and officials for that race.  i think they did a good job.  and if you disagree with me, don't bother writing me your opinions in the comments because i am not really very open-minded on this issue and i don't really care if you disagree.

smackdown: on a slightly different note, the finish of that race was simply over the top and out of control.  normally, master's races in our area are fairly smooth and fast and safe, but this was a veritable circus of assclowns.  we rode a tight echelon as the wind was coming hard over our right shoulder down the finsihign straight.  most riders overlapping the riders in front of them significantly.  rottier elected to take the far right, up in the wind, but forward.  in the case that side opened, he'd have a very clean look at the finish line.  i was the last rider in the echelon, with my teammate on my wheel and total smackdown happening in the gutter behind me.  now mind you, i was on the very edge of the road.  my tires were on pavement but the left side of my handlebars was over the gravel and grass.  coming into the finish, i felt a guy bump me and say "i'm on your left"  that's hilarious.  there is no left.  my tires are on the white line and my handlebars are hanging over the side of the road.  the only way you could be on my left is if you're off the road.  completely ridiculous.  and what did this person think i would do?  slow down, say execuse me and get out of his way?  like i somehow mistakenly got in front of him and he's giving me a face-saving way to remediate the problem.  wow, how generous, thank you.  i am really surprised that guys were fighting that hard for places in the gutter.  that's how accidents happen and from the sounds, i believe that we dodged a bullet and are very lucky that we didn't leave several people on the asphalt.  I have said before that it's not worth sprinting for 38th place, as you're more liely to injure yourself or someone else that to get a lot of gain out of it.  if your time or placing is so critical, do a cyclosportif or a timed tour.  in racing, there is a dynamic where the top people are going all out and once the top 10-15 places have been decided, that's it.  if it were up to me, i'd only publish the top three results and list everyone else who finished alphabetically.  you may think i'm digressing but i'm not.  guys are desperate to scoop up the last few bar points so they go tearing through fields and endangering everyone.  i think there is a perverse incentive at work and i don't think it's constructive.

i found myself cooling down on the course, muttering that these yahoos should read the manifesto.

- posted by scott

The debate continues on the D20 and vacycling lists about race results and what’s reasonable to expect as far as after-the-fact changes. Scott brought up this issue here with regards to one of the Quicksilver Winter Solstice Series races. In that case, it was pretty clear cut: the rider left immediately following the race and results were posted probably within 10 minutes of the finish.

But in the confusion about the results for Jeff Cup, a number of interesting twists have arisen. First off, the rider with the original [you’ll have to sign up to read the actual messages] public complaint had waited for 1.5 hours after the race to see the results. She was not up for a prize or BAR points. As she explains she was waiting merely to see that she was included in the results at all. Why? Her club has a policy of registration fee reimbursement based at least in part on level of race participation. It’s a simple enough system, and probably pretty common: Your cash payout is dependent on a certain level of activity, and in some cases progressively so.

This type of setup is meant as a means of encouraging people to get out on their bikes and race.  But is this kind of approach good for the team? Or the riders? Or bicycle racing in general? Wouldn’t this encourage team members go ahead and ride races only to reach some magic number to justify an increased payout? What about riding to win, or to help your team, or—gasp—to have fun? Since when do slow, amateur athletes believe they should get some sort of payday for a hobby? Let’s face it: in the grand scheme of things, 99.9% of D20 racers are slow. Honestly, you are slow. I’m sorry it’s true.

There’s another issue here that I want to address, but I want to make sure that I don’t come across in the wrong way. Promoters and officials donate (some may make a little money, but it generally pays less then starting wage at your neighborhood fast food joint) an inordinate amount of time making these races happen. You may spend twelve hours a week training, but some of these folks spend twice that filling out and reviewing insurance forms and processing your upgrade requests. And I know that I’d rather spend my time on the hills of Arlington then making sure item 2b has been checked.

However, there apparently was quite a long delay between race finish times and result posting at Jeff Cup. In some cases a reported three hours. Now, that’s a heck of a long time to wait (nearly twice as long as race itself in some cases), and I don’t know if I could have stuck around for the posting and protest period, even if I had won my race. Jim Patton summed up a number of the difficulties in getting timely results for racers, especially in races with multiple fields running at the same time where the finish is distant from the registration area. I don’t have any complaints about this and know for sure that officials and promoters want nothing more then to have complete and accurate results posted within minutes of the finish.  (And frankly, I think we’re all a little spoiled with the availability of pro race results—I know the finish order here in DC of a race in Italy within ten minutes of the finish, photos and everything.) But here’s a new twist: Jim suggests using some sort of automated system to help speed things along. And why don’t promoters want to do it? Reduced prize money!

If there were no cash prizes, if there were no reimbursement considerations, if the officials only recorded the top ten finishers and there were no BAR points, we’d all be a lot happier me thinks.  Read the manifesto. Race for the race, not for the money.

-michael

About half way through the first lap there was a crash at the front of the group. I was about half way back and behind the crash. The guy fell down on my side, I braked and swerved, and narrowly missed him (I was close enough to be conscious of where my pedals were in rotation so as not to slam his back). Just at that moment the pace picked up tremendously. I chased for quite a while and was never able to catch up to the group in front of me. It was pretty tough mentally, as I matched their pace for several miles, but just couldn't catch up. Then there were small groups of riders together for the rest of the day. I ended up riding a lap or three with comrade Josh. We were caught by the 4s (who started 10 minutes or so ahead of us) just before their finish and the road guards erroneously waved us off to the side. We sat there for a few minutes until we saw another group of 5s roll by. We chased back on to them and found comrade Roy among them. Then we finished the last lap mostly together.
 
It was a tough, tough time. I don't think I could have stayed with the front group without the crash anyway, but it was nice to get out and put in a good effort and--maybe more importantly for me--not quit. At this point, I feel like I'm right on the edge of ability. If everything is smooth, and I make good decisions, I can be in the mix until the end. But I'm not strong enough to make up for chance or poor choices. I’m looking forward to the Carl Dolan race in a few weeks.

-michael