Covered Bridge Series, Peninsula, Ohio, April 19, 2009
From CRCycling
4/5 Race
By Kevin
In spite of gray skies and a chance of rain, a large field turned out for the first Covered Bridge Race of 2009. This course was last used in 2007. The race was canceled in 2008 due to bad road conditions. There were at least 30 riders in the 4/5 field and several teams were well represented, particularly Stark Velo, Snakebite, and CRC which had Al, Mike, Chris, Max, and me. The temperature at start time was in the low to mid 50s and there was no noticeable wind.
The Ira road course is a little more than 5 miles around. It climbs sharply at the northwest corner, then gradually descends to parallel the river. Since the road is open to traffic, the yellow line rule was in effect. That severely limits the opportunities to move up in the field. It was only possible to move up on the corners, or to cheat along the left or right side of the field.
The race rolled out with a neutral start from the school parking lot to the start/finish line near the first sharp climb. I was lined up near the front of the field and followed my typical westlake warmup schedule. I did an easy lap around the course prior to the race which got the blood flowing, and then did a hard effort at the beginning of the race to get my heart going at race pace. I went over the first climb at a decent pace, chasing after one of the young riders from RGF. I pushed the pace over the second climb, but didn't intend to sit on the front.
A small group had formed after the hard left turn at the bottom of the hill, and I was feeling the pressure of the race! It looked like the field might split permanently and I was hanging on for dear life at the back of the first group as we descended toward the river. The group reformed again and the pace moderated a little.
There was a prime on the first lap. A rider went clear and nobody seemed eager to chase. The field settled down to a sane pace for the second lap. I basically yo-yoed as we went around the course. I'd drift back over the top of the hill, then work my way back to the front on the rest of the course.
On the third (or was it the fourth?) lap, a rider from Stark Velo either broke his chain or dropped it. I was following Al up the right side of the field, and the guy with the chain problem was just on our left. We squirted around without incident. Somehow, riders on the left of the field scattered away from the chain problem, and a crash took out a few people, including Chris. I only saw the crash out of the corner of my eye. Later, I heard Max say that Chris had crashed. We saw him by the side of the road as we came around for the next lap. Luckily he only suffered minor cuts and scrapes, though his bike seems to have sustained some damage. Unfortunately, one rider left in an ambulance with a likely broken collar bone. (Best wishes for a quick recovery!)
On the bell lap, I pushed too hard to get toward the front of the field as we hit the climb and blew up hugely. I wasn't able to chase back on and just soft pedaled to the finish. Al and Max continued on with the field. I was toast! Next week, I'll have to take it a little easier on the climb, even if I slip back in the field a little. I also need to work on my descending skills. I was a little too nervous on the descent to the turn. I think I'll need to adjust my saddle position so my weight is more evenly balanced on the bike. I feel a little unstable.
All in all, I can't complain about the race. It was a tough fitness test. It's clear that I'm closer to being able to compete more comfortably in a race with some climbing and very hard anaerobic efforts.
By Chris
I am taking this series as more for good training instead of going for a placing so I stay safe this spring and use it to gauge my fitness. Well that plan worked out well. Half way through the race I had a rider get pushed out and crashed bad. With no where to go, I rode/leaped over him and fell off. I was fine but my bike suffered some damage to the bars and front wheel. The rider that went down in front of me didn't appear so lucky, looked like a broken collarbone. So now 3 wrecks already this spring. That is the same amount of crashes since I started cycling seriously in '07. Presque Isle TT next weekend, hopefully I can stay on the TT bike. I will be back to do the last race at Covered Bridge on May 3rd.
By Al
This is a good training race at a distance of 26+ miles and no major climbing. The course is a bit technical though, with some short but steep grades, a hairpin curve, and a curvy downhill. The field was rather large, about 40 or so. The usual teams were well represented, including CRC with 5 (Kevin, Chris, Max, Mike and me). My own goal for this race was to do better than I have the past two times, and I succeeded in hanging with the pack for 4+ of 5 laps, getting dropped at the turn from Everett onto Riverview, about 2.5 miles from the finish. Finished about a minute behind, so this was my best effort here (maybe one day I will measure success by placings instead of when I get dropped!). Max was our best finisher, arriving with the lead group. Chris was taken out in a crash (luckily not hurt too bad) caused by someone dropping their chain going up the Riverview hill. The rest of us were somewhere in between. Data: Avg speed 23.5 mph; Avg heart rate 154; Total time 1:07:34; Distance 26.5 miles; Avg Power 198 Watts, Avg Normalized Power 240 Watts.
