First Masters Road Race - CHECK!

Newport Bridge from the Start/Finish

Let me first dispense with a recitation of facts which are typical of the casual bike racer this time of year:

• I haven't raced since August;
• (Before this past Sunday) I hadn't ridden my bike at all in over 2 weeks;
• It's been a long season (I've been racing since March) and I'm not very motivated to race.

With these facts playing on my mind, I went ahead and pre-registered for the Jamestown Road Race anyway.  Why?

• It is probably the most beautiful road race course in the region;
• With few substantial climbs, it is particularly suited to first-time road racers/crit racers;
• Despite its late position on the calendar (Columbus Day), the weather is usually good and it provides a nice punctuation mark to the end of the season;
• This would my first time racing with a new group of guys;
• Mrs. Suitcase loves this little taste of summer in the middle of October (full of sun, ocean, and bike racing).

And I couldn't disappoint Mrs. Suitcase now, could I?

I have to admit though, it was very tough to stay motivated to race this late in the year.  It didn't help that - Autumn being my favorite season - we spent most of Columbus Day Weekend listening to '40s music and roadtripping through the Berkshires looking at the foliage, drinking apple cider, and lusting after pumpkin pie.  These things do not mix well with bike racing.  Unless, of course, you race cyclocross (which I don't).

In fact, the only reason I got on my bike at all before yesterday's race was that I had just changed my chain and didn't think it advisable to race on an untested chain.  Good thing.  During my ride Sunday morning (pics to post tomorrow), I discovered that - while my chain hummed along nicely - I'd screwed up my rear mech adjustment.  Miraculously, I was able to dial it in perfectly for the race - my first time adjusting it so well.

So the bike was ready to go - I just didn't know whether *I* was.  On the way home from our trip Sunday night, I dusted off the "pre race" playlist and tried not to notice the strange juxtaposition of hard rock summer music and Autumn landscape.  It helped though.  By Monday morning I was ready to race - and had the pre-race jitters to prove it.

But this race was easier than most to enjoy rather than stress about.  It's so late that there aren't really any expectations.  It would be my first road race with the Masters group (includes Cat 1s and 2s), and only my second road race ever.  I figured finishing would be fine and if nothing else, it would be a nice - though hard - group ride around a beautiful island.

With such low expectations, I couldn't help but do better than expected.

 

The course is gently rolling with the biggest challenges being the wind, "cobbles" at the north end, and the "big" climb up Hamilton St. toward the end (it's that straight horizontal line 2/3 down the map).  The "cobbles" haven't changed since I raced here in 2006 - the road is still just as broken up and you have to watch for flying bottles.  This is where we got closest to crashing - somebody to the right over corrected and pushed a lot of us left.  But we all stayed upright.  The race had no crashes that I heard of.

Right after Hamilton (actually, a "left" since it's a left turn north at the top of the climb), you start heading downhill to the finish.  There's a long, sweeping S curve toward the bottom of the descent and at 200 meters to go, you get the entire road - no yellow line rule (lots of guys forget this).  The finish line itself is deceptively a long way off after the last turn, but it's always a fast finish - especially with a tail wind.

 

There were 66 starters in my race - but tons of people given all the races, all the racers and their families.  It's a big event in the area.

Here I am sporting my "stealth kit" of plain red jersey - distinguished only by the long-sleeve blue underlayer.  I'm raising my hand there in the middle of the pack (as always, you can click on the image to "imbiggin").

It was a chilly start, but I'd chosen the right amount of clothing (actually a little too warm by the end) and we warmed up fast.  The pace ramped up more slowly than in the typical crit, but with the yellow-line rule it was more difficult to move up.  By the time I got to the front, about 3/4 through the first lap, a 5 man break had gone up the road.  They got as much as 30 seconds away at one point.

Here's a photo of the break.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of photos.  Unlike a crit, where you have at least 20 - 30 chances to shoot as the racers go by, here you only have two chances.  There are only two laps around the island.  But if you're from the area and know where to position yourself, you can double your chances.  Fortunately friends Sarah and Jeff came to watch and - being from the area - stationed themselves right at the point where the course goes down to the lighthouse and then comes back up the major climb.

Lighthouse?  Yes - in quintessential New England fashion, this race goes around the "Beavertail" Lighthouse at the southwestern corner of the island.  You can see from the map where the lighthouse gets its name.  Unfortunately, none of us got pics yesterday of this highlight of the course, but click here for some from a ride we did a couple years ago.

Since I'd never done a Masters road race before, I didn't know how to gauge my effort.  I didn't want to blow up and get dropped, so once I'd learned there was a break up the road, I stayed sheltered hoping the other teams would bring it back.  Unfortunately, most of the others must have been thinking the same thing since the break ended up staying away.

But not for lack of trying by some of the teams - my teammates included.  There were five of us working together: Me, Esteban, TJ, David and Tom.  David, Esteban and TJ had good enough legs and tried to go with a few bridge attempts - David even closed one significant gap solo, and another with me assisting.  We all mostly leapfrogged each other in the pack and tried to make a race of it.  We got the break down to 20 seconds by the end, but it wasn't enough.

A few notable things during the course of the race:

• Maybe it was the course, the late season, or just luck, but it seems that road races - especially Masters road races - are very safe.  This was the safest I felt in any race this year, despite it being so long since I last raced.
• Deep-dish aero wheels are not that big an advantage when you have a strong cross wind.  In fact, racing across the causeway, I had to fight my front end a little.
• This was my longest race of the year.
• Consequently, this was the first time I needed to eat during a race.  It was probably not a good idea to try and get a GU out of my jersey pocket while wearing thick, full-fingered gloves (and riding handlebar-to-handlebar at 30mph).

While the pace had varied during most of the race, it predictably went into overdrive as we came down the last descent before the final climb.  We hit Hamilton fast and I went up quicker than I'd ever gone up it before, "pulled" by the pace of the other riders.  The guys that had been going so fast on the causeway just before the climb blew up and the biggest challenge - other than the climb itself, was threading through the blown up riders.

We hit the top and the 90 degree left turn and from that point on, nobody passed me.  I found a good wheel and followed him to about 200 meters to go, then realized he was holding me up - I could go faster.  So I came around him and - with the downhill and a slight tailwind - didn't bother to shelther behind anyone else.  I was going faster than them anyway.

Despite how impressive that all may sound, I'd obviously not worked hard enough early enough.  I started too far back and was the 24th guy over the line (but 19th after the 5 man break - ha!).  It was a fairly fast race though - 25.4 mph avg over 38 miles.

You can see the full results here and all the details from my Garmin (detailed route map, elevation profile, etc) here.

Not only was this my first Masters Road Race, it'll be my first attempt at "produced" video!  Yes, Mrs. Suitcase shot the raw video as she usually does but in addition to the usual finish line footage, she shot the start as well.  I tried putting them together.  I hope you like the result (hopefuly I'll get better at it).

There are a lot of things about the Jamestown Classic that make it a great race.  It's very well-organized and everything goes very smoothly.  They focus on Juniors and beginner racers, offering a number of different races for all levels (except, notably, Cat 1, 2, 3) - they even have a "fun" race that's not competitve.  Of course, as you can see from the pics, it's an absolutely stunning venue.

You also get to see friends, other racers you recognize from other races, and past and present teammates, one last time before the off season.  Like Mrs. Suitcase says, it's one last taste of summer right here in the middle of fall.  That's the best part of Jamestown for me.  Try it out for yourself and see if you don't agree.

One final view of the Newport Bridge.  For MANY more pics of the race, be sure to check out Sarah's blog here.  If you raced, you'll probably find a pic of yourself there...

Comments

[Debby (aka Mrs. Suitcase)]

Your video came out great!

Thanks for fixing the wobbly bits. :)

[Buttsy]

Well done and most imprtantly you stayed upright!

[ChrisB.]

Sorry I missed you. I didn't end up hanging around too long after my race.

My first Jamestown experience was fairly positive. I didn't have an extraordinary day, but I managed to finish more or less with the group in one of the sketchiest races I've ever been in.

I'm looking forward to next year when (hopefully) I can ride with the slightly less sketchy 4s!

[Guido]

Hey Chris,
I've been off the race radar for quite some time but thanks to blogs like yours and others never felt like I lost contact to the local race scene.
A sure thing to get my attention is if someone mentions aero. Anything aero for that matter. With that I feel like explaining that I differ with your comment on aero wheels and cross wind. Without doubt, they become a challenge to HANDLE in strong cross winds, but actually have their biggest ADVANTAGE in these situations. Most deep dish wheels have their minimum drag values actually at yaw angles between 10-15 degree. If you go 25 or 30 mph, your yaw angle is actually mostly much smaller. Think like "The faster you go, the more the wind comes from the front". So if you go fast you actually NEED some cross wind to really get the benefit from aero wheels. For the science geeks there is a very cool tool on the webpage of Hed wheels that calculates yaw angles based on riders speed and wind direction. They also have posted drag charts for their wheels and a comparison of Ardennes (non-aero) with Jets or Stingers nicely illustrates the increasing difference with larger wind angles. That's all theory, I know. In race situation handling matters as well. And in that regard it is important to get these cross wind experiences with aero wheels that you described so one can get used to it and take the full advantage of "free speed".
I still have to do Jamestown one day. It's not a holiday here where I work so that might have to wait. I hear many nice things about it.
Good luck with your new team!
and keep up the nice posts,
G