Ah, summer! The warm, sunny, humid days. The smell of freshly-cut grass. The sound of air conditioners running and birds squawking singing in the morning.
And the joys of mid-week racing!
With the longer summer days, racing is no longer limited to the weekends and you can race after work during the week. Bad day at the office? Put your agression into your pedals. It's the perfect antidote to a stressful day.
Long-time readers know about my love for the summer series at Rentschler Field (aka The Rent'). This Tuesday night series is a staple of our summer (I say "our" since Mrs. SOC picks me up from work and comes with me to every race) and we enjoy the community there as much as the racing.
But for a couple of seasons now, I've heard of another mid-week race series over at one of my favorite tracks - Ninigret Park. The NBX Summer Training Series takes place every Wednesday night in Charlelstown, RI and is the perfect back-up plan if a Rent' race is cancelled. "Perfect" for me, at least, since Ninigret happens to be just about the exact same distance from my house as the Rent'. But I work practically next door to the Rent', and it's closer/more convenient for Mr. & Mrs. SDC, so we've always just raced Tuesday night.
Until this week.
For some reason - good legs, high spirits, the thrill of summer - but most likely the fact that SO many other races are being cancelled (and there are NONE around here this weekend), I decided I wanted to try racing Ninigret on Wednesday too. When I raced with SDC on Sunday, I asked if he wanted to join me and when he said yes, it was a lock. In addition to Sunday, we'd race Tuesday and Wednesday night too - THREE times this week! I'd have to go back to crazy hours at work on Thursday, so I'd be getting in some good racing just in time.
I've already posted my report from Sunday's race. Here's what happened Tuesday and Wednesday night...
This week's Race at the Rent' followed the now-typical script: Fairly hard from the start, a few attacks go in the first few laps, an early break establishes, field thinks it's too early, gap increases, folks try to bridge/chase, (most) folks fail.
EXPO had Todd in the break of 5(?). I thought he might like some help, so when a blank-kit strongman tried to bridge, I got on his wheel. We traded pulls for 4-5 laps and (like last week) I/we got within about 75 meters, then (like last week) I ran out of steam. Once we reintegrated into the pack, the break was good and gone - almost 1/2 a lap ahead at that point.
They eventually lapped us and the racing was still lively - a lot more "elasticity" than usual (go 33, slow to 20, go 30, slow to 25, repeat ad nauseum to nausea) - but fun as always. All it was for me at that point was an experiment to see how many hard efforts I could still recover from and not get dropped.
Our team's hopes were all riding on Todd, and he didn't disappoint, sprinting from the break to win.
After such a hard race, I have to admit I became a little less enthusiastic about racing the next night at Ninigret. The fatigue from SDC's long weekend drive to/from Wisconsin(!) was settling in his legs and he became a little ambivalent as well. We left the Rent' with plans to "play it by ear."
The next day's weather was GORGEOUS - perfect for racing - and while my legs were a little tired, they still felt ok. I hoped that SDC would still want to race and, by mid-afternoon, his text came through - "..heading out to Ninigret..." Time to pack up!
While we use my truck during the early spring Bethel races, when the warm weather comes we use the Mrs.' convertible. Every Tuesday night you'll see us, with my bike & wheels in the trunk(!)
(pic courtesy SDC)
But since the Mrs had other plans Wednesday, I had to use the "backup team car"
But it's the one with all the cool (to me anyway) graphics. So I headed east to Ninigret with a beautiful sun at my back.
Got to the track in plenty of time and struck up a conversation with Wayne(?) in the car next to me, asking about the lay of the land, rules of the race, etc. It sounded pretty informal: "A" racers could ride (not race/participate) in the "B" race to warmup; no numbers required; 6 pack primes.
As suggested, I warmed up in the "B" race behind a sea of yellow & red Arc-En-Ciel kits, looking over at the lot each lap for SDC's arrival. With 5 minutes left in the B race, I went back to the truck to top up bottles and have a GU - SDC still not in sight. Checked my phone and there was a text - "running v late" Uh, yeah. I'd say. %^) He pulled in literally as they were calling the "A" racers to the line. I sent him to register (thankfully there was no number to pin) and I tried to get his bike set up.
Believe it or not (or, if you actually know SDC and when he lines up at his own races, you're not surprised), he got to the line just as the officials were finishing their pre-race chat.
And, just like that, we were off!
I've done well here before, most recently this past April. While I had no illusions of repeating that 8 lap solo effort, given the apparent low-key nature of this mid-week version (even the first couple of laps are neutral), I was confident I could try some efforts or at least hang on.
But it turned out, despite it's being a mid-week training series, that guys were taking this race seriously. Ninigret's always flat, fast and windy and this night was no exception. But having nothing to lose, and nothing to prove (and no other race for a while), I continued my experiment to see how often I could go hard and recover.
Unfortunately, in one sense, I had a total repeat of a typical Tuesday night. There were attacks from the start, I chased a lot of them, but I missed the break that stuck. Following-up up on a strategic tip from SDC, I tried a different approach to bridging up, but ended up falling short again. The 5 man break pulled away.
Fortunately, there were a couple of field primes that I could try my legs on. I won the first one I contested, gapping the field with my jump and sprint. I left the next prime too long. A CCB racer attacked with 1/2 a lap to go and we strung out to chase. I was third wheel in the chase and after we came around the final corner, I launched. I was going really hard and almost caught CCB, but didn't quite. Got 2nd.
Another prime was kind of embarrasing. I guess I wasn't paying attention because 1/2 way through the lap, I was wondering why the pace increased. It really got strung out and fast. I was about 20 guys back as the pointy end of the pack rounded the final corner and I got my explanation on the speed: SDC was drilling it at the front, down in his Cane Creek bars, stringing things out. "Why's he going so fast?" I thought he might be doing one of his Hail Mary pulls, right before pulling out of the race. I moved up a bit after the corner and when a couple of guys did (what I thought was) a HUGE attack, I went with them. I just hung on, thinking this was a pretty impressive chase effort.
Then we crossed the line and those two guys sat up. WHAT?! Oh. That must've been a prime. NOW I know why SDC did what he did. Ooops!
No worries though, I was having a blast. At one point when I was at the front - in what I considered a high compliment - local legend Paul Curley came rolling up and said, "Let's ride." We traded pulls off the front for a bit, but eventually the pack caught us. Given the pace Paul was setting though, I wasn't too disappointed about that.
It took me a while to figure out how much of the race we had left, so I wasn't sure how to gauge my effort at first. The lap cards in this race were a little confusing - during the first half of the race, they go up. But then, after 21 laps, they start going down again - for a total of 42 laps.
As usual in a crit, with 5 laps to go, things started to get interesting. One of the guys from the 5 man break got shelled (driven by the relentless pace of Bill Yabroudy) and what was left of the break had lapped us and reintegrated into the field. So, for all intents and purposes, things were setting up for a field sprint (albeit for 5th place).
I LOVE field sprints.
Given the windy conditions, there were a number of places on the track where the pack would slow down a bit and I did my best to move up in these section, keeping my speed steady whenever the pack slowed in the headwind.
By the bell lap, I was about 3rd wheel and things were strung out. I didn't know whether I was far back enough, worried that I'd be dumped into the wind too early. But there were two Arc-En-Ciel guys in front of me and when the first of them got to the front, he drilled it for almost the whole lap.
After the final corner, he pulled off. I didn't wait, jumping immediately and sprinting for all I was worth (or at least all I had left). I felt great, going as hard as I could in my 53x11 (rare for me to bottom out my gear, actually).
And I won the field sprint. 5th place over all.
When I went to the booth to see what I won, they said I got three things (that's when I discovered the primes pay 2 deep). My 2nd place prime got me a 6 pack, and I don't drink beer. "No worries - want a bag of coffee?" YES! The prime I won got me a $15 gift certificate for a RoadID. And 5th place was the last in the money - $10. It only cost $10 to race, so that night I raced for free.
I'm now back to crazy hours at work, due to our state's budget agreement falling apart, so I'm glad I got to do this race when I could. I sure hope it won't be the last time I'm able to make it down to the Rhode Island shore and experience some more mid-week racing joy.
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