Sequim aka Tour de Dung

Review Sequim #1: March 9, 2008

I wanted to review this course because I plan on racing it next weekend. It is relatively flat with a few rollers and a possibility of strong winds. It was not bad on March 9th, the wind was not a factor over the 48 miles for the cat 4/5 race.

After the neutral roll out, I shot out and jumped on the front of the pack to be the first one into the corners. Early races with cat 4/5 combined get pretty hairy. My goal was to get out and just spin at or around AT which I estimate to be 178 bpm. I wanted to reach the last turn before the 5 mile straight and then sit up. People were content with me on the front. We averaged 23 mph for the first lap and I led approximately 2/3 of the way. After the turn down the straight away, a guy would shoot off the front (Carter Subaru) and we would let him hang and come back - his first road race he said. A group of 5 or 6 would try to break, I would jump on the back wheel and the break would abandon. I kept forgetting about the rumble strip, nailed it straight on and look back - oh well. By the time we reached the finish line for the end of lap 1 it was time to rest.

Beginning of lap 2, resting taking it easy up the rollers. I was mid-way back in the pack by the time we reached the hard left for the 30-35 mph descent and I found myself over the fog line before the hard right 2 miles into lap 2. I just relaxed and let whomever wanted to cut me off go and then worked my way back up. By mile 4 I was back on the head of the pack spinning along up the gradual climb to mile 6. Same thing along the straight away: I policed the front until the right hand turn to the finish line. I let things go at that point and guys started jockeying for position. No big deal. Somewhere near the finish line, there were people walking on the road and a recreational cyclist. Crash. Guys went down, bikes were everywhere. We re-grouped by the neutral roll-out section.

Lap 3, a break started in the rollers just after the parking lot. One of my teammates was tacked on to the back and I started a gradual chase, gaining momentum down the 30-35mph descent, when one of my other teammates yelled out "don't chase down your own man". I sat up 2 miles into lap 3 and chatted with my teammates for a while. Wow it is a lot easier to hang out in the pack! I watched my heart rate come down 10-20bpm. I putzed around the pack a bit, played on some of the rollers. Sequim is a great course to maneuver around from the back of the pack to the front and back again. No one seemed interested in organising a true chase. We did not form a pace line or anything. People were just content to pedal along. Meanwhile, the break was succeeding.

In lap 4, I relegated myself to the back of the pack. Not a very wise move. At about 3 miles into the last lap - Crash. We could smell rubber. I made it through but hung back to mack sure my teammate made it back on safely. No problem for him. I did notice however, that I had two small cramps forming in the middle of my quads both left and right legs. (Rectus femoris). This happens when I do not spend enough time on my race bike. When I ride my rain/commuter bike and neglect the race bike. I have purposely ridden my race bike on the road and trainer much more over the last two weeks to correct this. I also need to set my rain bike to the same measurements as my race bike.

Back to the race. Yes, I felt my legs cramping a bit and yes people were rattled from the crashes, but we were going to finish this race as a pack finish. It was more challenging moving up through the pack during the last 5 miles. I managed to get from the back of the pack to the middle by the 200m mark. I could not stand and sprint effectively with my legs cramping so I just broke left and spun it up to try and stay safe. Two of my teammates rode my wheel to sling-shot ahead of me at the line - pack finish 21 or 22.

So what do I do next time to get better results? I will race at Sequim #2. I will place in the top ten this time, but how? I am getting to know some of the riders in cat 4. Some I remember from cat 5 races last year. There are some pretty solid riders out there and good people. I would rather take my chances with 10 guys in a break than 65 in the pack next Saturday. Personally, I would love to see some organization in the pack. I really don't care who I work with, we are all cat 4/5 racers. If possible, work with a pace line to keep the pace up from the get go, say 26mph. I'm not going to pull forever and a day again without results, but I will work and work hard - it's only 48 miles! It is funny to see a pace line form and have one guy ruin it by gapping everyone - relax, keep it smooth. I really don't know what I am going to do until race day.