Jefferson Cup 2008 race report - v2

Jefferson Cup Road Race
Cat 1/2/3
March 30, 2008

TAKE 2

I wrote a long report from Jefferson Cup, and inadvertently deleted it during cutting and pasting. That was probably for the best. But I'm going to re-write it (trying to adhere to my original thought process), because, well... I've been mentioned on GamJams.net, and Mike writes that I have a BH factor of ZERO. So... I feel I have to explain myself.

The Jefferson Cup race has always had an allure for many. And every year we all say, "this year I'm going to put in some serious miles, and do them in the mountains! This is MY YEAR!!!" And some people, apparently, actually adhere to this.

I can't figure it out, though- every February or so, hundreds of people (myself included) sign up to race near Charlottesville in late March, filling the races up quickly enough that you have to make the decision in February. The problem with this is that in February it's impossible to know what the weather in Charlottesville is going to do. It could be cold. It could rain. It could sleet. It could even snow. Or, it could be cold, rainy, sleeting, and snowing all at the same time.

Enter Jeff Cup 2008- I started heading to the race at 6am, and it's sleeting in Richmond. This does not bode well- the temperature an hour West of Richmond is usually a little colder. And it is. It's also raining with a mix of sleet and snow at 9am, when we're lining up to start the 70-mile, 10-lap race.

JH and I got to the race early enough to sign in, get dressed, put on the embrocation, and sit in the car as long as possible before getting the bikes off the car and getting on them, and really didn't do much at all about warming up the legs. It was an attempt to stay dry. This would turn out to be a futile effort.

We all lined up in our groups, and waited for the motos to lead us out to the course on the 2-mile neutral roll-out (which may as well have been part of the race- there was nothing neutral about it. I wasn't even in the big ring when the "neutral" pace got so high I got gapped. HA!) It was during this neutral section that there was enough road spray from the wheel in front of you that you had no way to avoid getting soaked.

Anyway, I thought I had dressed pretty appropriately, and for the most part I was right. The exceptions were my toes and my fingers. My face was pretty cold from the water, but your face doesn't interact with the bike, so it's only discomfort. The fingers, though... shifting and braking were both a little sketchy. This was a problem for two reasons: on a rolling course you tend to use your shifters and brakes a lot, and I'm not quite used to riding the full-carbon wheels with the SwisStop Yellow brake pads in the rain.

The course itself is pretty hard- lots of climbing, and most of the climbs are undulating with steep grades at the beginning, middle, or end. It's pretty hard to find a rhythm. Add the cold and the wet, and it's pretty miserable.

When we crossed the Start-Finish to start the race, I had a decent position in the middle of the peloton. I knew I wasn't going to be able to ride at the front, and I didn't want to ride at the back, so I was where I wanted to be. And I stayed there for the entire first lap, too. I didn't feel good during the first half of the lap (I will get a warm-up next year, even if it's snowing), but on the second half I started to feel okay, and even moved up a little at one point, putting myself into the top third of the peloton. I was even warm and had feeling in my extremities.

And then the second lap started... I was still somewhere near the middle, going up the first climb. I was able to power up the first steep climb and not lose much ground. We get a short break on the first climb- a short and fast descent that may be about 150 meters down at 35mph and a subsequent short steep climb that's probably 250 meters and rideable at about 20mph if you're on top of the gear. But... on the way down, I pulled on the brakes a little to clear the water off the rims, and then they heated up. And when they heat up, they get really sticky. I went from 35mph to about 25mph in about 5 meters, and found myself very quickly near the back of the group. And on the short steep on the other side, I was struggling to keep position. I was at my limit, and I was yo-yo-ing off the back, which meant I was doing more work than just about everyone else in the race, yet was unable to make any progress.

I managed to catch back on to the back of the group, though, and continued climbing along up to the first turn (which, I must add, sends you straight into another deceptively steep and long climb.) Being at the back, I was forced to take the turn quite slowly, and as I exited and the acceleration of everyone else came... I just had nothing left. I stood and pushed, but it was futile. I couldn't possibly make up the ground I'd lost, and so I settled in to a pace that was as comfortable as possible. I saw the tail end of the group on the following descent, but never could muster the energy to gain even 100m on them.

I continued to ride the course for another lap and a half, so I got in a total of 3 laps. Once my toes and fingers had again succumbed to the cold and wet, and I could almost hear the blood in them crystallizing, I decided to turn left at the bottom of the last hill and ride back to the car. It took me hours to finally warm back up, even though I sat in the car for over an hour, most of that time with it running and the heat cranked to its highest setting.

I write these reports for a couple of reasons. I write to document each race for my own reading- I can go back to a race last year by reading about it, and remember things like where the break went, or how I felt on a certain section. I write to entertain the few readers I have (family and friends, mostly). But most importantly, I write so I can learn from my mistakes.

Here is what I learned this year in Jeff Cup:

1. I need more early-season intensity, especially climbing (though, I must note that my season finished on December 14, whereas most of the people I race with ended theirs in September sometime. And while I can't expect to be on top form, I should at least be able to finish the race.)

2. Carbon rims and spongy pads have variable effectiveness dependent on heat. Especially when wet.

3. Being in the back on rolling hills is the worst place to be, and will end your day very early.

4. I do not anticipate my gearing very well. I realised too many times, and much too late, that I was still in my big ring on the major climbs. I should have shifted before the bottom of the hill, and gotten on top of a gear. But I got stuck and didn't have enough power to overcome the gear I was in, and couldn't shift down but to my 52-23 once the hill got steep and acceleration was needed.

There you have it. The re-written (and actually longer) race report from this year's JCRR. I'd like to thank (and curse) Mike at GamJams.net for inspiring me to try again.