+1 for the Core4 hype.
It’s a party all day at Wilson’s Orchard (Start/Finish). So even if you can’t bring the bike, the fam needs a break to eat and relax at some point right?
Great race @MI-XC! Wife and I came in slower than she wanted but had a ton of fun in the monsoon. She got age group second so was a good result for her and I had fun pulling her along. Replaced my brakes and derailleur pulleys and my bike is now ready for more 
Nice, glad ya’ll survived and had a good race considering the conditions!
Did Hyde Park Blast in Cincinnati on Saturday. As is tradition for this race it was 90 degrees and humid as all get out. Goal was to stay near the front since it gets pretty surge-y and hard to recover in the heat. Did not stick to the plan. Not confident enough in some of the turns or to dive bomb corners and don’t have the sharp elbows to prevent other people from doing it. But hey - last year I got pulled in 15 minutes and this year managed to stay with the field.
That’s good progress and a great attitude to have.
If you want some constructive criticism, I see some things in your video.
Welp…looks like I am out for Dustbowl 100.
My college buddies want to get together that week…it is the 40th anniversary of our Freshman year, so a get-together is kinda mandatory.
And yes, that means I am old…to put it in perspective, this would be the same as some WWII vets getting together in 1984 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of D-Day. 
Construct away man. Most of the reason why I bother recording these is to see all the stupid mistakes I made. Some of them I recognize in the moment and others slip by while I’m sitting at 184 bpm, lol. But if a 38 year old cat 3 can’t take criticism I should quit now, haha.
OK. On the whole, two main areas for improvement.
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You seem uncountable riding close to anyone. I get being a bit conservative especially in a crit, but the gaps on all sides are excessive. Do you do big group rides often? It doesn’t look like it. That’s a key way to hone your pack riding skills. I’ll not derail this thread with all the details of assertive pack riding.
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There’s a famous Gretzky quote “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” It means you need to anticipate what’s about to happen and act ahead of time. You can’t skate faster than the puck, so you’ll always be chasing it unless you plan to intercept it. For cycling, this means knowing that the group is going to slow and speed up in a predictable manner in certain situations.
For example, what will happen after every turn is that the pile up front slow down the least for sharp turns, while those behind have to slow down more for the turn then accelerate more to catch back on to those in front that are already up to speed. If you just ride reactively, you’ll be braking harder than needed before each turn and having to hammer after each turn. And the effect is worse the further back you are in the pack. No bueno.
If instead you ride proactively, you’ll do one of a few things:
- Be near the front so that there’s not much of this happening to you
-Ease up heading to the corner so that you need to brake less, or take an alternate line that lets you carry speed more (careful you don’t chop someone’s wheel or vice versa)
-“Tail Gun” which is carrying speed from behind and passing people by carrying your momentum better and it may require a decent amount of well used power
-Get back on the power ASAP, like at the apex of the turn. This takes care not to clip a pedal. -Accelerate slower. Don’t try to get back on the wheel immediately, which might take 800W. Close the gap slower using 500W. You’ll save energy. Doubly true if there’s another turn coming up in the next 20 seconds.
-However, there’s times where spending more energy has a great return on investment. You also have to recognize and act on those.
At 1:40 you come out of a turn and are near other riders. Then you basically coast the whole ~10 second straight and let a gap open in front of you right before a long, wide turn. So you ended up losing speed right where the pack is going to carry speed the most. Now you’re far off the back at 1:55 and having to put out 600W to not fall further behind. I see similar things throughout the video.
Your first skill to master in a race or spicy ride should be to move up in the pack anytime people are coasting or braking. That will end up using the least power to stay with the group. After that you can worry about using your matches to maximum effect. But if you don’t master using little energy first, your matches will all be burnt before you have a chance.
Quick update…I e-mailed the Marc O’Leary, the race organizer and told him I was out for this race and that he could give my slot to someone on the waitlist.
Didn’t ask for a deferral, a refund or anything…just wanted to let him know he could get someone in off the waitlist.
Just received and e-mail back form him and he is giving me a credit for next year’s race…
I was fully expecting and prepared to eat the entry (it was only $100)…excellent customer service from Marc.
If you didn’t sign up for the race this year, or have never done it before, do it next year. Great course, great organizer. Every interaction I have had with them has been top-notch.
He seems to run this race very well
Marc is a great guy and he puts together a very awesome and well organized event!
< 2 weeks to The Lawless in Michigan. I am definitely representing the overweight, undertrained, bad-decision division, but I am doing it anyway.
Man … I forgot about this race! That’s why I love this thread …
I might have to think about this one, I might be up for the 24 — although I haven’t done any mountain biking yet this summer 
So all those people who called me “good for nothing” were wrong! See you there, I’m camping Saturday night
Here’s the deets on some primo, Midwestern gravel.
lol 
Racing in Indy tomorrow. This appears to be a painful decision now that I see the start list.