2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

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JonB
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2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by JonB » Sun May 04, 2014 8:35 pm

This weekend Stephan, Mick, ARuss, myself, and Curtis ventured up to Comox for the Tsolum River Road Race. This is a really fun race - the organizers are super casual, the course is fun, and it is a chance to race against some peeps who don't usually attend the VCLs. So as not to ruin my reputation for attacking off the gun, I attacked off the gun. One of the Vypers (sp?) kids went with me but he didn't seem too happy to be in the break so when it looked like the group was making some ground on us I attacked him and road solo for a while. But not for long - Alex Hui jumped across to make it a two man show. Funny enough, Alex and I were in a similar position last year at this race. Anyway, we rolled it for a while until 1/2 way through the first lap when I looked back to see Mick coming across by himself. He made it and we were off. We started to put some distance on the group in the first lap and I believe it was the second or third lap along the start/finish stretch that Alex unhooked. It was just Mick and myself. What followed was among the most painful 2 hrs I have experienced on the bike. We nearly got out of sight but on the longer straight stretches I could still catch a glimpse of the peloton. One more person and we would have been gold, but I think it was a bit too long of a race for just the two of us to be up there by ourselves the whole time. I heard after the race that we had a maximum of 2 minutes at one point. At around 3 laps to go I was starting to cramp and the group seemed to be getting closer. With 2 laps to go we had gained a bit of ground but by 1 lap to go they were less than a minute down. We made it 3/4 of the way through the last lap (~80/83km) when we finally got caught...now I know how Eugene must have felt on Wednesday! Amazingly, Mick still had something left in the tank to launch another counter attack but that got brought back by the finish stretch. I had nothing left for the sprint but I believe Curtis finished top 5 and Stephan top 10? All in all, a pretty epic day on the bike. I'd be interested to hear what was going on back in the Peloton...Stephane, Andrew?

Eugenehahn
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Re: 2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by Eugenehahn » Mon May 05, 2014 5:29 am

It's better to burn out then fade away!! Great race Jon and Mick. Too bad about the finale.

aruss
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Re: 2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by aruss » Mon May 05, 2014 7:48 am

Jon and Mick were beasts out there on Sunday.

In the bunch it was quite tactical. After a bit of blocking and slowing up the group I noticed that this was actually counter-productive to the break and the 'Wheelers' name. Frustrating the heck out of the group made them angry and they proceeded to work harder. A better strategy i felt was to sit on the front and ride steady, not hard, but steady enough to keep them content when in actual fact the break progressively padded their lead.

With about 25k to go things started to heat up. Mostly Steve and the a couple efforts from the Head Vyper (king Cobra). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1UO6X0KRjc . Stephane and I brought these back successfully and quickly each time to minimize the damage to the gap. Like Jon said, one man or 5k less and it was in the bag.

Overall a fun time and nice country roads. I'd be interested in rocking the BC TT champs up there in June if anyone else is a go.

Tom
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Re: 2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by Tom » Mon May 05, 2014 12:21 pm

Some good realizations there ARuss. Sometimes just sitting in third wheel waiting for the break to come back is better than being a dick and blocking, or worse, going slow through the corners. Racing hard is good, but racing dirty is just dirty. If the break were to come back early, would you guys have been ready to attack?

Good to hear you guys raced hard and went for it! Good job!

stephane
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Re: 2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by stephane » Mon May 05, 2014 12:57 pm

The OBB crew in Tsolum consisted of Mick, JonB, Andrew Russell, Kayla V, me, and I guess we can count Curtis S. who drove us up and was wearing a hybrid kit that included some black and gold.
Although we didn't really discuss tactics before the race, as soon as Jon got away, and then Mick shortly thereafter, it seemed pretty evident what Andrew and I had to do. We sat on the front of the race and dictated the pace, sometimes actively blocking and at other times riding at a steady enough tempo to keep the masses happy. Curtis did his fair share of pulls too. Occasionally, we had a paceline going at the front, and I would take my sweet time time pulling through. It meant a bit more time with my face in the wind, but it was all with the goal of helping Mick and Jon stay away as long as possible. As Andrew mentioned, it did cause some frustration among a few individuals, but a lot of that was not directed at us, but rather at other riders who wouldn't go around us and work to chase. If other riders were getting frustrated and working harder then we must have been doing a good job! The pace was A-ish (39.1 km/h over 2 and bit hours), but the feel of the race was decidedly B-ish: Everyone was going super-slow through the corners, and I was surprised at how often our basic - and obvious - slowing/blocking tactic seemed to compel riders to surge to the front, get a gap, look back and then slowly come back to the group. In the last 2 laps, Andrew and I responded to any attacks but there were no really hard digs, and despite their herculean effort, Mick and Jon were caught with about 1 lap to go. I told Jon to get on my wheel for a lead-out at the finish, but he told me to just go. I think I finished top 10, but for some reason they only counted the top 8 finishers, so I guess we'll never know... Although they didn't win the race, Mick and Jon both deserve the "prix de la combativité" for the day, no question.

JonB
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Re: 2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by JonB » Mon May 05, 2014 9:48 pm

Thanks man. Hats off to you both for playing the team card.

Good luck this Wednesday boys - Stephane are you racing A? I think you're ready.

kaylavandermolen
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Re: 2014 Tsolum River Road Race Report

Post by kaylavandermolen » Thu May 08, 2014 6:40 am

It hasn't been mentioned yet so I'll be the one to complain... RAIN. RAIN RAIN AND MORE RAIN.
This was a wet race, especially when your 5' and your face is level with the tire spray ahead of you. I was ill prepared and forgot a bag at home which housed my arm warmers, fleece and knee warmers so I raced summer style with a rain slick hiked up so my number was visible.
I underestimated the difficulty of this road race. The group broke around the 2nd lap and I was stuck behind about 4 riders on the hill where it happened. I said to myself/out loud, I'm unsure.. 'no!this isn't happening' and weaved through the soft peddlers to grab a wheel and I was happy I did. I stuck with the lead pack of 7 which turned to 6 which turned to 5. I sucked wheel on the 2nd to last lap just hoping to conserve energy then fell off the back on the bell lap. I TT'd to the finish. The top female Gillian Ellsay is incredibly strong and agressive. I did not expect her to take the win for the 5 women who raced B's.
I watched Jon and Mick get eaten up by the pack on their last lap,so tragic but made for an interesting topic of discussion at our lunch stop in Nanaimo on the way home. Yay, mexican food. Not so good for recovery.

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