Race Report: Quad Cross 2010 Elites: WWRMMD? He'd Pull

Special Thanks to Pedal Power Photography for providing images (excepting Kyle's sad face). Thanks.

First off, I like this race. Its very local (Cary and I prerode the course the night before the race). It is a nice challenging course with lots of tight turns and some good power sections. There are even a few places that require a bit of finesse. Its essentially a grass crit punctuated with a few tricky sections. It is a well organized grassroots event that has built on its popularity every year. I consider this the season opener.

My race is fairly easy to sum up. I got a front row start. Didn't pay attention, and the whistle caught me unawares. I got jostled off my bike as I was clipping in, nearly crashed. I was close to last coming into the hole shot.




I fought back for a few places, battled with Colin Murphy,





a troubled David Wilcox (I think he had some sort of mishap that relegated him to the scrum),






Cort Cramer and a troubled Mike Rowell.

I was feeling pretty good and felt like a lot of the race had passed (felt like more than half). So I decided to look up at the lap cards on the next lap. 8 to go. I was crushed. Colin says that I audibly cracked inside. I am pretty sure that I cursed, maybe gesticulated wildly to indicate disbelief. Either way, I knew I was screwed, but not for the normal reasons.

My lower back has been troubling me all week. Saturday, I put in a few efforts, which did not help matters. The morning of Quad, I was even questioning if I could race. But the prospect of putting the screws to an under trained Cary Fridrich (yeah, I now realize that I underestimated The Mantis),





new dad Colin Murphy (that didn't really go my way either)

and triathlete Cort Cramer (this was going OK, but I realize that this is a temporary state of affairs) was too much to leave on the table. Anyway, my back was spasming slightly for the whole race. The spasms built to a crescendo of agony which left me unable to turn the pedals.

It actually broke down entirely on the back section as I was powering up the little hill after the loose corner through the sand. I was on my way to closing down a small gap I had allowed to open between the Colin/Wilcox group, as was my plan since I seemed to be taking this section faster than Colin (I'd let a gap open before this section and shut it down easily in it).





I was feeling good, having taken the sandy corner well and was on my way to shutting the gap down before the curb.

My back completely locked up. I slow pedaled to the start/finish. I pulled. I had no choice. I was unable to actually keep a bicycle moving even at back of the pack cat 4 speed. In fact, I was unable to pedal up the little hill after the pavement. I walked to the officials stooped over in agony. I asked the officials to DNF me.

I am filled with shame. If I had scored a decent result, Colin Reuter inferred that he would have comped my race fee at The Night Weasels Cometh, aka Usurper of October 6th's Wednesday Night SuperPrestige. $38 out the window. I may be forced to raise the WNSP "donation" in order to recoup this shameful loss.

I was not able to "Reap" anyone, as Kyle Smith has become quite fond of saying. Speaking of which, Da Kylah crashed pretty hard and broke some bones and will be off the bike for a few weeks, send him your regards.



He likes wine. And fine foods. And attractive ladies. Bring these things to him.

Even though I am extremely uncomfortable (I am not allowed to take effective painkillers) and the doctor ordered me off the bike at least I didn't actually break anything, so I shouldn't complain.

As for the fast folks. This dude put the screws to Adam Myerson and pulled off the win:

Big congratulations to Dylan and Pedro's.

This guy:

While I raced with Wissell last year and beat him occasionally, I never saw him during our race. He must have gotten faster.

The Mantis finished in the money. God Damn It! Coach, altitude tent and EPO have all moved to the top of the agenda!

Am I the 2010 Elite Grim Reaper?

Please listen to THIS as you read the post.

Everyone who races cross has their own personal Grim Reaper. This is the rider who you always beat by a healthy margin. They are usually a friend and/or rival. If you have a shitty race, for instance you go out too hard and implode, the Grim Reaper catches you and passes you, confirming your worst fears. The rotation of Grim Reapers change, as people's fitness and abilities wax and wane season to season.

For 2008, Kyle Smith and Yash Katsumi were my Grim Reapers. If I was losing places and I could see either of these guys gaining on me, I knew I was porked. This brings up a good point: merely the danger of getting caught by the Grim Reaper signals trouble. Once they appear on the opposing straightaway, you've confirmed your suckage on the day.

What makes this rider your Grim Reaper is the fact that when you see them gaining on you, you will dig in extra hard to stay away since you believe that you should ALWAYS finish in front of them. Paradoxically, the Grim Reaper has to have enough ability to be a threat. The Grim Reaper doesn't suck. But they generally finish several places behind you.

I got faster for 2009, so my Grim Reapers changed. Most of the time I was finishing top 10 in B races, Jeff Bramhall and Nick Mashburn became my Grim Reapers. These are both fast, capable cyclists, who were regularly finishing in the top 20. For 2009, they became my personal Grim Reapers because I was finishing in front of them, but they were fast enough to be a threat. Nick, was an obvious choice because of our long standing rivalry and Jeff because of our friendship (I hope Jeff isn't pissed that I outing the fact that I consider him a friend). While I got some great results in 2009, I also had some wild swings and both and Jeff romped me in one race or another.

I know that I served as Grim Reaper for Colin Murphy and Cary Fridrich in 2010. On the flipside, both Colin and Cary were riders who I made it a point to try to catch every race. I got each of them at least once. It was quite satisfying

I upgraded to elites. I will be racing against many of my faster friends. The other day at Wells I was talking to Colin Reuter and Kevin Sweeney and Colin told me that I am the 2o1o Grim Reaper. He inferred that other riders had also told him that I was their Grim Reaper too. The quote is "You are the Ryan Kelly for 2010."

Everyone knows that I am not as fit this year as I was last year. So I am not sure how to take this. Is Rooter pointing out that my impending suckage has been noted by the back of the elite pack? Or is he saying that I will probably finish behind him and his cohort but I am strong enough to be a threat when conditions are right? Either way, I accept my role as Grim Reaper and I plan on doing my best to bury as many of those motherfuckers as possible.

This leaves the question: who will be my Grim Reaper? Easy. Tim Johnson. If I am the very back of the elite field, I will be the first to get lapped.

Race Report: Wells Ave A Race--Cat 4's Have Their Own Race, Why Are They Cluttering Up the A?

I am not currently fit. This post is not a series of excuses about why I failed to win any primes, get in a break or contest the final sprint. The reason that none of these things happened is due to my lack of fitness. Even with a lack of fitness, I have the requisite skills to effectively participate in an A race at Wells Avenue. No everyone can say this truthfully.

Over the course of this season (and perhaps before that) there has been a quietly running debate about whether cat 4's should be allowed to race the A race on days where there is a seperate B race. The logic for excluding the cat 4's is that they lack the experience and as a result, likely the bike handling and pack skills to deal with the rigors of A race. The logic for allowing them to race the A is to allow the cat 4's the opportunity to "race up" and improve fitness and to get a preview of what a race may look like when and if they upgrade.

I made a few observations today that color my position in this matter.

1. Dirty bikes on the starting line. Generally this indicates a lack of care/maintenance. Racers in Belgium are forbidden to start if their bikes are dirty. It is considered a lack of respect for the sport. A bucket, a set of brushes and some dishsoap will set you back less then a new tire; cleaning a bike with the proper tools (see the former) takes less than 15 minutes. "I didn't have time" is a load of horseshit.
2. Swerving to avoid ridable obstacles. There are potholes on the course. They are in the same spot every lap. A rider with experience will correct their line well before a big pothole in order to avoid endangering other riders with a squirrelly lane change. I lost count of how many squirrelly swerves I saw today. It is safer to ride over a big pothole than to swerve in a pack. Worst case scenario is that you damage your rear wheel; but you are on your training wheels, right?
3. Non Bib Shorts. I am not sure what this means, but it means something. I saw lots of ass crack today and I am not happy about it. Racers wear bibs.
4. Braking in the corners. Riders were grabbing handfuls of brake IN the corners. Firstly, none of the corners at Wells require braking. Secondly, if you failto brake before the corner, braking IN it will only make your problems worse. I am not even mentioning what illogical braking does to the riders who are unfortunate enough to be on the braker's wheel.
5. Gaps opening up for no reason. Apparently tempo pace was too fast for some of the cat 4's. While this does not endanger anyone, its annoying. If you are not fit enough to hold a wheel at tempo pace, you are in the wrong race.
6. Unshaved legs. Again, bicycle racers shave their legs. There are notable exceptions of highly successful racers with hairleg, but they are few and far between.
7. Not holding a line. I observed a number of riders who were drifting, seemingly out of control for no apparent reason. One or two of them almost took me out. They were endangering everyone.
8. Huge teams that do no work. If you enter a race with 15+ dudes, you should have a goal. If none of you are fit enough to DO ANYTHING, then you are in the wrong race.

Originally, I took no position in this debate. While I was aware that the A race was a bit sketchier when it was combined with the B, I never really thought much about it. I just took note of the sketchy wheels and stayed ahead of them. When gaps opened up because of a flagging cat 4; I closed them. When a cat 4 swerved wildly to avoid a very rideable manhole cover; I gently asked the rider to hold his line (explaining the reason if I wasn't shouted down). I ignored the affronts to our sport.

My position has changed. Cat 4's (and less fit 3's) have their own race at Wells. When the race is combined, I'll deal with it, as I respect and understand BRC's reasoning behind combining fields. When there is a separate B race, cat 4's should be restricted to that race. Higher category riders have earned their upgrades based on experience, time served and results garnered. It is unfair to allow beginners to endanger higher category riders unnecessarily. Higher category riders allow less room when passing and generally ride much more tightly packed together. There is much less margin for error. When a bunch of higher cat riders are riding together it is not a problem. Add a beginner into a hotly contested race...problems.

If cat 4's insist that they should be allowed to race the A, there is nothing stopping them from requesting an upgrade from cat 4 to 3. If they claim that the B is too easy, then they should prove it by winning the race (and some other races as well) and upgrading. Furthermore, I have raced the B, it is not easy. Even today, Paul Curly his SpinArts teammate got a 5 man break going with Mike Wissell and stayed away. I watched them, it did not look easy for anyone.

I hope that the Boston Road Club considers barring cat 4's from the A race. It would be unfortunate if we had to have another series of devastating crashes in order to get their attention.