To Wheels Epic Sports Performance BCC

[michaeljaffray]

Barry-Roubaix 2015

Wow!  What an epic ride!  

The race started at 5:00 pm as I ran out of work and headed down the 401 to pick up Eric at the carpool lot north of Aylmer.  Once we got the equipment transferred it was a fun ride to Lansing, MI to the Ramada to spend the night.  Only a few pit stops along the way allowed us to get there in good time to talk about a brief race strategy and goals for race day.  It’s always tough to fall asleep in a hotel, but the addition of drunk parents of an under 18 baseball team (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michigan-Jets-18U-Travel-Baseball-Team/139800376057677?sk=timeline) stumbling and hiccupping to their rooms added an extra dynamic I wasn’t quite prepared for.  I’ve since added ear plugs to my overnight bag.  Regardless, we awoke Saturday morning tired but ready to race!  The hotels complimentary breakfast was an added bonus.  Ask Marc J. how the eggs were. I’m sure he’s perfected the recipe by now!  We were on the road to Hastings, MI by 7am and arrived just before 8am.  Race packets were picked up, stars were dropped, and we immediately headed for coffee and a parking lot to sit and relax and get ready.  Race time quickly approached, so once we were all kitted up, we did a small warm-up in -10 Celsius air.  It was cold.  Having first elected for regular five finger gloves, I made a last minute decision to grab my lobster mitts as the others corralled in the 62 mile open race line.  Time to race!

The wait was cold. Very cold.  We chatted about storing a honey pot full of gels and fantasized how nice it would be if we were Whinny the Poo and could scoop a mitt-full of gel out of our jersey pockets to eat during a race.  Obviously, that approach is much easier than having to open single serving race sachets.  And then it was time to RACE!! 10:00am on the nose, the race was off. Thank goodness, because we were getting cold!  

(Jeff Schiller leading the group out of the gate - http://www.jhkunnenphoto.com/p686654710/h40a4261d#h40a4294b)

We rolled through Hastings as a group which, on a whole, had the usual pre-race jitters and fury for quite some time.  The first real selection, aside from the one rider solo up the road, happened at the Sager Road left turn.  5 km before, Mike Aston rolled beside me and said “some bottle necks are coming up”.  We were prepared, but couldn’t anticipate the general chaos that was about to hit.  Riders went everywhere.  If you weren’t near the front, you were out the back.  After being caught behind a crash, Mike Aston had to unclip and then was forced to turn a monster gear up a climb.  I was right behind him, with both feet unclipped, so I gave him a little push to get the momentum going.  I then ran up the hill and began chasing.  I did my best ‘cross remount and continued to chase.  Up the road, I saw Eric Hueston on the ground, falling victim to the foot deep ruts in the road and sand. I weaved between each of the three choices of a line trying to get back to Mike Aston as he powered through the trail and climbs.  Jeff Schiller and Marco Li were still up the road, and unfortunately, Marc Joanisse was also caught behind some of the madness.  

(Marc Joanisse on the single track - http://www.snowymountainphotography.com/Sports/Cyclocross/2015-Cyclocross/Barry-Roubaix-2015/i-gdpNXF6/A)

I continued to chase, and latched on to a group working to catch Mike Aston and his group up the road.  Aston was pulling, and dropping guys out of his group every minute.  My group rotated, and clawed back more and more time, and thanks to the help of a few other strong riders, we made the bridge to Mike Aston’s group and then continued along back to the main group.  A quick check saw Schiller and Li still rolling near the front of the group.  Time to recover.  A few punchy climbs created another small split which I had to chase back from, and I started feeling the impact of the hard work. I was cramping all over!  I was eating gels, my frozen Clif bars, and drinking lots, but nothing seemed to help.  I decided to rest up and stay safe and conserve energy and see if I could help Schiller in any way.  Well, my body wasn’t responding, and I kept catching myself doing the math in my head of how many KM’s we had left to race which is a personal sign that I was toast.  After the last gravel section, I moved closer to the front and tried to watch for any moves.  Schiller attacked the group on the final climb, but was immediately covered, and I heard some comments from the guys ahead that they were not interested in giving Jeff any daylight.  A sprint for second was how this would play out.  The last 5 km were very messy.  No crashes (that I’m aware of) but the fact that we had to weave around riders from the other categories who weren’t at all racing created some unpredictable road traffic and more nervous riders contesting sprint.  I had no legs, so the best I could do is hang on.  I saw Jeff and the leaders powering through the corners, covering late flyer attempts, and make a mad dash for the line while narrowly missing unsuspecting casual cyclists at the same time. Jeff managed a 7th place finish, and I rolled in 4 seconds behind them for 24th.  

(Jeff Schiller going for the line - https://www.flickr.com/photos/kbrowerphotos/16952165106/in/album-72157651240938920/lightbox/)

Mike Aston and Marco Li finished 31st and 32nd, Eric Hueston 39th and Marc Joanisse 69th.

(Eric Hueston crossing the line - http://www.robmeenderingphotography.com/Iceman-2014/2015-BarryRoubaix-Post-Race-Pa/i-5PFWD4B/A)

Overall, it was an amazing race which tested the body and the mind.  There’s no hiding in the gravel!  

Congratulations to all the To Wheels Epic Sports Performance BCC riders (Jeff Schiller, Marco Li, Marc Joanisse, Eric Hueston, Mike Aston, and Michael Jaffray) to the organizers of Barry-Roubaix, and to the Town of Hastings, MI for a fantastic race. 

Here’s a review of the race with results from Cyclocross Magazine:  http://www.cxmagazine.com/2015-barry-roubaix-gravel-race-full-results-interview-woodring-lombardo

And here's my strava data: https://www.strava.com/activities/275404065

[michaeljaffray]

Birmingham Bike Festival Cat 3 Criterium Race Report

Tactically speaking, my pre-race conversation with Jeff Schiller and Mike Aston was short.  “What would you guys do if you were me?”  The answer: “follow wheels”.  Additional conversations in the car ride included attacking the field after a prime, staying close to the front, and staying aero to save the watts.   As it turns out, all the advice was extremely useful.  At the start line, I was slightly nervous.  I was a little behind schedule and I was rushed to get kitted up, fueled up, and warmed up.  After a final warm up lap of the course after the Cat 4. Racers finished, I took a mental stock of the teams in the field.  Most had 2 or 3 members, but the dominant team was Team O2. 

The race began and I did my best to stay near the front.  As attacks began, I was quickly absorbed into mid pack and heard Jeff Schiller yelling from the sidelines to move up!  “Yes, good idea” I thought “less chance of crashing”.  As I moved up through the group, I heard the commissionaire announce a prime for the next lap – 14 minutes into the race.  I think it was for some beer, which made me thirsty and reminded me to take a drink to stay hydrated.  As the first group of guys sprinted to the line, I decided to take Schiller’s advice and kept the pace high and rolled off the front hard with a rider from Team O2 (Brian Wachlarz) and another rider from Metromint Cycling (Huy Tran) jumping onto my wheel as the rest of the sprinters sat up to recover from the prime attempt.  “We’ve got a gap!” I heard from behind, so I kept the power going and dug hard into the next corner.  I checked my shoulder, flicked the elbow for my breakaway companions to come through, and looked at the gap.  It looked pretty good, and there was a group of another two guys chasing to get on.  Wow, 5 guys could work well together and hold a gap!  We were joined by the chasers on the next lap, and we kept motoring around the course for a few laps before three were dropped. Huy Tran explained after the race that one of the guys let a gap open on Brian and I and then they couldn’t close it.  Huy would later attack the group for a third place finish!  A strong finish considering all the work he did in the race. 

I checked the lap timer as we rolled through the start/finish.  20 minutes had passed.  That’s when it hit me that Brian and I needed to basically do a two man TT for the next 40 min.  We agreed to work together as we both knew that no matter the outcome of our sprint, he would be crowned the Michigan Cat 3 State Champion and get the State champ jersey.  We alternated pulls, with me being the bigger rider taking a lot of the windy sections while staying as aero and low as possible and him charging up the slight false flat.  At one alternation, he told me he has 4 other teammates in the race who will hopefully be helping us by blocking the group!  Perfect! 

(Here I am not following Jeff's advice to stay aero)

We managed to bring the gap up to 30 seconds.  The announcer was cheering for us, every lap we heard Brian’s friends cheering, it was really motivating me to keep going.  We can do this!  10 laps to go.  28 second gap.  Quick math in my head, I thought there was no way the group was going to take 3 seconds per lap from us.  Confidence was building.   5 laps to go.  26 second gap.  As Brian pulled through I yelled “Mr. State Champion, this is ours to lose!  We can make it!”.  We hammered the final laps.  As we approached the final turn, I thought I had a bit more punch left in my legs so I opened an early sprint.  I did a quick check and saw Brian was behind by a couple of seconds and raised my arms to celebrate.  First place.  It felt good.  Looking at the results, I figured a bit of cat and mouse went on in the main group, as I finished 42 seconds ahead of the pack with Brian 2 seconds behind me.  Huy Tran took 3rd place as he solo’d off the front for a 5 second lead.  All in all, it was a great race.  It sure does pay to take a chance by being aggressive and having a bit of luck on your side!

Special thanks to Jeff Schiller and Mike Aston for the sideline motivational shouting and to my wife for letting me race with the boys while she had to stay at home caring for our 3 week old daughter all day!

Strava File:  http://www.strava.com/activities/185005505

Strava Activity Playback: http://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/#185005505,1B4FC3E9BQuIywULCesFC4oDBgtvEAYLqjEGC+5SBgtnjAYL7I4GCxi5Bgs=

[michaeljaffray]

Grey County Road Race Report

This is my first race report, so bare with me as I try to rehash the details of a really fun race.

As an E3 racer, our Grey County Road Race (#GCRR) took place on a sunny Saturday afternoon on the 10th of May. Weather was looking good (especially compared to last years Muskoka Race which took place on the same weekend and had riders drop out as they were threatened with hypothermia!) although there was a strong gusty wind out of the west. Knowing the final and decisive climb up Scenic Caves Road was going to be a big effort, the thought of increasing the difficulty with a head wind really made me worry!

The buzz around the start line was all about the climb. Most of us Ontario racers dream of being awesome climbers, but there really isn’t the terrain to train on. I would go so far as saying Scenic Caves Road is one of the most difficult climbs in Ontario. To feature it as a “summit” finish in an O-Cup race is brilliant and leaves us with the question “why wasn’t this done sooner?” Having spent a few years in Wasaga Beach and Collingwood, albeit before I shaved my legs and clothed myself in Lycra, I was familiar with the area. Any time I come up north to visit my family, I make it a point, if there are enough points in the Bank of Wife, to go ride the roads around Blue Mountain. I love the area and love how cycling friendly the community is. Having said that, my nerves were surprisingly calm at the start line. I looked around and knew whose wheels I wanted to follow - William Laurie being one of them as he’s been a dominant racer in our category this year.

The race started with a neutral start, which always throws me off as it never “feels” neutralized. Once we got the green light to race, all hell broke loose.

Well, not really. It was actually kind of boring for the first few 20-30 km. nothing much happened on the front as we climbed up Pretty River, battled the head winds, and powered across the undulations of Grey County. Nobody seemed eager to attack and when someone did go, they were immediately chased down. It seemed like the Juniors wanted the race to be decided on the final climb. There was an “oh shit” moment - during the feed zone I mistakenly thought the pace would lull slightly as people found their bottles and fuel for the remainder of the race. Boy was I wrong. The pack exploded up the climb and strung the field right out. I was caught off guard and found the climb quite a burden. That feeling of snake bites in my calves started to appear and I knew I might be in big trouble. I needed food! I had lots in my pockets so I started eating and TT’ing back to the group. Having almost choked on my Clif Bar a few times, I finally made it back to the group with a few juniors in tow. I kept my hydration going and eating when I could. It was at that point I realized someone was up the road. Was it Aaron Hamill of the Waterloo Cycling Club? He was very active on the front and I thought the pack may have let their guard down and allowed him to slip away. I looked around. Nope, still three Waterloo Jerseys in the pack. So I ask James Keezer. He thinks it was the Real Deal racer Larbi Benhabib. He asks the best question I heard all day: “you want to attack with me and bridge to him?” My response was a big Hell Ya! So I move to the right of the pack and as soon as I do, almost like magic, the pack opened up and a clear path to break out of appeared. I didn’t hesitate. I sprint out of the group and see from the corner of my eye that another rider went on the left. I thought James was on my wheel, but that maybe he saw a different opportunity and went to the left. As I settle down from my sprint, I latch on the wheel in front and realize it’s Willam Laurie of Holiday Inn (Calgary Airport). Nice! I check behind and my wheel is empty. Where was James? (Turns out he got boxed in right when I attacked). Willam and I proceeded to ride, swapping turns at the front, and it was clear he was the stronger rider as I kept getting dropped on the climbs. I’m assuming he let up on the flats knowing it was better to have a companion to get to the finish line. We continued to work together and raced down Grey Road 19. We could see Larbi ahead of us and we passed a spectator who yelled “20 SECONDS GAP!” Bless the spectators who come to watch a race with a stop watch! We pressed on. I checked back a few times and noticed a few guys trying to bridge to us. Nice! More help! Willam and I did not let up on our pace, yet the two man second chase caught us as we approached the climb. It was James Keezer and Quinton Disera! I was happy they joined us as I started to get the nagging feeling of cramping in my my calves and hamstrings again. I started eating. Gels, another Clif bar. I emptied my pockets into my mouth.

As we turned onto Blue Mountain Road, the head wind was back and we were all over the road. I yelled out “we have to work together! Let’s attack each other on the climb!” We all fell into a nice pack and started to rotate the line. It was awesome. I’ve never been in a break that had this much potential to stick. We rounded the round about and caught and passed an exhausted Larbi just as the tarmac started to go up hill. Kudos for the big solo breakaway! My plan: go up the hill at threshold. My legs were starting to hurt bad so I didn’t want to go too far into the red and really screw things up. I got dropped. The trio went up the road as I battled the snakes that bit my legs every time I turned over the pedals.  I hate cramps.  As I climbed in my own little box of hurt, the only thoughts running through my head were "keep turning the pedals" and "don't get passed".  Suddenly, the food started to kick in.  The cramps were easing up.  I kept pushing.  I looked back, two juniors were closing in fast.  Keep climbing, keep climbing.  The two juniors passed me, i tried to match their pace, but it was too much.  I settled back into my rhythm.  Finally, the last turn to the parking lot.  I pushed a bit harder and crested the climb.  I checked back, there were two pursuers trying to catch me.  

I pushed what I had left and sprinted for the line and finished 7th overall and 3rd in Category 3.  It was a tough race, but I look forward to it again next year!