2010 Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race Cat. 4

This is the third time that I have done the Fitchburg Longjo stage race and it was by far my best performance at this event. That being said I still feel as if I left something to be desired out there on the road and would have liked to have finished in the top 20 on GC. This race is the oldest and probably the biggest stage race in New England, and I believe its one of the oldest if not the oldest continually run stage race in the country where amateurs can compete. Regardless its a great race, its close to Boston and its a good way to spend the July 4th weekend while everyone else is just eating too much and watching explosions in the sky.

The following is a stage by stage breakdown

Stage 1 – Circuit race, 3.1 mile course, 8 laps, 55th out of 74 starters, 55th out of 73 on GC after the stage.

I put pretty much all of my emphasis on this day and unfortunately I just couldn’t deliver. I was hoping for some magical repeat of the CT Stage Race circuit race that I broke away on and won but it was not in the cards today. The course was the same as always, it starts on a somewhat narrow road by Fitchburg State College, pretty crappy Massachusetts road with bumps and cracks, followed by a hard left 90 degree turn a slight downhill into a hard right turn into a soft left that opens up into about 0.75 mile stretch of road that is covered by trees and wide but completely messed up with cracks and potholes. In three years of doing this race they have never fixed any of the roads in this area, although the Fitchburg Fire Department does have a new spiffy building near the downtown area, go figure. At the end of this stretch is a hard 120 degree right hand turn into the longest stretch of road on the course, about 1.5 miles that is at first flat with more longitudinal cracks followed by a super fast descent, with speeds up to 35mph easily. The road narrows near the end with cones on the left, don’t ask me why because we had the whole road to ourselves. At the end of this stretch is a hard 90 degree right turn into the “hill” for the day. This section is deceivingly long and steep. It starts out semi-steep with more crappy road conditions, a definite small chain ring power climb, but half way through when you think its over it kicks up again, this time more steeply and the pain and suffering continues for another couple of hundred meters until you pass through the finish line area and make a hard 90 degree right turn to continue on the course.

My goal for today was to somehow replicate the CT Stage Race, so I wanted to try and line up early, which all of the BRCers did, we were first in line until they made up roll down to the actual start, which caused lots of fast riding for a couple of blocks, [stupid setup if you ask me], but we were all lined up either first or second row. I then wanted to try and stay near the front. This did not happen as I was out the back as soon as the crappy roads started and I thought I was going to lose my balance a few times. I got a decent warmup riding the course with Mat Sweda a couple of times but I find the starts to races like this too fast for me sometimes. My next objective was to draft if at all for a few laps, move up near laps 4 to 5 and launch an attack on lap 6 or 7 either after the hill if I was in position or on the back stretch of long roads when guys tended to coast a little to catch their breaths. Pretty much none of this worked. I was feeling tired after going over the hill first two times and I was struggling to catch back on each time when the speed picked up on the flatter sections. I started the day with arm warmers and a vest because it was 60 degrees at the start but it quickly got to about 70 by lap 2 or 3 so I was melting. I relaxed a little and calmed down around lap 4 and 5 and I thought about trying my attack seeing as how I had no shot to win the race or place well other than that. On lap 6 I was in the back of the peloton on the tree lined section and as we turned onto the main stretch of road that was super fast I decided that it was time to go. After making the turn I got back to the group and went for it. I was going all out and topped about 35 or 36 mph and saw that no one ws coming after me. Unfortunately I also realized that because the road was going downhill now they weren’t really trying and still were not that far away from me. A Threshold rider jumped out of the group and bridged up to me. We were about 500 meters from the turn to go up the hill and that was when the group caught us. I knew that that was my one chance and it didn’t work as I just didn’t have the legs today. I tried another unsuccessful attack on lap 7 in the same spot that lasted even less in terms of time and distance. By this point I was shelled. I barely got over the hill on lap 7 and near the back end of the course on lap 8 I was off the back with Mat. Ben and Jaime were up ahead and later I found out that Ben had jumped with a few other riders taking a well deserved and awesome 5th place on the day. I can say that I tried at least but it wasn’t meant to be.

Stage 2 – Road Race 11 mile course, 4 laps, 24th out of 66 starters, 26th on GC out of 65

The road race was the same course as well from previous years, an 11 mile loop around the Mt. Watchusett area, complete with rollers, a super fast descent on Princeton Road, and the long drags to and on Princeton Road. I was not expecting much today and just wanted to finish with the main group as usual this year. This course always makes me nervous because of the super fast descents, one mini one followed by a road that guys easily hit 50mph on. I almost hit 50mph and I was braking and sitting up part of the way on each lap. I felt pretty decent at the start after getting good sleep, stretching, using the foam roller and drinking plenty of liquids so I liked my chances of staying with the group. I lined up near the back of the group and found myself riding in the back as usual for the first lap. There were no good sections to pass guys until the long climbs at the end of the course near the finish line area. We were all together going through the finish area on lap 1 and I was starting to feel a little tired going through the feed zone but I was resolute to stay with the group. As we approached the first descent section I made a quick sign of the cross as I am known to do and I just wanted there to be no crashes. Of course this did not come true. I was dangling off the back as I saw first one rider careen off the road into the guard rail, his bike flying into the air taking out several other riders. Ben and Jamie were in front of this but unfortunately Mat went down pretty hard, I had just a second to yell out after him and see that he was thankfully sitting up so apparently not seriously injured. In the end he had a busted rear derailleur and was unfortunately not able to finish the stage. This made me even more nervous, especially with the really fast descent coming up. I hung back and let the group go ahead of me, all the while literally praying that no one else went down. Of coruse this meant that I had to chase when the road flattened out, not easy to do when guys are still cruising near 40mph. Thankfully I caught on and rested with the pack going into lap 2. Lap 2 was more of the same, hang in the back, climb within myself when I needed to, grab a neutral water bottle in the feed zone, sort of freak out Mat’s girlfriend/wife? by telling her that Mat went down, and then pray going into the descents. I got through lap 2 and lap 3 okay, more chasing of course near the end, which by the last lap almost left me detached. At this point we had lost several riders to the crash and several more to cracking so there was a group of around 30 or so riders going to the finish line. About 5k from the finish we start to overtake a group of juniors riders. I’m hanging off the back of the group as I pass part of their long strung out group when all of a sudden another crash occurs, some said it was a junior rider swining out to take the wheel of a Cat. 4 guy, some said it was due to a Green Line velo rider who was riding on his top tube in a descent hitting a bump and flying off his bike, regardless guys went down, one of them being Jamie who rode into and subsequently fell on top of another rider before hitting the deck. I had time to brake and avoid the mess and ride back to the group, yelling back after Jamie as I rode past him to see if he was okay. I told Ben that now Jamie had gone down but I was pretty sure that he fell on top of someone so hopefully he would be okay. By now I was tired and nervous and just wanted the race to be over. I passed a few guys on the final climbs to the finish line and was about 30 seconds down from the winner so I felt pretty good and lucky about my day. Mat and Jamie were not seriously hurt which I was most thankful for.

Stage 3 – Time Trial almost 9 miles, 4.5 miles out and back, 46th out of 62 starters, 26th out of 62 on GC at the end of the day.

Not much to say here, I was not on a TT bike and as I have reported before doing a TT in a stage race on a normal bike without the full setup is an exercise in futility. I tried my best despite my legs being tired and despite the fact that I got a good 35 minute warm up in on nearby roads and I still finished 46th on the day. The course was the same as before, 4.5 miles out with a couple of slight rollers that definitely hurt the legs and some of the worst conditioned roads that I have ever raced on. There was also a lot of wind, especially by an open water section that was a mixture of headwinds and crosswinds which certainly did not help. At the end of the course was a full 180 U-turn followed by more winds, crappy roads and rollers. I logged a 22:55 and was gassed at the end, but Jamie rode valiantly with his fall and Ben absolutely crushed it on his borrowed TT rig, finishing 2nd on the day and putting himself into 2nd on GC. Note to self – borrow TT rig next time.

Stage 4 – Criterium in downtown Fitchburg, 22 laps for 20 miles, finished 48th out of 62 starters and 27th on GC out of 60 riders for the full stage race.

The goal for today was literally to just finish the final day crit for the first time in the three years that I have done this race. The previous two times I was pulled about half way through and given a time but it left a bad taste in my mouth at having never officially finished the race. It was super hot at our start, about 95 degrees or so at 12:50pm so I was drinking a tremendous amount of water before the race. I was also happy because I figured guys would be more tired because they don’t like the heat which would give me a chance to hang on. The course was also the same as before, we start at the finish line, climb a slight amount of road, turn left on ourselves in a wide 120 degree switchback, plunging us into the back end of the course which is a completely messed up stretch of road with all manner of cracks and bumps and holes that guys easily hit 30 to 35mph on. At the end of this stretch there is one hard 90 degree left turn, followed by another one a block later that puts us on the stretch of road up to the finish. This section is uphill, not steep but steep enough at a fast pace to hurt the legs and it continues going slightly uphill through the finish line until the left hand switchback turn. I was lined up near the back, as usual and I was mentally prepared, and I was hoping physically prepared for punishing myself to just finish with the group. As usual the race started pretty fast and after going through the first turn I was wondering if my day might end super early. I caught back on through the downhill fast section, each time through this area sitting off the back and pushing a bit and then coasting as the group slowed to turn into the first left hand turn. I was sure that a crash would happen at some point on this section or through the turn, especially because both turns had a manhole cover in the middle of the turn that was not flush with the road, but thankfully no such crash occurred. I sat on the back through the turns and then got into the drops and powered up the hill to maintain contact with the group, at which point I would sit on someone’s wheel until the next turn. It was not the most efficient style of riding because I should have been on someone’s wheel during the fast section too but I’m still getting through my nervousness when I race so I thought it was an improvement from not drafting at all which I have done before. I calmed down at about lap 4 and felt comfortable until about lap 11 when the heat and my tired legs started to hurt more and more. I followed the same strategy of riding someone’s wheel up the climb and then pushing to catch back on through the fast section but this expenditure of energy was catching up with me by laps 15 and 16. A few riders had been dropped so I was still last man in the group but I was determined to finally finish this race. At around lap 18 or so I saw Jamie and Ben start to move toward the middle of the group, they had been nearer to the back and me, and I wished that I could help them seeing as how Ben wanted to preserve his 2nd place and maybe even get a time bonus to take over the GC standings but I was cooked and just hangind on at this point. Upon hearing the bell lap I was relieved that the pain was almost over and I only slowed down a bit after starting the climb up to the finish, knowing that I was succssful in finishing with the group and finishing the race, although I ended up offiicially 29 seconds back of the winner I was still happy. I spent some time congratulating Jamie and Ben and some of the other riders who I knew and I drank as much water as I could find.

Overall I thouht that this was my best stage race performance so far, even with my win on stage 2 earlier in the season at CT because this race is over 4 days and includes my least favorite discipline, the criterium race. I’ve now done 4 Fitchburgs, 2 CT Stage races, 1 Killington and 1 Green Mountain and I can feel good that I’ve been steadily improving with my performance as opposed to going backward. Three years ago I was 84th on GC, last year I was 68th and this year I was 27th so maybe one day I can get inside the top 10. Jamie rode well despite his unfortunate crash, without that he would have been probably been in the top 20 for sure, maybe even top 15, and Ben rode a fantastic race, 5th in the circuit race, 2nd on the TT and 3rd overall.

Lessons learned -

1. Borrow a TT bike for my next stage race
2. Don’t put too much emphasis on one race or stage of a race, it could overwhelm me mentally and cause me to get too worked up about performing well, ultimately leading to a bad performance.
3. Continue to work on drafting, I felt some improvement at this race but I know I can get much better in this department.
4. Avoid junior riders and guys who ride on their top tubes in Cat. 4 races.