Carl Dolan 3/4
Too. Many. People.
I have new respect for the pro peloton. Either that or I just raced in the worst roller-derby-on-bikes ever. 98 riders were pre-registered, and at least 87 started. That's a lot of people for an amateur event with mixed-caliber riders, and it's forcing me to consider changing my focus to Masters races, where everybody realizes the critical importance of getting to work on Monday after the race.
It was fast at 26.2 mph average over 13 2-mile laps. The layout is glorious, with no real turns and enough space that centerline shouldn't really matter. The only real "elements" on the course are a downhill wide open turn that can easily be handled at 30 mph, and a 3/10 mile long 5% grade that levels out 300m before the finish. Oh and a bunch of choppy pavement marked with a ton of spraypaint.
That pavement ate some wheels. Almost every lap we were treated to the sound of crunching carbon & pinging spokes, but I only saw one flat during the race.
But the real issue was the group itself. A mass of riders that large produces enough draft that anybody could sit in all race long. And sitting in meant rolling around somewhere between 60th and 80th, making it hard to move around in the clump, and really hard to move forward significantly when the group stretched out. Basically the race was setting up very similarly to RIR last year, and I had no interest in repeating my exit from that one.
Lap by lap I worked my way to the outside and forward, and by the end of the 5th lap I was in the lead. For 3 laps I stayed in the top 5, working with the District Taco and NCVC guys to hold a decent pace. I figured if an attack were going to happen, it would be one of those teams at about the halfway point. But when I backed off just a hair to see if they would go, they did too. Nobody wanted to make anything happen, and I needed to cool my heart down a bit, so I rolled back into the group.
Though it worked from an energy-management perspective (heart-rate dropped from 180 to 155 almost instantly), I'd forgotten how sketchy the group was. I spent 2 laps pinned to the inside, then slowly worked my way backward and across to the outside again.
Almost as soon as I got there, I got wrecked. Some jackass who'd been cheating the centerline rule kept making moves on my outside, trying to move up into a space that didn't exist. When we got to a physical barrier to his progress, he jumped up and slammed his ass into my bars, pushing me over onto the guy on my right. Fortunately for me and EVERYONE ELSE IN THE DAMNED PELOTON, the guy to my right was much bigger and was able to support me while I got the bike back under me. Frankly it was absolutely amazing that I didn't hit the deck and wipe out the whole group, and then it was hard on the brakes for a turn that should never require brakes.
I lost a lot of positions through that maneuver, and it took until the penultimate lap to get back near the front. As we came through start/finish and down through a really wide relaxed bend, suddenly there's a dude track-left rolling easily 10 mph slower than the group. I got around him on the left as a turn-lane opened, but about 30 seconds later I heard a big ripping crunch sound behind me. I understand about 10 riders went down. No idea if it was because of the slower rider, but I imagine it was a factor.
Coming into the final downhill turn, the group got super dense. We exited the turn and I was out of gears. 53/11 and spinning over 110rpm. HOLY CRAP FAST: 42 mph. The group was onto the hill and riders were flinging themselves at it, but I'd been told to watch carefully for guys blowing up before the ground leveled out, so I worked a steady pace up, found a line, and rolled on power. The sprint was compromised with traffic, but sure enough: dudes were moving backwards en masse.
I kept it steady @ 400W until I saw a gap, then goosed it to 560 in a seated effort to keep a clean line between 2 other riders. The guy on the right, with less than 50' to the line, jumped out of the saddle and yawed into me as I passed between them, ripping my rear derailleur apart and shredding his wheel. We both stayed up to finish right around the 25% mark of finishers, but obviously it wasn't the kind of finish either of us wanted.
Looking back at data, the 3 laps that I sat on the front were among the fastest of the race. I need to either figure out how to make a break happen (tough to do without team support) or get more aggressive about getting back to the front for the final sprint. I think I was too patient going around the back side of the course on the final lap. There seems to be a general consensus that centerline rules go out the window at the end.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Thursday, April 12, 2018
So I bought a motorcycle...
My main vehicle is a truck. Specifically a 2009 Dodge RAM 1500 5.7L V8 with the big cab and the puny bed. I got it back in July 2010 when my old truck revealed it wasn't really up to the task of pulling a 24' enclosed trailer to the track 10+ times / year. She's a thirsty girl, with an average fuel economy of about 16 - 17 mpg. And she drinks mid-grade, 'cause she's classy like that.
3 months after I bought the truck, I went through a bit of a crisis about that fuel economy. I'd just started dating a girl who lived across state lines, and while the truck is exceptionally comfortable, the thought of burning up all that fuel was killing me. So I bought another Miata, and kept that until it got rear-ended last year. We won't talk about the period where I owned a 3rd car, because that was just foolishness.
But the Miata served a very specific purpose: keeping miles off the truck. Because while the truck is thirsty, it's also pretty expensive to maintain. Dodge fitted this 5.7L V8 with cylinder deactivation, so a spark-plug job isn't 8 plugs: it's 16. And with coil-on-plug design, that means 16 coils with the same service interval. The rear-most 2 plugs are almost impossible to reach, so I have the work done by pros, to the tune of ~$1300. Ouch. Then there are the tires. Truck tires aren't cheap, and they seem to only last about as long as the plugs & coils. So every 30K miles or so, I have about $2000 worth of service that has to be done, along with the routine 6Q of oil per change.
But the truck is also the only vehicle that can make dump runs. It's fully paid off. It's the only vehicle we own that can comfortably seat all 5 of us for vacations. It's not 4WD, but it can pull the tractor out of a hole or lug it to the shop. The truck is necessary. And while I could certainly do with *less* truck, finding an ideal trade (4WD, V6, huge cab, low miles, well-appointed) at an ideal price (just swap for my truck) is...well, it's pretty well impossible. Dodge trucks don't hold value. NBD: I own it; it's mine; it serves many many purposes in my life. Gotta have the truck.
The truck just crossed 70K miles a month ago. It's 4 years out from the last coil/plug service, and tires are about done. I have no Miatas (woot!), no secondary vehicles. I ride my bike. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. 18.5K miles over the past 2.7 years, including at least one to two days per week of commuting.
I'm used to life on two wheels. I know the busy streets, the quiet country roads, how to kit for cold and warm weather, and I even still had a bunch of safety gear from my car racing days (helmets, etc).
So I did some math and realized that while another Miata would not save me a penny, a motorcycle could shave $2000 from my annual budget. Mostly in fuel and insurance. A $2K drop is bigger than dropping cable, cutting out beer, whatever ideas we sometimes float to save a few bucks, so I figured I'd try it out.
A bit of research (actually just about 60 hours) narrowed the search down to either a Honda Rebel 250 or a Yamaha Virago XV250. I found one of the latter on Craigslist for $1200, bought it, took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class for $170, insured the bike for a year at $215, picked up a used touring 2-piece armor suit for $100, and I've been enjoying 60+ mpg ever since.
Well... "enjoying" might be too strong a word. I don't love it yet. I'm not sure I really even like it. On the bicycle, you dress for the weather and regulate your core temperature with effort. It's pretty easy, and even when you get it wrong, it's usually not so desperately wrong that you just want to have a wreck to justify a ride in a warm ambulance.
On the motorcycle, I've found myself buying clothes on the way to complete the journey. That is an abject failure of the intent of buying the thing.
So far I've put 700 miles on the bike, and to be fair: the weather hasn't been great. But the biggest inconvenience is all the effort it takes to get on and off the bike. The safety gear takes so long to put on and take off I actually have to leave almost as early as if I ride my bicycle. I realize it's all important, but dammit it's inconvenient as all get-out. I find myself wanting to take short-cuts, and that's usually my sign that I'm just not enjoying something. Boots, armor pants, sweater, ear plugs, balaclava, armor jacket, helmet, gloves. Lots of zippers, buttons, snaps, and velcro to deal with at both ends of the journey, twice a day. And most of the time I'm already melting inside just trying to get it all on.
I'm going to give it more time. I have better gloves now, and summer is fast approaching. If I can find a way to be happy with lighter kit (jeans & leather jacket) that I can take into the office, then I'll stick with it--sacrifice a bit of safety for vastly-improved comfort. That $2K is tough to ignore, but I have to enjoy my life, too.
3 months after I bought the truck, I went through a bit of a crisis about that fuel economy. I'd just started dating a girl who lived across state lines, and while the truck is exceptionally comfortable, the thought of burning up all that fuel was killing me. So I bought another Miata, and kept that until it got rear-ended last year. We won't talk about the period where I owned a 3rd car, because that was just foolishness.
But the Miata served a very specific purpose: keeping miles off the truck. Because while the truck is thirsty, it's also pretty expensive to maintain. Dodge fitted this 5.7L V8 with cylinder deactivation, so a spark-plug job isn't 8 plugs: it's 16. And with coil-on-plug design, that means 16 coils with the same service interval. The rear-most 2 plugs are almost impossible to reach, so I have the work done by pros, to the tune of ~$1300. Ouch. Then there are the tires. Truck tires aren't cheap, and they seem to only last about as long as the plugs & coils. So every 30K miles or so, I have about $2000 worth of service that has to be done, along with the routine 6Q of oil per change.
But the truck is also the only vehicle that can make dump runs. It's fully paid off. It's the only vehicle we own that can comfortably seat all 5 of us for vacations. It's not 4WD, but it can pull the tractor out of a hole or lug it to the shop. The truck is necessary. And while I could certainly do with *less* truck, finding an ideal trade (4WD, V6, huge cab, low miles, well-appointed) at an ideal price (just swap for my truck) is...well, it's pretty well impossible. Dodge trucks don't hold value. NBD: I own it; it's mine; it serves many many purposes in my life. Gotta have the truck.
The truck just crossed 70K miles a month ago. It's 4 years out from the last coil/plug service, and tires are about done. I have no Miatas (woot!), no secondary vehicles. I ride my bike. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. 18.5K miles over the past 2.7 years, including at least one to two days per week of commuting.
I'm used to life on two wheels. I know the busy streets, the quiet country roads, how to kit for cold and warm weather, and I even still had a bunch of safety gear from my car racing days (helmets, etc).
So I did some math and realized that while another Miata would not save me a penny, a motorcycle could shave $2000 from my annual budget. Mostly in fuel and insurance. A $2K drop is bigger than dropping cable, cutting out beer, whatever ideas we sometimes float to save a few bucks, so I figured I'd try it out.
A bit of research (actually just about 60 hours) narrowed the search down to either a Honda Rebel 250 or a Yamaha Virago XV250. I found one of the latter on Craigslist for $1200, bought it, took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class for $170, insured the bike for a year at $215, picked up a used touring 2-piece armor suit for $100, and I've been enjoying 60+ mpg ever since.
Well... "enjoying" might be too strong a word. I don't love it yet. I'm not sure I really even like it. On the bicycle, you dress for the weather and regulate your core temperature with effort. It's pretty easy, and even when you get it wrong, it's usually not so desperately wrong that you just want to have a wreck to justify a ride in a warm ambulance.
On the motorcycle, I've found myself buying clothes on the way to complete the journey. That is an abject failure of the intent of buying the thing.
So far I've put 700 miles on the bike, and to be fair: the weather hasn't been great. But the biggest inconvenience is all the effort it takes to get on and off the bike. The safety gear takes so long to put on and take off I actually have to leave almost as early as if I ride my bicycle. I realize it's all important, but dammit it's inconvenient as all get-out. I find myself wanting to take short-cuts, and that's usually my sign that I'm just not enjoying something. Boots, armor pants, sweater, ear plugs, balaclava, armor jacket, helmet, gloves. Lots of zippers, buttons, snaps, and velcro to deal with at both ends of the journey, twice a day. And most of the time I'm already melting inside just trying to get it all on.
I'm going to give it more time. I have better gloves now, and summer is fast approaching. If I can find a way to be happy with lighter kit (jeans & leather jacket) that I can take into the office, then I'll stick with it--sacrifice a bit of safety for vastly-improved comfort. That $2K is tough to ignore, but I have to enjoy my life, too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)