La Verne Grand Prix '22 (Cat 4/5 w/Commentary)

[@j.christophersmith5281]

776 here. It was a grueling yet fun race. Sure wish I had burned the watts to stay in the first third of the peloton. I think had we done that we could have held on. Riding from the back exposed our weaknesses (fitness). So once that gap opened up, we were toast. I too have limited time to train, but I will continue to stay at it. Hope to see you out there again. It was a pleasure working with you on the course. Thanks for posting the video.

[@railthegutter]

It was definitely a hard race and I agree on the weakness exposure (fitness) for sure. Also some bad decisions (exposing ourselves to the wind a bit too much perhaps?). Either way, glad we worked together at the end and at least we left with our skin still intact, learned a bit and we’ll definitely push for a better result next time! I’ll be out there next race and hope to see you out there as well! Thank you for commenting!

[@PabloDLH]

Hey great work out there! I was rider 730 in front of you for a bit, I was later also pulled off. This was such a hard race and I actually went to the Irvine GP cat 5 race a couples weeks after and finished in the top 20 there. Same person won the race there though lol

[@railthegutter]

Hey thanks for commenting! Yeah I spotted you. You were in front of me for a bit and I recall you moving in on the left and I caught your wheel for a bit, lol. If you ended up in the top 20 at Irvine GP congrats man! I wanted to go, but the costs would have been a bit too high (gas/entry/license), so I chose to end my season after LV GP. Honestly, I’m not surprised he was there and he won. What a lot of people don’t know is that guy isn’t just “some guy”. I did mention he owns a fitness center, but, he’s also a cyclist that originally came from Norway years ago and he held (or currently holds) a record for climbing distance. In my opinion, think he’s racing in the wrong category, lol. But good work out there hanging in the top bit of the group, you clearly did better than I ever have, and hopefully we get better results in the near future! 🤟🏻

[@rattila13]

Keep at it! I think you were strong enough to keep up with the main group, but you were effectively riding solo while you were in contact with them. If you worked with them as you did with the smaller group, you could have finished. Obviously more fitness is going to help, but efficiency is as important in these races. Anything above 10mph, you should be glued to the person's wheel in front of you. Good luck at the next one!

[@railthegutter]

I appreciate the tips! I know for sure my fitness was a lot better than in other races, but yeah it felt like I was riding solo a good amount of time which definitely didn’t help, lol. And it’s a little difficult to pick out a stable wheel in Cat 5, lol. But I for sure will remember this for future races! Thank you for commenting! 🤘🏻

[@CycoWarriorx]

It’s the 6th turn (I think) where you have that uneven pavement… hit it wrong, drop your chain, hit it hella wrong and you can get a bike skip which is even more dangerous… I love and hate this course at the same time… glad you finished safely - and yes it was very hot… people were bailing in the later races cause it was too hot…

[@railthegutter]

Yeah the 6th turn (last right hander)! Thank you for the clarification there. I should have mentioned that my bike literally bounced on that thing on the first two laps. Second one for sure made me wobble a bit. I share your view though, definitely a love/hate relationship with this course after this race, lol. I wasn’t there for the remaining races since I had to drive a ways, but I can understand why people would bail on the races, it was like 97-98 by like 11am? Crazy weather. Not sure if you were in this race or in the Cat 4 later on? I was dying for sure so my head wasn’t exactly on a swivel, lol.

[@kingly7946]

Good effort. You started at the back and basically stayed there. That first lap where it looked like everyone was soft pedaling, use that time to move up. You also were riding anyone's wheel, just kind of in your own space. Trying to use someone's draft as much as possible. Your cadence seemed high from. Watching your shadow, use those gears. Good luck next time, each race is a learning experience. 👍🏿

[@railthegutter]

I tend to almost always start close to the back. Although this time I had started somewhere slightly closer to the back-middle, but eventually ended up further back, lol. I definitely didn’t feel super comfortable around some riders because of the odd line choices, but I agree, I will learn to stick to good wheels in the future! I run a compact setup 12-25/50-34, which lends to higher cadence which is actually a lot easier for me to push (bike and gear on non-race days is like 26-27lbs? Race days it’s down to 20lbs), lol. In the end I definitely agree that every single race is an experience and a learning lesson. Thank you for the tips man, I appreciate it! 🤟🏻