Lyngby CC Sørgenfriløb

How I chased the winning break but got dropped like a bomb. Picture: Full speed ahead. Credits: Simon Ebbe Hastings Hedman

Date Location Discipline, club Result 2016-09-12 Trørød, Denmark Linieløb, CK Ringen 23/38 щ（ﾟДﾟщ）

Pre-pre-race

Last race of the road season. Yup, last. First, changed Båstad GP for Soigneur CX, then change Soigneur CX for this. Best ... decision ... EVER! Week plans [and reality] - Monday, rest [feel like shit, everything hurts, I feel sick, feverish, fuck] - Tuesday - Musette ride, fast group (get some bang, bang) [nope, changed to chilling in a park and half-ass a gym session, drank a beer] - Wednesday - Seasong finale of Onsdagsspurten [that went well, used it as a practice, did well the ones I wanted, skipped the afterbike] - Thursday - Romantic dinner with Juhlia [Romantic dinner with Juhlia, includes minute quantities alcohol] - Friday - Some laps on Sibbarp course (hangover laps on the CX course, set PB, then got drunk AF) - Saturday - easy distans [hangover whole day, cycle to office get laptop charger] So, week totally according to plan. Awesome. Also, fun fact - my pump shows cca 1-1.5 bar less than actual pressure, so all that time I was complaining the 28 Vittoria Corsa Graphene on my Fulcrum Racing Zeros are bouncy and slow - well, there you have it, I was running like 6.5 bar in a 28 tire. FUCK YOU PUMP, FUCK ... YOU!

Pre-race

Samling at klub kl. 11, I arrive 15 min early, then Emil and Thomas, one after eachother but totally clueless they were coming together, 10:59 Christian arrives, on time. Good job, Christian! Get into the bus, drive to Denmark I'm just gonna say Thomas has a particular way of driving (he calls it Italian), which is kinda cool, reminds me of my style. The other thing I noticed is that (also similar to me) when things don't go as planned (I think we were a bit ... a tiny bit ... lost at some point) he starts flooring it. Just power through, show dedication, never show weakness Well, we arrived to the venue with plenty of time, so all good. Except Emil was sick from driving. Sign up, meet Glenn, Jonathan and Marcus, discuss strategy: attack, counter attack, control position, work, work, work, leadout Emil or me for sprint. OK Change clothes, warmup. Talk to Daniel and Fredrik - Fredrik says to be active, not re-active, Daniel says I look strong. BOOM, peppad. Simon shows up, was late because caught up behind Kongevejsløbet 2016 or, DM rulleski, lang distance, fri og klassisk stil

Clothes, Equipment, bla bla bla

Whatever, clothes are getting worned out, so is equipment, it's gonna cost millions to fix for next season. I puts some TheRaceDay Pre-Race shine on, BOOOM, instant pro look, also, flies stick to me like I'm glue. I'm getting tired ...

Track

11km lap, half of it downhill, half of it uphill, about 70m vertical over 5km, some punchy sections but nothing serious (yeah, wait 80km of racing and say that again). Seemed way more epic when the official route shown the vertical number 200 -> 10x200m = 2000m of climbing. FUCKING EPIC. It was feet. FEET.

Plan

Either make Ringen win or ruin it for everyone else, I guess. AARRGGHHH.

Race

First lap I am all over the place, front, back, left, right, ufa, ufa, ufa Second lap, a break is going so Ringen forms a chasing group up front I overhead: 10s delay We pull, we work, we change, boom, fucking Sky yo! It is not THAT hard, but we chase HARD Jonte makes an appearance, then not anymore After a lap of chasing I overhear the announcer: 13 seconds FML The bouncy Amager dude joins in, at some point ends up on cycle path, rejoins Get told off by Emil because he's always accelerating when taking lead About a half lap later in the uphill we kinda give up (also, Christian takes a monster pull up the hill as Glenn shouts: Vi har 7 mil till för helvete), drops everyone, hehe I think to myself fuck, I'm dead, this will not end well We calm down, everything calms down so Emil goes BOOM, ATTACK He's chasing the break, he dissapears in the distance For us, business as usual: either control the front, or chase down attach attempts and try to kill them After a lap Emil is caught, he says he thought the guys were closer, he thought he saw them up front, but he actually caught some Juniors, then gave up I somehow end up about 3s in front of the peloton with a dude from Christiania, he's not very useful, but I notice he has headphones in his back pocket (funny thought: haha, team radio must be playing reggae) At some point Glenn moves to the side and says: HA, 25e är också en placering! while waving his hand dramatically I go back to talk to Glenn and ask - hey, what do we do? He says (mellowed down for PC): well, we got Simon and Christian up front killing eachother and being silly boys (be boys), so we just sit back and try to control the rest of the race I look up front: Simon is doing monster pulls, Christian as well, and well, they are kinda doing a good job at tiring eachother out while everyone else is just sitting on their wheels Mhm, let's just control the race BTW, Where are Jonte and Marcus? Theory intermezzo My theory on how to defend and control: Hang about 5-10 spots down from the lead observing cyclist how they move. If you see one kinda preparing to go, stick to his wheel and follow. You should not be in the middle of the pack, of course. When the cyclist goes, you follow, so long that he gets tired, asks for a shift and you go - naaaah, not gonna happen. Then you slow down and you're cought by the peloton. Accelerate to maintain position, repeat exercise. - Problem 1 - you can't chase them all down, so your teammates are supposed to do the same, especially if you're just at the front recovering and pacing the peloton. - Problem 2 - you cannot chase if you're in the middle of the pack because you have nowhere to go - Also - one cannot counter from the head of the peloton, you just don't have the speed, one MUST FOLLOW AND ANTICIPATE THE ATTACK End of intermezzo Pass a parked marshall car, people taking care of a girl who was ... hit by a bike? At some point going uphill I am caught in the middle of the peloton and the bouncy Amager dude goes, with another strong dude following AND THERE IS NO RINGEN FOLLOWING FUCK FUUUUUCK RINGEN, WHAT ... THE ... FUCK???? Eh well ... #fail Thought - Where is Jonte and Marcus? Moments later, back at it - I follow a cyclist's attack (I am not sure which club, but I could totally see his butt cracktrough his bibs #nohomo) and at some point he gives up, I kinda push a bit more and BOOM, I have a gap and an ABC dude shows up and says - hey, wanna go? SURE! MHM, YEAH, IDK 30 seconds later - Sorry, my legs are dead, not gonna happen I look back - NOBODY IS CHASING about 5 lead and NOBODY IS CHASING? WAAAAIT FOR ME, I AM COMING enter 10 minutes of PAIN, FUCKING PAIN We are chasing the Amager dude and another one (who almost took me down going from the peloton, stupid fuck) OMG, THE HORROR, IT ... HURTS ... SO ... MUCH ... SLAYER ... Just following the dude I am spending about 300-350 wats - TAKING HIs FUCKING WHEEL Anyhow, I do my share of work (his comment: a little is better than nothing ;) ;) ;) We are gaining on the two guys, MUST DO THIS, THIS IS IT, I AM IN A BREAK, WWOOOOHOOOOO Going uphill he says - hang in there, I need you on the downhill (ha ha) By the end of the climb a minor cramp, and another ... start fading back ... noooooo PUSH PUSH PUSH FUCKING GOOOOOOO .... nope My head says GO, but my legs say NO With about 30m to the break I am dropped like a bomb ... woop wooop wooooop He joines the break, I contemplate the weather, will it rain? It does look like rain ... (There they are, the break that got away - 1st, 2nd and 3rd place of the race) Credits: Simon Ebbe Hastings Hedman Fade back, try to see if there is a peloton coming by anytime soon Two kids come flying by, I join Again, the dude with transparent bibs FML I try to contribute (every 3rd turn), after about 3/4 of the lap I give up, I have NOTHING IN MY LEGS, NADA, ZERO, NULA Fade back, get passed by another small group Another group comes flying by Then the peloton comes by, I join the fun Pass start/finish line, see Simon and Emil standing on the side, think - oh, I should drop my bottle, you know, last lap and shit, and they are there so what better place to do it than now - BOOM, bottle flys to the left, hits Emil in the ankle 5 km later - fuck, I am thirsty, that bottle was NOT empty, WTF did I do that for? Anyhow, last lap, attacks, chasing, I mean, we're fighting for what, 25th? Glenn says he'll try to position and lead me out if he has the legs Glenn tries first time, cramps, recovers, tries again, cramps again Glenn has no legs Ok, I still got Christian, let's see how it goes BTW, where are Jonte and Marcus? Christian does a monster pull up the hill, kills himself like 1km to go WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT FOR, CHRISTIAN? Anyhow, kinda follow on the 8th wheel, get blocked in the last turn, lost all speed, sprint but not really, whatever Eh well ...

Post-race

Chit chat, tell the ABC guy - next time, next time dude! (Later I learn he won, with the Amager dude 2nd) Learn I I was dropped from the winning break FML

Summary

The good - It was a good day for racing bikes The bad - I need to work on my breakaway / chasing / digging deep / hurting like never before for longer periods of time stamina. Also, I think the hangovers did not help, na ha The ugly - The season is OVER, (Christian: only 7 months to next race), nooooooo

So, what did I learn this time?

I WAS DROPPED FROM THE WINNING BREAK Let that sink in ...

I WAS DROPPED FROM THE WINNING BREAK And, obligatory DON'T GET WASTED AF BEFORE RACES ... STUPID ... FUCK!