Barry's Roubaix RR

[GinnySellars]

BPR put a stamp on Barry's Roubaix!

Stephen and Jason raced at 8:30am. The course is 11km, with about 2km on a gravel dyke. The boys did 8 laps, I did 6 laps, and Jen did 10 laps! The guys set off 5 minutes with a pack of probably 35 guys 5 minutes before me. They were out of sight in a cloud of dust on the dyke. I didn't see any of their race except when they lapped us on the dyke after about 90 minutes of racing. Apparently Stephen and Jason made some good efforts together, but nothing came together until the finish. Stephen led Jason towards the line in a bunch finish, and Jason powered to 2 nd place. Stephen was immediately behind in 6th. Awesome race boys!

Jen Schultz raced in the top women's division. She started with a fairly small group of 16 riders. She had done a great warm up on the trainer, a couple of short efforts and seemed to have just the right amount of adrenaline and competitive juices flowing. She planned to race with confidence and have no regrets! She had 10 laps of 11km. Her race was super interesting. After about 4 laps of intense efforts mixed with silly slow recoveries, a break was made, and Jen suffered to make the leap. She made the key move of the day, allowing her to race with a group of 6 people for the remainder of the race. The rest of the field "blew apart", and didn't re-group or even finish the race. Jen battled it out for another 6 laps. I'm sure she'll give the gory details, but 3 girls jumped off the front with solo finishes in the last lap, and Jen battle to the line to take 4th, outsprinting the other two girls to the line on a long standing sprint. Cool.

My race started with only 6 girls. Being my first RR, I didn't know what to expect. I knew they the pace would be painful at times, and my only goal was to stick to them like glue and be able to see out the race to the final lap. It was quite an education. I didn't realize how much the girls yell at each other, and the are constantly scheming in a way to make a break. 3 girls worked together as a team, and the other three were not able to work together. One was dropped on lap 3, and I didn't have enough experience or legs to work with the other woman. I just got on to every attempted break. On the final lap, I knew that I would lose in a short sprint. I took Jen's motto to heart and decide "no regrets". I attempted to launch after a corner. 2 caught me and we had a tiny break, but when I tired they did not come through to keep the break alive. I tried this again a few kms later with no success. I almost got dropped 3 times in the last 2 km. In the last 800m 3 girls broke away, I got back on the other 2. I tried to go hard to the finish to avoid a last minute sprint. They shot past a very tired Ginny 50m from the line.

Thanks to Jen, Stephen, and Jason for a super fun weekend. I felt like a college kid again, hangin' out with my peeps! I guess I need to try one more of these to see what it's like on a hilly course. Just for the record, Jason and Jen both said they would try a triathlon before the end of the season. I'm holding them to it.

[StephenU]

Way to go Ginny!  You picked the most brutal race of them all to make your debut!  I hope its not your last because obviously you did great!

Andrew's assumption that I would suffer on a flat course came true Sunday.  I suffered soooo bad on the dyke every lap that I almost packed it in!  I just gritted my teeth and held on!  Generally, I recovered very well on the road before each gravel section.  After the first couple of laps I knew I had to really conserve if I was going to make it to the end. On lap 4 or 5 Jason and I moved near the front and I think I took Jason by surprise as I attacked about 800 meters before the gravel.  Jason jumped on and we strung out the peloton dropping some riders and breaking the race open.  Shortly after, I was cooked and funneled to the back to recover and suffer again!  I could do nothing until the last lap.  Jason and I came off the dyke at the back of the peloton and looked at each other and said, we are done!
I guess we both have a never die attitude as we both recovered and made our way near the front, Jason near the middle of the road and me on the right side shoulder passing riders.  The speed picked up and I started to sprint with Jason on my wheel, he powered past me and took 2nd and as Ginny noted, I hung on for 6th.  Better results than either Jason or I thought was possible.  I'm definatly proud of Jason for gutting out another bout of legs cramps and somehow powering to 2nd place.  The guy has guts!!

What I take away from this race is that on flat stages, I need to be more conservative and save myself as I now know I am working much harder in relation to larger riders.
It was an exercise in high power output and recovery for me. 
I think it was an excellent training race for me as it taxed my leg strength a lot.  My heart rate was over BP every lap for a few minutes, but not seriously over BP.  I was well within my recovery zone on the pavement.

[kiwichris]

Nice report guys - showing good incite too. Really glad that you and jason were able to work together Stephen - hope it continues to grow throughout the season.

Ginny - what a gutsy performance. Hope you don't enjoy it too much and just become a lowly Roadie (hehehehehe) - remember - tri is where it is at! I can't wait to see the boys in the water - maybe the Peachland Speedo sprint will be their coming out party!!!

Jen - way to hang in there - especially after friday night - you have some kahunas!!

Hope to see you all soon

Chris

[Schulzy]

Great job Chris and Martin on your Ski to Sea race!!!! Great job Simon at your running race! I had a great weekend with Ginny, Jason and Stephen at Barry's Roubaix. I enjoyed watching everyone race and truly enjoyed the support during my race (especially the mystery mix bottle that I was given on lap 8 – Very grateful).

My goals for the 110km race included: to make smart tactical decisions, be confident and have no regrets. I also focused on managing my nutrition before and during the race.

It is difficult to dictate the pace in road racing but here is some data from my race anyways:
Total time: 3h:19min
LBP from a few weeks ago: 162
Average HR: 149
Max: 177
HR Zones: 120 – 130 = 20 min
                   130- 140 = 31 min
                   140 – 150 =41 min
                   150-160 = 61 min
                   160-170 = 39 min
                    170-180 = 7 min

The first half of the race consisted of numerous unsuccessful attempts at a break by various riders followed by a very easy pace. I found this drastic change in acceleration very frustrating and difficult to adjust to mentally, even though I have done some road races before. I responded to each attack and was ready physically but somehow had forgotten how violent these attacks can be on a flat course. A hilly course is usually much more selective and the attacks are less frequent and violent. I started to doubt my ability to respond over and over but soon began to notice how quickly I was able to recover physically which in turn increased my confidence. Half way through the race, another attack was launched at the end of the gravel dyke and I painfully made my way into a group of six. My legs soon felt great and I quickly recovered from my hard effort. This time, the pace stayed steady and we worked together until the 90 km mark. At this point one of the riders attacked the small group on the dyke and I spent a few minutes deciding if I should try and bridge up while I noticed 2 other riders attempting this themselves. I decided not to go and hoped that 3 of us would work together to bring back the leader. I do regret this tactical error but was mentally done with the attacks. In the end I sprinted for 4th place.

Nutrition: I made some good fueling decisions the day before the race even though I wasn’t sure I would feel good enough to race. I felt good by bedtime and planned to eat and drink at 15-20 minute intervals (290-310 cal of complex carbs/hour) throughout the race. I experienced a slight loss in energy and alertness half way through the race but was able to recover and felt great for the rest of the race.

Overall, I think it was a great first race of the season. I feel this race will help to mentally prepare me for upcoming road races. I will also be practicing my response to some surprise attacks in training. Next on the list is a 4 day stage race in Walla Walla with some long hills!

[JasonK]

That was one of the most enjoyable weekends of racing!  Normally I'm so focused on the race but this weekend the company was definitely the highlight.  I'm sure I spent most of the weekend with a smile on my face as someone was telling a funny story or just making me laugh.  So many positive and encouraging comments.  Way different then last year when I traveled to many races by myself and didn't really know anyone either.

I was a little intimidated of riding on the dyke and my heart rate was way high for the first few laps when on the dyke.  I was trying to relax as Steve told me to but every time we got on the dyke I would tense up.  Maybe some off road riding would help for next time.  The race was pretty mellow until Steve jumped on the 5th lap a few hundred meters before the dyke.  Once we got wheeled in on the dyke the pace really picked up and it felt like the race finally started.  We hit the pavement and I went off the front again with another rider.  Shortly after I started to get leg cramps like never before.  Normally they are only in my front quads but this time were going all around my legs.  Sometimes they would even move from one leg to the other.  They kept balling up and I considered pulling over so many times.  I hung out near the back for the last few laps and as Steve said we both found ourselves dead last going onto the dyke for the last lap.  We slowly worked our way through the bunch while being separated.  A few hundred meters from the finish I found myself on Steve's wheel.  The pace actually didnt seem that bad.  I wanted to stand and start the sprint but they kept locking up due to the cramping.  I stayed seated and rode around the last few riders for 2nd place.  I kept thinking someone was going to come around me but it never happened.  I'm not trying to say it was easy but I was really surprised no one came around me before the finish as I felt like I wasnt really pushing that hard due to my legs cramping.  I wish so badly that I could solve this problem.

Super fun weekend.  Looking forward to more of them in the near future!

[GinnySellars]

Nothing illegal in the mystery bottle Jen. You can pee in a cup with no hesitation.

[StephenU]

Jen on the Podium

[StephenU]

Jason on the Podium

[StephenU]

Ginny on the Podium

[StephenU]

Jason and his Domestique

[MartinC]

Congrats you guys. Ginny, where is your beer?

[SimonC]

Congrats to all ...
VERY cool to see all the BPR Colors on the line.
I'm sure people are taking notice of this "new" team from the Okanagan
It's only a matter of time till you guys are breaking legs in the Cat 1-2 races !!!
BTW ... I still hate that race ... but I'm glad you guys rocked it !!!
Simon 

[GinnySellars]

http://www.localride.ca/wp/2010/04/11/barrys-roubaix-is-a-success/

Nice to see the BPR names in print!