Jamestown Classic 2009

Monday, Jeff and I met up with Chris and Debby at the Jamestown Classic, a road race. We left the truck at one of the parks and rode our 'cross bikes over to the bottom of Hamilton Hill so we would have 4 chances to see Chris go by during his 2 laps of the island.

Once again, we played Where's Waldo Chris? It was a little more challenging this time as he was in a plain jersey. His new team is waiting for the new kits to arrive. Here's the first time we saw him on lap 1, waving in response to hearing me scream something like 'Go Chris'. Apparently, I really startled a few people watching near us, but Jeff managed to keep his wits about him and get quick shot.

I've added a couple of arrows to Chris in the following two shots. We actually saw him really easily, but weren't lined up right for pictures.


No arrow in this one, but he is in there on the inside of the curve.

How cool is this?! They were filming the race!

Here's the camera guy out in front of the breakaway group for the race Chris was in.

Chis was in this bunch, but hidden.

These pics show the racers crossing the causeway (from various Cats).


Jeff shot a few neat pics of the racers approaching the causeway.


This seemed like the hardest way around the Island to me...

There is an album of more random race pictures here, though sized a bit smaller. Btw, if you are a racer and have found yourself in one of the pics, let me know via a comment and I can arrange to email you a larger format image (free).

Check out the race recap by Chris here.

Fall Is In The Air...

But last Sunday, on a summery though gray day, Jeff and I went to cheer for our friend Jamie competing in the Firmman RI half-Ironman. It's tricky to pick a good spot for watching those kinds of endurance races, but looking at the bike course map, I realized that we could drive to Ninigret Park and leave the truck there while we biked out to Rte 1 where we would actually get to see Jamie 3 times if we timed it right and pedaled back and forth on Rte 1 a bit. Driving out to Ninigret, the bike course looked more hilly than ever before! At one point, there was an huge snapping turtle crossing the road and we hoped it would be clear of the bike lane by race time!

As we biked to the first lookout, we saw the first riders coming through and hurried to cross the 4 lanes of Rte 1 and get the camera and cowbell out of the pack. We hoped we hadn't missed him! But soon we spotted him coming and looking really fast and comfortable out there.

I was having fun cheering for everyone because you can't stand there on the side of the road with a cowbell and not ring it for people! Some people were in a 'zone', but most smiled and waved and many actually thanked me as they rode by! Too funny! I was thinking, 'If you can be talking to me, you can be pedaling faster!' Awhile after seeing Jamie go past we went to our next lookout where the riders were coming downhill and using one of the on ramps to get back on Rte 1. Jamie came flying down the hill and cornering while at the same time reaching for a water bottle to throw to me! Yeah! Swag!!! You can see the pic on his blog along with his full race report. Again, we moved on to the next lookout for one more sighting about 16 miles from the finish where Jeff got this picture:

And I snapped this one of him waving and getting ready to throw another bottle:


It was a busy day for biking with all the tri riders, but also some people just out for their usual loops. Then, we saw this peleton go by both ways on Rte 1! I think they must have been part of the Bob Beal Omnium Master's races going on at Ninigret that weekend. They got some cowbell too, of course!

I have not managed to build up from summer yet, but I am enjoying the cooler weather and feeling like I will start getting out more again. I've been having numb feet on my rides and some knee pain, so that can make me feel reluctant to head out for a ride a lot of days, but I think I need to just get out there and ride through it and I'll start feeling good again. I was very happy to be out for 20 miles earlier today!

Hot Just to Watch

As I'm not feeling very energetic in this hot August weather, I got my bike 'fix' vicariously on Sunday by watching our friend Chris race the Blount Seafood Crit in Fall River, Mass. He was in the Cat 3 race and worked awfully hard. It seemed like he was rarely on a wheel as he rode past us. His 12th place finish was excellent! You can read his write up on his blog. But I'll share a few of my pics with you too, starting with my best shot of the day:

I'm still getting used to my new camera and get a lot of rear shots when I'm slow on the shutter.

There were lots of splits and if you look closely here, you'll see Chris making an heroic effort to bridge the gap, head down with the white shoulders.

I got a finish line video too.



If you googled to find pics of the race and are looking for someone specific, let me know, I might be able to help. I took some pics of the 3 man break and various pack shots that I would be happy to share.

Jeff and I missed out on watching Jamie at a Tri this weekend, he finished in spite of a crash and you should check out his blog post!!

July Metric at Jamestown

I think the July and August Metrics may end up being the hardest of the year for me given that I don't feel well exercising in the sun and heat and am going through my summer slump! While I may be 'well rested' I just don't have the motivation or dedication when it gets warmer and sunnier and there are many mellow activities to distract me.

However, last Sunday I did feel inspired watching my friend Jamie at a local tri.

Seeing him and all the others riding made me want to pedal. Something about the whoosh of all those bike wheels going by makes me feel a little giddy =)

Today, Jeff briefly went to work to tie up any loose ends, then took the day off to do the July metric with me. We decided that laps of Conanicut Island would be our least trafficy option and the shady parts would be occasional relief from the sun. I was anxious to get the metric done today as it was a coolish, dry day and muggy weather is due again soon.

Jeff hasn't done enough rides this summer and trailed along behind me for two laps before deciding to skip the last one to avoid serious pain later. I pushed on and managed to finish the metric distance though I got much slower toward the end. I got hungry and was low on fluid and the wind picked up a lot. As I was heading out Beavertail the third time the wind was getting so strong I was only concentrating on turning over the crank and not as aware of the road as I should have been until a deer was suddenly right beside me, pivoting away on its back legs to leap back into the woods. I guess it hadn't smelled or heard me coming as I was downwind of it. I'm not sure who was more startled! It was actually the third deer sighting of the day. On the first lap, we saw a doe and small, spotted fawn.

Here's a view to the west from Beavertail Point showing the bright, sunny day.

And one of Jeff with the Beavertail Light in the background. It's not quite as picturesque as usual as there is scaffolding on it at the moment.

Elevation Profile:

Speed Profile:

July Metric Stats
62.47 miles
4:14 hours
14.7 mph average...going in the wrong direction =(
3,289' elevation gain
1 nutty power bar and 1 bottle of Gatorade 1 bottle of citrus Nuun for fuel

Cheering at a Crit

Today we had a great day out with our friends Chris and Debby! We met up in Ninigret, RI at the Mystic Velo Criterium where Chris was racing Cat 3.

This was the first time I'd tried to take pics of him racing in this year's kit, so I had to get used to looking for him in it!

After a while, I could pick him out pretty well. It's easier to see than the previous one that was dark colors.



He was even easier to see when he was at the front of the pack to chase the breakaway!

Go, Chris, Go!!

We were so lucky that it didn't rain, despite being cloudy, and after the bike race we enjoyed dinner and shopping together too!

Edited to add:

2 short video clips from Cat 3 race

finish line video of Cat 3 race

Also, I have a ton of pics from this race, so if you are looking for pics of someone else, let me know, I might be able to help!

Goddard Park RI CX Races

NBX G.P. of Cross / Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross 8...Lots of pics!

Jeff and I made it to the park in time to see the Cat 2/3 Men and the UCI Elite Women and Men.

Some Cat 2/3's make the change from fast pavement to grass. Note the tree in the right foreground. I tend to put a tree between me and the racers in places it looks like they may go wide!!

Cat 2/3's on a long grass section.

Elite women at the barriers.

Women leaders coming out of the sand into a run up.

I thought this was a pretty good picture from my little point and shoot. It's Rebecca Wellons chasing, eventually placing 4th, though she was leading the series overall.

Wellons again, on a run up.

Amy Wallace on the run up.

Elite men through the barriers.

Elite men tackling a run up.

Just after the mount after the above run up.

Elite men on a surface I thought looked like fun!

Elite men.

And, this is what happens when I am a bit too zoomed in as they go past, but I kind of like how these pics came out! This is the winner, James Driscoll, with his Cannondale bike.

I'm not sure who this is, but I like the look/color of the bike!

It wouldn't be a cross race without the Devil and the Ape Man!

You can click on any of the pics to see them full sized. Hope you don't mind the picture heavy post! I have so much fun at these things and end up taking a bunch of pics.

I noticed Until the Snow Ends riding with his bike cam, so I assume he'll have race video posted in a few days.

Edited to add: link to bike cam footage.

Wednesday Night Lights

I finally heard about a weekly cx training race not too far from home...just as it's wrapping up for the season! Jeff and I drove over to *watch* tonight and ring some cowbells and see what it was like. There were quite a few people there and it was fun under the lights!
Lining up at the start:

Riding toward a run up:

One set of barriers:

These people really earned an extra slice of pie at Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow!

Cheering for Friends

Over the weekend, Jeff and I cheered on some friends in a couple of competitions.

Saturday, a group ride friend competed in the Bayside YMCA Triathlon in Barrington, RI. Here's a view of the swimming stage in progress.

And one of our friend zooming past us on the bike stage.

Sunday, we attended the popular Fall River Crit to cheer for Chris in the Cat 4 race. Although he's sitting in near the very back of the pack here, he earned a 3rd place finish.

There was even a podium ceremony!

What a fun way to spend a beautiful summer weekend!