Velo Veneto

Day 5

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

This post is an entry in a series from Velo Veneto rider Dave Linden, of the Flying Rhino Cycling Club in Clarkston, Michigan, USA.

Today’s race was within a stone’s throw of Saturday’s race, about 45 minutes away in Vigardolo. The course was also similar, totally flat except for two overpass crossings of the motorway. We would do nine laps for a total of 35 miles. Once again, the supergentlemen field was big today consisting of about 70 riders. One big change was that the juniors in camp would also be riding in the supergentlemen field with me. I would no longer be the “lonely Americano”.

A good break of about six riders got away on the second lap with two of our Velo Veneto juniors driving it. One of the other juniors and I blocked and I really thought that the break would make it. However, all of sudden the older guys in the break refused to work and it all came back together. Almost immediately, another six man break went and this one would not come back. Unfortunately there were no Velo Veneto riders in this winning break.

The sprint consisted of a 500 meter straight shot preceded by a hard left turn after a narrow two kilometer straight run-in. That run-in was quite an adventure. There were still 50 riders at that point and all of them were trying to get to the front. There was lots of yelling and pushing. I rode the last two kilometers with my elbows sticking straight out but still only managed to finish around twenty-fifth.

Here’s a picture of the next race charging through the start-finish. This was a combined field of the “Veterans” (40-47) and the “Gentlemen” (48-55) classes.

Here’s picture of our camp director, Pat, in front of the bar where registration was held.

Since none of us have accumulated any Omnium points, we have declared Wednesday a rest day and are planning on an easy 50 miles in the foothills of the Dolomites. I hope to have some nice pictures as a result. See you tomorrow.

Day 4 – by Dave Linden

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

This post is an entry in a series from Velo Veneto rider Dave Linden, of the Flying Rhino Cycling Club in Clarkston, Michigan, USA.

Velo Veneto Racing Camp – Italy – Day Four: Today’s race is about an hour and a half away in Vescovana. As usual, my start time is at 2:30 PM and the temperature is pushing 90 degrees. The course consists of five laps of an eight mile, mostly flat course. There is one little hill as we climb and then later descend off of a levee. The supergentleman field was big today, consisting of about 80 riders.

Italians do race differently than we do. One example is cornering. In the US, the peloton tries to carry as much speed through the corners as possible. In Italy, the entire field hits the brakes hard at every corner and then sprint out of it like crazy. I’m told it’s a tactic aimed at creating gaps and dropping riders. I really pissed off a bunch of guys when I dove inside them on the sharp turn at the bottom of the little descent off the levee. They all started shouting at me but I can only guess at what they were saying.

Also, the prizes in Italy are quite different. Everyone that places (usually top ten) gets the same prize, a bag of groceries!

The racing today was similar to Saturday. Teammates constantly let gaps open right near the front and you spend most of your race jumping across the gaps. I must have jumped across a dozen gaps today, Unfortunately, I chose the wrong time to drift back into the field and a break of eight riders got away without me with two laps to go. Seven kilometers from the finish I did manage to get away in a three man group but we were caught about one kilometer from the finish. I jumped in as the field screamed by and finished somewhere around 20th.

Here’s picture of one of the “younger” groups coming and going at the start finish.

Tomorrow things change a little as the juniors are going to start racing in the supergentleman field along with me. (Turns out women and juniors typically race with the supergentlemen.) So, tomorrow I will no longer be alone in the field, but will have four team mates.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Dave Linden – Day 3

Monday, August 11th, 2008

This post is an entry in a series from Velo Veneto rider Dave Linden, of the Flying Rhino Cycling Club in Clarkston, Michigan, USA.

Here’s this week’s Velo Veneto team and staff:

Velo Veneto Racing Camp – Italy – Day Three:
The closest race today (Sunday) was well over two hours away, so Pat declared today a rest day. We did an easy (but hilly) 25 miles in the area around Castlecucco including a brief stop in the nearby town of Asolo. The roads and the views were simply breathtaking.

Here’s a photo I took in the hills above Castlecucco. This is a two way road, not a bikeway:

Later in the day we drove about five minutes from the hotel to watch a UCI U-23 race do four circuits up a very steep hill nearby. This was at the 100k mark of a 170 km race.

Tomorrow it’s back to racing!

Day Two … by Dave Linden

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

This post is an entry in a series from Velo Veneto rider Dave Linden, of the Flying Rhino Cycling Club in Clarkston, Michigan, USA.

We loaded up the Velo Veneto van at 12:30 PM and headed south. There would be five of us racing, myself and four juniors from Ottawa. I would be competing in the Super Gentleman class at 2:30 PM. The juniors would be riding in the “open” class at around 5:00 PM. After an hour’s drive we arrived at the race. The course was a four mile circuit of which we would do nine laps for a total of 35 miles. The course had lots of corners and was flat except for two motorway overpasses which we would have to climb and descend each lap. The field was big but not huge. I’d guess about 60 riders. The race went from the gun and I found myself right at the front for the first two laps. In fact, I lead the field through the start finish the first two times. I tried some early breaks but nothing really ever got established. After the first two laps I settled in and let others do the work. The race was pretty fast given that everyone in the field was over 56. The average speed was in excess of 25 mph. Here’s how the Italians seem to race: A team goes to the front and purposely opens a gap letting one of their riders escape. Riders then start bridging to them one by one. It was common to have a break of five riders form and get 100 meters off the front. However, they always seemed to eventually sit-up usually because there were two many “passengers” who had bridged across and were now sitting on.

Any ways, the finish was about one kilometer after the last overpass. I wanted to be in good position coming down that overpass. On the last lap, a group of three riders were 100 meters off the front going into the overpass. I bridged across to them over the climb pulling a couple of other riders with me. So, with one kilometer to go, I was in a six man group with a very small lead. Unfortunately the break slowed down a bit with 500 meters to go and the front of the field swarmed by us announced by the sound of metal scraping against pavement as some riders went down behind me. I jumped into the swarm but only managed to finish about 15th overall. All in all, it was a “great” introduction to Italian racing.

Here’s some info from my PowerTap …
Duration: 1:19:10
Distance: 33.6 miles
Max Power: 1060 watts
Normalized (Ave.) Power: 322 watts
Ave. Speed: 25.5 mph