Duel with the Rice Krispies Man - Tour of Tucker County Race Report

Race name: 2009 Tour of Tucker County Race - WVRRS #3

Date and start time: 06/06/2009; 11:00 am

Location: Thomas, WV

Type/distance: Mostly rolling hills with a major climb at the end; 33 miles in total



Competitors to watch: WVU guys - some of them did pretty well in the Mingo Creek race series

Weather: 70-80 degF, a lot of shade on the course

Course condition: Mainly one-lane mountain roads. Lots of ruts and gravel. Quite a few corners are covered with gravel, especially on the right side of the road. County officials chipped and tarred part of the roads last week, which makes the course even more slippery. Also, road side grass has been mowed at several sections, and lots of residue was left on the course, which is even more slippery than gravels.

Race goal: Beat whoever is left in my group on the last climb

Race strategy: Stay near the front from the start to St. George. Expect the sudden increase of gradient after reaching St. George would create separation - try my best to go with the front group. Take the inbound trip to St. George easy - there are lots of tricky turns and road conditions are bad. Conserve energy for the big climb to the finish line, especially at the bottom of the climb - ride slightly below threshold at the first 5 miles. Attack near the end of the next 0.8 miles, which is the steepest part of the climb, to get rid of anyone in my group. Take a break on the slight downhill after this, and ride hard again on the last 2.7 miles of climbing.

Pre-race meal:
0530 - Pancakes with syrup (420 kcal); 1 glass of soy milk
0900 - 1 cliff bar, 20 oz of water with 4 scoops of Cytomax
1100 - 1 Hammer gel

Mid-race meal :
12 Hammer gels (1080 kcal)
48 oz of water with 4 scoops of GU powder in one bottle and 2 scoops in the other

Warm-up description:
1 1-min Fast Pedal
1 2-min Power Interval
Endurance ride (150-200 Watt) for the rest of the time
Total 20 min

Start-line arousal level(1-5): 3

Results: 2nd in Cat 5


What I did well:
1. Correctly estimated where I might catch up with Rice Krispies Man
2. Conserving energy for the steep climb really helped
3. Food and water were adequate

What I need to improve:
1. Muscular endurance - this is the second time I had cramps, even though the distance was shorter the New Martinsville race.
2. Descending skill
3. Allocate more time for packing and bike check the night before – two and an half hours at least

Aches/pains/problems afterwards:
1. Need to find out the cause of the cramps

Comments on or description of how race developed:
I woke up feeling tired in the morning for I spent more time than I thought on packing and doing bike check the night before. The heavy fog that blanketed the whole Pittsburgh area in the morning didn’t help me feel any better, either. I was fighting sleepiness when driving toward the race.

At last the sky cleared up when I reached Thomas, WV. To my surprise, the registration was actually in a school that is about 9 miles away from Thomas. I got there with about one hour to spare. I spent only 20 minutes warming up, for the day was getting hotter and I didn’t want to get exhausted before the race started. Before the race started, the organizer announced that the county officials tried to make the race safer, but they woefully did the opposite by tarring and chipping the road the week before. Apparently, they have never ridden a bike before.

The field started out timidly, as the section where we would climb back up was neutralized due to safety issue. On the way down, I found out what “tarred and chipped” means – the surface of the road was full of oily tar and loose gravel. Riding through it is like riding through sand. When it got wet, it felt more like ice. I was glad I made it down safely. The whole field stopped at the bottom, which was about 3.5 miles from a small town called St. George, and then started the race. The Cat 1-3 went first, and the rest of the field went in 5-min intervals. My group – Cat 5 – went last. There were only twelve riders in my group.

One of the guys from Four Western Maryland Wheelmen, perhaps Tom, led us into St. George. The outbound course from St. George started with a 6% climb. As soon as we hit the climb (5 miles from the start), I opened up the gas a little bit, and after awhile, I found only about four people remained. Two riders were from WVU. Another rider, Justin, was wearing a Rice Krispies jersey. WVU guys were doing a great job on this climb. One of them with a slightly bulkier build led most of the time, and the other with slender build followed behind. I was suspecting that perhaps the bigger guy was trying to break the wind for the smaller guy, whom I thought was a climber, so the smaller guy would have more energy dealing with the hills later in the race.

The climb eased off about 8-mile mark, and then went up again about 10-mile mark. This time, the gradient was about 8-9 %, and I found the WVU guys and the Rice Krispies Man falling behind. I stood and pedaled hard a little bit to ease some strain on my quads, and found I had created some gap. From the reaction of my rivals, I guessed I am a little better on steep climbs. However, I did not want attack and enlarge the gap at that moment, for it’s only halfway through the race, there’s a long downhill section afterward, and the race would end with a huge climb. So, I decided to take it easy, and let the Rice Krispies Man work his way up to me. Around 11-mile mark, I saw “1-km to KOM” painted on the ground, and recalled the organizer mentioned about it, so I surged forward again, and I think I got to the point first in my category, but I’m not sure if it’s making any difference. After this, Rice Krispies Man pushed hard and got a little gap on me, which I didn’t work too hard to close for fear of using up too much energy for the last climb. This was a mistake, for Rice Krispies Man had shown that he was a superior descender, and he enlarged the gap to a few hundred yards. However, I wasn’t too worried, because I estimated I could probably catch up to him on the steep climb before the finish.

The downhill section inbound to St. George (26 miles from start) was not pleasant at all. A lot of corners were sharp and covered with newly mowed grass. I don’t think I did well on that part at all. Once I passed St. George, I was anxious to see Rice Krispies Man again, for if I had missed him on the steepest climb, I wouldn’t have had any chance to catch him before the finish.

I went into the steepest climb (30 miles from the start) and saw quite a few riders struggling up the hill. To my happiness, I saw Rice Krispies Man – my strategy had worked! I inched forward to him, and by two-third into the climb, I caught up with him, and I decided to attack! Unfortunately, I was way over my head when I did that, for I noticed my pedaling was getting sloppier once I made it through the steepest section. I tried to find a way to stretch my calf muscles, but I actually caused a cramp in my right calf in the process. I had no choice but to stop and wave to Rice Krispies Man, who was just a minute behind me, knowing that I just missed my opportunity to get the first place. It took me about 2 minutes to get on my bike again, but I had to stop to stretch again after a few yards. I finished the last few miles in an awkward pedaling style – I couldn’t sit down and pedal hard because my calf muscles were threatening to cramp again, but I also couldn’t stand up and pedal hard because my quads were feeling funny. Still, this is my best racing experience in US so far, and I’m really happy with the result.


Jason got this picture of me - thanks a lot!


Really nice picture of the racers with the windmill in the background


Nice chat and race with Ed and Tom from Four Western Maryland Wheelmen.


The winner of Cat 5 - Justin! He is a local resident - riding the St. George loop is quite easy for him.