Really wish you had that rear camera. Would've seen much more of myself than just being the first Velo Kings rider pointed out with the post production arrow. Lol.
EJ definitely could have ridden smarter, no question. For EJ's race: he only needed to generate 3.2W/kg vs the 4 and 3.9 in Jeff's race. Rather than looking at absolute power, I think you'd be better off looking at % of VO2 max or % of FTP, as they are far better like for like comparisons IMO. EJ is (always?) going to need more power due to his larger size in terms of weight but also the A variable in CdA. If he loses weight and maintains this absolute power, however, ruh roh ahaha
Jeff you've unleashed Norcal's own MVDP. Absolutely bonkers performance from EJ there, in every sense :) I'd love to see EJ hanging in 8th place in the cat3 peleton, jumping onto surges but no more until the last half lap.
EJ’s laughing had me laughing each and every time… as painful as he said it was for him to watch it - it was pure educational…. Marked man indeed… I love this series… 😅🍻
Chasing 18 attacks, solo, and still getting 2nd isn't going to get thy other teams to ease up on you😅 Holy crap, though! Still loving these. Can't wait for more.
Congrats EJ. You showed that if you put your mind and body on something.... nothing is impossible. Some kids wants to be LeBron or Mohomes...... as a 14 years old cyclist, I want to be in Tour De France someday!
*CORRECTION- 7 Velo Kings in the Race... ONLY 2 at the front... we gotta do much better there! Someone called in to USAC for a Mando Cat3 upgrade for Mitchel this week so EJ'll be in similar company again there
*Sheesh, with all the taxes you ppl pay in CA, I would expect you to have much better roads.* Not saying it was all bad, but it wasn't all good either.
EJ is a all around power house but to use that sprint think about the motivation of your competition. Sometimes you just have to role the dice and let others bring attacks back and plan for a field sprint. Granted this course often has a break. Once you're a 3 you'll have a lot more people working for that 2 upgrade and so I would imagine as an unattached rider it will actually be easier if you are wanting a sprint finish.
Oh and EJ, have an idea of what the average speed on a course will be, then if 1 goes off the front and you've done some Strava stalking do the math to know if they can hold 26-28mph or whatever if you truly believe that one person can do that for half a race, 20min, 10min or whatever. Then do the math for 2 people or whatever number goes. Also realize early breaks probably won't stick and weigh the risk to reward of letting them go and sitting back and watching the other teams and sticking on their wheels.
maybe someone mentioned this already but winner of p1,2 averaged 4w/kg while EJ avg 3.2w/kg - I'd say the winner of p1,2 did a lot more work than EJ. Right?
Depends on certain factors: - how did the race unfold? (did the P12 winner have to pull a long solo effort? (power++) - how much does the P12 winner weigh? (60 kg rider pushing 4W/kg at 240W average, not that much work in a high speed race)
2nd was a stellar result given how many times you went anaerobic in that race (how you launched your final sprint that early after all that work is mildly stunning). Once you unlock the power of racing "efficiently" you're gonna jump up the categories in no time.
this seems like a lot of teamwork for Cat 4/5. Given these power numbers, how many of these guys are not upgrading to CAT 3. Only novice piece was EJ's tactics but that's what we're here for.
Great to hear EJ honestly telling how he feels , Ego is our worst enemy, if only we all had a better understanding of when we are NOT going to miss out we wouldn't burn so many un necessary matches chasing ; Realising how many guys were in behind him says it all, cant wait for the rear cam action pls Jeff. PS. EJ , if ever you find you don't need those 1300 watts let me know , I could sure do with some !!!!
some rookie mistakes, but thats ok... with your numbers just sit on the front and hope for the race come to a sprint, thats the life of sprinters, man.... lol
Holy shit, this is so satisfying to see a solo rider beating the whole team of 7 riders. I hate it when teams show up at amateur level races, It's very unfair.
it's easy to say - you made a mistake here, you made a mistake there, you should have not chased it.... but I absolutely get how it feels on your first few races, when you know you are strong, you know you should be fighting for the win, how can you let them go just like that? what if they have a 1 minute gap eventually? plus, watching Alviso you get the feeling like Jeff was chasing everything XD it takes experience to feel more comfortable with letting them go when there are teams responsible for chasing
I was super impressed by EJ with his 2nd place finished in his first race. Wow. And the speed was impressive, lots of power..I am from Miami,but went to school in California for a bit. Nostalgic watching you guys and seeing the streets and scenery from my favorite place on earth, California... From Miami- Palmetto Bay, 👏🏾✌🏾💪🏾🇵🇷🤣
Despite ej’s mistakes. I couldnt help myself admire him af with his commitment, determination and especially stamina. Everytime he tails an attacker and see him keep up every damn time im just like “how tf does this guy have so much stamina and still does 1200-1400 watts almost everytime”. Like bruh. Keep it up.
It’s really cool to see caliper breaks on bikes. Got my road bike and seeing calipers on races like these seems like it possible to get into racing without crazy equipment
Jeff c'mon now....to compare one rider to another you need to compare Wkg, not actual watts (I know you know this, just a slip up). You could compare Efficiency Factor of course but that's not what you were trying to show I don't think. EJ's a big dude, super powerful...that certainly could lend itself to being a bigger rider than the P1 rider who may be 20lbs lighter! Thanks for putting these together, tons of work I know from my channel. Keep it up and can't wait to see EJ crushing all year! (Also SAUCE for Strava, could give you some of this info if the rider has weight accurately input into their profile)
All this says is that ej has a big box of matches and a gallon of fuel for the end. If anything this video proves ej can get it done solo. However as Jeff said that confidence is coming and it will all come together!
This was so hard to watch but much props to his willingness to learn and laugh back at himself. I personally was born to be a lazy bike racer. I made it to Cat 3 here NorCal without ever averaging more than 190 watts per race and barely having an 1100 watt punch… never more than 800 left at the line (I never won though either 😂). No reason EJ can’t be a Cat1!
Not even a crit racer and I'm watching this before Strade Bianche. Great stuff. I love the analysis. Jeff, what's up with EJ not riding a rear cam already! Hoarder much? lol - and then as soon as I post EJ mentions it. That said, am I missing something or was there a blatant error in the power analysis portion? I know Jeff knows this so not sure how he overlooked it but -- W/kg is king and that other rider did 4 vs EJ's 3.2.
Seems like a lot of sandbagging. EJ with a Cat 3 effort. Winner with a Cat 2 effort, and MUCH below his limit relative to other stuff on Strava, and legs looking like a Conti. In a Cat 4/5 field.
nice job again!! I dont blame you for chasing. You have P12 fitness in a 4/5 field. while the teams may have 6 riders that doesnt mean theyre gonna be able to counterattack any more after 20Km. some may be riding at their limit just in the pack. once youre in 3 and above, you need to be more careful.
Concentrate on Strategy, racing can be a game of chess. Watch videos of Marco Pantani, you will for sure learn something, Pantani was just like you until he figured it out. He would be in the chase group until he made his move. Hope to see you in France.
What an engine on EJ. Regardless of how it ended this young man has unbelievable cardio/ power endurance. I could not imagine chasing so often, and closing gaps with full teams working him over. He had no help. Riders were using him, and he still almost wins! He was the strongest in the race, by far. He just absolutely loves riding his bike. And, he absolutely hates seeing other riders dare to attack him. If he continues to develop he will get the attention of national coaches, and will have to move up in talent. One of the National teams with our top riders will bring him on board.
Something is off with the average speeds... did you forget to cut out the warm up or something? Over 52 minutes they went basically the same distance, average speed should be the same.
Great video series. EJ is unbelievable. I saw some comments about the roads not being that bad. I used to work in downtown Merced around the court house and some of the race course was on some really bad roads. The video doesn’t show it so we’ll cuz EJ had his afterburners on throughout the race! 🚀 🚴
I respect the craft that is CRIT racing but doesn't it seem like a dead end or low ceiling. Like even to be the best teams or riders dont really get rewarded enough to compensate for the work and talent they possess. the uks hill climb seems to be more of a spectacle and exciting. Maybe they should spice it up with more diverse courses and stage races instead of just flat circuits. Look at what lifetime did with thier of off road race series they are getting rich off that and drawing many fans and pros
I need, not want, to see EJ in a road race. Crits are to bike racing as NASCAR is car racing. I mean it's a talent, it's just not the pinnacle of the sport.
W/kg is not a meaningful metric for a dead flat crit. However it is very possible the P12 winner was smaller and more aero with a more advantageous W/CdA.
@@nblck3232 Of course, it's implied that if his W/kg is different by that amount then his W/CdA is almost certainly higher as well. The point is that EJ is a big heavy rider so his absolute watts are always going to look high compared to smaller riders
the big fail here isnt chasing every single thing but its the piss poor officiating with a lead moto blocking the lines and giving a HUGE draft as well as officials not pulling people out while getting lapped on a technical crit
One way to think about it that helped me is to think that when you jump to someone and do not take a pull, you're being a good teammate to everyone else in the pack.
funny to see the cat classes and races , its not like in belgium . here you have differend classes , but the speed is the almost the same , just the length of the race is differend .
I 100% relate to this. When I started racing I closed everything. I still feel nervous when I race as an individual. I know I can’t chase everything, but I have FOMO bad every time anyone is off the front. When I race in a team, I race soooooo much better because I trust my teammates and they trust me. Sometimes it is my role to bring that back and sometimes you have to wait.
Same here! And many times the FOMO can be valid, especially in the 4's. Frankly, riding solo in this race, I loved how EJ took responsibility for his own outcome and just laid down as much power as he could to keep himself in it. A vulture got him in the end, but it's hard to win solo against teams if they've got some solid guys. Yes, if he'd sat in and used the teams, and if they'd closed it by the final 500M, EJ wins this race. But those are two big "ifs".
