Overall, I'm fairly dissapointed with how Killington went. I went there thinking I had the shape to compete for the overall, looking back now I still think I did. I just screwed up. There are bright spots though.
The first stage is literally a blur in my mind. I have happily removed it from my memory as it is close to the coldest I have been on the bike. I didn't die or get hypothermia and that is a success.
The second stage is where everything went wrong, but first the things that didn't go wrong: 1)I finally got my nutrition right 2) I positioned myself well for most of the race and avoided crashes. Now the things that did: 1)I let the difficulty of the first climb get into my head and started thinking negatively about how I would fare 2) The climb was steeper than I had trained for, with my gearing standing up was essentially a requirement for extended periods and I have trained for mostly seated climbing.
For a physicality of why generating power was hard for me: I hadn't trained for this "Quadrant" of riding. Most of my threshold work and climbing work is done around 90rpm, I like going hard seated and at this cadence. I was in my smallest gear and standing at 78rpm with a 40t front chainring and a 28t rear cog. For steep grades like this, I should both train more specifically for their demands AND select gearing that allows me to run my 'optimal' range for force/velocity. I'm trying to trade my standard for a compact in order to make this a possibility. In reality for a climber who a prefers a high cadence, a compact is probably the best option anyways.
From the mental standpoint, this is something that has been going on for a long time, but has been better this year. Knowing where my fitness is going into the races with the power meter is an advantage, but for this race I let myself think that perhaps the guys were faster than me and I simply couldn't keep up. In hindsight... I know I was capable of more even at the low cadence than I did. It is a continuing battle for me of recognizing when I'm thinking negatively and trying to counteract it, or isolate it. I get to a point where I believe that I'm just not meant for it when I'm down in the race. I'm sure other people get there as well, I just need to learn to deal with it better.
Stage 3 went pretty well. I'm definitely frustrated about my front wheel fiasco though. The brake was certainly rubbing for the entire ride. I was in a rush getting out of the car and warming up and the front wheel simply was not installed properly. How much time did I lose to that brake? Either way my TT is improving, perhaps with a proper TT bike I would even be close to competitive? Hard to say cause I don't know how fast my effort would have had me go without that silly brake.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
2013 Season thus far
This season has been frustrating, but I have progressed a lot. Started everything off with a good bang with my win at Rutgers, and from there became more frustrating and at times enlightening. A look at some of the memorable race weekends, what happened and what I learned.
- Rutgers: Exciting, learned I had to improve 1 minute power but this was expected as I hadn't done any 1 minute efforts.
- MIT: First collegiate A-race. Made the break but worked too hard early, didn't eat enough and blew up. Learned that I should really avoid pulling as much as possible.
- Hornby Hills: Flat rear tire. Started using Caffelatex after this. Very frustrating.
- Bloomfield: Super windy, shelled myself trying to bridge to winning move, didn't eat enough. I really don't like windy races.
- Check your Legs: Small group into a headwind, was pretty shelled and then attacks came. Felt good on the hills, not so great on the flat. Legs were tired from the day before.
- Penn State: Had a very good first climb, wasn't prepared to keep going on the rolling hills sections. Stomach issues led to not eating, which led to severe glycogen depletion and sorts of screwed up things later on.
- Hollenbeck: Group let someone roll away from the start. I should have been best of the rest but didn't hold proper position going through the last climb. Why do people swarm the front coming into a steep finishing pitch when they don't have a strong climb?
- Bristol RR: All was going well till I bonked really hard. This was the straw that broke the camelsback and I started looking at different nutrition options.
- Tour de Syracuse: Ok TT, sketchtastic crit, RR was started early and they told me the wrong direction to go when I missed the start.
- Killington: Nasty weather first circuit, mentally sucked up the RR, one of my best TT's ever but with my front brake rubbing.
There are a couple repeating issues I have: mentally losing and bonking. Bonking is an easy fix overall, and I think I've got a workable system down with some liquid nutrition and gels. I'm going to keep working on improving it, but it worked well at Killington for me.
The mental thing is harder for me. I go into the race feeling positive, then we hit a hard part and I know everyone is going hard but I start wandering if I can go that hard for that long. If I do make it over that part will I be able to keep up when they go hard later? Thoughts of "maybe I'm just not cut out for this" pop up. Overall pretty negative, and I end up with crappy performances. See Killington as a great example, or MIT to some extent. At Killington RR, the first climb was good, the second climb was brutal and I seriously started questioning how I would handle the finishing climb. The initial slopes of the main climb were hard and I gave in, I stopped pushing it afraid I would blow up and then dialed it back way too much. There were some other issues as well, quadrant wise I was not where I have been training (seriously considering trying to swap to a compact), but I should have had a stronger output on that climb, but I broke mentally.
I don't really have any plans for the rest of the season now, I was originally staying in upstate and doing 2 more big stage races. Financially however, it isn't really an option. I'm headed back to Texas where there is nothing but crits and TT's all summer. I'm probably going to give a 40k TT a go, take a couple weeks off and then just start building towards next season. Unfortunately this means that I will miss the mark on all of my racing goals for the season cat 2 upgrade, a top 5 at a stage race. That said I am a much stronger rider than I was in January. 20 minute power is up from about 4.1w/kg to 4.7w/kg, and I think I can do better. I'm on track to hit one of my numerical goals which is to get that number up to 5 w/kg before October, that's the good news.
I'm going to search calendars and see what I can find with climbing in it later this season and see if I can't come to some races in even better shape and get those points.
I'm going to search calendars and see what I can find with climbing in it later this season and see if I can't come to some races in even better shape and get those points.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Killington Stage 3: TT, Best of the lot
Stage 2 didn't go as planned and Stage 1 was just terrible weather. I'm typically no good in a TT, but I was ready to lay it all on the line today, see what I could get out of my body and get the best time I possibly could. I went with what I call the "Haul ass and hold it" pacing strategy. Do threshold just until you can feel the pain and then go a little harder than feels sustainable and sustain it. I had an idea of what was a pretty good wattage goal, having done 250w for 20 minutes during a RR, I though 250 for 25-30min on a stand alone TT should be doable. I considered going for 255-260w but it seemed kinda out there.
The course was thus: Start heading WNW on a windy valley road with a bunch of nasty cracks in the shoulder. This portion was gradually climbing up little stair steps, rounding about to about a 1% grade for the first 8 km, then you take a sweeping bend to head NNW. Right after the bend there is about 1.5km of climbing at 3%, then leveling out for the next 5.5km when you hit a short 7% slope, turn right go back down the hill and sweep back to going NNW. From here there were 2km of small rollers to the finish line. The nature of riding through entirely valleys and a 20+ mph NW wind gave us a nice strong headwind the whole way.
The course was thus: Start heading WNW on a windy valley road with a bunch of nasty cracks in the shoulder. This portion was gradually climbing up little stair steps, rounding about to about a 1% grade for the first 8 km, then you take a sweeping bend to head NNW. Right after the bend there is about 1.5km of climbing at 3%, then leveling out for the next 5.5km when you hit a short 7% slope, turn right go back down the hill and sweep back to going NNW. From here there were 2km of small rollers to the finish line. The nature of riding through entirely valleys and a 20+ mph NW wind gave us a nice strong headwind the whole way.
On the first section of the course, I had a really hard time finding a 'groove'. Along with the stair steppy gradual climbing I was trying to stay in the shoulder pick out a line, should have just taken the lane. Averaged 245w through this first section, less than I would have liked. On the next half, and especially the long flat I was able to really find a groove. On the short 7% popper I stayed low, but got on the hoods for some shifting and popped out 300w up it. Kept the power up to the finish line and finished having done 251w.... and I most certainly could have gone harder.
In the end I finished up in 27:49 for the 17.1km course with the head wind and gradual climbing the whole way (~110m of net difference between start and finish according to my garmin). 22nd out of 60 and moved up from 31st to 26th on GC. I don't think the TT has ever moved me up on GC before, so that was happy. I also discovered that my front brake had been rubbing the whole time, not a whole ton but definately rubbing, not sure how much time that lost me but some. The wind died down just a hair after I finished my TT, and became a bit more gusty. Not sure how this affected TT times though, either way I got a good effort out of myself. Gonna take a week or two of just fun riding and then continue building up towards next year.
Post to come with thoughts overall on the race and the season so far.
Post to come with thoughts overall on the race and the season so far.
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| 30 second smoothed view of data metrics from the TT, NP=AP=251w |
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| Critical power curve from today, personal best average power from just about 13 min - 28min |
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Killington Stage Race: Stage 2
You remember last night I was saying today was supposed to be worse? Good news: it wasn't! It was 10 million times better. I only sprinkled on us a bit, the sun came out briefly, started in the mid 30s, finished near 40. Nothing got rain soaked. Overall weather was very good. So now for the usual race report... first the course.
Single loop road race, 61 miles. Near the start there was a nice short climb with no KOM points on offer, 2.1km at 5.6% grade. After that climb there was a long twisty downhill, fairly shallow started steeper and shallowed out to near a false flat downhill. 12km at -2% and then 20km at a -.5%, but really it was a -1% grade with a couple little climbs. Then we hit the base of the first KOM climb, overall about 7km at 4.7% but it was very stair steppy, with the initial ramps being the steepest (14% ish). After the KOM we didn't go immediately downhill, but climbed a bit more through the feed zone. Then some rolling hills before you got your real downhill. Gradual downhill until we turned right, onto a dirt road on which there was a 1.6km climb at 5.3%. Then it was meandering gradual uphill (false flat) until you hit "the Beast." The Beast opens with 3km of 9% grade of stair stepping climbing, steepest sections were about 12-15% gradient with small sections of 4-5% in between them. After this you have 3.6km of rollers, with no net elevation gain. Then you take a left onto the main road up to the ski resort and have 1km of steady 9% grade ahead of you. The Beast was what I was (dementedly) looking forward to.
Like I said started the race in about 34 degree temps, sprinkling. I won't go through everything I had but it will suffice to say I bundled up, and couldn't take much off. Hit that first climb, were I felt quite good moved up from mid pack to the first 15 riders or so. About halfway up it the three guys in front of me crashed (I guess one of them hit the guard rail). Anyways, I was directly in the middle of what should have run into it, but in a fit of no thinking miraculous didn't think I had these handling skills, I slammed on the rear brake, fishtailed the bike into a very tight turn which I could not have made otherwise and weaved around it. It was pretty awesome. Anyways then we hit the descent which was wet with cranks all over the road. I was happy I was near the front. I could see and pick my lines pretty well, about 5km into it I heard the distinctive squeeling of brakes and skidding tires and the then a domino effect of crunching bikes. I guess a decent number went down but I talked to a number who made it back into the group.
Like I said started the race in about 34 degree temps, sprinkling. I won't go through everything I had but it will suffice to say I bundled up, and couldn't take much off. Hit that first climb, were I felt quite good moved up from mid pack to the first 15 riders or so. About halfway up it the three guys in front of me crashed (I guess one of them hit the guard rail). Anyways, I was directly in the middle of what should have run into it, but in a fit of no thinking miraculous didn't think I had these handling skills, I slammed on the rear brake, fishtailed the bike into a very tight turn which I could not have made otherwise and weaved around it. It was pretty awesome. Anyways then we hit the descent which was wet with cranks all over the road. I was happy I was near the front. I could see and pick my lines pretty well, about 5km into it I heard the distinctive squeeling of brakes and skidding tires and the then a domino effect of crunching bikes. I guess a decent number went down but I talked to a number who made it back into the group.
Anyways, we hit the base of the first climb and people went crazy on the initial steep section. I was doing about 320 w and in the second group on the road, with about 5 guys in front of us. After the steep seciton everything re grouped and it got hard at times, but I sag climbed the rest. Saving some energy. Rode easy through the aid station, on the small downhill that followed I drifted just off the back of our main group picking my own line. Rolled right back into the group at the bottom where I sat in. Then we hit the dirt road.
I was pretty nervous about the dirt road, it had rained a ton the previous couple of days and it was bound to be somewhat nasty, not to mention I just don't do that well on dirt normally. It was alright, as expected some of the stronger guys punched it on the dirt, but I held in just fine and the climb part felt pretty easy. The descent was a bit scary, but I let myself fall back a bit pick my own lines.
At this point I think a lot of guys had decided we were waiting for the climb, the main group was definately much smaller than what we started with and I was exited and ready to go. For once I had eaten and drank like I was supposed to, we mostly soft pedalled to base with and exception of a flurry of attacks at about 20k from the finish (I assumed people trying to get away who weren't the best climbers). We rolled into the base, I emptied the half bottle I had left of water onto the road and it was supposed to be show time.
I had decided leading into this that I wouldn't follow surges but would peg just over threshold up the climb. That didn't work totally, ramps were too steep. In my 28t, out of the saddle I was at 75rpm and 340w. I was trying to keep pretty even with the group but the kept pulling away. First pitches I averaged 270w, 5w/kg and was falling back. Craziness. I settled into my tempo at this point realizing I would certainly blow up if I continued at that pace. Up to the rollers I ended up averaging 250w or 4.7w/kg. On the rollers I pushed about 270w up, 220w down until I was fast enough to tuck into and aero position and gain speed. Then the last 1km I pegged 240w. All in all, 28 minutes at 233w, 4.3 w/kg. I didn't feel like dying at the end and definately could have pushed more, but at some point I lost my incentive. I finished 4 minutes down and 34/64. Not what I was hoping for on the day.
I'm also a bit perplexed, it was windy on the climb but even so I don't think my power numbers add up to my finishing time. A VAM model puts me at about 3.5 w/kg for the climb. And I know I have climbed comparably to the guy who got the stage throughout collegiate racing season. I thought I had a flat on the climb, thought my brake was rubbing but neither were true. Maybe my PM was off, and I just wasn't generating the power, or maybe those guys were really just stupid fast. Maybe a combination of the two, maybe there is something up with the bike. I dunno but I'm gonna figure it all out tonight at some point. In the end it is just disappointing because I thought I brought "A game," but got C results. Not to mention I have no plans on racing for the rest of the season outside of weekly crits since I'm headed back to Texas and there is nothing else... guess the 2 upgrade will come next year after a strong hard working off-season. Try and ride the best TT I can tomorrow.
Update: Some more time to reflect, some more data analysis and a look at ride info from other guys. Simply conclusion: I didn't go hard enough and could have gone harder. I can see early on in my effort a HR of around 182bpm, which is what I typically hold for these length of efforts. I should have just stayed with that group, dug in and kept going. Based on what I've seen data wise and from what I know of myself... I think I could have done 4.5-4.7w/kg for the climb and felt like vomiting at the end. Based on others ride files.... that would have put me right at the head of affairs. I felt like I could run afterwords and yeah my legs hurt but I was not at my limit at all. Part of this is a bit of mental defeat that I'm working on, the race was hard earlier and I let it get into my head that I wouldn't be able to keep up... when I really think I could have.
I was pretty nervous about the dirt road, it had rained a ton the previous couple of days and it was bound to be somewhat nasty, not to mention I just don't do that well on dirt normally. It was alright, as expected some of the stronger guys punched it on the dirt, but I held in just fine and the climb part felt pretty easy. The descent was a bit scary, but I let myself fall back a bit pick my own lines.
At this point I think a lot of guys had decided we were waiting for the climb, the main group was definately much smaller than what we started with and I was exited and ready to go. For once I had eaten and drank like I was supposed to, we mostly soft pedalled to base with and exception of a flurry of attacks at about 20k from the finish (I assumed people trying to get away who weren't the best climbers). We rolled into the base, I emptied the half bottle I had left of water onto the road and it was supposed to be show time.
I had decided leading into this that I wouldn't follow surges but would peg just over threshold up the climb. That didn't work totally, ramps were too steep. In my 28t, out of the saddle I was at 75rpm and 340w. I was trying to keep pretty even with the group but the kept pulling away. First pitches I averaged 270w, 5w/kg and was falling back. Craziness. I settled into my tempo at this point realizing I would certainly blow up if I continued at that pace. Up to the rollers I ended up averaging 250w or 4.7w/kg. On the rollers I pushed about 270w up, 220w down until I was fast enough to tuck into and aero position and gain speed. Then the last 1km I pegged 240w. All in all, 28 minutes at 233w, 4.3 w/kg. I didn't feel like dying at the end and definately could have pushed more, but at some point I lost my incentive. I finished 4 minutes down and 34/64. Not what I was hoping for on the day.
I'm also a bit perplexed, it was windy on the climb but even so I don't think my power numbers add up to my finishing time. A VAM model puts me at about 3.5 w/kg for the climb. And I know I have climbed comparably to the guy who got the stage throughout collegiate racing season. I thought I had a flat on the climb, thought my brake was rubbing but neither were true. Maybe my PM was off, and I just wasn't generating the power, or maybe those guys were really just stupid fast. Maybe a combination of the two, maybe there is something up with the bike. I dunno but I'm gonna figure it all out tonight at some point. In the end it is just disappointing because I thought I brought "A game," but got C results. Not to mention I have no plans on racing for the rest of the season outside of weekly crits since I'm headed back to Texas and there is nothing else... guess the 2 upgrade will come next year after a strong hard working off-season. Try and ride the best TT I can tomorrow.
Update: Some more time to reflect, some more data analysis and a look at ride info from other guys. Simply conclusion: I didn't go hard enough and could have gone harder. I can see early on in my effort a HR of around 182bpm, which is what I typically hold for these length of efforts. I should have just stayed with that group, dug in and kept going. Based on what I've seen data wise and from what I know of myself... I think I could have done 4.5-4.7w/kg for the climb and felt like vomiting at the end. Based on others ride files.... that would have put me right at the head of affairs. I felt like I could run afterwords and yeah my legs hurt but I was not at my limit at all. Part of this is a bit of mental defeat that I'm working on, the race was hard earlier and I let it get into my head that I wouldn't be able to keep up... when I really think I could have.
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| Final climb, shown with 30 second smoothing. You can see the strong efforts on the steep ramps and slight recovery between, as weel as the power surge and fall on the rollers. Perhaps not the best pacing technique, but without better gearing I feel as though I had few options. NP for the whole climb was 240w. |
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Killington Stage Race: Stage 1
On paper this event was supposed to be 4 laps, 72 miles. However, the weather was total crap. 37 and raining, 20mph winds and the roadways were starting to look like rivers in areas. It was cut to 3 laps at the start and cut to 2 during the race, 37 miles.
So about the course, one really long gradual climb mostly with a tailwind. Really gradual, steepest seciton might have been 5% average like 1.5%. Then there was a short steep downhill with a hard right turn at the bottom, followed by a long mostly flat section. Road here was sketchy with a head/cross wind. At about 4-5k to go the road pitches down fast, sketchy road and a the wind is coming at you hard as a mostly cross wind. Like that right down to the sprint, shallower grades, but still downhill straight down to a right hand turn.
This will be pretty short, but basically this race was not a race. It was a test of survival, who dealt with the cold rain better whether via equipment, body insulating blubber (fat), or just pure grit. I didn't have the first two. I covered things in duct tape to try and keep water out... it worked for a little while. Eventually everything was just soaked though. It was cold, I couldn't generate the power I normally can, I had no 'snap.' Anyways I fought through it, but wasn't racing. I was just ensuring I didn't crash, people were borderline hypothermic and then 5k from the finish of the second lap they told us we were finishing up our last lap. There was a sprint, I finished close enough in to be placed in the main group. Goal of the day completed.
No clue what the plan is for tomorrow because they are trying to figure that out themselves still. Should know by morning but by the book should be a 61 miles road race that finishes on top of a mountain. Should be ~30 in the morning and raining/snowing. Warms up a bit, but yeah... cold. I'm hoping for... something different.
So about the course, one really long gradual climb mostly with a tailwind. Really gradual, steepest seciton might have been 5% average like 1.5%. Then there was a short steep downhill with a hard right turn at the bottom, followed by a long mostly flat section. Road here was sketchy with a head/cross wind. At about 4-5k to go the road pitches down fast, sketchy road and a the wind is coming at you hard as a mostly cross wind. Like that right down to the sprint, shallower grades, but still downhill straight down to a right hand turn.
This will be pretty short, but basically this race was not a race. It was a test of survival, who dealt with the cold rain better whether via equipment, body insulating blubber (fat), or just pure grit. I didn't have the first two. I covered things in duct tape to try and keep water out... it worked for a little while. Eventually everything was just soaked though. It was cold, I couldn't generate the power I normally can, I had no 'snap.' Anyways I fought through it, but wasn't racing. I was just ensuring I didn't crash, people were borderline hypothermic and then 5k from the finish of the second lap they told us we were finishing up our last lap. There was a sprint, I finished close enough in to be placed in the main group. Goal of the day completed.
No clue what the plan is for tomorrow because they are trying to figure that out themselves still. Should know by morning but by the book should be a 61 miles road race that finishes on top of a mountain. Should be ~30 in the morning and raining/snowing. Warms up a bit, but yeah... cold. I'm hoping for... something different.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Tour De Syracuse Omnium
This race was overall... kinda a disaster. Three races in two days. First day was a rolling hils 15.2km out and back TT and a crit race with no real turns but lots of flowy curves in a mile long track. Second day was the road race which was also the state championship road race and was my big target for the weekend.
TT
So a bit about the course, it was rolling hills, but not big rollers, lots of small rollers not really that steep but noticeable. Close to flat but not quite, the outbound was 200m longer than the inbound. My goal for this was to really give it a practice run for Killington. Same equipment, position, and all out. I knew my 20 second man was a strong TT rider and did not expect to see him again, I was hoping to hold off David Richardson who started 40 seconds behind me off for as long as possible with a overly optimistic goal of not having him pass me, and a realistic goal of having it happen past the turn around. I set into a pretty good tempo and ended up settling into a position I've never used before but felt quite good and low, I'm looking forward to seeing pictures.I wasn't able to generate quite the power I would in my normal road position, partially because I need to move the saddle forward and up to hold this position. I wasn't getting much activation of of my glutes. I was able to hold a solid effort, but couldn't get much past threshold in the position. I ended up doing 234w for the effort, 41.8kmh, 22:02 was my time. I feel like I could have gone a lot harder though, afterwords I was tired but not much more than a 2x20 this was more like threshold effort not 20 minute effort. David passed me maybe 1km past the turnaround, but went faster on the second than I did finishing in 20:39 for the win. I was 11th/19. Not bad for me in a TT, but I can do better.
Crit
This is were things really went wrong. I wasn't entirely looking forward to this as an omnium event in a crit means EVERYONE sprints at the finish. It makes for a more sketchy event IMO (versus in a stage race where many GC contenders will just sit in for same time, a 'rest stage' of sorts). We were also combined with the P12 field, but scored seperately. Alright, but I think this just causes more prolems in a bunch gallop. I figure the saving grace would be that there were no real corners. I was wrong.
This was the sketchiest race I have been in were no one actually crashed. I'm not sure what it was exaclty, but I've never seen so much line changing, half wheeling, and shaky all around handling in 'corners'. It was bad, and REALLY bad in the middle. think cat 5 race, except without the freaking out and crashing instead lots of saves. It was one of those races where either the very back or the very front of the race. I chose the very back and once we got into the last lap I let myself fall off the back and pedalled it in. DFL on purpose.
After talking to some people after the race I think that part of why it was bad was that lots of cat 3's felt really on the rivet and had quite literally never ridden their bike that fast in a pack before. Person after person I talked to said "It was FAST!" There were no corners and we averaged 44.25 kmh. It was fast yes, but it was only an hour and it was not that hard for me at least. I guess that is a good sign. Avg power: 157w, NP: 191w. Really... not hard. Bristol had a NP of 205 for 3 hours, not one hour.
RR
This course was close to perfect for me, 58 miles one long (~8min is the strava KOM) 5% grade climb 3/4 of the way through and an uphill sprint to the finish. I was really looking forward to this one and thought I had a real chance of winning. Unfortunately, I never actually made it onto the course which totally ruined the whole race weekend. Why did I miss out?
First of all I missed the start. The race was staged not at what appeared to be the only entrance to the parking lot, nor did it come out it. It was staged off the side of the main school parking, in another parking lot and sent the race off through an alley between 2 buildings. I realized this at just about the time we were supposed to start (I had been riding in circles next to where I thought staging was and thought it was weird no one was there when we were supposed to start). I got to the start line 30 seconds or so late, and found out they had started the race 2 minutes early. There was no announcement in the main parking lot about staging or where it was occurring Not the end of the world though... I can chase right? Well when I asked where to go they said: "Take a left and then a right." I did just this which took me out on the main highway through town. I chased for 20 minutes at a sweet spot effort level (211w, 36.6kmh. A good pace but something I knew I could sustain for what I figured might be a long solo ride.), then passed some guy clearly not racing asked him if he had seen a group come by (I had been going on the same road for a while and not seen a glimpse of a group, support vehicle or volunteer). The answer was no.... I knew something had to be wrong and so I turned around and road back into town.
I wasn't supposed to go left and then right... I was supposed to turn right until I saw the corner marshall. I was now over 40 minutes behind my race field with no way of catching up, totally dejected. It was WINDY and kinda cold, spitting rain at times. I'm still upset, I am not the only person who missed the start. I talked to 2 others (out of a 30 person field) who missed it and and many others who "almost" missed it. I'm just the only guy who was given incorrect directions. Not cool.
From now on I will be obsessive bout being early to start times and knowing staging locations. I could have prevented those, but the guy who told to turn the wrong direction..... I can't control that and it destroyed any chance I had of racing. Good thing I don't know exactly who it was because he would have gotten an earful, all I remember is that he was wearing an USAC official shirt.
TT
So a bit about the course, it was rolling hills, but not big rollers, lots of small rollers not really that steep but noticeable. Close to flat but not quite, the outbound was 200m longer than the inbound. My goal for this was to really give it a practice run for Killington. Same equipment, position, and all out. I knew my 20 second man was a strong TT rider and did not expect to see him again, I was hoping to hold off David Richardson who started 40 seconds behind me off for as long as possible with a overly optimistic goal of not having him pass me, and a realistic goal of having it happen past the turn around. I set into a pretty good tempo and ended up settling into a position I've never used before but felt quite good and low, I'm looking forward to seeing pictures.I wasn't able to generate quite the power I would in my normal road position, partially because I need to move the saddle forward and up to hold this position. I wasn't getting much activation of of my glutes. I was able to hold a solid effort, but couldn't get much past threshold in the position. I ended up doing 234w for the effort, 41.8kmh, 22:02 was my time. I feel like I could have gone a lot harder though, afterwords I was tired but not much more than a 2x20 this was more like threshold effort not 20 minute effort. David passed me maybe 1km past the turnaround, but went faster on the second than I did finishing in 20:39 for the win. I was 11th/19. Not bad for me in a TT, but I can do better.
Crit
This is were things really went wrong. I wasn't entirely looking forward to this as an omnium event in a crit means EVERYONE sprints at the finish. It makes for a more sketchy event IMO (versus in a stage race where many GC contenders will just sit in for same time, a 'rest stage' of sorts). We were also combined with the P12 field, but scored seperately. Alright, but I think this just causes more prolems in a bunch gallop. I figure the saving grace would be that there were no real corners. I was wrong.
This was the sketchiest race I have been in were no one actually crashed. I'm not sure what it was exaclty, but I've never seen so much line changing, half wheeling, and shaky all around handling in 'corners'. It was bad, and REALLY bad in the middle. think cat 5 race, except without the freaking out and crashing instead lots of saves. It was one of those races where either the very back or the very front of the race. I chose the very back and once we got into the last lap I let myself fall off the back and pedalled it in. DFL on purpose.
After talking to some people after the race I think that part of why it was bad was that lots of cat 3's felt really on the rivet and had quite literally never ridden their bike that fast in a pack before. Person after person I talked to said "It was FAST!" There were no corners and we averaged 44.25 kmh. It was fast yes, but it was only an hour and it was not that hard for me at least. I guess that is a good sign. Avg power: 157w, NP: 191w. Really... not hard. Bristol had a NP of 205 for 3 hours, not one hour.
RR
This course was close to perfect for me, 58 miles one long (~8min is the strava KOM) 5% grade climb 3/4 of the way through and an uphill sprint to the finish. I was really looking forward to this one and thought I had a real chance of winning. Unfortunately, I never actually made it onto the course which totally ruined the whole race weekend. Why did I miss out?
First of all I missed the start. The race was staged not at what appeared to be the only entrance to the parking lot, nor did it come out it. It was staged off the side of the main school parking, in another parking lot and sent the race off through an alley between 2 buildings. I realized this at just about the time we were supposed to start (I had been riding in circles next to where I thought staging was and thought it was weird no one was there when we were supposed to start). I got to the start line 30 seconds or so late, and found out they had started the race 2 minutes early. There was no announcement in the main parking lot about staging or where it was occurring Not the end of the world though... I can chase right? Well when I asked where to go they said: "Take a left and then a right." I did just this which took me out on the main highway through town. I chased for 20 minutes at a sweet spot effort level (211w, 36.6kmh. A good pace but something I knew I could sustain for what I figured might be a long solo ride.), then passed some guy clearly not racing asked him if he had seen a group come by (I had been going on the same road for a while and not seen a glimpse of a group, support vehicle or volunteer). The answer was no.... I knew something had to be wrong and so I turned around and road back into town.
I wasn't supposed to go left and then right... I was supposed to turn right until I saw the corner marshall. I was now over 40 minutes behind my race field with no way of catching up, totally dejected. It was WINDY and kinda cold, spitting rain at times. I'm still upset, I am not the only person who missed the start. I talked to 2 others (out of a 30 person field) who missed it and and many others who "almost" missed it. I'm just the only guy who was given incorrect directions. Not cool.
From now on I will be obsessive bout being early to start times and knowing staging locations. I could have prevented those, but the guy who told to turn the wrong direction..... I can't control that and it destroyed any chance I had of racing. Good thing I don't know exactly who it was because he would have gotten an earful, all I remember is that he was wearing an USAC official shirt.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Bristol RR
I'm not feeling particularly wordy today, so this will be shorter than usual. They combined the 3 and 12 fields due to small fields, and increased the distance of our race from 51 miles (3 laps) to 68 miles (4 laps). Cat 3's were still scored seperately, and to be honest I was perfectly ok with this change. Racing with 14 guys wouldn't have been that fun. The course had 2 climbs, the first one was gradual with a steep section at the end (1.6km long), second one was pretty steady, some stair steppy sections, 6% for 2km.
Legs felt really good going into the race, and during warm up. First lap felt good, matched a couple of attacks on the first climb, split up a bit on the second climb I was in group '2'. Probably could have gone with group one but I was boxed in and it all came back together on the descent. Brendan Housler, David Richardson and a couple other attacked on the flatish section. I knew I couldn't go there, it was a headwind... and flat. Sat in, no one chased... ever. 2nd time up the climbs was uneventful, it split again, i was in the wrong spot when it did but again it came back together. Third time up I was feeling pretty good, weakening but others seemed to have faded more. Then I hit a brick wall, I bonked.
I had only eaten one cliff bar because I felt like puking everytime I ate, and 2.5 hours into the race I hit that point where glycogen stores were not were they needed to be. I started fading fast. I fell back to the 3rd group on the road, worked with their rotation a bit then faded more and more.... and was out the back. I slowed up, tried to eat more, rode endurance pace in. A bit frustrated and dissapointed, nothing I could really do about the lack of cooperation and working to pull back the leaders. I could have done something about the food. I need to figure this out, ASAP. Don't want any more ruined races due to food issues. Ended up getting 9th/14. Not THAT bad all considering. On a high note, my legs felt good.
Legs felt really good going into the race, and during warm up. First lap felt good, matched a couple of attacks on the first climb, split up a bit on the second climb I was in group '2'. Probably could have gone with group one but I was boxed in and it all came back together on the descent. Brendan Housler, David Richardson and a couple other attacked on the flatish section. I knew I couldn't go there, it was a headwind... and flat. Sat in, no one chased... ever. 2nd time up the climbs was uneventful, it split again, i was in the wrong spot when it did but again it came back together. Third time up I was feeling pretty good, weakening but others seemed to have faded more. Then I hit a brick wall, I bonked.
I had only eaten one cliff bar because I felt like puking everytime I ate, and 2.5 hours into the race I hit that point where glycogen stores were not were they needed to be. I started fading fast. I fell back to the 3rd group on the road, worked with their rotation a bit then faded more and more.... and was out the back. I slowed up, tried to eat more, rode endurance pace in. A bit frustrated and dissapointed, nothing I could really do about the lack of cooperation and working to pull back the leaders. I could have done something about the food. I need to figure this out, ASAP. Don't want any more ruined races due to food issues. Ended up getting 9th/14. Not THAT bad all considering. On a high note, my legs felt good.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Hollenbeck Spring Classic, 3rd
Nice little study break today, last day of reading period, sunny and gorgeous went out to enjoy a great bike race. Course was rolling hills. From the start we rode into a headwind, slight downhill until we made a sharp right and climbed for 2km on an average 6% grade, some rollers for a while, mixed qualities of pavement from terrible to new and perfectly smooth, then a long very shallow 1.5-2% grade for 3km with a 1/4km "Wall" which had about a 11% grade, some rollers a downhill, do it again and then after finishing the second time we turn onto a finishing road which had a nice, very steep finishing climb. (600m long, first 250m at 6%, rest of it at ~14%). I was racing the 3/4 field and was hoping for a couple upgrade pts.
My strategy of the day was to try and break things up on the longer of the days two climbs, and ride tempo off the front. That wasn't going to work though. Right as we started rolling out, someone rolled off the front to 'loosen his legs' (his words after the race not mine), the field soft-pedalled the first 5 miles gave him at least a two minute gap and then he rode tempo the rest of the race. LAME. I was at the back of the field when this had occured, and would not have let it happen if I had been up front, by the time I had gotten up front he had probably 1-2 mintues on us.
Anyways, we hit the first climb, I rode to the front. Looked at the power meter and set the tempo that I thought would put a lot of the field in pain but I knew that I could hold. 290w (~5.4 w/kg) up the climb, strung out the field a lot but no elastic snapping effects. I was hoping someone might work with me up the top, push it and try and get gaps opening with those who were hurting, we did briefly and then stopped and everything came back together. This is basically how the whole race went, very little cooperation and lots of shutting things down and soft pedalling. Very little racing to win, lots of racing to not lose.
Anyways that didn't work, I gave a little dig on the steep wall, continued pushing up top. Things strung out, but nothing really happened other than that. 2nd time up the climb things seemed to get a little more real, I sat back on the early slopes and then when I hit the front hit it harder. Averaged 300w up the climb, a group of about 5 of us had some daylight, tried to get us to work together but it wasn't happening. 2 of the guys soft-pedalled their pull, everything came back together. It was at this point I said "I'm just going to sit in, and destroy the final climb." My teammate Rob had a go with a couple others at getting a gap, I followed attacks to help him out a bit but it ended up coming back anyways. I sat in the rest of the way.
Coming into 1k to go the whole race seemed to decide they had a shot on the finish, which was idiotic cause there were only a handful of guys who could climb WELL, and they were all people I had seen at some point during that day! People I had not seen all race crowding the front. When we hit the base of that climb the caused instant problems. You should not be 5th wheel hitting a finishing climb if you know you can't climb, guys going from 5th straight out the back. Anyways there was one guy dangling off the front a bit trying to get a gap before the climb and hold it, I jumped at 300m to go. I thought the guy ahead was probably out of reach but I was sitting maybe 15th and had lots of ground and a slow climb to catch up.
It wasn't a fast climb, but I was going much faster than everyone else, and it HURT. I was in 3rd place pretty quick, and gaining on 2nd, I took a look over my shoulder and saw about 50m between me and 4th place, and it was equidistant to 2nd with about 150-200m to go. I kept going, every muscle in my body hurt and was in agony, the legs said stop but I couldn't stop yet, kept going. Gaining quickly on second... try and go harder, harder harder. The line was coming up and...... about three inches seperated me from 2nd place.
At this point someone comes up and said "WOW great climb" would had been spectating. To which I responded "Thanks, can you hold me up, I think I might fall over." He must have not thought I was serious, about 15 seconds later panting like crazy, searching for any sign of air I collapsed onto the ground. I wasn't passing out, or dead or anything like that but OUCH OUCH OUCH. 45 seconds those last 300m took, at 592w (11.1w/kg). I'm not exactly sure how much longer I could have sustained this, but the power file doesn't show any signs of decreasing, and that was totally insane and painful and insane. At the same time though, I think I found out what I'm really good at. Stupid steep, short finishing climbs.
Can't REALLY be upset with third, but letting the guy in first ride away was kinda lame. Missing out on 2nd by inches kinda sucked, and negative racing sucks. I did get 3rd though, so I'm happy with that. Next Saturday is Bristol, should be a party!
My strategy of the day was to try and break things up on the longer of the days two climbs, and ride tempo off the front. That wasn't going to work though. Right as we started rolling out, someone rolled off the front to 'loosen his legs' (his words after the race not mine), the field soft-pedalled the first 5 miles gave him at least a two minute gap and then he rode tempo the rest of the race. LAME. I was at the back of the field when this had occured, and would not have let it happen if I had been up front, by the time I had gotten up front he had probably 1-2 mintues on us.
Anyways, we hit the first climb, I rode to the front. Looked at the power meter and set the tempo that I thought would put a lot of the field in pain but I knew that I could hold. 290w (~5.4 w/kg) up the climb, strung out the field a lot but no elastic snapping effects. I was hoping someone might work with me up the top, push it and try and get gaps opening with those who were hurting, we did briefly and then stopped and everything came back together. This is basically how the whole race went, very little cooperation and lots of shutting things down and soft pedalling. Very little racing to win, lots of racing to not lose.
Anyways that didn't work, I gave a little dig on the steep wall, continued pushing up top. Things strung out, but nothing really happened other than that. 2nd time up the climb things seemed to get a little more real, I sat back on the early slopes and then when I hit the front hit it harder. Averaged 300w up the climb, a group of about 5 of us had some daylight, tried to get us to work together but it wasn't happening. 2 of the guys soft-pedalled their pull, everything came back together. It was at this point I said "I'm just going to sit in, and destroy the final climb." My teammate Rob had a go with a couple others at getting a gap, I followed attacks to help him out a bit but it ended up coming back anyways. I sat in the rest of the way.
Coming into 1k to go the whole race seemed to decide they had a shot on the finish, which was idiotic cause there were only a handful of guys who could climb WELL, and they were all people I had seen at some point during that day! People I had not seen all race crowding the front. When we hit the base of that climb the caused instant problems. You should not be 5th wheel hitting a finishing climb if you know you can't climb, guys going from 5th straight out the back. Anyways there was one guy dangling off the front a bit trying to get a gap before the climb and hold it, I jumped at 300m to go. I thought the guy ahead was probably out of reach but I was sitting maybe 15th and had lots of ground and a slow climb to catch up.
It wasn't a fast climb, but I was going much faster than everyone else, and it HURT. I was in 3rd place pretty quick, and gaining on 2nd, I took a look over my shoulder and saw about 50m between me and 4th place, and it was equidistant to 2nd with about 150-200m to go. I kept going, every muscle in my body hurt and was in agony, the legs said stop but I couldn't stop yet, kept going. Gaining quickly on second... try and go harder, harder harder. The line was coming up and...... about three inches seperated me from 2nd place.
At this point someone comes up and said "WOW great climb" would had been spectating. To which I responded "Thanks, can you hold me up, I think I might fall over." He must have not thought I was serious, about 15 seconds later panting like crazy, searching for any sign of air I collapsed onto the ground. I wasn't passing out, or dead or anything like that but OUCH OUCH OUCH. 45 seconds those last 300m took, at 592w (11.1w/kg). I'm not exactly sure how much longer I could have sustained this, but the power file doesn't show any signs of decreasing, and that was totally insane and painful and insane. At the same time though, I think I found out what I'm really good at. Stupid steep, short finishing climbs.
Can't REALLY be upset with third, but letting the guy in first ride away was kinda lame. Missing out on 2nd by inches kinda sucked, and negative racing sucks. I did get 3rd though, so I'm happy with that. Next Saturday is Bristol, should be a party!
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