Racing season is in full swing this month, and I’m happy to report that I’ve won the last 3 time trials I’ve competed in. The neatest part about winning, outside of the satisfaction of being at the peak of my fitness right now, is the cool schwag you accumulate when you win. So far this season I’ve picked up $75 in cash, $55 worth of gift cards (Chipotle, Bike Beat, and Best Buy), a double wheel bag, $12 worth of Fiorucci sandwich meat, a bicycle pump, and a couple of odds and ends.
This week’s race was a 2-man team time trial out in Smithfield, VA. i was riding with my new teammate Jack. Jack and I live about 2.5 hours away from each other, so not only did we not train for the event together, we have never even ridden together (he wasn’t on the team yet when we had our team camp). Still, it was a good pairing. We split the pulls into 5 minute segments at first – I pulled for 3 minutes, and Jack for 2. Once Jack got a feel for the pace, and indicated he could do slightly longer pulls, we set up 4 min / 3 min rotations. Then towards the last 8 miles or so, we each did 1 mile then came off.
We were riding in the Merckx category, because Jack doesn’t have a TT bike. He brought an aero helmet, and I loaned him an old Mavic Cosmic front wheel and my Open Pro with a wheel cover (the rules for the Merckx were no aero bars and regular drop handlebars – but no restrictions on wheels and helmets). I wore my Giro helmet and ran my H3 front and 808 rear. Just to make the bike fully mass-start legal, I took the cover off the 808.
I’d like to think that most of the time was a product of the hard work we did – I averaged about 330W each pull (lower than I had hoped, but I couldn’t shift down into the 12 cog, and I’d put in 720 TSS over the last 5 days), but we put over 7 minutes into the second-place team. Comparing our ride to the full-on TT gear group, we would have been 6th, onyl about 4.5 minutes behind the winners. Serious confidence-builder. Makes me certain that I need to work on my position on the TT bike to regain some of the power I’m losing, but it’s also reassuring to know that even with the power loss, I’m gaining about 1.5 mph in speed.
I learned a lot from racing the Fort Lee Criterium today. After looking at the corners, which were full of potholes, gouges, and manhole covers, I went into the race with the goal of getting on the front and out of danger, at least until I could get a feel for how the pack was handling themselves. So I went hard from the gun, averaging 350 watts for the first 6 laps. While I at the front, I practiced what the front group did to the rest of us at the Ephrata RR – slowing into the tight corners, then sprinting out of them, so as to accordion the field and make them suffer. This had the effect of shelling out quite a few folks, I think.
Then I settled into the front group, doing some work, marking some break attempts, and trying to get away with a few groups here and there. I got suckered into a couple primes, which was a mistake, since I burned some matches for nothing, really. I don’t exactly know why I go for the primes, except that, unless I get in a break, I’m probably not going to be sprinting for the money places, so I might as well get some cash by being opportunistic. Usually, though, I just waste energy only to get pipped. In fact, my second attempt cost me dearly, and I micro-blew (not to be confused with micro-brew, which is a good thing) and dangled off the back for nearly 5 laps.
Psychologically, I was ready to call it a day, but then my “inner coach” yelled me back to my senses. I grit my teeth managed to chase back to the field, although by this time a 2-man break had gotten away. From there I actually found fresh legs, and was in the front group again as we approached 3 to go. Then at 2 to go, they rang the bell for the Chipotle Burrito Prime! As we came around the corner, I could see that the front of the group wasn’t really going for it, so Banzai!! I uncorked it, attacked, and won the prime!
At first I sat up to celebrate my free burrito, but then I realized I had a decent gap, so I went for it! Unfortunately, I got caught on the far side of the course, but it was an awesome race! Perhaps had I kept my head down and really gone for it after the prime, I might have enjoyed a better result than 17th, but I’m happy with my racing overall.
I had a damn good TT to the top of Wintergreen resort this year. I wish I could say so good as not to get passed by Paul Buschi (I did hold him off for 10 mins – and kept him at about 15 seconds for another 10), or so good as not to get passed by Ted Michaels (I forget when that happened, but at least it was over quickly), or even good enough to beat Hosang (he had an “off” day, which for him means only 2:00 faster than me) but I did pass 2 guys in my group, and came within 5 seconds of my PR for the race (despite being about 3 kg heavier).
Some pertinent facts on the TT course:
Compared to last year, which was a debacle at 48:00, I was 5:40 faster, with a 42:20. That was good enough for 6th place this year (which is exactly where I finished last year – heh). I didn’t go to win, though, I went into this TT with the intent of putting in a hard effort for the first 20 minutes and then see what I could do for the full 45 minutes (a bit shorter than the typical winning time for the State Championship TT course). So here is the “damn good TT” part:
Needless to say, I am very happy with the numbers, even if my time was not a PR. Being able to still hold 335 watts for the second half, after averaging over 365 for the first half, is a huge confidence booster. On the flats, 365 watts for 20 minutes is a strong solo breakaway attempt. If I can drill it with enough juice to get a gap, that’s the kind of power I need to win or place well in the crits. And 330 or more watts on the TT bike… well, let’s just say that would be icing on the cake.
Well, if I could describe the 3/4 race in a single word, it would probably be clusterf**k. Of course, as someone who finished off the back, in 68th place, my word choice might be just a tad subjective. Let’s just say that, with a (strict!) centerline rule in effect on roads where the lanes are maybe 8-10 feet across, 100 racers, and a “neutral” roll-out, I felt like the race was basically decided before it even started. Not that it would have mattered, I fell off the back a little on the climb on the first (of four) laps, managed to get back on just barely, and had no time to recover when the field sprinted out of the next corner. Disappointing, but not the end of the world; as Andy Coggan says, “Alls you can do is alls you can do.”
I decided to ride a TT-like effort until I topped the hill for the final time on the 4th lap, then ride tempo for the final 6 miles to finish the race. I was only maybe 2 minutes off the main field when a small group came up to me. I spent some time riding with the chase group of about 10 riders, including my teammates Steve and Jinks, but only about 5 of us were willing to work in a double paceline, and I was getting the feeling that I was one of the stronger riders in the group, so when we hit the hill on the 3rd lap I rode off the front. That was the last I saw of them.
I think I may have had more fun riding solo (not surprising, seeing as I ride solo all the frakin’ time anyway), getting to bomb through some of the technical chicanes, getting to attack the hill on the 3rd lap, and just generally getting to pay attention to the scenery instead of white knuckling it in 60th place on the back of the field (yeah, that’s right, I think staying with the field on the back would have been a whole 8 places – woo hoo!). It’s not like I was going to be in the top 20, so all I had to do was finish at that point anyway.
Maybe the stationary bike at the YMCA is out of calibration, maybe I am just hitting a new level of fitness, maybe it was the fact that I only rode for half an hour, but I rode at about 320 watts yesterday for the entire time, at only 155-157 bpm. At least that’s what the bike was telling me. I was using a different bike than usual, so it could be the ergometer or the HR setup. I should have at least worn my HR strap to verify one of those variables, but I was in a hurry to get at least a nominal amount of TSS in. Breathing-wise and PE-wise, it felt more like SST than FTP riding.
I only ride the stationary bike when none of my students show up for my class. Oddly that has happened the last two consecutive Thursdays. Thursday used to be my “big” class. I’m chalking it up to Maundy Thursday last week and Spring Break this week. And maybe the improvement in the weather. I know I’m happy to not have to work out indoors anymore.
Sunday will be my first crit of the season. Also the first where I am going to race both my Masters and my Senior categories. There’s about 3 hours between each race, should be more than enough time to recover. Plus I’m noticing that I am sometimes stronger in the second hour of my longer hard workouts.
