Wilmington Training Series #2, B race
Today's race was a little different from last week's. The pack was smaller, with around 20 people instead of 30. We didn't get a neutral lap at the beginning. The one road only had two lanes closed instead of all three, so the one turn was a bit tighter. Oh, and the winds were gusting at 30 mph, up from 20 mph.
I would not say this week was much faster (as the numbers showed), but the group surged out of the turns making it a lot harder.
The pace was slightly more aggressive from the beginning. A few people up front were driving the pace hard, surging out of every turn, making it pretty hard to hang on. Every time a few people started to drop back, I'd move into their spot. I gradually moved up: tenth, then ninth, then eighth place.
I noticed that along the back straight away, where the winds were the worst, the pack always slowed down. It got me thinking: I know I'm not a great sprinter, so if I go to the line with the other guys, I could finish as far down as 12th. If I could shake a few guys loose, maybe I could tilt the odds a little more in my favor.
With a lap and a half to go (about 1 mile left), the pack was splitting apart in the wind. I saw one guy getting away and I went after him. I slowly picked through the riders behind him, finding shelter where I could. When I moved from the next-to-last riders, I gunned it with all I had. I led the field for the last lap, trying to shake off as many as I could.
With about 300 yards left, two riders attacked simultaneously, one on each side. I hesitated for a second as I considered whose wheel to get on. In that instant, they were past me and riding away, with the other riders in tow. I got out of the saddle and tried to bring them back, but it was too late. They were probably 30 feet in front of me, I held that distance all the way to the finish.
There is some debate whether I finished 7th or 8th. It seems that one rider who we lapped decided to sprint into the finish with us, so he still had one lap to go. It's just a training crit and I really don't care. I learned my lesson: when someone goes by, just get on their wheel! Don't sit and deliberate about it!
How were the stats?
Distance: 7.5 miles
Finish Time (Average Speed):
This week: 19:39 (22.7 mph)
Last week: 20:04 (22.4 mph)
Maximum Speed:
This week: 29.7 mph
Last week: 27.9 mph
Normalized Power:
This week: 267 watts
Last week: 257 watts
Max Power
This week: 1099 watts
Last week: 1080 watts
A couple other neat statistics: out of 19:39 in the race, I spent 5:14 putting out less than 40 watts (basically not pedaling at all). Unlike last week, my "most common power" was 160 - 170 watts (up from 120 - 130), which definitely tells you I was working a little harder in general!
This was a recovery week, so I took it pretty easy. I still managed to drop my weight 0.4 pounds to 183 and my body fat to 20.3%.
It's not really "taking it easy", but I tried out the Great Valley training crit on Thursday. It was a great time and I'll definitely be back to work on my pack skills a little more!
