After doing 8 races in 6 weekends, I had this weekend off. It was kind of nice, actually.
It rained like crazy on Saturday, so I spent about 2 hours on the trainer watching a bike race on DVD.
On Sunday, I went for a super-long 4 hour and 10 minute ride covering 73 miles. I kept the pace pretty easy. I was really happy to see a 17.5 mph average for the day. Since it was a pretty flat course, the speed was not hard to maintain.
My weight is at 180.2, so I'm just creeping up on 10 pounds lost for the year.
Next weekend, I don't have any races and my parents are in town. After that, I have a few cool races coming up. There's a time trial that starts inside a C-130 cargo plane and a race around an oval course with no turns! The weekend after that, there's a crit on an airport runway!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Two for One
Yesterday I had planned on doing Soyoco, but the forecast for 40 degrees, pouring rain, and 25+ mph winds caused me to skip it.
Time trial:
Today I did two races near Carlisle, PA: a 20K time trial and a 7.4 mile hill climb.
The 20K was supposed to be a 40K, but the course was partially flooded from yesterday's very heavy rain, so I opted for the shorter distance (it was about 150 yards of 4" deep water with rapidly moving current. No thanks.).
Like yesterday, today was VERY windy. The Weather Channel said that the winds at the start time were 26 mph. Ouch.
Making matters worse, I got almost no warm-up. I misread the directions for the day, so we were at the wrong end of the course looking for the start. I got there with just enough time to get my number, pin it on, and get to the start.
The course was rolling hills, with some steeper than others. Without the wind, I think it would have been really fun. With the wind, though, I could barely use the aero bars on my bike. I spent most of the 10K out to the turnaround wrestling with my bike trying to keep it from blowing across the road. I really struggled to keep my speed up, but between the rolling terrain and the wind, I really had a hard time finding or holding a decent pace. A few times the wind whipped around me enough that I had a hard time breathing.
After the turnaround was like another world. Suddenly the wind was at my back and the course was more downhill than uphill. My speed was much higher than on the way out. I still fought with the bike a little, but it was much easier to control. My speed was so high on the descents that I had a hard time keeping my power high enough while still keeping my speed where I felt in control of the bike (did I mention that I've only ridden that bike for 40 miles since last July?).
Some numbers to put it in perspective:
Total Distance: 20K (12.4 miles)
Total time: 34:26
Average Speed: 21.6 mph
Average Power: 234 watts (248 normalized)
Time to turnaround: 20:32
Time back to start: 13:54
Average Speed to Turnaround: 18.0 mph
Average Speed back to start: 26.9 mph
Like I said, quite the difference.
Hill Climb:
Let me put this in no uncertain terms: I have a new favorite event: the South Mountain Hill Climb.
The hill climb was among the most fun things I've ever done, and I finished dead last! (by about 25 seconds).
It starts out with a very slight uphill for the first 2.5 miles. There were only 9 of us and we really pushed the pace for those first few miles. Then we hit the first real climb.
I was the second one to drop off the pack. After that, I just held as high of a pace as I thought I could sustain for the rest of the climb.
I had explored the course on MapMyRide.com to get an idea of where the steeper sections were and what landmarks I could tell them by. I also kept my bike computer in mileage mode so I could see just how far I had gone (and so I knew how far I had to go).
With about 2 miles to go, the guy who was behind me passed me pretty quickly. I was doing 11 mph, he was probably doing 12. At that speed, there's not much draft, but I couldn't hang onto his wheel anyway. Once he got about 50 yards in front of me, his pace dropped enough that I could keep him in sight but I couldn't bring him back.
With about 400 yards to go, there's a slight downhill, then a flat stretch, I sprinted like a lunatic, just trying to get the best time I could. I hit 27 mph.
Since I could get into a rhythm on the climb, my power numbers were much better than they were in the time trial.
Some numbers on the hill climb:
Total Distance: 7.4 miles
Total Time: 32:52
Average Speed: 13.5 mph
Average Power: 268 watts (275 normalized)
Total vertical climb: 1540 feet
I really loved the hill climb. It was a totally new challenge. I was by far the heaviest rider there. Everyone else was my height but probably 20 pounds lighter. I didn't care. It was my first time and I was there for the experience.
Now I have even more incentive to lose as much weight as I can.
Time trial:
Today I did two races near Carlisle, PA: a 20K time trial and a 7.4 mile hill climb.
The 20K was supposed to be a 40K, but the course was partially flooded from yesterday's very heavy rain, so I opted for the shorter distance (it was about 150 yards of 4" deep water with rapidly moving current. No thanks.).
Like yesterday, today was VERY windy. The Weather Channel said that the winds at the start time were 26 mph. Ouch.
Making matters worse, I got almost no warm-up. I misread the directions for the day, so we were at the wrong end of the course looking for the start. I got there with just enough time to get my number, pin it on, and get to the start.
The course was rolling hills, with some steeper than others. Without the wind, I think it would have been really fun. With the wind, though, I could barely use the aero bars on my bike. I spent most of the 10K out to the turnaround wrestling with my bike trying to keep it from blowing across the road. I really struggled to keep my speed up, but between the rolling terrain and the wind, I really had a hard time finding or holding a decent pace. A few times the wind whipped around me enough that I had a hard time breathing.
After the turnaround was like another world. Suddenly the wind was at my back and the course was more downhill than uphill. My speed was much higher than on the way out. I still fought with the bike a little, but it was much easier to control. My speed was so high on the descents that I had a hard time keeping my power high enough while still keeping my speed where I felt in control of the bike (did I mention that I've only ridden that bike for 40 miles since last July?).
Some numbers to put it in perspective:
Total Distance: 20K (12.4 miles)
Total time: 34:26
Average Speed: 21.6 mph
Average Power: 234 watts (248 normalized)
Time to turnaround: 20:32
Time back to start: 13:54
Average Speed to Turnaround: 18.0 mph
Average Speed back to start: 26.9 mph
Like I said, quite the difference.
Hill Climb:
Let me put this in no uncertain terms: I have a new favorite event: the South Mountain Hill Climb.
The hill climb was among the most fun things I've ever done, and I finished dead last! (by about 25 seconds).
It starts out with a very slight uphill for the first 2.5 miles. There were only 9 of us and we really pushed the pace for those first few miles. Then we hit the first real climb.
I was the second one to drop off the pack. After that, I just held as high of a pace as I thought I could sustain for the rest of the climb.
I had explored the course on MapMyRide.com to get an idea of where the steeper sections were and what landmarks I could tell them by. I also kept my bike computer in mileage mode so I could see just how far I had gone (and so I knew how far I had to go).
With about 2 miles to go, the guy who was behind me passed me pretty quickly. I was doing 11 mph, he was probably doing 12. At that speed, there's not much draft, but I couldn't hang onto his wheel anyway. Once he got about 50 yards in front of me, his pace dropped enough that I could keep him in sight but I couldn't bring him back.
With about 400 yards to go, there's a slight downhill, then a flat stretch, I sprinted like a lunatic, just trying to get the best time I could. I hit 27 mph.
Since I could get into a rhythm on the climb, my power numbers were much better than they were in the time trial.
Some numbers on the hill climb:
Total Distance: 7.4 miles
Total Time: 32:52
Average Speed: 13.5 mph
Average Power: 268 watts (275 normalized)
Total vertical climb: 1540 feet
I really loved the hill climb. It was a totally new challenge. I was by far the heaviest rider there. Everyone else was my height but probably 20 pounds lighter. I didn't care. It was my first time and I was there for the experience.
Now I have even more incentive to lose as much weight as I can.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Value of a Teammate
Today's race was 20 miles, made up of 15 laps of a 1.4 mile course that has 6 turns and a 180-degree hairpin turn at one end. The roads were a little on the narrow side but the turns were not too bad.
The pace was fast from the start with the traditional surges coming out of every turn. I'm still finding that my high speed turning is not what it should be. I just can't take a full turn at 22 mph yet. As a result, I lost a few places in each turn and I had to work a little harder coming out of each turn.
I held on for dear life for the first 10 miles, during which we averaged about 24 mph, reaching speeds near 30 mph on the one long straight segment.
Coming out of the one turn, I just lost contact with the pack. I can't say why, really. I was going as hard as I could and the pack just pulled away. I kept my pace up as well as I could, but I was losing ground.
About a half lap later, I caught up to me teammate, Pete, who had also lost contact with the group. Once I was on his wheel, Pete suddenly caught a second wind. He took off so hard that I could barely hang on. At first I thought he'd lost his mind. Then I realized that he was working to catch another group of 3 that was about 35 seconds ahead of us.
We worked together, keeping the pace high for a lap and a half. I got a look at how the race was unfolding: There was the lead pack, about a 30 second gap, and then the group that we were chasing. Coming out of the hairpin that lap, Pete had given all that he had. He had gotten me to within 12 seconds of the other group. Now it was up to me to close down the rest.
I charged into the next turn at full speed, just trying to bring them back. I saw them go past the stop sign in the next turn and started counting...1....2....3.... 10 seconds. I hit the turn and sprinted up the next segment like my life counted on it. I saw them go into the next turn and started counting 1...2...3... 8 seconds. I gritted my teeth and gunned it again. The next turn: 4 seconds. The next turn, 2 seconds.
On the long straight section, I caught them and breathed a huge sigh of relief. That chase group included two other teammates: Bradley and Jason. The four of us worked together smoothly until our last lap. The last time coming out of the hairpin, I attacked. It was too far from the finish, but I just felt like it. At this point, I had nothing to lose. I knew that I didn't have a real sprint in my legs.
I got away and had about a three bike length gap. I wasn't going to be able to stay away if that's all I could get. I took the corner at full speed and attacked again. I didn't really gain anything. Over the next segment, they brought me back. I sat on the back and we came through the finish line. Done!
I really owe it to Pete. If not for him, I'd have probably sat up and just cruised around the course until the finish. He didn't just pull me to within striking distance. He inspired me to work harder.
I later found out that the officials had called us in early. They wanted to open up the course for them to take out the one segment with two-way traffic, so we would not have made it around again before they reached that segment. No biggie. I still finished 14th.
It was a great day for the team. We had two guys in the top 4 in the Cat 5, 4 guys in the top 10 in the Cat 4, and positions 2, 4, and 6 in the Women's cat 4. I expect that we did even more in other races after I left.
Total distance: 20.4 miles
Time: 52: 15
Avg Speed: 22.9 mph
Avg Power: 233 watts (261 normalized)
The pace was fast from the start with the traditional surges coming out of every turn. I'm still finding that my high speed turning is not what it should be. I just can't take a full turn at 22 mph yet. As a result, I lost a few places in each turn and I had to work a little harder coming out of each turn.
I held on for dear life for the first 10 miles, during which we averaged about 24 mph, reaching speeds near 30 mph on the one long straight segment.
Coming out of the one turn, I just lost contact with the pack. I can't say why, really. I was going as hard as I could and the pack just pulled away. I kept my pace up as well as I could, but I was losing ground.
About a half lap later, I caught up to me teammate, Pete, who had also lost contact with the group. Once I was on his wheel, Pete suddenly caught a second wind. He took off so hard that I could barely hang on. At first I thought he'd lost his mind. Then I realized that he was working to catch another group of 3 that was about 35 seconds ahead of us.
We worked together, keeping the pace high for a lap and a half. I got a look at how the race was unfolding: There was the lead pack, about a 30 second gap, and then the group that we were chasing. Coming out of the hairpin that lap, Pete had given all that he had. He had gotten me to within 12 seconds of the other group. Now it was up to me to close down the rest.
I charged into the next turn at full speed, just trying to bring them back. I saw them go past the stop sign in the next turn and started counting...1....2....3.... 10 seconds. I hit the turn and sprinted up the next segment like my life counted on it. I saw them go into the next turn and started counting 1...2...3... 8 seconds. I gritted my teeth and gunned it again. The next turn: 4 seconds. The next turn, 2 seconds.
On the long straight section, I caught them and breathed a huge sigh of relief. That chase group included two other teammates: Bradley and Jason. The four of us worked together smoothly until our last lap. The last time coming out of the hairpin, I attacked. It was too far from the finish, but I just felt like it. At this point, I had nothing to lose. I knew that I didn't have a real sprint in my legs.
I got away and had about a three bike length gap. I wasn't going to be able to stay away if that's all I could get. I took the corner at full speed and attacked again. I didn't really gain anything. Over the next segment, they brought me back. I sat on the back and we came through the finish line. Done!
I really owe it to Pete. If not for him, I'd have probably sat up and just cruised around the course until the finish. He didn't just pull me to within striking distance. He inspired me to work harder.
I later found out that the officials had called us in early. They wanted to open up the course for them to take out the one segment with two-way traffic, so we would not have made it around again before they reached that segment. No biggie. I still finished 14th.
It was a great day for the team. We had two guys in the top 4 in the Cat 5, 4 guys in the top 10 in the Cat 4, and positions 2, 4, and 6 in the Women's cat 4. I expect that we did even more in other races after I left.
Total distance: 20.4 miles
Time: 52: 15
Avg Speed: 22.9 mph
Avg Power: 233 watts (261 normalized)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Bizarro Race to go the Slowest
Ronde Van Mullica, Cat 4
Today was a rather odd race.
I led the neutral start, which lasted a lot longer than I expected. I led the pack at 16 mph for the first 2 miles.
Then the pace picked up to about 26 mph for a couple miles, then slowed back down. We cruised around until about 1/4 mile before the start and then we picked it up again so we'd look good for the pictures. Then as soon as we were out of sight, we slowed down again.
There was a HUGE surge coming out of every turn (especially the sharp, gravel filled one). I took it a little wide on the second lap and lost about 20 placed. Dammit!
One thing that I really hated about this course was the yellow line rule. 70 cyclists on a narrow road and only allowed to use one lane means that it's almost impossible to move up. It felt like I was in the exact same position for the last 20 miles of the race (until the final few miles when we wound up for the sprint).
There were a lot of random slowings in the pack. We'd be cruising along at 28 mph then slow to 18. On dead flat roads with just a little wind and no turns in sight. The guys up front just decided to ease up. You could smell burning break pads a lot today.
The final straight was almost 3 miles long. Everyone was getting really impatient. The leaders were still going really slow and we could not use the other lane until about a mile and a half to go.
As soon as the road opened up, we spread out across the road. Almost immediately, out of the corner of my eye, I see a rear wheel flip into view and I hear the horrible sounds of bodies and bikes hitting the pavement. I hoped that it wasn't bad (it was) and that no one I knew was in it (they were not).
Seeing the pack start to speed up, I gave it all I had. I weaved between riders who were being dropped off the increasing pace. I thought we were a lot closer to the finishing line than we were, and I gave it all that I had left. I shot around the right side of the pack and started looking for someone's wheel. The pack had started to slow down just a bit one more time. We were still a quarter mile from the finishing line and I rolled right past everyone and found myself in the lead. I slowed down a little, hoping to find someone's wheel to draft a little to catch my breath. As soon as I slowed, the pack swarmed around me. I went to sprint again but found that my legs just had nothing left. Maybe it was from the effort I'd just put in; maybe it was from the race yesterday, but my legs were done.
Looking at the download, I was going as hard as I could but my power was dropping all the way to the finish line. I was only about 15 seconds or so behind, so I can't complain too much.
Some numbers:
Total Distance: 40.4 miles
Total time: 1:44:48
Avg Power: 185 watts (230 watts normalized)
Avg Heart Rate: 149 bpm
Total time not pedaling: 29:45
Avg Speed: 23 mph
Max speed: 33.8 mph
Total time over 28 mph: 10:12
Total time under 16 mph: 12:59 (told you it was weird!!)
Avg Cadence: 96 rpm (much better than yesterday!)
Today was a rather odd race.
I led the neutral start, which lasted a lot longer than I expected. I led the pack at 16 mph for the first 2 miles.
Then the pace picked up to about 26 mph for a couple miles, then slowed back down. We cruised around until about 1/4 mile before the start and then we picked it up again so we'd look good for the pictures. Then as soon as we were out of sight, we slowed down again.
There was a HUGE surge coming out of every turn (especially the sharp, gravel filled one). I took it a little wide on the second lap and lost about 20 placed. Dammit!
One thing that I really hated about this course was the yellow line rule. 70 cyclists on a narrow road and only allowed to use one lane means that it's almost impossible to move up. It felt like I was in the exact same position for the last 20 miles of the race (until the final few miles when we wound up for the sprint).
There were a lot of random slowings in the pack. We'd be cruising along at 28 mph then slow to 18. On dead flat roads with just a little wind and no turns in sight. The guys up front just decided to ease up. You could smell burning break pads a lot today.
The final straight was almost 3 miles long. Everyone was getting really impatient. The leaders were still going really slow and we could not use the other lane until about a mile and a half to go.
As soon as the road opened up, we spread out across the road. Almost immediately, out of the corner of my eye, I see a rear wheel flip into view and I hear the horrible sounds of bodies and bikes hitting the pavement. I hoped that it wasn't bad (it was) and that no one I knew was in it (they were not).
Seeing the pack start to speed up, I gave it all I had. I weaved between riders who were being dropped off the increasing pace. I thought we were a lot closer to the finishing line than we were, and I gave it all that I had left. I shot around the right side of the pack and started looking for someone's wheel. The pack had started to slow down just a bit one more time. We were still a quarter mile from the finishing line and I rolled right past everyone and found myself in the lead. I slowed down a little, hoping to find someone's wheel to draft a little to catch my breath. As soon as I slowed, the pack swarmed around me. I went to sprint again but found that my legs just had nothing left. Maybe it was from the effort I'd just put in; maybe it was from the race yesterday, but my legs were done.
Looking at the download, I was going as hard as I could but my power was dropping all the way to the finish line. I was only about 15 seconds or so behind, so I can't complain too much.
Some numbers:
Total Distance: 40.4 miles
Total time: 1:44:48
Avg Power: 185 watts (230 watts normalized)
Avg Heart Rate: 149 bpm
Total time not pedaling: 29:45
Avg Speed: 23 mph
Max speed: 33.8 mph
Total time over 28 mph: 10:12
Total time under 16 mph: 12:59 (told you it was weird!!)
Avg Cadence: 96 rpm (much better than yesterday!)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Tales from the Back of the Pack
Salisbury, Cat 3/4
The first thing I tell everyone who asks me for advice about a race is to stay in the front of the pack. So when I pulled out of the start line in 65th position out of 69, I was not in for a fun day.
To make matters even more fun, it was a Category 3 and 4 race, so I was racing people who were a good bit faster than me and this race was on very narrow roads with a "no crossing the yellow line" rule, so it was going to be really hard to move up.
It was a 32 mile race, doing 5 laps of 6.3 miles over a very hilly course and with about 16 mph winds blowing across the fields of Lancaster County.
I was constantly reminded of why the back of the pack sucks. I had to jam on my brakes HARD several times just to avoid running over the people in front of me, who had suddenly slowed from 22 to 15 mph. As soon as I slowed, the pace jumped back to 24 mph. Repeat about 20 times in the first lap (about 22 minutes) and you get an idea of how my day was going.
The reason is that the front of the pack hits a hill or a stiff headwind and they slow down. There is a slight delay for each person, and suddenly those in the back have to jam on their brakes. Highway traffic can be like that too.
One of the later ones came at the base of a steep climb and several of us had to veer onto the grass to avoid hitting those in front of us. I sprinted as hard as I could, just to hit the bottom of the next hill and get left behind in time to complete the first lap. Great....
So, for the next five laps I tried to get another pack together. Several other people had fallen off the back and I tried to organize them. Unfortunately, they kept quitting. I'd just get onto someone's wheel and open my mouth to say that we could work together, and they'd pull into the parking lot at the start/finish line. I got to watch 8 people quit that way. So, I just rolled along alone.
Since I'm racing again tomorrow, I didn't go TOO hard. I just held it at a hard tempo pace (about 85% of threshold power). With the headwinds and hills, sometimes that meant about 9 mph.
Other than starting in the back, another major mistake that I made was pedaling too slowly. When the pack accelerated, I had a much harder time responding because I was in a gear that was too hard to pedal.
The real kicker is that I spent my last three races at the front while pedaling an easy gear, so I knew better.
Now it's time to rest, recovery, and refuel for tomorrow's 40-mile perfectly flat race!
A few numbers:
Morning weight: 181.6 lbs
Total Race Time: 1:38:06
Avg Speed: 19.4 mph
Avg Power: 206 watts (260 normalized)
Avg speed with the pack: 22.7 mph
Avg speed alone: 18.7 mph
Avg Heart Rate: 158 bpm (174 max)
Total climbing: 1587 feet
Total calories burned: 1204
The first thing I tell everyone who asks me for advice about a race is to stay in the front of the pack. So when I pulled out of the start line in 65th position out of 69, I was not in for a fun day.
To make matters even more fun, it was a Category 3 and 4 race, so I was racing people who were a good bit faster than me and this race was on very narrow roads with a "no crossing the yellow line" rule, so it was going to be really hard to move up.
It was a 32 mile race, doing 5 laps of 6.3 miles over a very hilly course and with about 16 mph winds blowing across the fields of Lancaster County.
I was constantly reminded of why the back of the pack sucks. I had to jam on my brakes HARD several times just to avoid running over the people in front of me, who had suddenly slowed from 22 to 15 mph. As soon as I slowed, the pace jumped back to 24 mph. Repeat about 20 times in the first lap (about 22 minutes) and you get an idea of how my day was going.
The reason is that the front of the pack hits a hill or a stiff headwind and they slow down. There is a slight delay for each person, and suddenly those in the back have to jam on their brakes. Highway traffic can be like that too.
One of the later ones came at the base of a steep climb and several of us had to veer onto the grass to avoid hitting those in front of us. I sprinted as hard as I could, just to hit the bottom of the next hill and get left behind in time to complete the first lap. Great....
So, for the next five laps I tried to get another pack together. Several other people had fallen off the back and I tried to organize them. Unfortunately, they kept quitting. I'd just get onto someone's wheel and open my mouth to say that we could work together, and they'd pull into the parking lot at the start/finish line. I got to watch 8 people quit that way. So, I just rolled along alone.
Since I'm racing again tomorrow, I didn't go TOO hard. I just held it at a hard tempo pace (about 85% of threshold power). With the headwinds and hills, sometimes that meant about 9 mph.
Other than starting in the back, another major mistake that I made was pedaling too slowly. When the pack accelerated, I had a much harder time responding because I was in a gear that was too hard to pedal.
The real kicker is that I spent my last three races at the front while pedaling an easy gear, so I knew better.
Now it's time to rest, recovery, and refuel for tomorrow's 40-mile perfectly flat race!
A few numbers:
Morning weight: 181.6 lbs
Total Race Time: 1:38:06
Avg Speed: 19.4 mph
Avg Power: 206 watts (260 normalized)
Avg speed with the pack: 22.7 mph
Avg speed alone: 18.7 mph
Avg Heart Rate: 158 bpm (174 max)
Total climbing: 1587 feet
Total calories burned: 1204
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