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!)
