On paper, the course looked really difficult, with screaming downhills and sharp turns onto climbs. Previous year participants talked about the turn near the end (which you come into downhill at 35 mph) that is really sharp on a very narrow road. I was a bit worried about the course.
All three races I've done so far had no turns and were relatively flat. As a result, I could just plan for an average power target. Since this course had several turns and downhills (where my power would drop), I could not rely on average power as much. I had to use normalized power as well, which gave me one more mental task during the race. So I was worried about pacing.
Since I was treating this as a training race, I didn't really rest much this week. Going into the race, I was a bit tired.
Yesterday morning when I woke up, something in my mid-back hurt so badly that I could barely turn my head. I spent the morning barely able to focus and was able to see a massage therapist to fix the worst of it. It was still really sore.
Last night when I was doing my equipment run-through, I found that my front wheel was suddenly badly out of true enough to be rubbing the brakes, so I had to swap it out for another less-aerodynamic wheel. There goes a couple of seconds in the race.
Oh yeah, and with lots of strong results in the last few weeks, there was a little pressure to perform well.
I was pretty much a wreck, even though I didn't want to admit it to anyone. I didn't want to be negative before a race.
So I did what I always do when I'm worried: I prepared.
I spent the whole week looking over charts and maps, learning the course. Where were the steepest climbs? How long did it take riders to climb them in previous years? How should I plan my pacing for the course? By the time I drove the course this morning, I knew exactly what I was looking for and just confirming what was in my head. While it had a few tricky spots, it was not nearly as bad as I'd originally thought.
I got there in time to get a good warmup and go over my strategy in my head a few times. I had a pretty strong suspicion from previous results that the guy starting 30 seconds behind me would be the winner. We'll call him Orange Guy, for his uniform color. I fully expected him to catch me on the course. If he was strong enough to catch me, it was unlikely that I could stay with him, but I at least wanted to use him as a guide so that I could watch the line he took through the corners ahead so I could gain a little from him being ahead of me. It didn't exactly turn out that way.
My other goal was to catch the guy starting in front of me. I'd seen him in previous races. With a $13,000 bike and $600 helmet, he looked pretty intimidating. I came within 5 seconds of catching him in a previous race, so this time I was out for him. We'll call him Giant Guy (for the brand of bike he rides).
The race starts with a 2 mile descent. I took it fast, but not working too hard. Then a series of quick turns into the first real climb. I was surprised to find that I could stay in the big ring and on the aero bars for the climb. I held onto a lot more speed on the rise... and I spotted Giant Guy and another rider just reaching the top of the hill ahead of me.
Up and over the top, down the next descent, and back up hill again through a cute little neighborhood. Going through an uphill turn, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Orange Guy behind me slowly gaining. I was also gaining on Giant Guy... and passed the other rider along the way.
On the next descent, Orange Guy passed me. As planned, I watched him take the next corner at high speed and followed him through it about 60 yards behind.
The next couple miles were gently rolling hills. Orange Guy was not pulling away from me as I'd expected and we were both gaining on Giant Guy and another rider. Going into the next turn, the four of us hit the turn in rapid succession, just seconds apart.
At the bottom of the hill, I looked at the three riders in front of me. In my mind, I knew this hill was about 2 1/2 minutes long and we were about 8 minutes from the finish. I smiled to myself and thought "what the hell?".... and attacked with everything I had.
Orange Guy had just passed Giant Guy and the other rider. I stood up on the pedals, accelerating past the other rider.... then past Giant Guy.... the past Orange Guy. I kept the pressure up to the top of the hill, then hitting the downhill section. It was very steep and very fast.... right into that sharp, narrow turn.I jammed on the brakes, took the turn as fast as I could, and glanced over my shoulder to see who was there. Orange Guy was gaining fast, but no one else.
On the next straight section, Orange Guy passed me again. Going into the last turn, he was maybe 5 seconds ahead of me. The last section was uphill and he seemed to be bogging down on the climb. I poured on everything I had and passed him again. I crested the top of the hill and could see the finish line ahead. I was pushing as hard as I could... and just seconds before the finish line, Orange Guy passed me again, beating me by just a few yards.
Keep in mind, he started 30 seconds behind me, so he had already beaten me. At this point, it was just for fun.
In the end, Orange Guy won. I got third, with an official time of 31 seconds behind him. The guy in second beat me by 10 seconds.
This race actually had a podium that we got to stand on at the end. It really made it feel like an accomplishment to be on it. I felt a little goofy waving at the crowd, but the picture looked really cool.
Looking back at my power download, I didn't attack as hard as I thought I had on that last climb. I was just hitting my power target.The other riders around just gave me incentive to do it and to not slow down (and made it feel a little cooler). I definitely worked a little harder than I had planned on the last two minutes, but since I had it in me to do it, it just tells me that I'm capable of more than I realized.
That's my third podium finish in four races. While I want to be annoyed that I "only" got third this week, it's a damned impressive start to the season.
Oh yeah, and thanks to Joe Wentzel at Breakaway Bikes for talking me into the new skinsuit. I used to wear an XL and now wear a medium. That was exciting on its own, but the new one is also a lot more aerodynamic!!
What Went Well:
Planning my race pacing
Maintaining the pace I wanted
Staying over the night before (90 minute drive, 8:39 start time)
Driving the course before the start
Checking my equipment before I left the house
Not panicking when I was caught
What to Work On:
High speed turns in the aero bars
Getting my wheel fixed
Not getting caught ;-)
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.6 miles
Time: 23:33
Avg Speed: 24.5 mph
Avg. Power: 280 watts (305 watts, Normalized)
My rankings after this event:
