Not One of my Better Days

This weekend was the High Point Hill Climb, a 5.5 mile uphill time trial with about 1250 feet of climbing. It had a couple of short downhill sections and it had a couple of steep 20%+ sections.

I knew that I would have some problems with this race on Tuesday. I got out for a decent climbing ride for the first time all year and I just had no power on the climbs. I suspect that the problem is that I've been riding almost entirely on my TT bike since January. I might get an hour or so each week on the road bike, but that's about it. In years past, I've worried about adapting to the TT bike so that I can put out enough power on it. It looks like this year I've managed to reverse that and have now managed to lose power on the road bike since I'm just not used to it.

As far as the race day itself goes, I can't say that I messed anything up. We got there early, I got in a good warmup, and I paced the course well.

Knowing that you can (or at least, should be able to) maintain a higher power on long climbs than you can on a similar flat road, I was aiming for 285 to 290 watts. I was aiming for a time of around 25:30.

I reached the top of the first segment and could barely hold onto 280 watts. I was 20 seconds behind my pacing schedule already. There was a short downhill and then back to the grind.

The top of the second segment, I was barely able to maintain 275 watts and I was now over a minute behind schedule. Oh, this was bad... I settled in around 270 watts, which I was more or less able to maintain the rest of the way.

When I turned into the park, it just got worse. I went up the short, steep climbs at 400 watts, but it was all I had, and I could barely push over the top of them. I had little left to put anything into the downhills.

I hit the finish line totally spent, just a shade over two minutes behind my goal time. I was dreading seeing the results.

Perhaps the biggest damage of the day was to my series results. I finished in 18th place, outside of the points (which are only awarded to 15th place or better). Anthony had a great day and got 6 points, putting him back in the lead by one point. That puts the pressure on for me next week since he gets to start behind me again. If nothing else, we're keeping the drama high for the series!

Nick had a great day, taking a minute off his time last year. I always knew he'd beat me one day, I just didn't expect it to be today.

I also heard that the course record was broken by one of the 1/2/3 riders.

At least someone had a good day :-)



What I did right:
Got there early
Planned out my pacing for the sections of the terrain
Didn't panic when things weren't going well

What could have been better:
Spend more time on the road bike!
I should have rested more. Since I was not expecting great results, I trained right up to Thursday (with an 11 hour week)

The Numbers:
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 27:31
Speed: 12.0 mph
Avg Power: 271 watts
Avg Heart Rate:168 bpm

In an Instant

The short story is that I won for the second week in a row and I'm now in the lead for the TT series. I'm very happy that even though each week the race has gotten just a tiny bit longer (growing from 7 miles to 10 miles),  my average speed has gone up every week (going from 25.4 mph to 26.2 mph).

The bigger story was what happened right behind me in 2nd through 4th place. People talk about time trials being very close and every second counts. You have to go as hard as you can from the start to the finish and pace it perfectly in the middle.

The times for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place this week:
     23:15.65
     23:16.13
     23:16.94

That's 3 people finishing in 1.29 seconds (probably less time than it took to read that sentence).

An extra half watt through the whole race, a slightly smoother turnaround, a slightly faster start, taking just a slightly straighter line around a pothole, getting back up to speed just an instant earlier after the turnaround... there's almost an endless list of ways that someone could have made up that difference.

It's the kind of things that can drive you nuts when it's you. These are the kinds of things that I look for each week in this blog, trying to track what things I did right and what I could have done better. Believe me, it's really hard to do a time trial without any mistakes. There's a lot to pay attention to and you have to do it all while pushing as hard as you can (which of course, takes some knowledge of your own abilities and limits going into the race).

Nick, Glen, and Anthony all deserve kudos for a blazing fast race.

Next week everything changes. The High Point Hill Climb is 5.5 miles with a total of 1200 feet of climbing. It claims an average of 4% grade but that's a lie since there are a couple of short descents. It's really more like 5 or 6% average with a couple of places near 20%.

I have no delusions that I'll win next week. I know a few guys with the same power output that I have but they are 20 to 30 pounds lighter, so they should beat me by a minute or more up a climb that steep and that long. All I can do is my best and try to earn a few more points for the series.

What I did right:
Planning the course
Pacing the course
Position

What could have been better:
I was way too worried about this race all week (I was really worried about my series score in this race)
Lost a few seconds taking the turn too tight (I almost hit a cone)

The Numbers:
Distance: 9.95 miles
Time: 22:51
Speed: 26.2 mph
Avg Power: 283 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm

Not Quite What I'd Expected

I've been beaten by the same rider the last two weeks, definitely telling me who the competition will be for the NJ TT series and, to be honest, getting me a little worried. If he beat me again this week, it would be three times in a row and make a really big point gap that I would have to make up in the coming races. I really needed to break the streak.

It's no secret that my training plan now is pretty intense. This week included back-to-back, high intensity days on Tuesday and Wednesday at a power output that is much higher than I'm used to. My legs were really tight and sore on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. By Thursday night, I was in a panic about my legs recovering in time for the race today.

On Friday, I did a good warmup ride, doing a couple of efforts at 90% of my target power for the race today. My legs felt awful. My panic was getting worse.By Friday night, they didn't feel any better

Warming up this morning, I was still not all there. My legs still felt tired and heavy and my heart and lungs were not responding quite right. On the plus side, it was cool out, but I was at least happy that it was not windy or raining.

I got to the start and just focused on doing the best I could. 

The course was mostly flat but with a LOT of tight turns and curves. A few times I went into the turn at full speed and was leaned over as fas as I could without coming up out of the aero bars.

I hit the turnaround and I knew I was in trouble. My average power was only 265 watts, a full 15 watts down from my 280 watt target. My legs were just not putting out the force I needed.

To make it worse, my turnaround was awful. I came in way too fast and had to apply brakes in the turn. I was doing 12 mph when I came around the cone and started getting back up to speed. I looked up to see Anthony bearing down on me heading into the turnaround. He was a little closer than I wanted to see.

On the way back, I dug a lot deeper. My legs did not want to go at all, but I pushed with all I had, blazing through the turns as fast as I could, not wanting to let up the pressure for even a second in case my legs wouldn't pick back up again.

It worked. On the way back, I held the power around 285 watts... much better. With a mile to go, I picked up the pace just a bit more, holding it around 300 watts. I hit the finish line at 18:24, with an average of 273 watts for the day, a whopping 12 watts below target. I felt like I had given it all I had, but I was hoping just to be on the podium. I kind of wondered if I had lost the series today.

It turns out... I didn't.

I first suspected when Anthony and I were talking after the race and he thought he was around 18:40. I know how easy it is to be a little off on your time, so I tried not to get too excited. Sure enough, when we got the final results, I had won. Anthony was in second at 18:36 (12 seconds, the same margin that he had over me last week).

There are a lot of unknowns today. I don't know how I put out so much more power on the way back. I don't know how to put in the type of intensity I need without it impacting my race. There's a lot for me to think about this week.

Of course, we get to do it all again next week. The next one one is 10 miles, dead flat, almost completely straight, and a wide turnaround that barely requires you to slow down.

What I did right:
I noticed that I was overdoing it and focused on recovery
I contained my worry at the warmup and the start, focusing on doing what I could
I picked up the pace in the second half
I felt like my position was the best it's been yet this year

What could have been better:
My weird pacing problem on the way out

The Numbers:
Distance: 7.9 miles
Time: 18:24
Speed: 25.7 mph
Avg Power: 273 watts (285 target)
Avg Heart Rate: 162 bpm (168 target)

As a Rule

The guys I ride with at work know that I have a couple of rules for riding in certain weather: I don't ride in the rain and I don't ride when it's below 42 degrees.

I've broken both those rules for races in the last 8 days. Last week it was pouring rain. This week is was 36 degrees. Sure, it was sunny, but the 18 mph wind gusts made it feel a lot colder.

Like last week, I got in a decent week of training with a sharp drop in training the last few days. I felt terrible on the bike both days, but had faith that I would be ready this morning... and I was. Warming up, I felt really good.

I planned on taking a risk with my pacing strategy. With the gusty winds on the way out, I planned to go full gas out to the turnaround and hope that I would have enough to work with the tail winds on the way back.

After beating me last week and getting ahead in the series standings, Anthony was starting in the spot 30 seconds behind me, so he had the advantage of being able to see where I was at all times. I was going to really have to do well to override that.

The start went well and I was right up to speed quickly. Unlike last week, I was paying attention to my position, trying to stay under the wind as much as I could and I kept my power right where I wanted it. Even with the headwind, I was seeing speeds in the 24 to 25 mph range.

I hit the turnaround at about 8:50 and an average of 298 watts. There was no way I could maintain that the whole way back and I knew it... right according to plan. I kept my power up until the last second and rolled smoothly through the turnaround. As I got back up to speed, I saw that Anthony was not far behind me, but I couldn't really judge how far.

The way back was WAY faster. As I had planned (hoped?), the tailwinds were really strong on the way back. I was pushing 27 to 28 mph at some points. I was really struggling to keep my power up, but I knew it would not be near my top end.

I hit the finish line with everything I had. Just in time... I could barely feel my fingers anymore! I looked a lot more determined in the finish line photos.

It turned out that Anthony beat me by about 12 seconds, like last week (all that work for the same results?!?!). If I'm going to win the series, I need to start beating him. At this point, I'm not quite sure how to pull that off.

That said, he was someone I raced all last year. If someone is going to beat me, I'm happy that it's someone I already know and respect. It was his first win and it's awesome to be able to congratulate a friend on a huge accomplishment like that.

What I Did Right:
Put faith in my training
Planing and executing my experimental pacing
Focused on my position
Kept the power up the whole time


What Could have been Better:
I think today went really well. I didn't make any obvious mistakes.

The Numbers:
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time: 17:11 (I did 17:32 last year)
Speed: 25.5 mph
Avg Wattage: 284 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm