When you watch the Tour de France on TV, the last stage is largely ceremonial, with the overall standings pretty much determined and riders who aren't in contention for the overall trying for the final victory.
That's pretty much what today was like. The top 3 finishers had never done any of the series time trials this year. The series leader finished 8th. I finished 16th.
I hadn't planned on giving this race my all. I had enough of a lead in the series that I didn't even have to show up to keep my 2nd place and, given our relative performances in recent weeks, I was unlikely to beat Anthony.
The course started out flat on rough, cracked, pot-holed pavement. After a mile or so, it turns on to a slight incline that leads up to a monster 1.1 mile climb which averaged 8%. In reality, it had three steep sections around 13% and was about 5 to 6% the rest of the time. After that, it was about 4 miles of rolling terrain and then a 3.5-mile descent to the finish with several spots of cracked pavement along the way.
When I drove the course and saw the pavement, my plan to just have fun and ride the course just to say I did all 12 races really cemented itself. I was not going to take any risks for the last race for no real benefit.
The race had a slightly strange rule: it only allowed road bikes. We
could still wear skinsuits and aero helmets, but were not allowed time
trial frames, disk wheels, or aero bars.
All told, I'd say I achieved my goal for the day. It was fun. Most of the time, anyway.
The first mile sucked. I was swerving all over the road trying to avoid cracks and bumps (trying to avoid flat tires or crashes).
The lead-up to the hill was psychologically harder than anything else. You could see the pavement disappearing up into the trees as it goes almost vertical up ahead and you had about a half-mile gradual climb to get to it.
The climb itself was hard but my research and planning really helped. I knew that there were three very steep sections and two other not-quite-as-steep sections plus how long each one was. I got to the top and gradually got back up to speed.
The rolling sections in the middle kind of flew by. Again, there were random potholes and rough sections all over (almost always on a downhill when I was already doing 30 mph and had to avoid them).
The long downhill to the finish was mostly smooth pavement but the occasional major rough section gets you paranoid and I didn't really push the pace too hard. I was holding 30 mph for most of it (except for a couple of short climbs along the way that slowed me down).
I saw the finish line and did a sort-of-half-effort sprint for it. I was just happy to make it through the course and be done.
In a rare move, I hadn't really paid much attention to my power meter during the race. At the end, I was shocked at just how easily I had taken the race. I was probably 30 watts lower than I would have wanted if I was really trying for a race this length.
So ends the 2014 season. It's a far cry from last year, which ended with 3 wins in a row. Still, I finished the series in second place which is a major accomplishment. I raced in all 12 series events, even if two of them (today and the High Point Hill climb) had such poor results that I didn't get any points for my efforts.
With the racing season over I get to relax and decompress a bit... and start to think about goals for next year.
What I did right:
I did well enough this season that my results didn't matter today.
I didn't crash.
What could have been better:
My motivation is pretty much gone for racing this year.
The Numbers:
Distance: 10.8 miles
Time: 32:05
Speed: 20.0 mph
Avg Power: 220 watts (247 watts normalized)
Avg Heart Rate: 163 bpm
