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
Sunday, March 27, 2011
On a cold, dark road in the middle of nowhere...
South Jersey Training Crit #4, 4/5 raceI finally made it to a South Jersey crit.
To make the 7:15 start, I left my place about 5:15. That makes for an early morning, and it's not any better when the expected temperature at the start was 30 degrees. It was not even light out when I first got there.
I barely got a warm up. Basically, I didn't want to get out of the car it was so cold! So, I sat in the car with the heat on, rolled around for 5 minutes, then the race started.
It was a pretty flat, 3-mile course. It's not really rectangular, with two long legs, one very short one (barely 1/4 mile), and one downhill leg. We were doing 6 laps.
I spent way too much energy in the beginning. Any time three or four guys got off the front, I tried to bring them back. I quickly realized that with about 40 people in the pack and a stiff headwind on the back leg, it was unlikely that a group would get away. Instead, I focused on riding well in the pack.
I made sure I was on the downwind side of the road so I was protected from the wind from both the front and the side. I tried to stay as close to the guy in front of me and beside me as I could. I stayed close to the front, but didn't pull. Any time a group started to get away, I sat in the pack and waited for someone else to bring it back.
On that back stretch, sometimes the group just cruised along, slowing to 18 or 19 mph. I just sat in the group protected from the wind and watched everyone else attack and get brought back.
I found that I need to work on my high speed turns. Coming into a turn at 30 mph, I constantly found myself braking a bit and taking the turn wide.
On the last lap, I made the mistake of not responding when guys started surging to the front. I should have moved up with them. Coming out of the last turn, probably 18 guys were still in front of me. I fought for a better position all the way to the line.
My other mistake was trying to sprint in too big a gear. I came out of the downhill and tried to sprint in the same gear I was just descending in. Instead of shifting, I tried to just muscle my way to go faster.
Despite those mistakes, I passed 4 or 5 guys in the final straight and fought one guy all the way to the line. I think he got me.
I thought about doing the 3/4 race afterward, but my hands and feet were so numb that I was not really interested.
Not bad for my third race in three weeks. I'm feeling much more comfortable in the pack and I'm able to hang on, even when there are pretty hard accelerations. Next weekend, I'm planning on two races: a 36-mile race on Saturday and a 40-mile race on Sunday.
A few numbers:
Distance: 17.6 miles
Finishing Time:45:17
Avg Speed: 23.1 mph
Max Speed: 32 mph
Avg Power: 218 watts (260 normalized)
Max Power: 1060 watts
Time not pedaling: 8:14
Yesterday morning, I was 181.4 pounds (I didn't get a weigh in this morning).
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Attack!!!
Wilmington Training Series #2, B race
Today's race was a little different from last week's. The pack was smaller, with around 20 people instead of 30. We didn't get a neutral lap at the beginning. The one road only had two lanes closed instead of all three, so the one turn was a bit tighter. Oh, and the winds were gusting at 30 mph, up from 20 mph.
I would not say this week was much faster (as the numbers showed), but the group surged out of the turns making it a lot harder.
The pace was slightly more aggressive from the beginning. A few people up front were driving the pace hard, surging out of every turn, making it pretty hard to hang on. Every time a few people started to drop back, I'd move into their spot. I gradually moved up: tenth, then ninth, then eighth place.
I noticed that along the back straight away, where the winds were the worst, the pack always slowed down. It got me thinking: I know I'm not a great sprinter, so if I go to the line with the other guys, I could finish as far down as 12th. If I could shake a few guys loose, maybe I could tilt the odds a little more in my favor.
With a lap and a half to go (about 1 mile left), the pack was splitting apart in the wind. I saw one guy getting away and I went after him. I slowly picked through the riders behind him, finding shelter where I could. When I moved from the next-to-last riders, I gunned it with all I had. I led the field for the last lap, trying to shake off as many as I could.
With about 300 yards left, two riders attacked simultaneously, one on each side. I hesitated for a second as I considered whose wheel to get on. In that instant, they were past me and riding away, with the other riders in tow. I got out of the saddle and tried to bring them back, but it was too late. They were probably 30 feet in front of me, I held that distance all the way to the finish.
There is some debate whether I finished 7th or 8th. It seems that one rider who we lapped decided to sprint into the finish with us, so he still had one lap to go. It's just a training crit and I really don't care. I learned my lesson: when someone goes by, just get on their wheel! Don't sit and deliberate about it!
How were the stats?
Distance: 7.5 miles
Finish Time (Average Speed):
This week: 19:39 (22.7 mph)
Last week: 20:04 (22.4 mph)
Maximum Speed:
This week: 29.7 mph
Last week: 27.9 mph
Normalized Power:
This week: 267 watts
Last week: 257 watts
Max Power
This week: 1099 watts
Last week: 1080 watts
A couple other neat statistics: out of 19:39 in the race, I spent 5:14 putting out less than 40 watts (basically not pedaling at all). Unlike last week, my "most common power" was 160 - 170 watts (up from 120 - 130), which definitely tells you I was working a little harder in general!
This was a recovery week, so I took it pretty easy. I still managed to drop my weight 0.4 pounds to 183 and my body fat to 20.3%.
It's not really "taking it easy", but I tried out the Great Valley training crit on Thursday. It was a great time and I'll definitely be back to work on my pack skills a little more!
Today's race was a little different from last week's. The pack was smaller, with around 20 people instead of 30. We didn't get a neutral lap at the beginning. The one road only had two lanes closed instead of all three, so the one turn was a bit tighter. Oh, and the winds were gusting at 30 mph, up from 20 mph.
I would not say this week was much faster (as the numbers showed), but the group surged out of the turns making it a lot harder.
The pace was slightly more aggressive from the beginning. A few people up front were driving the pace hard, surging out of every turn, making it pretty hard to hang on. Every time a few people started to drop back, I'd move into their spot. I gradually moved up: tenth, then ninth, then eighth place.
I noticed that along the back straight away, where the winds were the worst, the pack always slowed down. It got me thinking: I know I'm not a great sprinter, so if I go to the line with the other guys, I could finish as far down as 12th. If I could shake a few guys loose, maybe I could tilt the odds a little more in my favor.
With a lap and a half to go (about 1 mile left), the pack was splitting apart in the wind. I saw one guy getting away and I went after him. I slowly picked through the riders behind him, finding shelter where I could. When I moved from the next-to-last riders, I gunned it with all I had. I led the field for the last lap, trying to shake off as many as I could.
With about 300 yards left, two riders attacked simultaneously, one on each side. I hesitated for a second as I considered whose wheel to get on. In that instant, they were past me and riding away, with the other riders in tow. I got out of the saddle and tried to bring them back, but it was too late. They were probably 30 feet in front of me, I held that distance all the way to the finish.
There is some debate whether I finished 7th or 8th. It seems that one rider who we lapped decided to sprint into the finish with us, so he still had one lap to go. It's just a training crit and I really don't care. I learned my lesson: when someone goes by, just get on their wheel! Don't sit and deliberate about it!
How were the stats?
Distance: 7.5 miles
Finish Time (Average Speed):
This week: 19:39 (22.7 mph)
Last week: 20:04 (22.4 mph)
Maximum Speed:
This week: 29.7 mph
Last week: 27.9 mph
Normalized Power:
This week: 267 watts
Last week: 257 watts
Max Power
This week: 1099 watts
Last week: 1080 watts
A couple other neat statistics: out of 19:39 in the race, I spent 5:14 putting out less than 40 watts (basically not pedaling at all). Unlike last week, my "most common power" was 160 - 170 watts (up from 120 - 130), which definitely tells you I was working a little harder in general!
This was a recovery week, so I took it pretty easy. I still managed to drop my weight 0.4 pounds to 183 and my body fat to 20.3%.
It's not really "taking it easy", but I tried out the Great Valley training crit on Thursday. It was a great time and I'll definitely be back to work on my pack skills a little more!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Never give up. Never surrender!
Racing season 2011 has begun. Today I did a training crit in Wilmington, DE. It was a very short course, probably only about 1K. We did ten laps (plus a neutral one), so it was really really short. That does not mean it was not difficult. It was very twisty, with half the course either setting up for a turn or coming out of one. About 25 or 30 people started.
The weather helped only a little. It was in the lower 40's with a stiff wind coming down the finishing straight.
I lined up with two other teammates, Pete and Mike. It's always great to have allies in a race.
The race started with a neutral lap so we all just cruised around the course at about 16 mph. As soon as we can through the start/finish, the pace picked up to 21 mph. I settled in around the fifth spot and hung on. Sometimes someone would move past me, so I'd move back up to stay in the first few spots.
On lap 5, it REALLY picked up. About 14 people went off the front of the pack and left everyone behind. After a hard week of training, I had a really hard time going with them and was dropped quickly.
I started to look around and see if I could salvage anything. I found Mike and drafted him for a few seconds to catch my breath. I saw another rider about 50 yards ahead and thought I could bring him back. So, I pulled around Mike and moved up. Once I caught that rider, I saw another rider ahead of him, who I then worked my way up to. There was one final gap to get me back to the breakaway group, so I set about closing that one too.
It took me almost two laps, but I managed to catch back onto the break. Unfortunately it took almost everything I had to bring them back. I held onto the pack for the next few laps.
With a half-lap to go, the rest of the pack surged to sprint for the finish. I started to go with them but my legs promptly refused. No one was behind me, so I just time trialed to the finish and finished maybe 8 or 10 seconds behind the pack.
How were the numbers? Pretty good.
My most common power output was 120 to 130 watts. In other words, I spent a lot of time soft-pedaling in the pack, letting others do the work.
My average power was 237 watts, which says that when I did pedal hard, I pedaled REALLY hard. According to my power meter download, on 27 different occasions I put out more than 500 watts for several seconds in a row (the longest was 15 seconds), then quickly returned to soft pedaling. I always tell people that crits are all about surging and then relaxing. The numbers sure proved it!
Even when I was chasing the pack, I still measured my efforts by jumping from one rider to the next.
The crit was barely 8 miles long, but we averaged 22.4 mph.
I counted: with 6 turns per lap and 10 laps, I turned 60 times. I only touched my brakes in 4 of them (usually when someone cut me off or when Pete tried to run me into the curb).
Not bad for my first crit since last April (and only my third since Sept 2006!)
Oh, and my weight this morning was 183.4 and 20.4% body fat.
The weather helped only a little. It was in the lower 40's with a stiff wind coming down the finishing straight.
I lined up with two other teammates, Pete and Mike. It's always great to have allies in a race.
The race started with a neutral lap so we all just cruised around the course at about 16 mph. As soon as we can through the start/finish, the pace picked up to 21 mph. I settled in around the fifth spot and hung on. Sometimes someone would move past me, so I'd move back up to stay in the first few spots.
On lap 5, it REALLY picked up. About 14 people went off the front of the pack and left everyone behind. After a hard week of training, I had a really hard time going with them and was dropped quickly.
I started to look around and see if I could salvage anything. I found Mike and drafted him for a few seconds to catch my breath. I saw another rider about 50 yards ahead and thought I could bring him back. So, I pulled around Mike and moved up. Once I caught that rider, I saw another rider ahead of him, who I then worked my way up to. There was one final gap to get me back to the breakaway group, so I set about closing that one too.
It took me almost two laps, but I managed to catch back onto the break. Unfortunately it took almost everything I had to bring them back. I held onto the pack for the next few laps.
With a half-lap to go, the rest of the pack surged to sprint for the finish. I started to go with them but my legs promptly refused. No one was behind me, so I just time trialed to the finish and finished maybe 8 or 10 seconds behind the pack.
How were the numbers? Pretty good.
My most common power output was 120 to 130 watts. In other words, I spent a lot of time soft-pedaling in the pack, letting others do the work.
My average power was 237 watts, which says that when I did pedal hard, I pedaled REALLY hard. According to my power meter download, on 27 different occasions I put out more than 500 watts for several seconds in a row (the longest was 15 seconds), then quickly returned to soft pedaling. I always tell people that crits are all about surging and then relaxing. The numbers sure proved it!
Even when I was chasing the pack, I still measured my efforts by jumping from one rider to the next.
The crit was barely 8 miles long, but we averaged 22.4 mph.
I counted: with 6 turns per lap and 10 laps, I turned 60 times. I only touched my brakes in 4 of them (usually when someone cut me off or when Pete tried to run me into the curb).
Not bad for my first crit since last April (and only my third since Sept 2006!)
Oh, and my weight this morning was 183.4 and 20.4% body fat.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Outside!!!
The last time I rode outside was December 4, so it was GREAT to get back outside for a real ride yesterday. It was the third time this week I rode outside; we rode two days at work this week as well.
The biggest shock for me was the increase in speed and power that I've seen over the winter. For the first time in my life, I broke 1200 watts. In two separate sprints on Wednesday, I hit 1222 and 1220 watts. My previous best was an irritatingly close 1199 watts. I was routinely powering up hills 50 watts higher than I was in the fall. I guess all that work on the CompuTrainer paid off :-)
Yesterday was kind of rough. It was not too cold at 44 degrees, but the wind was pretty nasty. Some of the gusts almost blew me off the trail. There was a constant wind of some kind, which sometimes slowed me to a standstill and other time had me rocketing along. It's days like this that the power meter really helps to maintain a consistent effort. Otherwise I'd probably be fighting way too hard into the wind and taking it easy when the wind was pushing me along.
Just for fun, I sprinted for any trail-side signs that I saw and I sprinted for each of the huge power line towers along one segment of the trail. I'm really focusing on my criterium skills this year and being able to surge repeatedly is a big one!
I did a total of 38 miles in just a hair over two hours, not bad for a gray windy day!
My weight is down to 183 (from 190) and my body fat down to 20.7% (down from 23% I think). I'm aiming to be in the upper 160's by the end of the summer.
The biggest shock for me was the increase in speed and power that I've seen over the winter. For the first time in my life, I broke 1200 watts. In two separate sprints on Wednesday, I hit 1222 and 1220 watts. My previous best was an irritatingly close 1199 watts. I was routinely powering up hills 50 watts higher than I was in the fall. I guess all that work on the CompuTrainer paid off :-)
Yesterday was kind of rough. It was not too cold at 44 degrees, but the wind was pretty nasty. Some of the gusts almost blew me off the trail. There was a constant wind of some kind, which sometimes slowed me to a standstill and other time had me rocketing along. It's days like this that the power meter really helps to maintain a consistent effort. Otherwise I'd probably be fighting way too hard into the wind and taking it easy when the wind was pushing me along.
Just for fun, I sprinted for any trail-side signs that I saw and I sprinted for each of the huge power line towers along one segment of the trail. I'm really focusing on my criterium skills this year and being able to surge repeatedly is a big one!
I did a total of 38 miles in just a hair over two hours, not bad for a gray windy day!
My weight is down to 183 (from 190) and my body fat down to 20.7% (down from 23% I think). I'm aiming to be in the upper 160's by the end of the summer.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
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