Coming off a misstep at Spring Hill, I tried to pay more attention to the time, and make sure I got there with plenty of time to warm up my legs! Unfortunately, I think I need to factor in more time for unexpected delays.
My start time is at 11:50, which is pretty late...plenty of time to get there and get set up. We had a friend that wanted to come along, wanted to have breakfast with him beforehand, and we were planning to go to Santa Cruz afterwards, so a little more of a logistical challenge than normal, but shouldn't be a problem! But then came the unexpected delays...
I was racing with the aero wheels for the first time. 10 minutes after we've left the apartment, Iris makes a comment about my new wheels and I realize I didn't bring the valve extenders and won't be able to pump up my tires! Whoops! So there is 20 minutes there. Then, our friends invites his roommates along to breakfast, which is no big deal but another small unexpected delay. The waiters were a bit slow in getting our check settled...few more minutes. Then, we get to the venue and I start getting ready. Dressed, bike out of the car, rear wheel pumped, front wheel....hmm. No, I didn't forget my front wheel. However, I had a hell of a time trying to attach the valve extender (the valve inside the rim didn't quite line up with the hole in the rim). Few more minutes. Then, for some reason it didn't want to pump (seemed like the valve wouldn't quite open up). It pumps, but slowly and requires a lot of force. Couple more minutes there. By this time, it's getting close. I need to hurry over to the registration booth before the 15 min cutoff. So I leave the rest and race over to the booth, grab my numbers, and back over to the car. I try my best to get as much air into the front tire as possible, do a quick and dirty pinning job, stuff my pockets with fuel, apply sunblock. My warm-up consists of riding from the car back to the start line just in time for our group to start. Hey, at least I made the start this time. Baby steps!
If this was some other race, I might be OK...but unfortunately, this race has a major hill climb that starts less than 3 miles into the race! I moved up to the front just before the climb, so I can go a bit slower and still hang onto the front...maybe even try and dictate the pace of the climb. A couple of jokers mistook my move for an attack and tried to organize a breakaway. I didn't think it was a good idea, because it was about to get steep for a while, but I went with it to see what would happen. A whole lot of nothing. They didn't last long before they crapped out. Now my heart rate is above threshold, my legs are still cold, and the whole pack is right behind me. Not a good combination. Needless to say, I didn't stay up front. A group of 25 or so made it over the top without me. Then, not knowing the course, I mistook the flat section, thinking there was going to be a descent coming up and I would be able to catch them. Wrong...more climbing. I lost them.
I spent the rest of the first lap in no man's land, all alone, in a headwind, trying to catch them. No luck. Actually, the breakaway from the Masters 4 group caught me just as I came through the lap line, and I spotted a handful of people from my group with them, catching a free ride (no fair!). Eventually the M4 break gets away and leaves that handful of E5 riders behind.
After the first big climb on the second lap, I pass someone from my group who looks relatively strong, so I say "let's go!" and give him a wheel. On the second climb of the lap, we find another, and we start to work as a little team of 3 for a while. The pulls were a little lopsided, but didn't really care at this point. I was pretty confident that we weren't going to be passed by anyone else in our group. And I was right! We rode together for quite a while. We rode just behind that M4 group for a long time, all the way until the second climb on the third lap. At that point, some of the M4s started pulling away. One of the other guys in my group decided to latch onto that group (again, no fair!). I put up a chase for a little bit but tired out before the top of the climb. I failed to catch the M4s that were breaking away, and I had dropped the 3rd guy in our 3-man group. Alone again. I rode by myself for the duration, mostly. I was able to catch one dude on the finishing climb, but was never able to catch the M4 group.
Lessons learned:
- Show up early. Plan for the unexpected.
- Know the course, and be prepared for an early break.
- If a break looks weak, don't bother! Save energy!
Next up is Berkeley Hills on May 9, my first Cat 4 race. This is my A priority race. Should be interesting.
Totals:
Placing: 21st of 50
Duration: 2:27:07
Distance: 46.854 mi
Ascent: 3665 ft
Norm Power: N/A (aero wheels)
Max / Avg
Heart Rate: 194 / 172 bpm
Cadence: 131 / 86 rpm
Speed: 41.2 / 20.8 mph
2 comments:
Keeping learning the lessons. I think the important one this time was avoiding weak breaks. Good luck on the Berkeley race!
Hopefully you get all the kinks worked out before Berkeley! Show up way early, warm up, no sudden "breaks." :)
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