I was feeling pretty good before the uphill TT on Saturday, well rested and pretty strong actually. It was the first time doing it with a power, so everything should go great….wrong. I started right at my target power, actually had to hold back to not overdue it on the first step section. 8min in, my power dropped, and I couldn’t get it up, unless standing and really going into the red zone. Soon after this I got passed by my 30sec guy, not good. I tried to focus on being smooth, not to panic, just go as fast as I could. I got passed by my 1min rider…great… and I still had 1 ½ to go. I finally crossed the line with a time that was my slowest since my first year as a Cat4… oh well….I went as hard as I could… that all I can do…It’s been a long season, and my legs decided to give out slightly earlier this year.. oh well. My teammates placed 2 and 3ed… just enough for us to tie for 1st in the team BARR competition.

Now you would thing that after such a great performance on Saturday, maybe I should take it easy on Sunday….yeah, I probably should…. The last two year I have done the master A race in the morning and then the 1-2 in the afternoon. I wasn’t going to let Saturdays disappointment change that, + I know that even though I might not be quite as strong as I want, I’m better then that. I end up leaving home at 10am…the race starts at 11:10am… the ride there takes about 1:05 going pretty fast… maybe a bit too much of a warm up. The race worked out ok, Flavio got in a few good breaks, that should have stayed away, I try and counter a few times when they come back.. It ends up a “pack” sprint in the end, I manage to get a pretty good position and end up 4th, the race is a lot different without Kenny there.

Now it’s time for lunch.. As I’m sitting outside at the table at Perts waiting for Kele to show up, Andy Hampsten (88 giro winner and 92 Alpe d’Huez stage winner) rolls up with his brother and some friends… now I just happen to have my camera with me… they walk inside but decide it’s too busy and ride of again before I manage to get a clear shoot…


So just imagine this picture with less snow, and without the ski goggles.

(http://www.hampsten.com/Company/meetus.html#)

The second race went ok… Our only goal going in, was to make sure Jason kept his lead in the season series. Each lap was worth $5, but with the bigger picture of the season series as our goal I resisted all temptations to go for any sprints. Our only job was really to make sure Ronnie never got in a break that might stay away, which was very unlikely, and to try and help Jason stay at the front, especially for the last lap. I don’t think I’ve ever raced Seward that conservative, either had Jason.

It worked out ok, Jason got 4th and increased his lead over Ronnie to 5points.

Good and bad

It’s been a while since I went for a team ride round the lake and out May Valley. Although it required getting up a 7am on Saturday, it was worth it. As usual I was a bit late leaving home, not enough requiring the “Murdin time trial” the 16miles to Leshi, but late enough that I wouldn’t have time to enjoy a cup of coffee once getting there. I hadn’t really planned on going for a longer ride, maybe just the south end and back across I-90, I did have a race planned for Sunday. Somehow I ended going east and by the time I got home had 80+ miles…it amazing how quick the miles add up when you go for a team ride, especially when it’s 32miles to the meeting place and back home.
It was a nice day for a ride though, and I really didn’t mind it a bit
.
The race in Woodland turned out to be harder then expected. Although flat for the first 55miles, the wind was a factor. After a flurry of attacks and blazing speeds small group get of pretty fast. After recovering slightly I make my way up front to try and help the chase. Although flat right now, the finish line is atop of a brutal climb. If I could help Nathan (or the pack in this case) get there as close as possible to the break, he would have a got chance of placing. I pull though a few times into the headwind. Considering how I’ve been feeling the last few weeks, probably a bit too hard. As we make a turn a crosswind section I get shot to the back, and after hanging on for dear life and jumping around a few rides leaving gaps I’m at my limit.
A few miles later not quite recovered yet, and in another crosswind I get gapped of right as we turn into a tailwind.….before you know it the pack flying down the road away from me….yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have worked quite so hard at the front.. I get in a small group for the rest of the race and continue at a pretty hard pace.. good steady hard effort.
Nathan takes top 10, the break of five stayed away…
Although not the best race of mine, I’m actually pretty happy with the effort I put out, 2:30 hours 260W average… I’m starting to come around and I’m feeling better and stronger everyday… although at the top of the climb at the steepest point I was going 6mph at 50rpm… yeah at that point I was dead

Still Summer

Summer is still hanging in there, which it should since it still only mid august. The forecast for this weekend is the mid 90’s… yeah it’s going to be hot. My legs are starting to feel better, but will it be enough. I’m looking forward to a nice easy ride on Saturday around the lake with the team, and then a new race on Sunday

Team time trial

On Sunday we had the state team time trial, four man teams, 32miles and
flat. This year the added challenge was the 3 sections of gravel that was left
after some kind of road work. There was talk of changing the course, shorter, adding some climbs and descents...all which would make the essential part of a team time trial less a factor, smooth, synchronized and steady team.
In the end, the flat road with gravel was kept, which I preferred, but
it turned out to be our downfall, as one of our teammates ends up
flatting, only 6 miles into the race. The rule is that you have to
finish with at least 3 people and that it's the third rider across the
line that stops the time.
After the flat, we just had to keep going. We now all had to take longer
pulls into the wind, with less rest in-between. We still had 26miles to
go!... oh this was going to be fun!!!!
I was now riding with two of the fastest guys in the state, which is
good news, but it also meant that I was due for some pain and suffering.
Our pace-line was going smooth. Our team training had paid of, and there
was never any gaps or surging causing any problems. Pretty fast though I was taking shorter pulls. I wanted to try and keep the pace high when I was at the front, but to do this I could only stay there for a short while, before drifting back and making sure I got on. Nathan and Flavio did a great job. Luckily for us Flavio was having a good day after suffering form food poison all week. Up until a few miles into the race he didn't know how he was going to respond. And Nathan is always strong. After battling fatigue the last few weeks, I was pretty happy with my
performance, not quite up to par, and clearly the weaker link, but I
managed to dig deep and hang in there, focus and push though the pain.
Stopping wasn't an option, it was a team event, and there was no way I
could let myself drop of, it simply wasn't an option. All I could do was
suffer and get though it.In the end though it was not quite enough, as we ended up losing by less then 1sec a kilometer. 40sec back from the winners. An extra riders
would most likely made all the difference. Oh well... what can you do.. we did the best we could with what we had.

Tired legs

Legs are strange…what is up with them being so tired and sluggish…with the rest of me still feeling ok.
Ever since the State TT and the road race the following day in the 105’F+ heat…I’ve been really hurting.
Any effort more then a 20-30 seconds causes pain/fatigue that shouldn’t be there before at least 7-8-9 minute repeated full efforts. Strange how one day I feel fine and then the next..
All this should obviously conclude me to rest, really rest… but it’s hard to … there is always a little race to do… Seward..”ah, it’s just Seward…I’ll sit in most of the time”—yeah that never happens… sitting in is a waist of time and just boring. Or the LWV Circuits races … “they are short and flat…no problem”.. well that isn’t always true…but if they are, they are fast instead.
This weekend I did the new Gig Harbour race.. I can only remember one other race when I lined up with such heavy and tired legs, and that was day 5 in a stage race, after weeks of hard racing…
I managed ok, but I had hardly any acceleration and really suffered the multiple times up the short climb.
Between the climbs I did ok, but felt like I had bags of sand tied to my legs every time I tried to surge or close a gap.
Well now it’s time to recover.. after track last night, where I also was really sluggish, but managed to win a few races and move up to Wednesdays (track goal completed)..I can afford, and need some rest before the two races this weekend. The final circuit race on Saturday, should be a good opener for the State team time trial on Sunday…
I feel like going out and riding hard…there is still plenty to train for… but even though my mind is ready I have to pay attention to my body… can’t have one lagging behind..

Track

Just what I needed, another thing to spend my time/money on. I’ve been slightly intrigued by track for a while, but have managed to pretty much stay away. I like small hills and rollers, this is where I feel like my strengths are, and the track has none of these. It’s pretty much flat, so ok there is a banking, but nobody launches an attack up it, it’s used to pull up from a pace line or recover. Ok, so you do attack down the “hill”… but that is nowhere close to my strength. Kele has really got in to the track the last year or so, so maybe I should give it a try. If I can race on Wednesdays, it shouldn’t be too bad… far enough away from the weekend, and maybe I can use it as a short intense workout, because god knows there is a lot of sitting around.
Going to a track event always reminds me of back in college when I used to run stadiums, and the track and field sprinters were working out on the track. Here I would be running/jumping up and down the stairs and I’d see the sprinters every ten minuets or so, do a 50 yard dash, 10 sec high knees or jump a few hurdles, the rest of the time whey would walk back and forth with a strange stride or stretch. After an hour or so of this they would retire to get ultrasound or what ever else happened in the training room under the stadium. Sure they were training for a different sport, but it just looked too easy…come on.. there has to be willpower and a pain barrier, something to push though and overcome, something that would build character.
Thank god track racing on a bike is actually more like the 800m, 1600m running events…lots of willpower and pain, but with a lot more tactics and pace changes.
Since I am new to the track I have to start on Monday nights, to get used to idea and not kill anybody important. I was surprisingly nervous before my first event, 8laps with a point available every 2 laps. Once we got started and avoided the near crash right in front of me on the first lap, it went fine.
Two things I noticed right away, 1: you are never in the right gear, to heavy for riding, but too light once the sprints start, 2: everything kind of happens slow, and you have to start the sprint earlier, because it takes a bit longer to accelerate.
Since I was there to get used to riding and racing a track bike, I didn’t necessary want to solo of the front just to try and win, so after each sprint I would sit up and get back in the pack. After one attack though I had such a big gap, and there was only 3 ½ laps to go, I thought I might as well go for it. With a lap to go I had a pretty big lead, and might have eased up slightly + I was getting tired. As I was coming onto the final straight two riders were apparently closing in very fast, a lot faster then I would have thought. On the road I don’t think this would have happened the same way, another thing I have to pay attention to…anyway, I held on and won by ½ a wheel… I still don’t think I slowed down that much!
But I’m still alive and I’ll give it another try next week.