First races of 2011

It was fun getting back out there again...
Last time racing on the road was back in August...
To finally be racing doesn't really mean that winter training is over, but it nearly feels like it. Finally all those long rids in the cold, rain and dark have a meaning to them... even if it only means you are in the pack.

It's always bit of a shock to the body, it really hasn't gone this hard in months...the speed and surges are just so different then training, or even a group ride. But there is something about the speed that is exhilarating, I'm just happy the first few races are on pretty flat roads. This year i haven't done any high intensity before the first few races, I usually get a few weeks worth in February...but this years schedule has delayed my training plan slightly... might be good for the later races in April/May.. which is usually when my favorite stuff is anyway.

The TT on Saturday was pretty painful...I started a bit too hard...and was just a bit too excited i think, and i couldn't make myself throttle off until on the way back from the turnaround at 5 miles...was pretty much forced to by my body, not my brain at this point. Although I felt fast, i was slower than last year, and actually slower then anything going back to 2004!!!....I would guess that the fact that i haven't done any intensity plays a role there. Power average on the way out was 345W(355 for the first 5min) and for the entire ride 327W... so there was a considerably drop of.

Mason lake on Sunday was the first 72 mile road race...the first lap started of fast(and I resisted doing any thing crazy)...by the second lap my legs finally came around and I was felling pretty good.. no breaks were sticking, too many people wanted to be in it...

I attacked a few times, tried to created something...but it wouldn't stick.

At the start of lap 5 after about 50miles a group finally got of,Kyle was in it and so where most of the other teams...so the gap grew quick. The only teams missing out where the Oregon ones, but they never really got a chase going...so that was that. There was 8 guys away, and we were then sprinting for 9th, i debated if it was worth the risk...but decided after a late attack didn't work that the practice would be worth it. The HB guys were trying to set Owen up for the sprint, but got a bit excited and and just about all crossed the yellow line moving up with a few miles to go. The next few miles were the normal shoulder to shoulder high stress anticipation riding before a sprint. The last corner was a bit hairy, as there was sand in the lane and we were coming in fast...I got taken wide, but got back on a wheel...so that wasn't too bad. The sprint proper started right before 200m , and being a bit too far back there was quite a bit of traffic as few front guys sat up. I narrowly avoided running into a few guys and had to brake and swerve s few times losing valuable momentum...I should have just stayed to the far right and I would have been good... I had about 3 guys come past at 50m, and ended up 8th in the pack sprint, 16th overall.
Kyle was 5th, Hitch was second in the sprint for 10th...and then we had me and one other garage rider in the top 20.

Felt good to race again, and I was happy how I felt, just not with the last effort, but that's why i keep trying.

James from KR won the race...which was nice, nearly expected but still very hard to pull of... good to see someone who has been working so hard be rewarded for it.

Snow

First race of the year got canceled because of snow. There wasn't that much of it, nut enough to make it a dangerous, and nobody likes to get hurt the first week......although someone manged to anyway.


Work had been real busy that week, I'd not manged to get much riding in except a few short rides on the trainer...it was a forced rest week.... although I didn't especially feel very rested...all that work stress and late nights don't really help you recover.

This is probably the biggest difference between us "hobby" cyclists and those who manage to take it a bit more serious.
The few local cyclist who train full time, or have reduced work obligations have a distinct advantage. Having the opportunity to train as much as you want it great, and will result in great improvements, but the ones who also can spent the rest of the time "resting", from work, stress, family obligations etc have another level of performance benefit that can't be underestimated.

Local racing usually isn't that hard or long, so we can for the most part get away with it... and thankfully we don't have to compete in the NRC stage races they training for...so it works out ok for the most part.

Now there aren't many of us who wouldn't like the same opportunity, but usually at this point in our life it would be hard to do anyway, unless winning the lottery.
I spent my 20's going to college and racing Crew, and honestly at that point I would probably focused on that sport, which i was actually better at... Not until graduation did i start biking, and by then it was just about practically too late.
Work, family student loans show up quick....

But lets get this racing season going.......(hopefully without anymore snow)