Do not be alarmed by the giant sucking sound you may have heard over the weekend. That was only me pedaling my way into consecutive DNF's.
The State RR Championships were Saturday. The 3's were scheduled for 12:10 in the building heat of the day. And it was a warm day. We didn't have anybody in the feed zone so I had two bottles on the bike and one in the back pocket along with a Power. I figured that would be about 1 bottle every hour or 1 every 2 laps. That seemed like a reasonable feeding schedule.
Everything was good for about almost three laps. I even bridged up to a small breakaway group that had 3 or 4 teams in it. They were not real far ahead but we weren't represented and I thought it would be good to get someone up there. More than anything I dragged the pack up to the break but that was good enough. The third time onto Rte KK was the beginning of the end for me. There were a couple back-to-back hills there and for some reason they did not suit me. I think I was pushing a bigger gear up them than I should and on that 3rd lap it took its toll. I drifted backward through the field and if those hills had been just a little longer I would have probably been shot off the back.
Lap 4 was either easy or I was smarter in the shifts because I got along quite well. I spun up the climbs in a smallish gear and did fine. My hopes were buoyed again despite feeling a certain amount of fatigue.
Lap 5 started well enough. Through the feed zone everything was good. Following the feed were a few rollers. The whole course was rollers I guess but a mile or so past the feed was a small hill that wasn't terribly steep but seemed to drag on. I was tired or hot or maybe a little of both and let a gap open up. I damn near quit there but I shifted down bridged back up to the pack. That only made me hotter and more tired. Ten seconds later I was off the back again and the fat lady had sung. The question then became whether to finish the lap or turn around and take the shorter route back. I pushed onward but it wasn't pretty. Once I blew, my legs had little to give. Twinges of leg cramps creeped in and I drank most of my liquid in the remaining miles. After reaching the finish I found the nearest bit of shade and laid down. I probably should have drank more before the race. More training in the weeks leading up to this would have helped too.
Aside from the heat and humidity the most distinguishing feature of the race were the attacks through the feed zone on every lap. When did this become the norm? Classy race tactics.
Sunday's race was unexpectedly different than what the flyer described. Instead of the usual figure 8 with a section of brick we had a rectangle. About six years the State Crit was run on a similar course but it had an extra left and right at the bottom of the course. The course was a little choppy in places on the backside but ,in general, it was fine.
Mesa seemed to hammer the uphill start from the gun. My heart wasn't into racing and that kind of start didn't help but I hung on. I sat at the back the whole time. About twenty minutes there was a pileup on the homestretch. A couple bodies went sprawling and a bike bounded from left to right. I slowed up trying to decipher a clear path. I made it through unscathed but gapped as the leaders kept the gas on while those behind had to slow up. I chased through the first turn and up to the top of the hill but I didn't seem to be closing down the gap. I thought "screw it" and called it a day.
The only positives from the weekend were some Shakespeare's pizza, some big ol' pancakes slathered in butter and syrup at Ernie's Diner and the fact that on the way home we drove through Winghaven and got a look at next week's course
The State RR Championships were Saturday. The 3's were scheduled for 12:10 in the building heat of the day. And it was a warm day. We didn't have anybody in the feed zone so I had two bottles on the bike and one in the back pocket along with a Power. I figured that would be about 1 bottle every hour or 1 every 2 laps. That seemed like a reasonable feeding schedule.
Everything was good for about almost three laps. I even bridged up to a small breakaway group that had 3 or 4 teams in it. They were not real far ahead but we weren't represented and I thought it would be good to get someone up there. More than anything I dragged the pack up to the break but that was good enough. The third time onto Rte KK was the beginning of the end for me. There were a couple back-to-back hills there and for some reason they did not suit me. I think I was pushing a bigger gear up them than I should and on that 3rd lap it took its toll. I drifted backward through the field and if those hills had been just a little longer I would have probably been shot off the back.
Lap 4 was either easy or I was smarter in the shifts because I got along quite well. I spun up the climbs in a smallish gear and did fine. My hopes were buoyed again despite feeling a certain amount of fatigue.
Lap 5 started well enough. Through the feed zone everything was good. Following the feed were a few rollers. The whole course was rollers I guess but a mile or so past the feed was a small hill that wasn't terribly steep but seemed to drag on. I was tired or hot or maybe a little of both and let a gap open up. I damn near quit there but I shifted down bridged back up to the pack. That only made me hotter and more tired. Ten seconds later I was off the back again and the fat lady had sung. The question then became whether to finish the lap or turn around and take the shorter route back. I pushed onward but it wasn't pretty. Once I blew, my legs had little to give. Twinges of leg cramps creeped in and I drank most of my liquid in the remaining miles. After reaching the finish I found the nearest bit of shade and laid down. I probably should have drank more before the race. More training in the weeks leading up to this would have helped too.
Aside from the heat and humidity the most distinguishing feature of the race were the attacks through the feed zone on every lap. When did this become the norm? Classy race tactics.
Sunday's race was unexpectedly different than what the flyer described. Instead of the usual figure 8 with a section of brick we had a rectangle. About six years the State Crit was run on a similar course but it had an extra left and right at the bottom of the course. The course was a little choppy in places on the backside but ,in general, it was fine.
Mesa seemed to hammer the uphill start from the gun. My heart wasn't into racing and that kind of start didn't help but I hung on. I sat at the back the whole time. About twenty minutes there was a pileup on the homestretch. A couple bodies went sprawling and a bike bounded from left to right. I slowed up trying to decipher a clear path. I made it through unscathed but gapped as the leaders kept the gas on while those behind had to slow up. I chased through the first turn and up to the top of the hill but I didn't seem to be closing down the gap. I thought "screw it" and called it a day.
The only positives from the weekend were some Shakespeare's pizza, some big ol' pancakes slathered in butter and syrup at Ernie's Diner and the fact that on the way home we drove through Winghaven and got a look at next week's course
2 Comments:
The RR was strange how it played out. I agree about the attacks through the feed zone. I skipped the crit b/c I've never had much luck there, and the $35 entry fee made it that much easier to say 'no thanks'. But I probably should have done it even if it sucked. Sissy points for me, I suppose.
What's the Winghaven course like? Sounds more like a circuit race than a crit, at just under 3 miles??
Indeed...a cricuit race. Plus, at $30 entry (even for Cat5 w/o $$ payout), no wonder it is MO's biggest one-day payout! Plus, the kids races are $7 day of the race?!
I think I'm going to start volunteering for every race, even those not put on by my "club". ;)
Post a Comment
<< Home