Saturday, April 12, 2008
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Saturday 12 April 2008 - Volunteer Park CT | walk
posted by: Martin
Hrs. Sleeping: 6
Pulse (waking):  
Pulse (rising):  
Difference:  
Weight:  
Body Fat:  
Time of Day: 11:30 am
Distance: walk - 4 miles
Time (total): 40 min
Time (moving):  
Time (stopped):  
Speed (moving):  
Speed (overall):  
Total Ascent:  
Weather: 70, sunny, dry, light breeze
Workout Type: race

Breakfast: 6:00 am - smoothie
10:00 am - Shot Bloks
Lunch: fish tacos, bread, butter, beer
Dinner: 2 pieces pizza, salad, 2 glasses wine, ice cream w/berries
Workout Food: one small bottle with 1 scoop HEED

Course: Volunteer Park CT
Results: Masters A-B - 7th
Comments: First - it was beautiful day. Yesterday was still quite cool and today it jumps up 15 degrees and the sun is out making people pink. I love it!

Second - at first I was bummed I did not have the strength to do better at the finish but I should be glad I made the break. Making the move is key and if you don't do that you never even have a chance to sprint for victory so upon reflection I'm pretty happy. :)

To keep things calm I took a trainer to the race and warmed up at the start/finish line. Totally removes all the stress and you can ride as long or short as you like and you don't miss the start. I have ridden this course many times so I just took one lap during a break in the action to see if there was anything new to see and there was not.

After spinning moderate gears for about 25 minutes I lined up near the start about 15 minutes prior to our departure. When they let us on the course I just went right to the start line and got a spot in the front row seeing as I knew the course and had already ridden it once. Almost everyone else took a lap and got staged several rows back. Plus, I had heard BRI talking about this 'early move' they were going to throw at everyone so I wanted to make sure I was up there.

At the gun I got a good start and hit the water tower in about 15th spot. Most of the usuals were up there including Matt H who drilled in on the 2nd lap in what has become his traditional warm-up routine it seems: go hard at the front.

There were a few surges and I went with pretty much all of them being paranoid I would miss the move. I was able to stay in the top 20 pretty easily and then after a few laps it happened. Someone jumped (I think it was BRI?), I followed and a few others joined us as we were gone. It was a good combo for sure; it was Chris T, Gavin G and Aaron from BRI, Mike B from Excel, Flavio R from Garage, two random guys and myself. With all the strong teams represented this was it and our gap slowly grew to 20 seconds and grew to about 40 by the finish. I think we got away about 10 minutes into the race...

Mostly we worked well together although Mike B did not pull. At first I thought it was because he had to bridge a bit farther than the rest of us to make it but after a bit I realized he was just not going to work. And it made sense, with three BRI guys it was their job to drive this. I was pulling quite a bit at first but then backed off when I knew we were not going to get caught.

Martin "I'm no sprinter" Criminale was trying to figure out my chances and with just over one lap to go it came. Gavin surged at the top of the hill and I went after him. In theory it was perfect. BRI had three guys so they were not going to chase and everyone else was alone so they watched each other. And we got away! But then Gavin died and I could not carry through for a full lap on my own.

Sure enough, just after we started up the hill for the last time Chris came roaring by with Aaron on his wheel. I was just able to catch on but had to expend a lot of energy to do so as they were going much faster. At the top of the hill I shifted up and accelerated as much as I could but no use... all could do was maintain my position. Gavin blew or gave up and so I was not last. :)

With the age limit at this event being only 30, it was basically a cat 1-2 race so I really was happy to be there in the break. And did I mention it was awesome to hear my teammates yelling my name all the way around the course? It was great! After getting home and cleaning up, Shelley and I went for a SUNNY, BEAUTIFUL walk down to Pioneer Square, along the water front and then back up the hill.
Equipment: Ti Cycles Hyak, 39/53, 12-25, Zipp 404 wheels
Here are all the pictures including a video Shelley took of me finishing.
road race | walk
Saturday, April 12, 2008 2:58:45 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Related posts:
Wednesday 28 May 2008 - weights | walk | commute
Tuesday 27 May 2008 - core | Pacific Raceways CR
Friday 23 May 2008 - walk | commute
Tuesday 20 May 2008 - Pacific Raceways CR
Monday 19 May 2008 - commute | walk
Friday 16 May 2008 - weights | core | walk | commute

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