Sunday, March 09, 2008
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Sunday 9 March 2008 - Tour de Dung RR #1
posted by: Martin
Hrs. Sleeping: 6
Pulse (waking):  
Pulse (rising):  
Difference:  
Weight:  
Body Fat:  
Time of Day: 1:10 pm
Distance: race - 48 miles
Time (total): just over 2 hours...?
Time (moving):  
Time (stopped):  
Speed (moving):  
Speed (overall):  
Total Ascent:  
Weather: mid 40s, dry, light to moderate wind out of the west
Workout Type: race

Breakfast: 6:00 am - cereal
10:30 am - Promax bar, banana, large bottle of HEED (3 scoops)
Lunch:  
Dinner:  
Workout Food: 4 scoops Perpetuem in a large bottle, 2 scoops HEED in a small bottle

Course: Tour de Dung RR
Results: Masters - 6th
official results
Comments: Now today was a good time. As good a time as going flat out for about 35 miles can be. I got in 20 or so minutes on the trainer and got off about 15 minutes before the start. I think it helped.

For once the start of a Masters race was sedate. I found out after that it was because there was a neutral rollout... :) Of course it did not last long. Within one mile some guy took a flyer.

I realized it was very early but since no Excel riders were up the road I thought it would be good to at least make them chase; so I jumped hard and bridged up. Two guys came along for the ride and soon the four of us were away. We kind of dangled off the front for a few miles and Paul W from Excel was there and was not in the mood to pull at all so as we started to climb the first hill the pack slowly reeled us in.

As we crested the top of the hill there was a slowing which continued around the corner and into the head wind. I was still nervous about possible attacks so was riding second wheel when the guy in front of me pulled off. Instantly I had 10 feet and then it was 20. I was just rolling it figured I'd see what happened so gave it a little extra gas and then the gap was 50 feet. Then I floored it.

As I pulled away I was praying that someone would come with but all I could see as the pack receded slowly in the distance was groups of two and three riders jumping away from the bunch and getting reeled in. Repeat.

"This is too damn early, this is too damn early..." I kept repeating to myself and the memory of how badly I exploded at last weeks Mason Lake race was pretty vivid. But what can you do in these cases. I chose to give it a go. Worst case my team would get a free ride.

Ouch. This was not easy to do. I was going as hard as I could which meant I was in the 53x15 and 14 into the wind on the flats and the 17 over the rollers. My chin was glued to the tops of my bars in a vein attempt to get out of the wind.

But the gap slowly got bigger. When I passed the finish line for the completion of lap one I was told I had 30 seconds. That was after about 5-6 miles of solo riding. Sheesh, this was going to be a long day...

After crossing the finish you turn right and then the wind is at your back. Now I was in the 53x13 most of the time and even in the 12 on occasion. At least I was feeling fast! And it was really cool having my own lead and follow car. :) The next time up the hill it felt like I had a tail wind and I glided right on up and over. And the second time into the wind was not so bad either.

This time as I crossed the finish line I was told I had 90 seconds. But what was going to happen when I had to slow down? Yikes.

On the third lap my back started to rebel from the posture I was maintaining. It was not so bad yet and I was still flying along so I held out hope. The third time I crossed the finish line I was not told what my gap was. All I could think about was NINETY SECONDS. And only 12 miles to go. But now I was slowing down... And I had to sit up three times for about 5 seconds each time to stretch my back. Shit.

Riding over the tailwind rollers I knew I was not going quite as well as in previous laps but I still felt okay, just not quite superhuman anymore. I do admit I was starting to entertain visions of a victory salute though... :)

Then it happened. As I was approaching the hill for the last time I looked back and saw a small bunch of riders approaching. At first I tried to convince myself that it was the cat 2 break but there was no way they could have lapped me with only a five minute head start and soon reality sunk in. At least the hill did not seem super hard and at least I made it up and over that and around the corner before they caught me. I slowed down a little but I was not making it easy for them; I just wanted to have a little something left in the tank when they latched on. And soon they did.

And nothing happened! Looking around they were breathing really hard and had obviously worked really hard to catch me. And Dave H (bless his heart) was there so all was good. Now it was 2 from ByrneInvent, 2 from Excel and two solo riders for six total. From the sounds of it the pack was not too far back so I got right back at it and took some pulls. One of the solo guys did not contribute and I should have picked up on this a little sooner...

As we got closer and closer to the finish I was not looking forward to a sprint and Bob W was starting to keep a close eye on Dave H so with about 2 km to go I picked my spot and gave it all I had. Paul W and this solo guy were on it. It took them a bit but they clawed me back and then this guy executed a beautiful counter.

I was totally expecting Dave H to be on his wheel and when he rode away solo I could not believe it! I wasted a few seconds looking around to see what was going on and found out that Bob and Dave had already started cat and mousing about and were actually off the back. Bob yelled at Paul to bridge and Paul tried but immediately cramped up. I tried to take over and gave it a strong effort but by this time I was pretty blown and only closed half the gap. The the sprint started.

They got within about 50 of this guy but he won the race clean. Nice move. I would only coast across for 6th. At least we still had about 2-3 minutes on the bunch.

I found out after that I really was moving along. Dave said there were between 7-14 guys chasing me the whole time and that Excel was encouraging/coaxing/coaching them along the whole time. And on the last lap Jim K said he was spun out in his 12 during the tailwind section so I was very happy to last this long. AND to have something left when I got caught. Today is a good memory.
Equipment: Ti Cycles Hyak, 39/53, 12-25, Zipp 404 wheels
road race
Sunday, March 09, 2008 4:56:43 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Related posts:
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Sunday 27 April 2008 - Vance Creek RR

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