65 mile Charity ride yesterday. It was a good chance for me to practice hanging with the pack, although with major a crit the same day, a lot of our faster riders weren't there. It was a comparatively mellow ride. The first half of the race covers a loop through a residential neighborhood with lots of turns and some short climbs. I handled that fine, and was right there at the front as we started the first shallow climb, of about 8 miles. I held that one too, despite a few riders putting the hurt on for awhile (group from the Phoenix PD athletic club). Then we hit the longer, slightly steeper climb that is part of many group rides. It's about 700' of gain over ~10 miles. Not much of grade by most standards, but the steeper sections always splinter the pack. I held on as long as could, and feel I dug deeper than I have in the past. I was in HR zone 5, but my power was down from it had been earlier. I fell off 7 miles into it. At the right turn to a level section, there was a big headwind, and I was all alone. 'Darn'. Not the word I used. Fortunately it wasn't long before a group came by, and I jumped on. That group filtered down to only three by the finish, and I was one of those three.
I'm getting closer and closer. Just need (a) more power, (b) more endurance, and (c) more power.
Or maybe just a new bike. :-)
Congratulations A'Jet on your HTFU effort to fight the illness and get out there for two races. Sounds like your overall fitness and training is enough to overcome a heck of a lot!