View Single Post
Old 03-09-14, 10:47 PM
  #1749  
sarals 
Idiot Emeritus
 
sarals's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: 60 Miles South of Hellyer
Posts: 6,744

Bikes: Yes.

Mentioned: 228 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 331 Post(s)
Liked 13 Times in 4 Posts
Madera Stage Race, W4

Somehow I missed that the M35+ field was open for this race. Live and learn.

I was coming off a hard week emotionally and physically. I did not feel even remotely ready for this race series, and I frankly didn't know what to expect, anyway, this being my first ever stage race.

Saturday morning - Criterium: 30 rider field. Reasonably good road, no centerline in effect, flat course, light wind from the left on one leg. The advertised "railroad tracks" crossing was NO issue. My first race with my teammate. We were sitting on the line, behind the M35+ field, when the RD told us to let the M35+ ladies move to the line. A little voice to my right said "shouldn't you be up there with them?" Comedian. At the whistle, my team mate went right to the front to control the pace. I had decided I wanted to be mid pack, out of the wind ALWAYS, and on the inside - to the right. In the second turn, I was on the inside holding my speed and a young rider in front of me dove in and hit her brakes. I somehow missed her, the pothole at the apex, the curb, and the pavement. I marked her, and stayed away from her. I was able to maintain good to great position throughout the whole race, my legs felt REALLY good and it looked like I'd finish with the pack, and maybe even get to join in on the sprint! With what I thought was one left to go (there was a bell, after all!), I knew I was getting towards the bottom of my matchbook, but I had enough left to hang in and then kill it at the end. It worked, too, except that it was a PREME LAP and the following lap was the last one. I had no answer, so I cruised around for the finish OTB. Crap. But, I did well, much better than I expected, and I had a hell of a good time, in spite of the attempted murder.

Saturday afternoon - Sharon ITT: I did everything Ex told me to do between the races, and I felt good when I did the warmup for the ITT. The bike felt great, the tubeless tire on the front felt plush, my new Garneau helmet felt amazing and looked even cooler, and I was resplendent in my new skin suit. Oh, I just had to ride well! And I did. I arrived at the line three minutes before my start. When I went off, I was in a good place mentally (Gary - THANK YOU!). I was focused, not antsy, and I did what Ex had suggested and what I knew I needed to do. I ramped up slowly, went a gear higher than was comfortable, felt the lactate, and then shifted down and spun up. There was a left quartering crosswind on the first two legs, and a direct crosswind on the third leg. The last leg had a tailwind. I kept the power even, the speed up (not fantastic, only around 19 MPH average), and ended up 6 minutes off the lead riders pace but with the best ITT I've done yet under my belt. I really enjoyed it! My Garmin time was 32:28 for the 10 miles. USAC is still sorting things out. No matter, because I was no where near GC.

Sunday morning - Road race. I felt okay, but I knew I had not much in the way of reserve. I also felt a bit sluggish, and every time I applied power, I felt a burn that I shouldn't. The field had withered quite a bit from the crit. There were only 20 women left in it. We rolled off neutral for about four miles, and then went hot. The pace was okay, not bad. I was towards the back, way towards the back, and every time I stuck my nose somewhere, I'd get shut off or pushed to the left, where the wind was. My team mate and I decided to sit near the back, it was just the first lap, and try to stay sheltered back there. We made a right turn on to the notorious "bad pavement" section of the course, and some riders on the front launched an attack. Up went the pace, to a dead sprint, and I had no snap to cover that. I got gapped. I couldn't even catch the wheels going around me. Chasing on that bad pavement was NOT an option, so I slowed down and admired all of the water bottles that littered the next three miles of road. My bike had developed a noise in the front wheel that sounded for all the world like a wheel bearing (a motoref even noticed it), so I decided I was NOT going to ride by myself for two more laps with those legs and that wheel. Live to fight another (thanks, Cleave!). By the way, the noise was a brake pad that had turned slightly askew and was rubbing the front tire.

I didn't expect a lot for the weekend, in fact I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be great time! Fun racing, fun, FUN racing! The ITT was a high point, and the crit was just a gas! I like crits. I want more!!
__________________
"Can you add a signature line please? The lack of words makes me think you are being held hostage and being told to be quiet"

Last edited by sarals; 03-10-14 at 07:58 AM.
sarals is offline