Originally Posted by
ColnagoC40
In cat4, I am able to place in the first 10 for a while, this is the safest and easiest place to be, and experience allows me to creep through the gaps and pretty much maintain my position. But to do that every time there is hard acceleration, I have to dig deep into anaerobic. After a while I end up somewhere in the middle. At the end of the race I am normally hanging on for dear life in the last 3rd part of the bunch. Once I have gone anaerobic too many times, my acceleration out of corners are gone. No problem with climbing. I have been here before years ago after a layoff and learnt that with every race as the season progresses it goes a bit better, up to the point where it is possible to contest the sprint. Based on past experience, what is missing is power output enabling an easier pace to stay in position, not having to dig too deep often. Most of us can only go anaerobic so many times, then it is as if the hand brake is applied.
This is typical Cat4 stuff. Too much braking leads to repeated hard accelerations, which tends
not to favor us more mature racers. It's a big reason many of us 4's enjoy the age group racing more than racing the 4's. It's a lot more fun (and personally I am far more competitive) racing masters. So much smoother; so much easier to relax into the flow. Stuff still happens, of course, but you are far less likely to have someone do something totally off the wall, unpredictably stupid.
And on the FTP topic, I also had a goal of getting it above 300, and got close: my max from a test was 297. Two crashes, and a shift in focus, has it well below that now. Yet as I shifted away from that being my focus (thanks coach!) I became both faster and more competitive, including in road races (40-60 miles). We are working it up to a more respectable number right now, but so many other factors are more important. As has been pointed out, repeated hard efforts with short recovery is great way to crush souls, and it's always surprising how many people get their Offthebakistan visas stamped when it gets fast for a bit, even on a flat course. I'm no sprinter, and one of my biggest goals is a better top end, but I just love speed, and I never hesitate to heat it up if the pack gets lazy. Some folks smile, and others say "Oh ****". Best to be smiling.