branman1986

Well, I finally got to use my P3, but unfortunately with a PT laced Open Pro...oh well. 4/5 results/report(edit: first race as a 4):

TT:
I was really scared because there was a trigeek that entered who would put up a scorching TT time and probably hold it for the GC, so I was sort of shooting for 2nd place in the GC. It was a 10 & change kilometer course with two steep hills towards the end. I felt strong in the TT, but I didn't taper properly and was slightly sore for the race, but I pretty much left it all out on the course. After reviewing my PT data, there were some strange spots where I just completely lose concentration and let my power drop way down even though I'm not tired or pacing myself. Not sure where my head was at 34:45(what in the world?), 44:15 & 45:30. I ended up getting 15:15 and 4th place, 15 seconds off the lead and 9 seconds off 3rd place. I was happy with the power numbers(361 normalized), but my mental game needs a LOT of work. The trigeek didn't put up impressive numbers at all and ended up around 8th. My teammate got 2nd with an 15:03


Crit:
Well, even with MAR sprints in the middle of the crit with 5 second time bonuses, I really had very little hope of gaining any GC places in the crit because of the time disparity, so my strategy was to just sit in the pack and use my sprint to get as top a place as I could - little did I know. We would do our best to work for our man in 2nd and try to take MARs from the other contenders, etc.

Right off the bat I was in a world of hurt, I got caught in the very very back of an 85 racer FAST crit course and I basically just resigned to dropping off the back as gaps formed ahead of me. But I remembered my fiancee was watching so I figured I'd try to go as many laps as I could. So I sprinted past all the fading riders that were getting accordioned and moved up as best I could. We had tracking chips on our bikes so I could actually see my placing each lap. I went from the back of the pack to 58th by the end of the first lap, to 44th, 36th, to 21st by the fourth lap. It ended up paying off because the back half of the pack was getting shredded and had I hesitated, I would have been dropped for sure(29 finished).

So on the 11th lap I'm 2nd and on the wheel of the GC leader pulling towards the S/F line and he sits up and they call a MAR prime lap, so I gun it off the front a bit and pull halfway around thinking I made a serious gap. I look back on the back straightaway and I see one man on my wheel and another(the teammate of the 3rd place GC who was marking me) bridging the gap. I pull strong to the finish thinking I've just earned 5 seconds, when the guy gapping full-on sprints by me to take the 5 seconds and I settle for 3.

I turn around and realize that I've made quite a gap on the field with the effort and I try to rally the 3 of us to get a breakaway going, but the MAR winner guy wanted no part of it because he was looking after his teammate, so after one weak pull(he was really tired from bridging/sprinting) he drops off and there are just two of us. So with 12 laps to go we do our best to put time into the field. On the back stretch the first two laps I looked back and when we were about halfway I saw the field taking the corner, so on the front stretch across the S/F line I do a redline pull to try to put seconds between us and at the same time I had a teammate doing his best to block. So at the end of the backstretch I turn around and the field is still hadn't taken the 2nd turn. Sweet! I'm settle in to a above threshold pull up the front stretch and sat in well below threshold on the downhill backstretch with me and the other rider working very well together(splitting primes and taking equal pulls).

With about 4 to go, I'm starting to get rather exhausted when I hear the announcer say, "Here are our two leaders and where is the field? The field is nowhere in sight!" That's about the best feeling in the world. Mentally we both kicked it up a notch and pulled through the last few laps. I knew sprinting was my strong point and I felt very confident going into the last lap. With about 200 to go, I sprinted past the guy and won by a large margin. What a rush! A successful breakaway in a crit is soooo much fun - we ended up staying away for 13 laps.

It put me in the overall GC lead by 13 seconds over my teammate who sprinted for 3rd, and 19 over the 3rd place GC guy.

RR(aka torturefest):

The RR was 6 circuits of about 6.5 miles with a monster 10% grade 1.5km climb with two painful steep climbs right afterwards. At 198lbs, climbing is not my specialty and I knew I was in a world of hurt. The guy in 3rd place GC was a small guy who was great at TTing, so I knew he'd be a great climber. Sure enough, right off the bat he snags the first two KOMs awarding him 5 seconds bonus each. I send teammates to mark him and try to take the KOMs, but he was just too strong and ends up taking more and more KOM time bonuses. I was able to pick up two 3 second bonuses which helped.

Eventually a teamless rider raced off the front and a teammate started to chase but I quickly told him not to, so that he'd be a KOM sponge and keep them from contenders. He was able to take a lot of pressure off because we weren't all sprinting like crazy at the top of the climbs for the KOMs at this point. On the 4th lap I make a strong burst at the top and start to close on the breakaway rider right before the KOM. Strangely enough he starts sprinting for it, even though he has no use for the KOM bonuses as he was very low in the GC. So rather than wasting energy, I let him have it and grab another 3 second bonus. Soon after the rider who was with me in the crit takes off with a teammate and asks if I want to give it a try...I was in no shape to try a breakaway and I decline and they take off.

We decided to let them go on the 5th lap to absorb more KOM time bonuses, which was a gamble because he was only a minute behind on the GC. On the last lap we hear that he's 55 seconds ahead and with the KOM bonuses, he's the virtual leader on the course. So we send teammates to the front to pull like crazy and another team pitches in and at the bottom of the hill he's in sight at the top. My one and only purpose in life is to stay on the 3rd place rider's wheel and not let go no matter what. Another rider takes off mid-climb and nobody can stay with him at that point.

So as we crest the hill I'm still right behind the 3rd place rider and we swap pulls up towards the finish. At that point a teammate takes off and basically chaos ensues with the remaining racers. He fades a little and I chase after him and another guy goes past me. I'm not really sure what's going on, but I really wanted to get 4th for the remaining time bonuses at the finish. So I dig as deep as I possibly can and come around both guys with a semi-sprint, legs lose power, sit down and just barely make it over the line for 4th.

The GC is really up in the air because nobody is sure about time bonuses & how far in the lead the first riders were. I eventually find out that the blownup rider that we past at the beginning of lap 6 was the one of the guys in the break and *not* a lapped rider! That means I got 3rd in the RR, which meant a few extra seconds of time bonus. Finally they post results and I barely win the GC by 6 seconds, with my other teammate in 3rd and we took enough time out of the breakaway rider to put him in 4th(he had a slow TT).

I'm not sure how many more hilly races I'm going to do, because I was in sheer agony in the RR...I lost my will to live, much less ride a bike on about lap 4...

jamiewilson3

Cat 3, yet? Maybe wait another day or two before you petition.

Congrats on another successful weekend. I was in Atlanta this weekend to run the ING 1/2 and I saw one of your teammates (ar at least wearing Aarons kit) riding down Johnsons Ferry, presumably on his way home from Columns.

zimbo

What amazes me aside from how well you're apparently able to climb at your weight is how much teamwork you have had going for you in the 5s and now 4s.

--Steve

Snuffleupagus

Seriously, I need to ride with those guys

I'm the only 4 in my club, and when I upgrade to 3 there'll be two of us

DrWJODonnell

Great job and I have to echo the sentiments of the organization of your club. Way to go. Nice job on the P3

branman1986

I think the stage race format really brings out the best in teamwork. With the time gaps, team objectives are more clear and the overall GC seems more important than the individual race outcomes. I dunno what to say, they're just an awesome group of guys.

Doc WJO'D, any tips on the mental aspect of TTing? My mind always seems to wander and unless I'm staring at my PT, I seem to lose focus and as a result, power. I'm hoping I can find this zone of perceived exertion where I "know" my power and can just stay there for long periods of time.

jamiewilson3

Generally speaking, based mostly from running, you need to be focusing on feel and percieved effort. If you wear a heart rate monitor, you will know what 155 BPM or whatever feels like. If you concentrate on your cardiovascular system (breathing pattern, feeling shortness of breath, heart beat intensity, etc) yo will be able to focus without the hardware.

It then becomes introspective racing vs using fancy electronic hardware, except for occasional reference.

At that point, young grasshopper, you will be able to snatch the rock from my hand.

DrWJODonnell

Four words. Aero, Power, Cadence, HR (Ok, so Heart rate is two).

Aero - am I tucked (head, knees, shoulders)
Power - can I go harder
Cadence - am I at my "go" cadence
HR- am I threshold or higher?

I repeat these four words over and over as mental checks. Sometimes I will tell myself "Do NOT lose." Outside of this, these are my only thoughts during a TT. If you can think more than this, you are not going hard enough. Seriously, simple math should be impossible if you are on the red line.

The only time I do not think of these four words is when I see my 30second or minuteman ahead. Then I think Catch, Pass, Demoralize.

In the state championships last year, I counted the people I passed. It helped to pass the time.

branman1986

some photos of the crit

https://www.pbase.com/aaron_l/georgia_cup&page=all