zimbo

I wasn't sure if I was going to actually make it to this race (the web directions were, uh, wrong) but I showed up just in time to get in line. No warmup--but it was hot enough outside that no warmup was necessary.

Did I mention it was hot? Holy hannah it was hot! With my "A" event of the year on Monday I just sat in toward the mid-to-back of the pack for nearly the entire race and tried to avoid pedaling at all costs. It was Masters 4/5 so it was only 33 miles. I had two water bottles for race and thought that would be enough. It wasn't.

Anyway, it was clear that the whole race was going to come down to the last 2K before the finish. There was a nice 200-foot climb over 1K (just long enough and steep enough that I had to go into the small chainring) and then a final 1000 meters of flat-to-slightly-uphill coming to the line. I could tell things were going to spread out a bit by the top of the climb so my goal was to be near the front.

With 2.25 kilometers to go, I made my way up the right hand side of the pack, went to the front as we worked our way up the hill, and kept trying to go hard without blowing up. At the top, there were two guys behind me and we had some separation on the field but there was still a long way to go. I let another guy come around me and he pulled for a bit and then slowed to play cat-and-mouse. I was worried the field would catch us so I went to the front and headed toward the line. I knew the two guys would try to sprint around me when we got to the 200 meter mark so I saved just enough in the tank that I would be able to manage at least a meager sprint.

My sprint is pretty weak anyway, and after 2K of VO2Max effort I wasn't hopeful. Sure enough, one guy came around and with about 150 meters to go I jumped up out of the saddle with just enough ooomph to pass him and hold it to the line.

Average power for the entire race: 179 watts (29% of time spent not pedaling)
Average power for last 4.2 minutes: 420 watts
Average power for the last 10 seconds: a meager 882 watts--but just enough

Now I gotta rehydrate, keep the legs up, eat, and rest. Monday's gonna be a ball buster.

--Steve

Phatman

I did this race today. it was pretty hot, drank 3 bottles in 3 laps, and wish I had more. I picked the guy that I thought would win the cat 4 field about halfway through the last lap, and made sure to get on his wheel. On the last climb he promptly rode me right off of it. and won. dammit. I need to lose some weight.

GuitarWizard

So.....you won the race without really trying?

mynameistom

How many races have you won this year and from how many starts? It seems every other RR you post is a victory. Congrats.

TheKillerPenguin

zimbo

Um, I was trying pretty damn hard there at the end. I just didn't do any work until then.

--Steve

zimbo

Thanks. I won my last RR as a Cat5 in March. I've won two Masters 4/5 RRs as a Cat4. There was another RR in there as well but I pretty much screwed the tactical pooch on that one.

On the down side... I believe I've disproved my hypothesis that getting laid before the race improves performance. I didn't get laid last night. Not by a long shot Oh well, perhaps it's time to try Optygen.

--Steve

Snuffleupagus

Very nice Steve. Well played.

I didn't see you out there today, did you guys change kits?

zimbo

We got new kits! They look almost exactly the same, however. I was pretty late to the line and had left before your group finished.

--Steve

hiromian

Keeping some in the tank as others are dumping fuel sounds like a plan that works. Good job.

NoRacer

x 6

truckin

Nice work, zimbo. I had a similarly successful day in the 3s. You get lots of points for a RR win!

Lithuania

i hate you stay out of the mid atlantic

MDcatV

Congrats on another win!

NomadVW 

Rock on Zimbo. Good report and results! Nothing like a win 2 days before the A event to give some last minute confidence too. (and make you a marked man by the fellow racers ;P)

truckin

By the way, Steve, I assume your A event is Mitchell? Good luck! I would love to be there, but it was just too expensive for me to do this year. I love mountain rides.

zimbo

Yes, the A event is the Assault on Mount Mitchell. As you know, it's not officially a race but people come from all over the country, everyone is given a numbered bib and a timing chip, and finishing results are posted. With field of 1200 riders, it makes for a pretty fun event.

--Steve