Concise? I'll do my best.
This was the course, and we did 5 laps, for 70miles with ~6500ft of climbing:
http://www.routeslip.com/routes/39486
The descent at the beginning ends with a 180* hairpin turn, so you literally go from doing 50-60mph to having to slam the brakes and get around the turn. It was totally safe though, although I saw at least one rider have to cyclocross across the grass barrier at one point.
Lap 1: we hit the climb very hard, which made me happy as if nobody else had done it I was going to drive the pace up. On the series of rollers at the top, IIRC, a couple of guys broke away and got 30 seconds on us. Nobody else wanted to chase, so I pulled a Vinokourov (Astana Vino) and attacked, attacked, and attacked again and forced the pace up. I did this maybe 5 times in a row, and then started trading pulls at the front when people got the idea that I wanted to chase the break down. We caught them on the big climb on lap2. I took turns pulling for a lot of the rest of the lap, including taking some stupid monster pulls towards the end of it including one ridiculously stupid 1-1.5mi pull just so I could be near the front for the descent, which I could have accomplished in a much less energy costly way.
Lap2: we hit the climb pretty hard again, but I felt good and stayed near the pointy end to the top and over the series of rollers. After the rollers people started sitting up, so I decided to pull to keep the pace high. I pulled for maybe 10-15 seconds, when I look behind me and lo and behold, I've got a gap. I take a couple of sips of water and start powering away until the peloton is literally out of sight on a pretty straight road. I'm going at a decent clip in my biggest gears, and I was feeling good so I was confident that I could keep that pace going for a while, if not the whole race. Unfortunately, when I had broken away we'd either been sheltered from the wind or I had had a tailwind, so when I hit the false flats later in the lap I got blasted in the face by a 15mph headwind, up a 2-3% grade. At that point the pack picked me back up pretty quick, and I rejoined at the pointy end, trading pulls with other guys to keep the pace high. My 6 mile break succeeds at nothing more than burning matches. About a minute or two after I got absorbed, another guy decides its the time to try a move and takes off up the road. I jump with him and we get a gap on the peloton, but I realize pretty quickly that I'm spending a lot of energy for no real purpose, as there's no way the move'll get away in that type of headwind. I situp and rejoin the pack, and help drive the chase.
Lap3: On the climb, I'm feeling fine and within my comfort zone for just about all of it. At one of the points where I'm doing tempo, I'm looking around and notice that the guy next to me has a powermeter. I take a glance at it, and he's putting out 350W. And I'm feeling comfortable enough to have a semi-decent conversation. Sweet.
The winning break forms and gets away. The reason they're able to get away is that they've got teammates at the front blocking for them, and we don't realize it in time to do anything about it. When we realize what's going on, I go around the blocking guys and try to start an echelon. This works for a bit, but for some reason people stop working together and the whole front end sits up. I do some more work at the front to try and get a chase going, as do a few others, but in the end I guess we just couldn't get organized. I take turns pulling for most of the lap, and again am at the pointy end on the windy false flats, and wind up pulling the peloton down the descent for a bit just because nobody else wants to.
Lap4: I'm feeling a little burnt from all the work I've been doing, but I'm okay. I chase down a couple of moves on the big climb, and spend much of the rest of the lap near the front end but avoiding work. I do take some pulls, but they're few and far between. The peloton is still largely intact.
Lap5: BF poster IKYR makes a move on the climb and starts a 4 man break. This being the final lap, the peloton makes sure not to let them get away. They survive the rollers, but are caught once we reach the little bit of true flat on the course. I spend most of the first half of this lap just hanging on near the front and pulling the peloton across the occasional gap, but nothing much. Once we hit the windy false flats, IKYR tries a few more moves and gets one going with 2 other guys. I bridge across, but the peloton responds and we accomplish nothing. We trade pulls at the front for a bit to keep the pace high and keep people from moving up, as do others, but wind up settling back in a couple of miles from the finish, as we realize there's no way we're accomplishing anything with the headwind. I dont bother standing up for the sprint as I know its too cluttered for me to get through. I roll over the line in around 20th place, out of what were supposed to be 100 starters (but I think there were less).
I'd wager I spent around 70-75% of the race at or near the pointy end of the peloton (or off the front
), helping to drive the pace and try to organize a chase. I burnt a ton of matches in the first half of the race but still was able to try some more moves on the second half of the last lap. I was bummed that the finish line was a slightly downhill sprint, as before the race I had thought the finish was going to be at the top of the climb, which would have been
perfect for my skinny ass. Alas...
To what does Penguin attribute his stamina to, besides training? Gu, liquids, and most important, flat coke. Yes, flat coke. For once I actually remembered to eat and drink properly (I've a propensity to barely eat or drink during races...). I carried 2 full bottles, one of water and one of gatorade. I filled a 3rd bottle with a can of coke and took sips of it occasionally when I was feeling kind of fatigued, and it really did wonders for perking me up. I don't know if its just because it was the taste or the caffine or the sugar, but it really did help.
This race proved to me that I've the power to get through the 3's this year. After the foolish amount of work I did, the solo break, the unneeded attacks on the 1st lap, etc..., I was still able to try something near the finish, and honestly felt like I could have done another lap at race pace. I know I've got a limiter in my sprinting and I know my tactics are pretty pathetic at this point, but I will be working on both of them. All my most important races of the year are built around climbing and have finishing climbs, which is exactly what I need to finish well at this point. I'm very confident that I've the ability to upgrade by the end of the year. While I didn't place, this race was still a huge confidence builder for me.
So what compelled me to ride another 40 miles once I got home? First, I really just wanted to ride. Its a beautiful day, and I had already ridden 70 and figured I should get over the 100 mile mark. Second, my legs still had some juice in them, and that just aint right after one finishes a one day race. It was kind of punishment to myself for not using everything I had in my legs. Third, it was sort of a celebration, as I feel damn happy that I'm really strong enough to be at the pointy end of a 70mi 3 race for so long. Fourth and finally, I've decided that this is going to be a hell week. I'm going to self-flaggilate myself, but with a purpose. The purpose is to keep getting stronger, as I know I'm still building. I dont have a race coming up this weekend, so if I fatigue myself I can easily take a few days off and then get back into my regular routine.
A month ago today, I did the Battenkill-Roubaix and finished 20 minutes behind the pack. Today I was one of the guys at the pointy end doing work.
