adxm
04-15-07, 04:04 PM
I had an awesome race yesterday, and just wanted to write a little something about it - I've talked with quite a few racers about missing a certain bloodlust that gets wins...the sack it takes to launch attacks and make yourself hurt more than you think possible. I'm strong, but I've always had a problem with letting things go down to field sprints without launching attacks when I feel able to... I decided I wasn't going to play like that in this, my last cat 4 road race. 2 lap course, 22 miles a lap, basically ~10 mile descent, and ~10 mile, 2200 ft ascent with some intermediate descents thrown in. Smallish field of maybe 50.
First lap and a half were pretty boring - I'll definitely be glad to be out of the cat 4s with the old curmudgeons who bark at everyone about when to pull - and the ridiculous pointing at anything close to an obstacle like its a club ride. I noticed most people hurting more than me on the first lap. Best of all, the riders I marked early as strongest were the ones doing accelerations and other shenanigans on the front, wearing themselves down. The field dwindled to about 12.
Second lap climb. A few of the stronger riders move up front and push the tempo. Riders start shelling of the back. I hang a few wheels back. A guy who I find out races in my collegiate conference seems to like staying up front, and semi-attacking, never enough to get a gap, on steep rises. Great for me, he's the strongest of the remaining and he's intent on blowing himself up - and we're dropping riders as a bonus. Down to 4. We make the turn onto the last section of climbing, about 5 mi to the finish. Down to 3, with the third rider dangling, just waiting to blow up. I move in front to step up the tempo for a little while and drop him. He's gone. We settle down a bit, and end up chatting tersely about collegiate racing. Judging each other's strength. How hard we're working. Gotta love this about bike racing, where the purpose of the conversation really is "how do I pound this guy into the ground??" Party's over, a look back shows a guy trying to claw back up to us. We work together trading pulls for a few minutes. He does a long pull. Too long. There's a sharper rise up ahead. I'm going to attack. I have to attack. I attack.
I unleash...too hard, rear wheel's skipping...put your weight back, go go go... kill it for a little while...good you've got 50m. Keep going, you got it you got it... oh noo I'm blowing up ease off a bit keep it going... terrains flattening for a bit, there's a headwind...I'm maxed out, I'm sure they'll catch me. Both of them. I'll get third. Crap. Wait a minute what am I talking about, shut up...you're going to win. Suck it up. Embrace the pain. Channel Jens. Channel Contador. Nothing exists but you and the finish line. Push it push it push it, it's around that bend you'll be there soon, it's up the road keep the legs moving. Crap that hill is way longer than I remember...keep the cranks moving, breathe breathe breathe. Road's tipping up...it's getting closer. You still have a gap on him. There's people ... line must be 500 m still, legs seizing up, push push push, judge booth's there..line's there announcer said "looks like he might hold it!" push push push .. stand up keep it going around go go go. Roll across the line YES! collapse on your handlebars. Breathe. Try not to vomit. Enjoy this. Unbelievable.
My chaser's ending surge brought him within 2 seconds of me at the finish. I couldn't have eased up any more and still taken it. Looking back on my data I see why I hurt more than I've ever hurt in a race before. I thought there was less than 1 mi left when I attacked - it ended up being almost 5 minutes, a 1.75 mi uphill effort. The numbers? Putting out this level of power hurt a lot more at the end of the race! Anyway, I'm 166 lb: the move was 45 seconds 555w avg (1169 max) opening up the gap, then a minute and a half at struggling with myself on the flats avg 300w, finishing with "dialing up" the last 2 and a half minutes to 400 watts. Last minute, 450w, 199 avg hr, which I'm pretty sure must be my MHR. No wonder it hurt so much! A minute at maximum... Whole move:
Duration: 4:44.76
Distance: 1.758
Power: Min 150 Max 1169 Avg 391
HR: Min 176 Max 199 Avg 196
So: it's cliche, but dig deep for those endings. Don't doubt yourself. You might be amazed at what you can do. And this result, my first RR win, was so much more valuable to me than an ending sprint. A crit win today sealed my omnium victory. On to the 3's...
Attached a shot of the power file, pretty interesting: gridline at 385w.
First lap and a half were pretty boring - I'll definitely be glad to be out of the cat 4s with the old curmudgeons who bark at everyone about when to pull - and the ridiculous pointing at anything close to an obstacle like its a club ride. I noticed most people hurting more than me on the first lap. Best of all, the riders I marked early as strongest were the ones doing accelerations and other shenanigans on the front, wearing themselves down. The field dwindled to about 12.
Second lap climb. A few of the stronger riders move up front and push the tempo. Riders start shelling of the back. I hang a few wheels back. A guy who I find out races in my collegiate conference seems to like staying up front, and semi-attacking, never enough to get a gap, on steep rises. Great for me, he's the strongest of the remaining and he's intent on blowing himself up - and we're dropping riders as a bonus. Down to 4. We make the turn onto the last section of climbing, about 5 mi to the finish. Down to 3, with the third rider dangling, just waiting to blow up. I move in front to step up the tempo for a little while and drop him. He's gone. We settle down a bit, and end up chatting tersely about collegiate racing. Judging each other's strength. How hard we're working. Gotta love this about bike racing, where the purpose of the conversation really is "how do I pound this guy into the ground??" Party's over, a look back shows a guy trying to claw back up to us. We work together trading pulls for a few minutes. He does a long pull. Too long. There's a sharper rise up ahead. I'm going to attack. I have to attack. I attack.
I unleash...too hard, rear wheel's skipping...put your weight back, go go go... kill it for a little while...good you've got 50m. Keep going, you got it you got it... oh noo I'm blowing up ease off a bit keep it going... terrains flattening for a bit, there's a headwind...I'm maxed out, I'm sure they'll catch me. Both of them. I'll get third. Crap. Wait a minute what am I talking about, shut up...you're going to win. Suck it up. Embrace the pain. Channel Jens. Channel Contador. Nothing exists but you and the finish line. Push it push it push it, it's around that bend you'll be there soon, it's up the road keep the legs moving. Crap that hill is way longer than I remember...keep the cranks moving, breathe breathe breathe. Road's tipping up...it's getting closer. You still have a gap on him. There's people ... line must be 500 m still, legs seizing up, push push push, judge booth's there..line's there announcer said "looks like he might hold it!" push push push .. stand up keep it going around go go go. Roll across the line YES! collapse on your handlebars. Breathe. Try not to vomit. Enjoy this. Unbelievable.
My chaser's ending surge brought him within 2 seconds of me at the finish. I couldn't have eased up any more and still taken it. Looking back on my data I see why I hurt more than I've ever hurt in a race before. I thought there was less than 1 mi left when I attacked - it ended up being almost 5 minutes, a 1.75 mi uphill effort. The numbers? Putting out this level of power hurt a lot more at the end of the race! Anyway, I'm 166 lb: the move was 45 seconds 555w avg (1169 max) opening up the gap, then a minute and a half at struggling with myself on the flats avg 300w, finishing with "dialing up" the last 2 and a half minutes to 400 watts. Last minute, 450w, 199 avg hr, which I'm pretty sure must be my MHR. No wonder it hurt so much! A minute at maximum... Whole move:
Duration: 4:44.76
Distance: 1.758
Power: Min 150 Max 1169 Avg 391
HR: Min 176 Max 199 Avg 196
So: it's cliche, but dig deep for those endings. Don't doubt yourself. You might be amazed at what you can do. And this result, my first RR win, was so much more valuable to me than an ending sprint. A crit win today sealed my omnium victory. On to the 3's...
Attached a shot of the power file, pretty interesting: gridline at 385w.