Masters Racing (All Disciplines) - Just hanging out shooting the bull

AZT, Congrats on a great result. It seems like you raced very smart. I completely agree with your assessment of worrying about the second group catching and dropping. You were at your limit with the lead group. Once you went OTB, you were very vulnerable. On the next pro race on TV, watch what happens to breakaway riders that are absorbed by the pack. Many times they go OTB of the peloton. The problem is that the second group is within their means and getting ready to increase power later in the race. So it was great that you could hand with them and lead out at the end.

You talk about HR but how was your power? I do not care about absolute numbers but did you ride at z4 or z3 and etc. I assume you were at z5 when they blew you OTB.

You talk about HR but how was your power? I do not care about absolute numbers but did you ride at z4 or z3 and etc. I assume you were at z5 when they blew you OTB.

718 watts for a brief moment as I went OTB, which is outside all the zone definitions, given we think my FTP is in the 270-300 range. I was cranking harder and harder trying to hang in, and then exploded. We'll be doing a test soon to nail down my zones; Coach didn't want to do that in the middle of the races because of the recovery needed after the test. Average for Sat looks to be somewhere in z3. I'll check the nominal when I'm at home and have WKO+.

If I were going to buy a Madone today, I would go for the 6.XX with full D/A, but with Race X lite wheels. I would make sure the Quarq fits. I would keep the cranks incase I need to send the PM back for repair and have a complete bike to sell on Ebay less the PM when I get a new one.

Thanks for providing your experience and advice. I'm with you on the "all out approach". It's the way I've always been, and as you say, it has its plusses and minuses. Folks like us climb the learning curves rapidly, but we usually pay a price for it one way or another. I look at the bikes the way I've always looked at technology. When you buy, buy the best out there you can possibly afford. Because it won't stay the best for long, and having the best means its not holding you back. Now that I'm close to hanging in there with the lead pack, I won't accept my bike holding me back.

The 5 series is now made in Taiwan. They changed that recently; I think for this year. I'm trying to find the weight difference between the 5 series and the 6 series for 2011 but don't have that info yet. The LBS guy sent a text to the Trek rep, but hadn't gotten a response yet when I left the shop. The 64cm 5.2 (Ultegra) weighed 18.2 without pedals or cages. I haven't ridden D/A, so it's hard for me to evaluate the bang for the buck over Ultegra.

Wheels. So many choices; so many conflicting opinions on what matters most. Right now, I'm thinking weight is paramount for me, since it is the climbs that will be making the difference. I also like the concept of a wider rim, and the affect that is supposed to have on aero, cornering, and ride. Like the HED c2.

At 90 kilos and 718 watts, you were at 8.0 W/kg. Last year, at the Wente Road race, there is a very tough climb. A friend who raced in the 45+ 1.2.3.4 and is a cat 2 told me he did the tough part of the climb at 550 watts with the lead group. He is approximately 68 kilos. So he climbed it at 8 W/kg. Now that is not sustainable but they can do long enough to crush racers who cannot. 550 watts is within their anaerobic threshold limit for at least a couple of minutes.

Two years ago, I did a 3 mile hill climb with the Master 55 + open. The climb starts with an 8% grade. I was with the lead group and I was at 800 watts with fresh legs and thinking this is nuts. What happens is the power starts to drop as the field settles into a sustainable effort. However, the drop was not fast enough for me. I knew I was about to blow up up and let them go. The average power on that climb for the winning 55+ racers was 350 watts for 17 minutes. The guy weighs about 64 kilos which put is power to weight at 5.5 w/kg for the climb.

AZT, It is hard to go wrong with HED or Zipp. If money is no object, IMO, the number of opinions drops like a stone. If I were going after platinum at the speeds you are riding, I would go for Zipp 404 clinchers or tubies or the HED equivalent. You have to watch the weight limitation. Why would someone who could afford Zipps choose an Asian knockoff? I have Easton deep section carbon wheels, which IMO are really good and not cheap, as hand me downs at a great price from our women's pro team.

I'm a bit leary of tubulars, but maybe that is unfounded. From reading, it seems like a field fix leaves you a bit compromised. Not enough to worry about? I suspect many people train on clinchers and swap to the tubies to race? IIRC, A'Jet may be doing that.

Nice job on the race AZTallRider. Reads like you are beginning to understand you body's limits and strategy.

I do have carbon 58 cm tubular wheels for racing. I don't worry about flats in RRs since I would not be able to rejoin the pack after a tire change. For crits I will put an extra set of wheels in the wheel pit and take advantage of the "free lap" if I got a flat. In my opinion the carbon tubulars do make a difference when racing. It's not scientific, but does feel faster to me, just like wearing nice clothes in an interview doesn't make you smarter.

I've been away for a bit without Internet access and for the past 2 weeks have been suffering the effects of a sinus infection. There is no well to pull hard efforts from and my training and racing have been terrible. Thankfully this is a recovery week even though last week's work was the equivalent of a recovery week. Hopefully the pharmaceuticals will allow for some recovery soon.

I am not aware of problems with tubulars that are glued on properly. Last Saturday, my wife hit a sharp rock on a descent in a time trial and cut the sidewall of her front tubie. The tire popped and went flat immediately at speed and on a turn. She stopped safely. We all felt that the reason she did not crash was that she was on a tubie that continued to provide traction even as there was no air left in the tire.

A'Jet has the right take on tubies, racing and training. I do the same as he does.

Nice job on the race AZTallRider. Reads like you are beginning to understand you body's limits and strategy.

Thanks, A'Jet. It feels like I'm getting a handle on some of it. Just talked to Coach though, and she added a factor: I'm showing way too many power peaks when I'm in the pack, burning matches I need to save for the hills.


I do have carbon 58 cm tubular wheels for racing.

You and Hermes like wheels that seem very deep, especially for road racing. You have 58's; Hermes is saying Zipp 404, as opposed to the extrememly popular 303's. The Bontrager carbon xXx lights are about the lightest clincher out there, at ~1,300 - non aero. 303 tubies are only 1,171 grams and pretty darned aero... that is hard to resist for someone wanting to shed all the weight he can.

What I was alluding to on the field fixes is that, if you put a new tire on in the field, it may not be as securely glued as what you took off?


I've been away for a bit without Internet access and for the past 2 weeks have been suffering the effects of a sinus infection.

Recover fast - it's racing season!

Field fixes for tubulars are easy although I do not do them because I only race on the tubulars. However, you carry a spare tire with glue on the tire and take the flatted tire off and put on the other one. There should be glue left on the rim. Once the tire is pressurized, it will adhere to the rim but in a limited way so that you can get back to the starting point.

Thanks, A'Jet. It feels like I'm getting a handle on some of it. Just talked to Coach though, and she added a factor: I'm showing way too many power peaks when I'm in the pack, burning matches I need to save for the hills.

I do not see how one can race at 25 mph + and not have power peaks. When I road race, I get a lot of spikes and peaks. It is impossible to stay hidden in the peloton. There are inevitable surges, slight gaps and etc. Each time one is exposed to the wind the power will spike. Even a slight grade at higher speeds will spike the power. By your description, I think you did a fabulous job in energy management.

Hi,

First of all, I am glad that I went to do the TT on Saturday. First, it was a beautiful day which was very welcome by me because it seems like whenever I've gotten a chance to ride outdoors this year it's been cool. Second I mostly redeemed my very poor performance on this course a month ago.

I was hoping for a PR but missed that by a fair margin. Still I felt OK and felt like my fitness is progressing.

This coming weekend I have a hilly 32 mile road race on Saturday and a flat 10.4 mile TT on Sunday. Hoping to hang with the pack on Saturday and I hope that I have enough left on Sunday to average 25 MPH. Of course, this is all wishful thinking. :rolleyes:

Hermes, that is very cool that your team got some personal coaching from Roger. I hope his voice was strong enough for you to understand everything he had to say. ;)

For the rest of you, just in case you don't know about Roger Young, he is the Director of the velodrome and he has won more US national championships during the 1960s into the 1980s than I can count. Roger was also on some US Pan American Games teams and if I remember correctly, he made the infamous Olympic team for the boycotted 1980 games. Oh, and Roger is Sheila Young's brother. You might have heard of her from speed skating. ;)

AzTR, regarding racing bikes, yes a large frame tends to be more flexible than a small frame, but the flexibility tends to affect handling more than power transfer (as Hermes noted). Race bikes are also generally shorter coupled for quicker handling.

The three most important things in purchasing a bike are fit, fit, and fit. If you are going to go all out, I would recommend finding a reputable fitter who specializes in fitting bike racers. There is a significant fit difference between a bike racing fit and a triathlon fit.

You will probably also want to size the bike in a way that you can "grow" into it. What I mean is that given your description of your current bike, your saddle to handlebar drop is probably not that great. You can't just jump on to a bike with a lot of drop because you need to work on back flexibility and figure out how to breathe when you are in an aero position. I would get a bike with a short enough head tube to that you can get the bars low later on. You can start with a few spacers under the stem and use a 6° "rising" stem to start. I have a small frame but you can see the drop on my soon to be departed Lapierre:

http://www.pbase.com/cleavel/image/131849091/original.jpg

Get the fitting and then find a frame that works with the fit dimensions. Your fitter may be able to recommend specific frames that will work with your fit.

On the subject of your power output, is your coach more of a triathlon coach? As Hermes noted, power output during a race varies widely. My understanding is that you want a very steady power output in a triathlon, but in a bike race your power output will be all over the place due to terrain and variations in pack speed. That's one reason for doing intervals is to simulate the variations in effort during a race.

Anyway, sounds like you had a good ride on Saturday. Hopefully you can also get some weekend USAC races into your schedule. A couple of sayings in bike racing are: the best training for racing is racing and you only really learn to race by racing.

Good luck with your next race and stay safe. :)

I've had two professional fittings on my current bike. The first was by the guy who helped me define the geo when I ordered it. His shop, home of the areas top team, has one of the fitmaster rigs you can setup with any dimensions, so you can get a feel for the fit in advance. We used that to dial in the custom spec's. As my training load increased, I was having some issues I thought might be fit related, and so I got a fitting by the guy here in the Phx area with the best rep, who does dynamic fitting with a video setup. His shop also has a great racing team. After an evaluation that included physical characteristics and such, he lowered my seat quite a bit, and moved it back. He also raised my bars, which I had gradually been dropping. My (knee) issues went away. When combined with a new seat with a full length cutout, I went from being limited by comfort/irritation issues, to not being limited by them at all.

When I was looking at the new bike, we brought my current bike in to compare. The fit can be easily duplicated with one exception, and that is of course the bar-drop. HT on my bike is 29cm, and it's 25 on the new bike. The Madone was configured with the stem up (I think it's a 6* stem) and max spacers. That leaves it 2cm lower than my current bike, measuring from the front axle. But my bike has more BB drop (something not included in the Trek spec's), so I think the difference is a little bit greater than that. Call it 3cm. Surprisingly, when you measure from the tip of the saddle to the bars, the measurements are identical. However the greater drop makes it feel like I'm stretched out more.

What I think I'll do is to replicate the Madone fit on my Gunnar, going back this week if need be, and then ride that setup when I do a Metric charity ride this Saturday. Unlike other parts of the country where it's considered 'de-classe', people here 'race' the charity rides. I think it's because we have so few USAC road races. There's Valley of the Sun, Tucson Bike Classic, Bike the Bluff, and nothing else I can think of. Saturday isn't an "A" race for me, but I'll use it to practice hanging with the pack.

It's also a redemption ride, and the anniversary of the ride that got me hooked. This was the first long ride of my life last year. I did it without group riding experience, tried to ride with pack, blew up after 10 miles, crashed into a curb trying to maintain a pace after being dropped, and ended up knocked unconcious with cracked ribs, being cared for by two really hot paramedics. Something about all that made me really want to race bicycles.

I truly appreciate all the help and advice from you guys with the experience. I can't overstate the benefit it has provided.

Great story regarding your initiation into racing. Are you sure that after hitting your head on a curb the two really hot paramedics were female?;)

Great story regarding your initiation into racing. Are you sure that after hitting your head on a curb the two really hot paramedics were female?;)

ROFL... I sure hope so, especially the redhead. They kept saying my BP was low. My response was "Just stand a little closer." :-)

I see a pattern... hot paramedics.... hot coach.... alleged thigh soreness.... hot coach has to measure soreness.... Am I missing anything?:D

Cleave, We missed you at LAVRA but it was great seeing you Thursday night. I am glad you got redemption and had a good TT. It looks like they changed the qualifying for elite track nationals. There is none other than race category (Cat 2 or better for mass start events) and none for timed events. So I have great news. You and I can race the Kilo and 4K pursuit with the really fast guys. It will be between you and I for DFL.:eek:

AZT, As a word of caution.... Small changes in saddle to bar drop can have a dramatic impact on your back. I could see lowing the bar 5 mm and see how that feels for a short ride. Lowering it lot and then doing a fast metric does not sound conservative to me but.... Good luck on the ride.

I see a pattern... hot paramedics.... hot coach.... alleged thigh soreness.... hot coach has to measure soreness.... Am I missing anything?:D


Cute redhead? One is always appreciated.

Cute redhead? One is always appreciated.


Good catch. And maybe a very flexible back.;)

Hey, there are lot of ways to enjoy cycling. :innocent:

I went to the track yesterday with my wife for a motor pacing session. We did around 100 laps of the 335 meter track and some solid efforts. It was a great morning for a workout and it was fun to be behind the motor again at the Hellyer track.

Sounds like a great workout. Is there a huge difference between riding the Hellyer outdoor track and the indoor track in LA? Do you ride both so you have experience on both types of tracks?

Arizona has neither type. Every now and then, someone tries to put together an effort to get something funded and built. Last idea I heard was to do it on an Indian reservation, with betting on the races. An indoor track would seem to be indicated by our weather, but the AC costs would be 'ginormous'.

Riding the 250 meter wooden track is more challenging than the 335 meter cement track. Since it is wood and very slippery, it is easy to slide down the track. Every track has a process to follow to learn to ride at the track. LA requires a certification for track racers from other tracks unless you are a Cat 2 or higher whereas if you show up at Hellyer and announce that you are experienced on the track, we will let you train and race.

LA is the only enclosed 250 meter wooden track certified for championship events in the USA. They are very expensive to build and track racing per se will not support the debt service, equity return and operating and maintenance. Hence, there are very few globally. I have met some riders from Arizona who race at LA.

I have met some riders from Arizona who race at LA.

We even have a track championship... in San Diego.

Still trying to put a sinus infection behind me. I raced in the Steel City Showdown last Sunday in a Master's 40+, 50+ race. I was off the back after 6 laps and was pulled with 6 laps to go. I had no power or recovery during the race and caulk it up as a total disaster. The 1st and 3rd 50+ place finishers have never beat me in a crit and they go home with $250 and $100 in their pockets, not to mention the champagne popping podium event. :(

The horse sized pills are working and I'm feeling human and somewhat stronger again. On Tuesday I did a 1hr Z2 ride on the rollers and averaged 229 watts with a 132 bpm ave HR. Because it's on the rollers the data graph shows nearly straight lines for watts, speed, cadence, torque etc. Last night I rode with a local club and stayed within limits of a Z2/3 ride with a couple burst thrown in as "heat checks". (OK the 5 second burst of 1,158 watts was a little over the top, but some young gun needed a spanking) I'm felling stronger again but not recovering on the fly as quickly as I was 3 weeks ago and my chest burns after longer efforts. Hopefully I'll ride a little better at a local circuit race on Saturday.

A'Jet, We have several racers who have been and are sick. We watched a presentation from four women's bridge team and found out that many of the women have been sick and the illness goes away and then comes back. My wife and I (knock on Internet wood) have not been sick.

Are any of the ill bridge team players cute redheads? Probably due to today’s exceptionally rigid doping controls in Bridge the women need to stay away from most common medications.

1.5 hour ride as I feel around the neighborhood which was mostly climbing and descending. I got a couple of solid 10 minute plus SST intervals.

My wife and I rode 2 hours on the TT bikes today for some z5 efforts and time in the aerobars. It was a nice day and we rode out and back a few times on the TT course.

I raced in two circuit races on Saturday. I'm still not feeling fresh and strong from a sinus infection, but, Friday's roller session showed me that I had enough to give racing a try. In the Cat 4 race my only intent was to stay in the pack and finish the 18 mile race over a 1.2 mile closed course. After the first 3 laps I knew that I could stay within the fold and just rode in the front 1/3 of the race. I had very good OTS power and used it every time we crested the two roller hills on the course. I tried to do the lesser hill seated and did not have the power. My HR was getting into mid-Z4 and when I did a "heat check" about 1/2 way into the race by leading up the larger hill then for the next 1/2 mile my HR got to the Z5 level. When it came time for the field sprint, 2 guys were off the front, I started mid-field and picked off guys all the way up the hill even though I had to weave in and out for a clean line. If I started sprinting with the early guys I think I would have passed them also.

I had no intention of racing with the 35+ and 45+ Masters, but my son egged me on by saying "you are here so why not". So I went to the car and on put my shirt with the 2nd number, ate a banana, GU and downed a bottle of Gatorade since we only had about 12 minutes between races. The race started fast then leveled out after 4 laps. I was working fairly hard to stay at the rear of the field as there was a straight section just after the lesser hill and quick right-left turns that I struggled on. We were hitting 550-650 watts every time we were on the straight. As the race went on there were a couple break attempts that didn’t' work and the pace got hot then backed off. With about 9 laps left in the 21 lap race a break of 3 did get away but the rest decided to chase making it a very hard pace. At that point I believe I could have hung on but decided to stick to my goal of not over doing it and get healthy and strong again. I rode up the larger hill with chasing pack then rolled off to the side during the decent. I finished out the last 7 laps of the race by riding @ Z3 with a goal of a good workout and not getting lapped. The leaders lapped me with 1 and 1/8 to go and the field lapped me on their finish sprint. After loading the Power Tap data on the laptop I saw that during the Master's race my highest HR was 149, just @ Z4. I still need to get over the sinus infection but I'm pleased with how I was able to stay on with a minimal effort body wise.

65 mile Charity ride yesterday. It was a good chance for me to practice hanging with the pack, although with major a crit the same day, a lot of our faster riders weren't there. It was a comparatively mellow ride. The first half of the race covers a loop through a residential neighborhood with lots of turns and some short climbs. I handled that fine, and was right there at the front as we started the first shallow climb, of about 8 miles. I held that one too, despite a few riders putting the hurt on for awhile (group from the Phoenix PD athletic club). Then we hit the longer, slightly steeper climb that is part of many group rides. It's about 700' of gain over ~10 miles. Not much of grade by most standards, but the steeper sections always splinter the pack. I held on as long as could, and feel I dug deeper than I have in the past. I was in HR zone 5, but my power was down from it had been earlier. I fell off 7 miles into it. At the right turn to a level section, there was a big headwind, and I was all alone. 'Darn'. Not the word I used. Fortunately it wasn't long before a group came by, and I jumped on. That group filtered down to only three by the finish, and I was one of those three.

I'm getting closer and closer. Just need (a) more power, (b) more endurance, and (c) more power.

Or maybe just a new bike. :-)

Congratulations A'Jet on your HTFU effort to fight the illness and get out there for two races. Sounds like your overall fitness and training is enough to overcome a heck of a lot!

I woke up this morning to wet pavement and a mist. We planned to ride from home and had a route to match the workout for the day. We put the bikes in the car and decided to drive south and see if there was any mist and fog. At Menlo Park, the pavement was dry and the sun was out. We parked and did a 2.5 hour ride with several longer z3 efforts. it turned out to be a nice sunny day but with a lot of wind.

Last of the mid-week crit series is tomorrow. Wife is watching for the first time, so hopefully I keep the rubber side down and don't get lapped!

I added up my starts so far, realized I have 10, and just submitted my request for upgrade to Cat4. My first sanctioned road race will be in June: Bike the Bluff (http://www.bikethebluff.com/index_htm_files/2011-06-1819_btb-usac-flyer-v03.pdf) in Show Low, AZ. With my Cat4, I have the option of racing either Cat4 or M55+. I'm leaning towards M55+, but welcome contrary opinions. It's an Omnium, at high altitude where it's cooler than Phoenix in the summer. M55+ is a 57mi RR, followed by a 30' crit the next day. The road race combines M55+, M65+, Tandems and Women's Pro/1/2 in one start, 3' after the M35+/M45+. Cat4 and Cat5 are on a different course: 3 laps of a 17 mile flatter course, with a 40' crit for the Cat4's.

Last of the mid-week crit series is tomorrow. Wife is watching for the first time, so hopefully I keep the rubber side down and don't get lapped!

I added up my starts so far, realized I have 10, and just submitted my request for upgrade to Cat4. My first sanctioned road race will be in June: Bike the Bluff (http://www.bikethebluff.com/index_htm_files/2011-06-1819_btb-usac-flyer-v03.pdf) in Show Low, AZ. With my Cat4, I have the option of racing either Cat4 or M55+. I'm leaning towards M55+, but welcome contrary opinions. It's an Omnium, at high altitude where it's cooler than Phoenix in the summer. M55+ is a 57mi RR, followed by a 30' crit the next day. The road race combines M55+, M65+, Tandems and Women's Pro/1/2 in one start, 3' after the M35+/M45+. Cat4 and Cat5 are on a different course: 3 laps of a 17 mile flatter course, with a 40' crit for the Cat4's.

From my experiences in Ohio and Western PA the 55+ race will not be as competitive as a Cat 4 race. There may be a few very good 55+ riders but there will also be a pack of other riders that will stay together. When I raced the Ohio Master's RR last summer they combined the 50+, 55+ and 60-69 races together. We started with a group of around 65 riders. After the last time up the hill on lap 4 there were only 12 riders still in the fold. Of the 12, 2 were 60+ and I was the lone 55+ rider. In the local races in my area the 45+ race will include racers into their 60's along with some very, very good 45-55 racers. I can hang with the pack in the races and have a very good sprint finish, but don't have the horse power to break away from the pack or survive the attacks that set up the break with enough in the tank to be able to make any break.

In a cat 4 race there will be a few riders on the fast track to cat 3 but most will be cat 4 for a long time if not cat4ever. In our area there were 2 Expert mountain bikers who started out a cat 5's and just blew away everyone in every race they have done. One of the guys was in 2 of my cat 4 races a month ago and now he is a cat 2 and kicking ass in those races. However the majority of the cat 4's are nearly the same skill or fitness and the pack will stay together most of the race with a goal of the sprint finish.

I raced about 10 sanctioned races in Cat 5 and 55+ and attended the 6 hour clinic designed for Cat 5 before upgrading to Cat 4. I wanted the Cat 4 upgrade so I could race in the mass start championship events in the 60 - 64 age group. I suspect the sanctioned Cat 5 races are tougher than a crit series but that may not be true or material. In the sanctioned Cat 5 races, there are racers who have been a 5 for some time and are good strong savvy racers. Cat 4, in our district, consists of large fields with 100 riders. As A'jet stated, the Cat 4s stay together and that can become a problem on certain race courses. We have had some bad crashes in Cat 4s. Most believe that the key to having a safe race is skilled riders and a very fast pace that keeps the large fields strung out.

Our 55+ group is limited to 50 riders which fills up. Our 45+ Cat 1,2,3 and 4 are 100 in a field as well.

Good luck in your last training crit. I am sure your wife will have a good time watching you race.

In last Saturday's race I went off he front of the Cat 4 race as a "heat check" for about 1/2 lap. What's cool about being the oldest rider and 1 lap prior to the next prime is that I got no respect and they let the old guy go. When I'm over the sinus infection that will end up being to my advantage.

So, what do you think about the bar tape, helmet trim and old school socks? I think my kit and bike are just like wearing "church clothes". I won the tape as "merchandise" at a cross race and it matches our kit perfectly. We have a new version of the kit in black that is coming next week. We were told the black version is for races prior to Memorial Day and cross races after Labor Day.



http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr256/sru75/RATL1.jpg

You remind me of Contador and Valverde when they match handlebar tape and everything else to the leaders jersey. You are in good company. I would suggest yellow socks and sunglass frames and have the team mechanic paint the bike yellow.:D

They let you go cause they knew they could real you in whenever they wanted to.:thumb:

Today was a track workout. We started with a warmup and then 2x20 lap motor pacing efforts. I was in 84 gear inched which was too small. The rest of the gang showed up and I joined in the 40 lap warmup which was a spin my legs out. It was a beautiful day at the track.

What? Now I have to switch out bar tape based on the kit I'm wearing?!?

Looking good, A'Jet.... and +1 on yellow socks to tie it all together.

Totally different sort of race tonight. Lots of wind (25mph!) and a smaller turnout. Course direction was into the wind on a longish straight to the finish, so I was thinking 'late sprint'. Of course nobody wanted to pull into the wind for long, and it became a contest of who could hide best on the straight.

There are three young brothers that race in Tribe (LBS team) kits. One of them broke early, then drifted back. When the pace was pretty slow, one of the others broke. I started after him, and easily broke from the field, but eased up. His brothers hadn't broken with him, and I didn't think it would stick. But awhile later one of the other brothers went off the front when I wasn't in good position to chase him. Turns out to have been a clever move. The two of them ended up together, way off the front. I was in a really slow pack, watching them secure the win.

So first I started pushing the pace a bit in the off wind sections, then I'd duck in when we turned onto the straight. After a little of that, some guy said something like "don't want to push into the wind?". Nope. But I was realizing that we were just going to cruise around the course and then sprint for third, and I didn't like the thought of that. Sooooo.....

After leading a couple laps where I stayed in front and just really slowed on the straight, I said "F--- it. It's the last race of the series." and I took off as we headed into the wind with 5 laps to go. I looked around and it was a clean break. I went into fast cruise mode. A couple of laps later and the other brother was on my tail. I wasn't willing to pull him around, so I basically shook him off, moving to get him in the wind and pulling away. I quickly found myself midway between the two leaders and the pack. The two up front were cruising, and I briefly considered trying to bridge, but there wasn't much race left, and I knew they'd push harder if I started closing. So I just pushed enough to make sure nobody was closing and finished 3rd, at least 100 yards ahead of the pack.

A sign of my progress is that, when the one guy was trying to stick with me, he came inside and then started drifting out onto to me. I basically just leaned in and kept him to his line, never breaking cadence.

Great way to end the series, feeling strong.

Nice smart race and finish to the series. Isn't it great to have the reserve of energy to go it alone and also crush someone's soul in the process?

When you put it that way.... YES!

First interval workout in 3 weeks tonight. I think the sinus infection is finally getting behind me. I had to do 4 x 5min Z4 280-300 watts then, 6 x 2 min @ 349+ watts. On the Z4 work I averaged 322 to 340 watts on the 5min intervals. Didn't do so good on the L6 work. I hit the first 3 averaging 402 - 377 but could not maintain the effort for the last 3 reps and was only able to stay above 350 watts for about 1.5 minutes on the last 3 reps. Recovering between reps was quick which is a good sign even though I couldn't hold the power. On the way home I did hit a steep roller OTS and had a 5 sec 1,135 watt effort and could have dug deeper to get the cadence higher. I'm am feeling stronger on the short stuff and longer efforts, still not were I was 3 weeks ago.

AZT, That was a great finish to the series. How did your wife like it?

When you put it that way.... YES!

It's bike racing, not tennis or NBA bsketball. Crushing souls is a given, just like when the crash happens behind you and your thoughts are "oh well, it wasn't me" then ride on...

AZT, That was a great finish to the series. How did your wife like it?

It wasn't exactly like watching the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl for her, but I think she was impressed by how strong I looked in there with folks half our age (and less).

I had to do 4 x 5min Z4 280-300 watts then, 6 x 2 min @ 349+ watts. On the Z4 work I averaged 322 to 340 watts on the 5min intervals. Didn't do so good on the L6 work. I hit the first 3 averaging 402 - 377 but could not maintain the effort for the last 3 reps and was only able to stay above 350 watts for about 1.5 minutes on the last 3 reps.

Pushed it too hard at the start?

Pushed it too hard at the start?

Yep you got it, was riding into a 20-30 mph head wind. Launched the L6 intervals OTS and was hitting 550-660 watts the first 15-20 seconds then tried to maintain 375 but with the wind gust and two very small rollers I kept hitting 425 watts and higher then the power would dip while trying to keep a steady pressure on the pedals. Switching gears and cadence due to the wind and little dips in the road put the efforts all over the place. I've done the same L6 intervals on the rollers with a very predictable result. I would go OTS the first 15-20 seconds @ 400 to 325 watts (it's hard to hammer OTS on the rollers) then go seated and hold 375 watts for the rest of the 2 min interval.

It's bike racing, not tennis or NBA bsketball. Crushing souls is a given, just like when the crash happens behind you and your thoughts are "oh well, it wasn't me" then ride on...

:lol: I know I know, you watch the Cavs. Most NBA teams crush souls with long runs of unanswered points.:D

I grew up playing tennis. One time in a match, I had 22 aces against my opponent and he was never the same afterward. In a doubles match tournament, my partner and I beat a state ranked team 6-0 6-0. It was a magical moment that happens once in a while. We did not miss anything and every shot worked. They could not get started. They had no souls left.:D