zimbo

I'll keep it relatively short today.

A really strong guy who won yesterday's race (which I did not enter) decided to sprint away from the group right from the start. My teammate and one other guy were the only ones smart enough to catch him and hold on. I simply brain farted at the start. Mr. Strong Guy then proceeded to pull the breakaway group THE ENTIRE WAY. I got caught in no-mans land between the breakaway and the field and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity (maybe 10 minutes). There may have been another guy or two between me and the breakaway but I do not know. Because lapped riders were not pulled (and because they took the liberty to latch on to whatever group they could), it got extremely hard to tell who was where.

When it was obvious that Mr. Strong Guy was going to be able to continue to stretch the lead without any help whatsoever from the other two, I finally raised my glass to the better man and sat up to let what was left of the field catch me. There were 5 of us left at that point but my heart rate was way too high at that point to know for sure. I was still motivated to work hard because I thought there were a couple of guys between my group and the breakaway but obviously I didn't want to pull the field up to the break--and indeed I wasn't strong enough to do so anyway.

In the end, I worked really hard for 30 minutes but did not race very smart at all. Too many mistakes to name. With about a lap to go I was on the front trying desperately to catch a guy that I found out later was a lapped rider. The four guys I towed along simply waited until I pooped out and then went around me. I sprinted to catch them but failed in the attempt. One of the guys who beat me was a 13 year old kid on a silver Motobecane Le Champion. He rode very smart and stayed glued to my wheel from the time I let the group catch me to the time I pooped out. His dad has taught him well.

Here's a snapshot of the ride file. You can see that there are just too many anaerobic efforts that eventually caught up to me. My average wattage and normalized wattage were below what I can sustain for 30 minutes but anaerobic capacity was my limiting factor. Back to the drawing board.

--Steve

Lithuania

This doesnt sound TOO bad. If those guys didnt get away from you right at the get go I have little doubt you couldnt have went with them. Once you face that cold reality that you arent going to catch the eventual winners placing doesnt really matter in the 5s anyway. At least you got a good workout and another cat 5 race under your belt.

keep your chin up.

DrWJODonnell

I can't wait to get my @$$ handed to me when the crits start around here! Looking at those huge anaerobic efforts makes me cringe. Way to know what you did wrong. This way you won't make the same mistake again! rock on, my friend.

zimbo

You're right. I'm frustrated that I didn't immediately sprint up to catch the breakaway because I pretty much KNEW it was going to happen. And I'm frustrated that I pulled the field around rather than trusting that they would put me in a position to finish in the top 5 or so without doing work.

But I learned something, I got a good workout, I didn't crash, and I've added a little something to my motivation meat locker that I can take out and grill later.

--Steve

DrPete 

Not that I have the fitness to do it or anything, but if you're really going to bridge, make it one huge explosive effort, or otherwise you'll end up languishing in no man's land. That's a little advice from the more experienced guys on my team on the topic...

Snuffleupagus

Ah well man, live and learn.

Did you see any C4 guys?

zimbo

You are so right my friend. I guess I got overconfident. I could see that the guy on the front was doing all of the work and I thought I'd be able to out time-trial him. I thought 5 minutes at 335 watts at the beginning of a 30 minute Cat5 race would be enough to catch. What can I say... I was wrong.

--Steve

zimbo

I didn't... But I know you guys have a new uni style this year so I might have missed them.

--Steve

Lithuania

everytime i read you talking about your numbers i get so happy you race a few states away

zimbo

BTW, the guy who ran away from the field both days is from... wait for it... VIRGINIA.

--Steve

botto 

Here's the Glass is half full take on things:

1. There's always another race.

2. After dropping a guy old enough to be his father, or - in some states - grandfather, that 13 year will have a story to tell for years.

SaddleBags

One of my teammates picked up a 5th on Saturday's race - and he's from VA too. Do you know what team the guy that ran away from the field was from?

zimbo

I don't think the guy was on a team. He was wearing a Cipolini-style zebra pattern skin suit.

--Steve

MDcatV

that takes stones.

dmotoguy

lol

SaddleBags

Sorry, that was his cheetah print for TT.
Here's his zebra print.