[MENTION=334701]Jackmen[/MENTION], that is a pretty impressive speed improvement and set of results. The first time I did a 5 Km road TT was during the Pasadena Senior Games several years ago. Before that, the shortest TT I'd ever done was 8 miles. Since I never even practiced doing a 5 Km TT, I had no idea what kind of pacing strategy would work for me. Let's just say I went out a bit hard. Good luck in your Senior Games. I'm doing the Pasadena Senior Games in two weeks (yes, mid-week).
[MENTION=140600]LAJ[/MENTION], it sounds like you're having a great time. Your race craft and fitness are matching up nicely. Our Tuesday night course used to have geese and ducks that crossed the road regularly. Since a lap is 1.7 miles and we race for an hour, there used to be plenty of opportunities to try to miss them. Way back in the 1980s I managed to T-bone a duck. I stayed upright and I assumed I killed it but on the next lap it was gone. Maybe one of the local coyotes got it.
For some reason, the past 4 years or so, they stopped crossing the road.
On upgrading, you've received a lot of good advice. As a lifelong Cat 3, on my best days I can do things like hang on to Racer Ex's rear wheel in a break or sneak off the front to win a prime. On average days, with so many fast, old guys and gals in SoCal, I am pure pack fodder. We won't talk about bad days or years. As rapwithtom noted, you have to broaden your success criteria when you're racing with Cat 1/2 guys every weekend. You will get stronger, faster, etc by doing it.
[MENTION=6684]valygrl[/MENTION], smallish fields with large teams is always challenging. Sounds like you made the best of it in both races. I prefer having a plan with teammates so that it looks like we know what we're doing
but even with the best laid plans, things oft times go awry. However, having no plan when both of you are strong enough to be in the lead group is much less than ideal -- especially when your teammate's attacks almost get you dropped.
[MENTION=95878]Racer Ex[/MENTION], yeah, I like to win state championships on a whim too. The SoCal Masters crit championships are this coming Sunday if you feel another case of the whims coming on. It's the Dominguez Hills course (which is actually in Compton) going counter-clockwise (my favorite direction).
[MENTION=180326]1242Vintage[/MENTION], sounds like you had fun and your result looks pretty good. I've never done a race like that (and I don't intend to
) -- 60 miles in about 4-1/2 sounds pretty fast in those conditions. There are more and more local races and "hard men" rides with dirt sections. I avoid them like the plague.
