Longmont Crit 50/Open
3rd race of my comeback season. The first two circuit races I got shelled immediately on the first hill of each race. This race was a crit, my forte, and flat. OK not entirely flat, and with some headwind, but at least no Colorado-style mountains in the course.
I stayed on for about 3 laps.
Firstly, while my power numbers are getting close to where they were last season, I don't have much "sharp end" or "race fitness"; the repeated accelerations killed me. While disappointing, that's OK and not entirely surprising. As this is usually a forte, it's sort of interesting to be on the "getting softened up" side of accelerations. Please, not again! lol.
More alarmingly, my cornering sucked. I noticed that every corner a gap would open in front of me. That pissed me off! But it's also understandable: it's mid-to late season for these guys, and they've been cornering at speed for months, and this is basically my first time in a year. So fine.
After getting shelled, I was mad about this...so I resolved to ride the rest of the race by myself, at speed, practicing corners. I was much, much better by the end of the race. And, my solo lap times weren't entirely in a different universe than those of the field.
So, while the outcome wasn't as good as I hoped, there's light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, the contrast from last year is notable...last year I was on top of the world! This year, I'm having to crawl out of a deep pit...
I'm miles away from the guys that are winning...but I'll be up to pack fodder pretty soon.
For those counting, it's been 6 months of hard work to get back to (almost) the level I was at a year ago.