I raced in the 4's. I did the hail mary with 4 to go and got caught before the last corner. Honestly that's the best I could hope for because I have neither the guads nor the lack of self-preservation necessary to succeed in a bunch sprint. One of these days this is going to work.

B.

nice try. Pump up the quads, and save it for 3.75 to go next time.

Props - you tried to win

Good, now work your quads like Chinese slaves in a bicycle factory for the next race! Look around for weekly training races and ride with guys that are faster than you, you'll get better REAL quick. You'll probably be laughing at your old, puny self this time next year.

Awesome for trying to win instead of trying not to lose.

considering you've said you could maintain 377 watts for 28 minutes before, im going to go out on a limb and say you didnt break too early or too late, you just plain broke away at the wrong time. being able to read a race is something that will come with time for most. as a random example, one of the cat4 crits i did this past summer i broke away solo with 7 to go, a guy bridged the gap with 3 to go, and together we finished 1/2. my best 30min power i was putting out in training at the time was around 250ish watts i think.

as for tips on reading the field, id suggest paying close attention each lap to where the pack slows down, speeds up, what part of the course takes less effort to gain position. in the 4's i found that gaining position to be pretty easy because nobody wants to drive the pace really since most are sitting in for a sprint. i used this to my advantage and broke away a little further back in the pack than i normally would to throw the people off at the front even more. there's also a ton of other little things to look out for, but those are some basics ive picked up that have worked well for me. granted ive only been riding for about a year, so there's still a ton i dont know that im sure others here could expand on. im like you in that i know i will not survive a sprint, and id rather come in last than having not tried my best for 1st.

Nice, a flyer on the last lap. Must of sent all the sprinters in a tizzy, hoping the herd would catch you. Are you finding it hard to breathe up there or have you already adjusted?

Hardly.... the Dood finished 39th.

Sh*t, if you've made it to the 3's, that gives me hope.

Pelk, breathing has gotten a little easier. I think when I showed up my LT power dropped a LOT, and now it's getting closer to where it was in SF, but not all the way back. I also think I just may be losing fitness as the season winds down. The wierd thing is that even though I'm putting out less power than I was at sea level, I'm going a lot faster because of the reduced air resistance. The average speed for the whole 30 minute race was 27mph, and my little flier off the front was 4 minutes at 30mph. Wow, looking at those numbers now, maybe I shouldn't have taken off... eh... it was fun.

The "Dood" who finished 39th was a lot closer to winning than the guy who was 38th

haha, my 30 minute power is around 280 now and im still a 4 =)

(mainly due to the fact i didnt race enough as a 4 though, i spent the majority of the summer getting my 10 races in)

and sometimes that's reason enough =)

Damn all you people with the money to buy powertaps. I want to be able to get one, but don't have the funds. I am currently beating my head against the wall to convince my wife to get $500 wheels because I keep having spokes break.