I raced, I sucked, but less.
07-04-08, 11:44 AM
#1
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I raced, I sucked, but less.
Started in the front,
got dropped OTB,
the pack broke to pieces,
reeled in the stragglers, organizing a few into a group,
caught the remainder of the pack,
attacked,
got caught,
attacked again,
got caught again,
got dropped again
finished
Lessons learned:
1. My heart rate went through the roof over the first mile and a half, which was mostly a gentle incline. Once I got it back under control I was fine and rode strong for the rest of the race, but had to expend a lot of energy to catch up to what was left of the pack. More or harder warm-up maybe?
2. I need to be more patient and just sit in, rather than attack, when the pace feels too slow. If I would have done so, rather than attacked on the final mostly downhill rollers into town, I might have had enough energy left to hang on when those rollers turned mostly uphill and the roads got crappy over the last 2 miles.
3. I still suck, just less.
got dropped OTB,
the pack broke to pieces,
reeled in the stragglers, organizing a few into a group,
caught the remainder of the pack,
attacked,
got caught,
attacked again,
got caught again,
got dropped again
finished
Lessons learned:
1. My heart rate went through the roof over the first mile and a half, which was mostly a gentle incline. Once I got it back under control I was fine and rode strong for the rest of the race, but had to expend a lot of energy to catch up to what was left of the pack. More or harder warm-up maybe?
2. I need to be more patient and just sit in, rather than attack, when the pace feels too slow. If I would have done so, rather than attacked on the final mostly downhill rollers into town, I might have had enough energy left to hang on when those rollers turned mostly uphill and the roads got crappy over the last 2 miles.
3. I still suck, just less.
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"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
07-04-08, 01:37 PM
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Insert witty phrase here
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Lessons learned:
1. My heart rate went through the roof over the first mile and a half, which was mostly a gentle incline. Once I got it back under control I was fine and rode strong for the rest of the race, but had to expend a lot of energy to catch up to what was left of the pack. More or harder warm-up maybe?
2. I need to be more patient and just sit in, rather than attack, when the pace feels too slow. If I would have done so, rather than attacked on the final mostly downhill rollers into town, I might have had enough energy left to hang on when those rollers turned mostly uphill and the roads got crappy over the last 2 miles.
3. I still suck, just less.
1. My heart rate went through the roof over the first mile and a half, which was mostly a gentle incline. Once I got it back under control I was fine and rode strong for the rest of the race, but had to expend a lot of energy to catch up to what was left of the pack. More or harder warm-up maybe?
2. I need to be more patient and just sit in, rather than attack, when the pace feels too slow. If I would have done so, rather than attacked on the final mostly downhill rollers into town, I might have had enough energy left to hang on when those rollers turned mostly uphill and the roads got crappy over the last 2 miles.
3. I still suck, just less.
2: Yes. You know what you need to do, now execute at the next race.
3: Good.
07-04-08, 03:28 PM
#6
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I did find that I got a perverse pleasure out of putting people in a spot of bother. As I was catching and passing the dropped remnants of the pack, most would try to latch on, which was cool, but the vast majority of them would not pull through when I pulled out, they just continued to follow my wheel. So I just turned it up and notch and rode them off my wheel...didn't matter if it was uphill or downhill. I've always been strong on the downhills and flats, but today I was powering over most of the little rollers and kept a better than usual pace up the longer ones, once I had recovered from that first couple of miles. I still suck at going uphill, but today a lot of other people sucked worse!
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"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
07-04-08, 04:03 PM
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07-04-08, 04:16 PM
#8
Peloton Shelter Dog
07-04-08, 08:19 PM
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__________________
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
07-04-08, 09:33 PM
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Nice....you'll be in better shape in no time 
.
.
07-05-08, 11:45 AM
#14
Senior Member
Great job! You're becoming a regular, stick with it! And I love the lessons learned stuff, it helps me immensely.
07-05-08, 02:13 PM
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Good job! Try riding to races that are 25-30 miles or less away. The warm up is great. Just dont over do it.
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John
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07-07-08, 08:45 AM
#17
....gets the cheese
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Nice work, Chip. About how many hours per week are you training these days?
07-14-08, 08:27 AM
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Good job getting back in the field Chip. I looked for you at the race but did not see you. Anytime you get OTB and get back in is good. I raced in the 55+ division. My race did not go too well as I left my "balls" at home. First off I crashed warming up while crossing some rail road tracks on Smith Road and banged up my hip and shoulder in addition to the blood coming out of me in four places
. Then while we were waiting for our send off a guy on my team pointed out the three best riders and said they would make their move when we turn on Vandermark Rd (so I thought I had a plan). The race started out very fast from the get go. We were in single file right off the bat with the three guys taking turns doing accelerations making the riders behind sprint to keep in contact. I was riding near the front and doing fine until the Kennard Rd hill when one of the guys on my team attacked. I made a bad decision of not responding to the attack and let the front group of 7 to 9 riders get away. Once at the top of the hill the group was 75 yards ahead and when I looked back to see who I could ride with there was no one within 100 yards. I tried to chase down the back side only to get further behind the leaders. At the top of the 2nd hill on Kennard I slowed to let two guys catch me and we worked together eventually picking up more two guys who got spit from the lead group. The whole time I could see the lead group adding more distance and I was doing 1/2 of the work so once on Smith Rd and into the finish I rode at my pace. I won the sprint for the 2nd group so I at least got a little satisfaction. I was on vacation last week and on every ride I was mad at myself for not having the guts to go with the guys I expected to finish with. I should have went the the attack no matter what because if I got dropped I would have ended up right where I was. Next year, when I'm not a "rookie racer" anymore, I will use the experiance to make sure I bring my balls with me.
. Then while we were waiting for our send off a guy on my team pointed out the three best riders and said they would make their move when we turn on Vandermark Rd (so I thought I had a plan). The race started out very fast from the get go. We were in single file right off the bat with the three guys taking turns doing accelerations making the riders behind sprint to keep in contact. I was riding near the front and doing fine until the Kennard Rd hill when one of the guys on my team attacked. I made a bad decision of not responding to the attack and let the front group of 7 to 9 riders get away. Once at the top of the hill the group was 75 yards ahead and when I looked back to see who I could ride with there was no one within 100 yards. I tried to chase down the back side only to get further behind the leaders. At the top of the 2nd hill on Kennard I slowed to let two guys catch me and we worked together eventually picking up more two guys who got spit from the lead group. The whole time I could see the lead group adding more distance and I was doing 1/2 of the work so once on Smith Rd and into the finish I rode at my pace. I won the sprint for the 2nd group so I at least got a little satisfaction. I was on vacation last week and on every ride I was mad at myself for not having the guts to go with the guys I expected to finish with. I should have went the the attack no matter what because if I got dropped I would have ended up right where I was. Next year, when I'm not a "rookie racer" anymore, I will use the experiance to make sure I bring my balls with me.
07-14-08, 08:49 AM
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Nice job, Chip. You'll be smacking them around in no time.
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07-18-08, 08:16 PM
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Finally found the darn 'official' results...17 out of 37. I guess I can live with that.
I also found out that two pairs of riders broke away from the main group while I was struggling up Kennard Hill.
I also found out that two pairs of riders broke away from the main group while I was struggling up Kennard Hill.
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"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
