Allegheny Jet

Yeah Sara!!! Great effort and race. Your are getting it girl!!!

Congrats go Cleve's and Racer Ex also.

Riding for three hours today and seeing people ice fishing on frozen lakes still says "pre-season" for me.

AzTallRider

You mean it didn't say "WTF am I doing out here."

sarals 

Another day another race. W1234 UC Santa Cruz Slug Fest Crit. Not a lot to tell, five riders, two W4. All college kids, three from UC Davis. Awesome watching them work, they made it look so easy! Anyway, legs were really tired from yesterday, and my hands were just as tired. Went out hard, trying to stay in contact for the first lap, but not to be. Settled in for the race, rode the whole thing. Jumped back on with the college gals for the last two laps, and got to watch the sprint up close and personal - awesome! Fun day, even being totally wiped out! Did get fifth, though (of five)!

sarals 

AJ! Thank you - did I mention (again) how much fun this is?

Esteban58

Go Ags. (1980 grad here)... Kinda makes sense that Davis would have a collegiate bike club.
Sounds like fun - keep it up Sara.

Racer Ex 

Fun with numbers. In the last 108 miles of racing (4 races) I've spent 87 of them in a 3 man break in winds over 20 MPH.

sarals 

You're a beast!

The Red Devil

Saturday Walburg RR 50+ only field=Epic Fail

I had pretty high hopes for Saturday's Wallburg RR. Although not really my kind of course, basically flat exposed windy roads, my ability to be part of the mix at the Tour of New Braunfels a few weeks ago had me thinking I could be there at the end for this one. This is also one of the few races we get all year with a dedicated 50+ race no 40's to deal with.

Legs were decent warming up not super but I felt good enough. 3mi into the race we hit one of the few rollers, 1.50k@4% I was second wheel as hit the bottom and popped out and drilled it to the top. Legs felt great and the field was strung out, managed to pop a few of the pretenders too. As we came over the top my teammate took over and kept the pressure on. A few attacks started to come and I was marking one of the better 50+ guys in the state Sam Childs. I wouldn't respond to an attack unless Sam went and then I just rode his wheel. If he attacked I'd go and help try to create something but I wasn't the only guy who had him in their crosshairs. Basically we were riding hard as a bunch for the next 20mi and we turned onto the block headwind section. This starts with a 3mi false flat then the short bump to the the finish (we do two laps). On the false flat I start to feel no so hot. Then my HR is really spiking and my legs start to load up. We aren't going particularly hard, I'm at 220w but I feel like I'm at 350w and then bam out go the lights and the field is just streaming past me. Now I'm out of the saddle into the wind just trying to hang on...soon the wheel truck is past me and I'm all alone. I put my head down start to chase...the field seems to have backed off a bit and I'm closing the gap. At the base of finish hill I'm within 10s and I'm thinking I'm going to catch them. By the time I come over the top they are completely out of sight. The though of riding another lap in the wind by myself isn't to appealing so I pull the plug and head back to the car. I really couldn't understand what just happened. There were a large number of guys who just rode away from me who really shouldn't be able to. I was not pleased.

Get home and DL my files. In an hour of racing over 24mi I'd burned 832kj. Contrast that to the 1475kj over 2.5h and 56mi of racing on a very hilly course at New Braunfels a few weeks earlier. I'm baffled, I'm pretty consistent in the 625-650kj/ph at race pace this was unprecedented for me.

shovelhd

I wonder if that early attack took too much out of you.

AzTallRider

That sounds almost exactly like me in the Valley of the Sun RR - guys who had business doing so just rode away from me. But for me, the cause is obvious.

What did your power look like when you 'droped the hamer' on that initial climb? And were you hitting big peaks covering the attacks?

The Red Devil

When we rolled over the top my HR came right down. I easily slid in third wheel and was very comfortable.

It was about -10% for my CP1m power and my HR was right where it should have been for the attack. My bridge numbers were similar to the numbers I put out at ToNB and I spent much more time in working in breaks there as well. When I look at the hour and compare it to my ToNB first hour I was 2% higher this past Saturday. When the lights went out they just went out, there was no "Oh no I'm coming apart" feeling leading up to it. I've never burned that much energy in an hour, the only time I've come close was in a 40k TT and it was 100 degrees out. I just flat ran out of fuel.

The Red Devil

Well I just received the review of my files from my Evil Overlord....apparently I rode like and idiot and got just what I deserved I will do my best this coming weekend to not be an idiot, and garner the wrath of my Evil Overlord.

shovelhd

Hmm. So Ex and I were on the same page. Scary.

The Red Devil

AzTallRider

But I bet he let you off the hook, saying "you aren't the first person to go too hard... etc." But -we- all know you are absolutely the first person to ever blow himself up. Gratz on that, RD.

The Red Devil

Hey this means I won something right!

AzTallRider

Well, let's see, you get fired for third place. You sure you want to know what you get for your Offthebakistan visit?

sarals 

RD, your report and follow on was a great read. I was thinking the whole time "went out too hard, too many matches burned". Glad you got to the bottom of it! Lesson learned (for me, as well!).

Cleave

Hi, thanks all for the encouraging words. Unfortunately, the only photo of me from Rosena Ranch is from the Cat 3 race AFTER I got dropped

https://echelondesign.photoshelter.co...000N750hAiOeI8

I am pretty sure that if I'd been better positioned in the pack that I would have hung in longer or until the end. I was surprised how many people fell off / dropped out. Regardless, looking at my heart rate / speed data, I should have gone harder on the climb to position myself better because I was working hardest when I was the closing gaps and chasing to try to get back on. I wasn't working hard on the actual climb. That same effort earlier would have kept me in the field. Of course, I might have gotten dropped later. Next time I try doing a Cat 3 race I will have to watch my position much more carefully.

Cleave

TRD, been there, done that, and also wondered why. Glad that your data helps to understand why. In the end, I always feel better having tried rather than just sitting in when it's a race where I feel there's some potential for doing well. It's a long season with a lot more opportunities.

AzTallRider

I dunno Cleave - sure looks like a breakaway to me...

Racer Ex 

Big Orange is trying to hammer Cleave to no avail.

shovelhd

Outstanding pain face.

Hermes

He always looks like that.

VanceMac

Back to back omniums were tough. I've had a hard week, but a grand total of only 4.5 hours saddle time. Ha.

Friday night had record turnout for that event (65 I think). Saturday morning was considerably fewer, but that just meant fewer places to hide! Good times as usual.