AzTallRider

On a side note, the 1-2 race was amazing to watch. Attack after attack after attack, until finally the right combo (of 4) was out front, and they just poured it on... and on... as the pack chased really hard. 1 fell off, but the other 3 stayed away, finishing maybe 30 yards ahead of the pack. They must have been OTF for at least 30 minutes. Wow.

sarals 

I won't give my winnings to anyone. Mine, mine, mine - right?

AzT, wow - another strong job! Congrats!

shovelhd

That's pretty typical for a P/1/2 race around here, even the training races. The Calendar Masters races are as well. There are very few laps of JRA, if any. They go at the gun and the pace is relentless. My kind of racing.

AzTallRider

When I first got started, I was surprised that the 55+ crowd would head off at a pretty leisurely pace, then wait for something to happen. Definitely was not the case with the 45's in the race. It was go from the start.

shovelhd

Yeah, I'll never forget my first M55+ race. The start was strong, strung out for about 5 laps, then things settled down to a leisurely pace. I looked over at a 27 time national champion and asked him, "Are these races always this slow?". He replied "Yeah, if nobody wants to race". This is a guy who never does any work, just sits and sprints. So after two laps of that nonsense I take off with two other riders and we put over a minute on them. Everybody is working. On the last lap we drop one guy, I ride the other guy's wheel and blow by him with 100m to go while we watch the field coming the other way.

Cleave

I am definitely racing in the wrong part of the country!

Before I turned 55, I noticed there were some laps that looked somewhat pedestrian during 55+/60+ races. I thought that I might be in a position to spice things up. Unfortunately several fast guys got old with me, including the silver medalist from the last year's crit natz. 55+ is still the slowest of the three races that I do, but it rarely feels like a training ride during crits. Road races and circuit races can be pretty slow at times. As the Race Predictor showed for last year's natz, there are a lot of fast crit guys in SoCal.

That was one thing that sort of messed with me during the road race stage of VoS last year. We were going so slow at times until we got to the hill. That's why I was trying to animate it a bit before the hill. And then, of course, I went too hard trying to stay on the race leader's wheel going up the hill...

AzTallRider

What I've experience here so far, is that most of the 55+ pack is happy with the slower pace, but there are a set of guys who are also happy to chase you down, or to let you dangle off the front for awhile, and then chase you down. The guys know each other pretty, and just don't worry too much about solo breaks. More than one though, and things heat up fast, so it isn't often that a break gets away with 2 or more. My goal this year is to increase the frequency that it happens - just need to find the right partners.

shovelhd

I am racing in the wrong part of the country.

AzTallRider

They'd only let you get away very far once, Shovel... ;-)

When it's a solo guy, the pack will usually stay within ~100m, and close it up in the later laps if it hasn't closed before then. Depends on the course, of course, and who it is out there. As I learn more about the competition, I just shrug and let some guys go.

I have so much to learn, I wish I could race every day. I have a decent feel now for when I can get away, but I might grab that just because I can, when it isn't the best time to grab it. And some races I feel like I'm in sync with the attacks - whereas others I'm caught off guard - or I've let myself drift back too far when the good stuff happens. One thing (of the many) I need to be better at is minimizing the number of places I lose after having been caught, or when the line i'm in has slowed and a column starts coming by. It's easy to suddenly be 20 places back, and if someone goes then, I can't even tell who it is.

My list is long!

Racer Ex 

I'm hoping they ignore me at Battenkill.

At the NV Senior Games AZT and I were warming up. I late entered, was wearing an unmarked Fred kit, and the one guy I had pegged as competition rolls up and says "Hey, I know you...you raced at Nationals".

This is both ego boosting and annoying.

shovelhd

Over unders, and anticipation.

shovelhd

Leave the stripes at home.

I hear my name a lot in the field. It's not always good.

AzTallRider

Better than hearing "Let him go", which is what some of the guys get.

shovelhd

Can't say I've heard that.

Racer Ex 

I did. I think I need a fake mustache or a fat suit.

AzTallRider

Flapjacks TT 2013-02-03

This was a "see what happens" race to evaluate where I am after only riding once during the week, and to try and stay in racing shape as much as possible. I was pretty slow - slower than a couple of guys I normal beat in TT's, which is probably my best guide. My power in relation to my HR was just way out of whack. I'm guessing my med's were likely a factory, even though I stopped them last night to try and clear my system. Trying a switch to only Ibuprofen.

sarals 

I noticed the same thing after my surgery. It took me about a month to get back to near normal. One of the nurses I work with suggested fluid in my lungs caused by the anesthesia, which stresses the whole C/V system. It took a while to right itself. I'm guessing you have a similar thing going on.

Hermes

Since you have 5 broken ribs and partially collapsed lung (I read that somewhere), I would assume that you have reduced aerobic capability. It is unclear to me whether deep breathing expedites lung / rib repair or is similar to poking a stick into a wound after it stops bleeding.

AzTallRider

The deep breathing part is good - akin to what they had me doing in the hospital in fact - and my breathing is fine so long as I ensure I'm breathing deeply consistently. I'm surprised how quickly that came back. The movement aspects, and working the heart hard, are factors I'm just not clear on. The doc gave me a green light, but we all know that doc's generally don't understand what we do. I mentioned that I wanted to race Sunday, and he said fine, so long as I can bear the pain. Riding doesn't increase the pain, nor do I think it messes with the ribs healing so long as I don't fall. The motion is no greater than just day to day walking around and such. The pain is now tolerable just using Ibuprofen, except at night. I sleep on my side (non-injured side), and that just doesn't seem to be a good position for the main trauma point just inside and below my shoulder blade. So I finally took the Percocet last night, since lack of sleep doesn't help much either.

I'm doing my best to take the long view; it's just not all that clear what that means, as there are plusses and minuses to every option. If I feel I'll be putting myself at too much risk racing the VOS RR and Crit, then I'll take myself out and just work pit crew for my team and/or those coming into town. When to do a crit again is probably the biggest question.

chasm54

The advice I was given after cracking a couple of ribs just over a year ago was that deep breathing, and coughing, were good and that I should not let the discomfort immobilise me. As long as the ribs aren't in danger of puncturing a lung the main danger seems to be that the pain causes the patient to stop using their lungs to the full, and this can give rise to infection and pneumonia.

So ride, by all means. But don't crash! I'd advise against racing for a few weeks, because coming off again would be a bad idea. But I would think a TT would be OK.

sarals 

AzT, I'm watching you...

You know what you're doing; don't think too much, but do listen to your body.

AzTallRider

Tucson Bicycle Classic: Three day stage race; M55+ 31 Initial Starters

2013-03-15: Prologue TT - 3.5 miles with climbing

Ignored the computer and used PE, because neither Ex nor I have a clue how to set a power target right now. I didn't think I overdid the initial downhill section, but whether I did or not, I certainly faded on the climb. Did it in 10:10, which put me 26 of 31.

2013-03-16 Road Race; 41 miles; 2K of climbing.

With both Ex and a teammate pounding it into my brain to just hang in the pack, I finally decided I should listen. When I told TallWife this, her response was "you'll get possessed". But one way to avoid joining the attack is to be OTB when it happens. I was dropped the second time up the climb, likely because the pack was trying to keep the 2 attackers in range. In this case it was NOT a mental lapse. I got everything I could from my legs, literally screaming, and still fell off.

BUT!!!!!!!!

As we went from the climb to some rollers, I buried myself and caught a small group that had fallen off after I did. I went past them, as they were falling further behind, and gave everything I had to try and bridge back to the pack, the small crowd in tow. Just when I thought I wouldn't get them before the downhill which would have made it impossible, a guy I know came past me. I jumped on his wheel, and it gave me just enough rest that, when he wiggled his arm, I was able to get us the rest of the way there. After the race, I told him if he hadn't have come by, I'd still be out there. He said he knew it was 'do or die' time because of the upcoming slight downhill. Hard to catch a 40mph pack solo, especially on a windy day. Three guys thanked me for saving their butts, for whatever that's worth. I told them to thank 614 as well.

On the fast section of lap one, there was some craziness ahead of me (I was in the tail end danger zone), and I had to lock things up to keep from hitting the guy ahead of me. Slid sideways over the yellow line just before a truck came by going the other way, which is you know, why they have the yellow line rule. Everyone stayed up. I had flashbacks. I would have accepted a DQ, but it was a choice between crossing the line or spending some more time in the ER. I've had enough of the ER for awhile. Fortunately the guys who had been causing some nerve-wracking situations got dropped, so the second lap was nice and clean.

So back to lap 2, and we poured the speed on in the fast section. I had no idea the two guys were off the front, but it wouldn't have made any difference for me. I was keeping track of a sprinter from Nevada I'm familiar with, and 2 guys from Ex's team who are rock solid and always threats. Fortunately for my legs, when we hit the headwind on the leg before the finish leg, nobody wanted to push in the wind, and the pace became ridiculously slow. I'm talking 13mph slow! Every now and then, someone would press it, but all they did was end up pulling. I wanted to try and ride the sprinters wheel to the finish, but when things heated up at the 1K mark, I started fading, and fell off with 500m still to go. I was the last of the main pack to finish, but hey, I was there.

The yellow jersey was clearly looking pressed and vulnerable. Talked to the winner during cool down and he put a couple of minutes into the pack, and a minute to the second place guy. He was only down :13 in GC, so we have a new yellow tomorrow.

I feel much better about this race than my recent efforts, because my brain didn't give up on me. A few more efforts like this will do wonders for my power. Right now, there is just a really short fuse on the hard efforts (like climbs), and a very small book of matches.

chasm54

Tremendous stuff, AZT. In the light of what you've been recovering from, that is a great performnce. It should give you a lot of heart.

sarals 

Agreed!

That said, AzT - I expected that kind of ride from you. You said you needed to get your brain right, you did. Your body is oh so close. Congratulations!!!

shovelhd

Good job, AZT. Keep on hammering. Good luck tomorrow.