"It's raining cats and dogs." That must have come out of Em's mouth at least a dozen times Saturday night. She has a penchant for hyperbole but it did really start coming down after 9pm. I began thinking that the now non-roadie friendly Winding Trails course was going to be that much more well, non-roadie friendly.
I had a relatively relaxed week after Battenkill. My lovely girlfriend is a sleep-pusher so it's not unusual to be in bed at 8:30. I was thankful for that and I've become a believer in the value of 9+ hrs of sleep a night. Train hard/rest hard. That's my motto for 2011.
Pre-riding the course Thursday night, they had cut several sections of singletrack that paralleled and crisscrossed the fire roads that were once part of the course. For the life of me, I couldn't lay off the brakes. I guess this was to be expected seeing I hadn't been on the mtb since AZ, nearly a month ago. And we all know that riding singletrack at "training" pace and race pace are completely different animals. Anyway, getting back up to speed requires a call to the engine room for more power. This isn't the most efficient way of racing a mtb as there's only so many times you can call down to Scotty.
Fastforward to race day. Our race wasn't going off until 2pm so it being local was both a blessing and a curse. Yeah, it's the second closest in Root 66 but I had to wait around for 5 hours until race time. So to pass the time and perhaps draw on some inspiration, I watched "Phil" smash everybody on the finishing climb of the Cauberg at Amstel Gold:
The weather cleared up nicely though it was still quite windy. Ah, I guess redlining in the woods for 90 minutes would be better than pounding the pavement today. (Still open for debate.) It's funny I wasn't really nervous about the race; I was more anxious about the impending pain. From the pre-ride I knew it was going to hurt- full gas with very few (if any) spots for recovery. The "climbs" are just a bunch of kickers with none lasting more than 20 seconds. Do this for 4 laps at 10x a lap...yeah you get the picture. And oh yeah, the mud bogs..
I lined up in the front row. We had 15 guys in our race. I was next to a guy at the start who looked like he just blew 1/2 a kilo, so I just said, "you can take the holeshot, bro." Because as the old saying goes, "we've got to go to work on Monday." I got a pretty good start (for me) as I think I was 6th going into the singletrack. This is actually a phenomenal start; I tend to start off ridiculously slow and pick off riders as I go. But I knew this race was going to be relatively short with few places to pass and positioning was to be that much more important. As it was, the 2 guys immediately in front of me were slower than me through the techy stuff (really?) and a gap was opening up to the 3 guys out front. I got around Scarface and company on one of the climbs and started to chase down the leaders, two of them being my teammates.
I must have not read the memo on the whole Newton's law of conservation of energy thingy as again I was all over the brakes. Put energy into pedals, lose said energy in form of heat on brake pads. Wonderful. I wore my HR monitor with the Garmin and to tell you the truth, I don't really know why. I didn't need an electronic device telling me that I was at my limit (and beyond). The course was twisty, wet, and rooty. I guess this is to be expected as it is a mountain bike race. I felt like I was going ok, but I made it a point to hammer every hill and flat section where I could lay down the power. I was working REALLY hard. So hard that I began to contemplate driving the bike into a sharp rock going into the 4th lap.
But I was in a battle with 2 guys in my class for what place I didn't even know. My teammate Craig, a mtbmind rider and myself decided to play musical bikes the last couple of laps. It was funny; I think each one of us traded positions at least 3 times. At least it kept my mind occupied. Finally, going into the last lap Craig and I put some distance between us and the other guy. I was keeping Craig's wheel but he started creating some space through the twisty stuff and quite frankly I was running. out. of. gas. I may have yelled a "I thought you were sick?!" as he gapped me due to the fact that he "apparently" had been ill most of the week prior to the race. Yeah, yeah, I fell victim to the gamesmanship, bro. Chapeau. The nail in the coffin was when we started catching the women and he did the very veteran move of getting by a couple of them going into some singletrack. I welcomed the break as my HR finally fell below 170 (Aaah) and of course, I didn't want to be that guy. Craig pulled about 15 seconds and I was content on powering home solo in what would surprisingly be... 3rd place! Teammate Jason took the victory so our squad swept the podium with very strong showings from Miles and TJ in 5th and 7th as well! Brian again shattered the hopes and dreams of everybody in his field. Nice work, boys!
It's obvious I need to work on becoming faster in the woods. To have to ride within 5 beats of VOmax for 90+ minutes is ridiculous. But I figure it's easier to work on tech skills than fitness, right?
For the Stravists:
http://app.strava.com/rides/442097
Lap1: 23:04
Lap2: 24:12
Lap3: 24:18
Lap4: 24:52*
*Getting caught behind women in singletrack may have accounted for 10 sec. so fatigue implosion wasn't too bad.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
ToB 2011
Well, another Battenkill in the books. Before I get into the race report, I would like to say that it was a success on many fronts. I was fit and very strong throughout the race, I had no crashes, and good ol' Black Betty performed admirably in her first go on the dirt roads of Washington County.
And now for a little perspective. I was out doing my opener Saturday and on my return home I passed a house where a woman was all bundled up in a chair while a couple of her family members were doing work in the garden. It was a mild day and the woman is obviously ill. I waved and smiled. She returned the favor. In a way, I wanted her to know that I was enjoying my life and I wasn't taking a second for granted. I sensed she felt that. So as I was racing Sunday I explicitly remember looking out across the rolling farmland and being thankful for being healthy and able to push my body to its limits.
And now for the gay race report. This year's race was to be exactly my 4th road race. EVER. I can't imagine the amount of experience the rest of the field had, considering that the field included many of New England's finest. I knew going in I was in pretty good shape but I had to get my head out of my ass and be in the right place at the right time. Yeah, positioning in these type of things is a pretty big deal. I would say it accounts for at least 60% of the result. I hung comfortably with the peloton until we hit the Joe Bean climb. Once again I was toward the back going into the climb, weaved through a bunch of traffic, and came over the top in no man's land. I chased in earnest for 10k solo until I let off the gas and got caught by 3 guys. I remember thinking, sweet, a little help. The only problem was that these guys apparently didn't get the memo regarding pacelining. One guy would get on the front and stay there until we were almost down below 20 mph. Don't these guys watch the pros? Get on the front, take your pull, flick the elbow and peel. Hit repeat. I coached the guys into taking short pulls and getting a quick rotation going. We started to make progress and the peloton was in sight. We picked up 2 more guys and I was thinking we can do this if these guys are able to do anything. I was wrong. They were worthless. I got frustrated and dropped all of them and just focused on the next guy in front of me. After another solo 5k I caught another guy in my field. We somewhat worked together for a spell but he didn't get it either and would stay on the front for an eternity until the pace was pedestrian. I dropped him. He caught me later on a sketchy descent and we somewhat worked together again until we caught another guy from our field just before Meetinghouse Rd. We rode the rollers together and the dude in front of me nearly went down in what looked like 4 inches of granular material at the bottom of one of the descents. (Note to mtbers: I unclipped but didnt' dab.) So the three of us again "pacelined" to the Stage Rd climb. I had put in a nice 1 minute pull going into the climb so I immediately went into the scr to spin the legs out. We hit the climb at a pretty good pace and picked off several riders from our group. Summiting together, Joe Pull insists on staying on the front again. We must be going at a pretty good clip as we pass several riders from all fields. Either that or everyone's BLOWN. I took one pull in the last 5k and I remember thinking that I'm going to give it a go with 1k to go as we get full use of the road. I was already on the front as we hit the sign and I launched up the left side of road doing my best Cancellara, holding 30+ in the saddle. I must have been going at a good clip as I gapped the guy by 5 seconds at the line. So in the end I was 52nd out of 105 finishers which is about as mid-pack as one can get. I guess it's not bad considering how the race dynamics unfolded, i.e. riding solo-dolo for extended periods of time. Again. Unfortunately my result is not indicative of my fitness level but as the saying goes, that's road racing, folks. Maybe one of these years I'll be in shape AND figure out what the hell I'm doing at this race. All-in-all it was a positive experience though. I felt good and kept the rubber side down.
For the Stravists: http://app.strava.com/rides/409104
And now for a little perspective. I was out doing my opener Saturday and on my return home I passed a house where a woman was all bundled up in a chair while a couple of her family members were doing work in the garden. It was a mild day and the woman is obviously ill. I waved and smiled. She returned the favor. In a way, I wanted her to know that I was enjoying my life and I wasn't taking a second for granted. I sensed she felt that. So as I was racing Sunday I explicitly remember looking out across the rolling farmland and being thankful for being healthy and able to push my body to its limits.
And now for the gay race report. This year's race was to be exactly my 4th road race. EVER. I can't imagine the amount of experience the rest of the field had, considering that the field included many of New England's finest. I knew going in I was in pretty good shape but I had to get my head out of my ass and be in the right place at the right time. Yeah, positioning in these type of things is a pretty big deal. I would say it accounts for at least 60% of the result. I hung comfortably with the peloton until we hit the Joe Bean climb. Once again I was toward the back going into the climb, weaved through a bunch of traffic, and came over the top in no man's land. I chased in earnest for 10k solo until I let off the gas and got caught by 3 guys. I remember thinking, sweet, a little help. The only problem was that these guys apparently didn't get the memo regarding pacelining. One guy would get on the front and stay there until we were almost down below 20 mph. Don't these guys watch the pros? Get on the front, take your pull, flick the elbow and peel. Hit repeat. I coached the guys into taking short pulls and getting a quick rotation going. We started to make progress and the peloton was in sight. We picked up 2 more guys and I was thinking we can do this if these guys are able to do anything. I was wrong. They were worthless. I got frustrated and dropped all of them and just focused on the next guy in front of me. After another solo 5k I caught another guy in my field. We somewhat worked together for a spell but he didn't get it either and would stay on the front for an eternity until the pace was pedestrian. I dropped him. He caught me later on a sketchy descent and we somewhat worked together again until we caught another guy from our field just before Meetinghouse Rd. We rode the rollers together and the dude in front of me nearly went down in what looked like 4 inches of granular material at the bottom of one of the descents. (Note to mtbers: I unclipped but didnt' dab.) So the three of us again "pacelined" to the Stage Rd climb. I had put in a nice 1 minute pull going into the climb so I immediately went into the scr to spin the legs out. We hit the climb at a pretty good pace and picked off several riders from our group. Summiting together, Joe Pull insists on staying on the front again. We must be going at a pretty good clip as we pass several riders from all fields. Either that or everyone's BLOWN. I took one pull in the last 5k and I remember thinking that I'm going to give it a go with 1k to go as we get full use of the road. I was already on the front as we hit the sign and I launched up the left side of road doing my best Cancellara, holding 30+ in the saddle. I must have been going at a good clip as I gapped the guy by 5 seconds at the line. So in the end I was 52nd out of 105 finishers which is about as mid-pack as one can get. I guess it's not bad considering how the race dynamics unfolded, i.e. riding solo-dolo for extended periods of time. Again. Unfortunately my result is not indicative of my fitness level but as the saying goes, that's road racing, folks. Maybe one of these years I'll be in shape AND figure out what the hell I'm doing at this race. All-in-all it was a positive experience though. I felt good and kept the rubber side down.
For the Stravists: http://app.strava.com/rides/409104
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