dwilton (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dwilton) wrote,@ 2007-05-21 08:50:00 |
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Niagara Classic RR, or I Coulda Been a Contenduh
Four word synopsis: Not good, but better
Executive summary: A few sketchy moments early. Made every selection but the last one. Trainers cannot replicate a 16% grade, no matter how hard you try. I did not earn upgrade points.
Yesterday was the Niagara Classic Road Race, set in the town of Pelham. The S4/M3 race was to be 5 laps of a 12.3 km circuit, each lap ending with the climb of Saylor's Hill (aka Effingham Road), a short, steep climb. (Phil Liggett would call it a "sting in the tail". He would be right.)
There were 65 racers pre-registered in my race, and with a few no-shows, we were still over 60 on the start line. After my miserable showing at Springbank, although I wanted to place well, my main goal was to not make the same mistakes as before. Let's review those mistakes, and see how I did:
#1. Rest the day before, with a short spin and a few form sprints to keep the legs loose and awake.
On Saturday, Claire and I had attended our marriage prep course. As this ran most of the day, I woke up early (by most people's standards, it was my usual hour), and hit the trainer for 45 easy minutes, with three sprints. The sprints didn't go particularly well, but I wasn't sure if that was fatigued left in my legs from earlier in the week, or I just hadn't woken them up enough yet. Either way, Saturday made for good rest, so I could perform well on Sunday.
#2. Get a good warm-up.
With the race setting off at 9:09 am, we left the house just after 6, and arrived in Pelham before 8. I was checked in and off to warm-up by 8:15, giving me over 30 minutes and a few hard efforts to get things going. I felt good. Not particularly sharp, but no dead legs.
#3. Line up near the front at the start.
I got to the line as they were sending off the cadets, and started in the second row, so I was somewhere between 12-20th off the line. Much better position. Did I hold this spot for long? No. And it cost me. But we'll get to that in a second.
#4. Be comfortable on the bike and in a crowd.
There's still some work to do here. Being without a group is my primary limiter right now. The race starts going down a steep hill on Tice Ave. Bombing a hill at 65+ km/h had me apprehensive, so I was back in the 40s within the first km. Shortly after this, as I was nestled in the group, a rider almost chopped my wheel (Ed: "chopped" = cut across in front of me without getting clear of my front wheel), so I had to pull to my right to avoid crashing, which meant I was leaning shoulder-to-hip with another rider for a second. Luckily, he was solid on the bike, and we rode through it. Three kilometers in, and my fears about being in a group were coming to life. As such, I spent most of the rest of the race on the outside or tail end of the group, afraid to mix it up. This meant my nose was in the wind too much, burning too much energy. So, it seems we still have an X on this one.
#5. Hold the wheel in front of you. Do NOT let go.
Although I was at the back (or in the last few places), I tried to be as efficient as possible, and hold tight to the rider. It's tough, since they're moving around to get the best draft, so I have to follow. I could have held better, but I did OK.
#6. If you come off, do everything in your power to get back on as quickly as possible.
If I shone anywhere in the race yesterday, this was it. Although there were a few attacks in other parts of the course, the selections were still made on Saylor's Hill. Unfortunately for me, since I was so far back, I had to work that much harder to pass people on the hill to not miss the tail end of the new, smaller, group. When I lived in Welland, Saylor's Hill was part of almost every ride I did. I could dance up that climb. Now, there's no way being on a trainer can prepare you what it feels like to grind up something like that. In my lowest gears, I was fighting to keep a decent pace. Once I hit the crest, there's a right turn, then after 200m is the descent on Tice again. So for three times up that hill, I would be just behind bunch (or a small group of stragglers also chasing the bunch), and I would hammer to get back on. (These efforts also cost me dearly later.) Every time was a steadfast refusal to be dropped now. All that work caught up with me at the end of the 4th/start of the 5th, when I couldn't get past some guys, and the gap was too big. The stragglers between also couldn't cover the gap, so I was able to chase to them, but that was all the gas I had. We started a paceline to try to get back, but I was too cooked to work, and when I tried to tell another rider that, I believe my exact phrasing was "wheeze, cough cough, wheeze" and then my spleen came out. I couldn't even hold the wheels anymore, so I rode the last 8 km solo. That last climb was proof that Einstein was wrong: as velocity goes to zero, time goes to infinity. My ability to stay upright was in direct conflict with the laws of physics. This is, of course, until another rider appeared on my shoulder, and every competitive instinct kicked in and I beat him by 4 seconds in the last 100m. (I may have been dead, but I'm a feisty dead guy.)
Final result: 23rd out of 55 finishers. 4'28 back, all of it in the last lap.
With the wedding, there won't be much racing for a while. The only goal left in the summer is Jewel in the Wilderness, August 18-19. I'll keep trying to find a group I can ride with on weekends after the wedding, and maybe look into the Midweek races in Mississauga for more practice. This "getting back in competitive shape" thing is taking a lot longer than I expected. I thought six months in I'd be flying. Looks like at least a year before I'll be anywhere close to where I was.
Back to training tomorrow.
Four word synopsis: Not good, but better
Executive summary: A few sketchy moments early. Made every selection but the last one. Trainers cannot replicate a 16% grade, no matter how hard you try. I did not earn upgrade points.
Yesterday was the Niagara Classic Road Race, set in the town of Pelham. The S4/M3 race was to be 5 laps of a 12.3 km circuit, each lap ending with the climb of Saylor's Hill (aka Effingham Road), a short, steep climb. (Phil Liggett would call it a "sting in the tail". He would be right.)
There were 65 racers pre-registered in my race, and with a few no-shows, we were still over 60 on the start line. After my miserable showing at Springbank, although I wanted to place well, my main goal was to not make the same mistakes as before. Let's review those mistakes, and see how I did:
#1. Rest the day before, with a short spin and a few form sprints to keep the legs loose and awake.
On Saturday, Claire and I had attended our marriage prep course. As this ran most of the day, I woke up early (by most people's standards, it was my usual hour), and hit the trainer for 45 easy minutes, with three sprints. The sprints didn't go particularly well, but I wasn't sure if that was fatigued left in my legs from earlier in the week, or I just hadn't woken them up enough yet. Either way, Saturday made for good rest, so I could perform well on Sunday.
#2. Get a good warm-up.
With the race setting off at 9:09 am, we left the house just after 6, and arrived in Pelham before 8. I was checked in and off to warm-up by 8:15, giving me over 30 minutes and a few hard efforts to get things going. I felt good. Not particularly sharp, but no dead legs.
#3. Line up near the front at the start.
I got to the line as they were sending off the cadets, and started in the second row, so I was somewhere between 12-20th off the line. Much better position. Did I hold this spot for long? No. And it cost me. But we'll get to that in a second.
#4. Be comfortable on the bike and in a crowd.
There's still some work to do here. Being without a group is my primary limiter right now. The race starts going down a steep hill on Tice Ave. Bombing a hill at 65+ km/h had me apprehensive, so I was back in the 40s within the first km. Shortly after this, as I was nestled in the group, a rider almost chopped my wheel (Ed: "chopped" = cut across in front of me without getting clear of my front wheel), so I had to pull to my right to avoid crashing, which meant I was leaning shoulder-to-hip with another rider for a second. Luckily, he was solid on the bike, and we rode through it. Three kilometers in, and my fears about being in a group were coming to life. As such, I spent most of the rest of the race on the outside or tail end of the group, afraid to mix it up. This meant my nose was in the wind too much, burning too much energy. So, it seems we still have an X on this one.
#5. Hold the wheel in front of you. Do NOT let go.
Although I was at the back (or in the last few places), I tried to be as efficient as possible, and hold tight to the rider. It's tough, since they're moving around to get the best draft, so I have to follow. I could have held better, but I did OK.
#6. If you come off, do everything in your power to get back on as quickly as possible.
If I shone anywhere in the race yesterday, this was it. Although there were a few attacks in other parts of the course, the selections were still made on Saylor's Hill. Unfortunately for me, since I was so far back, I had to work that much harder to pass people on the hill to not miss the tail end of the new, smaller, group. When I lived in Welland, Saylor's Hill was part of almost every ride I did. I could dance up that climb. Now, there's no way being on a trainer can prepare you what it feels like to grind up something like that. In my lowest gears, I was fighting to keep a decent pace. Once I hit the crest, there's a right turn, then after 200m is the descent on Tice again. So for three times up that hill, I would be just behind bunch (or a small group of stragglers also chasing the bunch), and I would hammer to get back on. (These efforts also cost me dearly later.) Every time was a steadfast refusal to be dropped now. All that work caught up with me at the end of the 4th/start of the 5th, when I couldn't get past some guys, and the gap was too big. The stragglers between also couldn't cover the gap, so I was able to chase to them, but that was all the gas I had. We started a paceline to try to get back, but I was too cooked to work, and when I tried to tell another rider that, I believe my exact phrasing was "wheeze, cough cough, wheeze" and then my spleen came out. I couldn't even hold the wheels anymore, so I rode the last 8 km solo. That last climb was proof that Einstein was wrong: as velocity goes to zero, time goes to infinity. My ability to stay upright was in direct conflict with the laws of physics. This is, of course, until another rider appeared on my shoulder, and every competitive instinct kicked in and I beat him by 4 seconds in the last 100m. (I may have been dead, but I'm a feisty dead guy.)
Final result: 23rd out of 55 finishers. 4'28 back, all of it in the last lap.
With the wedding, there won't be much racing for a while. The only goal left in the summer is Jewel in the Wilderness, August 18-19. I'll keep trying to find a group I can ride with on weekends after the wedding, and maybe look into the Midweek races in Mississauga for more practice. This "getting back in competitive shape" thing is taking a lot longer than I expected. I thought six months in I'd be flying. Looks like at least a year before I'll be anywhere close to where I was.
Back to training tomorrow.
