So my first race of the season is in the books. I felt good going into it, riding all fall and winter on a combination of my trainer bike and a spinning bike at the gym, plus taking two spinning classes weekly for some interval training.

I’m down ten pounds from last season, and working on dropping more. I’m hovering right around 190 now and hope to eventually hit 175. That should be just about right for my power to weight ratio.

Anyway, onto the actual races. My teammate Adam, who moved up to category 4 raced first. The race was a combination of Cat 3 and Cat 4. He stayed with the lead pack and close to the front the entire 40 minute race, ending up with the best race of his career so far. Adam placed 9th in a race that included a bunch of riders an entire category higher than him, and a few big teams. He was the only Cat 4 Trike there, so he did exceptionally well considering all of those obstacles. Congrats!

Following the 3/4 race, there was a women’s race. Sadly, the women only had 4 racers, and one dropped off by the end. The Greenville Downtown crit last year had about the same turnout sadly.

Then my race came. I got to ride the course before the women’s race and then again before our event. The course felt good. It consisted of a long, straight stretch with the start/finish halfway between. Then, the course turned to the left and immediately went into a climb. The hill curved again at the top and got slightly steeper for a second, then had a slight descent into a straightaway. At the far end, the course had a fast chicane before a left turn back into the straightaway.

I had one other teammate – Andy in the race. He’s a second year Cat 5′er like me, I believe. The Cat 5 field consisted of 21 racers – the majority team racers, though there were a couple unattached riders.

The USCF officials went over the rules – all the standard stuff about pitting for mechanical problems, etc. Abruptly the race started. We all clicked into our pedals and took off. I felt really good initially staying in the lead pack, back about 10 riders. The climb didn’t even phase me for the first few laps. But I think the combination of the intensity (my HR was at 191 for awhile early into the race), and being in the drops took its toll. I cramped up around my midsection, very similar to how I had in my first crit 11 months ago down in Greenville, NC. But I held on and pushed through the pretty intense and uncomfortable pain. The lead pack really took off.

Andy was able to stay in it, and as far as I know keep on their wheels the entire race. I dropped back, but settled into a pace below 22 MPH and traded pulls with two other guys – one in a NC State jersey, and another guy, who at this point, I can’t remember who he was racing for, and from the photos, I don’t recognize the jersey.

My Cat 5 race was 30 minutes, which ended up breaking down to like 11 or 12 miles. That doesn’t sound like a long time, nor a ton of mileage, but man, it felt like it right around lap 20 or so. Laps went by fast, but time slowed down when I didn’t have a wheel to stick to, or someone on mine. Everyone knows cycling’s efficiency increases when you’re drafting. But it’s honestly more than just your energy output. Having a couple of people swapping pulls is a good motivator too. Amanda took a ton of great pictures. I especially like the ones where I’m right on a wheel, or someone’s right on mine!

As the race wore on, I wore down. I was spent by the last couple laps, and made me realize that I needed to increase my interval training, but really I just need more saddle time outside. All the time on a trainer and spinning bike just doesn’t give anywhere near the same experience or workout as riding the same mileage on road and its terrain.

As the race ended, I really thought I had come in dead last, being lapped multiple times by the entire field. I was pretty disapointed by my performance. I didn’t make any excuses, but really though I could have done better. But this morning, after seeing the official results posted, I realized I actually came in 17th, beating out four other racers (including one that didn’t finish). I also think I held my own on the climb, passing a lot of racers on the climb, which is due in part to my off-season spinning classes.

The official results from the race kind of put it all into perspective for me. Initially, I felt like I did really crappy. The jerseys all sort of blurred together. I honestly thought I had been lapped multiple times by pretty much the whole field, but after seeing the official results, it was that breakaway that really were the only ones that really owned me.

While my inital reaction was totally negative, some time and the report results made me feel better and gave me several things to be satisfied with. First, really not bad for my third freaking criterium ever, and the first of the year. Prior to Sunday, I hadn’t raced since the Meadowmont crit in April of 2007. Second, 17th was a better finish than my first two crits (22nd and DNF respectively), so I am making notable progress. Third, I’ve only had a road bike for a bit over two years, racing even less than that. None of these are meant to be excuses, rather motivators and perspective.

The season’s long, especially considering it’s only February. I’ve got several teammates who aren’t going to start racing for another couple months. By then, I’ll have several races under my belt, which is really what I need – a ton more practice, and actual crits are the best practice. I need to work on several things to continue to improve and be competitive:

• Endurance – by the end of a race, you should be spent. If you’re not tired, you didn’t pace yourself correctly. At the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to blow your load before the race concludes. For me, though, it wasn’t poor pacing. It was just that I need more endurance at an extended anarobic level.
• Cornering – I had moments of cornering better than I ever have before, taking the turns fast and tight. But in the group, I was wide and slow, meaning I had to work harder to catch up out of the turn, wasting energy turn after turn. I need to trust myself and my bike, know we can both handle the turns at high speed. In a group, I need to keep my line.
• Confidence – A huge part of my cornering improvement is going to come from confidence. Whether it’s holding my line, or leaning the bike into a corner while in the peloton, I need to trust myself and my experience. I’m not there yet, but it’ll come. More crits will do it.

I’m already looking forward to my next crit. The sooner the better. I was a bit tired the day after the race, but no soreness. My legs held up well throughout the race, I just need to get the rest of my body and mind in sync with the fitness of my legs – further weight loss, more confidence and more experience.

Congrats to my teammate, Andy, for placing fifth in the race, and winning the prime of the race (winning an ugly purple jersey). Click the link below to see the data captured by my Garmin 305.

The Course and My Metrics

Man, that was a long post. I need to write more longer posts for Keefer Madness!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 9:33 pm and is filed under Cycling, Personal Crap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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