E’s Rock

It’s easy to sit here and type when you have an awesome workout, a new 5-min max, place in the top 10, or pounce a TT, all out, legs feeling good, breathing just right. Very easy to post when all goes well. Not so easy when the opposite happens.

At any rate…

All or nothing…that’s exactly what I went for at the Rocky Hill Cycling Classic. I had told myself it would be strictly a training race. How quickly one learns that 50+ miles at race pace are completely different than 50 miles at endurance/training pace. I am still internally debating if I should be bummed-out, upset, depressed or maybe even confident after Saturday’s race.

As discussed before, going into a race with an established mind-set AND executing…sometimes doesn’t happen. Do I attack, maybe blow up and potentially come in last? Or do I sit, wait and settle for a top 30th position with the probability of a crash? Truth is, when I think about it, there’s no difference. Either way you slice it, there’s no prizes, upgrade points, or glory. Very easy to sit in, wait it out and do nothing. Not so easy to actually go for it, all or nothing. Don’t believe me, try it some day.

The course: ~10 mile loop. Specified as a road race, but more like a crit if you ask me. A few rollers at the beginning, 7.5 miles in a short climb followed by a false-flat and then a nice little pitch…a solid 5-min effort from bottom to top, immediately followed by a fast descent and then a 2% grade to the finish.

The plan was to get in the front and try to set a solid pace to string things out before the climb. On first lap, for first 5 miles a pace car lead us out. No problem, just sat and drafted the car. Car disappears and off we go. Hit the first climb and like it wasn’t there, blazing up the climb. I swear, all the strong riders that WEREN’T at Fitchburg were here! Really strong cat 4s if you ask me. Or maybe a lot of strong cat 3s. Either way, I managed to hang on no problem, got as aero as possible and stayed within bike-length of the pack as we descended 45mph.

I look around and everyone’s still there. Maybe 1 person dropped, due to a mechanical issue or something. I could sense it was going to be a sprinters race if something wasn’t done.

2nd lap…the pace slows up over the speed-bumps, even slower over the 2nd turn and then again on the rollers. I move up to 3rd slot around the turns.  On one of the rollers, million questions through my head. Should I wait? What if no one comes with me? Is it the right thing to do?

I jump. “There he goes!” someone yells. No one responds. I didn’t want to blowup, as I knew it was a long 3 miles to the hill. If I could just make it to the hill, up and over, I could stand a chance. I hit the right-hander, over the bridge and again another ride and now down Canal road strait shot. I remember the first time we came down Canal…we were doing 23mph give or take. I must have gotten a good 20 seconds, alone for a good 3 miles before a guy bridges up, ALONE. Dammit! “Are you with them back there?” “Yeah!” (No schit Einstein!) He’s not breathing well either. I’m pulling at 25mph. He takes a pull, down to 23mph. This isn’t going to work, he’s not strong enough I tell myself.

Hoping one of the Hermes/WBI guys would bridge up. Maybe it was an empty hope, who knows. I pace myself up the hill as to not completely blow it. The fun ends and they catch me mid-way up the false-flat. I manage to hang on, though I could feel the 10min effort would cost me, especially so early.

The remainder of the race was painful to say the least. I think Landino flatted and another teammate might have popped as well. Coming on the last lap I was barely hanging on. I can’t really explain what happened. I wasn’t winded. Legs felt great. Just not quite sure. One of those blurry moments. A gap of 20 feet opened up and slowly but surely it kept increasing. I was done.

Battled with myself as I came upto the final climb. Do I just drop out, do I keep going. What’s the difference it’s all training. I muster up the final climb, bomb downhill and finish. A rough day to say the least.

Maybe it was a good thing who knows. After talking with a few people, it might have worked out safer, being that my 2 A races (both stage races) are coming up. There were several crashes on the final climb, people just falling over no reason whatsoever. The final sprint was sketchy.

Big congratulations to LJ (Jeff Johnson) who placed 7th, though he says the race could have been his for the taking. Apparently he was sitting in the 2nd or 3rd slot behind a Colavita guy that decided to slow down. Next thing someone’s pedal hits his leg, forcing him to sit-up. He managed to hold it and grab a few spots in the final meters.

Next time…who knows what I’d do next time.

Despite the miss-hap, still feeling great. I’m actually feeling confident. Looking back, I managed to stay away for a good 10mins, 4-ish miles. Who knows, maybe I can start attacking from 2 miles out now, 350watts tt to the end. On a shorter course? who knows what would happen. This could be the start of something good.
Here’s the graph…and the numbers.

Climb #1:
Duration: 4:37
Distance: 1.409 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 771 318 watts
Heart rate: 172 184 179 bpm

Breakaway:
Duration: 10:43
Distance: 4.385 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 689 281 watts
Heart rate: 168 183 177 bpm

Climb #2:
Duration: 5:01
Distance: 1.411 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 624 298 watts
Heart rate: 169 181 177 bpm

Climb #3:
Duration: 4:33
Distance: 1.401 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 680 312 watts
Heart rate: 162 180 175 bpm

Climb #4:
Duration: 4:45
Distance: 1.435 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 772 317 watts
Heart rate: 152 179 174 bpm

Climb #5:
Duration: 6:13
Distance: 1.42 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 44 531 249 watts
Heart rate: 156 171 165 bpm

Entire workout (228 watts):
Duration: 2:19:48 (2:22:53)
Work: 1873 kJ
TSS: 210.2 (intensity factor 0.96)
Norm Power: 266
VI: 1.17
Distance: 52.058 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 772 228 watts
Heart rate: 97 184 166 bpm
Cadence: 23 141 86 rpm
Speed: 0 44.9 22.3 mph
Pace 1:20 0:00 2:41 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 462 73 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 929 226 lb-in