Teammates: Mateo in Bs. Liam and Cathy in Cs.
Not the best way to start the night: I forgot my bike shoes in my car when we switched to carpooling down in Cathy's. I borrowed some old-style caged pedals and rode with my street shoes. The position was off and I couldn't apply power all the way around, but at least I was riding rather than watching.
Good sized crowd. More than 20 Bs for the first race. I quickly figured out that I wasn't comfortable revving it way up for the sprints or even for the surges. I was basically a non-factor until I went with Tim Bisson in a break after sprint 3. We were off the front for 5 laps working well together and had a 30-50m gap before the bell, but that's not that much when the pack sprints in the final 200m. We got caught in the final 50m. Tim had surged and held on for 2nd or 3rd, while I narrowly lost out for 5th.
Second race was twice as long. There weren't many As, so Larry told us before our first race that we might want to save something because he was going to put us in an 84 lap combined race (14 sprints) . The As raced twice in a row, which may have dulled the edge slightly. The race was fast for the full 40 minutes (but slower than our first Bs race on average: 26.5mph vs. 27.5mph).
Since I figured I could hang with the tempo but not the sprints, my plan was to mark the As and hang on to strong wheels, staying with the leaders but not surging more than I had to unless I thought I had a chance at better than 5th in a sprint. I picked up a third early on by going with a move at the bell and was on the lookout throughout the race for other early moves where gaps and other factors conspired to give me a chance. Had a couple near misses. Learned a fair bit watching how the As grabbed wheels and made their attacks.
The race splintered pretty quickly (from 26 starters). Plenty of guys pulled out, but other who'd got dropped stayed in, making it hard to tell who was lapped. It seemed to me that maybe only 10 or so were even on laps, and another handful was down a lap. After sitting in a lot early on, I started working here and there during attacks in the 3-to-go and 2-to-go laps for the last 5-6 sprints, trying to help get gaps to stick. I made a solo move with 500m on one prime, since time seemed to be running out. I got a good gap but was caught in the last 50m. Was happy to grab back on with the leaders after that effort and sit in for the rest.
Great training and a good learning experience.
Data: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/tny.aspx?a=sw&key=HHistskDS7enQ0tvMu46Q5T2hkAdjqKo
Not the best way to start the night: I forgot my bike shoes in my car when we switched to carpooling down in Cathy's. I borrowed some old-style caged pedals and rode with my street shoes. The position was off and I couldn't apply power all the way around, but at least I was riding rather than watching.
Good sized crowd. More than 20 Bs for the first race. I quickly figured out that I wasn't comfortable revving it way up for the sprints or even for the surges. I was basically a non-factor until I went with Tim Bisson in a break after sprint 3. We were off the front for 5 laps working well together and had a 30-50m gap before the bell, but that's not that much when the pack sprints in the final 200m. We got caught in the final 50m. Tim had surged and held on for 2nd or 3rd, while I narrowly lost out for 5th.
Second race was twice as long. There weren't many As, so Larry told us before our first race that we might want to save something because he was going to put us in an 84 lap combined race (14 sprints) . The As raced twice in a row, which may have dulled the edge slightly. The race was fast for the full 40 minutes (but slower than our first Bs race on average: 26.5mph vs. 27.5mph).
Since I figured I could hang with the tempo but not the sprints, my plan was to mark the As and hang on to strong wheels, staying with the leaders but not surging more than I had to unless I thought I had a chance at better than 5th in a sprint. I picked up a third early on by going with a move at the bell and was on the lookout throughout the race for other early moves where gaps and other factors conspired to give me a chance. Had a couple near misses. Learned a fair bit watching how the As grabbed wheels and made their attacks.
The race splintered pretty quickly (from 26 starters). Plenty of guys pulled out, but other who'd got dropped stayed in, making it hard to tell who was lapped. It seemed to me that maybe only 10 or so were even on laps, and another handful was down a lap. After sitting in a lot early on, I started working here and there during attacks in the 3-to-go and 2-to-go laps for the last 5-6 sprints, trying to help get gaps to stick. I made a solo move with 500m on one prime, since time seemed to be running out. I got a good gap but was caught in the last 50m. Was happy to grab back on with the leaders after that effort and sit in for the rest.
Great training and a good learning experience.
Data: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/tny.aspx?a=sw&key=HHistskDS7enQ0tvMu46Q5T2hkAdjqKo
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