Winters RR - 8/16

9/1 note: Had most of this written the other week after results were posted. Caught up on it today as a part of a lazy crash-recovery afternoon. Also set up a bike blog:
http://velocirambling.blogspot.com/



Winters RR - 8/16

Winters was quite the disappointment. Felt good and had high hopes for the podium, but cramped on the final descent.

In a nutshell:
- Didn't get my number until 5 minutes before the start. First race I waitlisted for and there was plenty of room, but VeloPromo didn't release the waitlist until the last minute.

- Only Mouse in the 4s race, so I sucked wheel midpack as much as I could for the first couple hours. Enjoyed the super-slow, very chatty first half of lap 1.

- Didn't take a bottle on lap 1 through the feedzone. Probably could have used the plain water, since I never down the sports drink that quickly early on, especially when it's cool.

- Didn't think the climb was a big deal on lap 1, though I was watching surges and trying near the front. Started marking guys who were setting tempo on the hills.

- Felt great on the climb on lap 2, sitting around 5th at the top with a leading group of 12 or so. Good power 3 minute power hill, like Stage Road @ Pescadero or Legion of Honor on the N side... good profile for me. Thought the group might keep the pace up and make the selection stick, but guys sat up right after the hard-right corner at the bottom and a couple attacks didn't really animate things.

- Had a scary moment on the slight downhill after we all regrouped and guys were moving from the back to the front. Guy came along fast and silent on my right when there was only a couple feet of room from the cliff. I shifted over slightly, moving over with the pack and suddenly we're rubbing elbows and leaning on each other for 10-20s until we get our balance and disengage.

- Thought the slowness of the flats on laps 2 and 3 was silly. Did nothing on lap 2. Played around too much on lap 3, following and countering attacks and setting tempo at the front. Dumb waste of energy.

- Only took one bottle in the feed on lap 2. Big mistake! Was thirsty on lap 3, though I had a bit of sports drink left. Missed neutral feed and called out to Katy and Nole. Very grateful for the bottle, but no time to drink until after the climb.

- Felt decent in the rollers to the feedzone on lap 3, but knew I was tiring and hoped others were too. Worked to get good position on rollers after the feedzone, but didn't have the power when the going got steep. Drifted back a bit, but ran out of room quickly. Only 6-7 stayed together on the climb, with 4-5 gapped by small amounts. I hit the top around 12th.

- Near the top, I was conscious of pushing over the crest and being efficient in getting back up to speed. Barreled down the descent and took some risks going on the inside of the U-turn around the Women's groups we were running into. Tucked and was really pushing downhill when it straightened out heading into the hard-right.

- With a chase group in view just ahead, I cramped in my calves and behind the left knee. I tried to push on through, seeing that the safety of a group was just ahead by a few seconds, but had to ease up.

- Sat up, caught a chase group (best finisher: 12th) and sat in for a while. Felt better, took a pull, cramped some more. Sat up, caught another chase group, sat in, felt better, took a pull, cramped. Sat up.

- I was tooling along real slow thinking that everyone must have passed me by this point. Recreational rider (no number) came along and passed me. But when I caught the next chase group, I'd had enough. I just wanted to get home, so no working for me, just wheelsucking. It was only 3 mi or so anyway.

- Then the finish came along. I knew it well after studying it closely on the first two laps. Surprisingly, I found myself alert and primed to sprint. Watched for a move. Followed a super-weak attack at 1km. Waited. Passed 200m. Jumped at around 150m and spun it up. Looked under my arm at 50m and saw a huge gap. Best moment in the race, if only for the endorphins.

- Basically rode straight back to the start, looking for water. No such luck. Found a convenience store and bought a gallon. Great stuff.


Result: 20th (of ~42 starters).

Data: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/tny.aspx?a=sw&key=HHistskDS7cF%2FDN6%2BLym2lx6RPecNtJ2