Snelling RR Race Report

Paul on the front at the bell

Well, yesterday was the first race of the season: Snelling. Overall, it was a fun shock to the legs. I knew that however hard I was training, racing would be a couple notches harder. That definitely played out. I had good position in finale 1k and was around 10th at the last corner, but was fighting cramps and didn't stand up to sprint. Result: 16th of 94.

Race stats:
61.5 mi in 2h 38m (23.3mph)
212W avg / 256W norm / 158bpm avg
205TSS / 2009kj

Lap 1 stats:
12mi in 29m 46s (24.3mph)
214W avg / 255W norm / 778W max

162bpm avg / 176bpm max

Lap 3 stats:
12mi in 31m 13s (23.2mph)
228W avg / 267W norm / 752W max

160bpm avg / 174bpm max

Lap 5 stats:
12mi in 30m 39 (23.1mph)
187W avg / 236W norm / 971W max

154bpm avg / 182bpm max

My pre-race prep was worse than any road race lat year. I didn't get all that much sleep, between nerves and sleeping on the floor and being somewhat cold because I'd forgotten my sleeping bag. Woke up early (5am, after misreading my watch), went looking for coffee, and ended up having a large breakfast at Denny's with Cathy, Katy, and Tim S. Arrived at the race at 7am, but with the lines for the new chip system and fussing getting the right clothing mix, I wasn't left with much time for a warmup before lining up at 8:15. Literally just 2 minutes of spinning, then 6 minutes of promenade. Minor comedy of errors, but nothing significant.

The pace felt pretty hard on the rollers from the beginning. Took a while to get used to the large pack, since it was the largest bunch I'd been in since events like the Timpani crit and probably larger than any road race packs I was in last year. Used energy here and there to move up when I found myself too far back and spent about equal time near the front (1st 15-30) or mid pack (30-60), sitting up high to keep an eye out for gaps and moves off the front. There was a fair bit of attrition in the first couple laps, from what I heard, but only saw the back once, somewhere around lap 3. Was talking with someone, glanced behind, was surprised not to see more than a couple riders, and surged up the side to the front.

I could have done a better job conserving energy. I was somewhat paranoid about getting around any gaps that opened. And pretty careful about the wheels around me, watching for half-wheeling and sketchy riders, so sometimes added some buffer distance. I also realized a few times that I was probably taking more wind than I should, being on the windward side of the pack in a cross-wind section. With no one rotating intentionally behind the very front, there were some spots that were much more protected than others.

The power numbers show lap 3 was the hardest, and I felt it. There were a few serious attacks, including one by Ryan B on the hill on the back stretch.

The main problem of the day was cramps: Felt a twinge of cramps in my hamstrings and calves in lap 3, with a bit more on lap 4, including twinges in the quads, just above the knee. By lap 5, I was avoiding getting out of the saddle for fear of getting serious quad cramps. I only felt like eating and drinking modestly during the race (2 bottles of full-strength Accelerade, my usual mix, and 2 gels and banana out of much more food I'd had in my pockets) but had had a lot to eat and drink leading up to the race, so I'd point to fatigue more than dehydration or mineral deficiency. I mentioned it to Ryan in the last lap or so and he said he was also feeling the race wear on him. 

Fortunately for me, lap 5 was pretty mellow. It started with a good surge by Paul at the bell, which helped me keep front position heading into the sharp rollers at the start of the lap and drifted a bit, something I should have done more of. A few of the laps started harder than necessary because I'd slipped back too far at the end of the previous lap.

I marked a couple guys who'd talked nearby and heard one discuss the plan to lead the other one out. I stayed nearby on the back straight, in the first 10-30 of the pack. There was some work by a Metromint guy and a few other individuals leading into and after the last noticeable hill. I struggled there with poor legs, then spun up regained position after, following Paul and Liam forward. Liam went off the front for a bit with a couple guys, then got reeled in. Any coordination disappeared with 2-3 miles to go, and the pack was gutter to gutter for a while, surging on all sides. 

I was the Mouse nearest the front at that point, generally in the first 10-25 in the chaos. Got boxed in at the left gutter for a while, as I followed one of several wheels moving up on the sheltered side from the right-hand crosswind. I realized this was why my coach advised moving up on the right in the rough section, and found an opportunity to break out to the right side into the wind. Just in time to have plenty of room for a move before the corner, I surged around to the right of the mass of guys sitting 10-20, and slipped into the line around 10th wheel with 100m to go into the corner, so it was a pretty safe maneuver. I didn't carry as much speed as I could have through the corner and had a hard time standing up and sprinting out of the corner. 

Every second standing out of the saddle I thought might be my last, as my legs were actively cramping whenever I asked them to put out any real power. So I sat and spun it up. Lost a bit of ground on the leaders out of the corner. Followed a wheel or two where possible and picked my way around a few guys who sat up. Rather than standing up and powering up the final 150m uphill, I kept my pace and got passed by a handful of guys here, including Ryan. 

Then I tried to work the cramps out of my legs. I was pleasantly surprised that the legs didn't freeze up completely. But unhappy that I got cramps again, like in several road races last year. Gotta figure this out. 

I'll talk to my coach about it this week, but for now my theory is that it's because of the total time spent doing 1.5 - 2x threshold power. With only a handful of build weeks under my belt, I've done a few interval sessions sustaining those power levels for a minute at a time, on and off. But the race had lots of shorter spikes that added up to lots more time in those zones.

Of all the power stats, only the power distribution chart showed that Snelling was as hard as it felt. Compare Snelling with the Ford Ord RR and the core 2.5hrs of Mt. Tam interval workout a few weeks ago:

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