Legs felt OK. Not tired from the relatively light day racing Napa yesterday (didn't do much post-race riding), but had trouble getting to sleep... a problem for a 5am wakeup and cause for feeling much more sluggish than yesterday's 5am, at least pre-coffee. Fortunately, I'd taken a good nap in the afternoon. And the chest / cough issue more or less went away overnight.
Spent most of the race in the top 5, but didn't work all that much, mostly just pulling through with the pace dropped and picking up the pace after primes. Got off the front in the middle of the race by following Metromint Anthony's attack, without having to work much for it. We had a small gap and I pulled through once or twice, but wasn't feeling it. After yesterday's late-race solo attack, the plan today was to be patient and trust my sprint.
For all that I was at the front, it surprised me when I realized with 5 to go that there was a guy off the front. I'd been misunderstanding the announcer and had taken the 2nd prime's hill and finish at a moderate pace so dropped 10 places that lap and didn't see the guy stay away. Realizing it woke me up a bit and I did slightly more work, then it became a non-issue when fellow-Mouse Paul attacked hard enough to get the pack to chase it down. (Thanks Paul!)
Throughout the race I thought it was easier than usual to maintain and gain position. There was a certain politeness about the hairpin and narrow bits, and most guys eased off at the crest at the finish line, so it places were super easy to gain there. More surprising was that it didn't get all that much harder to keep places in the last lap or two. Maybe it was just the contrast with the jump-up-the-inside-to-the-hairpin game of chicken I saw a few times at Napa yesterday and Brisbane last week. No crashes, so maybe politeness pays off. Or maybe it was the hill.
I think the last lap started with me moving up a few places at the line, to around 5th, then after the decent, I sensed the slowdown and looked for surging wheels and grabbed the right ones. I was 3rd through the 90 at the back, then the lead switched to Alex Blease (Chico Corsa), with me on his wheel. Not much extra effort on the lap, and I ended up in perfect position, 2nd through the final corner. Luck, I guess.
The tactics/luck set up the sprint win perfectly. But I didn't pull it off. Blease jumped halfway up the hill. I'd told myself not to go too early, so I hesitated or at least didn't give it 100% all-out-sprint gas, thinking that I had to hold a bit. I had one guy creeping up on each side of me. I probably should have gotten on a wheel (Blease was gone by the flat, but the others were real close), but kept standing and clicking up the gears. It was the drag race I've practiced for on Tuesday mornings for months, minus the good sprint form, but only really felt like I had the engine really turning from 150m to 25m to go. I gained significantly on 3rd place in the last 50m and thought I almost had it with a (weak) bike throw. If I didn't go full gas with Blease at 300m, I can't say I had anything left over after a 30 second effort at 700W average... way long, so not strictly a sprint, right? Was glad to see the line.
Pretty happy with 4th. Less surprised with the result than how easy it felt in comparison with the various leg-shredding disappointments of recent weeks. The race seemed under control, not pushing my fitness limits hard until the finale, yet I guess it was hard enough, since only 34 of 73 finished. By the numbers, I'm betting the easy impression came from spending the harder efforts below 173bpm--no biggie compared to all the 175+ time at Brisbane, closer to the red--with plenty of time breathing easy in the 160s for full recovery.
After the race I rode with Mike and Paul to UC Santa Cruz and did a few laps of the University Road Race course. I missed it last year, so it was good to recon.
Here's the last 15 minutes of the race:
Some numbers:
- 41m 32s for 15.7mi (20 laps)
- Avg speed: 22.8mph overall, 25.9 last lap
- Avg power: 271W overall, 287W for the last 15min, 367W last lap
- Norm power: 383W for 5min (PB), 350W for 10min, 313W overall
- 3 upgrade points puts me at 6 (this 4th plus 3rd at Lafayette last July)
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