The racing tonight was excellent. Garage Racing had no fewer than NINE riders in the Masters field so Dave Hecht, Greg Michler and I had our work cut out for us. Phew…
When I started out on the elliptical trainer my calves felt really tight. Luckily they slowly loosened up which is exactly what I was hoping for and by the end I was feeling pretty good. I keep forgetting how much running on pavement like I did Sunday tightens up all my muscles.
Here is the ride to and from work. No biggie, just the shortest way there and back so I could hurry up and hit I-5 and promptly go nowhere. :(
As I pulled into the Pacific Raceways parking lot I saw red jersey after red jersey… then I remembered that Greg was going to be there and walking back from registration I saw Dave. Nice, I was not going to be totally alone.
The race was just what I would expect when one team has a dominating presence; attack after attack after attack. And really, that's how it should be so anyone that complains shouldn't.
I think it was the second time up the hill when Nikos Mills took off on the right. I was like, "Really…?" and luckily Dave went after him. My legs were not yet up to the task and damn that was a solid acceleration.
No move lasted for more than half a lap at first but Dave and I were getting in each one and my legs were coming around. At one point I launched myself up the hill but when I looked back no one had come with me. Ha! That was a first. So I had to sit up, solo was not going to cut it today.
As Rory rang the bell for the first prime I turned to Jeff Reed (Starbucks) and told him we should counter the sprint. Jeff said he was getting marked pretty heavily but I said let's go anyway.
ASIDE - if I have any sort of 'move' this is it. Follow the wheels across the line and then punch it when everyone is tired. Sometimes it works really well. Sometimes too many people are following me.
So Jeff and I take off. We get a little company in the form or two Garage riders and Mick Walsh who is always a pleasure to have along as that guy is a freaking diesel! At first everyone is pulling through and we're making progress. A couple of laps later Rory rings the bell for the second prime. I turn to Mick and say that I'd rather stay away than sprint. As Mick pulls off I thought I heard him communicate this desire to everyone else in the break but it's suddenly obvious that one Garage rider wants to duke it out for the point. At first I don't really care and keep pulling but then as we start to slow down and the field is getting closer and this guy still is expecting an armchair ride to the finish line I just sit up to call his bluff.
I was thinking that if I kill myself we might stay away for the sprint but I would be whipped and then the field would catch us anyway and I'd be useless. This way the field catches us sooner, Dave has a chance in the sprint and I am fresh enough to try my move again. Which is exactly what I did.
I crossed the line in about 10th spot and just kept on going. this time Nikos and Kevin (Garage Racing as well) came along for the ride. My first pull was long. I wanted to 'break the elastic' as they say. Nikos followed up with a great pull himself and we had a gap.
Three dedicated people is enough to stay away and we all did our share. After a couple of laps it was evident that Kevin was 'on the rivet' (yet another thing that 'they' say) but he was still very game and neither Nikos nor I wanted to drop him on the hill because we needed him on the flats.
With one lap to go we caught what was left of the Cat 1/2/3 field that was behind their break and tried to ride through them. As usually happens, some riders don't seem to realize that each field has different color numbers and they latched on to us. Oh well. As we hit the descent I had to remind one guy that he was not in our race and then all was good.
Kevin had missed a pull or two recently so I knew he was not going to be a factor in the sprint. That left Nikos. Nine times out of ten (hell, 99 times out of 100) Nikos will beat me but I could at least try. On the descent I positioned myself in the back but Kevin took the lead on the hill and Nikos hesitated just a bit and so I had to fill the gap and was in second position as we rounded the corner.
I figured starting the sprint in front of Nikos might be an advantage as I would at least have a bike length on him but it did not matter. He jumped first (in retrospect I waited a little too long) so by the time I reacted he was already in front of me. He won easily and finished about 20' in front of me. Nice job Nikos.
For the first time in quite a while I felt pretty good. Maybe my race legs are finally coming around? I think the weekend of hard riding helped me out. I'm also VERY excited about doing this well with all the Garage riders in the field, I was totally expecting to be that guy in the field watching the break disappear up the road…
| Sleep | 6 |
| Waking HR | |
| Body Weight | |
| Body Fat | |
| Breakfast | |
| Lunch | |
| Dinner | |
| Workout Food | gym - water drive down to race -0 bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED 20 min before race - gel race - bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 1 scoop HEED |
| Injuries | my right hamstring was pretty tight this morning but got better during cardio and is not bothering me on the bike |
| Therapy | |
| Time of Day | cardio - 5:30 AM race - 7:00 PM |
| Workout Type | cardio - endurance |
| Weather | race - low 60s, dry, mostly cloudy, some wind |
| Course | race - counter-clockwise down the escape road |
| Results | Masters 1st prime - pack 2nd prime - pack finish - 2nd |
| Time | race 1:05 |
| Distance | |
| Pace | |
| Equipment | commute - Town Bike race - Road Bike Mad Fiber wheels 39/53, 12-25 |
| Clothing | race - bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, cap |
Great job last night, Martin. You're riding very well and were killing it all night. As always, its a pleasure being in a break with you for both your strength and willingness to commit to making the break succeed. And thanks for the nice words in the blog, though I hope they won't go to my head, now!
ReplyDeleteyes - what he said! nice job.
ReplyDelete