Mike's Bike Blog

The course on tap for the Thursday Driveway Race Series was the notorious City Loop. You may recall from last year this was the course for my only forray into the Driveway last year and I got pulled at the end. I was going for a little redemption this time.

It just wasn't meant to be. I got clipped in quickly from the start line and was ready to go but after the first turns I found myself engulfed by the surge of riders and on the only straightaway I could see the main group slowly starting to pull away.  Small pockets were forming of riders as the field was getting strung out and there I was way in the back. For the next few laps I made my way around guys but with the number of turns that was proving difficult as they would slow so much around the corners. I finally cleared the last of the pack filler that had been shot off the back only to realize I wasn't closing the gap to the lead group. So I rode solo averaging 24.3 mph which was no picnic do to the wind. One nice thing at least with riding solo I didn't have to hit the breaks at all through the corners I could hold a smooth line and a consistent speed.

Towards the end I started to lap riders but still not making any progress on closing the gap. As I was passing a group of 4 or 5 riders at the start/finish the officials told us we were done. To say I was disappointed is an understatement, I was still maintaining 24 mph at that point and the likelihood that I was going to get caught by the field was very low. I could still see the back of them, granted I wasn't going to catch them but I wasn't going to be in the way.

On Sunday Jack competed in his 2nd Triathlon of 2010 and the 2nd in the 1379 Kid's Tri Series. Jack improved all his times in the swim, bike and run.

Swim: 2:58.7
Bike: 12.7 mph
Run: 5:13.696 (8:42.8 min/mi)
Total Time: 24:38.616 (+5:48.476)

Some fancy wheels and bikes

Jennifer, Zeb & Jack

I'm not really sure where to start, I had hoped to have a grand report on my first race  in a 3/4 race where I finished with the pack. Heck I'd even settle for finishing but that wasn't in the cards today. There were 64 of us rolling out on one of the windiest days I've seen in Texas. Let me set the scene a little in case you're not familiar with the Manda area. It's about 20 miles East of Austin, it's fairly flat farm land. No trees to provide any protection from the wind.

Before the start I was getting some sage advice from Enrique, Chuck and even Scott stopped to offer some tips for the wind. They all had raced earlier in the day. The main conclusion was the wind was blowing from the worst possible direction for the course. For the first 300 meters there was a crosswind till the right hand turn heading up to the church where it was a blistering headwind. About 3 1/2 miles in during a crosswind section I'm not sure what happened but somebody went flying into the field. There was a scramble and the race was on. We went feverish for the next 2 miles and then guys started to get popped off the back. More and more were losing contact and then it happened, the wheels in front of me were starting to let the gap get bigger and when I was able to get around it was a done deal. The field dangled in front of me, taunting me but I could not muster enough to bridge the gap in the wind.  On the long stretch on Wells Rd I came upon a UT rider all alone, I slowed down and offered my wheel. There was a small group of 4 or 5 between us and the field. I did my best to pull and as I was burning up he would pull we started trading pulls and then I had nothing else in the legs. After the next right turn it was into the wind again head on.

As I rolled through Manda the school house lot was filling up with 3/4's dropping out. I marshaled on, as I turned into the wind there were guys turning around and heading back to their cars. I figured I had 1 more lap in me if I had to solo it the entire time. I made my way all the way through the headwind section again passing a rider or two most were from the shattered Cat 5 field. As I was making the right turn I saw a group of 5 or 6 coming up behind me. I slowed up and caught on. They didn't seem to organized, in fact at first I didn't see any rotation and only a couple riders were pulling through. We finally got organized into a 5 man echelon after we seemed to have lost a guy or two. I did get yelled at for pulling through too hard once. 

On the crosswind on Wells Road I got to witness firsthand on how to gutter someone to get them out of the group. Not sure if this was intentional or not, but after I got done with my pull I fell back but the other 4 fanned out across the road. When I fell back I didn't realize it till I got all the way back and was right at the yellow line. There was no draft and it only took a matter of seconds to completely blow up and lose contact. Like I said I'm not sure if it was intentional or not but it was executed perfectly if it was.

Once again I was on my own. As I passed the School House I stopped when I saw Chuck standing around eating BBQ I suspected. He goaded me to do at least 1 more, even he did 3 laps. I trudged onward for another lap. I made the fateful turn into the headwind. The wind seemed to be stronger this time. I was going down hill and only mustering 11 mph and I was at 150% of my threshold power. The wind hit me with a sucker punch, it whipped up and smacked me across the face. My sunglasses flew off my face. For a brief second I contemplated leaving them, you can't turn around in a race. Since I was practically at a standstill I turned to retrieve them. I could see my car and with the tailwind I figured I had had enough for the day.

You got to know when to fold and this was one of those times. I had already racked up enough of a training stress score (TSS) for the day. One thing I didn't want to do was completely blow my self and leave my body in a state where I'd have to take consecutive days off to recoup plus be vulnerable to any sickness that my kids might bring home.

2009 Ronde Von Manda Report

The Manor course was 3 laps for a total of 36 miles, it was the same course as the Cronometro Time Trial so I knew it well. In fact I had a plan going in. The plan was to try and get free and clear with a small group on the hill on the first lap. I had it all worked out in my head, ran it over a few times the night before and on the way to the race.

My plan started to unravel during warm ups. I was out on the road warming up when my tires felt a little low on the PSI. Of course this is the first race I forgot my floor pump but Jack & Adams had a tent set up for such an occasion. After I got some air I walked over to the portapotties crossing the open field and to my dismay my shoes and tires were covered in "mud". Well I'm hoping it was mud anyway with the number of horses that were there at the Cronometro start I'm not too sure. The mud was so bad my tires stopped rolling. I went back over to my car and with a rag wiped down the tires and had to take a screw driver to the cleats to get the "mud" out of them.

Staging for the race was starting but there was still 15 minutes so I took a quick spin to make sure my tires would spin and I could get clipped in. Upon returning to the start line the field was amassed so I had to settle in at the back.

We rolled neutral for the first .24 miles and as we passed the neutral zone the attacks started and the pace quickened as we jumped from 20 mph up to 27.4 mph. Talking with a few folks afterwards this really thinned people out. About 62 started and I believe 40 of them finished. So back to my plan, I couldn't get good positioning to get upfront where I'd need to be to launch an initiative. Plus the wind wasn't bad but was coming from a direction I wasn't expecting, we had a crosswind on the long 4 mile stretches and a head wind on the hill section and a tailwind on the 2 mile stretch to the finish. With the headwind on the hill and my position I was content to sit back on the first lap to see how everyone handles the course and the elements. A rider would attack here and there, getting up the road no more than 10 seconds. With the tail wind we easily reeled in the break but then someone else gave it a go and once again got a 10 second gap.

On the second lap I was still mid to back of the field, sitting in trying to get out of the wind as best I could and avoid any cracks in the road. A rider to my right failed to hold his line and we knocked handle bars, luckily neither of us went down. This was all I needed to motivate me to move up in the pack and while everyone was hugging the yellow line to seek shelter from the cross wind I blistered it up the right to move up. As we made the turn into the wind I found myself up at the front. A Wooly Mammoth rider didn't like the gap and was trying to organize everyone to chase it down and took off. I wanted a free ride to the hill so I jumped on his wheel. He took me and everyone else almost to the base of the hill. About 600km to the hill I was up front and pulling everyone. I wasn't pulling hard I knew we'd catch the breakaway rider on the hill so I shut it down as I was expecting a throw down on the hill.

Glad I read it right because on the hill Kevin Kimbell and the rest of the Brain & Spine crew set a stiff pace up the hill and I caught onto the train. I believe we had a small gap but we couldn't do anything with it and was caught in the crosswind. The Shama Cycles crew came up on the left side to let their presence be known and I figured the teams were getting ready to duke it out. There was a K.O. when a Brain & Spine rider and a Shama Cycle rider crossed wheels sending them into the ditch. The Shama guy seemed to get the worse end of the deal as he got airborne. Hopefully both are ok. In a show of unity the Shama team stopped for their fallen comrade and I don't believe they finished the race.

I had another close call on this stretch when a rider to my left leaned into me to protect myself I shoved him off me with my elbow and shoulder. He shot me a dirty look, hey if you're going to invade my space I'm going to protect myself by all means neccessary. For this reason I ride in the drops most of the time during races, from what I've noticed I'm one of the only people doing this, most everybody is up on the hoods until someone is attacking and then the go to the drops.

The separation we got after the crash didn't last long and as we made the turn for the final lap we were all together. I made sure I was up front to make sure I could get in with any group that tried to get away. I figured the last lap is when people would try to make a move. As soon as we made the turn the attacks started to come, short little bursts one after another as someone would try to go but nothing was getting away. Kevin Kimbell was the most prolific attacker but he was heavily marked. As we hit the hill I braced myself for more of the good stuff, but I was surprised nobody attacked and I wasn't in a position to give it a shot.

When we were about 5 or 6 miles from the finish I told Enrique Varela (NWCC) this is when we should go but we were fairly boxed in. The field was saving their energy for the sprint at the finish and it was just far enough out that I don't think anybody would have been expecting an attack or at least expecting it to stick.  In the next mile sure enough the pace picked up as everybody was jostling for position for the final sprint. The road to my left started to open up so took the opportunity to try and regain some positioning. I wasn't the only one as I was moving up another rider had the same idea, but he didn't check his blind spot and ran right into me. He knocked me across the double yellow line briefly, he did apologize. As I regained my composure there was one problem, in the heat of battle I think I tensed up and it sent a cramp through my left quad. For the next few seconds I had to pedal it out. I thought for sure I was done but it lasted only 20 seconds or so and I was able to keep going but my position was lost.

As we made the final turn Enrique came around me and yelled some encouragement to get on. I got my second wind and sprinted to his wheel. For the final 1.73 miles I averaged 33.4 mph topping out at 42.5 mph. I was spinning my 12 for all it was worth but it had nothing left to give. For the final 300 meters I spun out averaging 35.3 mph. Enrique gave me a great lead out and as I came around him I gave him a thank you pat and a final word of encouragement for him.

When it was all said and done I finished 21st and I made it 2-1 in the Coke bet with Chuck. It was a great time. My pre race plan didn't come to fruition but my pack sense of the game is coming along and I'm finding that I can read the races. Up next is the Ronde Von Manda and I'm jumping into the 3/4 race which is twice as long as the 4/5!

With the change in daylight savings welcomes back the Driveway Race Series. I've raced at the Driveway 2 times before and had less than spectacular performances. This year I wanted to give it more of a shot and hopefully string a few more appearances than 1 per year.

For this first Driveway of 2010 I signed up for the 4/5 race, I didn't think I was ready to jump into the 3/4 race. I wanted to get at least 1 good showing in the 4/5 race and mainly get a handle of crit racing before throwing my spokes into that realm.

The race started like my previous 2, right from the start I lost my positioning and was finding myself at the emptiness and the silence with the silence of not having anybody behind me breathing down my neck. This time I was having difficulty getting clipped in, serves me right as I switched out my cleats that morning. Once I got clipped in I easily caught back on and moved into the middle of the pack. I used a tip I picked up from David Wenger in the Skills Clinic, I won't divulge it here, you'll have to sign up for the monthly clinic to get this gem. This was my first time doing the Grand Prix course so the first lap I made notes of what lines to follow through the turns and what to expect. Early on lap 2 or 3 I believe there was of course a crash. Not sure exactly what happened but a couple guys got tied up and went down a few bikes in front of me. I was able to safely maneuver around them and not lose contact with the main group. After that I caught onto Charles Bippert's (A.K.A Chuck) (Team Brain & Spine) wheel and followed him around most of the race. He and I have an ongoing bet, loser buys the other a coke. I figured my best bet was to follow his wheel till the end and hopefully out sprint him for the Coke.

This went on for a few laps, I'd lose his wheel and then catch back on or at least keep him within my sights, it's good practice for me because he seemed to have a knack for moving up through the field. Then I saw Andy Webb (Hotel San Jose) moving up in the pack. I jumped onto his wheel to see where he was going in such a hurry, it wasn't for the cookie prime as it was the previous lap. As we came through the finish the officials rang the bell and yelled something out, but it was as we passed them so I couldn't quite make it out. I thought I heard 3 to go, which didn't jive with the directions Andrew Willis gave us at the start. It never really materialized into a break, we were mainly up front just pulling everyone around. With the wind and the speeds we were going I didn't think we could get away anyway. It did give my family a good show as when I passed them I was in second place. On the backside of the course we got fully engulfed by everyone. I still had a good position, but that changed quickly. As we were approaching the hill I asked Andy if this was the last lap and when he confirmed it was and just like that my good positioning was done. On the approach to the hill I got boxed in and had to go way wide to try and make up ground. Of course on the next turn that leaves me to get pinched off which happened and I was left to watch the winning sprint. At this point there wasn't much reason to try to sprint for a few positions and risk something stupid, until Charles goes whipping by me. I tried to counter attack but he beat me by a bike length. In the end I averaged 26.1 mph. I felt good the entire time, I think it's time to give the 3/4 a go.

The night wasn't over for the Weiland's either. Jack had brought his road bike and he signed up for the Kid Fun Race. There were quite a few competitors in his field. From the gun he ran into the same problem as I did of getting clipped in. Plus he had to get around the littler ones rolling with training wheels. It took him 1/2 the lap before he really got going.



He can't wait for the next one. He hasn't been on his road bike much this winter, this was the first time in around 3 months so he was a little iffy on the shifting. It sounds like it was just what was needed to kick start his motivation again to get on the road bike. He's already talking about doing the next one. I suspect at some point this year he'll make the jump to the actual Junior race.



Here's some great pictures Dave McLaughlin and Michael Harris took:
Andy and me coming up the hill with me sitting in 3rd

Here's where the race for me was lost, when the Brain & Spin rider pulled everyone up to me I got swallowed up, should have attacked at this moment.

Action photo of Jack

The time trial is known as the race of truth, it's man and machine against the clock. Saturday was the first ever Cronometro Time Trial in Manor, TX (pronounced Main-or). I'd pre-rode the course the week prior so I knew what to expect. Of course the conditions were quite different, last week it was overcast with a strong headwind right from the start.

The conditions for the actual race on Saturday couldn't have been better, sunny skies and a little wind from the opposite direction. Going into it my goal was to hold 24 mph for the 12 miles getting me a 30 minute finish time. With the wind from the opposite direction it threw my pacing strategy out the wind. Instead of starting out conservatively I decided to jump right into it and make speed while I had the wind at my back. The tailwind allowed me to ward off David Wenger (Super Squadra) for 4 minutes. Enrique (NWCC), my 30 second lead out man, and me figured he'd catch me around 3 minutes. So when  I heard the sound of his bell letting me know he was passing rang out at around 4 minutes into it I had a small victory. I did turn it up a notch to chase after him but I didn't want to burn out and turned it back to my planned pace at the hill.

I didn't attack the hill, but rode it aggressive but not all out. I averaged 15.7 mph up the .6 miles, this strategy allowed me to get back up to speed quickly as I crested it. About 1 mph faster than the prior week when I pre-rode the course.

Everything was going to plan until I made the turn on the back stretch and hit the wind. I was struggling with the wind and caught myself losing concentration and was letting my speed drop. I had to dig deep and take it to the rollers. At least I wasn't the only one struggling with the head wind as I passed quite a few people on the back 4 mile stretch. It was close to the final turn when I could finally see Enrique.

The final 2 miles were kind of a blur as I was picking up my pace for the finish. I averaged 26.7 mph on the final stretch. In the end I placed 12th in the 30-39 age bracket and 40th overall, out of 150+ racers. I averaged 24.2 mph, beating my goal speed by .2 mph. The average speed from 7th to 11th was 24.9 to 24.4 mph. I passed more people than passed me. David won the whole darn thing averaging 27.9 mph, congratulations on the win!

I had a really good experience race wise from a pre-plan to execution I nailed it. I'm looking forward to the next one, rumor is there might be another Cronometro in July. Plus it's got me fired up for the Run Far Time Trials that will be starting up in April. I need to get me one of them bells David has on his bike, it was great.

Post ride shot of me, Andrew Collins and Alexis Hamilton

Due to a cub scout camping trip I was only able to race on Sunday. I was signed up for the 35+ 4/5 race. This was the first time I've done this race, I've heard that it is hilly and a tough course. The Sunday race course is 4.5 miles so we did 9 laps of 40 miles of fun.

I sat midpack on the first few laps to get a feel for the course, it wasn't as bad as what I had heard. The finishing hill was the only major hill that required to shift into the small ring. At the start I made note of some of the "heavy hitters", guys that I recognized from Walburg. I made special note of Kevin Kimbell, one of the guys that I rode with trying to bring in the breakaway winning group. I figured if he was able to get away he had the horsepower to make it stick. Low and behold he pulled us around the first 1/2 of the race then started to get a gap. None of the teams seemed to want to bring him in, they would come to the front and then just shut it down. It was like they were all blocking for him, I really questioned if he was on a team just not wearing a team kit. I would later learn that everyone thought he was too strong a rider and couldn't bring him in so they didn't put out the effort.

Brain and Spine would come up and take an extended pull but nobody would pull through. They were the only team to try to get something going. I did pull through on the 7th lap to lend a hand on the hills. On the last lap as we came to the finishing hill I was up front and a lane opened up for me as everyone else was slowing on the hill. I picked up the pace and went for it. I was on the far right side and spectators were lined up alongside the road. A photographer was standing a good 2 or 3 feet into the road with her camera covering her face, I hope she got a good picture of me as I was yelling at her to get out of the way. I used the hill to open a bit of a gap. As I started the uphill section of the course I had a sizable gap. I was hoping I could get through the uphill portion ahead and hopefully hold onto 2nd place. Not sure how much of a lead I had, but after the hills I couldn't see the chase group any longer. Then I hit the headwind and started to feel the effects of riding 5 minutes at vo2max, My speed was faltering, yet I was maintaining my FTP, but it wasn't enough as I looked back and could see the chase group. I knew this was for not and that I would soon be caught. On the turn to the downhill section the chase group reeled me in and I caught on getting ready for the group sprint finish. When I got caught a Brain & Spine rider told me good job and that I almost got away, the chase group really had to hammer it up the last hill to catch me and if for not that last effort I would have been in the clear. I gave it a try, I was on my own for 2.7 miles  holding 117% of my FTP where the first 5 minutes I was only 20 watts below vo2max power.

This was my first group sprint that I was going to contest, in Belterra I was content to sit up and finish with the pack to avoid any Cat 5 crashes. Today, I wanted to give it a go. I was up near the front at the 250m mark. Even up front I was around 15th till the uphill where I figured I could make up placing. On the hill I was able to make up a few positions and I was able to perform a bike throw to jump up to 10th place!

What I did right:

• I was able to pick out the winner
• Got to participate in the sprint finish
• Gave it a go, I don't think my solo had any effect on my overall finish, when it came time for the final sprint I still had adequate power, albeit when I launched my breakaway sprint on the hill I had 100 watts more power. This might have been the difference on a placing or two, who knows. It was worth the try though.
• I wanted to see how the dynamics would be for the chase, whether or not the teams would take charge, I kept expecting someone to lay the hammer down. I got to see firsthand how that dynamics plays out.
• Rode near vo2max for 5 minutes and was able to hold my FTP wattage for nearly 3 minutes after that and still have enough in the tank for the sprint.
• Successfully did a finish line bike throw to get 10th

What I did wrong:

• Even though I picked the winner I didn't ride his wheel to the finish (Expect me to be a part of any break that Kevin gets in any future races we're in together)
• Can work on my finishing sprint

I started the morning with a good breakfast of red curry chicken, rice and eggs. The race didn't start till 11:20 so I had more than the 3 hour window to digest and build my glycogen stores. I also got to Walburg, which is only 32 miles from my house with plenty of time to pin on my numbers and warm up. I wanted to ensure I was ready to go from the start so I warmed up for 30 minutes getting about 267 kJ out of my system. Moving forward with other races I think I'm going to employ this warm up strategy of warming up with a 250 - 270 kJ effort. In true Walburg fashion it was pouring rain while I drove over and while I warmed up. However there was hardly any wind, that was something new.

This was probably the biggest field I've ridden with, according to BikeReg there were 84 racers signed up for the race. I'm not sure how many showed up for the start but we were packed in 4 across and plenty deep. From the moment we started to roll my position went from bad to worse. The rain did stop when we started to roll but the roads were still wet and in some sections someone had a little to much fun 4 wheeling their truck in the fields as there was mud tracks across the road. To make matters worse there was one area where the tracks were coming from a barn so guess what, that wasn't mud being kicked up. Anyway the entire first lap I spent at the back of the field just fighting to stay on and riding my breaks. It was a yo yo fest, go a little and then hit the breaks. Finally as we were nearing the end of the first lap guys were starting to get dropped and the field was starting to split. I found myself with a large gap between me and the leaders but I had to navigate my way through the mass of guys. Luckily for me rider #132 started to motor up to the lead group. Another guy grabbed his wheel and I grabbed his. #132 Graciously pulled us both up to the tail end of the lead group. Once we got up there I thanked him for the hard effort of getting us up there.

Not sure how many were in this group, probably 30 guys I vowed to get better positioning so I worked up to mid pack. It was good to see Enrique Varela (NWCC), a frequent commenter here in the main group. The problem with being so far back in the pack there was no way I could try and make it into any breaks. In fact I couldn't even see the breaks happening I was so far back. It wasn't until Enrique made the comment that there goes the winning break, I could see riders and the follow car a good 2 minutes up the road and the pack was not chasing it down. I said we should try to bridge up. He said he'd go if I go. So I threw caution to the wind and started to maneuvered my way up to the front. It took a little bit being so far back but I made my way up and then just took off laying out a blistering 3 minute effort to bridge up to 2 riders from Rockwall Cycling.  Those 3 minutes while trying to get away I was at 125% of FTP.

The 3 of us formed an echelon and picked up a few riders that were getting dropped from the breakaway group. I think at the largest our group got was 5 riders, but guys would get dropped from our group as well. We were getting reports from the motos that we had a 1 minute gap on the field and the breakaway was 1 minute ahead of us. On the final stretch leading into Walburg there was 4 of us. So far I was feeling pretty good, but a couple of my fellow riders were starting to struggle. There was one rider that was really strong and it was causing a problem with our group as he was causing guys to miss their pull as they couldn't pull through. This would leave me to close the gap and fill in so the other could rest and catch back on. This went on for a few miles but it took a toll on me and after I did a double pull nobody pulled through and I needed to recover and the strong rider pulled away. At first I wasn't too worried I thought we would catch him. It was appearing we were cutting into the breakaway group, it looked like we were catching a few riders but it turned out to be the junior field. This was a little demoralizing as we thought we were catching the leaders.

The final word from the moto was the main field had shut down and was not putting out a chasing effort, but there was a small group hot on our tails that had broken off from the main field and were a minute or so back. The 3 of us worked together and again I'd have to take a shorter rest to pull through for someone. Not sure if it was a good idea or not but I did not miss any of my pulls.

On the final 1km climb into Walburg I was hurting, I could feel the burn in my legs as I stood for the final climb. My bold move to ditch the main field paid off as I placed 7th. It looks like I was almost 2 minutes up on the main field and 1:30 behind the winner.

Anybody know how mixed Cat 4/5 fields are scored? Do I get the 3 points for my 7th place finish?

Belterra is a closed course curcuit race in the Belterra subdivison on the outskirts of Austin off of highway 290. Somehow I thought signing up for 2 races would be a good idea. I took advantage of the second race for $10 option as I signed up for the Cat 5 and the 35+ 4/5 race. The Cat 5 race started at 8am for 40 minutes followed up with a 40 minute break before heading out for the 50 minute 4/5 race. My plan for the first race was to just sit in as much as possible and to conserve the legs for the 4/5 race which I suspected would be a lot faster. My goal for the races was to show up and get through them unskathed to get my last 2 races as a Cat 5 racers.

2010 Course
From the start the course goes on a slight uphill and features a larger hill before making a 180 and heading down. So returning back down to the start area is a slight down hill. At the start there's a right turn with a little straight away before a short steep hill where the finish is. Right after the uphill finish is a 2nd 180 degree turn. Don't get me wrong when I say hills, at no time in either of the 2 races did I shift to the small ring, the course is a big ring course.

Cat 5 Race
The race started with around 50 racers on a brisk morning. By the time we reached the big hill at the first 180 turn the pack of 50 was starting to string out a bit. From that point on a group of 20 stayed together. A few riders tried to get away but nothing would stick, as soon as we would get on the downhill stretch heading back it would get chased down. Zach Horne (Austin Cycle Camp) gave a go and attacked on the big hill.  I jumped on his wheel but as we rounded the 180 turn at the top I could see that the entire pack was right there and it would be caught on the down hill section. I shut it down as Zach got a little gap. As I suspected he was caught around the 1KM mark for the lap.

One observation for the race on the uphill section the pace would slow down to 18-20 mph, but on the downhill people would let their carbon wheels spin faster and try to hammer it. I suspect if one would have attacked on the uphill stretch some damage could have been done.  At the very least the pack of 20+ would have been broken up. I contemplated giving it a go but decided to just sit in and conserve as much as I could.

I stuck with my plan and on the last lap just hung in the back staying out of the way as not to get caught up in any crashes. In the end I finished 17th. For this race my average power was 22 watts below my FTP.

Between races I went back to my car, ate a banana and refueled up. I felt pretty good and my average power for the 40 minutes was typical of some of the 40 minute SST intervals I've been doing once a week. I made a huge error between races however. I didn't adequately warm up again before the 4/5 race. All I did was ride down to the staging area, everything felt good so I assumed I was warmed up from the 1st race.

35+ 4/5 Race
I had 3 other Southwest Cycle Sport teammates in this race. Peter told me to stick to his wheel if I got into trouble as I wasn't sure how long my legs would hold up for a 2nd race. From the start I was right on his wheel, but as we left I was already in difficulty and wasn't able to hold his wheel. I soon found myself at the back as we made our way through the 1st 180 turn. Not a good place to be and then the inevitable I was off the back. It took 2 laps to get my legs back and then I had to objectives. To pick off as many riders as I could and to make sure I didn't get lapped.

I slowly made my way through small groups of riders that were dropped from the main pack. There were 2 Shama riders that I caught up to but I couldn't shake them on the downhill section, they go flying by me on the downhill of the big hill and then I'd catch on at some point before the next hill. I'd pass them on the uphill and would pull all the way to the 180 turn back down. We played this game for the remaining laps, we caught and passed several riders. Somewhere along the way a Toyota rider latched on with us. We finished out the race with this route, we even lapped a few riders as well. I am aware that for me to pull on the uphill section which seemed to be into the wind was not a good idea. However I had my reasons, when we would get on the uphill section the pace would slow down, this was allowing the main pack to get miles into us and I did not want to get lapped. So I would move to the front and keep the pace up. In the end I finished 37th. For the 50 minutes I averaged 20 watts below my FTP, the Normalized Power was a few watts above my FTP.

That should conclude my Cat 5 racing as I applied for a Cat 4 upgrade. Not sure how long it takes to get the upgrade, hopefully I'll have it in time for the next race. I'm debating Walburg or Pacebend. When I got home and looked at the power file for the 2 races something caught my eye. The average power for the cat 5 race which I stated was 22 watts below my FTP and falls into the wattage that I hold for 40 minutes for a SST interval the normalized power was a lot higher than what I was expecting. NP was 308 watts, this leads me to believe my FTP has risen.

The drama for the Hugel started Thursday evening, for me anyway. At Ethan's soccer practice, I coach his U8 team, as we were working on shots I dribble down to the goal and fired off a shot. Not a hard shot, but a decent shot and as I plant my left leg and kick the ball with my right, but the muscle in my left leg shrieked with pain and I instantly knew something was wrong. I don't believe I pulled the muscle in my quadriceps, but it was strained none the less. It hurt to walk on it, on a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being excruciating pain that warrants morphine it was only a 4.

When I got home I stretched it and used the foam roller on it. It felt alright on Friday when I tested it out, but that was on the flat road of Shoal Creek and Great Northern. I didn't know what to expect when the grade went past 12%.

One last thing that is a crucial piece to my ride was on Friday night when I was getting everything ready for the ride I come to find out I only had 4 Endurolytes! That's no good as I typically take 3-4 an hour. I barely had enough Anti-Fatigue capsules and Energy Surge.

Now for the ride, there were a lot of riders again this year and clogged the roads as we started rolling. Things started to thin out a bit once we hit 360. I worked a bit harder on this section so I could put some space between myself and a lot of people for when we hit High Road. My plan worked as High Road was not littered with riders, there were still a few stoppers and people pushing their bikes but at least there was more space to maneuver around them. My plan for the first section was to carry to bottles of Perpetuem for fueling and Espresso gel when needed for some added calories. I didn't plan on stopping at any of the rest stops but go the entire 38 miles and refill my bottles back at Zilker Park. This plan worked and my quad posed no problems at all during this section.

Loop 2 is the doosie for the ride with most of the climbing packed into this section. I'm not sure how many of the starters go onto even attempt the second part, but I'd say 3/4 of the people go home after the 1st part. The first real challenge is Smokey Valley with it's 24% grade and then up the remainder of Ladera Norte. It's quite the 1-2 punch. I made it up both with little difficulty. I opted not to stop at rest stop #3, the rest stop house, as I had enough water to get me to the rest stop at River Place.

Then came Beauford. Beauford gave me a near knock out blow. Right at the base my right quad started to spasm and cramp up. I think I was over compensating with my right leg to make up for the injury on my left. Boy did I pay for it. Whenever I would stand and put any power to my pedal my quad would hurt. Somehow I made it to the top. Courtyard came too soon though, the lower sections I was able to sit and spin at about 60 rpms, but the top section was more of the same. Courtyard tried to inflict it's misery on me. I so wanted to zig zag up it but there was too much traffic coming from both directions. I did try a little weave but it was more like a drunken stagger. At the top I stopped to relax the legs a little and to take 2 of the Endurolytes, which didn't kick in till I got to the top of City Park.

Onward I pedaled to the River Place rest stop. Once you get on Big View you go down it for a little bit, but at this point you don't go all the way down that's a special treat saved for the return. Well I somehow missed the bright orange arrows for the right hand turn off of Big View. I got practically all the way down to the bottom. I got all the way down to the base, where the steep grade warning sign is. NOT GOOD, I had to go back up and find the turn. Back on track I finally made it to the River Place rest stop. I refilled my bottle with more Perpetuem, I had packed up 3 bottle servings into ziplock baggies so I could refill. I stopped long enough to refill grab a couple fig newtons and chat with Andy Webb for a bit to swap stories of the ride so far. Luckily the rest of this outter section was good, I ended up dropping the 2 guys I was riding with at that point. One guy on Bullick Hollow and the other one on 620 near Steiner ranch on the return leg. I stopped at River Place again to refill my bottle again and stretch a little. I also downed my last 2 Endurolytes.

Since I didn't get all the way down to the bottom of Big View I decided I'd better get my monies worth and do the entire Big View. Plus I wanted to take the chance that the park at the bottom would have a bathroom. I could have made it the entire ride without stopping to use the restroom, but I want to go up Jester with as little weight as possible. My hunch paid off and the restroom was open. A small price to pay of climbing up Big View, plus I didn't want to cheat and not do the entire route, I want to earn my t-shirt. On the way to Jester there was intermittent cramping in both legs now. I would try to sit and not stand as much as possible.

On a good day Jester can be difficult, even when fresh. I said a quick prayer to get me up to the top, oh yeah, I'll call on the big Guy in times of trouble. I sat as much as possible which was a bit past the strip mall, actually to a drive way, I think it's an office complex. I stood and managed the pain switching back to the saddle to relieve some of the pain. Didn't help much. It wasn't pretty, but I was able to get to the top.

All I had to do was get my tail the last 10 miles back to Zilker Park. This proved to be a hard path to the finish. Once I got on 360 I had a complete full on cramping. It was so bad it was not something I could get through or at least want to get through. I immediately pulled over at the Buddha Temple driveway to catch my breath. The pain subsided after a minute and I pushed on. The rest of the way was kind of a cat and mouse game to see how hard I could ride without red lining and overdoing it. I was able to catch and pass 4 or 5 riders on my way back to Zilker Park.

What when right:

• I bettered my time from last year. This year I had a time of 7 hours, with a 7 hour 31 minute duration. Compared to 8 hours 24 minutes of active time and a total duration of 10 hours.
• I vastly minimized my rest stop time, I went in with a goal of only stopping when needed and not sit around at the rest stops. I had more time spent at stop lights then I did restng at the rest stops.
• As long as I didn't have to stand I had ample power and my endurance was spot on and felt I could have kept riding.

What went wrong:

• Not enough electrolytes. It was way too hot, 80 degrees. In retrospect I should have brought along Heed which does have some electrolyte components. Not sure if it would have been enough but might have minimized things. Yes I could have taken in some Gatorade or Pickle Juice, but 1 it's not advised to mix Hammer products with a simple sugar drink like Gatorade. Since I had not tried either scenarios during a race is not the time to experiment.
• Forgetting to press start  on my Garmin 705 for 2.5 miles into the ride.
• Last year I had a lot of lactic acid build up, it would hurt on the down hills and my legs would get tight. This year I had no lactic acid build up in my legs, again which leads me to believe to think my conditioning was way better and I was better prepared for the ride.

STATS:
1st Loop (38 miles)
Average Speed 18
Max Speed: 43.6
Average/Normalized Power: 184/260 watts
Ascent: 4064 feet
kJ (Calories): 1344

2nd Loop (71 miles)
Average Speed: 15
Max Speed: 45.7
Average/Normalized Power: 167/229 watts
Ascent: 9708 feet
kJ (Calories): 2887

Footnote: The above accents would mean a total climb of 13,771 feet. However when I run it through some software that supposedly throws out bad Garmin data it comes out to 10,050 feet. 209 is the total number of times while in my 25 and knew I was in my last gear but still tried to shift to an easier gear to  see if I miraculously had one more gear to help spin up the hills.