Mike's Bike Blog

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