| Ride Stats |
|
Distance:
41.59 miles
|
Altitude Gain:
2,121 ft
|
Avg Speed:
23.14 mph
|
|
Route:
Windsor
|
Avg Grade: 0 %
|
Max Grade: 0 %
|
|
Max HR: 0 bpm
|
Avg HR: 0 bpm
|
Terrain: Road: Rolling
|
|
Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
|
Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 75 F |
|
One of the season goals was to peak this week for back to back races in Winsor on Saturday then East Aurora on Sunday. Things on Thursday had looked good with doing my best climbing and putting in my best time trial of the year. Turned out though to be a Mel Brooks weekend as I "missed it by that much." The rain had moved in Thursday night and brought some cooler weather. Took the day off on Friday and did some hard labor around the house. Either the unaccoustomed labor, the recent hard riding or the damp weather had brought me some inflammation of my lower back, joints and one ear. Didn't really feel too bad overall but knew I was in for some rough seas and hoped I could rally for the day and suffer later. Entered the A race at Windsor. It is a fun little course of two twenty mile loops with three good rollers and two mild climbs.Had been approached before the race by a few riders interested in trying an early break as the field was very strong and ends on a hill sprint. Peleton was small but packed with several strong Cat 3's a couple of 2's and some legendary masters and a few familiar 4's like myself. Only success I've had on this course was making an early break and holding it for a fourth place finish. Most years I either get dropped or finish near the back of the final mass sprint. Race started with a controlled start and plan was to set in an conserve energy as I wasn't feeling in top form. A couple riders went off the front at the start and I immediately threw out my plan and accelerated up to catch them. Didn't attempt to work with them though and sat in and we were soon reeled in by the pack. Rode comfortably and felt at ease as the pack cruised at twenty-five mph. Had a teammate make an a solo attempt at a couple of miles in and he held it for a for three or four miles before being reeled in. Pack slowed down once he was caught and I was obligated to attack myself. Thought I might get some help as I had told the riders interested in a jailbreak that if I made a move it would be at the five mile mark. Didn't have anyone join me right off and so went off on my own. Pack seemed content to linger behind and I was content to stay out though I didn't really commit to the break and thought I'd try to keep a gap to use to get over the climb and if they still were lazy I'd hit it on the downhill after the climb. Corning team sent a rider up to join me and we cranked off a couple of miles until we hit the hill. He gapped me pretty good on the hill as I didn't have the legs or lungs to climb with him. Got over the hill and found myself suspended between the lone rider and the pack. I wimped out and fell back to the pack rather than accelerate to the lone rider. Stayed near the front and the pack reeled the rider in before the second climb. Felt good on the second climb and sat comfortably in the pack and got away briefly again in a section of rollers. Didn't have the legs I had just a couple of days ago and was easily sucked back in. My teammate made another attempt at the start of the second lap and he was joined by a couple of other riders. Thought one was of the others was my brother who was riding for another team and so headed up to do some blocking at the front for my teammate and kin. They didn't stay away long as the pack reeled them in but had strung itself out pretty thinly to do so. Turned out it wasn't my brother but one of his teammates in the break. Tried to reform a break again by accelerating on a couple of the rollers but couldn't get anything going even with several willing riders. Ended up just dropping to the back and resting a bit. Turned out to be a mistake as I soon lost my focus and got dropped off the back on the first climb of the second lap. We had ten to twelve of us staggered and dropped off at various points on the climb with me near the end of the group. I was able to get back up with a group and saw my teammate was in a group of four twenty secones or so up the road. Tried to work with the group I was with but it wasn't working out as several of the riders were near exhausted and couldn't pull and another rider was surly and tried to inspire by yelling. I ended up pulling away from the group but did take a couple with me. Couldn't bridge to my teammate's group though and they pulled away. Got caught by a rider in a primary red jersey who called for me to get on and we would catch them. I wasn't strong enough to stay with him but would occasionnally yo-yo up to him just to be dropped on the next rise. He pulled away on the second climb of the second lap and that was the last I saw of him. Pulled one of the female riders back to the finish and we caught a solo rider along the way. Both the riders spun away from me on the approach to the finishing climb but I was able to stand up and easily catch them on the steep section. So I did win my sprint for a poor 28th place finish. Was quite disheartened by the finish as up to my major power outage on the first climb of the second lap, I had felt very comfortable until my back gave way. Went from feeling good to a almost total collapse on the climb. I was able to rally a little but rode poorly for the last ten miles of the race and finished the ride with a badly damaged back. Wasn't really the result I had been training for.
1 member views | 2007 total views
report problem |
|
|
|
|
more...
