Photo credit: Steve Fuller |
I’d call my race mostly a success, in that I accomplished
the goal I was shooting for. However, as ever, I have some things I wish I had
done differently in hindsight.
This was my first race using a power meter. Power meters are
great for training. They’re great for pacing too. But anyone who knows me, know
how good I am at over-thinking things. Coming into the race I had decided that
I would do my best to stick with the leaders or any group I fell in with. But I
also decided that I would not go over a certain wattage in order to stick with
that group. My reasoning being that I didn’t want to burn my matches too early
in the race. On paper, I think that was a decent idea and would have worked
great had this been an individual time trial.
But a TT this was not and the wind meant sticking with a
group was extremely beneficial. What I found was that the group I ended up
riding in would hit each climb harder than I wanted to climb requiring me to go
over the wattage “redline” I had set in my head. So, I would back off my power
for the climb. As I crested each hill, I’d keep pedaling and catch back on to
the group as they coasted down the backside of each climb. Eventually, as the
climbs got a little longer I wasn’t able to catch back on without going over my
“redline” so I ended up losing that group. I rode the rest of the race pretty
much alone.
In hindsight, I think I should have done what I could to
stick with the group as long as possible. Having a group to ride with would
have been quite beneficial. For drafting of course, but mostly for motivation.
There’s a point about 75% of the way through, where my power and heart rate
charts show I was letting off the gas. Yes, my back was starting to hurt, but I
also was just lacking the motivation required to push though the annoyance of a
hurting back and keep my speed up. Once I found someone
to ride with again, my power and heart rate came back up to a more “spirited”
level.
Allll byyyy myyyself... Photo credit: Steve Fuller |
Experiences like these are always good reminders of how I
would love to be able to race more often. I feel like I learn a valuable lesson
each time I race, but have to wait so long to apply that lesson. If I could
race more often I know I would develop better race strategies faster. I’m sure
I could find more races to do, but it would require sacrifices in other areas
in my family’s life that we’re just not willing to make so I’ll just have to be
content with a “slow and steady” approach to gaining race experience.
Next up in my racing schedule is Tour de Husker. It's likely to be my only race on the road this year! I'm feeling strong. Stronger than I did last year, I thought I performed pretty decently last year so I'm excited to see how this year will go. Plus, it looks like the weather may actually be warm this year. A warm CIRREM and a warm TdH in the same year? I'm not sure what to make of that, but I'll take it.
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