2 for 1 Deal
So today gets two blogs. Yesterday's Coppi debacle and today's Turkey Day Success.
The course today is referred to as Tradezone. Its a 1.3 mile loop with three turns and pretty much completely flat. This is the same course as my first crit ever. I did the 3/4 race a year and a half ago at when they do the training series out there. I was scared to death of the intensity of criterium racing, and I ended up getting spit out the back.
Fortunately times change.
There were 5 premes for the 15 lap (20 mile) race. On the second preme--Lap 4 or 5--the first guys to the line kept riding hard to initiate a break. The break wasn't perfectly represented, but there was a Route 1 Velo guy there, and they had 8 to 10 guys in the race. The started to look good, and I was sitting in the pack. I sprinted to get a gap and to bridge up. I bridged the 15 or so seconds in about 2 minutes. Two other guys tried to come too, but I rode them off my wheel, and they never made it. Bridging up took 450 watts for 1:50. I got the gap with a 1275 watt initial burst.
Its usually a good thing if some guys try to bridge and don't make it. Only strong guys try to bridge up, and if they can't make it, then the breakaway has some potential.
Our breakaway of 5 guys worked phenomenally together. Nobody attacked. We were smooth, and it was pretty awesome. There was even another preme and we all agreed not to attack for it. Fortunately it was my turn at the front, so I "won" that one...sweet. It ended up being about $60 in gift certs....nice!
I actually felt really calm in the break. I never felt fatigued. I was worried I might have trouble after the hard bridge attempt, but it was not an issue. I took my turns at pulling right when I got there.
The final lap came around and there still hadn't been any attacks. I decided I wanted to win. I was going to attack with a barrage of hard sprints until I got a gap. First sprint was with 1.1 miles to go...1240 watts max; 970 watts for 13 seconds. I got a few bike lengths, but they had me marked. We regrouped for 10 seconds, then someone countered. His attack was not as hard as mine. I countered it with 910 watts, then he slowed as I was on his wheel. 10 Seconds later, we rounded the 2nd to last turn (1200 meters to go), and I gave it the gas. Nobody countered! It was a long way to the line, but I held them off. I won by a solid 50 meters...stoked! The cool thing is that gives me points towards both a Cat 3 and Cat 2 upgrade. Final haul to the line was 452 watts for 1:30 and a max of 1050.
I won all kinds of stuff. I won a frozen turkey, a hybrid/commuter bike!!!, about $50 of nutritional products, and another $60 in gift certs. I made out like a bandit!
It hurt lots, but it was awesome! Pretty much flawless execution. Sorry for the lengthy post, but thanks for reading; I'm pumped!
Almost forgot. I also did the Cat 4 race. It was 90+ degrees with crazy humidity today. I didn't cramp, but I just didn't quite have it in the finale. I finished around 10th or 12th or so. Really looking forward to some huge success next season.
The course today is referred to as Tradezone. Its a 1.3 mile loop with three turns and pretty much completely flat. This is the same course as my first crit ever. I did the 3/4 race a year and a half ago at when they do the training series out there. I was scared to death of the intensity of criterium racing, and I ended up getting spit out the back.
Fortunately times change.
There were 5 premes for the 15 lap (20 mile) race. On the second preme--Lap 4 or 5--the first guys to the line kept riding hard to initiate a break. The break wasn't perfectly represented, but there was a Route 1 Velo guy there, and they had 8 to 10 guys in the race. The started to look good, and I was sitting in the pack. I sprinted to get a gap and to bridge up. I bridged the 15 or so seconds in about 2 minutes. Two other guys tried to come too, but I rode them off my wheel, and they never made it. Bridging up took 450 watts for 1:50. I got the gap with a 1275 watt initial burst.
Its usually a good thing if some guys try to bridge and don't make it. Only strong guys try to bridge up, and if they can't make it, then the breakaway has some potential.
Our breakaway of 5 guys worked phenomenally together. Nobody attacked. We were smooth, and it was pretty awesome. There was even another preme and we all agreed not to attack for it. Fortunately it was my turn at the front, so I "won" that one...sweet. It ended up being about $60 in gift certs....nice!
I actually felt really calm in the break. I never felt fatigued. I was worried I might have trouble after the hard bridge attempt, but it was not an issue. I took my turns at pulling right when I got there.
The final lap came around and there still hadn't been any attacks. I decided I wanted to win. I was going to attack with a barrage of hard sprints until I got a gap. First sprint was with 1.1 miles to go...1240 watts max; 970 watts for 13 seconds. I got a few bike lengths, but they had me marked. We regrouped for 10 seconds, then someone countered. His attack was not as hard as mine. I countered it with 910 watts, then he slowed as I was on his wheel. 10 Seconds later, we rounded the 2nd to last turn (1200 meters to go), and I gave it the gas. Nobody countered! It was a long way to the line, but I held them off. I won by a solid 50 meters...stoked! The cool thing is that gives me points towards both a Cat 3 and Cat 2 upgrade. Final haul to the line was 452 watts for 1:30 and a max of 1050.
I won all kinds of stuff. I won a frozen turkey, a hybrid/commuter bike!!!, about $50 of nutritional products, and another $60 in gift certs. I made out like a bandit!
It hurt lots, but it was awesome! Pretty much flawless execution. Sorry for the lengthy post, but thanks for reading; I'm pumped!
Almost forgot. I also did the Cat 4 race. It was 90+ degrees with crazy humidity today. I didn't cramp, but I just didn't quite have it in the finale. I finished around 10th or 12th or so. Really looking forward to some huge success next season.
posted by Flanagan at 10:44 PM
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