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April 15, 2008
No Spark
I think this picture says it all (I am the guy with my head down).
The first Opus Crit was tonight. We had 65 degrees and 38 MPH winds. The field size was about 30+ for the Cat 4's. I was nervous for the race as I did not feel that great all day. I felt o.k. in my short warm-up and o.k. as we started the race. I wanted to be near the front or at the front which I was coming into the 1st sprint. Though when the group started to go, I had no gas. I made it back onto to the group and recouped for the second sprint. Once again, I was on the front and in good position going into the sprint. I made a bad shift and found myself in way to big a gear. I rolled towards the back of the group and had to sprint to get back on. I made it in and worked my way back towards the front. I tried to find a few wheels, but just did not pick the right ones. As we geared up for the final sprint, I had o.k. position and I put in my all, but ended up short. I probably finished in the top 20. After the sprint, I struggled a ton to just turn the pedals over. I hit my max HR at 185 on that last sprint, but my power was only maxed at 744 watts, 1/2 of what I normally could produce on a hill sprint. This past week I had two really hard, long rides and I am wondering if that led to some over training. Even my easy ride yesterday was probably harder than it should have been.
In addition to the poor form, I don't think I read the race tactics well today. I should have sat more in the middle of the pack, trying to protect myself from the winds. Instead I was near the front, but constantly battling the winds. That just wastes energy.
We had only 1 other Loon in the race today - Chris. It was good to have a teammate. Hopefully we can increase the Cat 4 team size at the next race. Looking at the 1/2/3 race, there were about 8 Loons or so. I saw at least three of them who upgraded from last year. Their race was fast and looked like fun. Even though I hurt today and am pissed at my performance, I still had fun. Next race is Opus, next week as I can't make Durand.
Photo courtesy of SkinnySki (note: if you are going to publish their images, please become a member and make your annual contribution to them ~ as I have. They work hard at providing us lots of great photos and news write-ups)
Posted by kermisch at April 15, 2008 10:33 PM