Old Man Racing Again!

I am officially 40 years old and honestly nothing seems to have changed. My hair is still with me, my teeth are solid and I have all the normal aches and pains I experienced as I did when I was in my 30s (mainly from training) so I guess aging doesn't have to be all that bad.

In fact I witnessed some amazing athletic feats last week at our Aerobic Power Haus Bike Camp based in Vernon B.C. We had two gents in the realm of 67-70 years of age hanging with the group and getting stronger as the week wore on. One gent was even challenging me in uphill sprints on a recovery day. It goes to show if you take care of yourself on a daily basis the prevalent mindset of old age ravaging your body does not have to be true. Now I do believe these two gents possess great genes allowing them to age so athletically but moe importantly they both cite being active all their lives. I have a female client who continues to inspire me with here spunk and willingness for me to "push" her during our training sessions with the TRX and free weights. Her family has a history of living long lives despite not being athletically active but she does an amazing job of staying fit, eating well and "life" active daily.

As most know I have stepped away from triathlon this season and have focused solely on bicycle road racing this year (there will be the odd mountain bike event in there too). As we all experienced in March and April during the cold snaps and winter storms, motivation and desire were waning as we had to continue riding on the indoor trainer. Yes I was there too dripping sweat on the top tube and all over the basement floor. At our camp last week I had a moment with an athlete I coach where we reveled in the beauty of the surrounding country side we were riding through (checkout the picture up top for an idea) and right then and there we agreed that "the training we do inside is for days and moments like these out on the open road".

It was great riding 5 straight days, 21:15:27h:m:s over 538km and racking up 1042 TSS points. I was having fun out there despite some days being quite easy. Ash, Greg and I even did a Criterium race in Winfield on Thursday evening after riding a long 124km in 4:40h:m. We were unsure how our bodies would feel as we had just finished the 4th day of camp. Ash rode the A category race while Greg and I opted for the B category race. I haven't raced a crit in 2 years so decided to cut my teeth slowly. By the first turn I knew I had won this race and regretted not joining in the A group. I took the prime and the win on a solo break at the half way point of the race. I realized as the main pack of the A group came through that I could have ridden with them.

Last night was my first night back doing the Tuesday night crits at the UofC Research Park. I used to love these when I first moved to Calgary and would schedule my whole day mentally around them. After a few seasons and a change to triathlons the novelty wore off and I lost all interest in doing them. Funny how yesterday felt like it did 10 years ago! I was anxious, excited, nervous and unsure right until the start line. There are times I find the racing frustrating as I don't know many of the new riders or their abilities but after the first furious few laps, it felt like I had never left the sport. I was having a blast out there.

I gained confidence through each corner, with each surge, with each bridge and each turn at the front. The same frustrations came back too related to shaking a group or keeping the pace fast enough to knock riders off the back as it seemed that when I surged or someone else did, the group would react and shut it down but in the process the group would slow down too mcuh and everyone from the back would sprint up and integrate into the group again. The prospect of riding off the front as I did in Kelowna was not going to be an option last night. The B group is too reactive and yet too slow at the same time. By that I mean any attempt at a break is quickly squashed but the counter attacks are really not there. There is contentment amongst most riders to just hang-on and be there with the group at the end. This is why we see guys who dangle off the front for a few laps able to stay on until the end and contest the finishing sprint.

How did I fare? Well I was feeling pretty comfortable throughout but was in the wrong position on the final lap as I ended up behind riders who were riding above their capacity (witness they weave and swerve a lot and their heads are down). When the smack went down after corner two and the riders riding at their limts were coming into corner three and fading the front split was already hauling towards corner four. I was pleased that I was in fact gaining on the front group and hopefully was credited with the same time as them. I think I finished top 10 for sure but it was below my capabilities. Learning for me on the night will be kept to myself for now until I see if it works! Let's just say I would like to race again tonight to try some different things.

I will be interested to see how group B progresses as the weeks roll on. I recall the average speeds for these races being in the area of 39-41kph and I feel the headwind did slow us down on the two straight aways. My recorded average speed was 38.3kph, average power was 274W, Normalized Power was 313W, Max power was 1115W and 1min best power was 545W.

Why report these wattages? Beacuse these are some of the best anaerobic power and capacity numbers I have ever recorded...

JVD

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