No that is not me in the picture but it is Ryan Barr and Dave Holmes - both buds of mine. Unfortuantely Ryan's rear tubular rolled off the rim. When we inspected it afterwarsds it looked as if it was mounted with scotch tape!
Last time I wrote I was “riding” high after our bike camp and was excited again at the whole bicycle racing world. Am I still enjoying it? Heck yeah! As most racers will tell you it is great to ride and race when you are in good form but it really sucks when you are not on any sort of form. I enjoy being in the mix of races as I am competitive by nature – so my wife says.
The Tuesday Night Crits have afforded me that feeling as I feel I have been a legitimate contender albeit in the “B” group each week. Several people have pointed fingers at me to move up to my rightful spot as fodder in the “A” group but my argument is unless I outright win a “B” category race why move up? I am back after a 5 year break from bicycle racing where I spent little time in the red zone or pain cave of the peloton so I am cutting my teeth again.
As the weeks have progressed I have regularly featured in the top 8 of the races with my best placing being 4th. My Niklas teammates and I started to work together on a more regular basis and last week it finally culminated in us winning the race. At the time the race felt both easy and excruciating. The pace felt fast as we four teammates took turns keeping the pace as quick as possible. I was able to bridge the gap to my teammate Carlos and then was able to go solo for the final 4laps. This is where it became excruciating as I was in time trial mode. Carlos did a wicked smart thing as the group had in fact bridged back to us and he then let the gap open in which no other rider came through. My other two mates Dave and Dan then also helped to slow the pace and chase back to me. One rider did bridge to me on the finishing straight but when I saw him on my left I said “not today” and sprinted easily for the line as I heard him utter defeat! What is cool about the win is that it really was a team effort. There is no way I could have held off the group without the help of my teammates.
What is interesting to note from my power meter file is that the race was in fact “easy”. The speed was around 40.9kph as an average but the power was relatively low and not at all indicative of the efforts near the end. However it is interesting to see that when riding with teammates the explosive accelerations out of the corners are not as high as when the group rides as individuals. I still think there was something up with my Quarq Cinqo that evening…
Prior to this win I was re-introduced to bicycle racing at the prestigious Banff BikeFest. This was the first time I eve took part in all events featured for the non-invited riders. What a great way to get re-acquainted with racing! The Prologue/hill climb was a body searing 3:20m:s effort for me good enough for second last in Cat 3. By the half way point of the course I could no longer feel my arms and legs as my chest and lungs were in a tight spasm. I have not hurt that much in years from such a short and violent effort. The time trial up and around Lake Minnewanka went relatively well but I was not able to find a natural rhythm. Again I was able to turn myself inside out during this race and I was happy that the ability to suffer was reawakening in my mind.
The criterium was a humbling experience for me. I am usually a decent criterium racer but on this night I was a “beginner” getting schooled. The pace was unreal right from the start as there were guys looking to break legs and lungs right away. I was unfortunately lapped by the leaders at the midway point of our race and as such was forced to withdraw from the race. Talk about demoralizing.
The final day was a 7am start to the road race on Tunnel Mountain. Rain had threatened all weekend but for the most part we were spared in the Category 3 races. It had rained all night and I did not sleep well worrying about the rainy conditions and possible carnage going down the narrow and steep descents. As part of my warm-up I decided to ride down the treacherous section to check out the road conditions. It gave me confidence and belief I could hang on to the group for at least 3 laps. As the race got underway I found myself almost dropped at the back of the group as the front riders took the speed up past 50kph. As a bunch of us re-integrated with the group I found the pace very doable on the climbs and once we hit the descent I found that I was in fact riding well! A number of my teammates had dropped out of the race but as each kilometre went by I started to feel a surge in my confidence and abilities. On lap two I found myself climbing near the front and descending a bit quicker than the front riders evidenced by me having to brake harder to keep from riding into them.
Lap three was when two of my teammates were to attempt a break. Knowing this I moved up from the comfort of mid pack to the front to help them. Big stupid mistake. Everything in my gut was saying nothing was going to transpire from their move but I still tried to slow the group down and then made an attack to try and draw them away. In the end it just burned me out and left me off the back of the group and then pulled from the race. Our team did grab second place with Brian Green narrowly missing the win in a sprint.
I have to say I was upset with myself for making such a stupid decision at the time and had I just stayed in the group I may have had a shot at finishing with the main group. Next year…
This past weekend was the Masters Provincial Road Race out in Madden north of Calgary. A great course with lots of climbing, rollers and wind exposed sections. I was very pleased to have ridden to an 8th place finish in the 40-49 years old group as there were some strong riders in the group. The three strongest got away on lap 2 and a massive crash on lap 3 reduced our chasing group dramatically to about 6. I hope all the boys who hit the deck are doing well and will be back on their bikes soon.
The final lap was a lap of mental strength development for me! I was cooked and just trying to hang onto the wheels in front of me - these guys were strong Cat 2/3 riders. On one of the short steep climbs I was cramping in my quads and it looked as if gophers were trying to get out from under my skin – unnerving. After that episode the cramps stayed pretty much away – I did get one glimpse of my right medial quadriceps that was in a strange orientation as it cramped. The final climb to the finish was nasty. It is surprisingly about 5km in length with a gradual grade but when your back and legs are blown it still hurts and feels like Cochrane Hill. Despite having ridden 128km the day before with a small group (don’t ask) I was surprisingly strong for the Masters RR. Could I have done better if I had not ridden that far the day before? Maybe, maybe not. I am still stoked on how I raced but more importantly how I felt out there during the race. The non-quantifiable aspects of performance on the day are what really matter to me! The power file is however cool to review too…
JVD
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