Durango Wheel Club Champs: Stage 3 - The Road TT

Today's race was another opportunity to feel alive! Yes, that means the intensity was going to be high and continuous. The race of truth, the view into your spirit as you push as hard as possible and learn to push to your limits.

This was a 15 mile road TT and stage 3 of the Durango Wheel club champs week. 54 folks were registered for this event!  What an impressive turn-out for a local race!!

this map includes the TT and the warm-down back home.

My pre-race nutritional strategy: 3 hours before the race included 2 cups of juiced vegetables and fruits: 2 beets, 1 apple, and 1 banana. 1 hour before the race I drank a cup of coffee.  (unlike my mountain bike TT, where I had too much coffee...eeeps)

I warmed up riding to the start which was 10 miles of easy riding and a few openers (getting the heart rate to threshold a few times)

the start line and the riders are beginning to line up.

My strategy: since this was a shorter road TT , I decided to not start hot(above threshold) like I did with the mountain bike TT. I instead decided to do build intensity for the first 5 minutes then hold 170 HR and then the last mile or two pick up the pace to maximum effort.  I basically pulled this off successfully, after 6 minutes I was holding 170s and held that heart rate for the entire effort. The last mile or two, I couldn't push the pace, but only for the last minute or two.  My HR reflected that and I almost puked after I crossed the finish line!

click for bigger view!

Results:  I was 21 out of 45th overall. I am not sure my age-group placing as of yet.

DWC Champs Stage 2 - MTB TT 2012

Durango Wheel Club Champs: Stage 2 - The MTB TT

Today’s race was a total blast! There were 36 men and 9 women racing in the mountain bike time trial (TT).  The race started at the corral in Horse Gulch just above the Meadow.  The course was Meadow Loop to Stacys to Cuchillo back to Meadow. A short 5 miles…

I warmed-up for 45 minutes and did some basic openers getting the heart rate(HR) elevated and most importantly to formulate my race strategy.

First, the race is a short 25’ish minutes. So, the strategy is fairly simple, full gas, max effort maintaining my HR within the low 170s.  (This is my above threshold HR.) Being above threshold effort is similar to a small can of nitro in a race car. It is a small container with only so much super-power. For me, this is roughly 30-40 minutes of my heart rate at or greater than 170…  Once I use up my can of super-power, I will then pop and need to recover…

The mentally tough part of this strategy is maintaining that level of effort, it hurts!! You are gasping for air, breathing very hard, and trying to maintain focus on a twisty and sometimes technical single track. So, I was off, since this was a TT, each racer starts at a 20 second interval. I quickly got my HR to the upper 160s and felt the pace was decent. After the first ½ mile I got in my lower 170s.

Every so often, my body would want me to do a quick recovery on a flat section. I caught myself letting my HR drop to the low 160s during this time and went through the following mental dialog:

Self: “Can you get that HR back up to 170?”

Self: “let me do a quick scan of my body: legs good, breathing hurts but good, so yes, I can!”

Self: “Good, then start pushing it again, you just lost 10 seconds…”

I would pick back up the pace.

Here is a graph of my HR over the course of the 27 minutes.

Overall, my focus was good, (even though I had to dismount once for a minor chain issue which probably cost me 20+ seconds including the time to get back up to pace), I felt like I was on rails, and I actually caught 3 riders that started ahead of me. There were a couple of times I went through that dialog and a number of small sections where I felt I could have pushed through it a little harder.  But overall, I was happy with the results and held true to my strategy.

Below is the 40-49 results.

 Also, here is the Strava link to this ride:  http://app.strava.com/rides/21675824

Durango Wheel Club Champs: The Crit

Durango Wheel Club Champs: The crit, Sep 9^th, 2012

I think some common traits among racers are the drive of never settling-for-average results, always optimizing and loving the challenge along the way…

With that said, I categorize myself as an above average cyclist and triathlete. But living in Durango, you quickly realize that ‘above-average’ is not easy, and I love being a Durango-middle-of-the-pack athlete with the Durango measuring stick to always compare and improve upon.  Being around people who push me mentally and physically is how I have learned to grow.  

Thank you Durango culture for satisfying this drive as it brings me enjoyment.

With that said, you can be assured that I didn’t podium in today’s crit, haha.

Today’s crit was the fielded by 32 riders ranging from all cats, 1-4. I wasn’t too concerned about the logistically challenges that may ensue (grouping cat 1 with the cat 4s is going to have lapping issues etc.) However, I thought what a great opportunity to push myself behind my limits and grow…

I started in the third row, and the race began.  The beginning pace was amazingly fast as all crits are, and due to the course being short with 6 corners, the field would spread out fast and into a single long line. I knew that it would be important to keep up to the top and try to draft as soon as possible. 

Two groups quickly formed, the first group a solid 15 riders and I ended up pulling the second group consisting of the rest of the field for roughly 10 minutes. My heart rate was above threshold and couldn’t hold this pace for another 30 minutes. I realized that I was spending too much energy leading the 2^nd group and needed help bridging the gap to the lead group. My mistake, I didn’t try to organize others to work with me, they were just being smart and letting me pull until I popped. In retro spec, I should have been drafting within the second group… 

Above is a power distribution from Strava for the 40 minutes.

I eventually slowed and the riders behind me started to work the second group but I was already feeling as if I popped. I was able to draft for another 15 minutes working with various folks but my inevitable doom was approaching. Working above threshold for 30 minutes was all I had…

My average Heart Rate for the 40 minutes was 164, and I feel this is just above my threshold.  The average power (without my power tap, but Strava calculated) was 295 watts.  Regardless, I felt as if I got hammered and the old saying goes: “That does not kill you, makes you stronger”.

Heart Rate over time. Each peak of the green line is a lap, (click to enlarge)

Next race, the Mountain Bike Time Trial Tuesday night.