I haven’t written a race report since the Early Bird RR, and I am hesitant to write one here. This race was disappointing for me on more than one level. It was a 2 ½ hour drive from home to get there and I had no teammates to race with. On the plus side, the weather was clearing by the time our group lined up at the start. There were reports of a few spots on the course with standing water in the roadway, and I had heard stories of numerous flats in the earlier races. At any rate, they sent us off for 4 laps.
The ride from the park to the course is neutral and we began “racing” when we got to the actual course. I put racing in quotes because it was hard to tell the difference. The 45+ 4/5 category seems to be content with easy efforts in these flatter races. The idea seems to be, “just get to the finish and do your best in the sprint”. At no time in this race did I feel under the kind of pressure I would expect on the Santa Cruz area group rides. I tried to go off the front on 3 occasions, but on my own, I did not have the power and endurance to stay away. Goes to show that all these other guys are right, but it doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t that much fun.
These flatter races are the ones I was hoping to do better in. Based on things so far, my best expectation may be to be pack filler. I will continue to look for ways to become competitive. 17th.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Nothing wrong with 17th... at least you finished and had the luxury of racing in the less-wet PM wave. Signed, Cut Sidewall.
Ditto - finishing with the pack and making the top 20 is how a lot of races go. As you meet people in your group, you might gradually find people who realize you are strong enough to work with and maybe be able to coordinate some breakaways. You might also find courses with windy sections where going it alone might allow you to get away since they might assume you can't get away and when they realize you're up the road for real, they can't get organized to catch you. You have to try getting away to figure out what you can do and what you can't do. And, it takes a while to know what courses you can use to your advantage and which ones you can't. As a general rule, if you know that you can time trail faster than the pack's average speed, it makes sense to try something. If not, sit in. If it makes you feel better, my race last week at Fort Ord sounds a lot like yours. I went off the front a few times and finished almost last in the 55+ - didn't even sprint. Sometimes that's the way it goes. You're going to have better days - you'll see. Learn from every race, keep it fun and keep trying.
The results will come look at how much you improved this last year! Have you been working on your sprint?
Post a Comment