Go Loooooong!! -- Log

Wowwee - had the best race night EVAR tonite!

It was quite hot (29C, it's been under 20C for the most part), and tho i felt a little dehydrated, my body did very strange and fast things... Also only the second time this year i went without knee warmers, and didn't wear a base layer under my jersey. (Nice hairy chest for all to enjoy..haha)

One big thing that was different was my gearing. I went up a few inches, but used a smaller chainring in the front, so instead of my regular 48x15 i was riding a 46x14. The nice thing about the smaller ring is that it spins more than a larger one with the same gearing. Turns out this really worked to my benefit.

Tonite was the shared race with the Victoria Cycling League, so a few roadies showed up as well. Talked with Kevin before, who didn't race unfortunately (and missed my success!!) and asked if i should try to make a break earlier or later in the race..i usually feel like i should go earlier, since i tend to run outta juice later on....but he said wait.

So i did. First bell, i just sat in. A few guys made a break, but i didn't want to chase, too early in the race....we'd get 'em. Third bell we were working hard to catch 'em, and when the bell rang, i was at the front of the pack...so i just held it...got the 4th place point since there were three in the break ahead.

Matt had been away working on his bike, and had recently jumped in... At this point he got on the front and picked-up speed, and after a couple laps bridged us with the first break-away (valiant effort!!) This is when i noticed my heart rate -- it was through the roof!! I was surging along at 190bpm!! Stampede in my chest, look out!

Keep in mind until tonite, the highest i'd ever seen it on the bike was 192, and 196 while sprinting on foot....so there i was, motoring along at 190bpm.....pretty crazy! It barely dropped below 184 after this...very strange for me, but very good. (My breathing was fairly heavy, but legs felt very good.)

Back to the race, there was another small break, and then El Presidante (Chris A) went off the front...no one pursued, and a few guys in the group said 'let him catch us!' I wasn't too concerned, tho i think it's a little weird to do this..! I just sat in for a few more laps...bell rang, guys motored around me, i stuck to the tail, and as they all slowed after the sprint, i maintained my pace and noodled ahead. (Haven't we seen this before....?)

I'm about a third of a lap ahead of the pack, and look back, and there's big Dave McLeod (Organic Athlete) catching up to me, with the rest of the pack still a ways behind him... WOOHOO! Perfect time for a break!!

We start to give'r for a few laps, and soon we're in a very solid position 1/2 a lap ahead of the pack...and this is where we stay for the rest of the race, and six bells. It was pretty amazing, just the two of us....and i've never ridden that fast or hard for so long..!!

I didn't try to get any 1st place finishes from Dave, he was doing more of the work (got him to do full lap pulls on occasion, since i was running out of juice..he's a monster!)

Speedy Vinko was the only guy to catch us, and held in for the last two bells. Again, i didn't try to contest them for the points...i could hang in, but didn't have the lungs for much more than that.

Near the end i had a really neat experience.. I'd been pushing this mad pace, with my HR waaay up... We'd slowed down a little, and i started to recover a bit.. My HR was still around 184, but suddenly the breathing was much easier.... Dunno what that means, but it was a pretty nice experience after dragging my lungs behind me for ~15 minutes.

For those last two bells we stayed our 1/2 lap ahead of our pursuers (they were down to three after Vinko left 'em), and that was pretty much it!

I came in 4th, with 18pts i believe. Dave got 1st of course, and i believe Vinko got 2nd, with Chris and his 20pts (from lapping) in 3rd. Definitely my best performance so far, and a well-earned placing. (This goes out to the Victoria Cycling League points system as well!)

I felt surprisingly fine afterwards...not knowing how i'd feel after that type of effort. At home an hour later, i felt a little woozy, but it's cleared-up now.

In the race i hit a top speed of 56.5kph again, that was prolly my one sprint for a point.. Max HR is new for me - i hit 198bpm for the first time. My average HR for the 36 minute race (72laps = 24km) was 184bpm...pretty amazing since in previous races i rarely get above 180bpm *period*. Average speed was ~40kph, another record for me.

Now, let's hope i still have something left in the legs for the weekend races..!

The last week was a good training week for me:

* Fri: 3hr FM ride w/Andy
* Sat: started w/Burnside group, broke off with a bunch of trackies, did over 3hrs, quite fast!
* Sun: 2hr RR w/Sarah
* Mon: sprint nite at the track, got a 13.77 in the 200m, no new high speed...
* Tue: 2hr FM ride w/Andy
* Wed: total rest day (no gym)

Tomorrow i'm gonna check out Andy's race course with him (for an upcoming triathlon), will do one lap easy, to scout it out, second lap i'll just draft him as he goes his race pace, and third lap discuss strategies with him....if i can devise any..! (Go like hell!) So that'll basically be a RR for me. (15km per lap i believe.)

Sat is race day, Sun i'll prolly go for an easy spin.. Monday i'm moving, and Tuesday i'll prolly head out with Andy for another 3hr FM ride, or maybe bump it up a little and do EM.

That's all i can think of for now, keep those legs spinning. =)