First Race win -- thanks PowerTap!

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I scored my first win today on the first race of the season. I know that a Cat 5 win in early March is probably nothing to crow about, so I'll be brief. It was a 20 mile RR, which consisted of 4 laps around a 5-mile circuit. There was a strong crosswind on one portion, but it was flat except for a .5 mile hill up to the finish line on each lap.

I was pretty surprised to see how much the field stretched out the first time up the climb. No one was really pushing the pace (IMO), but the pack got single file and took a while to group back up on the subsequent downhill. Based on that, I decided to just sit in near the front rather than trying to attack, and wait for the field to self-destruct. The 2nd time up, gaps were forming and I was attentive to any groups forming on the front to press their advantage -- that didn't happen, they just recovered and let the pack catch back up. I was nowhere near my max on the climbs, so I decided there was no reason to try a breakaway: I could probably just win it on the last climb. The third time up, only three of us crested the hill together at the front. I stayed near the front on the last lap and finished ~10 seconds ahead of 2nd on the final climb. First win - Yay! :)

What did surprise me was that upon reviewing the PT data, the ride was 55 min at a NP of 283. It seemed a lot easier than that while I was sitting in for most of the race. It's still well below my FT, but probably above FT for many of the others and that's what must have eventually done them in (especially if they were having to chase back up after the climb each lap).

35 y/o, 77.2kg, 4 climbs ~2 min each @ 394w, 378w, 417w, 475w AP.

Great job! I would be happy just not to be dropped at this point so thinking about winning feels so far off. :rolleyes: 475w for 2 minutes! Hmm I better get crackin. Again great job and I see more victories in your future.

Alex

That's nice. Wondering how RD did in his first race of the season. For me 3/4 combined field 18 miles 3 laps in Central Park, my fitness was matched by a strong showing of cat3 and cat4. Rumors have it that the winner of the cat4 Green Mountain stage race was at the front. I did 2 attacks and amazed how much power I was actually able to output. Unfortunately, some of these guys made the pace pretty quick and my attacks were all shut down. Not much of another counters, surprisiningly. I was bummed in the end beause I wasn't willing to finish the race due to latic acid was burning in my quads and only had 4 hours of sleep. After looking at my power data, I realized I wasn't getting any slower but the pace of the race was just fast enough. It was good l5/l6 workout for me though. There were about 9 rollers each lap followd by a .25 miles hill. Everytime, my power output is at 150%+ of my FT. Definately, some 30`/30` intervals are in order.


I scored my first win today on the first race of the season. I know that a Cat 5 win in early March is probably nothing to crow about, so I'll be brief. It was a 20 mile RR, which consisted of 4 laps around a 5-mile circuit. There was a strong crosswind on one portion, but it was flat except for a .5 mile hill up to the finish line on each lap.

I was pretty surprised to see how much the field stretched out the first time up the climb. No one was really pushing the pace (IMO), but the pack got single file and took a while to group back up on the subsequent downhill. Based on that, I decided to just sit in near the front rather than trying to attack, and wait for the field to self-destruct. The 2nd time up, gaps were forming and I was attentive to any groups forming on the front to press their advantage -- that didn't happen, they just recovered and let the pack catch back up. I was nowhere near my max on the climbs, so I decided there was no reason to try a breakaway: I could probably just win it on the last climb. The third time up, only three of us crested the hill together at the front. I stayed near the front on the last lap and finished ~10 seconds ahead of 2nd on the final climb. First win - Yay! :)

What did surprise me was that upon reviewing the PT data, the ride was 55 min at a NP of 283. It seemed a lot easier than that while I was sitting in for most of the race. It's still well below my FT, but probably above FT for many of the others and that's what must have eventually done them in (especially if they were having to chase back up after the climb each lap).

35 y/o, 77.2kg, 4 climbs ~2 min each @ 394w, 378w, 417w, 475w AP.

Cool.:cool: Congrats. Guess those winter trainer hours paid off.:D I'll be interested to see the match analysis. Your only matches may have been the climbs. I'm guessing ~3-4 matches per climb. What was your peak NP?

I am very happy with your results. Such a kind and passionate guy. You deserved the result that you got. Many congrats.

Yes I think that you're getting a lot of inspiration and motivation from your mastery over power training. In that sens, I'd agree that your powermeter has been helping you a lot in becoming a better rider.

I scored my first win today on the first race of the season.
35 y/o, 77.2kg, 4 climbs ~2 min each @ 394w, 378w, 417w, 475w AP.hey congrats those are smokin results 6w/kg on the final 2min

Cool.:cool: Congrats. Guess those winter trainer hours paid off.:D I'll be interested to see the match analysis. Your only matches may have been the climbs. I'm guessing ~3-4 matches per climb. What was your peak NP?
17.7 matches total, and the NP peak occurred at the race finish - 283w. I had some trouble with the macros and charting in Excel, so I may need some more help there.

hey congrats those are smokin results 6w/kg on the final 2min
Thanks all. Now if I can just figure out how to hold the 6 w/kg for another 58 minutes I'll be set for the TdF. :D

Congrats frenchyge! How do I pronounce that anyway?

Just as an aside, something to consider...

I know you are probably partly serious and partly facetious when you credit power-tap with your victory. I'd like you to consider though that many guys pick up a power-tap or SRM's and literally don't improve at all. It takes the human part of 'the equation' to make the technology work.

I think that's where the real credit lies.

Congrats again. And, as has been said, with those numbers and your obviously astute eye for reading the race -- which, again, can't be displayed on a power-tap -- I suspect you will be winning again soon.

Congrats frenchyge! How do I pronounce that anyway?
It's Frenchy, with my initials after it. Name's Greg French. No, I'm not French. :p

I know you are probably partly serious and partly facetious when you credit power-tap with your victory. Absolutely. It was intended to be a joking reference to the old Suzanne Sommers commercials where they say "Thank you, Thighmaster!" :) There's no doubt that all those hours on the trainer, and helpful advice from forum members deserve most of the credit for this race. The PT's role was mostly motivational in this case, which is still saying a lot considering how much effort I was able to put into the trainer this winter. I'm expecting it'll pull its weight and then some on the TT's later this year, though.

It's Frenchy, with my initials after it. Name's Greg French. No, I'm not French. :p

Absolutely. It was intended to be a joking reference to the old Suzanne Sommers commercials where they say "Thank you, Thighmaster!" :) There's no doubt that all those hours on the trainer, and helpful advice from forum members deserve most of the credit for this race. The PT's role was mostly motivational in this case, which is still saying a lot considering how much effort I was able to put into the trainer this winter. I'm expecting it'll pull its weight and then some on the TT's later this year, though.

would that be the perry lake RR? nice!

Congrats French! that is what i like about races with up hill finish, the strongest man wins not the luckiest.

Nice job Greg, keep up the good (and hard) work! (Man, I'm so far behind in my forum reading...)

Berend

I scored my first win today on the first race of the season. I know that a Cat 5 win in early March is probably nothing to crow about, so I'll be brief. It was a 20 mile RR, which consisted of 4 laps around a 5-mile circuit. There was a strong crosswind on one portion, but it was flat except for a .5 mile hill up to the finish line on each lap.

I was pretty surprised to see how much the field stretched out the first time up the climb. No one was really pushing the pace (IMO), but the pack got single file and took a while to group back up on the subsequent downhill. Based on that, I decided to just sit in near the front rather than trying to attack, and wait for the field to self-destruct. The 2nd time up, gaps were forming and I was attentive to any groups forming on the front to press their advantage -- that didn't happen, they just recovered and let the pack catch back up. I was nowhere near my max on the climbs, so I decided there was no reason to try a breakaway: I could probably just win it on the last climb. The third time up, only three of us crested the hill together at the front. I stayed near the front on the last lap and finished ~10 seconds ahead of 2nd on the final climb. First win - Yay! :)

What did surprise me was that upon reviewing the PT data, the ride was 55 min at a NP of 283. It seemed a lot easier than that while I was sitting in for most of the race. It's still well below my FT, but probably above FT for many of the others and that's what must have eventually done them in (especially if they were having to chase back up after the climb each lap).

35 y/o, 77.2kg, 4 climbs ~2 min each @ 394w, 378w, 417w, 475w AP.
Congrats! That's awsome! I'm curious as to how the 475w measures as a percentage of your FT, if you don't mind my asking. Do you think that having the powertap during the race actually helped you win? (ie; confidence in knowing exactly how much more you could give, etc.) Do you think you would still have won without it? (ie; tentative in not knowing exactly what you were putting out at any given time). Anyway, congratulations and keep doing what you're doing!

Congrats! That's awsome! I'm curious as to how the 475w measures as a percentage of your FT, if you don't mind my asking. Do you think that having the powertap during the race actually helped you win? (ie; confidence in knowing exactly how much more you could give, etc.) Do you think you would still have won without it? (ie; tentative in not knowing exactly what you were putting out at any given time). Anyway, congratulations and keep doing what you're doing!
Honestly, I may have glanced at the PT once or twice during the whole ride, and never on the hill -- it didn't do anything for me *during* the race. I sat-in for the whole race and just paced with the leading few on the climbs, never pushing hard until the last kick.

All 4 of the climbs were well over 120%FT (ie, L6) and the 475w was averaged over 2 minutes. The final kick to the finish, where I dropped the last rider, was ~25 seconds at an average of 640w.

Well that is heartening! That comes to 6.15 w/kg on your best climb. Comparing my stats (a 49 yr old at 60 kg) I get 6.38 w/kg for a similar length effort. Of course the guys I train with all seem to equal anything I do so I don't expect to do as well as you did in your first race but congrats!


35 y/o, 77.2kg, 4 climbs ~2 min each @ 394w, 378w, 417w, 475w AP.

Well that is heartening! That comes to 6.15 w/kg on your best climb. Comparing my stats (a 49 yr old at 60 kg) I get 6.38 w/kg for a similar length effort. Of course the guys I train with all seem to equal anything I do so I don't expect to do as well as you did in your first race but congrats!The interesting thing (to me) about frenchy's short duration anaerobic efforts is the importance of this resource (anaerobic work capacity) in RRs and crits and the fact that this capacity is highly trainable. For example, see Andy C's post here http://www.cyclingforums.com/showpost.php?p=2625348&postcount=8. I am trying to formalize the tracking of this resource for (initially) post-ride analysis and (later) real-time, on-bike decision making. Obviously, one isn't always able to decide whether to push the pace (e.g., when someone else is pushing the pace), but I am focused on what information would be useful to the cyclist for decisions about going anaerobic. Analogous to a fighter jet that can go to afterburner but not for long and not often. The pilot would not go to AB without a glance at the fuel supply. I'm focused on understanding the fuel supply and how to track its usage during a ride. There are two separate issues. One is training to increase the size of one's anaerobic gas tank. Two is deciding how to use one's anaerobic gas tank during a ride.

Well that is heartening! That comes to 6.15 w/kg on your best climb. Comparing my stats (a 49 yr old at 60 kg) I get 6.38 w/kg for a similar length effort. Of course the guys I train with all seem to equal anything I do so I don't expect to do as well as you did in your first race but congrats!
On the same course today, the leaders didn't push the pace quite as much on the earlier climbs, so we still had 8 riders together in a lead group on the last lap. I was more concerned about the larger group, so I cranked it up a little harder on the final climb than I did last week. It took better than 7.5 w/kg for 1.5 min on the final climb to win it today. ;)

On the same course today, the leaders didn't push the pace quite as much on the earlier climbs, so we still had 8 riders together in a lead group on the last lap. I was more concerned about the larger group, so I cranked it up a little harder on the final climb than I did last week. It took better than 7.5 w/kg for 1.5 min on the final climb to win it today. ;)Congrats. How did your matches compare with last week? Yeah, I know, we haven't even decided how to count matches. But, based on the same methodology as last week, how many?

On the same course today, the leaders didn't push the pace quite as much on the earlier climbs, so we still had 8 riders together in a lead group on the last lap. I was more concerned about the larger group, so I cranked it up a little harder on the final climb than I did last week. It took better than 7.5 w/kg for 1.5 min on the final climb to win it today. ;)The more work I do on match analysis, the more I believe AWC is as important as FT in RRs and crits. And, it appears to be trainable.