Did I just enter a crit?

bikeguy

Race report.

Well I finished the 35 km race and didn't crash. I came in 21st of 41 riders and my time was 56.49. The hill was about 80 meters per lap for 800 meters total climbing. Basically, the bunch would go fast up the hills and then pretty relaxed down the hills (except for one) I clocked myself at 68 kph down one hill. I was pretty much last for the first few laps just watching how the other riders rode - I got gapped twice after the sharp right turn - I didn't go fast enough through the sharp right (110 degree turn) but had enough power to catch back up no problem. I never really rode off the front -mostly at the back but I frequently had a gap of several meters to the rider in front. I did pass the group once when they slowed up and I came flying around them (68 kph). They were just soft pedaling for a bit there and caught up to me later.

I held well through the first 9 laps through all the hills, often passing the last third of the riders and moving into the middle. The last lap came and the lead riders pulled away from me - I had nothing left and was breathing very heavily after being passed by three riders 200 meters before the finish - I then repassed two of them sprinting for the finish line. My legs never felt heavy - just breathing very hard and got a splitting headache just after finishing and had to sit down for 10 minutes. I noticed several other riders breathing very heavily at many points during the race.

Our team leader called this course the most hilly and technically challenging race in the calendar in all of Finland so I'm happy with my placing. It was my 2nd road race ever.

-Bikeguy

RapDaddyo

Good report and good result. You achieved your first objective, so everything else was a bonus. Did you ride with a power meter?

bikeguy

No PM, and won't be one either for quite a while. Thanks for the support RDO.

-Bikeguy

bikeguy

Hey RDO,

I've done some calculations by hand, and based on the hill length (and height difference per lap 80 meters) and gradient (pretty much 7%) and remembering looking at my speedo, my speed was never below 23 km/hr up the hills and more like 28-30 kph, I figure about (and generally more on the high side) 410-520 watts going up the hills (in 3 sections, it wasn't one big rise). The climbing time roughly 179 seconds total, but faster on the last lap and slower when the leaders decided to take a break. The most tiring part was the finish lunge and accelerating after the sharp right turn, everybody hammered after that and power was definitely highest here, probably like 600-650 w. I remember that I decided to pedal after the 1st three laps during the turn even though I was leaned right over, that's what stopped the large gap forming that I had the first two laps. Damn close to pedal contact with the ground. I did take the outside.

The race was almost exactly like doing VO2 max intervals, everybody was huffing at the end of the hills and then recovering on the way down. The flat was taken at a good speed.

-bikeguy

RapDaddyo

That's why I was interested in your ride file if you had ridden with a PM. I'm thinking that the deciding factor in this race (as it is in many RRs and crits IMO) was anaerobic work capacity. Each time up the hill you burned matches and only part of AWC is recoverable. So, your total AWC was diminished each lap. The short accelerations coming out of the corners probably didn't dent your AWC because they're too short to start the engine (<15secs). In all likelihood, your NP never exceeded your FT, but that's irrelevant when it comes time to draw on your AWC. When the tank's dry, the tank's dry. I am interested in tracking this resource real-time, independent of aerobic capacity.

bikeguy

The deciding factor for me was the 2 to 15 meter gap I had to the rider(s) in front of me. I had a slight problem with my brakes. They were worn and I definitely would be taking a big risk running very close at high speeds. I had a problem with my headset (too loose) and just got it fixed in the nick of time. The only time I got on the tail of the other riders was going up the hills where air resistance is minimal. The other riders in the race have been racing 2-4 years and have done 20+ competitions ( some of them ski and run too with high placings, the other guy on our team ahead of me has done a 1.22 half marathon) with top placings (I searched some of them on the net). I've done 2 rr's, and got dropped from the 1st after 10 k. It'll take some time before I can win races, but I will.

Sorry I don't have a power meter right now, I have the polar S725X, so adding the power sensor is possible. I'm hoping the price will drop in a year or so, but I doubt it. If (I'm pretty sure I will) I do get a power meter, I'll be sure to send my files to you RDO.

-bikeguy