First Race win -- thanks PowerTap!

Originally Posted by frenchyge

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.

Originally Posted by frenchyge

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.

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo

Cool. Congrats. Guess those winter trainer hours paid off. 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?

Originally Posted by Old Junker

hey congrats those are smokin results 6w/kg on the final 2min

Originally Posted by Catabolic_Jones

Congrats frenchyge! How do I pronounce that anyway?

Originally Posted by Catabolic_Jones

I know you are probably partly serious and partly facetious when you credit power-tap with your victory.

Originally Posted by frenchyge

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

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.

Originally Posted by frenchyge

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.