Belated Cherry Pie Race Recap

Cherry Pie went as expected, if not slightly worse. My total lack of interval training left me flopping around on my bike like a gasping fish after the hammer went down a few times in a row. Plus, I think this was my second race as a Cat IV, and my first race since September 2005. Expectations were low: don't crash, hang on as long as you can.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I envisioned myself riding off and hammering and being comfortable the way I was before I got hurt two years ago, when I felt like I was a really strong 5. I'm just saying it went as expected because it makes it slightly less embarrassing.

I got dropped as we were rounding the finish line the first time through, and I couldn't chase back on. Not that I didn't try for about twenty minutes or so. Then I realized that I was getting farther and farther from my car with no support, so I pulled a u-turn and headed back into the wind toward the warmth of the Volvo. It was discouraging, but it took about two seconds for the rationalizations to kick in: "Don't worry, Thom. If you haven't trained at the high intensities, you can't expect a lot."

* sigh *

The group was huge. Seventy five people, I think? I felt OK in the bunch, though a lot more tense than I would've liked. I, um, have to admit something: I dropped a water bottle. I was wearing super-thick gloves, and when I smacked the nozzle closed against my thigh, the bottle just squirted out. No one went down, so that's good, but I felt completely embarrassed.

So, a big DNF for the first race. Whoopee. 

In terms of my future training plans, I'm kind of torn. I feel I've been doing a pretty good amount of base-riding. I mean, I've been riding at the same chill tempo since, oh, August/September (which was when I first got back on my bike). I took off December, but I've been fairly consistent since the first week of January. So I guess it's just a matter of deciding that, yes, I'm going to rock out to the tempo and interval rides for a while, and try to peak a few races in May/June. Then chill for a week or three, and try to do it again for Eugene Celebration in late September. 

Scientific? No. Not in the least. But you know what I say to that? "Meh." Whatever.

Recovery

Monday

Did a little 1 hour spin down on Monday after work, then spent about 30 minutes stretching. Took a nice hot shower, stretched some more, than put on the ice.

Tuesday

I did nothing. I rode the bike to work, then took the bus home. 

I'm trying to decide if I want to race next weekend. I got so thrashed at Piece of Cake, and it was ultimately disappointing. Especially after my destruction at Cherry Pie. But yet I felt I made progress. I dunno. I think I will race. Gotta just keep throwing it out there, right?

I think I will also try to get my training intensity up a little more during the week, and use the weekends I'm not racing to do a long endurance rides. Such as this weekend. Woo-hoo!

Piece of Cake Race Recap

Piece of Cake was a bit of an eye opener. I felt much more comfortable moving around in the group than at Cherry Pie. So that was nice.

But I had a vision of the future, where every race this year, I will get a little closer to the end before I get shelled. Holy crap that hurt. A little gap opened up after two breaks went off. Several of us chased and chased and chased.

But I think I figured something out: I tried to diesel up to the group when the split opened. You know, chugga-chugga-chugga good and smooth. Super-hard time trial. But I was leaving something back in case when I caught up to them, they accelerated again.

When I realized I wasn’t going to make it and couldn’t hold out that long — and had used up all the wheels who were trying and failing at the same thing — I tried to sprint one or two last times. But I didn’t have anything left. But I do have a new maximum heart rate, so that’s nice.

I think the way to go — the way I’ll try it next time — is to flat out sprint for it as soon as I see there’s a gap. I mean stand up on the pedals and floor it as hard as I can as long as I can, as though the race is on the line.

Because it is.

See? I’m learning.

Anyway, the guys with me who formed a break (off the back) were great, and we tempo’d the last, oh, 25 miles and got in some great paceline practice.