Race Date: April 25, 2009
This would be my third Category 5 race, but my first long distance road race (as opposed to the previous criterium races).
I showed up plenty early for registration for the Wave 2 starters, about an hour and 15 minute prior to the planned starting time of about 1:30 for the Cat 5er's. Big line for registration, but it moved quickly enough to get back to the car and have plenty of time to get ready.
Something that I've noticed among us new riders is the complete inability to pin a race number/bib on our jerseys so they don't flap in the wind as you ride. In my first two races, I placed it lower on my jersey, right along the under arm seam, about halfway down the jersey. Each time, I still had flapping, and when actually sitting on the bike, it really restricted the stretch of the jersey and got all folded up and goofy by the end of the race.
This time, I placed it a little higher, basically on the lower part of my shoulder. I also used 7 or 8 safety pins placed both around the edge and a couple in the middle of the bib, and really got that thing pinned down. It actually worked much better this time, and will keep the placement up higher.
I was able to get ready to go pretty quickly and decided to take a small ride out to warm up. There was a pretty significant wind blowing from North to South, so it made for a direct crosswind when riding East-West. The sky was overcast, but it wasn't raining like the weather terrorists were saying all week, and it was around 45 to 50 deg F, so it was a really nice day to be out and riding, even with the wind.
Turns out, all the start times had been pushed back, so we didn't actually start the Cat 5 until after 2:00. There was a lot of sitting around, and we actually started about 100 yards from the actual starting line, coming right out of the church parking lot.
My goal for this race was to hang with the pack as long as I could, so I put myself right in the middle at the start. As we took off, we got up to the upper 20's mph pretty quickly, and before I knew it, I was at the very back of the pack, but comfortably hanging on, so I didn't panic. I tried to creep up a little in the middle before our first turn, but only made it 3 or 4 spots then just held.
Held until the corner anyway. At the turn, we turned right so the wind was at our backs. The leaders caught the wind before anyone, and kicked it down right away, causing us at the back to start the accordion right away to sprint to catch up, but we all made it. I put myself near the centerline of the road to try to push up the side, and made some progress back to the middle and held it for the whole stretch with the wind. There was a lot of braking actually as we went over the slow rolling molehills at about 32-34 mph, and there was a lot of moving around too.
Leading into the second turn, we all slowed quite a bit as it was at the bottom of another roller, and people seemed to be pretty white-knuckled heading into it. As soon as we hit the apex of the turn, everyone stood to sprint up the hill and there was an immediate stringing out and everyone was trying to catch up and reform.
We all reformed, but word came up that a guy went down coming out of the corner. Someone said his pedal broke and he went down, but I didn't see nor hear it. On the back side, the wind was coming from right to left, and I got trapped on the right side by accident. I tried to swerve into the pack to recover from the uphill sprint, but couldn't make my move, and found myself hanging on the back after about 2 miles. There seemed to be an attack at the front as it felt like we just kept gaining speed, and I lost it right away and couldn't hold the back.
Went solo with the pack just out of reach until the next turn - back into the wind - when I lost them as they slowly creeped away.
I wasn't the first to fall off the back and was soon reunited with a guy from the IC3 team. He said "Let's go catch 'em," and I gladly took his invite to take turns pulling. The two of us soon caught another straggler in a Rock Racing replica jersey and invited him to join. After a couple rotations in the pace line, and teaching the third guy not to sprint when it's his turn to pull, we formed a nice group and held a very nice pace through the rest of the first lap. When we hit the big 1-mile climb before the finish line, it was kind of every-man-for-himself, but we regrouped pretty quickly at the top and kept working it around the first turn.
We were passed by 2 of the leaders of the Women's 1/2/3 group and their support car right at the turn, and they cruised well ahead of us in no time.
We held the group together through the third turn up into the wind and twisted and turned through the way back, battling the cross and head winds the entire way. Our third Rock guy fell off for a while, but rejoined us after about a mile. We were soon passed by two more women, but then started to encounter a couple Cat 5 men stragglers again. The first was a Tonka Cycle guy. He was sitting up, just spinning slowly, and showed no interest in joining up. The second was another IC3 guy, and he gladly joined saying that the guy he was previously working with (the Tonka guy) gave up. Turns out he was a junior and wanted to try the Cat 5's today for a challenge. As he gave up, I guess he told the IC3 guy he wished he had stuck with the juniors, as they were only doing one 21-mile lap.
At one point on the back stretch, there was a curve in the road that turned us heading east for a mile or two, making for another cross wind from the left. After taking my pull, I dropped back on the right side, out of the wind, then grabbed onto the back. Because of the wind direction, we really had to overlap wheels quite a bit to make the draft worth it. We were pretty much riding 3-abreast, with each others' handlebars right behind each others' hips. As I was grabbing onto the back, I had to spin a little faster to get into the draft. I'm not really sure what happened, but I think the crosswind grabbed my front wheel and pushed my body off-balance to the point where I felt the need to turn left to catch it. Well, I couldn't turn left due to the wheel-crossing, so I had to pull up and actually brake. As soon as I cleared his wheel, I was able to swerve and catch my balance, but felt like I was almost going down. My wheels actually skipped a little as I swerved. Yep, I was almost that guy that took out the back of a three-man paceline. But I didn't, and I caught back up without any harm done, aside from my bruised ego.
The four of us worked pretty well up the back stretch until we hit the last couple miles. At that point, we started to approach the last big climb, and the fourth guy decided to drop us, and did so quite quickly. At that point, we all went for ourselves again up the hill, and at the top, it was just me and Rock together. He latched on behind me for a bit, and I then dropped back to make him take a turn. As soon as we crested the last little false flat, the finish line came into sight. Rock dropped back to pull a draft off of me, so I hit it a little harder as I didn't want to pull him all the way in.
He did as I thought, and jumped with about 100 yards to go, but I held and stole 41st place from him. There was no standing sprint or arms in the air, but it did feel good to have that little competition at the end. We both sat up as we crossed and pounded fists. Pretty sure we both felt the same way: it's time to train harder.
So, 41st out of 50 starters. 42 miles in 2 hours, 4 minutes. About 21 mph average.
I completed my goal of finishing, but really wish I could have held onto the pack longer. I'm learning more and more the importance of being up front. Had I been closer to the front, I would have avoided a lot of the braking-and-sprinting accordion effect at the back, and been able to ride steadier and save a lot more for later. I didn't need to sprint as hard as I did up the hill out of the second turn either. I would have been better off saving a little more and hammering down after the top of the hill to catch up.
I learned a lot by being in an actual race paceline, as small as it was anyway. All three/four of us learned how to communicate to each other, and had a great chemistry going for the majority of the race.
I think the game breaker was the fact that I rode with my saddle bag the entire race (sarcasm/vanity alert). As we lined up at the start, I noticed that I completely forgot about my bag under my saddle. I then looked around to see if, by chance, anyone else felt the need to keep theirs on. I did see one other, and it was actually bigger than the one I had on, but it was just the two of us. In hindsight, I had plenty of time to ride back to the car to drop it off, but I wasn't sure how long we actually had, and I didn't feel like it anyway. Probably didn't make much of a difference, aside from making my experience level that much more obvious as I got spit out of the back, but there really wasn't a need for it in this race.
It was a successful race for me overall, but I'm really getting a gauge of my cycling fitness ability relative to other local racers. I have a lot of work to do to get competitive, but I'm definitely not getting discouraged. With a little more fitness, and a lot more knowledge on when and where to use it, I think I'll be able to hang a lot more.
I missed the LSC Crit series this week (didn't think that the pregnant wife would appreciate watching a bike race on our second wedding anniversary), and probably won't make it to the Marty Road Race or the LaCrosse Criterium this weekend due to my wife's work schedule and kid duty.
I might head up to SJU to watch the UMLL playoffs on Saturday, but that will be a spur of the moment decision. It sounds like the LSC Crits are getting pretty rough already, so I'm not sure if I'm going to risk it again, but as of right now, my next race would be next Tuesday at OPUS. I'm thinking I'll just show up at the starting line and hang at the back to get my 4th start on the books, then just get a good few laps at the back to avoid the wrecks.
The wife and I are expecting baby boy #2 any day now, so that will also play a factor in which races I sign up for.
Non-Statistically Significant Evidence to Support the Theory of Addiction to Exercise-Induced Endorphin Release
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
LSC Criterium Series at OPUS #2
Race Date - April 21, 2009
My second race ever.
I showed up for registration at about the same time, but found an even longer line. LSC seemed a little more organized this week, and their computer was working for registration, so the line was moving a little faster than last week. New numbers handed out, and chips for chip timing.
I was back at the car by a little after 5:00 and was able to get my bike assembled and ready to go by a quarter after.
I really wanted to get a longer warm-up in this week, as I definitely wasn't warm last week at the start. I was able to get 3 laps done on the course before lining up. Found out that the course is 0.89 miles, and that there was a pretty strong head wind on the back downhill section.
Everyone was lined up and ready to go at 5:45 sharp, but the officials had to wait for a printed line-up of the field. This actually took until 6:00, so we all stood there at the start for 15 minutes, one foot clipped in, the other cramping up. The officials went through the pre-race instructions much clearer than last week. He also stated that we had too many people in our category this week, and that next week they'd only accept 50 registrants. I'm not sure how many people lined up, but we had to have been close to 50, if not a few more. Make sure to get there early next week.
The official also noted that we'd be racing 9 laps this week, rather than 6 like last week. I was actually excited about this, as I didn't think it would be such a fast pace as the first night.
We waited for a bus to clear the hill at the start, then the whistle and clicks and we're off.
I lined up a little closer to the front this week, and was glad I did. The start wasn't nearly as fast as last week, and I actually found myself and others coasting quite a bit in the middle of the pack all the way around.
I only took one or two peeks over my shoulder as I moved around a little in the pack, and noticed that we held pretty much everyone in the pack through the first lap.
The second downhill sped up a little, and I caught a nice draft, staying tucked right in the middle of the lane, about 10-15 back. There was a lot of shuffling going on, and a few gunners up the side.
As we approached the bottom of the hill on the back, and went into the slight right turn going back up, there was a lot of crunching on the right side, and quite a bit of accordion-effect from the reaction. I was actually proud of myself for noting this coming through the next lap.
3rd lap was a bell lap for points, so there was even more shuffling going through the back after we crested the hill. A few shakers going through each turn, and a lot of braking going down hill made for a slower decent for my position actually, but everyone came out hard at the bottom of the hill going into the right turn again.
I positioned myself towards the left of the field to avoid the right side crunch, and was still in the top 25 or so, when I witness my first crash on the right side. Later accounts told me that the right side crunch drove a guy pedaling into the curb of the median on the right side. All I could see through the pack was a blur of blue going superman over the median, and the terrible sound of his bike tumbling behind him. This caused a major pile-up on the right side, and a huge accordion effect swaying left.
The guy directly ahead of me locked up his rear wheel which skidded sideways out to the right, causing me to do the same out of instinct. I'm not totally sure what exactly happened, as it happened so fast and I had tunnel vision, but for some reason, my left side was totally clear and my wheels grabbed concrete again and I shot out onto the grass. If there was a curb on my side, I would have been down, but luckily there wasn't and I was able to ride through it. I actually unclipped my left foot as I skidded, which surprised me. I'm not sure if I did it intentionally or if I just torqued it enough as I twisted through, but either way it kind of shocked me when I realized I hadn't gone down and was able to pedal back into line.
As people funneled through the pile-up in a couple single-file lines, several guys were hooting "Go, go go!" and led the charge up the hill. As I filed back into line, the entire pack was strung out going all the way up the hill, with the very front sprinting for the line for points. I latched onto a wheel and stayed in line as the string was really pumping to stay caught up to the pack. The guy I was following actually sat up and slowed halfway up the hill as we were passed by several others, so I jumped off him and went on my own. I had to stand to sprint up the hill to catch some the riders ahead of me, but eventually joined up with a small string.
A couple of us formed a smaller pack that was trying to catch up, but nobody really held together going around.
I came across the line solo on lap 4, with the rear end of the lead-out string in sight, but just as I crossed the line, wreck number 2 unfolded right ahead of me. I didn't see the cause of the wreck, but one of the juniors was face down at the top of the hill, and his bike took out a couple others around him from the pack. It seemed like a really weird spot for a wreck, as it was at the top of the hill. My guess is that some handlebars hooked or something and they just got pulled over.
Either way, this strung out the string of chasers even more, and many guys just sat up and pedaled slow through it.
I could no longer see the lead pack, so I just went solo for almost a whole lap, trying to find someone to latch onto/work with, but all that I could find was a couple of stragglers that were being spit out the back of the pack and were now sitting up on the hoods and going solo.
Three riders from the second crash steamed by me in a nice pace line with about two-and-a-half to go on the back side, and I tried to catch the back of them but couldn't accelerate when I needed to and I lost the draft.
My legs were really on fire, and I was really trying to catch up around the back turns and the main front stretch up hill, but I never caught anything. I stood to sprint up the hill for a couple laps towards the end, but just sat and spun for the last two laps.
The rest of the race was a time trial solo effort for me, but again, I didn't get lapped, and finished the race without actually going down.
Final race stats:
Distance: 8.01 miles
Race time: 22 minutes
Average speed: 21.8 mph
Placing: ?, but finished
I think that had the initial crash not happened and thrown me off the course, I probably could have held with the front pack longer, but my sprint to get back into line after coming to a near stop going up hill really burned a lot of matches, and I never really recovered enough to accelerate when needed.
I really liked the longer distance though, as the speed was a lot more manageable, and the field didn't spread out as fast. It seemed that the field was blown apart by the end of the first lap last week, and it never slowed once.
I also learned a lot more this week by sticking with the pack longer. The zone that you have to get in, being aware of the wheel that is just inches away from yours, and bumping elbows through turns was quite a rush. The whistling and humming of everyone wheels while you're tucked away out of the wind is really a cool sound. It was really weird to see the delay in the pack when approaching turns as well, everyone waiting for the guy ahead of them to turn, then turning to fast, over-correcting, bumping a little, braking, then getting back into line. By lap 3, I think everyone in the pack really learned how to hold a much straighter line going all the way through the turn though; at least until the wreck, but I blame that on higher speed coming through the left hand turn leading into the right turn, and people gunning for the front to set-up for the points sprint up the hill.
I think my longer warm-up really helped me this week, and hope to get there even earlier next time to make sure I get into the race, and to get an even longer warm-up.
My one complaint, though, is the whole chip timing thing. Everyone was required to pay for the chips ($2 extra) to race, unless you have a rented chip, which still boggles my mind as to how you go about renting one (and no, I haven't really looked into it yet, but haven't seen it advertised anywhere). Anyway, coming from a running background, in my mind having a chip means that your times and splits are recorded for the entire race. I was actually a little excited to see where I stack up in the field, despite the whole racing mantra of "if you're not first, you're last." I do realize I wasn't in any position to score points, and this series is won/lost by points, but what was the point of the chips if they are just going to post only the point-scoring racers? I saw no difference in the way the results were posted, and I paid two bucks to reiterate the fact that I didn't score any points. It was a little frustrating, but as a newbie, I'm sure I'm just over-reacting.
My wedding anniversary is next Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure that going to a bike race isn't the ideal date night for most couples, so I don't think I'm going to make it to the LSC Crit next week, but plan to make it there again the following week, and hopefully make the rest of the series.
I am planning on racing the Ken Woods Memorial Road Race on Saturday though. It's about a 21 mile course, and the Cat 5's do two laps. Sounds like they usually have pretty bad luck with weather, and the forecast looks a little shaky right now; predicting showers. Our race starts at about 1:45 or 2:00 in the afternoon, so the temperature shouldn't be as cold as the recent morning temps, but I'm planning on going either way, so it may be a very wet race report next week.
Overall goals for this race is to just hang on and finish. It'd be nice to hold with the pack for the whole race as well, but we'll see.
I realize that my posts are lacking in the visual aid department. I actually brought my camera last night, but didn't take it out of the car as I thought it'd look kind of funny having a camera in my jersey pocket on the course. I have been hunting for pictures on other blogs and club websites though. I actually noticed quite a few photographers around the course last night, and I know that I was in a bunch of shots early on, so hopefully I can hunt some of them down and get ahold of a couple. If any of my [few] readers out there know of any leads, it'd be cool to see them.
Update on April 24, 2009: LSC has made the chip results available for download. Guess I'm just a little impatient...
Results here on Bikethrow.com.
They're a little tough to read after the first wreck in lap three, as a few guys took their free lap and rejoined the lead pack, therefore the chips state them as being a lap behind the lead group, when in fact the rules allow you to take a free lap in the case of accidents or mechanical failures.
Turns out I started 21st in a field of 50 exactly (they did cut off registration at 50). I stayed in the 30's up to the wreck, then I dropped to 41st as I crossed the line after the crash in lap 3. I was stuck there for 2 laps, then pulled up to 35th in lap 5, and held that spot until the last lap. Finished 36th overall. I was 15 seconds from being lapped by the race winner on my final lap.
I know there has been a lot of discussion since the race about the need (or lack thereof) for chip timing, but I will put myself in favor of it. Purists see it as a waste of time, taking away from the true meaning of bicycle racing where there is only one winner. As a beginner, and not really having any idea what kind of shape I'm in (aside from a few group rides), as mundane as these details of the race are, it really does help me know what I need to do to get with it and learn what I need to do to make myself competitive.
As you can see, I've got a ways to go.
My second race ever.
I showed up for registration at about the same time, but found an even longer line. LSC seemed a little more organized this week, and their computer was working for registration, so the line was moving a little faster than last week. New numbers handed out, and chips for chip timing.
I was back at the car by a little after 5:00 and was able to get my bike assembled and ready to go by a quarter after.
I really wanted to get a longer warm-up in this week, as I definitely wasn't warm last week at the start. I was able to get 3 laps done on the course before lining up. Found out that the course is 0.89 miles, and that there was a pretty strong head wind on the back downhill section.
Everyone was lined up and ready to go at 5:45 sharp, but the officials had to wait for a printed line-up of the field. This actually took until 6:00, so we all stood there at the start for 15 minutes, one foot clipped in, the other cramping up. The officials went through the pre-race instructions much clearer than last week. He also stated that we had too many people in our category this week, and that next week they'd only accept 50 registrants. I'm not sure how many people lined up, but we had to have been close to 50, if not a few more. Make sure to get there early next week.
The official also noted that we'd be racing 9 laps this week, rather than 6 like last week. I was actually excited about this, as I didn't think it would be such a fast pace as the first night.
We waited for a bus to clear the hill at the start, then the whistle and clicks and we're off.
I lined up a little closer to the front this week, and was glad I did. The start wasn't nearly as fast as last week, and I actually found myself and others coasting quite a bit in the middle of the pack all the way around.
I only took one or two peeks over my shoulder as I moved around a little in the pack, and noticed that we held pretty much everyone in the pack through the first lap.
The second downhill sped up a little, and I caught a nice draft, staying tucked right in the middle of the lane, about 10-15 back. There was a lot of shuffling going on, and a few gunners up the side.
As we approached the bottom of the hill on the back, and went into the slight right turn going back up, there was a lot of crunching on the right side, and quite a bit of accordion-effect from the reaction. I was actually proud of myself for noting this coming through the next lap.
3rd lap was a bell lap for points, so there was even more shuffling going through the back after we crested the hill. A few shakers going through each turn, and a lot of braking going down hill made for a slower decent for my position actually, but everyone came out hard at the bottom of the hill going into the right turn again.
I positioned myself towards the left of the field to avoid the right side crunch, and was still in the top 25 or so, when I witness my first crash on the right side. Later accounts told me that the right side crunch drove a guy pedaling into the curb of the median on the right side. All I could see through the pack was a blur of blue going superman over the median, and the terrible sound of his bike tumbling behind him. This caused a major pile-up on the right side, and a huge accordion effect swaying left.
The guy directly ahead of me locked up his rear wheel which skidded sideways out to the right, causing me to do the same out of instinct. I'm not totally sure what exactly happened, as it happened so fast and I had tunnel vision, but for some reason, my left side was totally clear and my wheels grabbed concrete again and I shot out onto the grass. If there was a curb on my side, I would have been down, but luckily there wasn't and I was able to ride through it. I actually unclipped my left foot as I skidded, which surprised me. I'm not sure if I did it intentionally or if I just torqued it enough as I twisted through, but either way it kind of shocked me when I realized I hadn't gone down and was able to pedal back into line.
As people funneled through the pile-up in a couple single-file lines, several guys were hooting "Go, go go!" and led the charge up the hill. As I filed back into line, the entire pack was strung out going all the way up the hill, with the very front sprinting for the line for points. I latched onto a wheel and stayed in line as the string was really pumping to stay caught up to the pack. The guy I was following actually sat up and slowed halfway up the hill as we were passed by several others, so I jumped off him and went on my own. I had to stand to sprint up the hill to catch some the riders ahead of me, but eventually joined up with a small string.
A couple of us formed a smaller pack that was trying to catch up, but nobody really held together going around.
I came across the line solo on lap 4, with the rear end of the lead-out string in sight, but just as I crossed the line, wreck number 2 unfolded right ahead of me. I didn't see the cause of the wreck, but one of the juniors was face down at the top of the hill, and his bike took out a couple others around him from the pack. It seemed like a really weird spot for a wreck, as it was at the top of the hill. My guess is that some handlebars hooked or something and they just got pulled over.
Either way, this strung out the string of chasers even more, and many guys just sat up and pedaled slow through it.
I could no longer see the lead pack, so I just went solo for almost a whole lap, trying to find someone to latch onto/work with, but all that I could find was a couple of stragglers that were being spit out the back of the pack and were now sitting up on the hoods and going solo.
Three riders from the second crash steamed by me in a nice pace line with about two-and-a-half to go on the back side, and I tried to catch the back of them but couldn't accelerate when I needed to and I lost the draft.
My legs were really on fire, and I was really trying to catch up around the back turns and the main front stretch up hill, but I never caught anything. I stood to sprint up the hill for a couple laps towards the end, but just sat and spun for the last two laps.
The rest of the race was a time trial solo effort for me, but again, I didn't get lapped, and finished the race without actually going down.
Final race stats:
Distance: 8.01 miles
Race time: 22 minutes
Average speed: 21.8 mph
Placing: ?, but finished
I think that had the initial crash not happened and thrown me off the course, I probably could have held with the front pack longer, but my sprint to get back into line after coming to a near stop going up hill really burned a lot of matches, and I never really recovered enough to accelerate when needed.
I really liked the longer distance though, as the speed was a lot more manageable, and the field didn't spread out as fast. It seemed that the field was blown apart by the end of the first lap last week, and it never slowed once.
I also learned a lot more this week by sticking with the pack longer. The zone that you have to get in, being aware of the wheel that is just inches away from yours, and bumping elbows through turns was quite a rush. The whistling and humming of everyone wheels while you're tucked away out of the wind is really a cool sound. It was really weird to see the delay in the pack when approaching turns as well, everyone waiting for the guy ahead of them to turn, then turning to fast, over-correcting, bumping a little, braking, then getting back into line. By lap 3, I think everyone in the pack really learned how to hold a much straighter line going all the way through the turn though; at least until the wreck, but I blame that on higher speed coming through the left hand turn leading into the right turn, and people gunning for the front to set-up for the points sprint up the hill.
I think my longer warm-up really helped me this week, and hope to get there even earlier next time to make sure I get into the race, and to get an even longer warm-up.
My one complaint, though, is the whole chip timing thing. Everyone was required to pay for the chips ($2 extra) to race, unless you have a rented chip, which still boggles my mind as to how you go about renting one (and no, I haven't really looked into it yet, but haven't seen it advertised anywhere). Anyway, coming from a running background, in my mind having a chip means that your times and splits are recorded for the entire race. I was actually a little excited to see where I stack up in the field, despite the whole racing mantra of "if you're not first, you're last." I do realize I wasn't in any position to score points, and this series is won/lost by points, but what was the point of the chips if they are just going to post only the point-scoring racers? I saw no difference in the way the results were posted, and I paid two bucks to reiterate the fact that I didn't score any points. It was a little frustrating, but as a newbie, I'm sure I'm just over-reacting.
My wedding anniversary is next Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure that going to a bike race isn't the ideal date night for most couples, so I don't think I'm going to make it to the LSC Crit next week, but plan to make it there again the following week, and hopefully make the rest of the series.
I am planning on racing the Ken Woods Memorial Road Race on Saturday though. It's about a 21 mile course, and the Cat 5's do two laps. Sounds like they usually have pretty bad luck with weather, and the forecast looks a little shaky right now; predicting showers. Our race starts at about 1:45 or 2:00 in the afternoon, so the temperature shouldn't be as cold as the recent morning temps, but I'm planning on going either way, so it may be a very wet race report next week.
Overall goals for this race is to just hang on and finish. It'd be nice to hold with the pack for the whole race as well, but we'll see.
I realize that my posts are lacking in the visual aid department. I actually brought my camera last night, but didn't take it out of the car as I thought it'd look kind of funny having a camera in my jersey pocket on the course. I have been hunting for pictures on other blogs and club websites though. I actually noticed quite a few photographers around the course last night, and I know that I was in a bunch of shots early on, so hopefully I can hunt some of them down and get ahold of a couple. If any of my [few] readers out there know of any leads, it'd be cool to see them.
Update on April 24, 2009: LSC has made the chip results available for download. Guess I'm just a little impatient...
Results here on Bikethrow.com.
They're a little tough to read after the first wreck in lap three, as a few guys took their free lap and rejoined the lead pack, therefore the chips state them as being a lap behind the lead group, when in fact the rules allow you to take a free lap in the case of accidents or mechanical failures.
Turns out I started 21st in a field of 50 exactly (they did cut off registration at 50). I stayed in the 30's up to the wreck, then I dropped to 41st as I crossed the line after the crash in lap 3. I was stuck there for 2 laps, then pulled up to 35th in lap 5, and held that spot until the last lap. Finished 36th overall. I was 15 seconds from being lapped by the race winner on my final lap.
I know there has been a lot of discussion since the race about the need (or lack thereof) for chip timing, but I will put myself in favor of it. Purists see it as a waste of time, taking away from the true meaning of bicycle racing where there is only one winner. As a beginner, and not really having any idea what kind of shape I'm in (aside from a few group rides), as mundane as these details of the race are, it really does help me know what I need to do to get with it and learn what I need to do to make myself competitive.
As you can see, I've got a ways to go.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
LSC Criterium Series at OPUS
The Loon State Cyclists (LSC) club hosts the season-opening Criterium (crit) series here in the Twin Cities (Minnetonka) for the first few Tuesdays of the season. Last night was the first race.
I've had April 14th marked on my calendar for 4 months. It was on my mind for most of the hours spent on the trainer in my basement this winter, and on nearly every mile since getting outdoors on the roads a couple weeks ago.
My very first bicycle race. Category 5 (Cat 5, aka the "Crash 5's"). I've been constantly reading online racing forums for hints and tips on racing and group riding, and to be honest (if you can dig through the most of the BS and sarcasm that embedded throughout) it was very helpful leading up to the starting whistle last night.
Throughout the workday I couldn't stop thinking about the race. I ate pretty light, but also kept a pretty high carb intake throughout, and was sure to hydrate properly all day. I couldn't wait for 4:30 to come to head out.
Race Report:
4:50 PM - Arrive at the registration parking lot at the same time as many other cyclists.
4:55 PM - Begin unloading the bike from the back seat and putting the wheels back on. I got a pretty good deal on a used Yakima roof rack a few months ago, but haven't put it on the car yet. I can't wait to get it on, as it's a pain in the ass to take apart the bike everytime I want to bring it somewhere.
5:00 PM - Change from my "business casual" work clothes into my Unattached Rider(TM) kit in the front seat of my car. I'll usually change at work before leaving, but I didn't want to risk getting caught in the wonderfully planned traffic system in the west metro.
I wore the Unattached kit for the first time on a long ride with a buddy last weekend to get the feel of it. I actually thought is was a very comfortable kit, and the bib shorts treated my rear quite well on the 44.9 miles. I wore a full-covering base layer on the ride over the weekend, and the kit went perfect with the all black layer. For the race, it was about 63 degrees F in the parking lot, so I dared and went with just the bib shorts and short sleeves with an under shirt base layer. Worked perfectly for the conditions. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of myself in the kit, so no modeling yet. But I'll be sure to post some as I get them.
5:05 PM - Walk over to the registration line. Find it to be very low moving. It didn't help that I was two people back from the Junior racing team, who felt it necessary to allow the whole team join in as they showed up. We honestly didn't move for 15 minutes. Luckily, the organizers had enough brains to hand out the necessary waivers as we waited in line, so once up to the desk (aka open hatchback on a minivan) all we had to do was hand them our money, write down our name and license number, and grab a race bib number. Number 579. No safety pins though. This is where all that experience from running races came in handy; I packed a few safety pins in my tool box. Note to self though that a few more won't hurt, as my number still flapped in the wind a little.
5:25 PM - Ride a couple miles around the OPUS Complex for a short warm-up, and to get to the starting line. The campus is intertwined with one-way roads, so it was really fun to see all the cyclists burning around, warming up and chatting.
5:35 PM - Arrive at the starting line. I had a very short warm-up, and hit a couple short hills to get the blood flowing, but I really had no idea what was in store for me, so I played it safe and stopped at the start line to conserve as much as possible as other riders kept riding the course.
5:40 PM - Riders begin to line up. I join them.
5:45 PM - Race officials begin taking head count, then tell us that there are actually a few people that are still registering, so we will be waiting about 10 minutes to start. I had lined up about mid-pack at the line, and struck up small conversation with the two riders at my sides. Turns out it was the first race ever for all three of us, and chuckle about warning those behind us. Half seriously of course. As the official finishes the head count, we overhear him say "over 50," so it was a pretty decent field of riders.
5:55 PM - Official blows the whistle. The race starts. The only noise you can hear is the clicking of cleats into pedals for a few seconds, then it's off to the races.
I heard several accounts of the exact distance of the course, ranging from .89 miles to 1.1 miles. Unfortunately, the last thing on my mind after the first lap was to look down to see how far I traveled, so I'm not really sure of the exact distance. I'll get a better read next time on a warm-up lap.
The course in on a paved, two-lane, one-way road, with all left turns except for one dog leg right on the back, almost oval. Think NASCAR with hills. It's situated on what feels to be a little valley on a hill, so the front side is uphill that peaks on a turn, then downhill around the back side of the course, leading up to the slight right turn that starts the uphill turn back to the start/finish line. The line itself is situated about two-thirds of the way up the hill, so the sprint laps are all up hill.
Off the start, I passed quite a few riders, most of which didn't clip in as fast as I did. I actually surprised myself with the quick clip-in, as I was sure my nerves would make me miss once or twice. I nestled in about 20-25 back in the front pack. The speed was in a constant acceleration all the way down the back stretch. My computer logged a max speed of 34.7, and I'm guessing that came in this first lap, as I shifted to 53x12 on the first lap to try and push it. That'd be the last time shifting into that gear.
I held my own on the first hill climb and the second descent, but the second hill climb really started to string people out. I was still "connected" to the lead pack by a short string of riders, and held that spot through the 3rd hill climb, at which point almost all of us leading stragglers started to space out.
I was able to keep my pace for the rest of the race, but definitely couldn't gain ground on the lead pack. I went solo for pretty much the rest of the race, just pushing my legs and lungs to the max. My only close encounter came somewhere in lap 4 when a rider from the Gopher Wheelmen club was looking down at his gear selection on the back right turn heading into the uphill. He started to stray into my line, which was already about 3 feet from the left curb, and there was another guy trying to pass me on the left as well. I held the line, but he didn't see himself pinching me. The guy on my left put his hand on my hip to tell me to hold my line, which I did, and he shouted (respectfully actually) to the other guy, who in turn corrected, but was too winded to respond verbally.
In retrospect, it would have been nice to pair up with someone to just ride, but from my memory, I don't remember anyone really holding a solid pace for the rest of the race. I don't recall many people passing me after about halfway through lap 4, so, had the results been recorded for the whole field, I think I would have had a decent placing overall, but who knows.
I didn't see the lead pack until approaching the start/finish line. They were all sitting up going over the top of the hill, so I'm thinking that I wasn't more than a minute behind them, but again, I'm not really sure.
The race took under 15 minutes. So assuming that the course was about a mile, we paced at about 24 mph over the whole race. Fast in my book.
My goal to finish with both wheels underneath me, in one piece, and without being lapped was accomplished. So one race down, 9 to go to meet my short-sighted road season goal of achieving upgrade status to Category 4 (need 10 mass-start races to upgrade).
Time and my results will tell if it will be worthwhile for me to actually upgrade to the 4's when the time comes, but either way, that's my goal.
Next race is the same thing next Tuesday. I overheard someone say that they add a lap each week as daylight becomes more available, so it might be a little longer.
What I learned:
-There are a lot more bike racers around here than I thought.
-My bike handling skills are much better than I thought they were, judging on a few others around me.
-My comfort level in a high-paced group was very high as well.
-I need to learn to hold the rider's wheel in front of me a little closer to take advantage of their draft better.
-I need to save a little more on the downhills to recover for the uphill.
Goals for next week:
-Finish right-side up again.
-Start closer to the front.
-Find a wheel in the lead pack and hold it longer.
I've caught the bug, and I like it. Can't wait for next week.
I've had April 14th marked on my calendar for 4 months. It was on my mind for most of the hours spent on the trainer in my basement this winter, and on nearly every mile since getting outdoors on the roads a couple weeks ago.
My very first bicycle race. Category 5 (Cat 5, aka the "Crash 5's"). I've been constantly reading online racing forums for hints and tips on racing and group riding, and to be honest (if you can dig through the most of the BS and sarcasm that embedded throughout) it was very helpful leading up to the starting whistle last night.
Throughout the workday I couldn't stop thinking about the race. I ate pretty light, but also kept a pretty high carb intake throughout, and was sure to hydrate properly all day. I couldn't wait for 4:30 to come to head out.
Race Report:
4:50 PM - Arrive at the registration parking lot at the same time as many other cyclists.
4:55 PM - Begin unloading the bike from the back seat and putting the wheels back on. I got a pretty good deal on a used Yakima roof rack a few months ago, but haven't put it on the car yet. I can't wait to get it on, as it's a pain in the ass to take apart the bike everytime I want to bring it somewhere.
5:00 PM - Change from my "business casual" work clothes into my Unattached Rider(TM) kit in the front seat of my car. I'll usually change at work before leaving, but I didn't want to risk getting caught in the wonderfully planned traffic system in the west metro.
I wore the Unattached kit for the first time on a long ride with a buddy last weekend to get the feel of it. I actually thought is was a very comfortable kit, and the bib shorts treated my rear quite well on the 44.9 miles. I wore a full-covering base layer on the ride over the weekend, and the kit went perfect with the all black layer. For the race, it was about 63 degrees F in the parking lot, so I dared and went with just the bib shorts and short sleeves with an under shirt base layer. Worked perfectly for the conditions. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of myself in the kit, so no modeling yet. But I'll be sure to post some as I get them.
5:05 PM - Walk over to the registration line. Find it to be very low moving. It didn't help that I was two people back from the Junior racing team, who felt it necessary to allow the whole team join in as they showed up. We honestly didn't move for 15 minutes. Luckily, the organizers had enough brains to hand out the necessary waivers as we waited in line, so once up to the desk (aka open hatchback on a minivan) all we had to do was hand them our money, write down our name and license number, and grab a race bib number. Number 579. No safety pins though. This is where all that experience from running races came in handy; I packed a few safety pins in my tool box. Note to self though that a few more won't hurt, as my number still flapped in the wind a little.
5:25 PM - Ride a couple miles around the OPUS Complex for a short warm-up, and to get to the starting line. The campus is intertwined with one-way roads, so it was really fun to see all the cyclists burning around, warming up and chatting.
5:35 PM - Arrive at the starting line. I had a very short warm-up, and hit a couple short hills to get the blood flowing, but I really had no idea what was in store for me, so I played it safe and stopped at the start line to conserve as much as possible as other riders kept riding the course.
5:40 PM - Riders begin to line up. I join them.
5:45 PM - Race officials begin taking head count, then tell us that there are actually a few people that are still registering, so we will be waiting about 10 minutes to start. I had lined up about mid-pack at the line, and struck up small conversation with the two riders at my sides. Turns out it was the first race ever for all three of us, and chuckle about warning those behind us. Half seriously of course. As the official finishes the head count, we overhear him say "over 50," so it was a pretty decent field of riders.
5:55 PM - Official blows the whistle. The race starts. The only noise you can hear is the clicking of cleats into pedals for a few seconds, then it's off to the races.
I heard several accounts of the exact distance of the course, ranging from .89 miles to 1.1 miles. Unfortunately, the last thing on my mind after the first lap was to look down to see how far I traveled, so I'm not really sure of the exact distance. I'll get a better read next time on a warm-up lap.
The course in on a paved, two-lane, one-way road, with all left turns except for one dog leg right on the back, almost oval. Think NASCAR with hills. It's situated on what feels to be a little valley on a hill, so the front side is uphill that peaks on a turn, then downhill around the back side of the course, leading up to the slight right turn that starts the uphill turn back to the start/finish line. The line itself is situated about two-thirds of the way up the hill, so the sprint laps are all up hill.
Off the start, I passed quite a few riders, most of which didn't clip in as fast as I did. I actually surprised myself with the quick clip-in, as I was sure my nerves would make me miss once or twice. I nestled in about 20-25 back in the front pack. The speed was in a constant acceleration all the way down the back stretch. My computer logged a max speed of 34.7, and I'm guessing that came in this first lap, as I shifted to 53x12 on the first lap to try and push it. That'd be the last time shifting into that gear.
I held my own on the first hill climb and the second descent, but the second hill climb really started to string people out. I was still "connected" to the lead pack by a short string of riders, and held that spot through the 3rd hill climb, at which point almost all of us leading stragglers started to space out.
I was able to keep my pace for the rest of the race, but definitely couldn't gain ground on the lead pack. I went solo for pretty much the rest of the race, just pushing my legs and lungs to the max. My only close encounter came somewhere in lap 4 when a rider from the Gopher Wheelmen club was looking down at his gear selection on the back right turn heading into the uphill. He started to stray into my line, which was already about 3 feet from the left curb, and there was another guy trying to pass me on the left as well. I held the line, but he didn't see himself pinching me. The guy on my left put his hand on my hip to tell me to hold my line, which I did, and he shouted (respectfully actually) to the other guy, who in turn corrected, but was too winded to respond verbally.
In retrospect, it would have been nice to pair up with someone to just ride, but from my memory, I don't remember anyone really holding a solid pace for the rest of the race. I don't recall many people passing me after about halfway through lap 4, so, had the results been recorded for the whole field, I think I would have had a decent placing overall, but who knows.
I didn't see the lead pack until approaching the start/finish line. They were all sitting up going over the top of the hill, so I'm thinking that I wasn't more than a minute behind them, but again, I'm not really sure.
The race took under 15 minutes. So assuming that the course was about a mile, we paced at about 24 mph over the whole race. Fast in my book.
My goal to finish with both wheels underneath me, in one piece, and without being lapped was accomplished. So one race down, 9 to go to meet my short-sighted road season goal of achieving upgrade status to Category 4 (need 10 mass-start races to upgrade).
Time and my results will tell if it will be worthwhile for me to actually upgrade to the 4's when the time comes, but either way, that's my goal.
Next race is the same thing next Tuesday. I overheard someone say that they add a lap each week as daylight becomes more available, so it might be a little longer.
What I learned:
-There are a lot more bike racers around here than I thought.
-My bike handling skills are much better than I thought they were, judging on a few others around me.
-My comfort level in a high-paced group was very high as well.
-I need to learn to hold the rider's wheel in front of me a little closer to take advantage of their draft better.
-I need to save a little more on the downhills to recover for the uphill.
Goals for next week:
-Finish right-side up again.
-Start closer to the front.
-Find a wheel in the lead pack and hold it longer.
I've caught the bug, and I like it. Can't wait for next week.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Lifetime Fitness - Eagan, MN
I've been putting off the blog, so checking in with a race report.
I went into this race to use it as a training day, and to see where I'm at with my level of fitness. The difference with this triathlon to the common triathlon, is that it is time-based, rather than distance-based. A "normal" tri consists of a person swimming, biking and running certain lengths, and then ranking that person against other competitors based on the time it took them to complete those distances.
This tri consists of a set time for each leg (10-minute swim, 30-minute bike, 20-minute run), then ranking the results based on the distance traveled. What's nice about it is, you know exactly when you're going to be done. The bad part is, that using indoor equipment (spin bike and treadmill) can create variables that may skew the results, primarily on the bike.
Knowing this, I do take the results with a grain of salt, but I still feel that I'm meeting my fitness goals rather nicely.
On with the report:
3:30 AM - Still awake at a couples' baby shower in Eagan. This was definitely not the plan, but it turned out that the shower-turned-party was a lot more fun than expected, so I decided to just go with it.
We went to a bar in Savage earlier in the evening that had a live cover band. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries at about 9:00 PM, and drank two beers, two captain cokes and one jag bomb. There was a very loud cover band playing, and they were really fun, so I didn't feel like going home early for bed. I didn't get drunk, by any means, but I definitely was not sober when we left the bar.
We went back to the hosts' house in Eagan, and opened up the taco bar leftovers. A few of us turned on some Wii Sports, until we discovered the ping-pong table downstairs.
After a double's double-elimination tournament, and then a single's tournament, all with just the guys on teams as most of the girls went to bed, I decided that it was probably a good idea to get home to get the bar smell off of me, get some water, and maybe a short nap before my planned arrival time of 7:00 AM.
5:45 AM - Arrive in the garage, head upstairs and pack the tri bag, set two alarms and take a short nap.
6:10 AM - Get a text from my bro-in-law (BIL) saying that our time has been pushed back until 8:50. Short response text saying I'll be there at 8:30. Reset alarms. Back to sleep.
8:30 AM - Arrive at LTF, sign in, change into swim wear and sweatpants, and head to the sauna to warm up and stretch while watching the wave of swimmers already in progress in the pool.
They arranged the start times by waves. The pool in Eagan has 5 narrow lanes, and they put 2 swimmers to a lane, so each wave can have 10 swimmers. They had 1 volunteer per lane counting pool lengths swam for the swimmers. Everyone received a nice swim cap for the race too. I got a blue one.
9:45 AM - Head out onto the pool deck and struggle to get the swim cap on over dry hair. I don't normally swim with caps, but triathlons require them, so c'est la vie. Actually, after this race, I've decided to start using them more often to get the hang of them. They actually do help a little too...at least through placebo effect, making you think you look like you know what you're doing.
9:47 AM - Jump in and do two warm up laps. Goggles fill with water twice, but I figure I'm just a little jittery and don't think twice about it.
9:50 AM - Whistle starts our wave. I push off the wall and my goggles immediately fill with water again. I realize that my swim cap is pulled down too low on my brow, causing my eyebrows to squish down and mess with the seal on my goggles. I didn't dare take of the cap all the way, knowing the trouble that would ensue in trying to get it back on, so I decide to just flip the front of it up an inch or so. Push off the wall again and all is well.
10:00 AM - Whistle blows. 19 pool lengths. I was gunning for at least 16, which I did in my own 10-minute test earlier in the week. I lost count, so it felt good to hear I beat my goal!
10:10 AM - They gave everyone set transition times to avoid running around the club. Ten minutes for transition 1 (T1), so I changed out of my jammers and into some tri/bike shorts and shirt and headed upstairs to the spin studio. Because the bike wave is 30 minutes, the wave before us were still spinning. They had two rows of spin bikes facing each other, so we were able to use the empty row. I get the bike all adjusted and clip in for a quick warm up to get the legs ready before the transition time was up.
The part I was concerned about going into the day, was how they were going to measure distance traveled on the spin bikes, as they don't have computers or odometers on them. Also, they resistance on them is manually changed, allowing for variation between bikes.
The answer to the first question was pretty obvious: they mounted simple bike computers onto the bikes, with the sensor measured equally on the spin wheel.
But for the second question, apparently the spin instructors came in beforehand and each took turns on each of the bikes judging and adjusting each of them to "feel the same" all the way down the line, then they just taped the knob so it couldn't be moved. We had no choice but to accept their judgment.
Now, my biggest goal was the bike portion, as that's what I've been training the hardest and most for since last fall. I wanted to do my best, even if the results were a little skewed, just to see my name towards the top of the standings.
The whistle blows right on time. The spin instructors take turns on some other bikes while on the mic and basically guide us through a miniature spin class. They made it very fun actually, cheering us all on, and throwing in some interval spins just to make us push ourselves harder. The resistance wasn't set at a very high level, relatively speaking, so it really came down to who could spin the fastest for the longest period of time. Time went very fast, and before I knew it, the whistle was blowing.
I was gassed. I really pushed myself hard, and had to sit for a minute to let the blood circulate back to my head. I unclipped and headed out to the treadmill.
10:55 AM - The whistle blows to start the run. They had volunteers wandering around helping people get set up and making sure we all kept our feet on the belt at all times. We could set the speed and incline however we wanted, but couldn't step off the belt unless we hit pause and stopped recording distance. I got up and running pretty quickly and held an 8:30 pace for the first few minutes, then slowly increased the speed throughout the rest. I felt very loose considering the bike portion, so with about 8 minutes left I upped the pace to about 7:10 and went for it.
I don't normally check heart rate, but my next big investment will be a decent heart rate monitor to help with training. But as I was running on the treadmill, I took one or too grabs on the handle bars to check the heart rate, just out of curiosity. The max I found was 184 with about 3 minutes left in the run. A little higher than I was expecting, but kind of fun to find it.
The whistle blows, and I end with 2.63 miles. Averages out to just under an 8:00 pace, which also beat my goal of 8:00 or better.
As I walked away, I realized that I didn't drink any water except while biking, and I definitely felt it. Probably should have taken at least 3 or 4 swigs while running. Good notes for next time.
The results took a few days to come out, but I ended up 5th out of 60 total participants. Much better than I was expecting, but deep down that's about where I wanted to finish.
Here's the rest:
Overall: 5/60
Men's Division: 4/23
Men's Open Division: 3/14
Breakdown by leg in the Men's Division:
Swim: 4/23 (19 pool lengths; 25 meter lengths)
Bike: 1/23 (15.6 "miles")
Run: 4/23 (2.63 miles)
That's right. I won my first bike race!!
Turns out, I "rode" 15.6 miles in 30 minutes; 0.4 miles farther than anyone else. Mathmatically, that turns into 31.2 miles per hour, which I highly doubt I could hold on a road bike outdoors for 30 minutes. But, it felt really good to blow that goal out of the water this early in the season.
All in all, it was a really great time, and most importantly, a very well-organized race. All the volunteers and LTF personnel were very friendly and helpful, and made great cheerleaders.
The bike race season officially starts on my calendar next Tuesday, so I'll have much more regular entries starting soon.
Let the endorphin flow kick into high gear!
Lifetime Fitness - Eagan, MN
I've been putting off the blog, so checking in with a race report.
I went into this race to use it as a training day, and to see where I'm at with my level of fitness. The difference with this triathlon to the common triathlon, is that it is time-based, rather than distance-based. A "normal" tri consists of a person swimming, biking and running certain lengths, and then ranking that person against other competitors based on the time it took them to complete those distances.
This tri consists of a set time for each leg (10-minute swim, 30-minute bike, 20-minute run), then ranking the results based on the distance traveled. What's nice about it is, you know exactly when you're going to be done. The bad part is, that using indoor equipment (spin bike and treadmill) can create variables that may skew the results, primarily on the bike.
Knowing this, I do take the results with a grain of salt, but I still feel that I'm meeting my fitness goals rather nicely.
On with the report:
3:30 AM - Still awake at a couples' baby shower in Eagan. This was definitely not the plan, but it turned out that the shower-turned-party was a lot more fun than expected, so I decided to just go with it.
We went to a bar in Savage earlier in the evening that had a live cover band. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries at about 9:00 PM, and drank two beers, two captain cokes and one jag bomb. There was a very loud cover band playing, and they were really fun, so I didn't feel like going home early for bed. I didn't get drunk, by any means, but I definitely was not sober when we left the bar.
We went back to the hosts' house in Eagan, and opened up the taco bar leftovers. A few of us turned on some Wii Sports, until we discovered the ping-pong table downstairs.
After a double's double-elimination tournament, and then a single's tournament, all with just the guys on teams as most of the girls went to bed, I decided that it was probably a good idea to get home to get the bar smell off of me, get some water, and maybe a short nap before my planned arrival time of 7:00 AM.
5:45 AM - Arrive in the garage, head upstairs and pack the tri bag, set two alarms and take a short nap.
6:10 AM - Get a text from my bro-in-law (BIL) saying that our time has been pushed back until 8:50. Short response text saying I'll be there at 8:30. Reset alarms. Back to sleep.
8:30 AM - Arrive at LTF, sign in, change into swim wear and sweatpants, and head to the sauna to warm up and stretch while watching the wave of swimmers already in progress in the pool.
They arranged the start times by waves. The pool in Eagan has 5 narrow lanes, and they put 2 swimmers to a lane, so each wave can have 10 swimmers. They had 1 volunteer per lane counting pool lengths swam for the swimmers. Everyone received a nice swim cap for the race too. I got a blue one.
9:45 AM - Head out onto the pool deck and struggle to get the swim cap on over dry hair. I don't normally swim with caps, but triathlons require them, so c'est la vie. Actually, after this race, I've decided to start using them more often to get the hang of them. They actually do help a little too...at least through placebo effect, making you think you look like you know what you're doing.
9:47 AM - Jump in and do two warm up laps. Goggles fill with water twice, but I figure I'm just a little jittery and don't think twice about it.
9:50 AM - Whistle starts our wave. I push off the wall and my goggles immediately fill with water again. I realize that my swim cap is pulled down too low on my brow, causing my eyebrows to squish down and mess with the seal on my goggles. I didn't dare take of the cap all the way, knowing the trouble that would ensue in trying to get it back on, so I decide to just flip the front of it up an inch or so. Push off the wall again and all is well.
10:00 AM - Whistle blows. 19 pool lengths. I was gunning for at least 16, which I did in my own 10-minute test earlier in the week. I lost count, so it felt good to hear I beat my goal!
10:10 AM - They gave everyone set transition times to avoid running around the club. Ten minutes for transition 1 (T1), so I changed out of my jammers and into some tri/bike shorts and shirt and headed upstairs to the spin studio. Because the bike wave is 30 minutes, the wave before us were still spinning. They had two rows of spin bikes facing each other, so we were able to use the empty row. I get the bike all adjusted and clip in for a quick warm up to get the legs ready before the transition time was up.
The part I was concerned about going into the day, was how they were going to measure distance traveled on the spin bikes, as they don't have computers or odometers on them. Also, they resistance on them is manually changed, allowing for variation between bikes.
The answer to the first question was pretty obvious: they mounted simple bike computers onto the bikes, with the sensor measured equally on the spin wheel.
But for the second question, apparently the spin instructors came in beforehand and each took turns on each of the bikes judging and adjusting each of them to "feel the same" all the way down the line, then they just taped the knob so it couldn't be moved. We had no choice but to accept their judgment.
Now, my biggest goal was the bike portion, as that's what I've been training the hardest and most for since last fall. I wanted to do my best, even if the results were a little skewed, just to see my name towards the top of the standings.
The whistle blows right on time. The spin instructors take turns on some other bikes while on the mic and basically guide us through a miniature spin class. They made it very fun actually, cheering us all on, and throwing in some interval spins just to make us push ourselves harder. The resistance wasn't set at a very high level, relatively speaking, so it really came down to who could spin the fastest for the longest period of time. Time went very fast, and before I knew it, the whistle was blowing.
I was gassed. I really pushed myself hard, and had to sit for a minute to let the blood circulate back to my head. I unclipped and headed out to the treadmill.
10:55 AM - The whistle blows to start the run. They had volunteers wandering around helping people get set up and making sure we all kept our feet on the belt at all times. We could set the speed and incline however we wanted, but couldn't step off the belt unless we hit pause and stopped recording distance. I got up and running pretty quickly and held an 8:30 pace for the first few minutes, then slowly increased the speed throughout the rest. I felt very loose considering the bike portion, so with about 8 minutes left I upped the pace to about 7:10 and went for it.
I don't normally check heart rate, but my next big investment will be a decent heart rate monitor to help with training. But as I was running on the treadmill, I took one or too grabs on the handle bars to check the heart rate, just out of curiosity. The max I found was 184 with about 3 minutes left in the run. A little higher than I was expecting, but kind of fun to find it.
The whistle blows, and I end with 2.63 miles. Averages out to just under an 8:00 pace, which also beat my goal of 8:00 or better.
As I walked away, I realized that I didn't drink any water except while biking, and I definitely felt it. Probably should have taken at least 3 or 4 swigs while running. Good notes for next time.
The results took a few days to come out, but I ended up 5th out of 60 total participants. Much better than I was expecting, but deep down that's about where I wanted to finish.
Here's the rest:
Overall: 5/60
Men's Division: 4/23
Men's Open Division: 3/14
Breakdown by leg in the Men's Division:
Swim: 4/23 (19 pool lengths; 25 meter lengths)
Bike: 1/23 (15.6 "miles")
Run: 4/23 (2.63 miles)
That's right. I won my first bike race!!
Turns out, I "rode" 15.6 miles in 30 minutes; 0.4 miles farther than anyone else. Mathmatically, that turns into 31.2 miles per hour, which I highly doubt I could hold on a road bike outdoors for 30 minutes. But, it felt really good to blow that goal out of the water this early in the season.
All in all, it was a really great time, and most importantly, a very well-organized race. All the volunteers and LTF personnel were very friendly and helpful, and made great cheerleaders.
The bike race season officially starts on my calendar next Tuesday, so I'll have much more regular entries starting soon.
Let the endorphin flow kick into high gear!
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