On Saturday Dani and I rolled over to Putah creek at the crack of dawn to ride a time trial. It was cold, very cold! I went because it's the team's chance to see who's where in terms of time trialing abilities. I am not a strong time trialer, and I have not spent many hours perfecting the art of time trialing. Therefore, my time trialing abilities are somewhat limited. However, Saturday I gave it what I had and that's that. Fortunately, for collegiate we don't have the time trial bikes and fancy aero stuff to use. That seems to put everyone on a level playing field. (perhaps gives me the advantage with my slim Felt AR frame?) Anyways, I had a decent ride at 24:23.
As for the ride itself, a few notes (more for my sake than anyone elses). I started off strong, but tried to keep it reserved for the first two or so miles. After that I tried to keep my heart rate at the top end of my ME, in hopes that I'd be able to sustain that long enough before ramping things up in the last few miles. Like I said, I am not the expert, but this is what I did, wrong or right. I was able to maintain upper ME, fortunately that felt great. I only once or twice backed off a little to not get in over my head with the effort during the middle of the TT. Possibly next time, no backing off and see if I still have enough gas left in the tank to finish strong. As for the finish, yeah, it got hard. (That means I'm doing it right, right?)
The TT felt good, I think the training is paying off.
Sunday: Paskenta
I love and hate this race. A lot.. As it turns out, this year I made it through the gravel without flatting. That's a pretty big deal if you ask me. The gravel is infamous for making or breaking the race for most riders. That's where the attacking happens, it's where things get hard(er).
This year, the pack dwindled down one by one until we had about 20-25 riders coming into the gravel section. Those were some pretty solid dudes too! It'd be a fair assumption to say that all of us were P/1/2 (with some real pros in there). At one point in the race, before the gravel, I myself had some trouble with the cross winds. It was not easy keeping out of the wind, but fortunately from experience I knew that I had to get out of the wind. It was not an option, there was no way I'd survive if I was on the center line (or in the gutter on the wrong side of the road) getting ripped to shreds by the wind. I think that's what popped most everyone off the back by the time we made it to Paskenta.
As for the gravel, I was doing sorta well until we descended down the steepest of the gravel hills. I took the turn too fast and wide, forcing me to slow it down and regain my balance which opened up a gap between myself and the three riders in front. After that I was toast, there was no way I could motor back up to them, considering the were rotating through on the gravel. It was rough, hard to manage! I didn't flat, so that was a plus. But seriously, I had to pee bad, even before the gravel. The gravel didn't help that.
After the gravel, I was back onto solid ground. That's when I snapped my chain when downshifting in the front. Once I busted the chain, I optimistically thought that I could bend the broken link in and ride it. That lasted all of two seconds. The next moment I look down and my rear derailer is ripped off, hanging on top of my chain. That was the end of my day, I was done for. Fortunately I got a ride in with the sag wagon..
Not how I wanted to finish the race. This is the second time I've watched the second half of the race from a vehicle. Next year I'm going to finish it! The real bummer is, every time this happens I can't really test my fitness. How would I have done in the last twenty miles, the last ten, last mile? I don't know, but I can tell that my fitness is really coming around. I've trained consistently for the past month. That's something I'm proud of, coming from a rider who's raced his way into shape. I used to ride when I wanted for as long as I wanted. There would be weeks at a time where the bike would go untouched. This year, I've done a better job being disciplined with my training plan (considering that this is the first time with a training plan, and a garmin, and strava..)
As for now, Here are some photos of the Paskenta carnage.
And I think it's possible that the mullet was just too much for my chain, it just gave me so much power that I snapped my chain. That in combo with the Paskenta 'Stache, which is said to give one the power of ten riders. (:
Darn..
This is how I feel about Paskenta!
By the way, this sums up how my girlfriend feels about my mullet. It's quite controversial! I'd say it's hit or miss. Either you love it or hate it. Personally, I love it. We'll see how long it sticks around.
Fresno is next weekend! See you there.
Fresno is next weekend! See you there.
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