Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/131368728
Arriving at Great Park tonight, it was obvious that it was going to be a tough race. The temperature was a little cool, but the wind was definitely blowing. As I was getting ready, I kept wondering what would be the best strategy given these conditions. I would ask Shannon this same question when I saw him, but we both weren't sure how to plan the race. I was thinking it would be crazy to try and break away in the wind, but his thoughts were that breaking away in the wind would likely not get others to chase you down. Both definitely had merit.
While getting ready, I also saw John Lenell getting ready 2 cars away for his debut appearance in this series and was meeting a buddy to join him. He ended up joining us in the CAT 4/5 group, so it was nice to see him out there with us.
In lining up for the race, I was next to Shannon and I was looking around seeing who the threats were. The race series leader was looking around seemingly doing the same thing and the guy in the #2 spot happened to be right next to me. It was weird when Ryan, the organizer, came and stood by the #2 guy and was looking at him, looking at me, and looking back at him. I wasn't sure what that meant, but maybe he was looking at someone else other than me. What I did know is that one of these days, I would love to have a straight up run with #2 for a sprint to the finish. The guy has a mad sprint, so I just want to see how I fare against him.
When the race started, the two sides of the course (front and back, vs. top and bottom) were pretty much polar opposites in terms of conditions. The back side was where you hit that ridiculous head wind while the front side was just fast given the tail wind. Going through the warm-ups, I was pushing almost 200 watts just trying to hold 16-17 mph, so that pretty much sums up how tough that side was. In contrast, the other side had me hit my PR for max speed this year for the sprint section: 37.5 mph. Zoom zoom.
The first lap of the race was pretty uneventful. There were some meek breakaway attempts, but nothing that resulted in the peleton giving chase...and rightfully so. People were reeled in on the fast side after having worked alone against the wind. I knew that was going to be the case, especially on solo breakaways, so I just held my position and watched #1 and 2.
I think on the 2nd or 3rd lap, one of the Shimano guys had taken off on the bottom side of the course where I gave given chase after working my way closer to the front looking for breakaways. I caught him and got on his rear wheel where he didn't seem to want to push on and work together for a break.
Then I saw another break away with more people, so I jumped in on that one and we actually had a pretty good sized group where I had hoped that it was enough to have it stick. However, our group dwindled shortly from 6 people or so to 3. I kept working with the two, albeit one of them was taking some rather soft pulls, but maybe we could hold the break anyway. When two guys caught us, however, I wasn't as willing to be held out by them (it was the #1 and #2 spot guys), so I started to soften up in pedaling while the other two guys tried to keep the break. The two guys who were in my draft ended up going for the prime, but I kept my pace while the two guys, after getting passed by #1 and 2, kept trying to push up and hold their break. I eventually got picked up by the peleton as did the others who were ahead of me.
Going through the remaining laps, I had actually found myself toward the tail end of the group. I wasn't too worried as Shannon was nearby too, so I figured if we started to get dropped as a result of the accordion effect, we could close the gap together. That's the benefit of having a team mate out there.
When we got to the 2nd to the last lap, I was watching the #2 guy but we ended up getting separated with some of the shuffling going on. There were more break away attempts, but none that were too threatening since the peloton found no reason to give chase.
On the last lap, I started to push up and started to take the inside line given that it was faster on the back side of the course. As the pace picked up, it wasn't long before the guys who tried breaking away again were caught. I ended up riding behind the #1 guy, so I was hoping to stay with him for the length of the remaining race seeing if he could provide me a slipstream for the finish.
Shannon was somewhere behind me at that point, but I wasn't sure where. I hoped he would be somewhere near me where I can provide him a lead out, but I was never able to look back and verify.
As we rounded the last turns on the bottom of the course, I really started to push up trying to make my way closer and closer to the front. By the 2nd to the last turn, the pace really picked up where I worked to push up a little more and get into a good position. I was hoping to be near #1 and 2, as they were up close to the front also, but I ended up trying to setup the last turn behind one other guy hoping he would lead me out. Instead, he took the turn a little wide where I had to actually push out farther than I hoped and eventually make my way around him early to give the final sprint a go.
With the tail wind, there were a few people who rounded the turn ahead of me, but I got going and believe I made my way past a good number of guys getting a 5th place finish (unofficially) for the team. I also PR'd my max power tonight, so it was definitely a good run for the finish. Of course, I wondered what it would have been like to be closer to the guys who finished ahead, but I'm happy with where I ended up nonetheless. Shannon unfortunately got boxed out during the last couple turns and didn't get to come with me. I would have loved to have him take my lead out and finish even higher, but that just wasn't in the cards tonight.
The 24.5 mph average speed tonight was definitely a good representation of how much winds were out there affecting the overall pace. That's the way it goes sometimes though, and all I kept thinking was everyone out there was just as affected by these conditions as I was. The trick was just not to overextend myself from it. That is definitely where having a power meter comes in so handy.
Team BRCM once again in top 10 is a great thing. If anything, I'm sure people out there are starting to realize what a threat we present when we're out there. If that isn't a good enough reason to come out and represent, then I don't know what is.
Thanks again for coming out with me, Shannon, and thanks for the brew!
Arriving at Great Park tonight, it was obvious that it was going to be a tough race. The temperature was a little cool, but the wind was definitely blowing. As I was getting ready, I kept wondering what would be the best strategy given these conditions. I would ask Shannon this same question when I saw him, but we both weren't sure how to plan the race. I was thinking it would be crazy to try and break away in the wind, but his thoughts were that breaking away in the wind would likely not get others to chase you down. Both definitely had merit.
While getting ready, I also saw John Lenell getting ready 2 cars away for his debut appearance in this series and was meeting a buddy to join him. He ended up joining us in the CAT 4/5 group, so it was nice to see him out there with us.
In lining up for the race, I was next to Shannon and I was looking around seeing who the threats were. The race series leader was looking around seemingly doing the same thing and the guy in the #2 spot happened to be right next to me. It was weird when Ryan, the organizer, came and stood by the #2 guy and was looking at him, looking at me, and looking back at him. I wasn't sure what that meant, but maybe he was looking at someone else other than me. What I did know is that one of these days, I would love to have a straight up run with #2 for a sprint to the finish. The guy has a mad sprint, so I just want to see how I fare against him.
When the race started, the two sides of the course (front and back, vs. top and bottom) were pretty much polar opposites in terms of conditions. The back side was where you hit that ridiculous head wind while the front side was just fast given the tail wind. Going through the warm-ups, I was pushing almost 200 watts just trying to hold 16-17 mph, so that pretty much sums up how tough that side was. In contrast, the other side had me hit my PR for max speed this year for the sprint section: 37.5 mph. Zoom zoom.
The first lap of the race was pretty uneventful. There were some meek breakaway attempts, but nothing that resulted in the peleton giving chase...and rightfully so. People were reeled in on the fast side after having worked alone against the wind. I knew that was going to be the case, especially on solo breakaways, so I just held my position and watched #1 and 2.
I think on the 2nd or 3rd lap, one of the Shimano guys had taken off on the bottom side of the course where I gave given chase after working my way closer to the front looking for breakaways. I caught him and got on his rear wheel where he didn't seem to want to push on and work together for a break.
Then I saw another break away with more people, so I jumped in on that one and we actually had a pretty good sized group where I had hoped that it was enough to have it stick. However, our group dwindled shortly from 6 people or so to 3. I kept working with the two, albeit one of them was taking some rather soft pulls, but maybe we could hold the break anyway. When two guys caught us, however, I wasn't as willing to be held out by them (it was the #1 and #2 spot guys), so I started to soften up in pedaling while the other two guys tried to keep the break. The two guys who were in my draft ended up going for the prime, but I kept my pace while the two guys, after getting passed by #1 and 2, kept trying to push up and hold their break. I eventually got picked up by the peleton as did the others who were ahead of me.
Going through the remaining laps, I had actually found myself toward the tail end of the group. I wasn't too worried as Shannon was nearby too, so I figured if we started to get dropped as a result of the accordion effect, we could close the gap together. That's the benefit of having a team mate out there.
When we got to the 2nd to the last lap, I was watching the #2 guy but we ended up getting separated with some of the shuffling going on. There were more break away attempts, but none that were too threatening since the peloton found no reason to give chase.
On the last lap, I started to push up and started to take the inside line given that it was faster on the back side of the course. As the pace picked up, it wasn't long before the guys who tried breaking away again were caught. I ended up riding behind the #1 guy, so I was hoping to stay with him for the length of the remaining race seeing if he could provide me a slipstream for the finish.
Shannon was somewhere behind me at that point, but I wasn't sure where. I hoped he would be somewhere near me where I can provide him a lead out, but I was never able to look back and verify.
As we rounded the last turns on the bottom of the course, I really started to push up trying to make my way closer and closer to the front. By the 2nd to the last turn, the pace really picked up where I worked to push up a little more and get into a good position. I was hoping to be near #1 and 2, as they were up close to the front also, but I ended up trying to setup the last turn behind one other guy hoping he would lead me out. Instead, he took the turn a little wide where I had to actually push out farther than I hoped and eventually make my way around him early to give the final sprint a go.
With the tail wind, there were a few people who rounded the turn ahead of me, but I got going and believe I made my way past a good number of guys getting a 5th place finish (unofficially) for the team. I also PR'd my max power tonight, so it was definitely a good run for the finish. Of course, I wondered what it would have been like to be closer to the guys who finished ahead, but I'm happy with where I ended up nonetheless. Shannon unfortunately got boxed out during the last couple turns and didn't get to come with me. I would have loved to have him take my lead out and finish even higher, but that just wasn't in the cards tonight.
The 24.5 mph average speed tonight was definitely a good representation of how much winds were out there affecting the overall pace. That's the way it goes sometimes though, and all I kept thinking was everyone out there was just as affected by these conditions as I was. The trick was just not to overextend myself from it. That is definitely where having a power meter comes in so handy.
Team BRCM once again in top 10 is a great thing. If anything, I'm sure people out there are starting to realize what a threat we present when we're out there. If that isn't a good enough reason to come out and represent, then I don't know what is.
Thanks again for coming out with me, Shannon, and thanks for the brew!
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