Summary: 14th road race, 31st time trial, 11th crit, 17th overall. The fields were pretty large all weekend with somewhere between 75 and 100 riders starting each race (except the time trial). The fields were also stacked with what seemed like most of the top pros based out of the southeast entering this year. So I am happy to have raced well and been a factor in all of the races, but disappointed a little bit with the actual results.
The details: The downtown criterium was another almost race for me. It had been drizzling for a while before the start of our race and it was still lightly raining at our start so I knew that position was going to be a huge factor in this race. I lined up at the spot closest to the front that they would allow and then was still able to squeeze a spot on the front row after all the call-ups. I clipped in first and got off the line first and then eased up a bit to get into anybody’s draft for the first corner. The corner was very slippery and we were going fast so I sorta held my breath and was amazed that nobody (including me) in the front of the group went down on either that or the second corner. I stayed in good position and I think I may have bridged to one small move in the first three laps. I was always at the front, but I couldn’t go with the winning move which was initiated by Matt Winstead (Inferno) on the third lap. He attacked hard and I decided I need to just rest and hope that the move would come back. It didn’t and four of the riders in the initial break were able to stay away all the way to the end. I stayed near the front and went with several good-looking moves, but none of them could even get established to the point where we rotated all the way through before getting caught.
Late in the race, I was in a spot to go for a cash prime, but I could only manage second behind a DLP rider. We had a large gap and one of his teammates was on my wheel so I drilled it again after the prime and the two of us got away. I was cooked though and when the DLP rider came around, all I could do was hang on for the next lap. I pulled through once or twice on the lap after that, but we got caught towards the end of that lap. All of this was with about 5 laps to go in the race. When the pack caught us with three to go, I was tired and slid to about the middle of what was left of the field (only about 50 of the initial 80-90 riders). That’s when my teammate, Darryl Seelhorst, came up beside me and said “Let’s go”. I jumped onto his wheel, and he pulled me forward all the way to the front of the group. I fought for position from that point on but still found myself about 10-15 riders back with 1 to go. John Jacob (Mob Squad) attacked hard up the lefthand side of the road with half a lap to go and I was able to jump onto his wheel and he pulled me up to 5th wheel going into the next-to-last turn. I lost a few positions going into the last turn and then was able to pass a few people in the sprint to get 7th in the sprint which was 11th in the race (with four guys already finished).
As far as the omnium went, it was the perfect storm as the six people who finished in front of me in the crit sprint were all close behind me in the omnium prior to the start of the race, so nearly all of them leap-frogged me in the omnium.
Here’s my heartrate/power data and stats:
- Covering an initial move
- I suspect Matt Winstead’s move went right about here. Very good lesson for everyone – attack after the pace has been hard for a while, the break is more likely to stick because people are tired and less likely to chase!
- Bridging to a chase group
- Bridging (or covering) another chase group
- The relatively easy middle part of the race
- Going for the prime and then getting away for a lap and a half
- The final lap
The stats:
Data Value Unit
Duration 1:01:33
Sampling Rate 1 s
Cycling Efficiency 26.0 %
Energy Expenditure 448 kcal
Minimum Heart Rate 111 bpm
Average Heart Rate 169 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 189 bpm
Standard Deviation 6.8 bpm
Minimum Speed 6.9 mph
Average Speed 27.2 mph
Maximum Speed 35.7 mph
Distance 27.9 miles
Minimum Cadence 31 rpm
Average Cadence 86 rpm
Maximum Cadence 121 rpm
Coasting Time 0:04:59 (8.1 %)
Coasting Distance 2.2 miles (7.7 %)
Minimum Altitude 525 ft
Average Altitude 541 ft
Maximum Altitude 554 ft
Minimum Power 4 Watts
Average Power 328 Watts
Average Power (0 W incl.) 293 Watts
Maximum Power 812 Watts
Pedaling Index Average 18 %
Pedaling Index Maximum 52 %
Left Right Balance Average L54 – 46R Left – Right
Left Right Balance Maximum L90 – 10R Left – Right
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