Solitude #6 was last night. I really don't understand racing at all. Last night my legs were tired from the big rides this weekend. My start was pure crap, I got blown to near the back of a 22 rider field before the singletrack even started. On the first switchback I had to CX it through the pileup of knuckleheads who never seem to learn they need to save just a little bit for that first section. Oh, and I'm not very good at CX'ing it. Soon after that I got caught behind another slow mover and went lethargic just spinning along. Chris caught up to me a little later and was smart enough to ask the guy to let us pass. I don't know why I do that but I'm content to spin behind people for way too long. Chris and I got by and I was fully recovered from chilling behind the slow guy so I got out of the saddle and Andy Schleck'd it for the next little bit up the mountain till I got stuck behind somebody else. By this point I was rollin' so I asked him for a pass pretty quick and as he eased over I got around in the weeds. Soon after I got around Janelle and then Jody and some other dudes in my class. Hit the road, Big Ringed it across and caught Ken but I was blown and couldn't hold him off heading into the DH. I sucked ass on the the DH and he gapped me but I kept him in sight hoping to bridge back up on the climb. My legs were AWOL on the second climb. I would come close to catching back on to Ken but then I would screw up a section and lose him. I finally caught back on through the steep switchbacks on the ski run but then screwed up the short steep pitch and lost him again. Caught him again at the road and poured it on to get a big enough gap to hold him on the DH. Didn't even need the gap because I shredded the DH Sly Style. I ended up 6th out of 22 with my best time ever.
That's where the clueless part comes in. I had a horrible start and it wasn't until 1/3 of the way up the first climb that I woke up. Then I had a crappy 1st Dh and a stinker 2nd climb yet I still had my best time ever. Last week my legs felt great the whole time and I rode pretty well yet was a minute slower. What gives?
Friday News And Views
14 hours ago
14 comments:
I wish I could have been there last night as it looked (based on the results) like a good group with a nice spread of fast, medium and slow racers.
Hey, and I'm with you regarding the payouts. Why is the biggest class getting stiffed? Seems silly to pay out so much to the Pro/Expert Women (as an example) where everybody who shows up earns points (due to small field sizes) while the sport men get fewer placings and less money. Makes no sense...
Sounds like you didn't get in a good warm-up.
I did my usual warmup of 20-30 mins of easy spinning with 3 hard efforts up the highway which is what I did last week and had a great start. The strange thing is I did feel like I didn't get a good warmup.
it is better to go slow at the start then ramp it up, cause most people go off too hard and then have no choice but to ramp it down.
It is better to be at the front in the end, as apposed to the beginning. saying I won the race to the top of the first climb does not win any awards.
And you need a much longer warm up, timer permitting.
The bigger the class, the deeper the payout should go, even though saying that puts me out of the money in my class. Something may change.
The Pro/Expert class should have a higher pay out though.
Mark, which group did I fit in, fast, med or slow ;-)
When I posted that on UMB I was in 6th overall and it didn't look like I could get 5th anyway. I just though the payout system seemed a bit lopsided. Now that one of the fast dudes moved up I'm sitting in 5th and I realy want them to pay 5 deep!
Andy = Fast
Mark = Medium
Hopefully they'll fix it.
How was the course?
Bob, thats what I always prefer to do, start slow, but it's just soooooo bloody hard to pass on that climb and if I need to pass 10-12 sport men plus a few expert women it seems like it takes forever to get to the top. I need to try it though b/c thats the whole point of training races.
What would you recommend for a warmup for that race?
Course was great. It got a little bit of rain sunday and some of the construction mess has been cleaned up and returned into trail.
Thanks for the compliment. I don't think Andy and fast have ever been used in the same sentence before! Well maybe a couple times but thats private:)
45 minutes to an hour.
That is what I try to get in.
Heck I do 1 hour warm ups for 2 hour races.
The shorter the race, the longer the warmup.
Any hard efforts or mostly just easy spinning?
a few hard efforts, really short, sub 30 second.
Cool, thanks I'll try that Tuesday with a little slower start, rest and repeat for Evansaton. This is good stuff, you should get it on the race tips page when you get a chance.
bz doesnt warm up 2 mins.
neither would i,
its about training not warm up.
dont start slow, practice your weakness' race your strengths. you need high end work in the first 10 mins.
like, cx in fall,
short track races,
multiple short rides a week with high intensity, ultra high, like im gonna hurl high.
no long rides.
you are enduro man. flip it to short track man.
you need the hole shot.
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