Well, the course profile showed this race to consist of 9 laps of a 5.3 km circuit, which included about a 2km climb at the end of each lap. A field of about 40 riders lined up in the parking lot and then on to the race path, on a beautiful sunny morning.
The course was quite narrow, with strategically placed traffic cones throughout the course, making it hard to ride more than 2 or 3 abreast in many sections. The first 2km of the loop were pretty insignificant, followed by a fast, straight descent, which ended with a 90 degree hard right turn, right into the final climb before the finish.
The pace started out moderate, and I settled in around 20th wheel for much of the first half of the race. Around lap 2 I saw Mike come up beside me, who said because of the tightness of the pack, it had taken him 2 laps of inching forward to make it to that halfway mark of the peloton.
He surged ahead at one point and go off the front for a bit, only to be swallowed by the headwind + rolling hills. Somehow he got in back behind me, and when one rider slipped and skidded out in that final corner, Mike was on the outside line and was held up slightly. I was lucky to be on the inside line and could catch the rush going up the hill, and managed to stay on the wheel during the attack that followed.
I was hurtin' though... man. At a couple of occasions, I seriously considered pulling over and dying. Perhaps if I was not in the lead pack I might have done just that.
But I pressed on, trying to minimize my work effort until necessary to stay on the wheel in front of me.
Spent laps 6-8 near the back of the splintered lead group of about 15 riders, barely hanging in there at times, then catching my breath just enough to stay in there. At this point, there was no sign of Mike and the at least 20 other riders behind...
On the 8th lap final ascent, the lead pack attacked again, but this time I resigned myself to find my own pace (had been riding in the red for WAY too long at this point), and hopefully find some other stragglers to pace with so we wouldn't get caught by the pack behind us.
Another guy rode beside me, obviously with the same idea, and asked how many laps left?
I said I thought one more after this, so let's ride together. He agreed and we rode steadily along to the line, when I saw and heard Scott hollering "don't let him pass you, Reinier!"... holy crap, this WAS the last lap!?
I bolted ahead in the last couple meters to take 12th or something. Dang. If only I'd realized this was the last lap. It probably would've helped with my morale, feeling like I was about to get dropped at anytime, with another lap to go... aye. Stupid... oh well. I was definitely happy the race was over, sore, and a bit queasy for having tried a new mix I picked up from Ridleys - I know I know, always try it first in training!
Sunday, August 1st, Hill Climb
3-up time trial, up the road to Canada Olympic Park (beside the bobsled track), 1.25 kms with about 400 ft increase in elevation; approx 10% grade. Definitely has the making of some serious agony.
Mike and I arrived with plenty of time to warm-up, as they hadn't posted our start-times online. There had been some confusion in the results from the RR the day before, so we were just hoping for a fair (time) trial tonight. I was to be paired with a guy who frequents the WNS with Mike, Andrew Paul, and someone else (didn't recognize the name). Mike was starting 4 minutes later, with only one other rider. However, both mine and Mike's heats were short a man, so I was with Andrew, and Mike rode by himself.
Watching the Jr's earlier, two of them wiped out within 5 feet of the start, one due to a broken chain and another just lost balance. Nice way to start!
I, luckily, did not suffer such a misfortune, and when the countdown hit zero, I bolted out of the gate.
Andrew swung on behind me through the first straight away and the proceeding left kickback. I realized he was right on my tail, so I took the next turn widely and let him pace-set. I also realized that turn was going straight into the wind. He was setting a great pace (not too fast to burn me out, not too slow) so I told myself I would swap pulls on the next turn. The turn came and went, and I told myself, ok, just a little longer...
Definitely painful experience. I sat in behind Andrew until the final turn, when he seemed to lose a bit of steam, so I jumped in front, with about 80m to go. There was nothing but willpower left as I stood up in hopes that I may find a hidden gear somewhere in there. Nope. I got a good jump on him, but climaxed about 10 ft from the finish line, as Andrew edged past me at the line.
Can't complain, he did such a large portion of the pulling/pacing. My watch time said about 4:54, but I glanced at the time sheet which said 4:59 I think. Still under 5, which was my hope (after pre-riding the hill).
Mike came in shortly thereafter at around 4:45.
Both of us were a bit disillusioned by the pace of the young guns that lead out before us too, combined with the times from last year, which had the cat 5's winning time at 4 mins flat, and 10th spot only 30 seconds behind that. (top racer over all was 3:12!).
Maybe they had a tailwind... we'll see when the results are posted.
Oh, and the weight of my bike was also on my mind. About 1.4 kg heavier than Mikes, which was already a kg heavier than the minimum allowed.
Another guy weighed in his Madone, which was 2 kg lighter than mine! I guess you get what you pay for!
Well, last-chance crit tomorrow...
What went right:
- Adequate warm-up. Hit the trainer for about 10 minutes, then did about 7 laps of the course.
- Decent start-line placement - too busy gabbing to get a line at the front, but was 2 back. At least I had the outside line going into the first corner.
- Cornering. I felt very comfortable around each corner, and found myself using the corners to close gaps in front of me.
- Overal awareness. I had no problems this time with knowledge of which lap we were on, when the prime laps were, and when the final lap was on.
- General resiliency. Although I was never really "feeling" it, I hung with the lead pack till the end.
- My head. Combination of poor sleep, disappointment that the family couldn't come, and frustration with the ABA officials (they reverted the RR results to the original, botched, list!)
- My legs. Lack of hill-specific training paid it's price from the hilly RR and the HC the next day. I was definitely NOT feeling fresh from the very onset of the crit.
Overall, I am a bit disappointed with my performance in this stage race.
I finished the RR about where I expected to, the HC I knew wouldn't be my strong suit, I just didn't realize how many fast kids would be in the race too, and I had higher hopes for the crit result.
Also, I'm very disappointed with the organization of this event, specifically the officiating. I don't think having to argue with officials at the start of each race is the best way to prepare for a big race. Not sure if I'm going to do TdB again next year. Certainly not the HC (although I'd love to train on that hill.)
Images here
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