2013 Road Race Season, epilogue

It's always hard not to judge the entire season by the last few races. Last year, I ended on a high note, taking 1st and 3rd in the final two races, and receiving my Cat 3 upgrade letter in the mail shortly thereafter.
This season however, fizzled out slowly, with both enthusiasm and ability crawling along to the finish.
In order to provide a fair introspection on the season as a whole, I will provide a timeline of races and a brief recap of high/low lights.

May

• 8 - WNS 16km ITT
• Big turnout for the first WNS of the year, 8th overall, in a strong field. Watts very close to the same as a similar race a year ago. Only 29 seconds behind Mike though.
• 11-13  -Velocity SR
•  Worked my ass off for Isaac in Road Race, chasing breaks. Went in the ditch on final turn. 10th/36 in ITT, only 1 second behind Mike! Tired and timid in crit; unable/unwilling to push to the front in the final laps.
• 26 - Pigeon Lake RR
• Cancelled right before final loop due to crashes.

June

• 11 - MM Crit
• Fast names, hung on and rode strong.
• 13-16 Banff BikeFest
• No improvement in HC over last year. First time racing 1ASprint RR, which ended in crash right before the sprint. Missed start time for ITT. Too risk-adverse in crit. Finished strong in Tunnel Mtn RR, but got center line infraction.
• 22-23 Devon GP
• Bottom 3rd in Hill Climb. Skiddish in crit after Mike crashed. Strong in cat2/3 combined RR, worked for Marc, but strong in sprint. Finished 3rd but relegated for center line infraction. Cost me podium in RR and high placement in Omnium.
• 25 - MM Crit
•  Raced strong, but rained out before the finish.
• 26 - WNS - Mini Giro RR
• Suffered like a dog on the course with nothing but climbing and climbers. Finished solid.

July

• 1 - Canada Day Provincial Crit
• Tactical race won by break. Played the only hand I had and had the best outcome I could have received in those circumstances.
• 7 - Stampede Master's Provincial RR
• Mechanical problems forced me out of the race.
• 13-14 - Rundle Mountain Omnium
• Mid-pack in prologue. Unable to obtain my position in the crit. Strong Provincial road race, where I worked hard and managed a top 10 in the uphill finish.
• 27-28 - Kicking Horse Cup
• Consistent power and good final kick on long hill climb. Hung on for first climb but dropped on 2nd lap. Strong finish in final kms.
• 31 - WNS Hill Climb
• Two other guys in Cat A, Evan Bayer and Isaac... and I came in 2nd! 

August

• 3-5 - Tour De Bowness Omnium
• Strong in long road race, attacking, chasing, sprinting. No motivation in Hill Climb so pulled the chute half-way up. Lost position in final lap of Crit, despite racing strong.
• 9-10 - Jason Lapierre
•  Not riding strong in ITT, until flat at turnaround forced me to quit. Didn't read the tactics in the crit sufficiently so was out of position for the sprint. Also really low max wattage.
• 17 - Provincial ITT
• Little bit sick, not much motivation, and even less ability!

While typing this summary, a few observations jumped out at me.
First off, my lack of aggression in the crits prevented much of my former crit success this year. I recognized situations where other guys, mostly young guns, would dive bomb into corners at obtuse angles, risking life and limb of everyone around them. I would always back off. I happened a bit in road races too, but usually there is more time/distance to recover. Not so in a 30 lap crit.

I started the season with strong time trials, but ended weakly. This tells me I had great fitness coming off Libby, etc, but with the sheer amount of racing my fitness probably waned, while I accumulated fatigue.

I excelled in the long road races. The longer and nastier, the better. Apparently. After Devon and TdB I'm confident that I could easily hang in most Cat 2 road races, with enough mustard to produce a solid finish.

I've also lost my fear of climbs. In years past I would never have driven all the way Golden to do a hill climb! Sure at 80kg I'm not built like a horse jockey, but I love how those races are about sustained wattage. I'm finding I can climb better than most sprinters, and sprint better than most climbers. There are certain races where this could be the perfect recipe for success.

Cat 3 tactics are very different from 4 and 5, at least in my pelotons.
In cat 5, guys will sprint from everywhere! You are guaranteed a lead out from anywhere you want, if you are patient and can jump a few wheels.
In cat 4, nobody wants to sprint too soon, so you can often catch the pack off guard by jumping early.

In cat 3 this year, due to the log jam of great juniors always present, guys attack everywhere. Entire races are often filled with attacks, many of them a couple hundred meters, slight regroup, then next attack. Timing is key and trusting a few other guys in the group to help chase down legitimate breaks.
Seldom is there any team tactic involved, however.

Highlights

• Points in all Provincial Races (6th in Crit, 9th in RR, 6th in ITT)
• 28 Upgrade points, out of the required 60 (could have been more if GC events still counted for upgrade points. Also could've had more if I'd learned about that centre-line rule sooner!)
• Increased critical power for 10-30 min range.