Riding not Racing

Pack Fodder Eyewitness Cam

One day I won’t be in position to witness the dumb stuff that goes on in the field. Some day, I’ll actually race on the front instead of wasting my money (and risking my skin) riding as pack fodder.

The Cat 2 race was uneventful. I was feeling great until the rain started, at which point I entered self-preservation mode. Nobody has ever won a race while in self-preservation mode (unless riding in a break is considered a preservation tactic) and I wasn’t going to be the first. The inevitable crash occurred on the last lap but I avoided the mash-up.

The Pro 1/2/3 race was bigger, faster and easier than the small-field Cat 2 race. This isn’t bravado, rather it is the confession of a passive racer: everything is easier in a corporate park crit when you shirk your responsibilities at the leading edge.

I was a non-teammate as Bender tried heroically to get into a winning move and was too tired when the winning five finally went up the road. If I had been there to cover even one of the moves, perhaps he could have rested enough to make the final selection. My bad, I’ll make it up to you.

On this day I had the pleasure of hanging out with Elliott “Mouth of the South” Craddock from the Garmin Development team. Bender warned me that Elliott is loquacious. Coming from a non-stop talker, that definitely raised eyebrows.

I must admit that if you listen closely, mixed in with the running commentary, Mr. Craddock will drop a gem or two on your ears. My favorite on the day was this pearl of training wisdom, “…kind of like how you get faster just by sitting on the couch in your kit…” When I got home, the boss lady had a puzzled look on her face when she asked why I was lounging around the house in my lycra but she relented when I said it was making me faster.

Elliott was caught up in a late race crash as people fought to position for the 6^th place field sprint. Luckily he and the majority of his bike survived. That pile up convinced me that the final upgrade point wasn’t worth the trouble.

The kid is tough and he’s survived much bigger falls than the one on Saturday: Cyclist falls from 50 foot bridge.

Talk about a random and unexpected crash:

Cat 2 Crit Data:

Duration:               41:26
Work:                     651 kJ
TSS:                       50.4 (intensity factor 0.86)
Norm Power:          284
VI:                           1.08
Distance:              18.539 mi

================Min == Max == Avg
Power:                    0            940        262        watts
Heart Rate:           103        181        172        bpm
Speed:                    0.1         35.8       26.8       mph

Peak 5s: 909 watts
Peak 1min: 460 watts
Peak 5min: 332 watts
Peak 10min: 284 watts, 317w normalized
Peak 30min: 265 watts, 288w normalized

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Pro 1/2/3 Crit Data:

Duration:               1:31:47
Work:                     1341 kJ
TSS:                       96.7 (intensity factor 0.797)
Norm Power:          263
VI:                           1.08
Distance:              41.375 mi

================Min == Max == Avg
Power:                    0          1035    244      watts
Heart Rate:           100      182      167      bpm
Speed:                    4.6       36.0     27.0     mph

Peak 5s: 886 watts
Peak 1min: 366 watts
Peak 5min: 281 watts
Peak 10min: 271 watts, 282w normalized
Peak 30min: 256 watts, 273w normalized
Peak 60min: 252 watts, 269w normalized

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