It's always prudent to test oneself prior to target races. Many athletes will do smaller races or do simulation workouts to gauge fitness, test gear, and work on mental fitness. It's hard to imagine a sport that doesn't require some degree of "dry run".
The CBC double metric century (I rode the imperial century of 100 miles) proved to be a good test of my fitness before racing in September. Affirmation for what has been a more patient, yet structured, training schedule (read: boring lol).
The day was supposed to be a scorcher but some early AM showers and fantastic lightening display cooled the temps down to reasonable levels despite spiking the humidity level. While I didn't start off too quick, I certainly did not waste any time getting up to a pace that was far from pedestrian. This was my first focused effort "racing" on my Tarmac and the bike performed flawlessly even if I did not.
The first thirty miles included a quick aid station and a thinning of the herd with the climb up Michigan hill and the undulating terrain outside Centralia. Further hills, much to my legs delight, rolled steadily and I had barely a bit of fatigue in the legs through mile 45...until I became LOST.
Panic? not really.
I got lost. I never get lost in a race very often however this time it sent me off course by about 5.5 miles. What was more concerning is that I had flocked in with a group of fellas that were sure we were heading in the right direction. Nope. We weren't. It wasn't until I told them the cue sheet prompted us to turn well before this time that we turned around (side note: never try and read a cue sheet whilst in a pace line..sketchy). A Fervent pace line ensued back to the point of original error, and after burning precious batches getting back on course I was met with a pretty big rough patch in the day. Miles 60 through 80 were not kind to me-- however, many of long death marches on the bike over the years have taught that keeping a steady pace and getting in calories always serves me well and I will eventually get my legs back. I swore a few times and the false flats could have made me cry but took solace in passing many people in those 20 miles. I increased the amount of calories by almost 30% in that time and kept my hydration steady to avoid cramping. Once again, I was thankful the heat had abated for the time being.
Over the bigger climbs and rollers of the day I made pretty good pace (and so-so recovery from the rough patch) to make Rochester with good time. I had even caught a coworker and friend who had started the course hours ahead of me. What made it even more special was Wendy and Nola there to give me the little boost to get back out on the bike and get back to Tumwater as fast as possible.
The next 20 miles went fairly well and I caught plenty of the OlyOrtho guys in the last ten miles. Many of tempo rides have been ridden on those final 10 miles and I left nothing remaining into the final miles of the ride.
A steady pace, good conservation of effort in the flats, and no stupid accelerations to put too much crap in my legs and I finished with a respectable 5h30minutes for the 100miles (+10) completed on the day. A total gain of 2,600ft is paltry compared to races I've done prior in Southern OH and WVa but the overall pace and effort was sustained to make an honest day of PB.
The Takeaway
My goal going into the ride was to finish within 6 hours if I was having a bad day, and ideally closer to 5hrs. I feel that with my concerted effort to not go too deep at the start, burn my matches evenly throughout, and not trying to crush the climbs I showed my form was in line for races later in the summer.
I made up a lot of time on the climbs despite not pushing into the red-- climbing is a cycling discipline, given my rather slim genetics and abnormally high max HR, that I continue to excel. When I was physically capable of mountain running my uphill game was pretty strong. While I haven't had the opportunity to put in any serious vertical training this year it IS reassuring to see that the ability to reach into my pocket and pull out good climbing results remains.
Looking Forward
I'll be looking to train to my weaknesses in the coming months. Hitting that low point after getting lost showed that my fitness could use a bit of bolstering on threshold stamina. False flats be damned.
The first thirty miles included a quick aid station and a thinning of the herd with the climb up Michigan hill and the undulating terrain outside Centralia. Further hills, much to my legs delight, rolled steadily and I had barely a bit of fatigue in the legs through mile 45...until I became LOST.
Panic? not really.
I got lost. I never get lost in a race very often however this time it sent me off course by about 5.5 miles. What was more concerning is that I had flocked in with a group of fellas that were sure we were heading in the right direction. Nope. We weren't. It wasn't until I told them the cue sheet prompted us to turn well before this time that we turned around (side note: never try and read a cue sheet whilst in a pace line..sketchy). A Fervent pace line ensued back to the point of original error, and after burning precious batches getting back on course I was met with a pretty big rough patch in the day. Miles 60 through 80 were not kind to me-- however, many of long death marches on the bike over the years have taught that keeping a steady pace and getting in calories always serves me well and I will eventually get my legs back. I swore a few times and the false flats could have made me cry but took solace in passing many people in those 20 miles. I increased the amount of calories by almost 30% in that time and kept my hydration steady to avoid cramping. Once again, I was thankful the heat had abated for the time being.
Over the bigger climbs and rollers of the day I made pretty good pace (and so-so recovery from the rough patch) to make Rochester with good time. I had even caught a coworker and friend who had started the course hours ahead of me. What made it even more special was Wendy and Nola there to give me the little boost to get back out on the bike and get back to Tumwater as fast as possible.
The next 20 miles went fairly well and I caught plenty of the OlyOrtho guys in the last ten miles. Many of tempo rides have been ridden on those final 10 miles and I left nothing remaining into the final miles of the ride.
A steady pace, good conservation of effort in the flats, and no stupid accelerations to put too much crap in my legs and I finished with a respectable 5h30minutes for the 100miles (+10) completed on the day. A total gain of 2,600ft is paltry compared to races I've done prior in Southern OH and WVa but the overall pace and effort was sustained to make an honest day of PB.
The Takeaway
My goal going into the ride was to finish within 6 hours if I was having a bad day, and ideally closer to 5hrs. I feel that with my concerted effort to not go too deep at the start, burn my matches evenly throughout, and not trying to crush the climbs I showed my form was in line for races later in the summer.
I made up a lot of time on the climbs despite not pushing into the red-- climbing is a cycling discipline, given my rather slim genetics and abnormally high max HR, that I continue to excel. When I was physically capable of mountain running my uphill game was pretty strong. While I haven't had the opportunity to put in any serious vertical training this year it IS reassuring to see that the ability to reach into my pocket and pull out good climbing results remains.
Looking Forward
I'll be looking to train to my weaknesses in the coming months. Hitting that low point after getting lost showed that my fitness could use a bit of bolstering on threshold stamina. False flats be damned.
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