Points (6×6)

Goal: Place.

Stuck to my usual impatient strategy hoping to work on recovery after the sprints and won the first sprint easily from 150m. Stuck it out for the next sprint and grabbed another point without working too hard. Shin got away immediately after the second sprint, only Tim chased after he scooped up the third sprint. A group of four held a gap for the next two sprints and I just hung on with the remaining 5 for the rest of the race. We caught up for the last sprint but I had nothing left.

My early points got me 4th since the points were fairly concentrated, goal accomplished. I definitely have some work to do in order to stay competitive for the later sprints. Next week I need to stay away from the first sprints entirely and win the last few outright.

Points (7×6)

Goal/purpose: win a sprint or two, try a two lap breakaway to gauge my solo strength off the front.

Resolved to sit in and start sprinting after a few racers in our small field had worked themselves in the early sprints. Couldn’t help myself from grabbing a point in the first sprint, but didn’t work very hard for it. Found myself 4th wheel for the second sprint when the two leaders went at turn two. I didn’t feel like working to either bridge the gap or drag the other riders up, so I didn’t chase immediately. I followed a wheel from over the top at 200m, easily passing him at 150m, finding myself back at the two leaders coming toward the line. Got the hole shot to win the sprint. Rode it through the next lap and slotted back. Feeling rested enough at 32 laps to go, I kicked hard in turn 1 after Allen from Webcor pulled up.

Held the gap for the rest of the lap, but riders eventually bridged up and I died in the sprint. 5th in the sprint, no points for a taxing effort, but a valuable lesson learned. Had I got in turn 3 a lap out I could have won the sprint with a solo effort, but probably also could have won it by just sitting in. Kept things interesting.

Started to fizzle at this point, hung on the back for another dozen laps or so, eventually sat it out and lost points as the remnants of the filled drilled it in the last few laps. Finished 1 lap down.

Goals accomplished, came down to a trade off between trying the solo break and finishing the race with the lead group: glad I tried something new.

Summary

June 28th through August 3rd, 2008. Last week in terms of training was mediocre at best, but definitely an improvement over no training at all/recovering from post-crash funk.

Monday

Off.

Tuesday

Did a mid-afternoon 3-mile run, track racing.

Wednesday

1/2 Cyclo-core, got a major quad cramp :(

Thursday

First M2 Revolution class, hell of a workout without that thrashed feeling afterword. Feeling the effects the next morning. Late night/poor sleep.

Friday

Ran 4.5 miles to Transverse via Peacebrook Cross and back.

View Larger Map

Saturday

Tried to find Hill 88, required too much hiking, very mellow headlands.

Sunday

Timpani Criterium.

Summary

July 21st through July 27th, 2008.

Monday

Off, no commute, no nothing.

Tuesday

Realized I can’t put my brake setup on my drops when the fixed gear is in track mode, so no commute. Track racing at night, first Tuesday in months. Horrible stomach cramps kept me out of the last half of each race.

Wednesday

Stayed home from work, slept in, watched the Tour repeat. Intervals: alternating 5×1k power intervals,5×500m sprints with 1-2k recovery at the polo fields. Core/strength: 100 situps, 100 squats, 50 pushups, 10 pullups.

Thursday

Ran for the first time in months. Started easy, only 20 minutes around the panhandle, but running is not nearly as hard as I remember even on sore legs.

Friday

Another run, first timed mile. Ran the 1 mile to Kezar, did an epic 8:30 mile at the track, and then Ashley motor-paced (bike) me back home another mile.

Saturday & Sunday

Took it easy, visited family. Got my core workout on Saturday helping Ashley’s Dad move heavy furniture up and down flights of stairs.

Somewhat Disappointing

First crit I ever finished, mostly flat (though the backstretch pitches a little bit more than I remember). I wanted to do really well, but I wasn’t feeling the magic going in or coming out.

This was still a struggle. Started off fine, and rode in the top 5-10 for the first half of the race. Eased up for the mid-race lull but cornerswarm and some hard attacks on the backstretch kept the race hard throughout.

They ended us almost 10 minutes early which really threw off my timing, and 5 laps was not enough time for me to get far enough up front and recover for a sprint.

Narrowly avoided some bell lap carnage that split the top 10 from the rest of the group. I sat up and rolled in at 23rd after the main sprint. Only improved by one spot from last year, didn’t really have a lot of fun in this race though I expected to and wanted to do well: kind of disappointing.

Summary

July 14th through July 20th, 2008. Horrible training (or lack thereof) week. Lots of late nights at work.

Monday – Friday

Nothing

Saturday

Nice mellow Barber Shop loop with Ashley.

Sunday

Albany Criterium

Disappointment

This was my first race. I wanted to do well, but considering my time off for injury I had toned down my ambitions from podium to top-ten. I got a horrible start: junior in front of my couldn’t clip in and I bobbled over his rear wheel and had to unclip. By the time I got going I had to make up a quarter lap gap.

Got on and dangled on the back for another 6-7 laps when a rider spontaneously combusted in toward the end of the pack gapping me with another few riders. I worked with DBC junior Cody and we got back on briefly but I couldn’t handle the accordian on the hairpin after another couple laps. Worked together with a Metromint in the same spot until we got pulled with 9 laps to go.

Expectations

From the course description and Jake’s recon I expected another Brisbane Circuit Race where I surprised myself and was able to hang and even stay up front for all the climbs except the final lap.

Reality

The CCCR hill is quite a bit longer and pitches up steeper at the finish. This was fine for the first 5 laps until some harder attacks went off and I started running out of pack to drift back through. The reality is by July the Elite 4 field is a lot more fit than in April and I didn’t have the climbing shape for the faster laps.

Closing Gaps

I managed to get back on after getting dropped at 5 to go, similarly at 4 to, again getting slightly gapped just before the finish. I’d make my way back toward the front on the backstretch, but with 3 to go I ran out of gas to move up and got shot off the back early into the climb. Rode a solo lap and then traded pulls with a BBC master who was racing later. He gave me the win when we got close to the finish.

Result, DFL+whoever got dropped+1.

Summary

July 7th through July 13th, 2008. Back on the bike.

Monday

Off.

Tuesday

Commute, easing into it. Bike back from the shop.

Wednesday

Commute, Headlands loop.

Thursday

Commute.

Friday

Commute.

Saturday

Coyote Creek Circuit Race

Sunday

Lafayette Criterium