One of the great things about the Midwest is that the weather can change rather rapidly. If you are not satisfied with it one minute, it will typically (in the Spring and Summer, at least) change to something more enjoyable. That was what I was hoping for today.
Usually when preparing for a ride/race, I will check both weather.com and go stand outside for a few to see how it feels. The combination of the two techniques usually gets me dialed in to what should be comfortable for the ride. Today was a little different in that the outside weather was a little brisker and mistier than I was expecting based on the forecast. The forecast that I saw this morning said mid-to-upper 40s drifting into the low-to-mid 50s during the time that I was planning on being on my bike. It also said that we were due for only partly cloudy with minimal chance for rain. This really messed with my head, since I could feel the mist outside. Oh well, it will go away and get warmer, I thought. If only I knew how wrong I was. While the rain stayed away, the temperature and sun never came out to play.
Kari, Chris and I ventured out from the Target at Hwy 100 & Cleveland in West Allis at 8:15 this morning to ride leisurely to the course. The goal of this ride was to loosen up the legs and while putting some mileage in them. With this being an early season race, results, while important, are not as important as getting the miles in to prepare for the bulk of the season in June and July.
We got to the course with about 10 minutes to spare before registration closed and dumped our stuff by a tree. Chris and I then went off onto the course to get a nice easy lap in, to see the course and keep the legs warm and loose. We lined up about 3 rows back in the field of 45 Cat 4/5 riders at the start (41 finished) waiting for them to let us go.
The whistle blew and we were off! I told Chris that I wanted to sit in the field for the first 3 laps to see what would happen and let other people set the pace/monitor the attacks. This seemed to work fairly well and after a few laps, the field was reduced slightly. Chris and I kept ourselves near the front of the action and out of harms way for most of the race. Both of us went on a few solo flyers to keep the edge of the field cranking along. Whenever it seemed to slow down, one of us would push up to get the front of the field to respond. I know my strength is sprinting, so I was not trying to end up in a solo breakaway. If a couple riders would've come with, however, I would have been up for seeing if we could make it work.
On the final lap, I asked Chris how his legs were doing. He said that they were good and he had some work left in them. I said that mine felt good and that I had some sprinting power in them. After we crested the bigger bump on the course, Chris pushed forward with me right on his wheel. He drove the field at a high speed through the back part of the course with me safely tucked in behind him. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas entering the second to last turn, so the field crept around us. I broke off his wheel and tried to reestablish myself near the front of the group, but I was running out of real estate. I entered the final corner 8 or 9 back (I wanted to be 3 back), and was squeezed outside. I felt my pedal hit the ground and kick my rear wheel airborne, but I was able to control it and keep the throttle open. As I was sprinting towards the line, the guy next to me kept drifting into my line and pushing me onto the grass. I was yelling at him that I was on his right, but he kept coming. I finally got around him and tried to give it as much as I could once I had open road in front.
I finished 6th out of the 41 riders. Chris must have just sat up once he finished his pull for me because he took 29th. While I was a little pissed that I got out of good position going into the final straight (my legs felt really good and I was closing on the guys fighting for 1st), Chris and I rode a solid race in a very twitchy field. I was pushed off the road a couple times because guys did not hold their lines, and I felt some handlebars on my legs a couple times while people were jostling around next to me. The overall average speed for the race, in case you're curious, was 24.3 mph for the 40 minutes. Mr. Garmin said that I had a max of 34 mph in my sprint. Not my best, but not bad considering how many times I had to slow down to get around the guy pushing me off the road. We definitely learned a lot today with regards to timing our lead-out to sprint. Great practice!
After our race, Chris rolled home while I stuck around to watch Kari race. She did great! She hung in the with field the whole way, but got boxed out on the final lap and also took 6th!
Once she had some food in her, we made our way home. I believe that our total mileage was in the 60 mile range. Pretty good for the warm-up, race and cool-down! Despite the weather, riding outside is way more fun that inside. Come join us as we start to ride outside more and especially for the Milwaukee Roubaix next weekend!
Happy Training!
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