What a weekend it was in the Valley of the Sun. Paul, Jenna, and I did our time this weekend and all managed to come away better trained in the ways of fitness and tactical prowess. Our mission was to supercharge the training workload while trying our hands against everyone else who is crazy enough to be racing in mid February. This was the first stage race experience for both Jenna and Paul and both came away with some success and lessons learned. I came out alright after hanging with the fast cat 2’s.
The TT was a rough start to the weekend. The out and back course was pancake flat and I was having a somewhat difficult time finding my rhythm. Any concerns about that rhythm however were quickly yielded pointless when I flatted with just less than two miles to go. This was no ordinary flat however. I had a roofing nail sticking through both walls of my Open Pro rim. Ouch… This rim was just laced up to the PowerTap hub about a week ago, so I was sad to it so freshly damaged. I rolled into the finish and received the same time as the slowest rider as this is how the rules work apparently.
The Road Race was long and hot. 90 miles in the near 90 degree temps was equally matched by the strong winds. We had a crosswind going out, a tailwind over the climb and a headwind coming back on the triangular shaped course. About 45 minutes into the race I got popped hard. We had been pounding nails from the gun and I was simply in the wrong spot of the road when we turned into the crosswind. Gaps opened and I couldn’t close them. The rest of the day was spent largely doing tempo while consuming huge quantities of water. I felt strong in the end and dropped the group to salvage 30 seconds or so in a statement of personal distaste for getting myself dropped early on. Granted most of the field also got shelled, but it’s never an easy thing to come to terms with.
Sunday’s crit was largely uneventful as nothing ever really got off the front of the group and we all kept together at a moderate effort around the figure eight shaped course. I would move up towards the front and two corners later I’d be near the back again wondering where I went wrong. I tried inside lines, outside lines, middle lines - you name it, but I couldn’t figure out the right ‘flow’ for the life of me. This forward and back action went on for a majority of the 55 minutes but by the end I decided it was best to play it safe and stay out of the chaos at the front. There were a lot of raised reflective bumped coupled with manhole covers in the corners and with the pace lifting I decided to chill out. After a somewhat rough race opener the last thing I wanted to do was to lose skin in this crit race.
Paul nailed it in the cat 3 RR and finished on the Podium. Not bad for a first-ever legitimate road race… And Jenna came out 12 in the pro women’s field for the RR. Only some bad luck kept her out of the GC competition. She was knocked over from behind while slowing to avoid a pile up caused ahead by those reflectors on the crit course. Paul also flatted in the TT and this also dashed his GC contention otherwise he’d have ended up in the money too. All things considered we all had positive race experiences and came away smarter tactically and now that we’ve rested some, more physically fit to put down the watts.
Next up will be the Estrella Especial MTB race on Saturday. This will kick off the knobby season for me as I attempt to get some race practice before that fast-approaching Norba #1. Keeping it Real, -TJ
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