This weekend was a great test and I think I passed on most accounts. Saturday was the White Tank Whirlwind, part of the MBAA series. Our field was relatively stacked for a state race. Paul and myself were joined by ‘Rad’ Ross Schnell of Trek/VW Factory Team, Andy Schultz of Bear Naked-Cannondale, two of Japan’s top NORBA racers Keiichi and Raita, and a slew of fast local pros including Kamdeen Reedy. At the start line I knew that it was going to require a lot of focus to keep the pace high for the 35 miles and I also knew that I had what it would take to stay near the front if all went well.
I piloted the Scott Scale 10 to the front at the start and things stretched out rapidly. A quick look back and I could see Ross on my wheel followed by a long string of riders. The pace was kept high, but never too much and this was enough for gaps to start forming behind. Ross passed just before the technical stuff and got a bit of gap. By the end of lap one Andy and I were chasing Ross who was about 20 seconds up on us. Unfortunately I got stopped, as in 20 down to 0 mph, by some lap traffic and now Andy had 15 seconds or so on me. MBAA really likes to make sure that the sport men 12-15 are on course with the pros…
This was the sequence for the first couple of laps as I could see both riders ahead but the gaps remained. On the third lap I really dug deep and tried to close on Andy, but unfortunately he was doing the same to catch Ross. From twenty seconds back I saw Andy make the pass and Ross must have quit racing that very moment because I went by him as if he wasn’t moving. Amped on shedding the ‘factory pro’ I continued to charge hard in hopes of catching Andy, but he was on the same kick and the gap remained for the rest of the race. On the last lap he opened things up a bit and I realized that I wasn’t going to win, though I was still pumped for second place. A good test and confirmation that next weekend’s NMBS opener ought to be a good one. A look at the day’s preliminary results…
Sunday Jenna and I drove south to race the Tumacacori RR. Just 17km from the border this was a really tough course. At six miles in length and over 400 ft of steep climbing, coupled with fast technical descending the race was full on nearly all of the time. 12 laps of the course was a real battle and I succeeded for 9 of them before finally cracking. There were just a dozen or so of us left at this point and I could no longer make the 500 watt spikes required to stay in the lead group. On the day there were no less than 46 spikes over 500 watts. I finished the last couple of laps with Kyle riding at an endurance pace, completing what made for one of the year’s hardest workouts yet. This data comes courtesy of my home-repaired PowerTap fin. The factory sodering job left the red wire was loose, causing some frustration and data loss. Paul’s sodering got it going again.
Needless to say, I’m in recovery mode now before the big McDowell event approaches and I can’t wait. Thanks for following along. There will be more blogging to come so stop back again soon. Enjoy the ride,
TJ
Entries (RSS)