Frankenmuth Michigan is a small little Bavarian town, great place to hold a bike race. My race was a scheduled 65 miles on a circuit just over 16 miles per lap. Luckily the race started at 8am because the forecast was in the mid 80’s for the day. From the get go the tactic of the day was breakaways. Attacks were constant throughout the first and second lap. However it wasn't till near the end of the second lap that a group of three actually got away. For the most part I relaxed, however at the end of the first lap I managed to choke on my energy bar. I honestly thought, "hey, I might need to stop and have someone give me the hymlic maneuver." Ya, it was bad. I managed to spray it down with water from one of my bottles, however in the process I managed to drop my bottle and get dropped by the pack. Luckily the pace wasn't fast at the time and I caught up quick. However, now I needed to conserve water since I was a bottle short.
So back to the breakaway, three riders slipped off the front near the end of the second lap. Since none of my team mates where in it, and the pack wasn't chasing I decided to hop to the front and turn the screws up. For the next mile or two I hammered it till the three were back within 10 seconds, then I sat up because my job was done. Shortly there after 3 more riders from the pack joined the break, including one member from my team. The six riders quickly built a gap, enough teams were represented so the pack knew that this break wasn't coming back. The next two laps went fairly quiet with only a few little attacks. I spent some time on the front trying to slow the pace. With 6 off the front the sprint was only going to be for 7th. Heading into town on the last lap I moved up front with my other 4 team mates to try and do a proper sprint train. My legs just didn't have it though and I sat up and coasted into town. I finished in the dead back of the pack, but I was still happy since my work earlier helped get my team mate into the break where he ended up finishing 5th. The heat has also really gotten to me, but my fitness is feeling really good. Once criterium season comes around I should be in full form.
Frankenmuth Michigan is a small little Bavarian town, great place to hold a bike race. My race was a scheduled 65 miles on a circuit just over 16 miles per lap. Luckily the race started at 8am because the forecast was in the mid 80’s for the day. From the get go the tactic of the day was breakaways. Attacks were constant throughout the first and second lap. However it wasn't till near the end of the second lap that a group of three actually got away. For the most part I relaxed, however at the end of the first lap I managed to choke on my energy bar. I honestly thought, "hey, I might need to stop and have someone give me the hymlic maneuver." Ya, it was bad. I managed to spray it down with water from one of my bottles, however in the process I managed to drop my bottle and get dropped by the pack. Luckily the pace wasn't fast at the time and I caught up quick. However, now I needed to conserve water since I was a bottle short.
So back to the breakaway, three riders slipped off the front near the end of the second lap. Since none of my team mates where in it, and the pack wasn't chasing I decided to hop to the front and turn the screws up. For the next mile or two I hammered it till the three were back within 10 seconds, then I sat up because my job was done. Shortly there after 3 more riders from the pack joined the break, including one member from my team. The six riders quickly built a gap, enough teams were represented so the pack knew that this break wasn't coming back. The next two laps went fairly quiet with only a few little attacks. I spent some time on the front trying to slow the pace. With 6 off the front the sprint was only going to be for 7th. Heading into town on the last lap I moved up front with my other 4 team mates to try and do a proper sprint train. My legs just didn't have it though and I sat up and coasted into town. I finished in the dead back of the pack, but I was still happy since my work earlier helped get my team mate into the break where he ended up finishing 5th. The heat has also really gotten to me, but my fitness is feeling really good. Once criterium season comes around I should be in full form.
You racing this weekend? Or training local?
ReplyDelete