wattsperkasra

[wattsperkasra]

It has been a long time since I have posted here. The season was going pretty well up until my last race. About 3 months ago I had a pretty bad crash in the crit at the Tour del Sol, thankfully I came out with just some bad road rash and some bruises. The crit was brutal, fierce cross-winds made for a very very difficult race with everyone fighting for wheels and position like they were fighting for their lives. 

So I took a break from racing. I changed my mental state, I just wanted to enjoy riding my bike, rather than being so focused on improvement 100% of the time. I ate cupcakes and cookies, drank some beer, went on group rides. And you know what, I was riding better than ever. But I started to get that itch for competition again and then in my Facebook inbox came a message from AJ Mesalic. Iv’e met AJ only a handful of times, and we don’t really know each other, but the contents of the message intrigued me; “Mojave Death Race”. Without really doing any research into what this race was I told him I’d help him out as he had a team member drop out last minute. I’m glad I could help.

So then doing some research I found out exactly what I had signed up for, and to be honest it was a little more of a commitment than I had envisioned. The Mojave Death Race is a 270+ mile team endurance event with road biking, mountain biking, running, and trail running. It is a total of 24 legs, we had 7 on our team so we each did 3 or 4 legs each. Well, I’d say we actually had 8, with my wife running support for the whole team like a champion. I told AJ to sign me up for any legs that go straight uphill, and that he pretty much did. I did 4 legs spanning about 90 miles with about 8,000ft or so of climbing. 

We stayed in this middle of nowhere town an hour outside of Vegas where the start line was; Nipton CA. We “slept” in an 8 person tent, literally got no sleep though. A combination of the wind rustling the the roof of the tent and 3 or 4 freight trains rushing by through the night made it hard to get in any kind of REM cycle! Anyway, I was up at 5am, ate my oatmeal, and got to the start of leg 2 where I’d be taking off for a 19 mile bike with 2,000ft of elevation gain. Felt pretty good for this leg, and pretty much went 90% of my ftp, and got us a good lead I think of about 5-10 mins. Then with each subsequent leg our lead just grew and grew and grew.

I had not met any of my team members before, but they are all beasts. We had some sick fast runners, fearless mountain bikers, and Lisa who did a leg of each discipline and super fast at that! 

To cut a long story short, we just smashed it. We never let up, even with our lead constantly expanding, we just never let off our pace. I would go into details, but honestly I have been so busy with my new job at Caesars and trying to get Fuelixir going, I don’t have the mental capacity to finish this blog post! I would recommend going over to my mojave death race teammates blog to check out her recap....https://lisaleonardtriathlon.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/june-2nd-double-header-weekend-part-two-kenda-cup-west-big-bear/.

One week later now, and I’m excited to reunite with my team tonight for pizza. Gonna be great to relive it, even though it has just been 1 week. But it was just that fun! I’ll be there next year I think to defend our title. I feel obligated!

Gonna get back to racing soon so stay tuned.

[wattsperkasra]

Chuck Pontius State Champs RR 2015 Recap

This was a big race for me. The course is very challenging, about 55 miles with ~6,000 feet of climbing, 2 to 3 major climbs varying in length from around 4 to 9 mins, technical descents, wind, and heat. Brutal. 

My training had been good leading up to this event, and I was feeling ready. I’d consider this my first real Cat 3 race, as it was a pure Cat 3 field, and it was stacked with over 70 riders. I was nervous, and I was anxious to see where I was at in this new Category.

The race got underway, and we were soon met with the first climb, a shorter one, about 5 mins long. I made sure I was near the front of the pack. I felt good going up the climb, I stayed toward the front and made it to the top without any real struggle. We descended down and then began a long inclined section with some small punchy sections of road toward the turnaround. We had a tail wind at this point and were flying, I felt comfortable, just concentrating on my position. We turned around and then descended. I stayed toward the front as I knew this was going to be fast and technical. There were a few little digs that I responded to, but none of them produced anything significant. There was one corner I took so fast, I thought my elbow was going to brush the road....you can really lean into corners, trust your equipment!

We got to the real significant climb, an 8-9 minute climb. As expected the pace was furious from the bottom. I stayed with the leaders, but then after a few minutes I began to lose contact. With each pedal stroke the pack was drifting further away. I wasn’t alone, many riders were dropping off. I’d blew, my breathing was hard, I needed to ease off and compose myself. The leading group had gained 10-20 seconds by the peak of the climb, myself and another rider were chasing, with some other fragmented groups behind us doing the same. We had to put in a big effort to get back on, but we did it. This was wasted energy though, I could have done with saving that for later. 

We went through the feed zone, thank god for my wife, she was there in prime position with a much needed bottle. We started the second and final lap, the group had probably been cut by about 50% or more. We got to the first little climb again, I felt good and got to the top with no problem, but some riders were shelled. We were probably down another 5 or 10 riders making a group of between 35 or so for the rest of the race. We flew up to the turnaround, flew back down and were at the big climb again. 

Now I had a decision to make. Do I try and stay with the lead group again and risk blowing up worse than I did the first lap, or do I set my own pace and hope its strong enough to stay within touching distance and maybe chase back on? I decided on the latter.  Sure enough a large group surged up the road at the start of the climb, I set my pace. After only a couple of minutes, sure enough, riders began to pop off the back of the lead group one by one. I passed one rider, another, another, and another. In a few minutes I must have past at least 15 riders and I could see the lead group about 15 seconds up the road. They were not gaining much ground now, just sustaining a pace similar to mine. Towards the top I made contact with a group of 3 riders who had just dropped off the lead group. They latched on to my wheel and I just kept my pace to the top hoping we could all work together and chase back on. 

We got to the top, I flicked my elbow, but no one responded. We began descending, and no one wanted to put the effort in. I just pulled us up the climb so there was no way I was about to put in another big turn. We couldn’t get organized, which was a shame really, as we could have easily caught the lead group. 

The final 500m is a steep incline to the finish. One rider in the group shortly before this put in a big pull and almost got us in contact with the leaders, a rider (who had been doing absolutely nothing to even try and get us going) shot forward. The guy who just put in the monster pull said “go get em”. That’s probably why we didn’t get organized, a secret alliance.

I went as hard as I could to the finish, which was not much, I was tired. I did pass a couple of riders on my way there and ended up in 18th place.

This was for sure a big eye opener. Cat 3 is way different. I remember about two thirds of the way through the race looking around and seeing over 30 riders. I thought to myself if this was Cat 4 or 5 there would be like less than 10 guys here. Everyone is stronger. Was my strategy going into the final climb correct? I don’t know, maybe I should have given it a go. Maybe I could have if I had just stayed in contact that first time around. Who knows. I just know I need more Cat 3 racing experience. I still need to work on my positioning, I need to know when to use my power, when to hold back. It will come I’m sure. Overall I am pleased, top 20 out of over 70 riders in probably the toughest race of the year as a new Cat 3 is not bad I guess. Still, a part of me is disappointed, but I can see the positives. 

[wattsperkasra]

Desert City Series Recap 2015

It took me a while to get round to writing this recap. Been super busy with Fuelixir and am also in the process of starting a new day-job. Now a week later, after a super hard training ride that my coach prescribed me I have a moment to reflect and recap while I put my legs up! Last week I had planned to go to SoCal for the Nine Mile Canyon Omnium, however things just worked out differently so myself and a few teammates took a trip to Utah for the final days of the Desert City Crit Series which featured crits on the Friday and a ~60 mile road race on Saturday.

The crit on Friday was at the Old Airport in St. George, it was kind of a weird course, flat with 4 or 5 corners, the last one being a little tricky due to the way they had cones set up. I have been getting frustrated with my performance in Crits, and in pack finishes. So for this crit  I really wanted to put a good effort in and not give up, even at the end. I’m done telling myself I’m not a sprinter, I’m changing my mentality. Anyway. The crit started and I found myself in a 3 man breakaway early on (see pic above), we were going pretty good for a few laps but were caught pretty quick. As soon as we were brought back in my teammate, Tony Rago, put in a very smart counter attack and got a decent gap. Tony stayed away for a long time, must have been at least 15 minutes. Was kinda good cos I could sit in and let everyone else worry about bringing him back. I thought Tony may stay away for good, but he was reeled in with about 5 or 6 laps to go. The pack stayed together for the remainder of the race with the pace picking up each lap. Throughout this race I had been sure to stay toward the front, I wanted to see and know what was happening. Coming into the final tricky corner I was in a good spot, about 4th or 5th wheel. Then the finishing stretch came, the pace was going up, and up. Usually in this spot I would not stick with it, and just roll into the finish not caring about the sprint. But I was not doing that this time. I stayed with the pack, not giving up, just kept pushing each pedal down as hard as I could. I was in 6th place, 5th place, 4th place, I could see 3rd place to my right but there wasn’t enough road left to take the final podium spot. I was gutted, but was super happy with my finish. It was a huge confidence boost for me, I was right there with the sprinters, I just needed to get my mind right. Tony got first...what a beast. Can’t wait for the next one, and I have to give props to Tony who has been giving me some good advice for crits and sprints. 

Road Race was Saturday, 2 ~30 mile loops with a couple of short 2-3 minute hills per lap, and again I was done messing around and had no intention of sitting in and enjoying the ride. First little hill came and I went to the front to push the pace and let everyone know what kind of race this was going to be! Group stayed together for much of the first lap, and we were going pretty good. We got to the final little climb, and I pushed the pace and got a little gap, I decided to keep going and probably got about 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. They caught me in about 5 miles. In hindsight, this was a stupid move, no way I was staying away solo for 40+ miles. Oh well, you learn something every race. Second lap arrived, and we had actually dropped a lot of riders. Then, some idiot in front of me wasn’t paying attention and almost went straight into a cone, I just missed it, but unfortunately my teammate, Joe Hicks, who was sitting behind me did not have enough time to react and went straight into the cone, and was out of the race. The guy who caused the crash after the race said “he was in his own world not paying attention”, you kidding me? Whatever, just be careful if you have a Broken Spoke Bike Shop rider in front of you. 

Second lap and the pace was pretty hard. I was still determined to make something happen, and thought my best bet would be to get into a breakaway. The short climbs arrived and there were a series of breaks, and I think I got into about 95% of them, but none of them stuck. Then there was a final break of 3 riders about 5-6 miles from the finish, I missed it, I didn’t even see it go. Pretty pissed that I missed it, cos I was making it a point to be very aware of what was going on. Anyway, 2 of my teammates were still with me in the peloton, I went to the front for a few turns to try and get the break back, but we couldn’t catch them. 2 of them stayed away with the other rider flatting. So the pack finish would be for 3rd place. The finish was very much similar to the crit the previous day. Tony one the sprint finish and took first, my other teammate Scott came in 5th, and I finished 7th. Tony has really got his sprint finish down, and I’m excited for him to upgrade to 3!

In summary, I’m actually pleased with the way the weekend went. I got a massive confidence boost, and now feel a lot better going into crits and pack finishes. And to top it off I got a couple of points toward my Category 2 upgrade campaign! Can’t complain. As always results and strava ride links can be found on the results page. I’m too tired after my training ride to spell check this so apologies for any spelling or grammatical errors, or any part of this that doesn’t even make sense!

[wattsperkasra]

Valley of Fire 2015 Recap

This year the Valley of Fire Stage Race consisted of 2 stages; a little sketchy criterium course and a long approximately 70 mile road race. For one reason or another the time trial was excluded, which was fine with me as I am yet to pull the trigger on a TT bike. Anyway, this was to be my first race as a Cat 3 and I was looking forward to it. 

The Cat 3/4 field was the largest of all categories at 60+ riders. There was some seriously bad weather forecast for the criterium but luckily we had sun and clear skies with only a strong head wind on the back end of the course that we had to contest with. The criterium started and somehow I found myself at the back of the pack pretty much straight away, I guess Cat 3's are more conscious of positioning. Riders were shelled quickly off the back, but I was ok and stayed in contact with the main group for the entire race. I tried moving up, but with the mass of riders I found it very difficult. Note to self, start at the front, and stay at the front! I finished mid pack and was awarded the same time. Pretty much what I aimed to do.  But now looking back, why am I going into these crits with the mentality to get the same time? Screw that, I need to start being more aggressive and try and contest these things. No more messing around. 

Now for the road race I was in the right frame of mind, I like road races. There are some climbs on the course, but they are not very steep and are longer. It is kinda hard to distinguish where the climbs actually "start". As with the criterium, somehow, I found myself at the back of the peloton from the get go yet again. The pace was not super hard, but with all of the surging that I had to deal with I found myself pointlessly using energy. I needed to get to the front. There was just no way through though, it was a narrow road, with 60+ riders trying to do the exact same thing. Next time, START AT THE FRONT, AND STAY THERE!!! Anyway, on the first climb I did manage to get to the front to try and string things out, but by the time I got there, there was not enough road left for my pace to have had any effect. As far as I could tell everyone was still together. We descended down to the turnaround, turned, and began the climb back up. The pace was harder this time, but I was comfortable. I got to the front and tried to put in some little digs, but the pace was already hard and it was difficult to make anything stick. We got to the top, and honestly I was shocked. I couldn't believe how fast we had got up the climb, I thought I had some more time to try and make some things happen, but I was wrong. 

Now all that was left was a speedy descent to the finish. For this I did manage to stay toward the front, and I was happy with my positioning. Going into the final stretch I thought why not try and do your best in the sprint. So I stayed in contact as the speed increased, I was focused and ready, waiting for the right time to explode. But then 2 riders collided right in front of me, I had little to no time to react so went straight into the crash flying over my handlebars hitting the road face first. Somehow I got away with a little cut on my chin and nose, and some bruising on my right side. My bike was also fine! According to Strava we were going 32mph when we crashed. This was actually my first proper crash, and I am actually kinda glad I have got it out the way. It is going to happen one day if you race bikes and I had in the back of my mind been "waiting" for it to happen. Here is what a crash at 32mph looks like on Strava.

I finished 25th in the RR, but because I didn't report in at the end was not awarded the same time as others involved in the crash and therefore my overall for the stage race was messed up. My fault I guess, but I really wasn't thinking straight. Oh well. Maybe the race organizer will come by this post and see the pic above as proof!

I took away some good learnings from this. I think I got a bit complacent in Cat 4. No more messing around now. 

[wattsperkasra]

UCLA RR 2015 Race Recap

After a disappointing race at Boulevard 2 weeks ago I was anxious to get on the start line again and get my season back on track. UCLA was my second race ever last year, and I did well, placing 5th in a large cat 5 field. But with 2 extra laps for a total of 50 miles and more than 5,000 feet of elevation gain in a stacked Cat 4 field this year, it was sure to be a challenge.

I like this race. The climb is challenging, and the course actually starts pretty much at the foot of the second part of the climb. I was expecting the field to blow up right away as it did last year, however that was not the case. We went up the climb hard, but not so hard as to cause any major breaks in the peloton, the group appeared to stay together all the way to the top, I felt good.

Coming into the second lap the pace went up for the climb, this time it was a little harder and riders began to drop. I felt good, and coming into the final pitch to the peak of the climb I found myself at the front of the pack, I decided to up the pace. I could hear riders behind me begin to breath heavy, it kept me motivated and I kept pushing. When we crested the top of the climb there could not have been more than 9 or 10 of us. We descended and stayed together until the start of the third lap where the really action started to take place.

The road went up and one rider, who I have become familiar with, upped the tempo.  I knew this would be the big move for the race. Rider after rider were shelled by the speed. Soon it was just the two of us and I stuck to his wheel, it was a HARD pace. I unfortunately lost contact after a few minutes. Moments later another rider passed me on his way to the leader I tried to latch on but failed. I ended up cresting the climb with 3 other riders. We descended fast trying to catch the 2 leaders, but they were out of sight. One rider dropped his chain on the descent and we were down to 3 chasers including myself. Coming into the final lap we were informed the leaders had already gained a minute.

At this point I was focused on how I could get a podium spot. My legs had started to cramp slightly, but luckily my wife was there in the feed zone to give me another bottle. I hoped that this would be all I needed and the cramping would not come back, but I was to soon find out that would not be the case. On the final pitch to the top of the climb one of the riders I was with started to up the pace, and then the cramps started again. I just could not put the power down, and found myself once again losing contact. I pushed through the pain to the top, ate and drank everything I had left, and just hoped that I could spin the cramps out of my legs. They didn't really go away, but now I was just focused on getting to the finish and securing my 5th place. I pushed a hard tempo, pushing through the pain and turing my head every now and again to make sure no one was gaining on me. I made it, securing 5th place. 

I was happy with my result. But mostly, it has given me more motivation. Just a few more watts and I make it with the leaders on that third lap. A bit more thought into my nutritional preparation and maybe I don't cramp and can fight for a podium spot. Just one year into racing and there is still so much I am learning. But I'm pleased, and I have some good takeaways from the race. 

I still need confirmation from USA Cycling but this result should have given me more than enough points for my Cat 3 upgrade. I can't wait. After a tough start to the year, I finally feel like I am starting to get back into some real form. 

Strava link for the race: https://www.strava.com/activities/254989951

[wattsperkasra]

Boulevard 2015 Race Recap

It was this same time last year on this very course that I began my bike racing career. I was very much looking forward to the race, not only because it was my one year anniversary, but because the course is very challenging with a significant amount of climbing. My training had been going very well, my weight was good, I was really up for it.

The race begins with a pretty sketchy descent. The roads are narrow, the corners aren't overly technical, but with ~100 riders in the Cat 4 field, you certainly need to stay focused. During probably one of the more technical sections of the descent as the field made a right hand corner a HUGE semi-truck was coming around the same corner. As I said, the roads here are narrow, so even though the truck was on the opposite side of the road driving in the opposite direction it still had an impact on the field. A lot of riders were spooked and with that came sudden braking. A rider rear-ended me pretty hard, but I kept control and stayed upright. I heard a massive crack assuming it was another rider going down, but I would later find out that that was not the case. 

My bike felt weird, it wasn't shifting properly, but I was just focused on positioning myself well for what was coming. We arrived at the challenging section of the course, which is basically 4 small climbs in close succession to each other. The big one where the selection is made is the third, about a 8-10 minute effort. I was in a good position when the pace went up. A rider broke away and I surged to join him. I felt I was putting a lot of power down, and we had created about a 15-20 second gap on a chase group. We crested the top of this climb and I was hurting. I looked down at my wheels to see if I had a flat. It felt like I was riding through mud. At the time I thought 'this is breakaway riding and breakaway riding is hard'. SUCK IT UP! 5 other riders joined us, I was still working hard, even to stay on wheels, and my bike was becoming harder and harder to handle. We reached a final small pitch and I was unable to hold pace, I lost contact. I couldn't understand why I couldn't hold pace. But I kept soldiering on.

I joined another chasing group, on a flat section at the top of the climb before the second lap. Still probably in about 15th-25th position, I carried on, fighting. I was still working hard. Then on the descent my chain fell off. I had to stop and get off my bike. It was then I saw the damage that had been done from the rider rear ending me at the start of the race. I had a broken spoke, and my derailleur had been knocked out of place. My wheel was seriously out of true, rubbing against my brake. A support car pulled up, I threw my bike in the trunk, my race was over. 

This was a disappointing experience to say the least. I really think I could have got a good result. But this is part of bike racing, and I have to accept that. I guess a good takeaway I have is that I broke away on the climb, I wanted it real bad, and I gave it all I could. I don't know how bad my rear wheel was at this point, I can't say for sure. Maybe if I hadn't had the collision I would have stayed with the breakaway, who knows. I did hit new highs for my 4-8 minute power. But that is all ifs ands and buts. I am not going to think about it anymore. All I can do is look forward. 

ON TO THE NEXT ONE.

I'll be at Tuttle Creek Road Race in Lone Pine, CA this weekend. It is a great course, in a great little town. It doesn't usually get a good showing, but it should. Anyone reading this should check it out here.

Here is the link to my strava ride for this race: https://www.strava.com/activities/248708305/overview

And here is the broken spoke!

[wattsperkasra]

SBCRR 2015 Race Recap

The Cat 4 race was 3 laps with a full field of 75 riders. The course starts on a downhill and the speed picked up pretty quick. I positioned myself towards the front to see if any early moves happened, but there was nothing. I soon allowed myself to drift to the back of the pack, which is not normally where I like to be, but there was a lot of nervousness among the riders with a lot of unnecessary jockeying for position. It was actually a much smoother ride at the back. The first ascent up Dominion shelled a few riders, but for the most part the peloton stayed intact. As I was at the back I had to push a little harder than the guys at the front, but it was nothing I couldn't manage.

Halfway through the second lap, on an open section of road, a fierce cross wind delivered a hefty blow to the peloton. A number of riders were unable to hold pace. The main pack was probably down about 20-30% of riders at this point. The second ascent up Dominion was at a lighter pace with the group staying together and no one making any moves. 

The third and final lap came, and this is where I wanted to start implementing my pre-race strategy. I had decided that I wanted to conserve as much energy as possible until the final ascent of Dominion where I would try and breakaway. I felt good, and had not wasted any energy. Midway through the lap I began progressing my way up through the peloton, latching on to other teams' wheels and using other riders when the opportunity presented itself. I soon found myself in perfect position, on the inside in the front 20% of the group, with only a mile or two until the foot of the climb. There was a solo rider a little ways up the rode who had tried to breakaway, but the group was keeping him within arms reach. When the climb came I attacked HARD. I passed the solo break, turned around and had generated a decent gap, no one was with me. I kept pushing, soon another rider had joined me, we worked together pushing it up the climb, we probably had between 10 and 20 seconds on the main pack but its hard to say. Another rider joined us a little after and the three of us tried to make a run for it albeit with a strong head wind. I was on the limit, I turned around, they were gaining ground, and it was not long until we were swallowed up by peloton. I finished away from the main group, totally depleted from the breakaway attempt. 

Not a good result, but I am actually pleased with the race. I gained good experience in conserving energy and moving my way through a large group to gain a more advantageous position. I'm pleased with my attack, and set some new highs for my power numbers. I'm happy I went for it. I could have waited and tried for the sprint or just sat in to place a little higher, but that ain't bike racing to me. I tried to make the best move possible for me, on another day maybe it would have worked. You don't know if you don't try. 

Click on the image below for the Strava summary.

[wattsperkasra]

Off season summary and Rosena Ranch recap

I was very indecisive as to what my first race should be. I was having a tough time mentally getting back into training, and my body was not making adaptions as fast as I would have liked. But with just 2 weeks of consistent higher intensity training I am starting to feel good. With a few more weeks of training and racing I feel I'll be back to form in no time. Anyways, I decided to just suck it up and go out to Rosena Ranch Circuit Race in San Bernardino, CA. I had teammates going, and although the course is not great for me, it would get me back into that aggressive racing mentality, and force me to push harder than I would on my own or in a group ride. 

My teammates and I did 2 races. The first was the 30+ Cat 4/5. Myself and teammate Joe Hicks tried to breakaway early but our efforts were fruitless. Soon after we were caught though, my teammate Tony Rago got in a 3 man breakaway that soon found themselves over 30 seconds ahead. About 2/3 of the way through the race an 8 man chase had broken away form the peloton, they got about 20-30 seconds and were at least 45 seconds away from the leaders. Joe and decided to neutralize this group, just in case, to ensure Tony stayed away. I powered up the one short hill, then Joe drilled it downhill, we caught them in no time, and with no more attacks or breakaways Tony secured 3rd place. Amazing effort by Tony Rago, and I am so stoked for him and his first podium spot. I've seen the work Tony has been putting in, and he totally deserves it. Here's too many more good results this season!

The second race, Cat 4, was an hour later. I was pretty tired from the 30+ race, and this was actually the first time I had done 2 races back to back like this. There was a much more aggressive tone in the Cat 4, and it was a couple mph faster than the first. Not much to write home about, but I stayed with the group, thought I was in a decent spot at the end, but ended finishing mid-pack (at best). I am going to do more of these. I want to be competitive in these pack finishes, and the only way to get better is to practice. 

Next week Joe, Tony, and I will be heading to Santa Maria, CA for the Santa Barbara County Road Race. Looking at the course there is a little punchy climb each lap, so I'm hoping I can make something happen this time around. 

Here is a pic of Tony on the podium. Nice helmet Tony. 

  30+ 4/5 Strava link

Cat 4 Strava link

[wattsperkasra]

Race recap - Mt. Charleston Hill Climb 2014

The race goes up Lee Canyon road. The most challenging thing I find about this climb is the fact that the road is pretty much completely straight. Obviously it is physically challenging, but the straight road adds in a big mental factor. Something about staring down a never ending road just makes it that much harder.

The race started at a moderate pace with a few riders putting in some, may I say pointless, solo attacks early. About 15-20 minutes in I lifted the pace, I wanted to start getting some separation in the group. Soon I think we were down to about 7 or 8 riders. I stayed at the front putting in some short surges here and there just to try and break it up a bit more.

Soon I was by myself with one rider about 20-30 seconds back. I turned around every now and again, he seemed to keep gaining ground on me, and kept getting close. Each time he got close I lifted my pace to keep him away. Then at about mile 9 or 10 both my legs started to cramp pretty bad. I had to drop my power down and try and spin out the cramp. While doing this the rider I had been fighting off caught up to me.

At this point I had to evaluate the race. My lungs and heart were good, but my mind knew my legs were at risk. I didn’t want to risk trading punches for another 7 miles as thought this would likely bring back the cramps. I decided to mark him and save my legs for one final attack at the end.

Inside of a mile to go the other rider lifted the pace, I was good though, and just held back for the right time to attack. I knew he had a pretty good kick as he tried to attack me earlier so wanted to attack about 2-3 minutes from the finish for a more sustained attack. The climb finishes with some switch-backs, on the third corner from the finish I attacked. I went all out, and there was a moment where all I wanted to do was stop but I could still see the other rider out of the corner of my eye, I just kept pushing. I said to myself just go until you pass out! Coming up to the final corner I could hear my wife cheering for me, and this really gave me the will to push through to the finish line. I came round the final corner switched to the big ring and left my challenger behind for the win.

I was very happy with the result. Although I wasn’t 100% and had to deal with some cramping I found a way to win. This kind of strategy and tactics is what makes bike racing so fun, and is why I love it.

I’m looking forward to training hard this winter and starting 2015 ready and prepared.

Strava ride: http://www.strava.com/activities/206163116

[wattsperkasra]

Loving our nutribullet. thanks @mush247

[wattsperkasra]

2nd out of 200 riders for the Giro di San Diego KOM.

[wattsperkasra]

Mt. Whitney Stage Race 2014 Recap

Stage 1:

For Stage 1, rather than going up the monster Horseshoe climb, we would do 4 laps of Tuttle Creek, approximately 11 miles with 1,100 feet of climbing per lap. Within each of these laps was a 3 mile climb where the action would happen and selections would be made. This actually sounded harder to me than doing a long climb like Horseshoe! After the climb was a flatter section with a strong head wind, the finish was toward the end of this section. I was really focusing on my tactics this race. I sat in on the first climb to gauge the strength of my competition, and made sure I saved as much energy as possible while not on the climb. A handful of riders had already dropped off from the first lap. We rode the second lap's climb at a similar pace to the first; fast and hard. But I was comfortable, and sure enough even more riders could not hold the pace and dropped off the back. Going into the third lap I'd say a little less than half the field had been shelled. I had noticed on the prior two laps riders letting up as we reached the crest of a steep section near the end of the climb. This time around my plan was to go to the front as we crested this section and keep the pace hard. I did just that and sure enough we were down to 7 riders for the final lap. The pace was again hard on the climb, with attacks on the steep sections. I'd make sure I was close to the front and kept the pace hard after each steep section, I could see riders were really struggling on the steep gradients. The front group was now down to 5 riders and the pace was pushed hard again on a final steep section before the head wind section with one more rider dropping off. The 4 of us worked together into the head wind, then with about 1km to go the mind games began. I was in third position and attacked, but it was a bluff, I let 2 riders come around me and latched onto a wheel. We were too far from the finish for the front rider to hold his pace, he dropped off. I tried to come around the rider in front of me but could not and finished 2nd.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd place had the same time for Stage 1. 4th was 4 seconds back. Other riders were a minute or more behind.

Stage 2:

Originally Stage 2 was supposed to climb Whitney Portal. Instead we would climb 9 Mile Canyon Road. A monster of a road, 15.5 miles in length with over 5,000 feet of elevation gain. The first 10 miles averaged ~8%, with the next few miles characterized by some tough "rollers" (pretty much all uphill). There was a final steep pitch to the finish line.

We set off at a light tempo pace. I sat in contemplating my strategy. After a mile I attacked and lifted the pace. I knew I was one of the strongest climbers so wanted the pace to be hard from the bottom. 3rd in GC came around me a minute or so after I lifted the pace at an even harder pace, 4 riders went with him. I decided not to go, my hope was to hold my own pace and catch most of them during the 10 mile climb, there was no way all of them were sustaining that kind of pace for over an hour. The 5 riders must have got about a minute or more ahead of in the space of just a few minutes. 2 more riders came around me but didn't get more than 3 or 4 bike lengths in front of me. I held my pace.

I caught the 2 riders in front of me after about 5 or 10 minutes, they tried to stay with me but dropped off shortly. I then caught 1st in GC. He latched onto my wheel, he was breathing hard. I thought if I hold this pace he would likely not be able to match it, or I could attack near the 10 mile point. I felt strong. Soon after that I caught another rider, and then another a few miles after that. I was at the front, holding my steady hard pace with 3 riders on my wheel, 2 still up the road. One rider dropped off my wheel. Then towards the end of the main climb 1st in GC dropped his chain. I just kept going. I then caught one more rider. A group of 3 us were to contest the rolling section with still 1 rider (3rd in GC) at least 3 minutes up the road. At this point I had to focus on maintaining my GC position, 4th in GC was with me and I only had a 4 second advantage over him. The 3 of us worked together for a couple of miles. 4th in GC then went to the front for a pull and surged hard, we both stayed on his wheel then suddenly he just dropped off the power and we left him. The two of us worked for a little while but were soon met by the final steep pitches to the finish. I ramped up the pace a little bit and soon created a small gap, I held the pace to the finish line and finished 2nd for the stage and maintained my 2nd place for the GC.

I am extremely happy with this result, and am so thankful for all the support I have gotten from my teammates, the McGhie's staff, my friends and family, and my amazingly supportive fiance.

The guy who finished 1st had the best time for the day on 9 Mile Canyon Road, he beat me by a little under 4 minutes, and he beat the best pro/1/2/3 time by a little over a minute. I guess he is some cross country national champion or something. I'm glad he was there, it has given me even more drive and determination, and I am looking forward to training hard this winter and improving for next season. I know I am going to get to that level and higher. I can see it.

Stage 1: http://www.strava.com/activities/184400546

Stage 2: http://www.strava.com/activities/184974047

[wattsperkasra]

Just finished stage 1 of the Mt Whitney stage race. Sitting in a close 2nd. Looking forward to tomorrow's stage. #mtwhitneystagerace #mandalaybay #mandalaybaymcghies

[wattsperkasra]

Race Recap - Hotter n Hell Hill Climb 2014

After speaking with my coach we didn't really have a good idea of what my target wattage should be given that I had not done an effort like this before. He suggested I go for 260W. Looking at the profile, the climb only gets harder as it goes on, so I think this target was good. If you don't have anything left towards the end of the climb there is the potential to get into really trouble with gradients going up to ~20%.

Warm up felt mediocre, as is often the case with me, but as soon as I got started I felt great. I even felt myself having to hold back on the power, as I wanted to make sure I paced myself well. I felt great, the power I was holding felt like a hard tempo rather than a threshold effort. I could hear other riders breathing hard as I went past them. Legs felt good, breathing was good.

This climb only gets harder. As you pass a small village about 3 or 4 miles form the peak you enter a steep switchback section. This was a tough part, but I could still maintain my power well. The run-in to the end was probably the hardest and steepest section, and I am glad I still had power left in my legs to make it up this section and to the finish. I didn't look at my time, I was just concentrating on holding my power, and I actually finished a little above my target at 265W. Its funny, I think I could have gone harder, but with a climb like that I was happy with my pace.

My final time was 1hr 7mins 11 seconds, good enough for the win for Cat 4!! I was super happy. I thought I may have got a top 3/5 time, but was super happy when I saw that I had won. And I got a polka dot jersey for the win!

The race was very well organized, and I am for sure going to take part again next year where I am going to aim to knock a few minutes off my time. Thank you to all the organizers for a great race!

And now I look forward to the Mt. Whitney Stage Race this weekend!

Strava ride: http://www.strava.com/activities/181750073

[wattsperkasra]

Looking forward to climbing up this tomorrow with @genghisgokul

[wattsperkasra]

Race Recap - San Marcos Circuit Race 2014

I felt really good for the past 2 weeks, hitting my power numbers in training, and just feeling great all around. So I was looking forward to the race. In the 2 crits I had done this year I was super nervous and basically stayed at the front WAY too much, so my aim for this one was to try and save energy but still be aggressive.

First 2-3 laps I sat in around the middle of the pack, saving energy. Then I think on the 4th lap I hit the climb pretty hard and got a pretty decent gap, I crossed the finish line for that lap in first place and won a prize (WD40 bike cleaner and baseball cap), then I heard the announcer state that the next lap's winner wins a pair of SPY sunglasses, so I thought I may as well try and stay away and win them! Unfortunately the peloton closed me down as I approached the climb. 

For the rest of the race I pretty much stayed in the first 10-15 places, just trying to save energy and thinking about what I should do to get a good finishing place. On the penultimate lap I was perfectly positioned going into the corner before the climb so attacked hard. I got a good gap. My hope was that some riders would come with me and we could stay away for the last lap but that wasn't the case. So I sat up and sat back in the field. I felt good though and definitely had another bullet in the chamber.

Coming into that final corner before the climb I was perfectly positioned again on the outside, and just like the last lap my plan was to attack hard on the outside. But just before we turned I got, as my fiance put it, "cavendished"...a rider just before the corner swerved outwards off his line and cut me off in the process. This put me behind 4-5 riders on the climb and I could not get around the outside. And while I was stuck here a group shot up the inside. I'd lost too much ground by this point I had to be content with my 14th place finish. 

I had a lot of fun though. The race was well organized and the course was really nice. This just shows how important position is, and now I realize why those sprinters you see on TV will do anything to place themselves in the optimal spot even if it means hitting the asphalt. 

As always go over to the results page and you can click the link over to the Strava ride for my race (btw, forgot to turn garmin on for first 2 laps!). 

[wattsperkasra]

14th place but won a WD40 cap and cleaning spray for winning a lap! #mandalaybaymcghies