Slammed...
Work has been 100% manic lately.
Not one moment to breath.
Not one.
Sneak a ride in, sneak a race in. It's good when it's good, and sad when it ain't. Last few weeks have been a blur. Pre-rode the Pajarito Punishment course - should be suitably brutally hard. Raced the 'Bonanza Creek Classic as a CAT4/5 wanker - and did pretty lousy. Raced the Santa Fe Hill Climb as a CAT 4/5 wanker and did pretty good. For some reason, I just don't have the oompf needed to really push in training - which means I have few matches, or hard efforts - at the races. Had a few daytime rides, as the mornings are getting dark WAY too quick.
Bonanza Creek (BC) Classic
As a fresh USAC licensed racer with less than 10 mass-start road races under my belt, I'm relegated to the CAT 5 group, despite being an expert mountain bike racer, and having the good fortune to regularly ride with - and get stomped by - CAT1/2/3 guys. I mention it as most of my peers race in the higher CAT's, so I'm stuck making alliances at the start line. BC was put on by the Pedal Queens out of Santa Fe - and they did a fantastic job! The course is an 18 ile loop south of town, and typically favors a "power guy" like myself. No sustained climbs or steep spots - just a lot of open, rolling, road. Thankfully, I'd have (1) ally in the group - my good buddy Rich. We tried to convince each other to NOT pull at the front, but the best laid plans lay waste sometimes, as do the hastily made ones!
Off we go for 3 laps. It's a wobbly, feisty, twitchy group indeed. 2 or 3 teams are represented with more than 3 racers, so we watch them. On the second lap (the first was entirely uneventful, and no one crashed, thankfully) a rider attacks off the front. Naturally, he's got some team mates in the peloton who immediately try and control the field with downright lousy race tactics. Myself and a few others - who are aware of what is happening - aren't buying this load of crap. Of course, it means we have to work harder to counter the poor riding by these guys. Of the 25 pr so racers, only a handful seemed to know 'what was up' and so those of us 'in the know' watched the lone attacker flail about a minute up the road.
He did that for a whole lap!
In the meantime, there were a number of accelerations, and I seemed compelled to go chase them ALL down. I figured I'd have to get in ONE that would stick - but instead ground myself to a pulp needlessly, and turned onto the last stretch of road feeling cooked. We reeled in the attack, then the fun began. I responded to one, then another pre-finish launch, then I was done. I sat up and watched the 10-12 surivors (who had ridden smart and not pulled) duke it out on the uphill finish, then came through myself.
Ah well. Lesson learned? Stick to the plan!
Santa Fe Hill Climb
Why oh why would I do THIS race? A big doofus like me, as adept at climbing on a road bike as a penguin is at climbing trees? Because I can ride to the start from my house - all of 2 miles away, and I wanted to see if I could actually make a plan and stick to it in a race this time. Oh yes - I had a plan!
'Ride' at a sustainable pace up through the steepest section, then see what's left and ride hard.
This would be after 9+/- miles, above 'Hyde State Park' - with about 7 miles to go. The course is straight up from town, at 7,000 ft. elevation - to 10,200 ft. elevation at the Santa Fe Ski Basin parking lot. There are two short descents, and the rest is climbing. Typically moderate - at 4.5 - 5.5 percent grade - but with a nasty 1.5 miles or so of 8% grade in the middle. We call it 'the wall'.
The race started en masse - everyone at once - probably 110 - 120 riders sorted by category. Thankfully no one punched it on the initial steep kick, and so the group was pretty orderly through the first 6 miles - up to the local landmark known as 'Nuns Corner', the first quick descent (named after a van load of nuns swerved off the road years ago). Once the road went up again, it got interesting. Immediately the pack split into two, with dozens of stragglers in between, and off the back. I stayed in the second group, but it blew apart in a mile. I could care less. I was pedaling at my prescribed rate and output.
Hyde Park came and went, so I upped the pace some - reeling in a fast masters buddy and riding with him for a while. Then we picked up 1-2 more, and had a little group. Al I would do (while pulling mostly) was stand and hammer on the steep kicks - usually at switchbacking corners - and we'd be strung out. I'd ease off and we'd regroup. We did this for a while. Towards the end, I realized I conserved a bit too much - and punched it on the last pat of the main climb, past a CAT 1/2 guy, and down a slight descent. Mr. CAT1/2 came around and pulled me a mile up the road, working too hard for a skinny guy - and just as the road kicked up for the last few hundred meters to the finish - I mashed my big ring and came around him - finishing in a solid solo sprint.
Time must have been 1:11 or 1:12. Not bad for a slacker!
