Being my usual self - motivated by failure - I decided to get redemption the next year. That didn't work out as I injured my knee just before the event.
This year I put it all on the line. This was redemption, a true test of my training regimen, and a team cohesion exercise.
First, the team. I cannot express enough appreciation for the willingness, intent, and effort that was put forth by my team mates. It was amazing. It was amazing to the point that dozens of racers told us how impressive the team work and effort was, including someone telling me during the race, people coming up to us at the finish line, and people stopping by at the parking lot after the race. During the race someone recognized and mentioned how well protected I was and how great of a job the team was doing at protecting me. I wanted to tell him how proud and lucky I was but I had to keep the race face on. I smerked and said yes. One of my teammates actually recorded video of this event while in the pack so we will get to see what this team looked like from the inside. Way cool.
It is well worth mentioning how many of those people - adversaries might I add - were thoroughly impressed by Ryan. Most if not all the people that congratulated our team had to single out Ryan, and deservedly so, the man is a machine. He worked his heart out for me today. I absolutely do not mean to diminish the effort of Brent, Rogers, and the others, but Ryan was the star today.
My final thought regarding the team is that we have reached a significant milestone: We set out to create a team based on team work, training hard as a team, and working together as a team. We have reached this goal and possibly surpassed people's expectations of the team cohesion level possible for recreational racers. Today was a spectacular display of it. Tour of the Depot was another excellent display in Cat5 as well.
Second, my training regimen. 23 weeks ago I started to use Joe Friel's Annual Training Plan based on his Training Bible. It actually said the optimal time before the first A-priority race is 23 weeks. Apparently I started just in time on November 16th, 2009. I followed the training plan as closely as I could, spent 240 hours and 2800 miles training for my first A-priority race, and landed myself the team a 6th place out of likely 50 competitors.
On the good side I achieved a top 10 which is part of my season goals. I also finished with the lead pack. I also improved tremendously in the last two years.
But really, I am disappointed in myself for not winning, and a good portion of that disappointment is the feeling that I let my team down. All I had to do was finish strong. My race was really a 1/2 mile climb at the very finish. I failed to keep up with the last acceleration. Plain and simple.
What about redemption? Yeah, I got redemption. That doesn't really play a part in this anymore. I expected to do well and I did. Two years ago I had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting into but by now I have a pretty good idea where I fit in the racing pecking order.
So here we go, suggestions for improvement:
- Increase aggression during a race. Make the move rather than wait for someone else to make a move. Suffer to make them suffer, not the other way around. I showed I can do this at Tax Day Circuit Race, it felt extremely good to do it, and I need to do it more. I should have taken the lead after Ryan at the base of the climb, stepped up the pace, and never looked back.
- Increase intelligence during a race. Having the team up front was great, thrilling, and safe, but being second or third wheel doesn't shield the wind as well as being surrounded by riders while inside the pack. I am quite confident I worked less overall today than if other teams were pushing the pace by stringing out the pack, yo-yoing, or going on attacks all the time. Something to think about regardless.
- Be extremely careful with the race week workouts. I may have deeply hurt my muscles by performing a long duration and long intensity workout Thursday before the race. I was trying to make up for not working out enough during the week so I rode over 2 hours and included a 30 minute muscular endurance threshold workout, aka all-out effort.
