Saturday, February 18, 2012

Road Racing = Not MTB Racing


Today was a good reminder of why I have no road racing goal events.  Oh sure, the weather was beautiful.  It was a great day to get some miles on the bike.  I got some great power data.  It's very colorful with all the riders in their new kits.  Plus there is no mud, no trees to hit and no constantly being pounded by the terrain.

There were also no climbs, no descents and no technical sections.  In fact I spent all of my time swimming in a school of fish that all wanted my spot.  And unless I wanted to keep wedging (weaseling?)  my bike into position, I would just keep getting pushed to the back.  I guess there was about a 10 rider break judging by finishing position.  I never saw it.  Guess I was too far in the back.  The first lap was kind of hard - or maybe it just took me a while to get up to speed.  After that it was just riding around in a tight back trying to get positioned for the sprint.

I got to the front a couple of times, but I guess I wasn't aggressive(?) enough to stay there.  My only choice was to wait for an opening in the wall of cyclists in front of me then sprint like crazy.  Which I did and finished about 13th in the field sprint.  I did another lap to get some more miles in.  Tomorrow will be a long ride in preparation for my upcoming endurance races.

Southern Cross is next weekend.  The 50 mile 2011 UltraCX season ender/2012 season opener.  I'm still up in the air on whether to race my single speed CX bike or my sweet, new Solis Pyrolite 29'er hardtail.  There are 114 entries in 40+, only 28 in single speed.  Decisions, decisions.

See you on the trails!

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