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Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race - Cycle


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Pownal, Prince Edward Island
Canada
Cycling PEI
20C / 68F
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 02m 35s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

I couldn't find a RR format for a two stage bike race so I will use the warmup for the TT at the start.

First off, a description of the race. At 10am there was a 9.6 KM Time Trial. It was a one way course, fairly flat except for a couple of rollers right off the start and then one hill at the 7.5k mark. The wind was a 15-20 km/hr headwind pretty much the whole way and the times reflected it!

At 1pm there was a 60 KM road race. 6 loops of a 10k course with one longish hill near the end of each loop. I was used to doing the loop clockwise but they sent us counter clockwise which actually changes the hill profile quite a bit.
Event warmup:

Warmup for the TT was about 12k with some short accelerations to race power which was 270-280 for the first bit until the hill then 280-290 up the hill and 290-300 over the top.

TT - there is a bit of a hill right off the start, I tried to keep my power steady but under control right off the bat as I tend to push too hard right at the start of intervals in training. Power was floating around 290 which was ok. For the next few minutes I kept seeing 290-300 for power and tried to relax just a bit so as not to blow up by the end and/or kill myself for the RR in the afternoon. The problem was every time I looked down at my power I was still in that 290-300 range and my AP was low 290s. The flip side of that was that I felt fantastic so about half way to the bottom of the hill I just went with it and let the power flow at that level. Reached the bottom of the hill at 293w AP.

Going up the hill I was still feeling strong - stayed in aero and pushed up the hill at 306w (2:15 to get up it). Once I was over the top I wasn't quite sure how far it was to the finish. There was a small downhill and then as I started to get back over a small rise I saw the finish with less than 1km to go. Started going hard and was doing 350+ for much of the way in.

Total time was 16:35, AP 297 / NP 302. Avg speed - 33.4 km/hr (darn headwind). 3rd best time in the sport category, 6th overall.

http://www.strava.com/activities/75763820

Cooldown was riding back to the start where we were parked. It took only a few seconds longer than the actual TT and only 123 watts. Stupid wind.
Bike
  • 1h 45m 59s
  • 60 kms
  • 34.04 km/hr
Comments:

I'd never done a road race before so this was a new experience for me.

During the break between the TT and the road race, the wind picked up quite a bit and we were now in a much more exposed area. I found out that we would be going counter clockwise which I wasn't expecting. There is a duathlon held here every year and we always go clockwise for that.

Spent the time before the race relaxing as much as possible but I also had to take the wheel cover off both bikes and make a few other swaps. Then my rear brake was all messed up - the calipers wouldn't open wide enough to let the wheel through. I had to release the cable and open things up by hand and set it up again. No idea how that would have changed.

All the racers started at the same time, elite, sport, beginner, men and women (about 25 in all). The pace started out a bit high but not all that bad. After about 5 mins I found myself riding about mid pack, right behind the guy that had the second fastest TT and is generally considered the strongest rider around here. I figured that was a good place to be. About half way around the first lap the pace started to pick up on a downhill/down wind stretch and I made the comment to the guy riding beside me that I guess we weren't going to get an easy opening lap. Shortly after that we made a swing around to the left back towards the start/finish and started going up a hill that is about 700 meters long. It's not steep by any stretch but we had a pretty strong cross/headwind from the left. Right about when this happened Cory (previously mentioned strong rider) started paying attention and moved his way toward the front of the pack - as if he was sensing something about to happen. Sure enough, as he got close to the front all hell broke loose. The elites took off and blew the back apart. I and a couple of the others tried to stay with them over the top but it wasn't happening. I was about 5 seconds behind one guy (Matt) and another guy was happy to let me drag him up the hill... As we got over the top of the hill I put down a bit of an effort to catch back onto Matt's wheel so that at least 3 of us could work together. We finished off the lap together. Lap 1 - 238/280 AP/NP - 16:40

Starting lap 2 we were about 20 seconds down on the main pack of about 8 guys (some elite - some sport). We started rotating in a decent little group to see if we could get back on. Most of the lap was at a pretty hard effort and we got to within about 5 seconds of them by the base of the hill at the end of the lap, only to have them blow us off up the hill again. We had gotten so close that the 3 of us tried hard to latch onto the group and ended up a bit separated by the end of the lap. Lap 2 - 270/281w - 16:28 (ouch)

A few mins into lap 3 the 3 of us had regrouped and then half way through the lap we picked up a 4th guy that had been spit out of the main group. Normally this would be good but he was a bit stronger than Matt and I and he and the other guy from our threesome dropped Matt and I on that same damned hill. Lap 3 - 238/251 - 17:10

At the start of lap 4 I tried to bridge up to the other two guys but couldn't quite make it and eventually sat up and waited for Matt. The two of us finished the lap together although I had to wait for him a bit over the top of the hill. Lap 4 - 218/236 - 18:24

Lap 5 I started thinking about the finish. Matt had beaten me in the TT by something like 50 seconds and he seemed to be starting to struggle a bit. When we hit the hill I put a steady effort into getting up it and by the time I got to the top I had about a 10-15 second gap and I decided to go for broke and TT the last lap to see if I could make up the difference from the morning TT. I figured I would either make it or blow up trying. Lap 5 - 215/225 - 18:47

Lap 6 was just put my head down and go as hard as I could manage. I looked back a few times and the gap seemed to be growing so the motivation to keep pushing was there. Got to the hill and just gave it what I had - I was ready to puke at this point. Lap 6 - 240/246 - 17:55

In the end I ended up putting enough time in to Matt to beat him over all by 15 seconds for 5th and was 7 seconds out of 4th. Avg speed for the road race was faster than the TT.

Total time: 1:45:59, AP 235, NP 254, Avg speed 34.2 km/hr

I had a total blast doing this race. The combined time of the TT and RR made it interesting and forced me to work harder. It would have been easy to just cruise that last lap and stay ahead of Matt otherwise.

http://www.strava.com/activities/75763828
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really.
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of roadie power. :)




Last updated: 2013-08-19 12:00 AM
Biking
01:45:59 | 60 kms | 34.04 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: 6 laps of a 10k loop
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 92
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2013-08-21 5:12 PM

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Elite
7783
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PEI, Canada
Subject: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race


2013-08-21 6:27 PM
in reply to: #4835759

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Veteran
2842
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Austin, Texas
Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race
That is AWESOME! I wish we had some road races down this way - it sounds like a total blast (strategy, marking riders, seeing who is sensing something coming up and reacting). Total TDF stuff! Crits? Meh... But this race sounds fantastic. Maybe a road trip next year and show the kids where part of the family is from - AND RIP SOME LEGS OFF while we're there. Wrt the TT, it's soooo hard not to hit the beginning too hard, but then again, some days you just have it. Sounds like you balanced both in this one - nice. And wind sucks... unless it's behind you. Great race and RR - I found myself wishing I had been in it while reading along! Matt
2013-08-21 6:52 PM
in reply to: #4835759

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Champion
9407
500020002000100100100100
Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia
Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race
Great work!

Shane
2013-08-21 7:01 PM
in reply to: #4835759

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Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race
Great job and glad you enjoyed it. 
2013-08-22 6:11 AM
in reply to: #4835759

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Champion
7595
50002000500252525
Columbia, South Carolina
Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race
Solid racing!
2013-08-22 7:30 AM
in reply to: #4835759

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Veteran
1677
1000500100252525
Houston, Texas
Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race

I've always been somewhat interested in racing (hah, riding might be a more appropriate term for what I do!) a TT, but have always though Road Races sound awful....you made that one sound like it might actually be fun.

Any future plans to continue TT's/RR's?  Sounds like the first was quite successful, congrats!



2013-08-22 2:12 PM
in reply to: #4835759

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Master
6834
5000100050010010010025
Englewood, Florida
Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race
Nice Job! Sounds like you really enjoyed it.
2013-09-03 2:42 PM
in reply to: #4835759

Master
10208
50005000100100
Northern IL
Subject: RE: Cycling PEI China Point TT + Road Race
Nice job Arend!
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