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There was a whole lot that happened before the finish. Here's a recap. Ladd, new PV teammate Rich (aka sufferfest), and I lined up with about 60 other shivering souls on a cold morning. The race took off hard right from the parking lot as everyone jockeyed for position before hitting very narrow curvy roads on the 6.6 mile loop we would ride 6 times, before coming back and finishing in front of the school where we started from. I lost the positioning battle and didn't see the front until late in the 2nd lap. Rich was up near the front and covered some early moves, while Ladd moved up and lit it up during the second lap. Nothing was sticking as the pace stayed high. I got to the front late in lap two and attacked a few times unsuccessfully. Then in a counter move three guys including Cannell and a Carolina Masters rider got away. I sensed that this was THE move and jumped across bringing 3 with me including 2 more Carolina Masters. When the dust settled, the break was seven riders with 3 Carolina Masters. Terrible odds, but at least I made the break.
I NEVER felt good in the break. In a 15 minute period including 7 or 8 minutes before getting into the break, I averaged 325 watts with an NP of 360. I just never had a chance to recover from that, and some of the guys with me are stronger than me to start with. Cannell is the reigning masters TT national champ for God's sake. He is the same weight as I am, likely has a much higher FTP, was riding a Zipp 1080/880 combo, and was wearing a damn skinsuit, just itching to ride away solo.
My strategy ended up being quite simple - Conserve energy when possible, close gaps when necessary, and try to be around for the finish. The Carolina Masters riders started attacking late in lap 5 and I had just enough to cover and stay in the race. Late in the final lap Ryan Jenkins, Cannell, and Charlie got a gap. That easily could've been it, but I closed the gap pulling the other three with me. From this point there were no other attacks and I had about 2 minutes at 201 watts to recover for the sprint. That 2 minutes made all the difference. Also my position right behind the two main contenders was perfect. Those things combined with some luck, got a win for PV.
3 comments:
Nice 4 minute "warmup" ;-)
It was more like 3 minutes at 84 watts. Not exactly ideal for us.
Did I tell you...you da man!
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