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| Workout Type: |
Race |
| Description: |
Workout:
Chalk Creek Road Race (Utah), 50 or 80 miles depending on category, little elevation gain, rollers and a 1km power climb to finish.
Workout:
Mount Evans Hill Climb (Colorado), 27 miles, 7000' of elevation gain, summit finish at over 14,000'
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| Notes: |
Race (Utah):
Josh: pack finish. His team had a guy in the break so they didn't have to work in the peloton. After the 80-mile race he and a couple of others rode home from Coalville, logging an additional 50 miles for 6.5 hours on the bike today.
MFT: I posted a AAR for last year's edition of this race here. This year wasn't much different but I was in better condition, with more experience. We tried again and again to thin the herd over every roller and on every roller we shook some guys loose but none of us had the will or the depth to make the attacks stick. It turned out that one or two crashes in the back slimmed the group from the 40 who started. And the rest played a waiting game. Four of us worked on the front a lot but we could not get organized to all attack at once and make a break stick. I raced smart enough today, safe but not too safe, and had the legs to finish well but in a moment of inattention or maybe due to a bad choice I was boxed behind a couple of 'fraidy cats going into the final corner. Each grabbed a load of brake and we all exited the corner too slow. It took a while to wind it up. I must have been 20th wheel coming out and worked my way through a bunch of guys in the sprint but not enough to crack the top ten. Still, a great day in school. Later Lisa, Mckean, Andrew and I hiked up Snowbird at a friendly pace. Not recovery but at least I earned my food today.
Race (Colorado):
Vince: unwittingly joined the Senior Men 35+ group, where some older 1/2/3 racers run. It's a fast group that starts out and goes hard. I mentioned this to Vince afterward and he said, "I thought it seemed like a fast start. It was kind of a harsh toke." Coming from the single speed mountain bike scene I am sure the whole thing was alien - except the effort and hard-headedness required. "It hurt. 2:32 by my watch. Not sure where that puts me. Dropped hard early but passed many after Echo Lake (10,600'). Mishaps: race Nazi told me 'No iPods' half way through Passage to Bangkok! And I threw the chain up high." http://yfrog.com/n25sdj
Shawn: "Today I finished in 4th place in 2hrs 15min and some change (35+/4 category). I started at the front and was never further back than 5th place all day. The starting pace felt more reasonable this year compared to last, but I guess it wasn’t. Jamie said at ten min in the group was starting to splinter and at seventeen min the group was just being destroyed. I had no idea any of this was going on I just wanted to stay at the front. At about seven miles into the race a guy in an old CSC jersey attacked and I let it go because he looked as if he would blow at any time. Two other guys gave chase but I sat in fourth place setting tempo figuring they would come back to me above tree line. They didn’t! Another guy rode and even worked a little with me but I couldn’t close the gap. I could see them but there wasn’t shit we could do about it. With about 2 miles to go I decided I didn’t want to drag this guy to the line with me and get pimped at the end. So I slowly raised my pace until I started seeing spots and rode him off my wheel. The next thing I am aware of is Laura yelling at me with a 100m to go. I got what I was looking for but it always just fuckin’ hurts!"
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| Photo(s): |
A nice post-race hike with family and friends is just the trick to jump-start recovery and get one's head out of the analysis and away from the pavement.
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