Grant’s Tomb - Masters 35+
Goal: Have fun, crush the pedals, and put myself in a position to win
Report:
Just days before race day I decided to sign up for my first masters race of my life! The night before the race I had gotten the word in my team slack chat that our goal for the pro/1/2/3 race was to go for the New York state champions jersey later that day. That meant I would be a domestique for my teammates since I am from Massachusetts. So any thoughts of saving energy in this masters race went out the window! (Sorry team haha) It was time for some fun.
On the start line I always look to see who is there and which teams have the most amount of riders. Right away I noticed many Big Hit participants. I knew that team from Central Park racing. So, since I had no teammates I knew that when Big Hit made a move I would follow immediately. If I had teammates to help me I could ask them to pull back a breakaway if I wasn’t in it. Since I was by myself I needed to make sure I was in the breakaway. The race was only forty five minutes and if a Big Hit rider was in a breakaway then the biggest team in the race would not be working to pull it back.
The whistle blew. I knew in this race I just needed to be patient. My strength here would be my absolute FTP wattage. I needed to be careful because there were better sprinters than me in the race. I needed to wait just long enough for everyone to have some “lactic acid” in their legs before choosing the moment. Trying to break away when everyone is fresh makes it easier to be chased down. So, one lap went by. Another lap went by. And one more. At this point I looked down on my computer and noticed it had been just over five minutes at a pretty fast speed. Usually this is when the pace settles down because people start to feel that lactic acid/burning sensation in the legs. This was the sweet spot time for me. It was long enough for people’s legs to feel tired and before the pace of the race slowed and allowed them to recover. It was far enough into the race and gave myself the green light to start following moves! Almost on cue a Big Hit rider attacked on the finishing uphill drag. I bridged up to him and went by to take a pull right around the finish line.
When you go you go. There is no hesitation or holding back. I decided to go full gas for one lap to see if we could get a good gap. After that lap, and to my surprise, I was by myself. According to Strava it was the fastest lap anyone had done all day in any race! One minute and forty seconds. In that moment I knew it wasn’t the best scenario to have thirty seven minutes left by myself. That is usually not the ideal situation. But I thought back to my goals for the race. Have fun. This would be a fun thing to attempt. Crush the pedals. I’d have to do that to stay away. Put myself in a position to win. Here I was in first place.
In a bike race the person who wins is always the one who averaged the fastest speed. I started to think about how I was going to be able to average a faster speed than the peloton behind me. It is easier said than done. I knew there were going to be places where I would lose some seconds and places where I could gain some seconds. Where on the course could I lose a lot of time? Where on the course would I lose a small amount of time? Could I turn the any of the loses into an advantage? Could I lose time in some sections but save energy or recover a little while doing it? If so that’s an even trade.
The finishing straightaway. It was long and slightly uphill. That is a place where people would be launching attacks. Those accelerations would eat into my gap so every time up it I was as aerodynamic as possible and really putting the watts out. That was the spot on the course that needed 100% effort every lap. I felt like I was hauling butt on it and probably didn’t lose time on that section.
At the top of the finishing straightaway the course flattened out briefly into turn one. There was a short flat section into turn two. Then there was a short flat section into turn three. I was always feeling tired from the previous finishing straightaway effort here. Also, I knew I didn’t want to hit my brakes at all during this breakaway. Because of those two reasons I decided to not sprint out of the turns. If I sprinted then I might’ve had to have braked into the next turn. I kept an even pace. I probably lost a few seconds not accelerating but I saved a ton of energy and kept the lactic acid in my legs down by not sprinting. The distance between the turns was so short the peloton behind me wouldn’t be sprinting for very long before they had to coast anyway.
After turn three there was a short punchy hill into turn four. This was one spot I knew I could lose a few seconds if I just rode as easy as I did between the last few turns. I sprinted up this every time. I probably didn’t lose any time here.
After turn four there was a lengthy flat section into the downhill on the course. I decided to accelerate after this turn to get up to speed as fast as I could. This was a spot that the group could make up a lot of time on me. I imagined them sprinting out of turn four and gaining a ton of speed before even getting to the downhill. They would be able to go really fast in a group here. So in my mind I was trying to match their acceleration and effort here.
This brought me into the downhill and sweeping 180 degree turn at the bottom of the course that led into the finishing uphill straightaway. I am a heavy bike racer. I also believe I am pretty aerodynamic compared to the average racer. Because of this I stopped pedaling on the downhill every lap and got as aero as possible. I knew the peloton wouldn’t be pedaling around the 180 degree turn. I probably didn’t lose any time here each lap. This was also important because it gave me 10-15 seconds of complete rest before giving a hard effort up the finishing hill every lap.
Getting aero
This rhythm went on for thirty seven minutes. The entire time I stayed as aerodynamic as possible. When I was settling in and pedaling my hands were on the hoods, forearms parallel to the ground, my back as flat as it goes, and my head as low as possible.
During solo breakaway efforts like that I always tell myself I’m going too slow and I’m not going to make it. I’m not sure if that is a good for bad thing. I was around 30 seconds ahead the entire race. I guess you could either say something more positive like “they aren’t gaining on me” or something more negative like “I’m not pulling away.” Maybe both perspectives can work if it makes you keep the pressure on the pedals? In the end I made it to the line and won. I had fun, crushed the pedals, and put myself in a position for the win.
Afterwards someone came up to me and asked how I felt about winning? It seemed like he meant if I felt good about it. I told him I felt the same as before (the race).
What did you do well?
I identified the right team to follow. I was patient and waited for the minimum amount of time before making a move. I held my aerodynamic position the entire race. I think I had a really good pacing strategy. When the man asked how I felt after winning the race I truly felt the same as before. If I feel good about winning then I’ll feel bad about losing. And I lose most of the time. I will find other things to feel good about.
What did you not do well?
Is telling myself I’m not going to make it actually helping? I don’t know.
What will you do differently in the future to be better than today?
I didn’t use an ice sock down the back of my jersey for this race. This would’ve made a big difference. I slowed down considerably on the second half of the race. I averaged 27.6 mph for the first half and 26.2 mph for the second. Sure everyone slowed but I know better. I have read studies on 5 km runners who use an ice vest before racing. Even after their race their core temperature is lower than non ice vest wearing counterparts. When core temperature goes up blood is sent to the surface of the skin to cool you off instead of going to your muscles. The cooler you can stay means there is more blood to go to your muscles to push the watts. Having an ice sock would’ve kept me at full speed longer.
