I've been thinking a lot about my results from the past months and how I've felt on the bike. Although I've been pretty good about short term day-to-day recovery, I think in the big picture I've needed more large periods of rest. These are just my stream of conscious-type thoughts. Feel free to comment and give advice....
Race reports for Stages 1,2 &3 are below. I'll give a quick overview of the last three stages here.
Stage 4: Minneapolis Uptown Crit
This was a right-turn crit with 6 corners. It's one of the few clock-wise crits I've ever done...and it was a blast. United Health Care controlled the whole race. We averaged 30 mph and at points we had to be well into the high 30's. There were several crashes in men's field and a crash in the women's field that left 46 women on the ground (not just with their foot down to take a free lap...they were ON the ground). I've never went so fast for so long.
Stage 5: Menomonie Road Race
This RR was hard. 100 miles of rolling country with several very hard climbs and many teams looking to de-throne UHC made for a really long day in the saddle. Before going off the back at mile 50ish here's what I learned: Pro teams don't like amateur jokers (Or maybe I should say Pro jokers don't like amateur teams). At one point I thought it would be fun to ride up next to the strung out train of UHC, Bissel, Jelly Bellies, etc. I didn't realize there was a sprint point coming up so soon and those guys didn't like that I was up there. They were swearing to threatening me and when I didn't back off Bissel tried to put me in the ditch. And it wasn't just 1 guy...it was several. They didn't succeed though and I took their wheel anyway. Eventually UHC blew most of the peloton up before blowing themselves up. They lost the race that day.
Stage 6: Stillwater Crit
All I had to do was make it 5 laps...5 laps of up, then up some more, then down, then up again. Well, I did make it 5 laps, but not with the peloton. A group of us got pulled after 10 laps of a 20 lap race. These races were hard, but I was also hurting. I just couldn't put out the power it took. I was getting tired...
Over the next few days I went home for a night, did laundry, repacked, and got on the road to Georgia. After arriving in Augusta, I had one day to totally rest before the 30 Km TT.
Nats TT:
During the day before I rode my TT bike and also got it set to within UCI specs (apparently I measured some things wrong without having a jig to put the bike in). I felt pretty good and knew that if I had a good day on the bike I could be competitive on the rolling course that was set up.
5...4...3...2...1: Riding off the ramp I felt great. I accelerated quickly and easily up to speed. It was hot out, but not over 100, and there was a strong crosswind. When I rolled out, I started a little under my TT pace like I normally do so that I can ride up into a faster pace throughout the effort. It was right about the time that I hit my normal pace that I couldn't hit my normal pace. I blew up...and hard. It was early on and I was doing everything I could to just spin a gear-any gear. I rode in at 44+ minutes, which is pretty embarrassing...the winner rolled just over 37 minutes.
The road race was similar, but I did a better job of keeping within my limit. I lasted only 6 of 7 laps. During this race, it was really important to stay cool. This meant taking 2-3 bottles per lap-one for drinking and the others for pouring on oneself. I found there to be a huge difference if I poured cold water on my chest, head, and back when getting fatigued and overheated. I blew into bits mid lap after holding on as long as possible. I rode back to the tent at around 5 mph.
So there were many lessons learned, but I'm focusing on the big picture recovery for now. I'm way too worn down to finish races that shouldn't be a problem at all and I'm mentally not in the game right now. For now I'm taking lots of days off of the bike entirely and from now on I'll have to figure out a way to recover better once I'm into the racing season.
Muchos Luvos,
Adam
