Seward Park Race 6/25/09 - More Good Training

Yesterday was another installment of the Seward Park training race. Another opportunity to either get in some good training, a nice placing, or better yet both. Too bad for me last night was mostly good training, I didn't end up placing well at all.

Lined up in front with Ian & Rob, two guys I recently met at Seward. On the first lap Rob was off the front, and held out for a few laps. Thought about chasing but it seemed to early - while it would be good training to try to break away so early in the race, I wanted to at least finish and didn't want to jeopardize that.

Also met Mark yesterday, a strong racer that I've been seeing a lot at the front of the pack. He said he's done the Race Across Oregon last year - and here I was thinking that I was the only "mileage junkie/ultra guy" in the peloton! Mark is a very strong sprinter and a good all around racer - he took both primes last night, and the win! Congrats man.

Here a shot of Ian & Mark in the peloton at some point during the race (they're on the left, black & blue jerseys respectively):

I didn't show up in many of the pictures taken, but did find this one with me in it. (Black/white jersey, blue/white helmet):
More pics from the 4/5 race on the teampics smugmug site.

I basically "sat in" for most of the race, though I did spend a little while on the "business end" of the peloton. Tried to stay up front, and found that I could move up well on the uphill, given space. Trouble is space to move is hard to come by on the hill, so you either have to be up front in the first place, or find a way around the pack.

For the second prime I was somewhere mid-pack at the beginning of the uphill (leading to the line) - and decided to chase the sprinters, even though there were 20 riders in between me and them. Found some space on the left, dumped my gears way down (or is it up?) and sprinted for dear life. I passed a good 15 people, and felt like I was doing twice their speed at that point. But of course I didn't catch the sprinters, they were way ahead. Still, it was a nice little practice of a sprint and also good practice of moving up in the field.

Now that I'm getting more comfortable with racing, and pack racing more specifically, I feel like I don't want to just surf the pack until the big final surge. I've heard a quote that goes something like "It's called racing, not riding around waiting for shit to happen." So on that note I decided to go off the front, even if it was probably at the worst tactical moment to do so.

Off the Front, If Only for a Few Seconds

So on the last lap, after we made the 140-degree turn onto the flat, I sensed a slow-down in the pack and took off up the right side, hoping to get up front and make a clean line through the sharp right at the bottom of the hill. But I'm pretty sure that attacking downhill is a stupid thing to do, and I'm pretty sure I learned that last night.

I took a dig, got up front, and hit the corner as hard/fast as I could. Once on the flat gave it some more gas, but upon a quick glance behind me I see the whole friggin' pack on my wheel! So much for that...

Totally spent, I had to let the pack consume me and overtake. Just kept riding straight until I had room to move, then tried to recover for the final surge - too bad it's a 4-5% uphill surge, and if you're already cooked going into it best of luck. I had nothing to offer in the end, I'd "burnt all my matches" at the wrong moment on the last lap.

Totally out of breath/energy, all I could do was watch the final surge from a distance. Started to stand up and give something just to finish with the pack (e.g. sprint for 30th), but decided to just sit up and let it go. Rolled in a few seconds after the pack did, my first time being "off the back" even if slightly.

In the end though, it was a lot of fun, and more damn good training!

Power Data

Seward Park Race 6/25/09:
Duration: 28:36
Work: 417 kJ
TSS: 52.3 (intensity factor 1.048)
Norm Power: 299
VI: 1.23
Pw:HR: -1.08%
Pa:HR: -1.65%
Distance: 18.405 km
Elevation Gain: 369 m
Elevation Loss: 364 m
Grade: 0.0 % (5 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1015 244 watts
Heart Rate: 126 195 183 bpm
Cadence: 29 127 81 rpm
Speed: 5.1 73.4 38.5 kph
Pace 0:49 11:46 1:33 min/km
Altitude: -1 24 14 m
Crank Torque: 0 203.1 26.3 N-m


failed break: (on the last lap)
Duration: 1:18
Work: 25 kJ
TSS: 3.6 (intensity factor 1.295)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -40.49%
Pa:HR: 29.93%
Distance: 897 m
Elevation Gain: 18 m
Elevation Loss: 20 m
Grade: -0.2 % (-2 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 899 316 watts
Heart Rate: 185 191 189 bpm
Cadence: 47 100 81 rpm
Speed: 15.2 67.7 41.4 kph
Pace 0:53 3:57 1:27 min/km
Altitude: 4 24 14 m
Crank Torque: 0 91.6 31.6 N-m

weakest sprint ever: (final sprint)
Duration: 0:24
Work: 8 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: 55.23%
Pa:HR: 43.31%
Distance: 204 m
Elevation Gain: 12 m
Elevation Loss: 0 m
Grade: 6.0 % (12 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 11 691 348 watts
Heart Rate: 187 190 189 bpm
Cadence: 52 98 77 rpm
Speed: 15.2 56.3 30.6 kph
Pace 1:04 3:57 1:57 min/km
Altitude: 8 20 16 m
Crank Torque: 2 67.3 41.1 N-m


Peak 2min (342 watts): (last two mins of race)
Duration: 2:00
Work: 41 kJ
TSS: 4.1 (intensity factor 1.112)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -6.23%
Pa:HR: -33.14%
Distance: 1.351 km
Elevation Gain: 33 m
Elevation Loss: 25 m
Grade: 0.7 % (9 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 899 342 watts
Heart Rate: 170 191 185 bpm
Cadence: 31 113 82 rpm
Speed: 24.3 67.7 40.5 kph
Pace 0:53 2:28 1:29 min/km
Altitude: 4 24 15 m
Crank Torque: 0 119.4 35.4 N-m

Peak 5 mins was actually not in the race, but on the ride down! Dammit! This is not good, it means I was pushing too hard on the way down, wasting energy before I even got to the race. And I wasn't even late this time, it's just out of habit. Need to work on that....

Peak 5min (279 watts):
Duration: 5:00
Work: 83 kJ
TSS: 8.7 (intensity factor 1.025)
Norm Power: 292
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: 19.29%
Pa:HR: 9.63%
Distance: 3.066 km
Elevation Gain: 33 m
Elevation Loss: 30 m
Grade: 0.1 % (2 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 496 278 watts
Heart Rate: 164 186 177 bpm
Cadence: 42 109 95 rpm
Speed: 4.1 50.3 36.7 kph
Pace 1:12 14:38 1:38 min/km
Altitude: -29 -26 -27 m
Crank Torque: 0 87.5 27.4 N-m

Looking forward to next week, maybe I'll give another flyer a shot - but this time on an uphill!