Training Log Archive: Flight

This was the most frustrating race ever.

Anna and I asked if we could go for a lap after the cat 4 men (there was supposed to be 10min between). We got a yes and jumped on. Came around corner three and the marshal pulled the men saying the race was starting. Anna was a turn ahead of me. She goes through the finish line and I think, "that's bold"
I post up. Some guy says "better get going the race started."
I laugh.
Then I hear greg "no erin go the race started without you"

I get in the drops and start hammering.
I come through the line after a 43km/hr lap and yell "what the fuck" at the com who said we could go out for a lap.

Someone yells catch Anna.
I start closing the gap on Anna. I see the Peloton.
Two laps Anna is on I catch the group after corner one. I get mid pack.
Then the race basically ended. No one wanted to do any work. Anna and I launched attack. I gaped the group for about a lap and a half before she caught me with an entire Peloton on her wheel. When one of the two of us wasn't pulling the pace dropped to about 32km/hr
I was take 1-2 lap pulls at 42km/hr.
No one would pull through so I slowed down and waiter for them to come around me.
At one point Anna attacked, Devaney was on her wheel I got third wheel, D wouldn't pull through so I pulled around to counter for half a lap and then no one would pull through so we were caught by the group.
I started to go in the back stretch with a lap to go and pulled over for Sam to come through and she posted up. Another girl pulled through and Anna attack on the inside with the Jeventus girls on her wheel. Other came through 3 wide.
I had to take the outside line to move around and for a long sprint off the back. I couldn't quite make up enough ground. I think I came 5th or 6th

For curious folks.
A lap was 1500m.
We had 26laps. It took 1:10min (I don't know exactly because I reset my Garmin while I was chasing, one of the other girls said they had 1:10)
It was supposed to be a 50min race.
If that ever happens again I'm going to catch the group and just blow past them at my chase speed and see who I can shed.

C • Ugh 4

I woke up not feeling great.
Headed up to Edmonton with JK at 8:30 to try the race out.
It's a C race. The deal is sit in and if I flat be done vs chase on.
3 laps. Each lap is 37ish km with 7km of gravel including a steep climb and steeper decent.

I did one lap and called it.
The marshals weren't paying attention in corner one so we missed it and had to U turn and go back to it.
Suz, Anna, and I made an accidental break while Suz was pretend attacking because no one wanted to work so we sat up and waited. It was slow.
Picked up a bit before the gravel. At the turn into the gravel we shed 5 riders.
I got stuck in a deep bit and chased back on in about 1k, only because the gravel was sketchy and I could really throw down power.
People were skidding everywhere, myself included, I kept it upright. Then we came up on a cat 5 guy, who I didn't realize we had come up on because no one was calling or signalling anything. The rest of the girls moved around him, he started to fish tail and fall, I moved to the "shoulder" aka deep sand pit and got stuck, the girl behind me said "fuck I'm sorry ahhh good luck" and picked a different line.
And with that there was a gap. Not a big one. On the climb I see Suz and Anna make a big gap. I keep the Peloton in sight but I've decided I'm done with this when I finish the lap. I slow up and wait for JK. She catches me about 5k after the gravel is over and a few k before the line. The Peloton is now a ways up but in sight. She also hates the gravel but wants to finish the race. We alternate pulls for a bit and then I tell her to get on my wheel and I will take her to the group. I give a good hard pull for a k and join her in just as we are round out the lap.
I sit up and pull to the center line as I come through the lap and give the "I'm out" signal to the comms.

Then I went to the feedzone go hand Jk a bottle on lap two and wait for her to cross the finish line.

4 of us pulled out

In total more than half the starters DNF'd.
There were 70 flats and numerous falls

C • Sounds like a poorly set up race 3

New deadlift max of 65kg for 2 (still light)
Squat of 155 for 2 (also still room in the tank)

Hills and Circles....to be fair, I did not make them climb 408m, I did some solo hills before the clinic started.
I'm not that mean

4 x through

1min @ 300-310w, using a gear that puts cadence in the 95-100rpm range.
2min @ 235-245w; shift gears and maintain 95-100rpm.
4min @ 200-210w, again shifting gears and maintaining cadence.
5min @ 170-180w, but stay in the same gear; reduce cadence to accommodate watts.
3min easy after each block.

AKA Watt Riot Pain Train

Coles notes: we lapped everyone else in the race. Most rather quickly.
We also had a ton of fun.
I took off on the back stretch of the last lap and dusted Janelle with my long sprint (the course was about 500m)