Due to the cold weather of late, I rocked up as soon as the gates were open to get a couple of laps in pre-race and to try and warm-up. I used to be an asthmatic when I was younger and the cold weather still can affect my lungs if I’m not careful and try and race without a proper warm-up.
When I was doing my first lap, the trail fairy was out checking that all the signage was still in place so every time I would pop out onto the fire road he would be waiting and ask me whether the signs were still there. I tried turning is into a bit of a race but apparently a 4wd on the fire road is quicker then me on the MTB as I never beat him to any on the junctions.
Riding the course, there were sections that were so fresh they looked like they had only been cut the previous week. I was glad I pre-rode the course to get a feel of it, as it came in handy come race time. It was really rough and rooty and I was questioning my wisdom of using the hard tail.
Lining up on the front row of and gun goes, and I screw the start by not getting my foot in properly and end up coming into the single track in about 6th or so…after under cutting 3 people into the first corner. Through the first rooty section and I getting a pounding, trying to stay loose, but it’s real hard. Out the other side and onto the first and longest fire road section, and time to wind it up jumping past two riders along this 400m section.
So up into third and it stays this way through the next two single track sections till we hit the single pinch climb on the course. I open the taps and punch it up the climb passing the two riders in front and manage to gap them going in the next section. Then we start hitting the traffic! Ever since I have started MTBing I have made it a point to always call “Rider back” when hitting traffic and not barge past slower riders. I have been on the receiving end before and know that a little bit of courteously goes a long way to making a clean pass. Also I try and make the call loud and anticipate the direction that the riders going to move so as to get the job done as quickly as possible.
I think that’s the reason that I managed to open up a gap back to the chasing riders through the next lap and half. I also was basically doing efforts jumping from one slow rider to the next and then try and recover. I also was going hard on the fire roads to try and add extra distance back.
I as I mentioned it took about a lap and half before the chasers got back on terms. By this stage I was so far in the Hurt Box it wasn’t funny. First one, then two, and finally three came past. I went from floating over the roots to feeling like I was bouncing off every since one. It was close to lights out. I decided given how far gone I was, if I could hold onto a top five finish I would be happy. I couldn’t see or hear anyone behind, but I kept the pressure on for the final lap. I found a bit of a rabbit to chase in Big Jase who ended up having a bit of a nightmare race. I finally caught and passed him with about 1.2k to go of the lap.
Sum of the Numbers
From examining the power tap file, the numbers were spot on for 80mins with an average of just on 270 watts. From looking at the graph you can see the spot where I hit the lead and my heart rate topped out at 182bpm.
The Aftermath
Finishing the race my legs were screwed! They haven't been this sore in months. They felt like the day after a four hour road race. Todays Monday and no riding today, the wife is giving me a leg rub later to try and remove some of the crap from the muscles.
nice one mate,,, i want some wires hooked up to my ticker that fit the usb on the laptop.. my legs were empty today as well
ReplyDeleteHey David, nice race, and well done! It is always interesting to see how the numbers stack up for other people. Thanks for sharing the power profiles. With the racing, my only suggestion would be to be very careful with the high-intensity surges early on in a XC race. Because the race is run pretty much at LT/AT (or whatever you call your point of deflection of lactic acid accumulation!), the high intensity surges are hard to recover from when you are already high to begin with. I think that you are getting close to being able to win one of these races, but you will need to be a bit more patient and use your skill as a roadie to sit in and bide your time following other riders until the 2nd last lap before emptying the tank. If you do go off the front, you only need to do it at a consistent pace as you have to remember, everyone else is in the same pain cave as you are. Once you go off alone up the front, visualise the pace that you know you can hold for the entire race. A lot of the time, people will hold for the first lap, and it can be frustrating because they are hard to drop, but most people will have a lull on the 2nd lap - check everyone's lap splits. This is the key spot to keep the hammer down - no need to surge - just steady. Keep it pinned! The view is great from that top step!
ReplyDeleteAfter fumbling the start, the red mist kinda dropped and I just went for it. I think part of the problem was the traffic, I was essentially doing intervals, 2-3min intervals with maybe 30sec- 1min recovery...and as you know there is a limit to how many of those you can do!
ReplyDeleteThere also wasn't any reall DH sections to recover on. But leesons to be learn't
Well done mate, you looked pretty relaxed as you lapped me, hardly like a man who had pushed too hard at all!
ReplyDeletePS: How come the average power is 232W in the screen shot, not 270W? I'm interested there, because I think it should propbably be 270W as you say, because I was much slower and averaged 240W. Me still learnum this power stuff is all ;)
Sorry should have said normalised power. But you can see what I mean about the difference between road and MTB. Road I can bang out 320w for and hour/ hour and half...if I was doing that on the MTB I would be racing James in the elite category!
ReplyDeleteYes, your 317W 20min efforts in the post earlier in the week were impressive indeed! I manage around 270W for mine. Can borrow your legs for a few weeks? ;)
ReplyDeleteYep, traffic can be a bit of a downer at times. I have used it to my advantage at times when it can actually slow down a competitor in front and allow for recovery. I know exactly what you mean by the simulated intervals. When you bust through, sometimes you have to put in a bit of a (sub)maximal effort (when you don't really want to) in order to stay upright or take advantage of a passing manouvre. It is a fine line always deciding how much effort to put in, and the actual effort passing someone raises the adrenalin and the HR. The key is to relax yourself and slow the HR down when passing someone.
ReplyDeleteSport B is probably the worst positioned class WRT traffic. Sport A (or Vets)has way less and is definitely easier to keep the pace that you want - just a consideration. You are definitely fast enough to race A or Vets(by avg spd)[and do really well] and definitely have the endurance for one extra lap (A). It is such a fine line with regard to pacing. Really hard to get spot on so that you go fast enough early on, but not leave too much in the tank.
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteI started out in Men's A but got smashed so down graded to Men's B. I'm happy riding here as I'm competitive where as if I was riding A's I would be last.... If I can win a couple of races then I will upgrade to A's.
I haven't been doing alot of anerobic intervals recently so the 1-3 min efforts really hurt.
My other problem is skill level, coming from racing road I'm used to point and pedal, not having to drive the bike so it's an aspect I have to work on as my skills aren't going to improve overnite.