So for the cat 4 race I didn't really know what to expect.  Figured I'd try to do the same thing that I did in the 5's, sit in and get in good position for the final sprint.

 

Plans go out the window when racing starts. 

 

The field was pretty decent sized at about 50, and much more even as far as skill level goes than the 5's.  I found myself moving to the front and then shuffling to the back very quickly.  You gotta stay focused if you want to stay in the front.  The good thing was, I could easily move up when I wanted to. 

On the second prime lap I was in good position and thought to myself, why not?  So I went for it on the straight and got it pretty easily.  Won rear Dura Ace derailler, SCORE!!!  I look back after I rolled through, and I had a pretty decent gap.  After a couple turns, a guy from the peagasus team jumped across to me.  I got on his wheel and we had a good gap, he said I'll work if you do, I told him Yep.  So we went.  Dude was STRONG.  Too strong, everytime he'd pull through, he wouldn't pull through close to me and he would get a gap.  After a lap and a half of that, I thought the group was closer than they actually were and combined with me thinking I was going to be able to keep pulling for this guy, I sat up.  He kept going.  BIG MISTAKE.

Dude won easily.  Cat 4 lesson #1.  The group was very unorginized, my teammates would of blocked for me, I should have hung on his wheel even if I couldn't pull through.  I would of had 2nd....

 

So I drift back to the pack, and regroup.   Last lap I move up to second wheel on the backstretch again and a Mack rider is pounding at the front.  He tires at the end of the stretch and a few guys start to come up on my left.  I'm on the inside of the second to last turn sitting in around 5th or 6th place, when another Mack rider decides to take me out.  He turned into me, took out my front wheel, almost saved it.  But I went flying through the air and hit hard.  My teammate who was right behind me said I bounced pretty good.  OUCH!  I am very sore today and have some serious road rash. 

So, first Cat 4 Race:  DNF...

 

Raced with out a computer since Sensa Greg convinced me to try his tubulars.  They did make my bike about 2 lbs lighter...

 

Finally got a win under my belt!! 

Raced Cat 5's at the Proctor Classic in the morning.   Pretty uneventfull race.  Stayed in the pack for the most part.  Popped out for the prime laps.  In the first prime, I had 2 teammates go for it.  I let them get it and made sure nobody else was trying for it.  2nd prime I jumped on a guys wheel who was going for it and sprinted passed him.  2 michelin race lite tubes.   Sweet.

On the last lap I moved up in the headwind on the backstretch that leads into a slight rise before the last turn.  I was second wheel when we pulled on the long finishing straight away and the dude in front of me was spent.  He pulled off and it was time to go, even if it was early, go or get passed.  I hit it full throttle and held everyone off by a few bike lengths for the win!!  

After the race I talked with the head official and he gave me an early upgrade to Cat 4's which meant I was to stay around all day and race again at 5.  Fine by me!!!  

 

Race stats:

time: 26:06(actually 28:30, but the PT lost connection for 2.5 min)

Avg Pwr:  286w

Norm pwr:  340w

Avg HR:  175

 

As the blog title says, I'm a newb cyclist.  For the past couple years I've always sprinted with my hands on the top of the shifters, where I'm most comfortable.  My back wheel always jumped around of the ground, and couldn't keep up with the 5 year olds on their bmx's.  I'm sure when people have watched me doing that it brings back memories of Elaine dancing on Seinfield!  BRUTAL.  

With direction from Sensa, Greg, I've changed my form for the better.

Last night I went out and did a group of sprints sprinkled through out the ride.  Big PB's on 5s and 10s power.  Amazing what proper form does...

Here's the chart if you're interested:

 

 

June Training-

So far June has gone great. Most consistent training I've had since... shit I don't know, long time.
Have been hitting the Tuesday night group rides, which have been much more anerobic than I've been used to. In the past, when I train on my own the rides have been more steady state, get in one zone and hammer the whole ride. I've changed training styles and have been hitting a lot more short intense with very easy riding mixed in. I was not hitting the easy riding at all in the past. All rides were ridden to set PB's. I think changing it up has helped me a lot...

The totals for the weeks in June so far have been:
223 mi - 11hr 38min
231 mi - 12hr 25 min
245 mi - 12 hr 55min
This week will end up around 175 mi in around 9hr 45 min since it's a big Race week.
That's a lot of time spent away from the family, but my wife has been more than supportive and my daughter, well she can't talk but she does smile at me everytime I get back from a ride...


The Proctor Cycling Classic is this weekend. I'm hoping to do very well there.
The official who is in charge of upgrades for our area is going to be there. I'm hopefully going to talk to him and see about maybe getting an upgrade after the morning Cat 5 race. It would be an early upgrade, but I have heard that isn't uncommon. We shall see.


Power Numbers for June:
1' 586w, 5' 384w, 20' 319w, 60' 262w
FTP est 300

I think the FTP is conservative, I will be doing some testing after Proctor to see were it sits for sure.

Drove up Saturday morning with the family, got there plenty of time to register, warm up and actually warm up on the course since the Cat 5 race was the first race. The course was basically 1 big sweeping turn followed by a TIGHT left hander a little zig zag and another semi tight left hander.

To start the race they call us to the line, official starts giving his speal and says: " Don't look behind you it just started lightening... We may shorten the race." It was supposed to be 35 min.
Whistle blows and we're off. With the official saying that I kept a close eye on the lap counter and stayed near the front. I tried breaking away a couple times, but there were 3 teams that had over 5 guys each and they wouldn't let anything go. About 2 laps in it started raining and gradually rained harder and the lightening was crashing all around. After it became a deluge they stopped the race, but kept the clock running.
After it stopped raining(10 min) they lined us back up and sent us on our way. I got up front right away, not wanting to be behind anyone in the corners and have them take me out. Came around 1 lap and had 7 to go, so I sat in until 1.5 laps to go and took off. I got a good gap and held it through the tricky backstretch until I came up on some lapped traffic. On the last turn some of the lapped traffic cut me off and I had to almost stop completely(no worries, that's racing). One guy got around me in the turn. I was able to jump on to his wheel then and with 300m to go I started passing him and with about 50m to go I was barely passed him and some dude freight trained out of no where and nipped us both at the line.

2nd place. 1-3 were separated by .07 seconds.

Numbers:
1st half of the race:
Time: 10min
Avg Pwr: 325w
Norm Pwr: 345w
AVG HR: 183

2nd half:
time: 11min 45sec
Avg pwr: 353w
Norm pwr 372
Avg HR: 182

22 mile race.
I was pretty confident going into it that I could do well.
BUT I road stupidly. Was on the front the majority of the time. I attacked about 5 times, one I had a big gap, but no one came with me. Should have went for it, but I went back to the pack.
I knew that there was a hill right before the long sprint finish and thought I could get a gap there. When we got there my legs were semi tired and I was hanging on the back of about 5 riders going up the hill when a dbag came from my left, clipped my front tire and I lost all momentum and the front group. I know that's racing, but I was pissed.

Ended up 12th/36. Then to make matters worse, I end up getting taken out after the line by some guy that thought it would be a good idea to take a hard right 100m after the line. Nice.

Numbers:
Time: 1hr 1min
Avg Pwr: 271w
Norm Pwr: 323w
avg HR: 175