Race results: 1:51:06
Placement: 44/59
Average Speed: N/A
TSB (Biking/SBR): 2.5/1.8
The positive take-away: my mountain biking skills are much stronger. I’ve spent a
lot of time teaching myself to lay off the brakes, and it really paid off at Yankee. However, that leads me to my negative take-away: I couldn’t climb an ant hill during the race. On a pre-ride Saturday, my legs were burning up quickly on even the smallest climb. I even told Heather when I got home that I was slightly concerned about my legs, but I figured the pre-ride would loosen them up, as well as a night of recovery. Not only that, my TSB was much higher than at Barry Roubaix and I climbed really well that day.
My first lap came in at 53 minutes, which is just okay. I’ve had some training rides in the 50 minute range, but not going to get there when I’m crawling up the hills. My second lap was extremely slow at 57 minutes. My pre-ride was 54 minutes and that was at a low tempo pace. I projected a 51 minute first lap and 53 second. I can accept a 2 minute difference, but 4 minutes is disappointing. That is just a slow lap. My conclusion is that my TSB was too high. For my next race, I will try and manage my TSB below the Barry Roubaix levels and see how that impacts my race performance. I also believe some hill intervals are in my future; both running and biking.
Other than physical performance issues, the bike ran perfectly and I was happy with my HR management. I did forget my Garmin but I had my Garmin running watch with me so I used that as a HR monitor and timer. I know Yankee really well so not having my Garmin isn’t much of a factor.
Hmmm... Looks like someone might be trying to ride above their abilities. It may be time to drop back a class. Nothing builds confidence like winning.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I'm not so mentally weak that I need to win to build confidence. There are plenty of other racers that need to sandbag for their own mental weakness, I'm just not one of them. I have no problem being a 'middle of the pack' racer in Expert category. It's a challenge I accept, not run away from. Especially since I have to split my training between biking, swimming and running. I miss the days when all I had to do was train for mountain biking.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of asshole comment is that from Octo? Is that what the mountain bike community is like in Michigan? I've read your posts before on the MMBA but good god. It's like a bunch of children.
ReplyDeleteIt's just somebody who got their panties in a bunch when they were called out for sandbagging. No biggie.
ReplyDeleteJust to clear the air. The Scott V. above is not the Scott V. from Team Troll.
ReplyDeleteScott V.
Team Troll
I'm not familiar with Team Troll. Scott lives in Colorado and I believe rides for Felt Bikes.
ReplyDeleteScott (Team Troll),
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads- up on this.
Christian,
None of the above written transactions were from me. I do not know who the poster is and I do not advocate anything posted on this site other than what I have posted and what I may or may not post. When I do it will be using my name.
Don
Don, I gave you shit because you were in the wrong category. I know if I were in your shoes I would have moved up to expert the very next race. But that's me. Regardless, that doesn't mean I'm not impressed by your speed on the bike.
ReplyDeleteIf they think you suck so much at mountain biking, why don't you just invite them on a 10k-15k run after your next race. Better yet, invite them to compete against you in an Xterra. Whoever is giving you shit about mountain bike performance is an idiot. That's like Lance giving Macca shit for doing poorly in a stage race.
ReplyDeleteIt's all good. I have the box full of medals. I've the championship trophies for the mountain bike series. I've just moved on to something more challenging. I have nothing to prove, especially to somebody like Octo, who hides behind a computer screen. Despite how tough they talk, I have yet to have one approach me at a race. Guess it's easier with a computer screen in front.
ReplyDelete