Well, maybe not half. By mass, the number would be more like 82% of peak. However, that isn't what I'm referring to here. Sadly, the ability to put the hurt on the rest of the peloton, or more specifically the inability to do it, makes up the topic of today's discussion.
Last night I went to Wompatuck. After getting tied up at work (well, not physically), and fighting traffic for an hour, I wasn't on the bike until 6:20 and missed the first two laps. No big deal, and even though the field was not exactly bunched up when I jumped in, warming up was not too bad. The field was not circulating much at all. After a few laps I felt like I should be doing more than just sitting in, but I wisely reconsidered, because with my late arrival I had still only been on the bike for about fifteen minutes at that point. So I continued to just follow wheels.
There were a lot of riders commenting about how fast the pace was. Wompatuck is normally fast, but because of the woods lining the course on both sides (all the way around) there is rarely detectable wind, so speeds which might be brutal on a "normal" crit are much easier to sustain here, especially if you are not up front. My new bike does not have cadence nor speed sensors yet, so I have no concrete measurements, other than knowing the course in 2.15K around. Yet I did find myself in the 14 cog a lot, or else I would have difficulty maintaining a smooth spin.
There was a time when I would ride Wompatuck one or two cogs less (more teeth, smaller gear, just to be clear) than everyone else. My silky spin allowed me to easily move back and forth in the bunch, never getting gapped, always ready to accelerate. Last night, just the opposite seemed to be the case. This may be a trend for me this year. Having worked to improve my strength and lactic tolerance on long, grinding climbs at low cadence, my speed spin seems to have lost its luster. I am going to have to put the sensors on the bike to see if what I am perceiving is real.
With 11 laps to go, I skillfully crowd surfed my way to the front without taking any wind. In the 13 I powered off to see what I could do. Back in my prime, my intervals off the front at Womp would always be two or three laps, with rarely more than one or two riders able to follow. Last night, I never got a gap. Someone was on my wheel the entire 2:17 of my interval, not even a full lap before an attack went by and I sat up. My average HR for the effort was 175, but I was able to recover fairly quickly, so that is one positive straw to grasp.
With four laps to go, this time I jumped and attacked hard. I got a small gap, but nothing seemed to be getting away all night. I held on only a minute before getting swarmed by a counterattack. Damn. This was discouraging. I know it should not be, as even though we never went single file all night, we never slowed down, and they chased everything, as has been the case all year. Nobody is getting significantly up the road, even for a short time. I sat out the sprint, and I guess the night's average turned out to be over 43 kph.
This morning I went out for an easy hour, and I was not only tired, but downright sleepy. Time to get to work now, I least I am home, but I need to go in to the office for a meeting later. No worries, as that will be on the way to my much needed massage appointment. Tommorow will be easy in the am too, then the Brockton Rox game tommorow night. Friday is off from work, so maybe a nice long ride. Hoosatonic Hills looms on Sunday, and it is supposed to be a hot one. I'll find out if the work I have done on my climbing has been enough! Thanks for reading.
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