The day started with some normal preparation at home. Last night, I had the car mostly loaded up, with my trainer, extra wheels, pump and toolbox. And I got the bike rack on the car. This morning involved getting some breakfast, packing up my pre- and post-race food, and getting my clothes and other gear ready. I brought my entire kit, since I wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like. Then, I got the bike onto the car, threw everything else in, and hit the road.
After driving for about an hour, I got to the start line, and found a parking spot along the side of the road. I walked over to registration and picked up my bib number, then back to the car to start getting ready. I pulled out the trainer, got the bike ready to go, got my racing clothes on, and hopped on the bike. I probably rode the trainer for about 25 minutes or so, getting the heart and legs pumping with some high-cadence intervals, which rockin' out to some podcasts. I probably should have used some more intense music or something, but I pretty much only listen to podcasts these days.
During my warmup, I was also sucking down some Cytomax for hydration and carbs, and ate a banana and a blueberry Clif bar. At that point, I was pretty much ready to go. I put all my crap back in the car, hopped on the bike and went for about a 5 minute ride, just to get a feel for the aero bars again. Then, off to the start line.
At the line, I jumped in my place according to my bib number. I took a few more swigs of Cytomax and then dropped off my bottle on the side of the road, where I would pick it up when I was done. The race was only 11 miles, so I wasn't going to need anything to drink during the race, and I didn't feel like carrying the extra weight. Then, I almost had a little disaster. When I was moving up to the start line, I did something a little weird with my aero bars. I put all my weight onto the right elbow pad of the aero bar for some reason, and it moved a little bit. Not enough to cause a big problem, but enough to be annoying. I've spend the past few weeks riding those aero bars at the exact same position, and now it was thrown off a bit. Again, it didn't cause any big problems, but it was slightly different than what I was used to.
Once I was at the line, they had a guy holding the bike up, so I could stay clipped in for the start. The starter counted down the last few seconds, and gave me the go-ahead, and I took off.
It was about 5.5 miles south, then turn around, and head another 5.5 miles back north, along the I-25 frontage road. Racers went off at 30-second intervals. The whole time, I could see the guy that took off 30 seconds before me, but by the turn-around, I still hadn't caught him, although I was getting closer. After a few miles, a fellow Zilla who started 1 minute behind me, as a Cat4, caught and flew right past me. Fortunately, that was the only rider who passed me the whole ride.
About 2 miles after the turn-around, I finally caught and passed my 30-second guy. That felt pretty good. It makes you feel like you're actually making some progress. At least I knew I wasn't going to be last.
At the 1-kilometer-to-go marker, I put on the gas, as much as I could. I really didn't have a whole lot left. But enough that I could try to push it a little. Up a little grade, and then the finish was in sight. I pushed as much as possible, huffing and puffing my way across the line. I chatted with a few Zillas who finished shortly before and after me, and then headed back to look for results. Nothing was posted yet, so I went back to the car to get some normal clothes on. Then, I walked back to the registration area to find the results. Posted on the side of the porta-a-john. Classy. Anyway, the results has been posted, and I was shocked to see I got 5th place! I think the results they posted showed 26 total riders, but in the end, the official results showed 27.
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| Men Cat 5 results. 5th place! |
After I got the results, I chatted with some teammates again for a little bit, and then climbed in the car and headed home. A quick stop at Qdoba for some lunch, then home. After putting everything away, I decided to go for a run just to burn a few more calories. And the weather was just too nice to pass up.
All in all, a good day. There are a couple races next week, but I still haven't signed up for them. We'll see how the weahter is, and if I've got any other plans. Stay tuned . . .
Food:
- Breakfast: Fruit / protein smoothie
- Lunch: Steak salad at Qdoba
- Dinner: Sauteed sausage, peppers and cabbage again.
Exercise:
- Frostbite Time Trial
- 4.2 mile run
Today's weigh-in: 186.0
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