All In

There's that old saying in cycling, sometimes you're the hammer and sometimes you're the nail. This past weekend I played both parts in the same race at the WORS Alterra race. I went into it feeling confident in my form, and coming off a rest week thought if if did a solid ride mid-week I wouldn't be feeling too flat come Sunday. I was up last weekend riding laps in the heat and felt my lap time of 28min could open a gap on the first lap if I went for broke; I talked with Big D and planned on attacking after the field going into the woods. Nathan won the start climb prime, and I struggled to get back up front for the drag race around the field. Big D got up the to break it up a bit and then I made my move, D slingshotting me up to Nate and Tristan. Nate saw me coming though and moved on my line a bit and we tangled bars, I thought for sure we were going down but I got by at the last second and Tristan followed me around the wood berm and into the woods. I got a small gap right away and tried to maintain that for the 1st lap like at Eau Claire, but they were not having it. I could see Tristan and Nate only around 10 sec back and I kept trying to open it up but to no avail. What's more is that I was riding over my limit, I still hadn't recovered from the efforts at the start and I kept seeing 187 on the HR monitor, not good. I managed to keep a small gap until the steep climb up the ski hill, and then they were back on my wheel.



Going into lap 2 I went around Tristan to lead again in the woods, but no gap was happening and I had no punch on the climbs after going hard every where else, and on the climb going into lap 3 Nate attacked hard on the start climb. I dug deep and closed the gap by the top but the damage was done. I yo-yo'd for half a lap and then felt the life go out of my legs, game over. Waving Tristan and then Matter by I contemplated quitting as my HR was flat lining at 150, I stopped a few times but for some reason kept getting back on my bike to finish 11th. A reality check is always painful but necessary, and goes to show that a win at a WORS race is always fought tooth and nail at the front!



Before the race I had decided to go "all-in" and attack again from the start, as I felt if I could ride laps at my pace that would be the only chance for a win. Otherwise I would have to ride slow in the woods and super hard on the climbs, not the way I like to race. In hindsight this was my mistake, I could have salgaved a top 5 had I been more conservative, but I really wanted to try for another win. One other factor I think was my attempt to lose a few lbs going into this race, I race and recover well at 158 but tried to get down to 155-6 for Franklin the week before, and I just had no reserves as the race went on. SO I at least got to spend last week stuffing my face, gaining weight is super fun!

Anyway, back to training this week and prep for Ore 2 Shore, I'm hoping for a good result so Cam Rock this weekend should be a good test, I don't think I will be going for the gold on the start though!