Yeah that's right, the first race of the season is officially in the books. I'm very happy with how my body responded to not only racing but my first group ride and effort above "tempo". I have been training specifically for multi-day endurance events, so much of my training has been at or below tempo pace. I am using the King's Valley RR and Tour of Walla Walla races to get in some speed work. It felt great to not hold back and just let the legs loose.
I was a bit surprised how fast the start of the race began. Literally right from the gun I went from 0 watts to about 530 watts for several minutes. The pace didn't let up until about 15 minutes in. King's Valley RR was a 75 miles (4 lap) rolling hills course. Road conditions were very good and the weather was clear skies with temps in the high 50's; a nice change from what I have been used to in Bend.
For the first 2 laps I decided to play it safe and just hide out in the middle of the pack. Not knowing how the legs would respond, I didn't want to blow up before the finish. By the start of the third lap I was feeling pretty good, and decided to hang out near the top 10-15 spots the rest of the race just to keep an eye on any breaks that might look good to get in. Nothing ever materialized until the final lap with only 1/2 lap to go. I missed the break and continued to stay near the front. The final 1K is a gradual uphill finish and going into that I was roughly in 8th position but my legs didn't have any left to sprint to the finish (as usual) and lost many sports the final 500 meters.
Not concerned about my result, however, I am very happy with my overall fitness right now. My body weight is very close to where I want it to be and my legs have responded well to everything I have thrown at them. Now it's getting close to see if they will respond when I REALLY need them.
I was a bit surprised how fast the start of the race began. Literally right from the gun I went from 0 watts to about 530 watts for several minutes. The pace didn't let up until about 15 minutes in. King's Valley RR was a 75 miles (4 lap) rolling hills course. Road conditions were very good and the weather was clear skies with temps in the high 50's; a nice change from what I have been used to in Bend.
For the first 2 laps I decided to play it safe and just hide out in the middle of the pack. Not knowing how the legs would respond, I didn't want to blow up before the finish. By the start of the third lap I was feeling pretty good, and decided to hang out near the top 10-15 spots the rest of the race just to keep an eye on any breaks that might look good to get in. Nothing ever materialized until the final lap with only 1/2 lap to go. I missed the break and continued to stay near the front. The final 1K is a gradual uphill finish and going into that I was roughly in 8th position but my legs didn't have any left to sprint to the finish (as usual) and lost many sports the final 500 meters.
Not concerned about my result, however, I am very happy with my overall fitness right now. My body weight is very close to where I want it to be and my legs have responded well to everything I have thrown at them. Now it's getting close to see if they will respond when I REALLY need them.
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