Last Thursday was the final race of the Chapel Series. This is a very well run event on a safe course so I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to try a race to come out next year and give it a try. My only suggestion to the organizers (If only I knew them personally!) would be to have another field which would be for the true citizen class. Since this race is sponsored by The Chapel, it always has parishioners coming out to give it a try. It would be nice (and safer) for those guys not to have to compete against guys who've been racing for years, and it might keep them hooked on the sport. Just my 2 cents.
This race once again saw another large field with 30+ riders taking the start line. I think we had 1/3 of the riders in the field. If memory serves me right, we had Tim and Samantha House, Marshall Leininger, Jim Flesher, Carl Peshoff, Matt Turi, Chris Smith, Eric Lesco, Karen Palmer and myself. I was a little worried that I may not make it when I got a flat tire during my warm up with about five minutes before the official start. Thanks to Jim for holding the start a few minutes for me and thanks to Carl for assisting in the quick change. With both tires fully inflated, we were off. The pace was quick all evening with several breaks taking place. Nothing seemed to stick since there was never an instance when all three teams were represented, so each and every time the missing entity would pull it back. Midway into the race Darrin took a solo flier off the front that lasted for about 8 laps. Since he wasn't a threat to the overall g.c. standings, everyone was content to let him hang out there, knowing full well that once the laps began counting down, we'd pull him back quickly. Sure enough, once we got to within a few minutes until they began counting down, Darrin was reeled back in. Like a good team, several attacks came but nothing was able to stick due to the quick pace of the group and everyone getting anxious about the finish. It was at this point that I decided that I'd better begin moving up closer to the front because up to this time, I was fairly content to sit mid-pack and watch what developed. Just as we were approaching two more laps to go, I decided to take a stab at getting off the front. This was a little sooner than I had hoped but all the cheering from the fans got the better of me and I decided to give it a go. Just like every attempt prior to this, this wasn't going anywhere. Carl and Noah (Allied Decals) were on my wheel and we had a small gap, but it was closed down quickly by Orrville. It was at this point that my breakaway move turned into a leadout. I knew that my fourth place overall wasn't worth defending and since there was little chance of me moving up into the final podium, I'd give it all I had to deliver Carl to the line as fresh as possible. This worked as I was able to get him to the start line and from there it was only a few hundred meters for him sprint in for first place in the race and to take the overall win for the series. From the start line to the finish line for me on the other hand was the longest ride of my life as I had completely spent myself and got passed by I think almost every rider remaining in the field. Oh well, I wasn't looking for glory that day.
brian
Here's the data for the evening:
Duration: 37:54
Work: 571 kJ
TSS: 58.8 (intensity factor 0.964)
Norm Power: 289
Distance: 15.531 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 953 251 watts
Heart Rate: 96 191 176 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 98 rpm
Speed: 2.9 30.1 24.5 mph
Torque: 0 352 68 lb-in
No comments:
Post a Comment