Tour de Terra Cotta: I'm Back!

Now based on the title, you may think I did really well. Well not really but I finished in the peloton. This race was meant to be a redemption race. After upgrading to cat 2, I was pulled in my first two races (both were provincial championships), and my moral wasn't too high. Todays goal was accomplished and I'm feeling good about my fitness again! Also i'm almost fully recovered from my cold so I think that helped.

So the race is a must attend race for the first time racer to the experienced cat 1 rider. It is a closed 8.8km loop, so you get the full road with no yellow line rule. There was a youth cup race in the morning, followed by a 26km beginner race, 54km Intermediate race and a 104km elite race to finish the day off in style. There was good prize money in the elite race with the winner walking home with $1000 (according to the tech guide).  Theres a short hill on each lap which will sometimes break people off the group if they aren't very strong on climbs.

I ended up being there for all the races this time as my brother did the youth cup in the morning. I had friends in both the beginner and intermediate races so it turned into a day of cheering before racing.

Before the race started I noticed the guy beside me had his brakes pretty tight at the start line. Let him know and they were indeed rubbing. That gave me some good karma to keep me out of trouble in the race! The elite race started neutral up to the base of the hill. No better way to warm your legs up than starting a race at the bottom of a hill... I managed to hang in there the first lap and get my legs warmed up. There was a crash behind me on the third corner of the first lap, not sure what happened but it was at the back of the pack so I can't imagine many were involved. On the second lap a strong group of riders attacked on the hill and got away. For some reason I was sitting neatly at the back still and had no idea this happened. Mid-way through the race I finally moved up and met up with team mate Andrew and he said he wasn't feeling too great. Andrew not feeling great is the same as me feeling my best so I thought I should help him out. Just before the downhill section I brought him to the front and we got off the front a bit before getting reeled in. I stayed towards the front for a bit then found myself again towards the back of the pack...

The main problem I had on the hill was getting boxed in and getting pushed back. This was a big problem on the second last lap. I was boxed in by two female riders and the side of the road. They lost contact with the group before I was able to get out. I got to the front and tried chasing back. I tried flicking my elbow to get help, no one responded so I tried my other elbow (there was faint hope that they just couldn't see that side :p ). No help. We turned the corner into the head wind and finally a guy came up and helped. We were able to catch back on just after the third turn with the two girls holding our wheel. When we came around the corner we weren't back on yet, and one girl picked a better line through the corner than me, got ahead of me, pulled in front and slowed down. This was frustrating, I don't care if you don't the energy to chase back on, but don't prevent someone else from doing so. I got around her and sprinted to catch back on. In the end those two riders ended up a few mins back so I am doubting they caught on. Anyway this was all caused by my bad positioning and then I had hardly energy left for the last lap. I got around just hanging in the group.

This was a pretty tough races with my two attacks and then trying to catch back on the second last lap. We had an average speed of just under 42km/h which is one of the fastest races I have done. It was definitely easier than provincials which I am grateful for. My whole body ached when I was done, a clear sign of a good workout accomplished!

Things to take from this:
-work on pack positioning, even more so on hard sections of the course and as the race gets further along and people get tired
-attacking before a downhill doesn't seem to work, especially on a straight. Save your energy.

Next races will be a set of crits in Toronto and London following the youth cups. Hopefully I stay trouble free!

Results:here
Garmin Data: here