My plan for the race was either to help start a break on the hill section on lap 2 or block if my boy got away. Going into the first right hand turn I got in a poor position and wound up on the back of the race, as did Michael. Michael worked his way up through the back very aggressively on the first hill. I was so far back in the group I was useless. As I eased my way up, Michael attacks the second hill and takes a few folks with him.
I realized it's time to work and stop playing. I moved from 3/4 the way back up through the entire peliton during that climb to get in a position to block. I had some help from one of Mike's friends a Jr. for THSJ, Blake. We let some one and two's get accross until the break had about 8 folks.
The blocking was very challenging as the the group kept working to bring back the break. They got with 4 to 6 seconds a few time. I would insert myself into the chase and juse make a mistake or two in the pace line. It was enough to disrupt the chance and give the break a chance. This aggressive blocking went on for over an hour. My normalized power was 284 watts during that period. I had no idea blocking was so much work.
After we got through the hills the second time the break was away. We did some pretty aggressive blocking including moving bikes directly in-front of folks and slowing. The group then finally figured out what we were up to.
Anyway, I was happy my son was in the break and it was going to stick. I decided to try to lead Blake out for a good finish up the last hill. I got about 1/8 of the way up, and then the sprint came. I had nothing left and just moseyed up the hill.
Big lesson here was that I only drank one bottle. I need to focus on eating and drinking on the bike. I was really sore the next few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment