May 21, 2019 Augusta Training Series Race Report;

Last night I raced a weekly training series race at Sussex County Fairgrounds, put on by Skylands Cycling Club. The criterium race series is held most Tuesdays at 6pm throughout the spring and early summer, and is divided into an A (1/2/3) and B (4/5) race. It’s mellow and a great opportunity to practice strategies that seem too “high risk” for high priority races.

Check out the Strava Activity here. The course is relatively fast, with one corner, into a brief climb, and a slightly uphill finish. Wind is not normally an issue, but yesterday there was a stiff wind from West to East; the wind made the normally brief hill much longer (into the wind), and the flatter sections shorter (out of the wind).

The group started together, with a handful of attack/counterattacks from two racers on the Montclair Cyclery team. Both riders are strong enough to be dangerous, and I was racing alone. Anytime one of them made a move up the road with help, I was sure to go along. There were a few times when they went solo, but dangled and were eventually brought back.

There was another Marty’s Reliable racer who is quite strong, who was not racing alone, but who was likewise covering most moves. On the forth lap, one of the Montclair racers as well as the Marty’s guy made a move and got a gap. I foolishly covered without much snap, and could have towed the group up some, but luckily we were at the hill. The three of us made an effort on the hill and got more space, and on the back side I started to take long fast pulls to gain more time on the group.

We managed to establish a gap slowly and surely, and eventually were out of sight distance. At that point, we slowed some, and I took shorter pulls (Laps 10-13). At the end of the 16 lap race, we slowed dramatically, and I took the terrible leadout position on the climb on the final lap. Despite having a decent power day, I didn’t have enough to establish a gap. Because the wind was so strong, I faded quickly, and rolled in to a third place finish.

I had a few takeaways from this race:

1. If the race is over a half hour, have Gatorade/fuel mix. It doesn’t seem necessary on the line, but the difference some quick calories makes over an hour can help delay the onset of fatigue in a sprint at the end of the race.
2. Attack 15 seconds from the end of the windy section. I made a move that dropped one rider by attacking at the end of the winded section, when we were all moving slowly. I got out of the wind quickly, and with more speed than the other riders. This is sort of, “attack when it’s hard, not when it’s easy”.
3. Know your fastest sections. Take a lap of the course prior to the race at Sweet Spot Intensity (85% of FTP). Be smooth, and keep an eye on your speed on a GPS. This will give you a good sense of the speed that you can maintain in different sections of the course. If the group is below that speed in a section, it’s a sign that you can make time on the group there, and a green light to attack.
4. If you care about the race, work until there’s a sustainable gap, and then start making enemies. I kept working, and was out-sprinted. If you’ve done the majority of the work, chances are you won’t be the first across the line.
5. Where possible, take the shortest line. Something I noticed as I watched the gopro footage from the race is that I have a bad habit of taking outside lines, even when I’m leading a breakaway group. There’s no good reason to cover extra ground on the outside of a turn. Take the fastest, shortest line. That’s free time.

I recorded this race on gopro, and I’ll be looking to make a narrated race recap and posting to youtube later this week.