Murray State collegiate race report

I looked back at my old post, and apparently I had some big news coming sometime around Feb 10th. I can't help but laugh because I have no idea what it was.

Maybe it was a job interview that went pretty well. Who knows. However, I did get a VO2max test done. It basically told me that I should keep on my engineering degree and not get any ideas about going p-r-o. The numbers are confidential, though.

Road Race:
Anyway, Murray State University was the first collegiate road race of the season. It was awesome. The road race was an easy rolling 64mi with one 45 second steep hill that we had to do 4 times. An 8 person breakaway went on the 2nd lap, all of Marian dropped out because they didn't have anyone in it, and the rest of us suffered for another 32mi.

I felt decently strong, staying in the top 20 or better at the top of the hill. After the break went, I was top 10 or so on the hill. I have absolutely no anaerobic ability right now, so I'm surprised I could do that.

Coming into the final sprint, my quads locked up with a terrible burning/cramping pain. I averaged 300w for the final 30 seconds, which is laughable. Actually, what was even more laughable was that no one passed me. Apparently, we were all exhausted. I got about 20th out of 62. Jon and Julio were dropped on the last hill, unfortunately.

Average power: 196w
Normalized power: 250w
Max power: only 1080w
Avg speed: 23.5mph
4x45sec hill repeats at 475w average (525w for first one)

Criterium:
After the course moved, we were terrified it would be on the same, terrible, 16 corner course as last year. It was actually on a super-fast (no brakes) L-shaped course with an uphill finish. Marian was fresh, Lindenwood and Lindsey Wilson were strong, and UW only had 3 people.

Jon and I went for a 1.5hr ride before the crit. The race was pretty fast. I think we averaged about 26.5mph, which is solid for a February race. I was doing pretty well until 3 laps to go when I realized I was way too far back -- maybe 50th position. I tried moving up, and was in about 25th wheel when 5 guys randomly decided to try cyclocross practice, swinging to the far left and hopping onto the grass. It happened a few bikes in front of me, so a some of us had to slam on the brakes. There was only 1/2 lap to go at this point, so trying to win was pointless. I caught back up just in time for the sprint, where my legs again cramped up. Not a problem, though. By then I was around 40th place, so there was no use sprinting anyway.

Jon dropped out because he was feeling sick. I'm excited that Julio made an awesome come-back, placing 15th and scoring a few points for the team.

Average power: 226w
Normalized power: 261w
Max power: only 1100w
Avg cadence: 102
Max cadence: 140 (cool!)