21st out of 26 this time. I'm going to call that improvement over last time. Four, 1.5 mile laps, first three were done in 9:58, 9:58 and 10:00. Last lap was 10:36. Felt I better managed my body overall in this race. Kept a nice steady pace with only a couple real spikes, but they were whoppers. A two shelf hill. First shelf were with the stair obstacles, so dismount and carry the bike up, remount, make a left turn and then pushing to the top on grass. Heart rate hit 187 twice on those climbs ( I can't say I ever hit that number this past year on any road climb). The third time over was when I finally had the starch kicked out of me. For 40 minutes, average heart rate was 176. I now realize that I am a pansy on a road bike and quit my effort too early. Huge difference in bike handling this time. Effectively was unclipping to use my leg(s) for balance and direction change. Was much better in controlling through two muddy, wet areas where a lot of people were wiping out. Now gotta figure out how to ride through deep sand (volleyball court) better. Almost spilled each time through there. The real negative to cyclecross is cleaning the bike. Spent 30 minutes at home scrubbing and flossing the bike over to get it sand grit, leaves, grass and dirt off of it...only to do it again next Sunday.
48 next month. I am well above average max heart rate for my age. Here are the Ride With GPS metrics: Departed: Nov 08, '15, 08:10AM Starts in: City of Saratoga Springs, NY, US Distance: 8.8 mi Elevation: + 476 / - 509 ft Max Grade 10.3 % Avg. Grade 0.2 % VAM 243 Vm/h Ascent time 00:35:47 Descent time 00:28:12 Total Duration: 01:37:47 Moving Time: 01:03:59 Stopped Time: 00:33:48 Calories: 1184 Avg. Watts: 308 Max Speed: 14.2 mph Avg. Speed: 8.2 mph Pace: 00:11:10 Moving Pace: 00:07:19 Max Heartrate: 187 bpm Min Heartrate: 76 bpm Avg. Heartrate: 168.0 bpm Heartrate zones: Zone 1: 0 min Zone 2: 5 min Zone 3: 23 min Zone 4: 19 min Zone 5: 32 min
The funny thing that I really noticed watching the Cat 4/5 and Juniors race is how hard everyone (not just me) is working. Everyone is huffing and puffing for the whole race.
Holy shit, dude. I'm 42 and in really good shape and I don't think I can get my heart rate above 168. Even after a really intense tabata my heart rate is checking in in the low 160s. You must be in sick shape.
sadly, right now, I don't think so. I am walking around with about 12 or 13 extra lbs that I don't want heading into winter. Will be hitting the spin classes beginning next week.
Final race (likely) of the year for me. On the home course 5 minutes from the house. It was nothing like any of the training rides in August-October. The park is entirely clay earth. On the soccer fields, once the temps drop below 55 degrees they are almost impossible to dry. Of course we don't race on the fields, but off the fields on the trails,etc. so they were going to be damp. Add to that light rain Tuesday-Thursday led to a complete mud fest. This course was by far the hardest one with run ups up a slope carved into the woods with a few logs and tree roots acting as stairs. The rest was mud. First lap, fell flat on my face with my bike on my back. I was more careful after that. After a ride around a fitness trail and descent out of it the second run up, at good 25 yard hill (AKA the town sledding hill). Yes it was wet and muddy, but at least there was grass to grip to. We had a couple stretches of pavement and gravel to 'recover on.' Not sure how I finished, computer issues. Still waiting for BikeReg to post but I felt stronger than the first two races. I don't think too many people passed me during the race. Hoping for a top 20 in a field of 30+. Finished in about 35 minutes. Again average HR was 178. Hit a max of 187 on each run up the first time (not as strong the second time). I meant to ask a cardiologist friend of mine if this is healthy to be doing this Went straight to the car wash and power washed the bike (and shoes). Need to take it back. Missed a lot of mud. I wore my son's Go-Pro on my chest. The video came out pretty good. It would have been better if it could have been up slightly more, but I hope to edit 35+ minutes down to 5-10 minutes and put it up here. Can't wait for next season.
2016 US Championships in Ashville NC. This course looks outstanding. Some rain and mud will really add to the party.
Wout Van Aert is world champion! I have to say that I had very little faith in a Belgian victory today. The Dutch looked far too strong for that.
I couldn't find a feed. Will watch at 3 PM my time. Good to see our local guy got 19th in the U-23 division. He had the lead out of the hole shot.
And then there was this: http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/01/news/uci_detains_bike_cyclocross_worlds_394233_394233
Van Aert just was not weakening. Van Der Haar was doing everything to stay on his wheel and took several risks to try to break Van Aert. There was no way he would have outsprinted him. That was a very good ride by Van Aert. What happened to Van Der Poel? He either crashed or just gave up.
I saw some gifs of the Van Der Haar sneaking around Van Aert on a corner. Intense stuff - great racing.
Woo Hoo!! First night of cyclecross for the season last night. I've rode 800+ miles this summer. Those were the most fun 5 of those miles.
Last night was not a race. Weekly practice ride through the local park. Lots of practicing of mounting and dismounting. Pretty low key night, I think my HR only got to 90% for a short time during run-up repeats. By the time the races come, I would be living in the 90% range for 40 minutes. Started eyeballing the Bike Reg calendar. Hoping to do 5-6 races this fall.
90% for 40 straight minutes. That is insane. This year, when I did my annual Murph crossfit workout on Memorial Day, my heart rate was in that zone for the entire time I did the workout (35:53). It was pure misery. My legs hurt for a solid week afterwards. It was magnificent.
Murph-man (I've never done it), you may be excited to know that Cyclecross will be in the Crossfit Games this year. Just saw the course, by Cyclecross standards, very easy, but pushing power on what is essentially grass sprints, turns and reaccelerations will be fun to watch.