Ah, Melting Mann. There's nothing like ringing in the first weekend of Spring with a gravel race down in Vandalia; the air is chilly, the wind howling, expectation fills the baseball field where the race kicks off. I came into this race with about the same expectation and strategy as any race this time of year; hold the first group until I get shelled, pick people off one at a time and finish pretty alright.
This is exactly what happened. Started the race in a solid position, a lot of people in front of me but only about 4 rows back. In the future, may even want to start a little closer to the front. While I was with the front group for about the first 20-ish miles, I was never really at the front. I was about mid-pack, maybe a little further back, just hanging on. I was popped at one of the bigger hills, no surprise there.
I was very impressed with my positioning today. While maybe not positioned towards the front where I would have liked to have been, I wasn't giving up position easily, I wasn't falling further back every time the group bunches together; which in the past I have been guilty of getting a little complacent and letting riders come around me as the race slows (bad). Today I was a little more brave. I would follow wheels that I could tell were moving up, a very good thing. Only being able to see out of one eye slows me down in instances like this, I'm hesitant to change lines quickly because its pretty hard for me to tell if anything or anybody is on my right side. Ugh. Today though, I was following wheels and not losing position, something that will probably translate to future races well. This is a huge positive, and I'm excited to be learning about races since I've been doing so many.
Another positive, my body feels great after racing today. Last week, I really couldn't bend too much for at least a few hours. I'm not sure why I wasn't sore after today, I think it may be a combination of better pedaling form, better conditioning, getting used to riding at a fast-pace, etc. It's hard to tell, but I feel super fresh, ready for a nice long ride tomorrow with friends.
3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel)
3/31 Autobahn Spring Criterium, Joliet, IL
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel)
4/7 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel)
4/14 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
4/20 Marian Cycling Classic, Indianapolis, IN
4/27 Yankee Springs TT, Gun Lake, MI (Mountain !!)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain)
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/18 Weekend at WLSR, Muskegon, MI
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/10 Rose City Crit, Jackson, MI
8/18 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI
Further, another positive, once I got popped, boy I was cruising. I'm a huge fan of riding my own race when it comes to this gravel nonsense. After losing the front group, all that happens is I'm going close to the same speed as them, and I'm just picking up one group at a time, sitting on their wheel for a moment to get some rest, and moving to the next group, it is wonderful. Occasionally someone will hop on my wheel and I'll drag them along for a while, but I'm pretty quick when my heart-rate is under control, so I'm able to leave most people.
I did notice today while I was cruising by myself towards the end of the race, a large group, maybe 10 to 15 riders came past me, and I didn't grab their wheels, this was a mistake. I think I get a little distracted when I'm coming into a finish after a long race, and they just stayed about 30 seconds ahead of me the last 3 miles of the race. In the future, when I'm riding by myself in these races, I want to be grabbing every wheel that comes past me. Like Ryan says, 'that 15 seconds of all-out pain to grab a wheel will lead to an easy 5 minutes of drafting'.
Good day in the saddle. Another learning experience. Probably didn't ride enough this last week, between questionable weather, a weird stomach bug last Sunday, and mountains of homework, I didn't get out as much as I should have done.
It's a new week, I'll ride a bunch, and hit them again next Saturday up in GR!
Cheers! CE
No comments:
Post a Comment