Given the weather over the past few months I've been riding the road bike a lot, who knew that when I bought the retro Giant Peloton I'd enjoy it so much. It's been my primary source of training,although not ideal, for the upcoming mtb races. A friend bought a road bike a few months back and did really well at the Mountbatten Circuits. A closed circuit event - what's not to like?
I opted to have a go at the Easter Circuits which turned out to be a small turnout of about 25 other Cat4 riders. From the start I was shocked at the initial speed, everyone seemed excited and there was quite a bit of wondering so I decided to take a high line for a few laps to see how this is all worked. Being eager I went off too quick at the start and taking the high line put me in prime position to take a beating from a strong headwind.
After about 10 minutes tiredness was taking effect and I was slowly drifting towards the back until eventually the inevitable happened and I fell off the back of the pack - gutted. I fought hard to try and catch them knowing that I could probably get carried around but it was in vein. After a few laps I slowed down allowing the pack to catch me and then I tried sticking to the back which worked for a little while but I eventually got dropped again.
By now I'm pretty mortified blaming fitness levels and the bike - talk about a bad workman. I was tempted to drop out but thought I would try and stick to the pack one more time. This time I worked harder to stay with the pack. It seemed easier and even got into the centre of the pack. As soon as the 30 minutes was up and the sign went out to say 3 laps remaining the pace picked up again. I kept up with the other riders but I didn't have the legs for a sprint. At the time of writing this I'm not sure where I finished but it was very close to the back!
A bit of a disappointing introduction to road racing but at least it's made me want to return and do better.
No comments:
Post a Comment