Every day that went by since my last post I was more and more undecided about doing the race or not, until Saturday afternoon. There was a constant debate in my mind if doing this race was really worth it. I was super exited about doing my first road race “Giro de Italia” style, it was going to be fun, but I was really going to put myself and my bike at risk of crashes. Not all Category 4 and 5 are particularly skilled when handling the bike at high speeds (and neither am I, but now there will be 90+ of us tightly packed in a bunch). The weather was also undecided, and I was definitely not racing in the rain.
Saturday training was planned as if I was racing Sunday. I had a hard swim in the morning with lots of speed work, and then an easy flat 2hr ride around UBC and the race course. After that I had lunch, took a 1hr nap and headed to Jericho beach for Curtis Birthday BBQ. At the BBQ I chilled out, ate way way too many cookies (about a box of assorted cookies by myself), 2 smokies and lots of chips. Definitely did not feel great afterwards. I got a change to talk to Vincent, Choppy and Enej that I had not seen in a while, so that was great as well! Talking about the race with them also got me more and more into it and my chances of doing the race the following day were increasing rapidly.
Sunday I woke up feeling alright. The night was not ideal; a little short (about 7hrs), light sleep, and a little “worried” about my first road race, but I was ready to race! My older bike (Trek 1200) was set up with my new carbon wheel on the front, and stock on the back (as the new wheelset is 10sp and the Trek is 9speed). Had usual race day breakfast (baguel w/PB and glass of chocolate milk) and was off to the race start which was conveniently 20 blocks from my house. Warmed up and lined up at the start.
The race was interesting and as dangerous as I was afraid of. Loosing concentration at any point during the 73.5km would not be a smart thing, hands on the hoods and fingers on the brakes 99% of the time, even on the big hill on Camosun. You never know if the guy in front of you blows up and then you need to slow down quickly. The average speed of the race was about 39km/h, not very fast for a pack of 90+ riders. As expected in a bike race, the speed was never constant and it was decided by the people/teams at the front (and their respective attacks!). I found myself riding at a very comfortable pace everywhere on the course with the exception of Camosun hill where I could either push hard, or get dropped to the back and make my way to the front again through the remainder of the lap.
On lap 3 of 7, I was riding on the middle of the pack on the left side. I suddenly hear hard braking, people yelling, and nasty carbon cracking sounds (lots of them). When I look to the right, also about the middle of the pack, I see a mix of 15 people, bikes, and wheels piling up/flying all over the place. At that point 3 things came to my mind: 1) Holy crap, I am so glad that this lap I went on the left of the group and not to the right, that could have been me… 2) This is why I did not want to do this 3) Well, now I am in the front of the pack, so lets stay in the top 10 riders for the rest of the race. The smaller the number of people in front of me, the smaller the chances of going down because of a crash in front of me. Sure, drafting wise is not ideal, but I couldn’t care less; I did not want to be one of those people in my snapshot. The rest of the race was much safer, staying in the lead group and every once in a while taking a turn at the front of the paceline to keep the speed high and drop people on the climb. For the last lap I found myself very close to the front, top 5 or so. 1km to go I had a chance to get away about 10 meters from the pack, but was caught with about 400m to the finish, I really wanted to TT it but that hill had taken it out of me. Last turn (200m to finish - uphill) I find myself in 5th place (another 2 or 3 people wiped out right besides me, again nasty carbon cracking sounds). After the turn it was all out for the money (first 5). I can TT with a constant power output, but these guys (cyclists, not triathletes) can definitely sprint. I finished 11th in a field of 90+, and I finished in one piece, could not be happier. Congrats to David Roulston that also finished right in there, awesome race buddy!
After the race I had a recovery drink and headed home. I was feeling fine and my legs were quite fresh, so I went out running for 1hr20 and had one of the best runs in a long time. Pace was high, cadence was good, and felt effortless! I had lunch after and took the afternoon off.
Monday was good, no post race soreness. Went out for a 2hr easy ride before work and then in the afternoon swam 4 loops of the Vowsa loop in the Ocean ~4.4K. Ryan was there as well and we swam together the whole time, which was nice and made things more fun. At home I had a delicious pizza made by my brother (100% whole wheat shell, 100% home made). It was a great end of the day, and worth going to sleep later than usual for. By the way Eze, thanks for the extra workout you gave me while eating the pizza, just genius!
Its been a long post, but there were many things to write about! Now, picture time! Enjoy…
Facundo
Saturday training was planned as if I was racing Sunday. I had a hard swim in the morning with lots of speed work, and then an easy flat 2hr ride around UBC and the race course. After that I had lunch, took a 1hr nap and headed to Jericho beach for Curtis Birthday BBQ. At the BBQ I chilled out, ate way way too many cookies (about a box of assorted cookies by myself), 2 smokies and lots of chips. Definitely did not feel great afterwards. I got a change to talk to Vincent, Choppy and Enej that I had not seen in a while, so that was great as well! Talking about the race with them also got me more and more into it and my chances of doing the race the following day were increasing rapidly.
Sunday I woke up feeling alright. The night was not ideal; a little short (about 7hrs), light sleep, and a little “worried” about my first road race, but I was ready to race! My older bike (Trek 1200) was set up with my new carbon wheel on the front, and stock on the back (as the new wheelset is 10sp and the Trek is 9speed). Had usual race day breakfast (baguel w/PB and glass of chocolate milk) and was off to the race start which was conveniently 20 blocks from my house. Warmed up and lined up at the start.
The race was interesting and as dangerous as I was afraid of. Loosing concentration at any point during the 73.5km would not be a smart thing, hands on the hoods and fingers on the brakes 99% of the time, even on the big hill on Camosun. You never know if the guy in front of you blows up and then you need to slow down quickly. The average speed of the race was about 39km/h, not very fast for a pack of 90+ riders. As expected in a bike race, the speed was never constant and it was decided by the people/teams at the front (and their respective attacks!). I found myself riding at a very comfortable pace everywhere on the course with the exception of Camosun hill where I could either push hard, or get dropped to the back and make my way to the front again through the remainder of the lap.
On lap 3 of 7, I was riding on the middle of the pack on the left side. I suddenly hear hard braking, people yelling, and nasty carbon cracking sounds (lots of them). When I look to the right, also about the middle of the pack, I see a mix of 15 people, bikes, and wheels piling up/flying all over the place. At that point 3 things came to my mind: 1) Holy crap, I am so glad that this lap I went on the left of the group and not to the right, that could have been me… 2) This is why I did not want to do this 3) Well, now I am in the front of the pack, so lets stay in the top 10 riders for the rest of the race. The smaller the number of people in front of me, the smaller the chances of going down because of a crash in front of me. Sure, drafting wise is not ideal, but I couldn’t care less; I did not want to be one of those people in my snapshot. The rest of the race was much safer, staying in the lead group and every once in a while taking a turn at the front of the paceline to keep the speed high and drop people on the climb. For the last lap I found myself very close to the front, top 5 or so. 1km to go I had a chance to get away about 10 meters from the pack, but was caught with about 400m to the finish, I really wanted to TT it but that hill had taken it out of me. Last turn (200m to finish - uphill) I find myself in 5th place (another 2 or 3 people wiped out right besides me, again nasty carbon cracking sounds). After the turn it was all out for the money (first 5). I can TT with a constant power output, but these guys (cyclists, not triathletes) can definitely sprint. I finished 11th in a field of 90+, and I finished in one piece, could not be happier. Congrats to David Roulston that also finished right in there, awesome race buddy!
After the race I had a recovery drink and headed home. I was feeling fine and my legs were quite fresh, so I went out running for 1hr20 and had one of the best runs in a long time. Pace was high, cadence was good, and felt effortless! I had lunch after and took the afternoon off.
Monday was good, no post race soreness. Went out for a 2hr easy ride before work and then in the afternoon swam 4 loops of the Vowsa loop in the Ocean ~4.4K. Ryan was there as well and we swam together the whole time, which was nice and made things more fun. At home I had a delicious pizza made by my brother (100% whole wheat shell, 100% home made). It was a great end of the day, and worth going to sleep later than usual for. By the way Eze, thanks for the extra workout you gave me while eating the pizza, just genius!
Its been a long post, but there were many things to write about! Now, picture time! Enjoy…
Facundo
Start Line
Camosun Hill 1
Camosun Hill 2
Sprint Finish 1
Sprint Finish 2
7 comments:
Congratulations Facundo I am glad you are in still in one piece as well :P.
Good job man. Glad to hear it went well.
So was it how I described. awesome excitement?
LOL!
Next time that pizza won't be so much work! I promise!
We are very happy that you and the bike are in one piece.
You don't even mention who was the great photographer!
Anyways, you have in your mail nice pictures of the race;-)
Beto
Good bro..ja, ja....workout..pizza...I got it....thank God you have such a good teeth. The most important is Eze attitude....perhaps the cook teacher is not very good.
That's funny.....
Congrats for the race!!!
Hey Vince,
Yes it was! It was exciting and I was pumped all race long, but at the same time I did not enjoy it as much. Every time I saw a crash or something risky like getting boxed in against the curb I was thinking ohh sh..t, I dont want to be next...
Hey,
Good work on the race. I was thinking of doing it. I think I might do some triathlons this summer. I have swimming Monday evenings so can't make the open water swim on Mondays. I'm always looking for people to train/ride with since I don't really know anyone that does triathlons. Drop me an e-mail and we can plan some sort of workout. What team do you swim with on Thursday mornings?
elliotholtham@hotmail.com
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