台灣 Team Cinelli Ritchey 車隊

Yesterday was the first long-distance race of the year. It was also a national team selection race. While not a priority for the team, it was a good opportunity for us to see how we are progressing along in our training. And to ride with new teammates Yanyi and Tietou in a real race.

the 40 laps in a more graphic presentation…

Of the four riders going (Leo, Yanyi, Tietou and I– Chris and Inigo couldn’t go because they aren’t Taiwanese nationals), Leo was the strongest. So our goals were to 1) support Leo 2) learn to race as a team 3) assess our fitness 4) race to train.

My personal goals were pretty modest. As I have only started structured training last month, I am still in the base-building phase. So all I wanted to do was to help Leo if I could, get in some valuable training miles, and finish the race.

The race course is a 3.5km circuit with a 200m hill in it. We did it 4o times for a total of 140km.

Some SRM numbers from the race: 3hr42min, ave. power 212 watts, normalized power 265 watts.

The first fifteen laps were hell for me. I had serious doubts as to whether I could finish. What really helped was the fact that our race radio was set to the same frequency as one of the more competitive teams, so I could eavesdrop on their race communications. Whenever their captain yelled at his riders to storm up the hill I got a headsup. I’d sort of scramble my way to the front and sag-climb on the hill.

just hanging on and fighting off cramps early in the race…

Leo was riding well near the front so there was not much I could do for him. At around lap 15 I started cramping. So I just hunkered down to survival mode. Just five more laps you’d be at half way point, I’d tell myself. Then it was just another five laps… another five. So that’s how I nursed it home. By the end I was even able to put in a few digs on the hill to try to spring Leo free from the remaining pack.

towards the end either I came around or others just died…

Training-wise, Leo should be on target for his first Tour of Taiwan in two months. I am pleasantly surprised by my own form. I think as long as I stick to the program I’ll be OK to hit peak mid-April. For Yanyi and Tietou, the race was a brutal wake-up call. I think they are going through what Leo went through early last year. So it’d be interesting to see how they apply the lessons learned this past weekend.