Last night was a night most cyclists look forward to in the Greenville area. It was the first Tuesday after the time change… so that means it was time for the first Tuesday Night World Championships of the year! Nearly 200 hundred riders showed up for the first night.

All the groups remembered Perry Lyles who passed away recently. In the country route John Davidson arranged for a “missing man” tribute. The A and B group rides had a moment of silence in Perry’s memory. Perry was not there with us as we pedaled out for the first night, but his memory rode along.

We would only do four laps — though I think we could have squeezed five in before it started getting too dark. However, it is early in the season and some of the riders just came off a busy weekend of racing in Columbia. So, four laps it was, but don’t think it was just a ride in the park!

My instructions for the night were: “Work on your pack skills. Staying up front, being on correct side of road, picking good wheels to draft, safety, etc. Leave this race feeling you could have done more.” Want to work on you pack skills and placing yourself in a field of cyclists? TNWC at Donaldson (I just can’t call it SCTAC) is your opportunity.

The first lap started out as though we would be warming up. Later in the season the easy pedaling can last almost the entire first lap. However, things picked up a bit as we went up 3M hill and the race was on! The first lap was a “slow” 17 minute circuit.

In the second lap I started to work my way toward the front. Jim told me to try to maintain my position up there, so I knew I needed to give it an effort. I tried to make my way there through the middle of the pack as much as possible. One thing that helped me was I got on the wheel of my teammate Eric Christophersen. He has a way of making openings!

The POA guys were making some moves at the front as were some riders of other teams. I wanted to do my part — though I am still in kindergarten when it comes to understanding team tactics. However, I knew that it was a good idea to have a POA rider in any group that tried to go up the road and if we had a guy up there it was best to hold a pace that would slow the field.

One of our riders was dangling off the front of the field as we approached 3M hill. I was near the front when some riders attacked to bridge up to the break. I reacted and got on their wheel. I wouldn’t work to help them chase my guy, but if they were going I would go with them to help our numbers.

They bridged up but really all we did was pull the entire field up to them. I watched Reece fade back and now I was near the point. When the field caught the break, another group of riders surged and I went with them. A weak pace line formed and soon I found myself on front.

I was feeling pretty good so I just set a tempo that I figured would keep the field moving at a good pace and allow my guys to sit in for a bit. Suddenly two riders came fast around my right just before the train tracks. I moved to cover their wheels.

One of the riders was Boyd Johnson and the other was a Colavita rider I did not know. Immediately I was trying to close a gap because of the speed at which they passed me. It meant that for several seconds I was working much harder than they were. Closer and closer I got, but finally I knew I would blow if I kept it up.

I eased off and fell into the clutches of the peloton. I kept sliding back and back and it seemed that the speed was more than I could handle. In the past, I probably would of slid right off the back. However, I knew that if I just put in a bit of effort, I could get back in the draft and catch my breathe.

A gap opened and I ducked in. By the time we rode through the dip and started to coast up to the start/finish line I was back at the pace. Now my legs just needed to come back and I would be okay. We crossed the line that time in 16 minutes and 11 seconds.

Interestingly, I found myself in the exact same position going up 3M hill on the third lap. I had fully recovered by this point, but determined I wasn’t going to go off the front this time. I simply settled into the pack near the front and rode it out. This time we covered the 7 mile loop in 16 minutes flat.

Then the racing started in earnest. Remembering my instructions, I worked to stay in the mix at the front. It is so completely different mixing it up with these higher category guys than racing in a category 4 race! It is faster, but more than that it is a constant ebb and flow with tactics clearly evident. It isn’t just a bunch together until the end and then the fastest man to the line wins.

Approaching the tracks I was about 10th in a line being stretched out by Boyd and Eric up ahead. It was a neat vantage point, but once we entered the dip I was starting to have riders coming around me. It didn’t bother me because I have learned that once we start the climb on the other side, I typically get all of my places back.

Sure enough, as we neared the 1K to go line, I was right there in the finishing bunch. Now things were going to get exciting! It was obvious that Boyd and Eric were going to close the deal, but the field surged into a final sprint.

Me? Once we reached the fire station, I simply worked to maintain my position about 20 riders back. I figured that wasn’t so bad out of 60 to 70 riders. Besides, I was supposed to finish “feeling you could have done more.” At the end of that 15 minute and 45 second lap, I felt I had accomplished my goals.

Consider that in my last Category 4 race at Donaldson I averaged 210 watts for the race. Tuesday night in an unofficial race I averaged 242 watts. The race averaged 23.5 mph. The first TNWC? 26.5 mph. Oh, and that little section where I was chasing Boyd? 370 watts for 3 minutes — and I didn’t catch him.

If you can learn to race up front in the A group, you are ready to race Category 4!

 

Tags: Donaldson, Perry Lyles, SCTAC, TNWC

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 7:47 am and is filed under Rides, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.