My First Road Race

Earlier today I composed the first part, but didn't want to jinx the weather, so held off on posting it until finishing up the race tonight (post race analysis follows)...

Four hours until my first road race. We are, thankfully, riding the course we've been using the whole time for our TT's. I say thankfully, as it takes some of the mystique out of something that I'm doing for the first time. I've ridden this course more times than I can count now, so I know it. The unknown is riding with a pack of people with very little group riding skills, let alone having raced. Yes, there are some experienced chicks riding there tonight and I'm going to try my best to stick up there with them. I say this, and yet I'm not experienced at riding in a pack in a race situation. But I am comfortable riding in a pack in general, so I think that will be helpful.

One thing that is totally amazing for tonight is the weather forecast. No, it's not a beautiful, sunny day - it's kinda cloudy actually. But the wind is only 30 kph!!!!!! I've never ridden a race here yet in such little wind!! And check out the satellite image from the weather webpage:

I'm not sure I've ever looked at the weather page and seen this before. Usually there are many little yellow systems circling about those two land masses we like to call NZ, and there is ALWAYS one big one that circles around and over Welly. Tonight however, it is completely clear!! The universe is in alignment with us here today. I'll post later about how it goes.

Things have been busy here this week. I have so much to blog about, actually, and very little time to sit down and put my thoughts down into a coherent block of something for you to read. I will try my best to get something out this weekend... the operative word is 'try'.

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Post Race Analysis!

All afternoon I had this nervous energy about tonight. So much so that I started to hope that I wouldn't expend too much of my energy on nerves. There were 3 groups in the race tonight. They handicapped it. How this works is that you are placed in a group of similar ability based on your TT results. The slowest group (called Limit) starts first. Their goal is to keep up the pace enough that the groups that follow do not pass them. The next group (called Break) starts 2.5 mins later and their aim is not only to pass the group in front, but to also keep away from the strongest group which is starting 2.5 mins after them (that group is called Scratch). They put an experienced rider in each group to ride and coach and encourage people and keep people moving around in the pack to share the work. It was pretty cool. I was in the Break group. I didn't count the people, but I think we were about a dozen. The wind stayed at bay for the most part. There was a headwind as we started out toward the point where the little lighthouse is (see my last post). It was between 35-40 kph. The calmest wind in which I've done a cycling event in this city - ever!

That said, I started off the front with Jess and our experienced leader, Nick. He's the guy that met up with me last week at the start of the TT and was the reason I even did it (read last post). Into the headwind we were clocking about 27 kph. This is the fastest I think I've ever ridden into a headwind. Ouch. My turns at the front were painful. As we rounded the point at the little lighthouse and got the wind at our backs we picked it up. Actually we cranked it right up into high gear. We were now clocking anywhere between 37 and 40 kph when I looked down at my speedo. I started getting a cramp in my side and I also started to feel like throwing up.

The riders in our pack were strong, but fairly inexperienced with the pack dynamic so they were pretty set on holding their same position as they moved through a rotation, not thinking to move into gaps to keep people together, etc. Since I was hurting enough that I couldn't keep making my way to the front for pulls I started looking for spots opening up between bikes and moved in and out of them, trying to stay in the middle. Nick saw me suffering and falling off at one point and pulled me back in and pointed out a good spot. However, the pace just kept going up and we were now maintaining 40 kph. Wow. I can do 40 kph and up, actually, in a sprint. I can do 40 kph a bit longer with a real good (like 50+ kph) tailwind. But I've never been able to keep a steady pace of 40 kph or higher. This I could not keep up. I'm not there yet. Cramp getting worse. Pain going around into my back now. Throwing up - hmmm. Should I? Yeah, that was a thought. I started falling off. Jess was near the back as I was dropping off and she gave me some really kind words of encouragement and tried to pull me back but I told her to go on, as there was no way I'd be able to hang in. I later found out that she only managed to hang in about 3-4 km longer than I had.

Oh, I failed to mention that by this time we'd passed the slowest group (the Limit group). That was really cool. I felt encouraged when we did that and tried my best to stay in our pack, but just couldn't. Luckily, Robyn (experienced leader of the slow group, former NZ Olympian, and captain of the women's club here) had kind of dropped the slow group as it was just too slow for her I guess. She picked me up - surprisingly I was able to keep up 33-34 kph with a massive cramp in my gut, side, and back. She offered to pull me up to the pack, as they actually weren't that far out of reach as of yet. We tried, but the extra effort was soooo painful. I just couldn't. We rode together up to the hill and she stopped halfway up to wait for the slowpokes that she was mentoring through the race and wished me luck.

The hill f-ing hurt. Small ring. Bummer. I got passed on the hill by some of the fast chicks. I was thinking - 'OMG, they are so f-ing fast. I hope I can get that fast in a couple more seasons.' I gained some speed on the descent. I'm starting to love descents again. :) And I came up on a young girl that I've ridden with before. She was all alone and as I passed I asked if she wanted to grab my wheel. She did and we rode the last 2.5 K together. I pulled the most. When I'd caught her she was suffering and I figured if she rested for the first bit she'd be able to pull near the end when I wanted one. My plan worked. She offered to pull around the start of the last km. When we were within 250 m and could see the finish I pulled out around her and said, "You ready?" And I click-clicked it up 2 gears, stood up, and sprinted the f-ing hell out to the finish. That was F-U-N!!! I love sprinting. Maybe I shouldn't put that in writing.

We had a post-race/end of race series gathering at the community centre down the road afterwards. Jess got most improved female!!! I knew she'd get it. Last week she pretty much blew the thing apart! And I got the 'attendance' award. lol! Yes, I went to every single race. My prize is this little wind vest. It actually came in quite handy, as it got quite chilly tonight and it was dark by the time Jess and I were back in town. It's maybe a bit geeky, but it works. :) And it's actually a cool souvenir of riding and racing here in NZ, as the website it lists at the bottom is: www.gw.govt.nz/cycling . And to think that some people I used to work with back home who've visited this country said to me before I left that there wasn't a lot of cycling in NZ - what do they know???

The ride home was good but my cramp never ended. I have two guesses at the cause: 1) maybe what I ate this arvo? 2) I was anaerobic far too long.

Looking at the data, I've confirmed what I thought when I checked in on my HR during the race. Actually, my guess post-race was that I was full-on anaerobic for around 7 km (my HR was around 198 for quite some time!). Looking now at my data, uploaded to my computer, my HR was in zone 5 (anaerobic) for 14 mins!!! I got my blood lactate test done last month and anything over 191 is anaerobic for me. And my max HR is around 200-202 (I reached 200 in my sprint). So I'm figuring that the most likely cause of my cramp is that I was beyond my limit for a bit too long. Ah well. I figure it's good training right? Gotta push beyond that limit as much as possible in these situations. The other rides are about the other stuff. The endurance and fun. Not that this wasn't. Actually, even with the pain and nausea it was one of the funnest nights of cycling I've had here. And the post event stuff was really great!

So ends my dabbling in racing and finding out what I'm made of on the bike here in NZ. And I expect a new beginning for it when I get back home. :) There is still more cycling to be had before I leave - in fact I got the day off work this Sunday and Jess and I have some plans that include spandex and two wheels. But the time is ticking down on this part of my experience here. I'm really happy that I took the chance back in November and headed out to my first time trial. I've had a lot of fun and made new friends and learned a lot more about myself on the bike. As I rode up the long hill home, I felt the smoothness of my wheels turning, the street was quiet, and the air still (wow!), I thought, "I love my bike".

Last TT in NZ

Tonight I rode my last TT here. Last week's got canceled due to a storm, so tonight they went with an ITT in order to handicap us for next week's race. I'm feeling a bit sketched about racing next week, but I'll see how it goes I guess.

At any rate, this evening I felt really, really good. Funny enough, it was a really lovely day here weather-wise and very low winds. As I got ready to head out the wind picked up (we're going to have another big storm here tomorrow). As I rode down to the site of our races (about 1/2 hr ride from my flat) I felt quite discouraged. I'm actually getting real tired of all this wind. It's been great training. I've learned some good skills on how to handle the bike in the wind. I'm gaining a lot more confidence and agility in doing it. But tonight the wind started the break me.As I rode around the bays and suburbs of Welly I looked down at my fork and realized that I'd forgotten my timing tag at home. DOH!! OK. That sealed the deal. If I couldn't even get a properly recorded time I was out. I got to the corner before the turn-off to the start of the TT and waited there for my friend, Jess, deciding to tell her that I was just going to ride around the loop and back home so she wouldn't worry that I wasn't there. Yep. You got it. I gave up on the race. I was sooooo not in the mood to ride hard into a 50 kph headwind tonight. I do realize that TTs are about testing yourself and your will, but as I've said before, I have very little in the way of a head for this, so tonight it was dead in the water for me. As I waited for my friend one of the organizers rode up and chatted with me. I mentioned that I'd forgotten my timing tag and he said, "Oh, no worries. We have heaps of them tonight. You can borrow one". OK. I'm back in. He and I rode over to the start and Jess was already there!

I borrowed a timing tag, got myself on the start sheet, and lined up. We start 30 seconds apart. Jess ended up being first to start since she was there so early. I was fifth. As per usual, the headwind was killer. I'd cooled down enough and couldn't be bothered to warm up again before the start, so that my legs hurt like all get out for the first ten minutes. I started in the big ring, but moved it to the small ring after about a km of pain. Kept warming up and did ok into the wind in the small ring, but still in a reasonably hard gear. I kept gaining on the guy in front of me (a junior, but still, they usually pass me). I felt encouraged. He was having a hard time with the wind. Every time we got a good gust of it he didn't have the experience to push into it and manage how it pushes you all over. I learned how to manage this better from Mario, one of the shop mechanics. I did not move into an easier gear. And I passed this kid as another gust of wind pushed down on us real hard. Sweet.

It's about 3 km out into a headwind on this course when we have a northerly. Then you hit this point, and you are getting absolutely blasted by the wind from the front and the left, but there is this little beacon of hope: a tiny little lighthouse. When you see the lighthouse on the point you know the pain will soon be over, because this is when you turn out of the headwind. As I rounded that corner, being pushed around on the road by the wind, I prepared to move into the big ring again. Around the corner, big ring, and 50 kph tailwind. Sweet as! Now I'm gaining on the girl who was in front of that kid I just passed. I pass her around a beach called Scorching Bay. I was surprised, actually, at how fast I went by her. I big ringed it up this small hill that takes us down into a town called Breaker Bay. At the top of this hill though, I got caught. I have to say, I was wondering when one of the elite girls was going to catch me. They were only started a minute and a half and two minutes behind me. But here we are, on a course that is just under 14 km, and it took this girl, with full aero set-up, until the 11.5 km mark to catch me. I must be improving! I descended the hill, and now with about 2 km to go I get passed by the second girl. I was able to keep them both in sight until the end, which I felt happy about. Even though my legs were hurting a bit at the end I still tried for a sprint and, looking at my data, managed a decent 7 kph increase in speed in the last 250 m. :) Not quite as good as the last one, but on the last TT I was well rested at the end, as I'd sat up for part since I'd been feeling pretty bad that night.

Jess didn't get passed so she started first and was the first to finish. That was really cool! I wish we could've done a TTT this week as we would have kicked some butt!! She and I rode home around the rest of the bays and battled the ridiculous headwind up our 5 km climb on Happy Valley. The final hill to get home out of the Aro Valley is a steep and hurting one, but as it usually happens when we reach the top, it always feels great when you get there and know you've done it. I suppose the endorphins don't hurt. Not to mention the view.

And all of this after initially giving up on doing the TT altogether. Yes. I'm happy that I did it. It felt good. But I will say one thing - I'm really looking forward to a vacation from this wind. And I'm really, really looking forward to riding when I get back home, with no wind. Now that's sweet as.

Wind and Work

Windy Wellington has certainly been living up to its reputation. While life here the past few weeks has been relatively low key, the wind and weather definitely haven't. Last week I rode my bike once. The other days the wind was up to 70 kph and we had lots of rain. Our race on Thursday was canceled. A bit of an autumn prelude. They do not call autumn, 'fall', as we do back home. I've been working a lot and reading a lot these days. Just kind of settled into a day-to-day life groove here right now. Finished 2 books and onto a 3rd this week - this in only 2 weeks' time. I get into fits and spurts of reading sometimes and it seems I'm in one now. This is good, as I love reading while I travel, so I hope to trade in one of the books I picked up two weeks ago for a used book to take on my next trip - the south of the South Island. I should have far more to post on when my trip gets underway. Fortunately, yesterday we had a turn in the weather and I'm off for a nice ride this evening with my training partner, Jess. :)

Looking for some blog inspiration

Not a lot to post about these days eh. (if you take the intonation of the 'eh' down at the end instead of up the way we do it, you'll be saying it the Kiwi way - they say it just as much as we do) I guess I'm feeling a little uninspired and while I'm sure I'm doing new things that I could fill you all in on, it hasn't felt all that exciting to post for you, however, I will do my best this evening.

Today was a long one and I didn't get home from work at the bike shop til 8 PM. I'm getting more and more comfortable and confident at the shop. I have already learned so much, and continue to learn more every day. Yesterday I learned how we have a few bikes in stock that have all the gears inside the back hub. I actually don't really understand how they work and turn the wheel. Something I need to look up on-line to figure out. I learned how to tune up a few things on my bike now - like my derailleurs. Very handy and important to know. And I've taught quite a few people (including men - which I think they've been slightly embarrassed about) a skill I've been developing for a few years now: how to change an inner tube. I'm getting much faster at it than I used to be! :)

We had a Kiwiana party at our flat this past weekend. It was fun - many people showed up over the course of the evening and we enjoyed far too much kiwi junk food! We had L&P, RJ's licorice, cheerios (although I did not eat these) with Watties Tomato Sauce (this is what they call Ketchup, and Watties, while a kiwi brand, was bought by Heinz a number of years gone by), Pavlova, kumara chips, and other things I cannot remember. The party was much lower-key than I had expected, because from what I know of the Kiwis, they are real hard-core partiers. The bars stay open here til like 3 AM and people continue on til 5 AM quite often. I wasn't overly disappointed, however, that our party was lower-key because I cannot keep up with that. I had to work the next morning, so a 1:30 AM bed-time was plenty late for me to feel fried for the next two days.

This weekend is a long weekend, Friday being a national holiday called, Waitangi Day and I have opted not to take an extra shift at work (as tempting as it might be to be paid time and a half - I already worked the last stat holiday two weeks ago). Instead I will be spending the day in the Wairarapa with a few friends - finally exploring a little outside of the Welly area. The city itself hosts an annual International Sevens Rugby Tournament - pretty much the biggest event of the summer here. The whole place goes wild, I've been told, and there are costumes and mayhem in the streets day and night. The sevens tickets sold out within the first day or two that they went on sale, however I was offered some by a guy who hit on me at the gym last week - but they are far too expensive for my OE budget at this point. I will enjoy the festivities outside of the rugby field.

I have really been enjoying my time here immensely. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the country in the next few months as well. I'm quite sure that I will have mixed feelings when it is time to go since lately I have been missing some of my creature comforts and familiar things from home. Traveling has always, always reminded me how lucky I am and how much I love home no matter how lovely it is anywhere else in the world.