Originally Posted by
mattm
Chico Stage race, pro/1: failure.
Bummer outcome.
Chico 35+ 123. Also failure.
Background and excuses ... crashed a few weeks back and had limited training due to injury and the March winter that rolled in. Had a decent week on the bike and legs felt like they were coming back, so why not.
Circuit race was fast, but legs felt good. Unfortunately, I quickly realized I didn't want to ride near people. Odd feeling so I sat a little off the last wheel and just cruised around for 75 minutes. Good work out at least? Team got 3rd.
Road race was better and worse. Legs felt good, so why not burn all the matches in the first 20 miles of a 90 miles race? At the very least, it allowed teammates to just sit in. Somewhere around mile 30 I eased up and stopped wasting energy. Took some terrible lines through the road leading into the gravel and came into the gravel too far back. Gap covered, gap covered, gap covered, until gap not covered and lost the group. Rolled a second lap with a chase group. Not fun. Team got 7th on a dead di2.
TT was frustrating. 30 more watts than the last time I did that course, but only 1s faster. Boo.
Crit was very much like the circuit race ... sat on the back and counted laps. Frankie Andreu had some fun with that. Just didn't want to be there and figured it was safer for everyone if I just stayed out of the mix. Team got 6th.
Fun event, but not a great one if you're not into it. Need to get the mind right.