Got dropped in my first Z race today. Wound up in a group of three chasing behind the main pack. I settled into it and was kinda having some fun racing out of positions like 30-33 out of 40, but then we got lapped with like 1/3 of the race left and it wasn't fun any more so I logged off and cruised Watopia z1.
Man, after like 7' at 5.0 there was a surge at the front and I found myself dangling OTB. Rather than murder myself to get in I tried to anticipate a lull in pace and TT on with two others but we just got distanced. I looked at the w/kg in the front group fully expecting it to drop to a more reasonable pace, but it never went below like 4.5 w/kg for anyone in the group, which is approximately my threshold. Crazy!
Trying not to beat myself up too much over it though. Really I should have just stayed in and got a decent TT interval behind the group at least. I'm thinking there is a lot of fitness disparity in the A's and it really depends on what race you chose and who you race against. In the past few "A" races I've done I've finished mid-pack but at least finished with the main group and felt like a contender. Maybe with some more experience I can begin to discern how difficult a race will be based on the description and/or other publicly available information. it was a humbling learning experience for sure.
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"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste