Radish_legs

The 2nd Tuesday Night Crit went off last night in the Dallas, TX area. I raced Masters, B (Cat 3-4), and A (cat 1-3). In that order. Coming off an injury very little riding in the past month. Happy to just stay in the pack if possible.

Masters - low wind day, so ended up bunch finish. Tried to lead out a teammate, but screwed it up and got swarmed, but was able to move my teammate up from about 20th to 7th in the final sprint.

B crit - just sat on the back and coached up a teammate who is new to the sport.

A crit - just wondered how long I could hold on. Miraculously I was able to stay in the group the entire time as the caboose riding behind a female ride who is 5 feet tall or so. So no draft. I was actually recovered enough at the end that I could have gotten in the mix. Again, somewhat miraculously. But my leg was starting to cramp and I was afraid of crashing again like last year, all to try and finish 12th. So I didn't participate in the sprint.

Best part was getting a good workout. Hopefully will help me contribute more for my team later.

TMonk

Good stuff Radish_legs. My racing calendar will be drastically reduced with a 6 month old at home, but I'll still get to at least a few local events. I'm excited about the TTT district champs in May - this year we will field two teams and probably take home the titles in the 140+ combined and 180+ combined 4-person events.

I know that procrit has already got some racing in too.

TMonk

Fiesta Island time trial, 1st/2 in 35+ division, fourth fastest time overall. I rode a 27:26 on 275w, at 26.9 MPH.

Windy today, speed band was 25 - 30 MPH depending on location on the island. These races are real early, so even though they are local, I never get enough warmup in and always feel like my cardio is a bit blocked and not ready. Mostly limited by discomfort in the legs, but HR is far from maxed out. Still, it was fun to get out and give it a go!

One of the three faster times was from an athlete in the Men's 60+ age division..... Wow. What a specimen. I know I have a ways to go as far as optimizing my equipment and position goes in time trial, but still, getting beaten by an old dude is very humbling!

Hermes

TMonk Congrats on the time / win. That is a lot of wind and I bet it was cold.

TMonk

SCNCA district TTT champs, 4 man 140+ combined age division: 3rd/3 teams. Time for the 40k was 50:52, but that should have been 90 or so seconds faster.

We missed a turn while I was on front… oops. I’d raced it several times before too. No biggie, we recognized it quickly thanks to a No Outlet sign (lol) and got back on course. Checking Strava Flyby, it may have been up to 90 seconds. That might have been good enough for second, the first place team was just too fast with a 48:23.

This year was totally wild due to a 20-23 MPH prevailing wind from West to East. I knew that as well on the weather report… should have brought a different front wheel. I was on a 90 mm wheel and the lightest rider.

TBH I was only able to put out my full intended power on the tailwind stretch of the rectangle (which gets ridden twice); during the other three lengths I was mostly focused on not crashing haha. I felt pretty sketched out in our echelon on the crosswind lengths. A teammate rubbing against my disc wheel once didn’t help. On the final straight, I had tons of gas left and was doing 1 minute turns at 320-350 watts, not often you get to go 32 MPH up a rolling false flat! I heard “DOWN, DOWN” a couple times when I was trying to empty the tank .

But most importantly – we had fun! Good energy and vibes out there and great communication, we were really in sync. This year, I was the team captain, strongest workhorse, and the only rider with prior experience in the discipline on our team. We now have three new TTT riders that are absolutely stoked on next year’s race – I call that a win in my book!



at the start line, I'm the closest rider (in the blue kit)


obligatory team photo on the box. I'm the smaller of the two on the top step with the blue socks