Today, three ex pro riders showed me how to ride a bike race. In the summer heat, and on the hilliest race I have EVER ridden, my lack of racing miles and a moment of inattention proved to be my downfall. Dave Cumming attacked near the top of the first major climb and I was totally unaware of it until after the race's finish. He managed a superb ride and finished around 20 seconds in front of the rest of us. How I never knew that he had escaped is a mystery to me and to stay away on that terrain was impressive indeed. The bunch split into two groups fairly early on in the race with Alan Kemp (10 years my senior) doing a lions share of work to keep the pace high on the hills. Alan set the pace up the lower slopes of the main climb of the day, that of Titterstone Clee Hill, and was replaced by Phil Thomas as we made our way up Angel Bank. I moved to the front for the last mile of the climb which took a total of 15 mins. I was very comfortable riding at a steady high threshold pace and it felt just like training! At the summit there was only seven of us left and the rest were nowhere to be seen. The remainder of the race was a series of fast descents and tough climbs. Both Alan and Phil made several attacks and by the time we reached the final couple of miles, other than Dave Cummings who was off up the road, there was only three of us left. On the last climb, Alan attacked and then Phil, I countered then tried to go but there was nothing extra left in the tank! We rounded the final bend, Alan, Phil and then myself. Alan took up the sprint for second place from the front and had Phil lined out behind him with me at the rear. Despite hitting 996W I couldn't make any impression. Seeing what both Dave Cumming and Alan Kemp did today has left me with a huge amount of respect for these classy guys, who along with Phil Thomas have a history of cycling successes that puts me in awe.
Today's power file shows a hugely different picture from that of two weeks ago. Normalised watts may have been similar at 95% of FTP but the variability of the effort was very different. Despite having only attempted one attack during the race, I made a significant number of level 5 and 6 efforts, the pattern of which changed through the event. The second half of the race had a number of descents with difficult bends at the bottom, followed immediately by another steep hill. Descending is not something I have practiced, or at which I ever feel confident, and I found myself hanging off the back by the time the lead rider had rounded the bend. Most of the attacks from Alan or Phil came on the exit to these bends and I had to make too many significant efforts to get back to the front. Basically, I burnt too many matches through a lack of bike handling skills, and secondly suffered from a lack of anaerobic work capacity due to a lack of racing miles. I can't remember riding a race where my time spent in level 6 exceeds that spent in either level 4 or 5!
Having said all of that, I really enjoyed the race and am pleased with the result. The ride put me out of my comfort zone, both for climbing and descending, and was different for not being on a standard circuit. It was race of survival as well as demanding cycling skills other than being able to ride well at threshold.