On Sunday I lined up as the lone wheeler at the Escape Velocity Spring Series Wix Brown road race. The race was 14 laps of a 6.3km loop featuring about 70m of climbing, also wind, lots and lots of wind. Official press coverage can be found here: http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/ ... sic_364972.
Game Plan:
I was heading into the race fatigued from a triathlon on Saturday (I know, rule #42) so I just wanted to conserve energy and go for a sprint finish. The finish was on long gradual incline after a couple of punchier ones, and I was confident I could out sprint the larger riders, so I was only worried about strong climbers going long or getting in breaks.
Conditions:
The weather was overcast with chilling winds were you’d find yourself freezing in the headwind, then round the corner and overheat when the sun made its fleeting cameos. Corners were damp and gritty in the opening laps but dried out as the race progressed. Winds were so strong I found myself spinning my 52x11 on gradients I shouldn’t have.
How The Race Was Lost:
We rolled out with a sizable group of 40. In hindsight I really need to work on my start line positioning as I was rolling out in the middle of the pack. After the first corner we started to pick up speed and I was trying to pick my way to the front and was noticing quite a few twitchers. My fears were confirmed as rider went down a few wheels back through the second corner. With that I attacked from the back with the sole purpose of getting to the front. Once the pack jitters settled I took up a position of around 10th wheel trying to sit tight, but a combination of inexperience and excitement found myself too close to the front and working when I didn’t need to be closing gaps to small breaks and flyers.
On lap 5 as we came to the top of the gradual climb that was the finishing straight, a massive cross wind was wreaking havoc on the group. I was sitting 10th wheel and couldn’t fit into the echelon of the front riders, so was completely unprotected from the wind. I tried to filter back to find protection, which only lead to gap opening in my position as some front rides launched an attack. Stilling hoping for some protection I failed to act, and with no one willing to chase down their teammates the break was formed, with me on the wrong side. I pretty much soloed the front for the next 4 or 5 laps giving it everything, with fleeting effort from others. All the while fighting off attacks from the a duo of green goblin pack busters, who would take off prompting half the field to chases them down, only to sit up 500m later when they started to get caught. Catching on to their tactics I would just ride steady state up to the reforming group.
With 3 to go out the relentless attacks from the green duo had whittled the field down to 6. With 7 in the lead break and 2 in no man's land a sprint would be had for 10th. In the last km everything ground to a halt as everyone was waiting to someone else to make their move. As I was boxed in I was hoping to an opening to make a long move, hoping everyone else was too busy watching the others to effectively counter, but none came and I had to wait to follow the 2 in front. In the end I came 3rd in the sprint and 12th overall.
Overall I’m happy with my result as this was my first cat 3 race and I felt like I left everything on the course. There’s always next time.
Strava:
https://www.strava.com/activities/510620093
Full Results:
http://crossmgr.wimsey.co/2016/evss2016 ... p-r1-.html
Escape Velocity Wix Brown
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