The Adventure Continues

With all the race prep for the 26th, I nearly forgot (nearly) about Saturday's Battenkill-Roubaix road race. 62 miles of dirt, road and other nastiness that hurt so good last year, I signed up as soon as registration opened in the Fall.

Tonight the Sam-boy and I will make the pilgrimage up to Cambridge, NY and we are staying at the beautiful Hopkins House B&B owned by friends Aggy and Charlie Duveen.

The forecast is for rain and I have a feeling it will make an interesting race that much more so.

Today I rode with my friend Greg - a super strong road cyclist who competes for Independent Fabrications. He's super strong (ahem, never gets out of the big ring) and always makes me laugh (and drop my heels). Today's ride was no different and Greg puts up with my ridiculous questions and last-minute bike problems. Yup, even when road riding, I can't stop little bits of the triathlete from showing thru.... wait, you mean I shouldn't be making changes to my bike the night before a race?

I think a big part of why I enjoy and do well at road cycling, is the fact that I don't put pressure on it. It's just more training for me and when I'm done with that, I have another workout to do..blah, blah, blah. What Greg and I talked about is the fact that in triathlon, generally, the fittest person wins. With all the technology and tests we have, it's a real science - watts, calories, heart rate. If you keep to these settings, you'll perform, barring some hugely catastrophic event. In cycling, the smartest* person wins - you need to be able to spot a move, make a break, and do all the little things tactically, to win. It makes for exciting and dynamic racing.

I told Greg about my friend Megan, a talented runner and triathlete, who tried her first cycling races this Spring. She asked me for words of wisdom and I said the best advice I was given was "when an acceleration comes, get on a wheel" - and accelerations come, but then the pace backs off. We are not used to this as triathletes, where we have a single "all-day" pace, especially as long course folks! We may be able to hold 20 mph for 5 1/2 hours, but ask us to go 20 mph, then accelerate to 28 and hold it, then climb, and then accelerate again and we can't keep up.

Coach E has been great and what's fun is that my plan this year is complimenting my cycling greatly - with a focus on speed and intensity, I'm noticing that I'm more capable of moving about the field - attacking and counter-attacking, chasing down breaks and the like.

Tomorrow will be a lot of fun and I can't wait to report the day! Wish us luck and good luck to my Teany teammates competing closer to the city tomorrow.