Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Seasons End...

With the State Individual Time Trial Championships over....so ends my season. My original plan was to end it with the Krugers Kermese series, but due to land use permits they are no longer able to hold the series. Last year I also did some cross races, but racing from February through October/November was just way too long and I didn't really enjoy cross racing all that much.

I set out to accomplish two goals this year:

1) Get my upgrade from CAT 4 to CAT 3.
2) To compete/complete at least one stage race.

I actually accomplished both of these goals on the same weekend back in April during/after the Cherry Blossom stage race in The Dalles. This was my first stage race and with my 2nd place in the first stage I had enough points to upgrade to CAT 3, which I did the Monday after the race.

Overall the year went well (22 races).

Podium placings: 8
Wins: 3
State Championships: 1

Some numbers on the year:

Highest ATL: 159.5
Highest CTL: 123.2
Lowest TSB: -73.7

The ATL and CTL ratings took place pretty close to the Cascade Classic which probably explains my poor performance there. I was clearly over-trained by the time I hit the Cascade Classic and when combined with the altitude, heat and some dehydration lead to extremely poor performances. If I had been using the Powertap all winter, chances are these numbers would actually have been higher :s

The low TSB took place early in the season just after getting my Powertap so this doesn't reflect as much toward my performance at the CC.

Power numbers for the year:

Max power: 1564 watts
Max 5 second: 1391 watts
Max 1 minute: 659 watts
Max 5 minute: 434 watts
Max 10 minute: 404 watts
Max 20 minute: 391 watts

Goals for next year:

1) Keep my power numbers high over the winter to go into the season next year strong.
2) Drop my weight back down to at least 190 pounds (spent the latter half of the season over 200 this year).
3) Win the CAT 3 TTT State Championship again.
4) Better my 40K ITT time again...get under 55 minutes.
5) Concentrate on ITT's more than road races.

2 comments:

  1. Ron,

    Looks like you had a great year - well done. I'd be interested to know how to go about losing weight yet retain cycling condition.

    If Bradley Wiggins can do it......

    My first year of racing. Now that I know a bit more about how it all works, next year I would like to actually place high in a few races.

    Might see you out on a few PV group rides (yellow older trek).

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  2. Wait loss while riding is fairly easy...but hard to do :)

    It really comes down to calories in vs. calories out. You have to find your balance then go under it...and that balance sometimes isn't easy to find. Try a 500 calorie a day deficit...though I've gone as high as -1500 a day for 4 months in a row before (lost around 50 pounds).

    They key to continuing to ride strong is eating a little before the ride, fueling during the ride and then monitoring your intake after the ride. This gives you a bit more energy before the ride and keeps it going during the ride. The only downside is after a really hard day it can take just a little while longer to recover.

    However, I was able to race while on the -1500 calorie a day weight cutting last year and did just fine in the process.

    It just takes work and a lot of dedication...something I have to work on again this year to get my weight down to 180 - 185 pounds going into next year as my body starts fighting me pretty hard when I get below 190 pounds.

    If you see me at the PV group rides feel free to ask questions before the ride takes off...if you are in my group ask all the questions you want :)

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