Port Williams Spring Classic - Race Report

The inaugural race of the 2010 schedule went off today under sunny,albeit with gusty winds,skies(see flag). The course was NOT flat unless you were a mountain goat.
Picture drawing a triangle after drinking a quart of rum. That was essentially the route. The first leg from the start was immediately a long gradual climb against a full on headwind. A quick descent to a right hand turn put you on the second leg but with a delicious tailwind over rolling terrain until you turned right into a cross wind for a couple kilometers. The next right put you on the third leg heading back to the startline against a cross/headwind. Once over the initial small climb the third leg was flat/descending for the most part.

Cat C was what I expected in terms of ability and speed. There were some riders who should have raced Cat D and a couple who could have raced Cat B but,essentially,the field was equal in ability. It was the wind that dictated the nature of the race.

I felt good for the most part. I was curious how my paleo diet would affect my racing but after 75 km the legs were good. As usual I got stronger as the race went on and,after getting dropped on the(big)hill on lap 3, I chased for a lap(mostly solo)and got back to the main pack. That was rewarding - I found my "second wind" and now settled into some good form.

The middle of the race was good and I sat in the pack but did some yeoman work up front,including pulling back a potential three man breakaway. Starting lap 6 I got stupid(I was in the big ring!)and didn`t react to a split in the group climbing against the headwind...doh!

Needless to say the group(essentially) fractured into two and I was dropped(again) with the chase pack. By God I was mentally kicking my arse knowing my inattention put me back of the leaders.GRRRR.

Fortunately a half dozen(ish)riders worked together as the chase pack and we pumped like fools trying to get reattached. I don`t think we lost to much time but were unable to reel in the lead pack of Cat C riders.It was like being stuck in some quad busting limbo. The fellas were game and we pushed hard right to the end. At the 1km mark I found myself in the position of leadout and pushed hard in the drops until 3 riders passed me. I jumped on the last wheel and managed to pass two of them before the finish.

Yup! Probably my best race result ever in terms of finish and, more importantly, in terms of endurance. I felt strong from the 3rd lap onwards after finding my "groove".

Legs are completed shot tonight!Anybody see that work horse that kicked me in the chamois! Ugh!

I forgot to reset my computer after leaving registration,a partial warmup lap and the(slow)ride back to the car so I`m not sure what my ending numbers were. Showing 30.4kph over 80.4 kilometers I suspect my average over the race distance was somewhere in the 31/32 kph range. Considering my training rides, the course and windy conditions that sounds about right.

Fun day on the bike. Sounds like we got 70+ racers out competing so thats good. I lobbied some post race assessments and it sounds like the ability based cats worked well and the folk I chatted with seemed to enjoy the day. Hopefully they will be back in two weeks for the Halifax Criterium.
Update - Palced 10th out of a Cat C field of 25 competitors.