Whitewater

Two races this weekend and neither of them were crits. That's a rarity. First up:

Whitewater road race:
Nine 5.5 mile laps. One moderate climb, one small climb, some nasty pavement, and a very quick downhill tailwind to the start-finish. The 1/2 race was scheduled to start at 4:00, and my race, the 3s, was to start at 4:05. They were both late, but somehow there was significantly less than 5 minutes between us. We caught them at the beginning of lap 2, and thenceforth there was much shifting around. One popular trick from both fields when they were behind was to sprint past the other field just before a corner in the hopes that the pack would get stuck behind the other pack.

We rode around some more. I don't know when, but in the middle of the race a break got away that I must have thought were 1/2 guys. I knew my teammate Jason would try to go during the last lap. He tried to go at the beginning of the climb, but the pack was on him. I got on his wheel and before the top, he went again. I did not respond. That meant anyone who wanted to go with him had to match his acceleration plus come around me and close the gap. Three did it.

Their group wasn't going very fast, but neither was mine. If you're not too concerned about your own result, it can be fun to frustrate a chase effort. And that's what I did. Always second wheel, never pulling through. Adding to my mistaken impression that they were in the lead was the pace car staying just in front of the group.

Then we came down the hill and sprinted. A get a grip guy edged me out at the line. I thought I had 6th, but only then did I hear about the original break of 4. So, 10th.

Recovery:
After the race, HipCycler (the biggest name in Milwaukee radio) invited me to his lavish estate for a recovery Rolling Rock. And a bratwurst. Or 3. We traded stories about the race. He'd done the masters 4/5 earlier in the day. I watched the fireworks from the vintage boat on the lake. It turns out that's the only way to really watch them. Except maybe a helicopter, but that's probably just disappointing.

Whitewater time trial:
The only races I can really compete in are the ones where I can hide from the wind behind stronger people so I don't have to work so hard. Or when the weather is so bad that everyone else abandons. This wasn't really like that. But that doesn't stop me from doing them.

I got moderately aero. Aero bars, skin suit, shoe covers. No aero helmet. I removed the bottle cages, which is when I discovered that my frame is cracked. I'm not sure what to do about that. I still raced it anyway, but that's something that will have to be addressed somehow before superweek. (next week?!)

There's not much to write about the actual race. 11.8 miles of rolling hills and high wind. It was my first race of the season with any kind of computer. I got passed once. I passed once. Here's a graph of some data. No power though. :( I didn't stay for results.