Bike: Trek Superfly 9.9 SL, Vittoria Barzo / Peyote 1.4 bar
This cup is nearing its ending, just two races left, including today's race. Before this race I was in second place overall. Far behind Palle in first place but just one point in front of Frank in third.
I had guided my new pal, Viktor Ludgvisson (viktorludvigsson.blogg.se) for a five hour ride in the forests outside of Genarp on Saturday, the day before the race. Perhaps not the smartest thing but we had a lot of fun. I was going to have to pay for that in this race...
Trying a lap of the track before the race I found that it was going to be super fun. There was tons and tons of newly built singletrack with ups, downs, turns, (rough) wooden bridges and even a section across a clear-cut area which was super muddy, not with loose mud, but with heavy thick mud.
I had guided my new pal, Viktor Ludgvisson (viktorludvigsson.blogg.se) for a five hour ride in the forests outside of Genarp on Saturday, the day before the race. Perhaps not the smartest thing but we had a lot of fun. I was going to have to pay for that in this race...
Trying a lap of the track before the race I found that it was going to be super fun. There was tons and tons of newly built singletrack with ups, downs, turns, (rough) wooden bridges and even a section across a clear-cut area which was super muddy, not with loose mud, but with heavy thick mud.
Result: Vintercuppen #5
As the race started things were going quite well for the first lap and a half. The technical stuff felt super nice and my body was relaxed and I flowed with the terrain. Finally, after so much racing in snow and slippery mud, I was able ot rely on the grip between my tires and the terrain again. I had really missed that!
For the first lap I was somewhere in 6th-7th place overall (probably in 2nd place in my cat). However after the first 20-30 minutes of the race I noticed that I was not able to sustain the pace that I had set out. My body was just too tired after the ride the day before. I started dropping back. Each time a rider went past I hung on to his wheel for as long as I could (drafting did no good as pretty much the entire lap was singletrack). Then I would solo for a while until the next guy caught up.
It wasn't a total collapse however and I worked hard on keeping the pace up. Also, in spite of my tired body I was having so much fun on the super track. I laughed aloud a few times. I ended up crossing the line in third place in my category. So an ok result considering the circumstances.
Now, ahead of the season finale I'm tied with Frank for second place overall. I will need to beat him in the last race. I'll make sure to get to the race a bit more rested than today.
It's interesting looking at my average heart rate in the Strava summary below: 169bpm. That's almost 10 beats lower than my normal. That's what tired legs do for you.
For the first lap I was somewhere in 6th-7th place overall (probably in 2nd place in my cat). However after the first 20-30 minutes of the race I noticed that I was not able to sustain the pace that I had set out. My body was just too tired after the ride the day before. I started dropping back. Each time a rider went past I hung on to his wheel for as long as I could (drafting did no good as pretty much the entire lap was singletrack). Then I would solo for a while until the next guy caught up.
It wasn't a total collapse however and I worked hard on keeping the pace up. Also, in spite of my tired body I was having so much fun on the super track. I laughed aloud a few times. I ended up crossing the line in third place in my category. So an ok result considering the circumstances.
Now, ahead of the season finale I'm tied with Frank for second place overall. I will need to beat him in the last race. I'll make sure to get to the race a bit more rested than today.
It's interesting looking at my average heart rate in the Strava summary below: 169bpm. That's almost 10 beats lower than my normal. That's what tired legs do for you.
