A few days after Ocoee, I got in a good training ride sort of by accident. I was hoping for a long day, but it rained all morning and through lunch, so I hopped on the trainer in the afternoon, riding an hour while watching some UCI World Cup Downhill action. I took a break at the hour mark and looked out the window to see the sun shining and the roads dry. There was just enough time for me to make it to the local group ride in Sango. I planned to do part of the ride and get about 2 1/2 hours of riding. When I got to the ride, most of the group seemed uninterested in riding at the normal speed. That is the problem with the Clarksville groups. They are so moody and most of the time don't seem too happy to see me roll up to the start of the ride. There are a few guys that do like to ride with me though, and we formed our own little group and hammered the loop and even a little extra. Justin Lowe was there. He doesn't get to do the group rides very often as he lives a good way from Clarksville. He's a strong rider and a good one for me to train with. Before the day was over, I got in over four hours of riding at a good intensity.
The following day saw the third race of the Music City Crits Series. I had to work late and barely had enough time to get to the race. I had almost no warm-up before it was time to hit the line. With the lack of warm-up, I still wasn't sure how my legs were feeling, though they did not feel tired from yesterday's long ride. There have been some changes to the race categories that went into effect this week. The Cat. 3-only race was eliminated so now there are more Cat. 3s in the Pro/1/2/3 race. Shannon and my Mom both got to come with me since I left so late, so I actually have a few pictures from this race courtesy of them.
Pro/1/2/3 group set to start
Group rolls into Turn 1
I had a good race, going with several attacks after the 15-minute mark. I bridged to a split that had a lot of the big riders present in it. Then a break of three was allowed a gap. Tanner Hurst attacked with an I Am Racing rider. I hesitated at first, then went after them by myself. Nobody went with me. Tanner was doing all the work to bridge to the break. The I Am rider was just a passenger from what I could see. I got to within a few seconds of them and then ran out of steam. The fatigue from yesterday was just enough to keep me from making it across. I was holding 182 heart rate which is great for me. I was hoping Tanner would look back and see me coming, but he was focused on the group ahead. As I began to fade, I looked behind to see the group chasing hard with Cumberland Transit on the front. They pulled me back and went right on by to catch Tanner as well. Then we sat up again.
A group tries to get off the front of the main bunch
The sweeping final turn
For the first time in a long time, I am alone in the picture and not because I'm off the back!
The break was gone now. They had almost a minute on us and nobody wanted to chase them. John Carr was in the break so it would be hard to pull him back anyway. He is great in breakaways. Cumberland Transit cranked it up again in the closing laps and I was amazed by how much we gained on the break, coming to within 10 seconds of them by the finish. I was too far back on the last lap and could not move up. The final lap was our fastest of the race despite a slight drizzle falling. I could feel my tires just starting to slide a bit in the hairpins the last time through. I picked off a few riders in the final corner and finished 12th, again reaching 182 heart rate in the sprint. I worked hard tonight and was able to put in some good digs, but the finish didn't really reflect how well I rode. Jeremy Nagoshiner outsprinted John Carr for the win in the breakaway. It was a big win for Nago. Our average speed was slower tonight at 25.1 mph, definitely reflecting all the shadowboxing that was going on in the group.
Video: Nago takes the win
I took a few recovery days, then hit the Death March loop again. It was MUCH easier on the body this time. My endurance is really coming around now. I felt like I rode much easier in the first half and I was 5 minutes faster. The second half I was 30 minutes quicker than last time. I didn't have to stop and my legs were never aching. The goal was to do it in under 7 hours and I cranked out a 6:45. Mission accomplished! I got done with the 120 miles and then decided to go back out for more. I needed 5 miles to break my record for longest ever road ride, which was 124. I did that about 8 years ago and have not attempted it since then. Shannon rode with me for another 16 miles increasing, my new PR on a distance road ride to 136 miles. I finished the full ride in an even 8 hours.
The next day, I met up with Justin Lowe, his bike-beast-of-a-wife Martha and Tom Gee for another 66 miles. It was a windy day, but we picked a good loop, going north into Kentucky and finding some really fast, flowing roads that felt like a roller coaster in some sections. I was surprised at how good my legs felt. I actually had little fatigue in my legs for the first 50 miles, then I started to fade. I even had enough in the tank to race Justin up several of the bigger climbs.
I took a few days of easy riding after that weekend effort, but I was far from inactive. The recent rains have caused an explosion in our garden. Both the plants and the weeds have taken off. I spent the better part of the next week laboring in the sun to rid the garden of the pesky weeds. Now that they are gone, the plants are growing good and I am picking squash, cucumbers, zucchini and beans daily. The extra moisture has also helped the blackberries in our area grow. I've been picking around the farm and surrounding roads. We have picked several gallons so far and they are continuing to produce more berries. We have been making some delicious blackberry frozen yogurt for dessert.
The garden work was not extremely difficult, but the heat took its toll on me, mostly from dehydration. I tried to do a hill ride from Ashland City the following weekend and I was exhausted after an hour. My whole body was tired. I finished the ride, but at a slower pace than anticipated. It was the first time in a while that I went out hunting Strava KOMs and did not get a single one.
Waterfall along the road in Ashland City
I rested the rest of the weekend and studied until my brain could not handle another bit of information on training. I took my CSCS test, then went back to the testing center a few days later with Shannon and we both took the CPT exam. We do not know our results yet. You must submit a current hands-on CPR/AED certification before they will release your scores. The local CPR classes have all been full so we had to register for a July class in Nashville. I have no idea if I passed the exams or not. They were very tricky in their wording, just as I had feared after doing the practice test. It was more of a test of trickery than a test of knowledge. I have my fingers crossed that we both passed because we sure did invest a lot of time, effort and money into those certifications.
I got myself rehydrated by the following Wednesday, just in time for some more crit. action at race #4 of the Music City Crits Series. It came just two days before the three-race crit. series in Ohio that I was signed up for, so I wanted to take it easy and only put out full effort at the finish. The group was full of other riders who were planning to do the Ohio races as well, but those riders not going were ready to crank up the pace. I stayed hidden in the pack most of the night, but it was still a tough race. None of the breaks were allowed any room until halfway, when two riders got off the front. One was from I Am Racing and the other from Upland Brewing. They sat 15 seconds ahead before the I Am rider crashed in the last corner of the course. He did not rejoin the race, leaving the Upland Brewing rider off the front alone.
The group never put in a solid chase effort and the Upland rider was able to stay away, taking a solo win. I had good legs and was in a good position in the closing laps. I was on Tanner Hurst's wheel with half a lap to go, but we got blocked in and he was not willing to push it tonight. I finally got in the clear and took off for the front, but just ran out of time. I had the legs to push to 188 heart rate in the sprint, the highest I have seen this year! I wound up 12th again though. We were faster this week with a 26.0 mph average speed for the 52-minute race. Again, the result did not reflect how strong I was. I am getting better, and I'm closing in on those 190 heart rates.
Short video from Music City Crits Race #4 shot during the Pro/1/2/3 race
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