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Even before the last race of the Over the Hump season, I could feel that I needed a break. I was looking forward to being able to just ride wherever I wanted, if I wanted. And finishing 5th in that last race, and 7th overall, really made me feel like I'd done what I set out to do.

So what now? Well, it's a good time to take a big-picture look at my health & fitness, and to play the game so that I arrive in May 2020 stronger, fitter, faster and more injury-proof than I am now.

I talked with a nutritionist, who said that I generally eat pretty well, and suggested a few improvements to try. I'm trying them.

I've taken a rest week, and I'm now starting to do some light barbell work to acclimate my body to that kind of work again. (Mostly a modified version of Cosgrove's Evil 8, without the power cleans or good mornings.)

I've started Dan John's Mass Made Simple program. It's classic "bus bench" stuff: show up, do the workout, enjoy the results. The core of the workout is a barbell complex (row, clean, front squat, press, back squat, good morning) similar to Cosgrove's Evil 8, and a heavy helping of squats.

The first workout went really well, and today I'm definitely sore, but not hurting. (I went slightly easy on the complex to make sure I had the gas for the squats.) I'll up the weight a bit on the complex next time.

And honestly, I think just a 40-minute complex/squats/pull-up workout will be an excellent way to maintain my strength gains once I get back on the bike & start base building again in a couple of months.

I think the biggest difference between my first race results (12th) and my last (5th) was not fitness. It was being far smarter with my energy expenditure.

It's easy to think that I'll remember what worked and what didn't when next year rolls around. But I know myself better than that. So here's the stuff I picked up over the last few weeks/months of training & racing.

Pre-Race Protocol

Clean & fix bike the weekend before.

I really noticed that the drive train was happier after I cleaned & lubed the bike. (Not surprising.)

This is also when I'd address any problems that arose during the previous race. (Derailleur adjustments, wheel truing, etc.)

Monday shake-out ride

This gives me a chance to shake out any fixes I did on the weekend, and confirm that nothing is loose or misaligned after the weekend cleaning & tweaking.

I've found that the legs felt much snappier & performed better when I get a little low-volume intensity the day before. Climbing Coachwhip seemed perfect. (~10 minutes climbing at 165+bpm.)

Pre-Race Checklist

• number plate
• water bottles (2)
• drink mix
• protein shake in thermos
• socks
• shoes
• glasses
• helmet
• gloves
• gps
• floor pump
• bike
• wallet
• phone
• keys
• chamois butter
• sunscreen

Arrive by 4:45 PM

That's enough time to:

1. mount number plate
2. get my leg marked
3. check the course map
4. pre-ride the course

Things to note on the pre-ride:

• first bottleneck
• first climb
• last top-out
• setup to final corner
• final corner
• sprint

Ditch the saddle bag.

My trail repair kit weighs ~570g. That's a nice chunk to leave behind for race day, and the start/finish area is always within walking distance.

Race Strategy

Line up at the front.

First or second row. Behind the known fast riders is fine, as they'll start fast & clean. Not behind unknowns.

Start fast, start clean.

A 45-minute race is no place to dilly-dally at the starting line. The leaders line up in front & get away quick. If I want to be anywhere near them, I gotta do likewise.

Grab a wheel on the flats.

The flat section along the lake is ~2:30. Get on someone's wheel & recover or gain speed.

Brake less, coast more.

I consciously stayed off the brakes as much as possible, which let me carry more speed.

And on every downhill I'd resist the temptation to keep pedaling, and instead I'd get into a low hinge and takea few deep breaths & try to recover a bit.

Look behind you.

Through the middle of the race, I found it really helpful to be aware of who was following me. (Shocking, I know.) Getting a gap was encouraging, and knowing I had not gapped my competitor(s) was helpful in deciding how to ride the lead-in to the flats.

From the top of the last rise, push hard to the finish line.

Near the top of the final rise before the finish, get a sense of who's behind me. Push over the top, close the door & keep it closed.

Post-Race Protocol

Protein shake immediately post-race

A shake with ~300cal & 30g of protein immediately after the race noticeably improved recovery.

Stretch & Sudafed/NyQuil the night after the race.

I found that I had some trouble sleeping after the race. It took me some time to wind down. And once I did, I could really feel the fatigue in my legs. I was consistently too warm to sleep.

This wasn't consistently a problem, but happened a couple of times, and when it did, it killed my recovery.

My final race of the Over the Hump season went really well. I managed to hit my personal goal of a top-5 finish, and racked up enough points to place 7th overall. I'm really happy with that.

The race this week got off to a much cleaner start than last week, though I had to make my way around a guy who lined up on the front row, but didn't seem to have the gas to stay near the front at the start.

In the meantime, half a dozen riders had come around me, so I set about not burning all my matches on the first punchy rise, and making the most of the flat along the lake. I found a train & jumped on, and was content to get pulled along, and could see that we were passing others in my division. When I did pull through, I just kept the same pace & tried to bring the rest of the train with me, but it broke apart and I found myself alone again on the CX section, which was fine with me.

I grabbed another wheel through the second lap's flat section, and actually felt like I'd recovered a bit going into the back half of the race. I just concentrated on cornering well and carrying as much speed as I could.

I came through the last lap feeling like I had a bit of a gap, but knowing that I'd had just a few seconds at best in every race so far. I wasn't about to let off the gas.

The course doubled back on itself several times near the end of the lap, so I could see that I had a little bit of a gap going into the final 500m or so of the race. But I wasn't about to take anything for granted. Nobody behind me for 30m or so was good, but no guarantee of anything.

I pushed over the top of the last rise and tried to carry as much speed as I could over the pump section. Coming out of the final, loose, uphill right-hander before the finish I hit the gas hard, and just tried to make sure I didn't give away any opportunities at the last moment. If anyone was going to get around me, I wanted to at least make them earn it. The only thought in my head was, Looking back just makes you slower! GO!

The way things shook out, I earned an overall score I'm fine with, hit my goal of a top-5 finish (which I thought wasn't going to happen), and have a nice pint glass as a souvenir. That's a pretty great way to finish out the season.

Next year, I'll aim to improve on that. But for now, I'm going to rest up for a week or two, then hit the weights & start laying the groundwork for next year.

Life got in the way for a couple of weeks, and I missed races #9 and #10. So it was really fun to be back at the start line this week for #11.

Another flat course, another super-fast start. The start was hectic, and by the time the field settled I knew the leaders had gapped everyone else, and I wasn't sure where I was sitting. So I just tried to push and get clear. I've learned to just get away as fast as I can without burning out the legs immediately, and that worked out okay this week.

The flat along the lake was early in the lap, and a few riders came around me soon after that. (Either on the short, sharp climb that ends the flat, or on the CX-style section that followed.) But I was able to grab a wheel here and there and hold my pace, and managed to pull back a few places on the second lap.

By the time I hit the flat on the third lap, there was just one competitor near me. He tried to pass on the sharp climb after the flat, but I got ahead & built a lead on the CX section, and by the time I was headed for the finish, I could see I had a comfortable gap.

Just the same, I pushed hard through the last climbing S-turn to the finish, not wanting a replay of race #7.

There were lots of trains forming during this race for some reason. (I think the course brought the Sport/Elite classes together with the Beginner/Intermeditates more than usual.) I ended up pulling a few for a while before realizing they were behind me.

So, if I have a note from this week, it's to look for trains to jump onto on the flat. The two that I did manage to fall in wich picked up my speed by ~2mph, which is a huge energy advantage.

So, ultimately, I had an okay start, held my pace, managed to pick up a couple of spots on lap 2, and finished strong. Pretty good!

Up 5 places! Quite an improvement over last week!

Before the race, I scoped out the finish and made a mental note of the beats: climb, coast, flat, hard left, sprint. This really helped at the end of the race when I was just about cooked, but knew I had to make the most of that coasting section so I'd have something left to push across the flat & sprint for the finish.

The start was the usual drag race off the line, followed by a steep, narrow ramp about 200m from the start that created enough of a bottleneck that the first guys through basically got the hole shot. I didn't get held up too bad, but I didn't exactly roll through with any momentum.

On the fire road climb I just tried to hold an aggressive pace and stay with whomever I could, and I especially tried not to let myself get stuck behind slower riders. If I could pass without redlining, I did.

I think that helped my position going over the top, which ended up being pretty close to my finishing place, I think. I have a pet theory that if there's just one climb on a course, the order at the top is generally the finishing order. That seems to have held last night.

As we started the second lap, I caught up to a competitor in blue, and managed to grab onto his wheel.

We rode like that for a while, then, on the flats headed for the last climb, he let me pass and grabbed a wheel a couple of riders behind me. I tried to lose him in traffic, but he held on, and then made the decisive pass with about 20m left to go on the climb. I had no answer, and had to let him go.

As I was crossing the flat section leading to the finish line, I spotted another competitor trying to sneak past, and gave it a bit more gas. He was strong, but evidently not quite enough to pass, so I was able to hold on for 7th.

So what went well?

I was in the right gear & clipped in clean off the starting line.

I was more aggressive about passing slower riders, which I think both reduced drag and helped me keep a comfortable rhythm.

I managed to mostly avoid getting passed on the last lap. From what I can tell, I held my place from the top of the climb to the end.

I scoped out the finish, and executed my plan for the end of the race.

And what do I want to do better next week?

I don't think getting better results is all that complex. I need to keep training & get stronger, and I need to start quicker off the line. Being near the front after the first few minutes bodes really well for a good finish.

So I'll keep up the interval training, and the strength work I've been doing over the last few weeks.

Over the Hump 07/30/2019