10 March, 2013

An Experiment in Lent(il) Behaviour

The road racing season is back for 2013 here in the north and today, Sunday, marked the second in a series of crits for the local club. Numbers have been great across all grades with more than 100 riders registering across 4 grades in addition to the junior riders.

The left hand turning circuit is a 600 metre semi-rhomboid/elliptoid, flat road in a semi-industrial area as per the image below from Endomondo. What wind there was today was a greeting for all riders on the section heading into the last turn before the finishing straight on Dalrymple Road. The cross wind on the back segment was pretty much blocked out by the buildings lining the road.



I wandered from my usual Saturday evening pre-race meal routine (pasta in one form or another) and had lentil burgers and salad. They were delicious and filling but when I woke this morning, I was absolutely starving. A couple of Weet-Bix and my usual morning breakfast drink (no- not that kind of drink!!!) called Up-n-Go and I was out the door and on the way. During the ride to the circuit and the warm up I didn't feel all that energetic so I also had an energy gel a few minutes prior to the start.

Last week's average speed was just on 37km/hr for the 12 starters. This week it was 38.5 with 23 riders fronting. Like last week there were a few new starters which is always good to see- unlike last week when a young bloke who was giving it his first go and happened to grab a handful of front brake at an inopportune moment, there were no spills- even better to see.

So even though the pace was on a bit more than last week, I felt I had less in the tank on the last couple of laps. So it looks like it will be back to pasta for next week's crit; however, if there's no improvement, I'll know I will have to look at the engine the fuel is going into, not at the fuel. (Or maybe crit circuits just aren't my forte)

Cheers- ride safe
BoaB


2 comments:

babble on said...

Vodka - so much more than a breakfast drink.

BoaB said...

Being a good Maritimer, I think I would have to go with rum instead of vodka.