Sunday, December 10, 2006

The Anti-Climax

Today's race was the finale in the series and I was only leading the second place rider by a slim margin. I had to beat him in order to win the overall title since these two last races were for double points and I was too sick to race last weekend ending up with a big zero points for that race.

My plan was to test my legs and dream of hanging with the front runners and if that did not work, then I would hang back with Jay and see what I could do against him in the final lap. This was a good plan except for the fact that my legs sucked and Jay was one of the front runners.

I have been on antibiotics for 10 days now and feeling a bit better. I felt good enough to open up Friday and that experience left me very optimistic since the power numbers were good. Warm ups went well but I could tell my power was a lot lower than normal.

The first 3 laps of the race I was near the front and then faded back to Jay and eventually c0uld not close a gap on him. Then everything fell apart with 4 laps to go. I was being passed by people I was easily beating 3 weeks ago. I was embarrased by how I was riding but I could not do anything to help it since I was still feeling the effects of being sick. After awhile I succumbed mentally and drifted back to 10th place, my worst placing ever for a 'cross race.

In the final analysis I lost the championship, coming in second. Jay was consistant and rode a great race today so I don't take anything away from his win. Three weeks ago I was pushing 300watts in a winning effort and today I managed only 283watts for the first 3 laps and only 218watts after that.

All in all I was able to win 3 races, come in second once, fifth once, and tenth once. It is avery anti-climatic end to a season where I put everything into to training and doing things right. I came in second overall last year and won 2 races with half the effort put into training and preparation.

Most of the races were very fun and I am looking forward to doing some next year and seeing how my time and home life allows for me to compete. I am now looking forward to doing some group rides, working towards a sub 1 hour 40K TT, the Pittsburgh to DC trip, and doing some single speed mountain bike races.

Clearly, in the seasons where I put pressure on myself to succeed I do the poorest (2004, 2006) and the seasons I relax I do the best (2003, 2005). Maybe following this trend, next year is a year to relax.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bob, I hate to say it, but my experience was the same. The more stress I put on myself the worse I did. Go figure. Dude, you were still 2nd! It's not like you were 10th, celebrate, you should be proud, to me the cross scene got tougher and you still hung in there! Have a good holiday and we'll see you out there next year.