EVENT
Knights Ferry RR

CATEGORY
35+ 3

DATE
Saturday, February 7, 2015

AUTHOR(s)
Luiggi Zuniga & Chris Hobbs (Donkey)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
13.5 mile out and back course (27 miles loop raced twice +)

WEATHER
65avg cloudy/windy in couple sections

GOALS
Team Mike’s Bikes on the Podium

PLAN
Control the race with Chris going hard on the last finish climb, then Luiggi going all out to the finish line

RACE SUMMARY

We decided to warm up by sitting in the van. With about 10 minutes to go until the start, the heavens cleared, angels sang, the rain stopped and about 30 riders took the start of the 35+ 3 group.

Nothing much happened on the first half lap. The wind was blowing up the course, with mostly a tailwind for the finish leg, but a couple of sections of crosswind. After the first turnaround, we slogged slowly into the headwind.

After 24 miles, the attacks out of the peloton got started and Chris bridged to a promising move but it eventually got pulled back due to the increasing winds.  Every time Luiggi was facing the wind, Chris--a consummate teammate--would come around to provide shelter, especially during the crosswind sections.  Everything was going according to the plan until the last lap when the headwind leg got absurdly slow as the wind picked up. A BRE rider took off alone and was allowed to dangle for a few miles, until he started to pull away. Sierra Nevada had somehow lost 2 riders and was not mounting an effective chase. Near the final southern turn, a Spokesmen rider took off after him. Approaching the turn, a VSRT rider jumped who Luiggi had been marking attacked and Luiggi went along with 2 other riders.

Three of the four riders worked hard to bridge to the two escapees, with one BRE racer opting not to work because his teammate was up the road. The pace of the bridge effort was so intense that the VSRT rider was dropped, and the Sierra Nevada rider soon after.  Luiggi was pulling closer and closer and was finally able to catch the solo BRE racer and then drop him, but his teammate got a free ride up to this point, with only the Spokesman racer up the road. At the bottom of the finishing hill, Luiggi could see the Spokesmen rider getting closer, but not close enough with Spokesmen taking the win. The tagalong BRE racer jumped to outsprint Luiggi for second place, with Luiggi filling out the podium.  Back in the pack, Chris attacked the peloton repeatedly and picked off some remnants of the break for 6th place.

It was a good race after all, nobody crashed, we worked hard and our mission was accomplished.  Within a minute of getting back in the van, the rain started again.

NUMBERS (Luiggi)

Distance:  58.8mi
Time: 2:36:41
Elevation Gain: 3,544 ft
Avg Speed: 22.5 mph
Max Speed: 40.9 mph
Avg HR: my HR monitor died
Max HR:
Avg Power: 177W
Weighted Avg Power: 208W
Max Power: 1,028W
TSS: 175.3
https://www.strava.com/activities/251829365/overview