photo by Jo Mills
Sunday, last day of a recovery week. I raced a criterium with the West Coast Masters. Bridged to a break, setting the fastest lap of the race. The winner who was definitely a grade or two better than rest of us rode away after I finished pulling a turn. I rode strongly, setting season best power from 12 minutes to over a hour (not bad for a 40 minute + 2 lap crit). We stayed away and I took out the three up sprint for second.
Wednesday was the Club Team Time Trial, I tried to ride it at the same level I rode the crit but just could not hold anywhere near that power. I blamed the heat and the climb, not concerned that my HRV had dipped according to my Garmin. We finished 7th out of 7 teams in the 150 category.
Thursday morning, woke up when my foot was bitten by a spider, it was swollen and itchy. That was taken care of with topical cream, but I made the mistake of swapping out the shoes I had been riding and racing in, for another pair that I could manage the pressure on the bite.
Friday was Club Team Criterium Championship. As usual I had trouble clipping in and was one of the last away, then my right foot became unclipped twice on the first lap as I struggled to hold the wheel of riders I normally race with. In the end could not even hold the power I did on Wednesday and my right foot kept unclipping. Fortunately, my team finish 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 11th so the did not need the points from my 14th to claim the National Title in the MAS7+ category. While my performance was poor, it was definitely a buzz to race on the circuit with a decent crowd and a few friends calling out “Go Nick” I will be back next year.
I took the train home, to drop the bike off, get changed and return to watch the elites race. Unfortunately I felt terrible and end up watching the live stream instead. I then spent the next three days doing absolutely nothing with a terrible head cold (probably explains the low HRV earlier in the week). Looks like the rest of this week is going to be a recovery week.