Sat Aug 4th Road Race

40 mi, State Road Race Champhionship. At least 75 started the Cat 4's. Hot, humid, sucky. Had a decent warm up, but with a trainer ride Fri, I just didn't have it. There were 2 good climbs (second was way tougher then the second). I got gapped on the first climb (tried to ride within myself) and bombed the descent to catch back on. I pulled one teammate with me, so worth it. Second big climb I started at the back of the field and it was over for me. Lost momentum and I mulled my way up it. So for the next 30miles, I was with various small groups or by myself. I started with a group of 7 eventually after the big climb, then they kept punching it at 27+, and my hamstring was hurting. So I got dropped and was spent. Needed a bit of recovery time. Ended up with a group of 2 others for a bit. One guy was really strong on the flats (raced with him before) and the other guy was better on hills (and he crashed earlier and caught us). One last longish grade and we were each riding solo. I was alone for a good 7 mi. Rode at LT and kept the guy in front of me in sight. With 2 miles left a group of the guys that were way dropped caught me. Worked good enough and I kept 3rd wheel. Attacks came on the descents, so I didn't have to work. Had 2 teammates in the bunch, which was fun. We were flying down the finishing 1/2 mi and had to slow up because in our race there had been a bad crash and an ambulance was blocking the road. We rode by somewhat slow and sprinted to the line. I beat them all. Not bad for riding solo for 15 miles. Probably sprinted for 60th place. Didn't expect much and didn't get much out of it but some training. Actually would have preferred to do a tri today. Raced 40.7 mi, 21.4mph, 1:54. Avg HR 166, max 191. Lower back hurt for a long time. Made riding not fun. Core is weak, still.

Rode 7miles afterwards for a total of 54 miles for the day.

Hotter then heck tomorrow and the crit is at 10:15. Decided that I'll do my long run early in the morning, rather then in the later afternoon when it is still 90+ degrees. So I'll run long and go to the crit and get dropped, lapped, and pulled with respect. I need to get in 2 more race days for my team commitments and have few options left in town. Good thing is I'll be done training and racing by 11am and can rest all afternoon rather then run in the evening. I have to drive 5+ hrs Monday and a couple more hrs Tues morning, so rest will be good. Looking forward to a rest week. I'm worn out.