An Acceptable Performance

Got out of bed on a crisp morning, leaving the cat to lie cozily on the still warm, bed. The sheets were still buzzing with body heat and electricity, while I pulled on cold to the touch lycra.

It proved to be my best race so far this year, although speedwise it's the second best performance. Lost touch with the elite guys climbing up Lucas Steyn, and then formed a strong bunch of about 8 that rapidly closed in on the front pack. At halfway (40km) we were a merely 35 seconds from them, a bunch of about 6 riders, and another 20km later we'd picked off two riders, who joined our group.

One rider, on a blue Cannondale, was, to my mind, just not working hard enough. See, we were trying to catch the bunch, so we needed to maintain a fast pace. Whenever it was the blue Cannondales turn, the whole pack slowed down, undoing essentially, a lot of valuable contributions. So I slotted myself in behind him, and then waited behind him, making sure he had a fairly long turn to work, even though he wasn't working hard. Then, selecting a beacon, I'd break. Because he'd just worked and I and the other guys were fresh, the chances were good that we could break him. This happened after my third break, most of the way up a gradual climb.

We whittled down to a bunch of 6, which later broke into two groups of three. I was in the second group, with two black riders. Each of us had a turn putting pressure on the others, the black guys on two uphills (and couldn't get away), and me on the downhill. So it came down to a sprint. I was tucked in nicely behind one of them and then kicked at 250m to go. I stayed ahead, clenching my teeth, until I reached the line. The one behind struggled to stay on my tail, and since I was powered by Zipp, it was a taal order getting around me. He had one Zipp, but it wasn't enough. I'm still on a bit of a high after ending so strong, and dominating a lot of the race.

Cycle: 2:12 (with Zipps)
Distance: 79km
Heart rate: 157 (average) 173 (max)
Calories: 2366 Kcal
Time per kilometre: 1:40 (best is 1:38)
Average speed: 36.6km/h with strong crosswind in both directions.

After the race I coughed a lot in the cold air.