AM: ~2 hours 12'. Cow Pie Classic 34 Miler in 1:45:07 (19.8 MPH, 254W, HR 165)
I did the long haul version of this race last year and it was an epic disaster. I wanted some redemption, but decided in the last day or two before the race to do the shorter version as I had some teammates doing it. I wanted to be close to 21MPH especially after doing that pretty much solo the other week, but there are some "farm sections" to the race and it slows thign down considerably (one segment is across a field that is super rough from cow hoof prints). I ended up having a decent race even if it wasn't quite what I wanted.
Lost contact with the lead group pretty early as my legs felt like concrete and just wouldn't fire. Managed to get into a group and worked to start catching people and building the group. I took long pulls trying to establish the pace I wanted and tried to encourage the group. I wanted to move faster and got inpatient a few times, which might have been against etiquette. I couldn't really just drive in my pace as you really do need to work with people in a race, unlike a running race where if the pace is too slow, you just go. I started to feel pretty strong, particularly in the second half. A few others did well to take the lead/pulling etc.
The farm sections were "fun." You could tell the mountain bikers as the bombed the farm trails. I was content to rip their legs off on the wide open dirt roads (more my domain). I ended up at the back of the group going into the finish and didn't really sprint but could have and probably should have just for effort sake though sprinting for 40-50th place sometimes seems dumb.
Takeaways:
1. Need to get to races earlier to ensure proper warmup time (problem lately for bike and running races)
2. Line up as close to the starting line as possible, especially when teammates are there
3. The first few minutes are a littler hot but settle down, so the early hurt levels off
The race left me ready to do some more races. My running race last weekend did not leave me ready for another race. I will have to think that through.
I had a burger and fries at a very homestyle diner in Ionia, Michigan that was pretty decent.
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