It's been a long time since the last post. There has been a lot going on, and honestly, some really low points for me. It's been a real roller coaster the last couple of months, but I'm hoping to have come out the other side for the better. But, for this post I wanted to put down some of my thoughts on the State (Track and TT) Championships for Tennessee.
Most of my season has been derailed after a high speed crash (my front tyre blew out) at the track a couple of weeks ago. Most of the damage was just to equipment and skin, but I did a real number of my hip and hip flexor. After two weeks I can spin again on the bike without much pain, but the damage to my fitness has been done, and I've had to pull out from my hour attempt in Aguascalientes this year. Hopefully I can salvage some of the rest of the year and gain some strength so that when I start planning next year I'll be ahead of my target as opposed to right on/below it. Another season of track craft certainly won't hurt my odds.
But enough whining, on to some reports from the weeks (now I suppose month+) past
Most of my season has been derailed after a high speed crash (my front tyre blew out) at the track a couple of weeks ago. Most of the damage was just to equipment and skin, but I did a real number of my hip and hip flexor. After two weeks I can spin again on the bike without much pain, but the damage to my fitness has been done, and I've had to pull out from my hour attempt in Aguascalientes this year. Hopefully I can salvage some of the rest of the year and gain some strength so that when I start planning next year I'll be ahead of my target as opposed to right on/below it. Another season of track craft certainly won't hurt my odds.
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| Unfortunately the Bodypaint isn't the best at protecting your skin |
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| Ruined a nice pair of socks too :( |
But enough whining, on to some reports from the weeks (now I suppose month+) past
Track State Championship
The astute among you might have noticed some red flags already. The primary one, that Tennessee doesn't have a velodrome. (but we'd like to change that!)
Fortunately, Dick Lane Velodrome was gracious enough to host us during their own state championship, which will bring up the second point... there wasn't a big show of support from the Volunteer state. In fact, my success was guaranteed the moment I lined up... as I was 1 of 1. Participation award - Check.
Nonetheless, I wanted to actually contest some of my division. What I didn't quite realize was that I was about to get thrown into the elite division (as there was no 35-39 Masters group) and that all Cat's would race together. As you might expect, a lowly Cat4 who's done a couple of mass start track races wasn't going to have a snowballs chance in the big league. The omnium structure was cool, although it rained out the scratch on Friday night, we made up for it early Saturday (making Saturday's schedule scratch - kilo - 4k IP - points race)
Overall, it went pretty poorly. In the scratch race things went pretty boringly, and I foolishly took the opportunity to show my stuff off the front. Unfortunately for me, I got strung out for a little bit then shelled off the back where, with the other unfortunates like myself, we formed a little gruppetto and circled the track half a length behind the big leagues. There were no pulls, and slower riders were instructed to stay on the bottom of the track. This turned into a real problem the final lap, as our little group was caught directly in the final turn. There was some yelling, and some rubbing. Fortunately, there were no wrecks, and I scathed through the finish "best of the rest."
The Kilo I fared far worse. It had been a long time since my last stint in aerobars at Dick Lane, but I had forgotten exactly how rough it was. I hit the first turn at speed and very nearly wrecked. The next two laps I had a death grip on my bars and coasted through... almost getting caught (very embarrassing) at the line. Off to a great start!
As the 4k approached, I had a gut check moment. I seriously considered putting my drop bars back on. My ego however told me I'd rather crash than suffer the indignity of doing a pursuit without my aerobars. I lined up with the intention to just go as hard as I felt comfortable with. While the lower speeds made the bumps less of an issue, it didn't help me out any when it came to putting down a fast time. I finished 4th in the Elites... and took a fair amount of pride in that considering I did it at a well below max effort.
Finally was the points race. Unfortunately it was quite a bit of a letdown, as I had broken a cleat at some point that evening, and after a couple of laps with heavy clicking and an odd feeling in my foot, I decided to not chance it and DNF'd. It also saved me the humiliation of getting shelled again, so that's a victory, right?
All in all, a great learning experience, but not what I'd hoped to bring out of it. Of course, one of my goals for the year was to finally lay hands on a State championship jersey... and I suppose technically I accomplished that in the lamest way possible.
TN State TT
The State TT has been something I've wanted to win for years now. Something most of my friends have won on their way to better things. I was seriously hoping to improve my placing from 2017 (2nd) and felt that I had been putting in the work to get it done. Specific training I hadn't been doing (there is a lot of climbing on the front half of this 40k for a TT) and gaining weight for track wasn't going to be a big help in that respect, but I still felt I was in the running.
About 1k into the race I came upon a divet in the road/bridge connection and hit it full speed. It jarred me hard enough that my TULA bars slipped backwards (and up) a bit. It was slightly less comfortable than what I had set up to begin with, but higher hands should be a positive, right? Derek and myself had came up with a strategy and power targets for me to hit on each section... a plan I executed perfectly! I came in the last kilometer full gas, and nearly wrecked as I crossed the line. It was a race I went very deep in. I felt like I had left it all out there and had a great race.
Unfortunately, not great comparatively. I went slower than I did the year before (on 20+ more watts) and was not even on the podium (4th) at the end of the day.
For sure, it was a blow to my confidence, in everything. One of the problems with only having a few specific targets over the year is that when doesn't go "to your expectations" then you have a big letdown. But, upon review and a non-emotional look at the event, I can't be anything except happy with my performance.
It was only a couple of weeks later I took my spill at Rock Hill. Here we are a month from that point and finally I don't have pain in my hip. (Although sitting extended periods does make it sore/stiff still) I'm melancholy about how it has turned out and what it means for my hour attempt. I wish things had turned out differently, but it's a fools errand to focus on what could have been, instead it's back to working towards something. Fortunately I happen to enjoy the journey, so on to bigger and better things!
Until next time, thanks so much for checking in on me. Hopefully it won't be as long of a break between posts :)
- Christopher Morelock
Overall, it went pretty poorly. In the scratch race things went pretty boringly, and I foolishly took the opportunity to show my stuff off the front. Unfortunately for me, I got strung out for a little bit then shelled off the back where, with the other unfortunates like myself, we formed a little gruppetto and circled the track half a length behind the big leagues. There were no pulls, and slower riders were instructed to stay on the bottom of the track. This turned into a real problem the final lap, as our little group was caught directly in the final turn. There was some yelling, and some rubbing. Fortunately, there were no wrecks, and I scathed through the finish "best of the rest."
The Kilo I fared far worse. It had been a long time since my last stint in aerobars at Dick Lane, but I had forgotten exactly how rough it was. I hit the first turn at speed and very nearly wrecked. The next two laps I had a death grip on my bars and coasted through... almost getting caught (very embarrassing) at the line. Off to a great start!
As the 4k approached, I had a gut check moment. I seriously considered putting my drop bars back on. My ego however told me I'd rather crash than suffer the indignity of doing a pursuit without my aerobars. I lined up with the intention to just go as hard as I felt comfortable with. While the lower speeds made the bumps less of an issue, it didn't help me out any when it came to putting down a fast time. I finished 4th in the Elites... and took a fair amount of pride in that considering I did it at a well below max effort.
Finally was the points race. Unfortunately it was quite a bit of a letdown, as I had broken a cleat at some point that evening, and after a couple of laps with heavy clicking and an odd feeling in my foot, I decided to not chance it and DNF'd. It also saved me the humiliation of getting shelled again, so that's a victory, right?
All in all, a great learning experience, but not what I'd hoped to bring out of it. Of course, one of my goals for the year was to finally lay hands on a State championship jersey... and I suppose technically I accomplished that in the lamest way possible.
TN State TT
The State TT has been something I've wanted to win for years now. Something most of my friends have won on their way to better things. I was seriously hoping to improve my placing from 2017 (2nd) and felt that I had been putting in the work to get it done. Specific training I hadn't been doing (there is a lot of climbing on the front half of this 40k for a TT) and gaining weight for track wasn't going to be a big help in that respect, but I still felt I was in the running.
About 1k into the race I came upon a divet in the road/bridge connection and hit it full speed. It jarred me hard enough that my TULA bars slipped backwards (and up) a bit. It was slightly less comfortable than what I had set up to begin with, but higher hands should be a positive, right? Derek and myself had came up with a strategy and power targets for me to hit on each section... a plan I executed perfectly! I came in the last kilometer full gas, and nearly wrecked as I crossed the line. It was a race I went very deep in. I felt like I had left it all out there and had a great race.
Unfortunately, not great comparatively. I went slower than I did the year before (on 20+ more watts) and was not even on the podium (4th) at the end of the day.
For sure, it was a blow to my confidence, in everything. One of the problems with only having a few specific targets over the year is that when doesn't go "to your expectations" then you have a big letdown. But, upon review and a non-emotional look at the event, I can't be anything except happy with my performance.
It was only a couple of weeks later I took my spill at Rock Hill. Here we are a month from that point and finally I don't have pain in my hip. (Although sitting extended periods does make it sore/stiff still) I'm melancholy about how it has turned out and what it means for my hour attempt. I wish things had turned out differently, but it's a fools errand to focus on what could have been, instead it's back to working towards something. Fortunately I happen to enjoy the journey, so on to bigger and better things!
Until next time, thanks so much for checking in on me. Hopefully it won't be as long of a break between posts :)
- Christopher Morelock
