Has he turned?

Nah, my legs are still hairy ;). But I must admit I'm really starting to enjoy the close racing, being pushed to the limit, and being able to work at the front. Mountain bike racing I seem to get in my own world, where I have found I have to step it up in the road races and leave nothing in the bank. So far racing this year I have done:
1 scum XC race
1 CORC crit
1 road race
2 super crits
and 7 road crits.


And Tuesday it was about time we had a break away :). Here is the Bleat from Tuesdays crits:

C grade consisted of 13 riders.  On the second lap Steve Duffy made a successful break away and after a couple of laps he was joined by James Balogh then a lap later Kevin Wells joined the party.  Soon you could hear reminder messages, in fact shouts, from within the trailing pack to work together, take turns, etc to close the gap to the escapees, but the distance was maintained.  About 15 minutes into the race, Hagen Ganhal and Bryan Holloway attempted to charge across to the leaders, but soon returned to the pack.  The leaders maintained their gap and in the sprint to the finish, Steve Duffy beat Kevin Wells followed by James Balogh.

There is something very satisfying about escaping from the pack and working in a small group till the end. It is great to ride with riders at a simialer level. It seems in MTB racing there are always the riders that don't back themselves or just ride in a lower grade for the win, plus there is more of a lean towards age groups now because of this. Road racing is different show too much form and you get moved up (alot easier to do in a club where racing is every week), this makes a good playing field where anyone could win depending on where they excel and the day. I suck at sprinting so I'm always looking for that break away that will work to give me that better chance. I could also ride in B's, but to be honest I'm enjoying the competition and the close finishes, with a few top 3's I like to see what works and what does not. I like learning my limit's and how far I can push before I go bang. I like it, if I do have a bad day, I can still hang off the back. B's might be after the winter break.

I've noticed a new max HR that I have ever logged of 188 (previously 184). It has taken a few months to adapt to this different style of riding and it is great to feel and see the results. It has increased my FTP (functional threshold power) from where it had sat for quite some time, I'll just hope that by Easter Nationals I would have got some of that base back in the legs to go the distance. It is the first time I have done this type of training leading into a 24 solo so it will be interesting to see how I go. I have been wanting to work on a different aspect of my riding after worlds and I feel I am doing that really well.
Tomorrow I have another road race, where it seems from the last race the top 3 grades are all very similair in pace (comparing mine with A, and B grade times). So I'm expecting another tough one, I'm not expecting to be up there but see what happens. I originally was keen to enter the Rocky trail cruise, but I've started to be picky with the racing with the expense of off-road. All my main goals are the same, just more racing for the forced higher repeated effort, and I have been feeling it.