Kings Valley didn't go so hot. It was a pretty easy ride around for 50some miles where I actually had the discipline to sit in for once, but on the finishing hill I didn't particularly have any pop. I looked at my power file afterwards - and basically it was a long medium paced training ride with no more than 2-3 minutes at a time going over threshold, and that only a few times. I came it to it with a TSB of 0 so maybe that teaches me a lesson. I'm starting Walla Walla next week with about +12, so we will see what the legs do.
It looks like maybe the weather will hold, too, so that would be good. I think the TT is basically like the back side of Lorane, maybe even shallower, around 1.5%, up and back. Ideal. We will see.
Sunday I got up ass-eary to watch Stuey win the real Roubaix, and was so damned tired that for once I bagged the heavy training ride and took off on my 'cross bike to scope out Cantrell. Freshly graveled, I popped a pinch flat on my second pass. I had about 100lbs of pressure in a 25mm, so I'll up that about 10lbs and ride it again and see what happens. With the way rain and traffic pushes the gravel off it should be in pretty ideal (read, tough but safe) condition in 2 weeks for the Eugene Roubaix. I'm stoked. I took the hill in my big ring (50t) no problems, tho it's a steep beggar near the top. That'll break things up pretty good. The race finishes on the false flat right after the gravel section, tho this one wont be either a real sprint or a mass gallop up some silly hill. It'll be people trickling in onesies and twosies. This might be one race that plays to my strengths, for once.
Fingers crossed. Hope the weather holds.
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KV was stinky. I was sick and spent the whole day at the back of the field to avoid covering the riders behind me in snot, flem and the various other liquids that came out of my head in excessive quantities. I'm sure the follow car got tired of staring at my ass.
About Eugene Roubaix. How is the descent off of the Cantrell Rd hill down to Oak Hill Rd? Google Earth says it's about a 12% downgrade for 200 meters into a 90 degree right turn. Sounds like it might be sketchy for the first few laps when the group might still be fairly big?
Good luck at WW - be wary of the inevitable day 1 crash.
The decent is actually a left turn down Oak Hill, it's a 90 degree but not nearly as hard as the right turn. Then it hits one very short roller, decends and turns right again, and straight to Crow Road.
With 100 guys it would be tight. But it will be single file and small groups up and down that hill, so it should be quite fine. That part of the course is worth a pre-ride, tho. I'll post some pictures this week.
Racing sick sucks monkey butt. Aches on top of pain.
I've never raced WW - whats the RR course like?
That'll be awesome if you can get some Roubaix photos.
I don't know anything about the new Kellog RR at WW. That's the new stage that doesn't count for the stage race in the cat 3 field. It looks like the stage 2 RR is the same as in the past. I rode WW in '05 when the stage was rained out in a T-Storm. There are some narrow roads and enough hills to get the group to break up a bit. The terrain is a lot like the 1st stage of Elkhorn with shorter climbs but more of them.
There's nothing about the course that makes me think there'll be a crash - it's just the first big stage race of the year - it goes without saying.
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