Bike Race Rehearsal Ride

BIKE: 65.1 miles in 3:38, ave 17.9mph

OOOOOOHHH YEAH! This is what a group ride should be! Invite all your fast friends, challenge them to Drop you (with a capitol D, like G used), and hoowee hang on!

This is my last big ride before Route 66, and probably my last fast ride of the year too. TB, DC, G, BE, and new to my group DF (another IMLP racer) joined in for my favorite Freeburg route (cue the Freeeeeeeebbbuuuuurrrrgggggg guitar riff).

As always, there's the fear that once you put the challenge out about dropping people that the tables will turn and YOU are the one being dropped. I'm OK with that, and not just because I'm the map maven. I love the challenge, and situations like that are about the only time I can really simulate that race anxiety feeling that is so elusive in training.

The first miles were a bit of a warmup on the flats (where we picked up an IMAZ training rider) before the hill on IMBS. My flats speed has come back to me, my hills strength not so much. Seems like I'm gearing down too far and breathing too much. Stuff like that takes time, but I gotta wonder what happens next year when I come back to biking, will I find a plateau of hill ability or a further decrease in it?

The next miles were all push-push. I had moments of YAHOO let's go and moments of UGH I can't keep up. They alternated, and not just with hills-haha but thanks for thinking that.

My nutrition was great, my hydration great, maybe the only change for race day is to stick to liquid nutrition since I don't have much practice opening gels on the bike this year.