Another QOM

 I got a new Q on New York. I was racing against a time of 10:19. The reason I was so persistent is that the record was a 300 watt bot. 300 watts from start to finish, even the downhill with a hr of only 100. I found one of their other rides of 1:40 at 1000 watts, followed by 22 minutes at 360 watts. Hmmm. Obviously a faker. Time for her to go down. I ran a practice effort but I was a bit slow from the start line to the climb. But I was right on the cusp. I can recover a bit on the downhill and be able to sprint the last 30 seconds.

Coffee high and away I went. It was much harder on the climb having gone so fast for the first three minutes. But I held on, chasing my holo and finishing just a tenth of a second behind on the climb. I knew I was close, maybe even ahead, sprinting to the finish. I rushed to Strava and there it was, an even ten minutes. Yes. I was pretty tired out but happy. 

I have my eyes set on a few more possibilities, coming soon.

I had three attempts on Richmond. In the first attempt, I was behind at the climbs but caught up on the flat section. I lost too much time on the last climb despite finishing well. I knew I had to go a bit faster on the flat section and harder on that last climb. On a second effort, I went too slow in the beginning but had a great finish. Now, if I could just do the hard start and the hard finish. (Why didn't I think of that before?) Somehow, my holo didn't start. (When it does start, it is late. I guess it starts at the pen rather than the banner?) 

I went for the reverse climbs route because the record was 12:32, The forward was an unrealistic 11:55. I have a 12:38 on the forward, and that was without the New Cadex frame with a disc wheel. I thought 12:30 was possible in a time trial, if I could average close to 300 watts. I made sure I was going hard on the start, just not so hard that I was spent. I had to stay under 400 watts. (It's only like a minute and I'm dying. Hard to believe some of the men can do 400 watts for an hour.) I was about even with my hard start, maybe 2 or 3 seconds up and I needed 13 seconds better. I felt I could get those seconds if I stayed strong on those flats, at least 20 or 30 watts more than before. I was panicking as I put my head down and tried to hold 300 for the entire hill which is over two minutes. I imagined the finish line at the top of the hill. In reality, it is maybe a minute to the finish. I was now in the big gear and barely able to lift my watts. I did a few power bursts and barely made it to the line. I felt I was just a second or two slower than planned. In the record ride, Liz got up to 60 kph in a pack sprint finish. I got up to 50 and tried to hold it there. I hit 52 but averaged the 50 we said I needed.

What was the result? 12:31....one second faster. On Strava it shows I was up by four seconds at the top of the hill and lost 3 seconds on the run to the line. I guess I was slower than usual because I went so hard for over 11 minutes. I had confidence from my New York effort but this was 2 minutes longer. 

Now I am really ready for the Academy! I need to tune up my short sprint. It has been a few months while I focused on these longer efforts. Hopefully my base is strong and I won't over train in the next few weeks.

What is planned? Sprint work, FTP effort, and a longer route on Innsbruck ( rumored to be this year's start/finish ride )

Edit (September 2023)

So, the Academy is only starting in November. But, that's okay because I had a few days off the bike sick. I'm still in good form but I will need a lot of work to catch back up. I've ridden the Innsbruck UCI reverse a few times and today chalked up a new record on the course. I went hard on the start but flailed a bit on the climb. I just couldn't get the watts up where they should be. I know I should be able to run the mountain in about 20 minutes. I think I once broke 19 minutes. Still, with a fairly good downhill and run to the finish, I managed to be ahead at the finish. I honestly couldn't remember the time I needed to beat. This course is rarely raced and few people will choose this for a time trial. I think the race course is not included either because you don't cross the start line when exiting the pens. So, this one may stick for a little while. On a better day, I can shave off at least a minute. 

All total, I now have two in Watopia, two in London, one in Richmond, one in New York, One in Scotland, and now one in Innsbruck. Eight in total! I've looked at France, Yorkshire, and Makuri. I haven't found any that look achievable. There's a lot of inhuman records. I would really like one in Yorkshire. An expansion for France would be nice. I think I should just be satisfied with what I have. Several of them will stand for a long time, I hope.