A diesel sports car?

There are some days you just dont feel like going out to train...well I have been having one of those days all week. Following my strong showing at this past weekend's races, I was pretty burnt up come Monday. However I knew the best way to get my legs back was to take a few easy days before I took a day off the bike. I have put around 30 easy miles in each day and added a few accelerations every so often just to wake my legs up a bit. Monday I was pretty sluggish and didnt have my normal power on the hills (I guess two days of hard races had taken more out of me than I thought). Yesterday I felt better, but still wasnt mentally focused on training. I put in the time because I knew I had to, but I definitely wasnt "yearning" to ride like I usually am. Following the CMC, I have 6 days off and then race my last road race of the season on Saturday, August 22nd in Granville, OH.

Granville is a rolling circuit race on a new 7 mile course on brand new pavement. Cat 4/5 will be racing 4 laps for a total of 28 miles. I plan on taking a different approach to this race, which could dramatically change my strategy and training for next season. I recently read an article by Bob Roll regarding amateur road races in the US.

If anyone remembers the glory days of the Tour de France when the classic battle was between Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong, you may also remember the announcers referring to Ullrich's "diesel engine". Ullrich was a fantastic bike racer, but was slightly larger than your typical climber/all around contender. However, he had such incredible power that he managed to climb mountains with the best of the peloton (including Armstrong), albeit at a constant speed. Jan was able to push a large gear on mountain passes, propelling him at race pace with other climbers that were spinning on smaller gear ratios, however when attacks came it was more difficult for Jan's slower, more powerful riding style to answer the sudden accelerations (hence the diesel engine reference). In the Jan Ullrich vs. Lance Armstrong saga, Ullrich could be likened to a diesel truck and Armstrong to a sports car. Both had power and could go the distance, but the difference that separated the contender from a champion was the ability to accelerate quicker. In Bob's article he likens the amateur race scene in America to being full of "diesel engines". The pace of the ProAm races are getting increasingly faster as time goes on, but there are more and more races ending in bunch sprints. Bob claims that in order to stand out in this type of environment, racers must train to not just have a diesel engine, but to accelerate as a "sports car" out of the pack. It goes back to the old adage that champions do not follow wheels, they put their faces to the wind and set their own pace.

I have noticed in my own races Bob's observations to be accurate. The pace is sometimes unbelievably fast for amateur races (none of my races have averaged below 20mph and the majority have been over 23mph). Granted this pace effectively separates the contenders from the rest of the peloton as only a handful of riders can maintain that kind of pace for the entire race, however from within the front pack there are relatively few attacks that raise the pace. Attempted breakaways are rare and accelerations are short lived. I have worked up to being able to maintain an intense pace long enough to last through a race, however I wholeheartedly believe I am running on a "diesel engine". My training, while focused at the beginning of the season, has become less and less structured as time went on. I have moved from actual focused workouts, to just going out and riding a specific route as hard as I can. While this keeps things interesting for me, it has not helped train me to accelerate in such a way as to separate myself from my competitors. Ben has even pointed out his shortcoming in this respect as well, as he said when he made the jump to Cat 4 he "languished" in this category for a long time before he managed to accumulate the points needed for another upgrade. He said he was convinced he did not train effectively as he did the same loop at the same intensity all the time when training for his upcoming races.

Thus as I make the jump to Cat 4 races I do not want to make the mistake of thinking I am going to be the fastest guy there. As I move up, its going to become obvious that I will not be able to simply "out ride" the rest of the competition. We will all be similarly matched equipment-wise and fitness-wise, however its the type of fitness that will separate us. I am already devising my training plan for next year as I need to fine tune this diesel engine into a true race machine. In Granville I am going to literally force myself to be the biggest anchor ever. I am going to suck wheels all day long, soft pedal in the pack, and stay back off the front until late in the race. I plan on entering the final laps having not even felt like we raced that day. Then I will move up, and possibly launch a late attack or just sit in and wait for the final sprint for the line, but under no circumstances will I be pulling on the front. This is a large mental obstacle for me as it is completely against everything about my normal riding style. I am used to being front man, taking long pulls, and just generally pounding everyone else until they give in...but I have no first place finishes to show for that tactic. I have done well this season for sure and am by no means complaining. Nor do I assume that Granville will necessarily be my best race of the season (its flat...remember), however it is a good place to test out my "new" race strategy. Its my final required race for a license upgrade and literally the last road race available for this season. Just finishing will be accomplishment enough to move me forward in my goals for advancing.

But who knows, maybe this old diesel engine can muster at least one acceleration for the line. I mean, there are diesel drag cars, right?