Did you actually have at least 3 max or near max efforts between 3 minutes and 20-30 minutes? Say 3 minutes, 8 minutes, 12 minutes, and 20 minutes? Or just training indoors doing interval work?
I did in February. I purposely did various max efforts to really feed the models… Leading up to the race it was a few outdoors rides, but not max efforts. I knew the CP model would struggle to model my FTP given that.
I’m just amazed that A) TR AIFTP got it right, B) my FTP hasn’t gone down the drain. I only had a total of 305 TSS across the 4 weeks before the race.
That’s how I felt too. I think the temperatures and road conditions were just perfect. Plus you are never alone on that ride. There is always someone to chase or chasing
I would suggest you try your next race without much computer data, it can really get in your head. Most races I only have the mph, and distance showing.
If you were doing a longer race, power data might be worth showing but for a crit or something under 50 miles, I’d try it without.
When trained, I have a fairly high anaerobic capacity relative to my FTP. My higher power zones are at a higher %FTP than the classic Coggan zones.
So I have a hard time feeling when I’m over doing it, especially early in a ride/race. I was trying to use power as a sense check. Regardless my over riding governor was RPE, which I have been trying to get attuned to.
I feel like I raced about as good as possible given my fitness level.
I’m signed up for a low-key 56-mile gravel “race” tomorrow in south central MN and the forecast is <50 F, 14mph wind, and 70-80% chance of rain. Anyone have any tips on dressing for those conditions? The race is probably at least 3 hours long, potentially longer in bad conditions, so hypothermia seems like a definite concern.
I have not ruled out bailing on the race.
Lake Bluff is a big race in the series….pretty tight, technical course. Narrow corners and off-camber turns give you a good pucker sometimes.
Mundelein is also a good course and worth doing.
(Both of these are local to me, so I am biased 
)
Anyone doing Black Fork this weekend? I should be able to improve my time from last year as long as I can hold off the back pain as long as possible.
Race report from the Granny’s Gravel Grinder out of Princeton, MN this last weekend:
It rained overnight and was raining right up until the 10 AM start of the 54 mile race. The course was mostly typical MN farmland gravel roads, pancake flat, with a few stretches of pavement and some state highway crossings, going mostly north for the first half and south for the second half. There was a slight wind out of the NE and temps were upper 40s at the start.
The first 5-10 miles were a grind in a very literal sense. With the overnight rain, the course was very wet and drivetrains and brakes were very grindy and loud. The race largely stayed together for this section, owing to the headwind and the difficult conditions. At some point, I went to the front to try and ride my own lines more efficiently and I put in a dig on a small downhill. I looked back after the next right turn and there was a front group of 8 that had formed with me. We hit pavement shortly after and started rotating to maintain the gap, albeit in a somewhat surging, inefficient manner.
This group stayed together for the next 12 miles or so until we hit a section of forest road which was very soft. Riding my own pace, I again found myself in front and again I attacked to push the pace. This section lasted for about 2 miles and the group was whittled down to 5 at the end of it.
The 5 of us rolled together for the next 15 miles. I put in one dig at the start of a pavement section, but in hindsight, the speed was too high for it really to stick. The placement of the highway crossings on route also meant that attacks needed to be planned with the crossings in mind, since having to wait for traffic could easily wipe away any gap gained. I tried attacking again as we transitioned from pavement to gravel, but again the speeds were too high and no gap was gained.
We essentially soft-pedaled for the next 6 miles. On another very soft section around mile 41, I found myself in front so I attacked AGAIN and this time I got a 15-20 second gap. The course here had 90 degree turns every 1-2 miles, so I didn’t ever get out of sight. We did manage to drop 2 riders, though, so I was chased by just 2 others until mile 49 when I was finally caught. From there, it was more soft-pedaling because no one else wanted to lead. There were 1 or 2 attacks but no one got more than a few bike lengths before we regrouped.
We came into the last 1.5 miles and on the final hill, I made my last ditch effort. The stronger of the two other riders outweighed me by probably 75 pounds, so I figured the hill was my best chance. I got a 5-10 second gap on the short uphill and stayed on the gas over the top and down. The last half mile was in a literal farm field, so it was extremely bumpy and unpleasant, like racing cross with 10psi too much in your tires. Fortunately for me, the field made it very difficult to close gaps and I crossed the line first at just under 3 hours!
Owing to the long easy sections, my normalized and average powers were relatively low, only 84% and 75% of FTP. IF for the race was 0.84, and average and max HRs were 80% and 93% of max. I consumed about 110g carbs per hour which worked great as I didn’t cramp at all and I was still able to spike over 900w for 15s twice during the final few miles.
Overall, a solid training race with a very unexpected result at the end. Now I just need to repeat this all on Saturday for the 60 mile Hungry Bear race, which will be a larger field, tougher terrain, and likely more much competitive. I’m just hoping for less rain leading up to it, as I’m STILL trying to get my Force AXS levers to return normally.
Congrats!
Who all is going to Le Grand du Nord this weekend? Looking to be another wet one…
Congrats on the win here! Great report and incredible result … there is nothing like crossing the line first 
There is nothing northeast about Ohio. Lol.
The 4 most western states in that image are definitely NOT the Midwest. 
Well they definitely aren’t mountain west. Like I said, I don’t really consider ‘great plains’ as a region🤣
Not much Midwest about it either🤣
the problem with Great Plains is that it doesn’t follow state borders. Take Colorado for instance, the easter half is ‘Great Plains’ while the western half is mountain west. It’s almost like there is a ‘core’ midwest, and a second tier.