SpeedPacer: Markham Pre-Race Thoughts

I decided that after riding at Markham on Wed and Thursday, that I really don't have XC Race power. On Wednesday one of the laps turned into race pace, and I was not able to hold on in the last 5 mins and got dropped by about 10 seconds. I went out on Thursday and hooked up with Andres and Jorge and was only able to ride about 35 second faster which put me right under 33 and a half minutes. Where I'm really shining at is in the distance of my rides. I'm able to ride a much longer distance while able to hold my pace.

So the fact that the race is 5 laps is in my favor to post a decent result. I really let go of the XC aspiration on Thursday and honestly decided to turn the race into a really hard training ride. In fact my plan is to ride another 3 laps after the race is over, then ride up and down the levy to see if I can get my total for the day to around 50-60miles. If I can do that then I'll be ready for Santos. I won't force the XC speed, I will have to let it come to me whenever it checks in.

On Saturday I went to work for about 2 hrs, then went home and loaded up my stuff. I decided to ride over to Markham since it was only 5 miles from my house. Since I had really good endurance I decided to do 4 laps, then ride back home. I got there and did the first lap with a rider from Z's Bikes. The way Dave Williams set up the course was another "Knock Out", and noone saw it coming. We go around the warm-up loop then cut into a fireroad that goes straight to Bermuda triangle. Out of there you skip Ted's, Jet Ski, and Crime Scene, then a quick in and out of Outback Extension. Straight to the Gun Range. Out of the Gun Range we go into Outback backwards and that section was challenging. We continue going backwards until we get to Area 51, then we cut over to Armadillo. Then it's 95% of Armadillo backwards, then cut over to toilet bowl. From toilet bowl we cut into Alligator Alley, then we take that all the way back out, make a sharp left turn and cut into last section. Then we do the warm-up loop backwards. It was a nice pace, but only a 30min lap. The course is flat on the front end, jagged in the middle at the gun range, even more jagged and challenging once you do Outback and Armadillo backwards, not to mention the up and down of Alligator Alley. Then thing calms down going into the warm-up loop.

I went back in and did 2 laps back to see if I could get a mode. I did a 27 and 28 minute lap, and got a good feel for where I should put in my efforts and where I should hold back. To make sure I had no XC dreams, I put in one more lap for good measure making it 4 for the day. After that, I rode home to cool down the legs. Here is the chart.

My Goals for the race
1. No cramping up (Hydrate, Hydrate)
2. Really come on very strong for laps 4 and 5 (Hold back early)
3. Let the front 2 riders go as they are in a battle (They are just too fast)
4. Ride more miles after the race (Need to prepare for Santos 6 or 12hr)

I prepared my hydration intake for the race after dinner. I'm going to ride with 24oz bottles on the bike, and 20oz in the back of the jersey. I'm going to eat a salad for breakfast since is more alkalizing than my normal meal at Panera Bread, or Waffle house.

Here is the 6 water bottles I plan to drink in 5 laps.