Feeding strategy

Rusper 3rds, Sunday 19th Sept. My last race of a sporadic and spectacularly unsuccessful racing year where I have regularly failed to trouble the finishing judges. I decided the day before to approach it as a workout, try and help any clubmates and definitely not sit around the back of the bunch.

First up was the evening feeding strategy – my pre-birthday celebrations at the bar in The Botanist and then La Poule au Pot consisted of:

Liquids: 1 x Rasberry Collins, 1 x pint Guinness, 2 x glasses St.Emilion, 2 litres tapwater.
Solids: Onion tart, fillet steak with cream/pepper sauce, chips fried in goose fat, spinach in cream, creme brulee.

That’s a quality fuelling strategy - as a result I managed to sleep really well for 6hrs (a pre-race record). I awoke just after a dream that I was late for the start of the race, had left my helmet in the car and was racing back from the start line to get it. But the car was parked at the top of a hill, and the road turned into sand halfway up so pedalling was a bit tricky!

The forecast drizzle failed to materialise on Sunday morning and we were treated to sunny, cool and breezy conditions. Rusper is a pretty nice circuit, with a long draggy climb up to (and past) the finish, a tight lefthander and then a series of long sweeping descents and flats until you reach the draggy hill out of Capel again.

We set off at a steady pace, one Kingston Wheeler going off out front on a solo effort for the first lap. I reckon he was just warming himself up, since he was in a skinsuit with short sleeves and the wind was pretty chilly. Whatever, a lap later he returned to the bunch and a series of attacks started. Robin got into one so Rob and I tried to sit on the front and slow the pace a little, which is tough on a downhill section with the wind behind you! Eventually this break came back too, and as soon as it did Rob decided to jump with a few other useful looking riders. They got a decent gap, no chase went and I took the opportunity to have a mid-race breather in the middle of the pack for 10 minutes or so.

That was it then. The break seemed strong and all we had to do at the front of the bunch was keep the pace high enough to discourage further breaks from the pack, which we managed quite easily, whilst not gaining on the breakaway. I spend a fair amount of time on or near the front hoofing along the usual bumpy, potholed Surrey roads, getting a good workout in the process.

The race was neutralised on the final lap when we hit a traffic jam for a car boot sale! It was quite bizarre waving the breakaway group off with their 2min30 gap and then standing there chatting.

For the remaining lap I tried to stay near the front and keep the pace high until the climb, thus hopefully ensuring a slightly safer finish that avoided all the terrible slowing down, looking, swerving, etc that can happen as everyone prepares to sprint for 7th place. I had no legs left for anything once we hit the climb though, and had to sit up and watch just about the whole bunch come steaming past at the finish. Not a problem for this race, but I really need to work on anaerobic efforts in training a bit more. Not yet though, for my leisure activities now take a distinct swing from cycling to social activities (read: eating and drinking with family and friends). About time!