But I'm not so sure I do.
As I mentioned a few months ago, I am racing the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont over Labor Day weekend. It is a four-day stage race, with a day 1 prologue/TT, a day 2 circuit race where we do the circuit 2.5 times, a day 3 road race, and a day 4 crit in downtown Burlington. (Links are to mapmyride.com profiles of the courses. Click on "show elevation" to see the elevation profiles, especially on stage 3.)
In years past, the prologue has been a mass start race up to the top of Appalachian Gap, climbing 1730 feet, and 1267 in the last 2.7 miles at a 10% average grade. They ditched that course this year, though, and instead are including a more conventional 5.7 mile individual time trial. It has some climbing, but nothing like the previous years.
At my size, I should be happy about this change. But, honestly, I was really looking forward to the uphill prologue. Not that I won't have a chance to do this climb from the other side two days later when the stage finishes at the top of the mountain.
Now I just have to decide whether to do the Cat 3 or 30+ race.
4 comments:
i've been wanting to do this race for a while. I did the Killington race a couple of times before it folded and was replaced by this one on the calendar.
Personally I like the idea of a TT better than a mass-start hill climb. If they do the race as an omnium (points) rather than on time, then just go easy as there will surely be some hill climbing monsters.
Cat 3 vs. 30+ ... the latter will probably be as fast but the field will likely be a more manageable size. And the distances probably a bit less. 100 cat 3s would scare me.
It's going to be scored on time this year, which is a change from years past.
And yes, 100 Cat 3's scare me. A lot. Past results show that the winning times are pretty similar in the Cat 3 and 30+ races, but the time gaps between the top 10 in the stages are greater in the 30 plus race.
There will probably be some really good 30+ guys, but the very best ones would be doing the p/1/2.
There is something to be said for racing in a field with 100 guys. So even if you go that route there are some benefits, scary though it may be.
I'd do some back-to-back-to-back hard days in the next few weeks so your legs get used to that feeling (you know, when you feel like crap but have to ride hard anyway)
Yea, I'm really going back and forth on which race to do. Registration fees increase after mid-August, so I need to decide by then.
I have been doing some hard consecutive days on the bike, and it ain't pretty!!
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