Brookwood Chruch, My 1st CAT3 race

Wow. I wish I could say that I had a great race and that I won it or even finished in the top 10, but I can't. I was off the back 15 minutes into it. On the bright side, my wife said, "If someone had to to it, it might as well be you." Thanks honey.

I knew the field would be strong, but I didn't realize it would be by that much. Basically, it turned out to be a 1 minute effort (uphill) followed by 27-37 seconds of rest (downhill) into the wind. Each of the 1 minute efforts sent me SCREAMING over my ftp. The lowest avg. Was 287 (only once), the highest was 397w. With my FTP being around 270 right now, it was only a matter of time before I was launched off the back. I gave everything I had and even tried to jump back in...the second time I was lapped. After 29minutes of riding solo, I decided I needed to try to save a little bit for tomorrow at the BMW center.

My shoot the moon goal for next year still stands though. It may be unrealistic, but I damn sure am going to try. I've had some other setbacks that I haven't written about here that caused me to take almost a month off of the bike so I know I'm not in form (and that's also why the FTP is a down).

I'm going to take what I've found today and tomorrow and work with my coach to build a plan that will get me there in the best shape possible. With a solid plan, consistent training and hard work, my physiology may still not allow me to reach that goal. I'm still going to do everything I can to get there.

Stay tuned for BMW results. Then I'll post my winter & next season goals.