Not so fast...

Back at the Velodrome, Wednesday night after a week off. We started off with a few warm up laps and then came in. The instructor, Sean asked us to break ourselves into two groups, those that think they are fast and those that are not so fast. Well, I've been feeling pretty good about my speed work lately so I choose the fast groups. 8 of us line up and hit it pretty hard. The group is riding FAST but I'm hanging on. There is some pretty heavy duty slinky action going on as the pace line keeps contracting and expanding. It takes me about 4 laps to figure out that someone in the line ahead of me is accelerating around the corners. We are doing 1/2 lap pulls, which means that we are rotating at every half revolution of the track. My form isn't very good and I keep dropping back into the line too late which makes me have to surge to get back on the line. After about 6 laps, I can't hold on any longer. I'm still tuckered out pretty well from Tuesday's Fiesta 100 rpm spin fest and all the surging I'm doing isn't helping. I pull off and roll in gasping for air with my tail between my legs. Oh well, I guess I'm not as fast as I thought I was.

Next leg is the same but this time I ride with the "not so fast" groups and all is well. 8 laps at a pretty fast speed and the legs are starting to get a bit wobbly.

Next we move to today's game which is a pursuit variation. 8 of us start milling around the track. Two of the eight riders ride to the opposite side of the track. Once everyone is in position, the whistle blows and the group of 6 tries to catch the group of 2. Essentially we are simulating catching a breakaway by two attacking riders. The 6 of us are the peloton that have to hunt them down. The game ends if the breakaway can complete three laps before being caught by the peloton. More sprinting...and I'm about done. I'm dead tired. In the Tour de France it's called being "cracked". It's called "blowing up" at the track.

Last exercise is team sprint. 12 riders line up in rough order of speed and pace line around to complete 12 laps. Each rider gets one lap in the lead before pulling off so this means that the first rider completes only a single lap while the last rider completes the full 12. Mercifully, I take the 3rd position. Duty calls at Lap 3 and I give it all I have, which isn't much. I finally pull off and stagger in, gasping for air feeling like I'm going to puke.

All in all another intense workout. I've been doing a lot of riding lately, including a very difficult day the day before and haven't really been taking the track class too seriously. The velodrome is not a location to trifle with. All in all, very exhausting but very fun. Next week, I'm going to come in a little more rested