RojoRacing
Donut Powered Wise-guy
Quick draft before my cookies burn in the oven
So first off this was done on my Trek Domane and not the V20 like 2 years ago when I pulled Marko Balor almost the whole race to a new course record. The course record still stands at like 8:40 for an average speed of like 22mph which is pretty fast for a flat course with 8000' of climbing. My goal back then was to avg over 200 watts and I said as much at the start so everyone just sat on my wheel till Marko was the only one left and I finished with 208 watts and new PR for me. This year the goal was to take the DF bike so I could work in the paceline and see if I could get several of us under the V20's course record.
Unfortunately I was slow to get to the start line because I'm always late to everything in life besides work so I had no time to share my intent with the much larger group then 2 years ago. The fast riders all start together at 7am with slower rider starting at like 5 and 6am but two years ago I swore there was only like 10 of us and now there were over 30. Everyone got going as I stood there struggling to get my gloves on and the event director prodding me to get the hell out of there as everyone was already gone. I was talking to a few riders toward the back of the pack which was moving along ok for the start of a long day and I wasn't in that much a hurry to ramp up the pace and be that a$$hole whole blew apart the ride 2 miles in
. When we hit the first little bump the group slowed way down and my motto goes "don't touch the brakes and pull through instead" I did just that passing the 20 or so riders and taking my position at the front. I pulled for a few mins then rotated out but then the next guy just sat on the front making to effort to continue the rotation and the guy in second wouldn't pass to restart the rotation. My greatest wish is to find that one other rider like me who has the metal ability to restart a paceline from 3rd or 4th position but alas if you're not in second your not allowed to go around unless it's to attack and break away as far as everyone is concerned apparently. After a few more failed attempts to try and start a paceline I gave up and just sat on the front and kept my pace at around 230 watts staying down low in the aero bars.
The first 20 miles it's a slightly climb with slightly more moderate small climbs mixed in to gain the elevation and I'm sure we were shedding off some of the slower riders from the rear. When we got into the flats I started rotating with the one guy a TT bike JJ who finish 4th at the 24hr worlds when I shared the podium with Christophe and Marko. We were taking like one min pulls but I had Mark behind me and he's renowned for never pulling through and just sitting in second killing any chances of a rotation forming, I think he does it subconsciously. After like 5-10 miles of rotating with just JJ I wanted to try and get some of the other strong riders involved because we were at a 23 mph average and had a good shot at the course record if we could just get 2-3 more riders in the mix. No one was biting so I started getting frustrated and choose to entertain myself at the other riders expense because they were riding like road racers and we all know how much I hate the mindset of road racers. I started rotated off the from but when I got into 2nd I'd slowly drop back opening a 100' gap and I'd force the others to close the gap or I'd quickly sprint up and force them to close the gap to both of us, I never tried to break away with JJ because I wanted to ride with other people as well. After screwing with the group like that 4-5 times I started rotation with JJ with my pulls getting longer and longer each time till it was just me pulling for like 5 miles at a time or more. My avg watts was like 225 at around 70 miles and after blowing past the first two aid stations a couple riders asked me if I was ever planning on stopping. It was like I was the conductor and the train couldn't stop without me conducting it to do so. I told them I'd be stopping at mile 81 to many rider relief because we all had to go pee bad after 80 miles of rain, oh did I mention it was raining most the time? Honestly I hadn't noticed the rain so much because I was on the front for so long that I wasn't getting any tire spray in my face. We all stopped and refueled with me taking a bit longer then everyone else because although I wasn't cold my hands had gotten really stiff and I was struggling with finger dexterity. Again I struggled to get my wet gloves on as 10 or so riders straddled their bikes at the driveway exit looking back at for me to lead them out, funny how I was silently nominated the ride leader somehow.
5 miles after leaving the last aid I hear one of the other rider mentioned among themselves that JJ had did a quick stop and broken away. I was a little heart broken after we had worked so well together for that little bit that he'd just so easily cast me aside. I continued to pull the group for the next 15 miles when we finally caught JJ or at least would have until a firetruck tripped the traffic light of a major intersection against us. After a min I spotted a large hedge and just blurted out "I'll catch up" as I quick exited stage right down the side street, everyone knew exactly what I was doing and had the same thought. I made sure everyone was ready before rolling out and again pulling for another 10 or so miles before one of the riders got a flat taking him and his buddy out as they planned to ride together. It was at this point I realized my once larger group of more then 10 riders was down to 5 counting myself, not sure when the others fell off because my mirror was useless in the rain. Finally after like 125 miles one of the rider pulled along side me and suggested we start rotating. In my head I was like "yeah you ****ing think so, whatever gave you that idea, was all that suggesting the first 30 miles finally sinking in?". At this point I was starting to feel quite fatigued giving everything to the group suspecting I couldn't maintain that pace on my own but I would be damned if I wasn't going to try. I was actually starting to wonder how long it would be before I got dropped which sounds strange coming from the rider strong enough to pull everyone for over 100 miles strait but I always give it my all, that's my secret to getting fast without training. The rotation was going smoothly with me talking double long pulls doing my best to keep it above 200 watts but I was fading hard. We again caught JJ just as we got to my next planned stop at mile 136 but to my surprise he blew strait past it, so he must be planing to use the mile 165 aid station. I conducted the other 3 riders(yes we lost another) into the aid who almost followed JJ strait past. I got my bottle refilled and ate a full PBJ sandwich and downed a whole coke to hopefully bring me back to life. We rolled out as the 5 rider of our group rolled in but he had tried to attack and break away much earlier in the ride and again I don't like roadie tactics so I left him on his own.
We made one wrong turn which was my fault because the road splits and I was relying on audio cues only and not live gps visual map, we probably lost 2 mins there. When we got to the infamous dirt road section everyone kind of backed off but I took over at the front and forced everyone through at the same pace as everyone's teeth and CO2 cartridges raddled loose. Now finally back on smooth roads after a mile of dirt we had started the long last climb which like at the start of the ride is long and very gradual with only a few short kind of steep parts. At mile 180 we finally spotted JJ up the road as we got into one of the final steeper parts. The other two rider kicked up the pace hard then I really wanted to go and I could have and should have just gritted my teeth and went with them but some part of me thought I could catch them on the DH of I used the aero bars. I guess one of the two really wanted his first double century win so he worked hard to make sure I didn't catch up, and I thought we had formed an unbreakable bond after 180 miles. They blew past JJ on the next flat and I passed him in the very last climb, JJ not even trying to hang on fully in survival mode. I kept my pace strong to the finish half because I thought I might catch back up and half because I just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. I guess the winner attacked in the final miles and broke away winning by 7 seconds and me another 19 seconds further back.
I missed my secondary goal of going sub 9 hours by 6 mins and I know if only I could have gotten those guys to work with me from the start we would have beaten my V20 time but roadie will be roadies. I know lots of people involved with the double know me and the Vendetta but I assume most riders would be able to pick me out on the Trek since I've never ridden it fast in one of these events before. Maybe I had a target on my back from the start and everyone feared getting dropped if they helped me. Kind of makes me feel bad for Marko because I'm sure that's how his rides play out all the time when others want to treat it like a race.
Overall I'm very happy to set a new wattage PR on the DF for double century distance of 205 watts, that's 4 watts short of two years ago on the V20. If I were to change one thing I would have packed some solid food if I knew it was going to rain because I only got hungry because I had to cut back on drinking my calories because I didn't want to have to go pee more often as a result of forcing down the accelerate. I'm very disappointed in the DF riders as a whole since the only reason I payed to enter this event was for the chance to work in a solid paceline because it's basically an overpriced group ride in my book. If riders aren't going to ride "with" then I see no point in taking my slower less comfortable bike just so they can suck my wheel the whole ride. Honestly I don't mind pulling my friends for 200 miles strait but that's because I know I'm stronger and it'll get both of us across the line fast together if I do. It's different to have equally strong riders sitting on my wheel just to save something to win at the end like it's a race. I think I'll be taking the V20 to all future double unless a friend specifically asks me to ride with them on the Trek.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2235442612
So first off this was done on my Trek Domane and not the V20 like 2 years ago when I pulled Marko Balor almost the whole race to a new course record. The course record still stands at like 8:40 for an average speed of like 22mph which is pretty fast for a flat course with 8000' of climbing. My goal back then was to avg over 200 watts and I said as much at the start so everyone just sat on my wheel till Marko was the only one left and I finished with 208 watts and new PR for me. This year the goal was to take the DF bike so I could work in the paceline and see if I could get several of us under the V20's course record.
Unfortunately I was slow to get to the start line because I'm always late to everything in life besides work so I had no time to share my intent with the much larger group then 2 years ago. The fast riders all start together at 7am with slower rider starting at like 5 and 6am but two years ago I swore there was only like 10 of us and now there were over 30. Everyone got going as I stood there struggling to get my gloves on and the event director prodding me to get the hell out of there as everyone was already gone. I was talking to a few riders toward the back of the pack which was moving along ok for the start of a long day and I wasn't in that much a hurry to ramp up the pace and be that a$$hole whole blew apart the ride 2 miles in
. When we hit the first little bump the group slowed way down and my motto goes "don't touch the brakes and pull through instead" I did just that passing the 20 or so riders and taking my position at the front. I pulled for a few mins then rotated out but then the next guy just sat on the front making to effort to continue the rotation and the guy in second wouldn't pass to restart the rotation. My greatest wish is to find that one other rider like me who has the metal ability to restart a paceline from 3rd or 4th position but alas if you're not in second your not allowed to go around unless it's to attack and break away as far as everyone is concerned apparently. After a few more failed attempts to try and start a paceline I gave up and just sat on the front and kept my pace at around 230 watts staying down low in the aero bars. The first 20 miles it's a slightly climb with slightly more moderate small climbs mixed in to gain the elevation and I'm sure we were shedding off some of the slower riders from the rear. When we got into the flats I started rotating with the one guy a TT bike JJ who finish 4th at the 24hr worlds when I shared the podium with Christophe and Marko. We were taking like one min pulls but I had Mark behind me and he's renowned for never pulling through and just sitting in second killing any chances of a rotation forming, I think he does it subconsciously. After like 5-10 miles of rotating with just JJ I wanted to try and get some of the other strong riders involved because we were at a 23 mph average and had a good shot at the course record if we could just get 2-3 more riders in the mix. No one was biting so I started getting frustrated and choose to entertain myself at the other riders expense because they were riding like road racers and we all know how much I hate the mindset of road racers. I started rotated off the from but when I got into 2nd I'd slowly drop back opening a 100' gap and I'd force the others to close the gap or I'd quickly sprint up and force them to close the gap to both of us, I never tried to break away with JJ because I wanted to ride with other people as well. After screwing with the group like that 4-5 times I started rotation with JJ with my pulls getting longer and longer each time till it was just me pulling for like 5 miles at a time or more. My avg watts was like 225 at around 70 miles and after blowing past the first two aid stations a couple riders asked me if I was ever planning on stopping. It was like I was the conductor and the train couldn't stop without me conducting it to do so
. I told them I'd be stopping at mile 81 to many rider relief because we all had to go pee bad after 80 miles of rain, oh did I mention it was raining most the time? Honestly I hadn't noticed the rain so much because I was on the front for so long that I wasn't getting any tire spray in my face. We all stopped and refueled with me taking a bit longer then everyone else because although I wasn't cold my hands had gotten really stiff and I was struggling with finger dexterity. Again I struggled to get my wet gloves on as 10 or so riders straddled their bikes at the driveway exit looking back at for me to lead them out, funny how I was silently nominated the ride leader somehow. 5 miles after leaving the last aid I hear one of the other rider mentioned among themselves that JJ had did a quick stop and broken away. I was a little heart broken after we had worked so well together for that little bit that he'd just so easily cast me aside
. I continued to pull the group for the next 15 miles when we finally caught JJ or at least would have until a firetruck tripped the traffic light of a major intersection against us. After a min I spotted a large hedge and just blurted out "I'll catch up" as I quick exited stage right down the side street, everyone knew exactly what I was doing and had the same thought. I made sure everyone was ready before rolling out and again pulling for another 10 or so miles before one of the riders got a flat taking him and his buddy out as they planned to ride together. It was at this point I realized my once larger group of more then 10 riders was down to 5 counting myself, not sure when the others fell off because my mirror was useless in the rain. Finally after like 125 miles one of the rider pulled along side me and suggested we start rotating. In my head I was like "yeah you ****ing think so, whatever gave you that idea, was all that suggesting the first 30 miles finally sinking in?". At this point I was starting to feel quite fatigued giving everything to the group suspecting I couldn't maintain that pace on my own but I would be damned if I wasn't going to try. I was actually starting to wonder how long it would be before I got dropped which sounds strange coming from the rider strong enough to pull everyone for over 100 miles strait but I always give it my all, that's my secret to getting fast without training. The rotation was going smoothly with me talking double long pulls doing my best to keep it above 200 watts but I was fading hard. We again caught JJ just as we got to my next planned stop at mile 136 but to my surprise he blew strait past it, so he must be planing to use the mile 165 aid station. I conducted the other 3 riders(yes we lost another) into the aid who almost followed JJ strait past. I got my bottle refilled and ate a full PBJ sandwich and downed a whole coke to hopefully bring me back to life. We rolled out as the 5 rider of our group rolled in but he had tried to attack and break away much earlier in the ride and again I don't like roadie tactics so I left him on his own. We made one wrong turn which was my fault because the road splits and I was relying on audio cues only and not live gps visual map, we probably lost 2 mins there. When we got to the infamous dirt road section everyone kind of backed off but I took over at the front and forced everyone through at the same pace as everyone's teeth and CO2 cartridges raddled loose. Now finally back on smooth roads after a mile of dirt we had started the long last climb which like at the start of the ride is long and very gradual with only a few short kind of steep parts. At mile 180 we finally spotted JJ up the road as we got into one of the final steeper parts. The other two rider kicked up the pace hard then I really wanted to go and I could have and should have just gritted my teeth and went with them but some part of me thought I could catch them on the DH of I used the aero bars. I guess one of the two really wanted his first double century win so he worked hard to make sure I didn't catch up, and I thought we had formed an unbreakable bond after 180 miles
. They blew past JJ on the next flat and I passed him in the very last climb, JJ not even trying to hang on fully in survival mode. I kept my pace strong to the finish half because I thought I might catch back up and half because I just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. I guess the winner attacked in the final miles and broke away winning by 7 seconds and me another 19 seconds further back. I missed my secondary goal of going sub 9 hours by 6 mins and I know if only I could have gotten those guys to work with me from the start we would have beaten my V20 time but roadie will be roadies. I know lots of people involved with the double know me and the Vendetta but I assume most riders would be able to pick me out on the Trek since I've never ridden it fast in one of these events before. Maybe I had a target on my back from the start and everyone feared getting dropped if they helped me. Kind of makes me feel bad for Marko because I'm sure that's how his rides play out all the time when others want to treat it like a race.
Overall I'm very happy to set a new wattage PR on the DF for double century distance of 205 watts, that's 4 watts short of two years ago on the V20. If I were to change one thing I would have packed some solid food if I knew it was going to rain because I only got hungry because I had to cut back on drinking my calories because I didn't want to have to go pee more often as a result of forcing down the accelerate. I'm very disappointed in the DF riders as a whole since the only reason I payed to enter this event was for the chance to work in a solid paceline because it's basically an overpriced group ride in my book. If riders aren't going to ride "with" then I see no point in taking my slower less comfortable bike just so they can suck my wheel the whole ride. Honestly I don't mind pulling my friends for 200 miles strait but that's because I know I'm stronger and it'll get both of us across the line fast together if I do. It's different to have equally strong riders sitting on my wheel just to save something to win at the end like it's a race. I think I'll be taking the V20 to all future double unless a friend specifically asks me to ride with them on the Trek.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2235442612
