Highway To Heaven (Ilchester Time Trial)
Adam Driscoll - 3:30 - 1st Cat 1/2
Patrick Blair - 3:31 - 2nd Cat 1/2
WE DEFENDED THE HILL!!
Adam and I race this race every year. Adam usually gets 1st or 2nd in the Cat 1/2 and I usually have to race the Cat 3 race. This year, however, because of new USAC rule changes they allowed me (a Category 3 Road Racer) to race in the Cat 1/2 race! I got to race with the 'big boys!!'.
The 1st - 3rd place road racers in the MABRA BAR Standings were at the race to get their BAR points. These guys are fast! I was so happy to have the opportunity to go up against the best of the best local road racers on a course that suited my strengths as a climber (not a sprinter or road racer).
Racers start from a stopped position from a racing block at the bottom of the hill. A race volunteer holds the racers in place on the block 30 seconds before their start. Racers go off in 1 minute increments.
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| photo by No.Film Photography |
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| photo by No.Film Photography |
Joe Bank, fellow AFC teammate, estimates that at my weight of 140lbs that my average watts on the climb were about 412.... I am hoping to get a power meter for 2014 so that I can start training with power and learning more about my cycling.
Adam was the last to go in our category and I was the second to last. Right in front of me was Dan Wolf, who joins us for our Westside World ride every week. We go up Ilchester as part of that ride every Wednesday, so to say we know this hill well is an understatement. This is our home court! We can't let these guys beat us here, on our hill :)
We watched the other guys go up "The Wall" section of Ilchester and they looked really really fast!
I was feeling super fresh. With the birth of my son, Grayson Patrick Blair, on July 30th I have switched my training from 15+hour weeks to 7+hour weeks of high intensity training. This type of training fits much better with my family and I think it might have the side affect of increasing my speed / power. I am hoping that is the case because those are my weaknesses and if I can increase them I will be much better off for the upcoming cyclocross season.
Going up the hill I felt great. I was able to go extremely hard the entire time. The first section is 18-20% grade and I flew up it, after that it levels off for a short bit, and then another steep pitch. I think I slowed a little on the 2nd steep pitch but then I really dug deep for the finish... it is a good thing I did because there was only about .2 seconds difference between me and 3rd place!!
In the end I set a new Personal Record on the hill by 9 seconds! I think this is due to the super light weight Cannondale Evo that I recently got from The Hub and my new training.
Congrats! One night of Illchester every Wednesday is plenty for me though...
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