Giro di Coppi race report

Saturday was the Giro di Coppi road race (4 ~12.5 mile loops) put on by the Squadra Coppi cycling team.  It was a beautiful day with the temperature in the low 80’s, sunny and little humidity.  The Coppi team put on a really great race at a nice venue.

 

Igda and Emi made the trip with me.  It was great having them there.  We passed the feedzone every loop where we could get water bottles as needed.  Emi and Igda were great.  Very pro in their water bottle hand offs!  And, yes, Gus.  You caught me totally off guard when I had to work my way back up to the front on the first climb and you said “You didn’t want or need the bottle!” 

 

Photos courtesy of Linc Brookes

Unfortunately, leading up to the race, I caught the sore throat/headache/cold bug on Thursday that Igda had all week.  Now on Monday, it feels as if it has moved to my chest.  I tried to pound as much Alka-Seltzer cold medicine I could through Saturday morning to keep it at bay, but never really got rid of it.  Oh well, it wasn’t going to stop me from going out and giving my best.  I did suffer from a case of cotton/dry mouth for much of the race regardless of how much water I was drinking.  I felt pretty good during the race, but I definitely think it may have affected my top end a bit. 

 

 

The race.  We had a good crew: Grissom, Gould, Dineen, Flanagan and myself.  We decided beforehand to try and whittle down the field as much as possible.  Be active on the front and if a good move went, one of us would surely be there.  Really not much to report.  Maybe I’m just tired from playing it over in my head.   There were a handful of guys riding really strong, but I think we just kept cancelling out each other’s efforts as the race wore on.  There were many moves by 1 or 2 guys, but none really carried the 4-6 guys needed to really push a break on that course. 

 

On the final loop, there were some solo attacks.  I was near or at the front for much of this lap.  Pitching in where needed but otherwise trying to stay mindful of energy reserves.  An ABRT rider got about 10 seconds up the road, but his lead wasn’t growing after that, so I wasn’t too worried about it.  Right after we made the final turn on Barnesville road, I asked Gus how he was doing?  He gave me a nod.   I don’t  remember exactly what he said, but he grabbed my wheel.  Cool.  I was hoping I could repay Gus for the work he did for me at TofW.  Plus, I thought the little kicker at the end may suit him well for the sprint. 

 

About that time, a BBC rider opened up a gap on the lackadaisical field.  I will admit, there were a couple of seconds where I thought about going hard after him right then when I noticed the field really letting up, but I didn’t do a good job of getting some landmarks for where we were at in relation to the finish.   His gap kept growing.  Gus actually came off my wheel and started pulling the field a bit just to get things going.  As we hit the feedzone, the gap was probably 10-15 seconds.   With Gus back on my wheel I found myself sitting 2^nd wheel behind an NCVC guy.  For about 5 seconds, I thought the NCVC guy was ramping things up before the downhill, but he quickly pulled off.  So, what to do? 

 

I decided to go for the all or nothing move and hope I could get Gus to the bottom of the finishing climb without getting rolled by the chase group.  Mistake #1.  I went too hard a bit early.  I should have waited until we hit the gradual climb before it flattens out before the finish hill.   I highly doubt anyone was going to come around me on the downhill portion.  In reviewing the power file, I had a big (~800w) 20 sec dig right before the downhill which put the speed at about 32mph going into the first rise.   Once the speed started to drop, it appears I put in about 40 seconds at 700w’s to just slightly before the finish hill.  We handily caught the solo rider, but in hindsight I think I could have backed off slightly and held the lead-out much further without A) losing Gus from my wheel B) actually getting Gus in a better position to launch with gas still in his tank.  I should have been more cognizant of the course and distances.  For this to work, I really needed to get Gus farther up the finish hill where his jump and climbing ability would have created more of an impact.  Oh well, it was an all or nothing move for us.  I’d honestly rather try it versus sitting in the bunch waiting for others to make the first move.  I guess I blinked first as everyone else didn’t really want to chase.  It was a good lesson for me.  I like being the lead out guy.  I think with time, it may be something that I could do well at for the team. 

 

A little bummed, but power meter dropped about 15 mins during the race so my numbers are suspect.  I need to figure out why my PT is dropping when I’m not pedaling!  I think it may have something to do with the new harness I got after I broke it at TofW.