Well, here goes. I'll open the blog entry with a picture of the course profile. Click/Right Click to open it.
Here's the narration, walking through the course.
0-1 km: Straight down hill
1-2 km: Starts with two switch backs of nearly 180 degree turns. These require you to slow down to almost a stop before starting the 10% climb. Not very nice of them. The profile exaggerates the steady climb when it appears to begin levelling off. In reality, that's the flatest part of the course, before it drops at the 2km mark.
2-4 km: Downhill and windy. There are a couple quick ascents that I can take without changing gears but just standing up and pushing through. The first one right at around 2.4 km is the only one that tempts you to change gears but it ends right as you're about ready to. This will be the section there is a pile up if the riders try to get two people wide on the course.
4-5 km: After a couple laps, I was calling this the "bridge to bridge" climb. You go under a bridge and start climbing until you reach the next bridge at 4.8km
5-6 km: This is the VORTAC climb. Once the Hongo VORTAC (air navigational aid, or giant antenna for the layman) comes into view, it's time to climb again. The road dips momentarily and then climbs to finish it off. The descending gets steep from the top here to the 6.2-6.3 km mark.
6-7 km: The course comes up along side the runway, about 50 meters above you. You head under a covered fencing on a gradual 1-2% climb before hitting the big climb of this section. The road really just tips straight up for this climb. It only lasts 45-50 seconds at best, but it's a heck of a climb.
7-8.5 km: This descending is technical and very fast. Speeds pushing 40mph on a very curvy course. But great fun because it's mostly just get in the tuck and hang on.
8.5-10.5 km: Holy climbing batman! The course heads over the main thoroughfare in/out of the airport on a steady 4-5% climb. Once it gets across, you turn right and start climbing. In the course designer's defense, there are a couple breaks in the climb. Running my 12x23 cassette yesterday I was out of my saddle for each of the 10% sections. To keep a decent cadence I was pushing 400-440 watts on the 10% sections, and really pushing it on the last 10% to the peak at 500-550 watts. Treating it like 4 separate climbs helped me pace through them a little, with some breathing time in between the pushing.
10.5-end: Here's where I think I can make my money on the race. Provided I can keep with the pack through the three laps to the base of the final climb, I'll do what I can to hang on to the whoever the lead rider is over the big climb on the third lap. Once at the top it will be off to the races. I'll do what I can to get as tucked as I can and really go for the last 5 minutes/2.5 km to the finish. The trick will be to get the speed initially to get momentum over the little hill early and then really lay into it when it heads back downward.
All this said, my first goal is to stay upright and on the wheels. No crashing. Since this race is still pretty early in the season, I don't necessarily think I'm going to win, but it sure would be nice! It's the lowest of priorities for me so the rest of the week's training may wear me down a little as well. I don't expect to really do much of a taper for the event.
The training I did on the course was fantastic. The hill climb intervals were just super. After a kinda "blech" week of training, it felt good to be on the course in pretty warm weather (high 50's F). The legs felt pretty on the money for most of the day - though by the 9th time I was going up the climb, I was definitely feeling it.
Can't wait to race!
VW
Here's the narration, walking through the course.
0-1 km: Straight down hill
1-2 km: Starts with two switch backs of nearly 180 degree turns. These require you to slow down to almost a stop before starting the 10% climb. Not very nice of them. The profile exaggerates the steady climb when it appears to begin levelling off. In reality, that's the flatest part of the course, before it drops at the 2km mark.
2-4 km: Downhill and windy. There are a couple quick ascents that I can take without changing gears but just standing up and pushing through. The first one right at around 2.4 km is the only one that tempts you to change gears but it ends right as you're about ready to. This will be the section there is a pile up if the riders try to get two people wide on the course.
4-5 km: After a couple laps, I was calling this the "bridge to bridge" climb. You go under a bridge and start climbing until you reach the next bridge at 4.8km
5-6 km: This is the VORTAC climb. Once the Hongo VORTAC (air navigational aid, or giant antenna for the layman) comes into view, it's time to climb again. The road dips momentarily and then climbs to finish it off. The descending gets steep from the top here to the 6.2-6.3 km mark.
6-7 km: The course comes up along side the runway, about 50 meters above you. You head under a covered fencing on a gradual 1-2% climb before hitting the big climb of this section. The road really just tips straight up for this climb. It only lasts 45-50 seconds at best, but it's a heck of a climb.
7-8.5 km: This descending is technical and very fast. Speeds pushing 40mph on a very curvy course. But great fun because it's mostly just get in the tuck and hang on.
8.5-10.5 km: Holy climbing batman! The course heads over the main thoroughfare in/out of the airport on a steady 4-5% climb. Once it gets across, you turn right and start climbing. In the course designer's defense, there are a couple breaks in the climb. Running my 12x23 cassette yesterday I was out of my saddle for each of the 10% sections. To keep a decent cadence I was pushing 400-440 watts on the 10% sections, and really pushing it on the last 10% to the peak at 500-550 watts. Treating it like 4 separate climbs helped me pace through them a little, with some breathing time in between the pushing.
10.5-end: Here's where I think I can make my money on the race. Provided I can keep with the pack through the three laps to the base of the final climb, I'll do what I can to hang on to the whoever the lead rider is over the big climb on the third lap. Once at the top it will be off to the races. I'll do what I can to get as tucked as I can and really go for the last 5 minutes/2.5 km to the finish. The trick will be to get the speed initially to get momentum over the little hill early and then really lay into it when it heads back downward.
All this said, my first goal is to stay upright and on the wheels. No crashing. Since this race is still pretty early in the season, I don't necessarily think I'm going to win, but it sure would be nice! It's the lowest of priorities for me so the rest of the week's training may wear me down a little as well. I don't expect to really do much of a taper for the event.
The training I did on the course was fantastic. The hill climb intervals were just super. After a kinda "blech" week of training, it felt good to be on the course in pretty warm weather (high 50's F). The legs felt pretty on the money for most of the day - though by the 9th time I was going up the climb, I was definitely feeling it.
Can't wait to race!
VW