Category: W3/4
Field Size: 39
Length: 3.8 miles
Places: 11th (Emily), 18th (me), and 20th (Josie)
The course started out level and downhill briefly before climbing for 3.7 miles at a grade that varied between 5% and 8%. The road curved a lot, so it was hard to see the person in front of you even when you got pretty close. I went as hard as I could the whole time, with my heart rate hovering around 180. I passed two people and didn't get passed myself. They had 1km to go marked, but that almost made it worse since 1km was still a substantial portion of the total distance. My time of 19:13 was good for a middle of the pack finish, which was about what I was expecting. I knew from riding with Nancy that I'm no match for the smaller ladies when it comes to going uphill. Emily and Josie both put in good solid performances too, but no one in our field was a match for pro triathlete Heather Jackson, who blew everyone away with a time of 16:57.
I probably could have gotten a slightly faster time if I had implemented a few weight-saving options, such as using lighter wheels (the PowerTap is heavy), that sort of thing. As it was, I decided that it would be good to know my power data for what was effectively a 20-minute test (it turned out to be 281W average for 19:19). This broke my previous 20-minute power record of 240W, which I think was from climbing Old La Honda last fall (I haven't climbed it in a while). Since I currently weigh about 160 lbs, that translates to about 3.86 W/kg. According to the power profile chart that TrainingPeaks WKO+ uses, that puts me in about the top third of Cat 3 women, which sounds about right right now.
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