Zachary Hilton
Wards Ferry Road Race
Category 35+ 4's
Wards Ferry Road Race
Category 35+ 4's
Sonora, CA
Place: 12
Field: 15
Teammates: Jim Perreira
Place: 12
Field: 15
Teammates: Jim Perreira
Weather: 59 some clouds, no wind, and no base layers needed
Start Time: 08:25:00
Start Time: 08:25:00
Total Time: 02:39:00
Power: 230 W avg, 738 W max, 225 W NP
Power: 230 W avg, 738 W max, 225 W NP
Average Speed: 16.9 MPH, Top Speed 41.5 MPH
Average HR: 161 Max HR: 183
Elevation Ascent: 4,738
Elevation Ascent: 4,738
I'm riding a 2015 Specialized S-Works Tarmac with Ultegra 6800 53/39 11 speed group set with an 11/32 for this race. Lot's of climbing in a short amount of time. I have a pair for Race Rim carbon tubular 32's for this race. They are light and stiff enough for some 40 mph plus racing and poor roads. I'm wearing my new Road Suit from Zaavy Custom Apparel, and my new S-Works Prevail II helmet. I follow Hammer Nutrition's Steve Born on many pre-race strategies. This race started early and its a 2.5 hour drive. I started the morning off with coffee and bagel for the drive, and then a hammer gel during the warm-up.
My goals for this race are to stay upfront and dictate the lines we take on the descents. The roads are bumpy in sections and after the hairpin right turn its a narrow road with twisting descents. If you are in the back you will need to chase back on, and it's hard to keep an eye on the road and the riders. You can pass slower and timid racers on the descent. There is a Velo Promo feed zone and they supply water bottles each lap. This is a gorgeous course and mainly closed off for us. It's till a centerline rule in effect.
I got a 20 minutes warm up on the rollers and and riding around the parking lot. The weather was perfect for this time of year. I didn't need any base layers. This race is hard work too. Pen Velo and CBRE have the most teammates here. One of the Pen Velo guys is on an upgrade spree, and would eventually solo off the front by himself for 30 miles and take the win! HAHA. I won't just leave the report like that. We started in the neutral roll out and we were on our own...no moto. I stayed up front around 4th place so I could watch the road conditions. I knew the rain would have beaten it up even more from last year. Some big potholes out there, when you are flying 40 miles per hour downhill. I wanted to dictate the pace as much as I could, while also choosing my own line. The pace was hard but manageable though the first lap. I was sitting 3rd down the hairpin turn section and eventually passed the front rider because he kept slowing around some turns. I've got this downhill section well played. You can see around each turn and it's mainly a closed course with an invisible center line. I was making sure to eat a gel every 30 minutes and keep drinking Heed. We are doing 4 laps and they each slowly start to break me down. I've never felt like I'm getting stronger in this race. Maybe its the time of year in my training, or lack of longer rides to this point. We dropped several riders on the hairpin descent and climbs that followed. No one took a feed through the 1st time in the feed zone. Pen Velo's Jarno Rajahalme came to the front of the group as we started the climb on lap 2 right at the cow ranch, and put down a hard acceleration to the top. I started to feel it in the legs and cardio....I went to the back and stayed on the last guys wheel. This helped me through the next descent and climb to the hairpin. I wasn't up front for the 2nd hairpin turn and descent. It was easy to stay in contact with the group, but when we reached the final climb back up to the road to the finish I was cooked. I had to just go my tempo at this point. I still have 2 laps to go. I settled in a moderate chase mode so that I would't get caught from behind either. I took a feed in lap 2. Still kept up with my nutrition plan and never cramped up. Just feeling the matches I burned trying to keep up with a select few riders. That's one of the biggest gripes I have right now in my age category is the number of riders that won't challenge themselves to tough races like this. I used to race these races with 50-60, and there were races within races. That hasn't been the case this season yet.
Time to recover with Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite and get a good night sleep. Don't forget to recover during your sleep and take some Hammer Whey to boost that HGH. I've also added Hammer Nutrition's Chromate, and Super Antioxidant to the recovery mix. Both have great recovery ingredients!
I got a 20 minutes warm up on the rollers and and riding around the parking lot. The weather was perfect for this time of year. I didn't need any base layers. This race is hard work too. Pen Velo and CBRE have the most teammates here. One of the Pen Velo guys is on an upgrade spree, and would eventually solo off the front by himself for 30 miles and take the win! HAHA. I won't just leave the report like that. We started in the neutral roll out and we were on our own...no moto. I stayed up front around 4th place so I could watch the road conditions. I knew the rain would have beaten it up even more from last year. Some big potholes out there, when you are flying 40 miles per hour downhill. I wanted to dictate the pace as much as I could, while also choosing my own line. The pace was hard but manageable though the first lap. I was sitting 3rd down the hairpin turn section and eventually passed the front rider because he kept slowing around some turns. I've got this downhill section well played. You can see around each turn and it's mainly a closed course with an invisible center line. I was making sure to eat a gel every 30 minutes and keep drinking Heed. We are doing 4 laps and they each slowly start to break me down. I've never felt like I'm getting stronger in this race. Maybe its the time of year in my training, or lack of longer rides to this point. We dropped several riders on the hairpin descent and climbs that followed. No one took a feed through the 1st time in the feed zone. Pen Velo's Jarno Rajahalme came to the front of the group as we started the climb on lap 2 right at the cow ranch, and put down a hard acceleration to the top. I started to feel it in the legs and cardio....I went to the back and stayed on the last guys wheel. This helped me through the next descent and climb to the hairpin. I wasn't up front for the 2nd hairpin turn and descent. It was easy to stay in contact with the group, but when we reached the final climb back up to the road to the finish I was cooked. I had to just go my tempo at this point. I still have 2 laps to go. I settled in a moderate chase mode so that I would't get caught from behind either. I took a feed in lap 2. Still kept up with my nutrition plan and never cramped up. Just feeling the matches I burned trying to keep up with a select few riders. That's one of the biggest gripes I have right now in my age category is the number of riders that won't challenge themselves to tough races like this. I used to race these races with 50-60, and there were races within races. That hasn't been the case this season yet.
Time to recover with Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite and get a good night sleep. Don't forget to recover during your sleep and take some Hammer Whey to boost that HGH. I've also added Hammer Nutrition's Chromate, and Super Antioxidant to the recovery mix. Both have great recovery ingredients!
Next race will be CCCX on April 2nd!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks to Hammer Nutrition!
