Iowa State Roller 2009 Championship Series

FROSTBUSTER ROLLER RACE - MARCH 1st, 2009
There it is, the result we have all been hoping for... top of the Cat 1,2,3 podium (standing next to Shawn Loomis and Bryan Moritz) at the final race of the 2009 indoor cycling season...
I definately had a great day, breaking not only my Personal Record, but successfully posting the fastest time ever on this Kreitler Roller Set-up, therefore, a State Record (sort of, since official State Records don't technically exist). Below is a list of noteworthy accomplishments...
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1)Old Personal Record = 5:17.5
-New Personal Record = 5:01.4

2)Previous State Record = 5:03.7 (Shawn Loomis, 2/24/08)
-New State Record = 5:01.4 (Chad Bishop, 3/1/09)

3)Previous Fastest Cat 3 Time (Tony Kisch, 3/11/07) = 5:08.7
-New Fastest Cat 3 Time (Chad Bishop, 3/1/09) = 5:01.4

4)Silver Medal, Cat 3 Iowa Road Race Championship Series
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It was definately a great day for racing indoors, as the cold outside was bitter and only for the mileage obsessed road junkies (no offense). It didn't seem possible to win the Gold medal in the Cat 3 race series because the current leader had too large of a lead, however I was hoping to possibly win that day's race overall.

This aspiration was soon dismissed as Shawn Loomis posted a new state record time of 5:01.5. On the other hand, everyone was posting blazing fast times compared to their previous efforts, so I kept my mind open.

Lee Venteicher advised me to just peg it up to a sub 5 minute pace, and 'go all or nothing' because I could definately beat Shawn's time. This is where the real battle began. This is a contest where the mind matters just as much as the physical conditioning. Could I convince myself that Lee was right? Can I conquer self doubt and win this race?

Keeping an open mind, I tried to remove all negative thoughts, and remind myself how well my winter training has been going, and the sacrifice I had made over the last 3 months to prepare for the 2009 season.

I started the race just like any other, with respect to my cadence and gearing. The difference would be how long I could hold it. I overshot my initial power burst a bit, as I noticed I was pacing a 4:45 time... um, easy there tough guy.

I dialed it back to 4:59, and waited for the pain to build... Hmm, not too bad as Greg Harper advised me that I was .5 miles in. I let my cadence slip a bit, but Greg demanded I pull it back up. I wanted to mentally argue but decided just to succumb to his demands knowing I couldn't let up if I wanted to beat Shawn's result.

I had some sort of flicker that 'I can do this' as the 1 mile mark passed. Unfortunately, the peak of discomfort really doesn't rear it's ugly head until the final stretch. My time fell to around 5:03, which still would have been such a great result. I tried to talk myself into 'settling' for this.
The crowd that was gathering, having noticed that I was close to breaking the record, wouldn't allow it, however, as cheers of encouragement could be overheard.

I actually shifted to a harder gear, sensing I could bring back those seconds. I did... my time was back in the 5:01 range. The last seconds of the race brought me to complete and utter muscle failure. I began to let up, feeling that I had just missed shawn's time of 5:01.5...

Nope, I beat him by one tenth of a second... nice.

That sort of makes it all worth it. The real goal of winter racing for me, however is a way of structuring my training for the spring road racing season. But, for now, I will just enjoy a rewarding result. Thanks for reading... It should be an interesting year of racing.