Riding the Slipstream...

Shawn and I finally made it out today for some good ol' motorpacing. With all the wind we have been experiencing on the Front Range its put a little damper on the high speed times in the slipstream. Yep, we did 1.5 hours of training today with about 1hour behind the car at 33-40mph. Motorpacing is serious fun, highly intoxicating, slightly dangerous for the untrainined, and the best damn race experience w/o racing.

Being in Niwot, getting to some good motorpacing roads is super easy. Ideally you want long, uninterupted, and rather traffic-free roads. Starting out just getting the legs going with some high-cad spinning then Shawn radio'd me up that she was going to pull ahead and for me to drop into the sweet spot. Now, I have done my fair share of illegal motorpacing behind trucks, buses and scooters(Belgium) but today was the first legitimate, ie driver-aware session. And it was goooood...

So why motorpace? Isn't it better to train in the wind? Well, with motorpacing you can simulate race speeds you wouldn't otherwise be able too while on your own. Every time you back off, you fall out of the stream which motivates you more to stay in the groove despite the lactate pumping. Just like in a race, you are doing every bit to not do any excess work which means you are staying on a wheel and drafting as much as possible until the g moment comes and you make your move. With Shawn radio'ng me when cars were approaching or what turn she was going to make or to relax more or to just dig dig dig!

Today was probably some of the best training I have done in a long time. Very focused and intense. The perfect recipe to open the legs up before this weekend's VOS. For the first time since Belgium, I felt the desire to vomit from exhaustion. That's a good thing =) Spent some time in the aero-bars working on some positioning for the TT. Having Shawn in the car radio'ng up how I look and making adjustments was so key to today's training.

Well, tomorrow I'm doing some high cadence "driving" as the Belgians call it. Finally tune up for VOS. Now the plan for the weekend is to have fun, play different options and just get back into racing after a 7mo hiatus and 7 fractures later.

I'm dedicating my comeback race this weekend to all person who have been injured or killed by autos/truck while on their bikes. To be able to line up to race is something I have dreamt about since July. It didn't look too promising those first few days in Westchester, but hard work, lots of prayers, and support from friends and my great family are all making it possible. Watch for the pics and the daily updates via Bomb This Hill!

Chow,
Matthew