2012 Houston Grand Criterium (my first bike race!)

[Tex]

I finished my first bike race this past weekend! Had a good time, but I was almost collected in a big crash with 2 laps to go. I didn't crash myself, but my race was basically over after that because I couldn't catch up with the peloton alone. I kept going though and I rolled in to the finish a lap and a half later with a few other riders. You can see the crash @ 35:30 in the video.

I posted a full race report on my blog.

GPS Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175477602

 

[Spacethingy]

I love the OSD thing! I even saw you get nervous at the crash, BPM going up and all. What's the graph that goes up to 130 - cycles/minute?

 

[Tex]

After the crash my HR went up quick with the adrenaline flowing. I also put in a hard effort trying to catch back up. The gauge you asked about is cadence measured by crank arm revolutions.

 

[N_Molson]

Yes, there was nothing you could have done. Bad luck, but its a good thing not having been injured.

The intervals seemed very very small to me on the last video, it had to happen.

I'm pretty amazed you can sustain a long effort at 150-170 BPM, quite impressive. I guessed the near-180 BPM peak after the crash and at the end of the race quite burned you out. Personnally, I burn out very quickly over 120-130 BPM. It's where training pays I guess :thumbup:

 

[Tex]

For sure it takes some time and training to function in high HR zones. The most BPM I've seen for myself was 188 (using a different HR monitor though). Usually I peak around 180 since I've been using my Garmin, so I'd guess 185-188 is my absolute max HR. By the time I hit 180, I feel like I am dieing - gasping for air, and everything is screaming to stop. I'd probably need some terrain to climb in order to hit my true HR more often.

I still need to do more work so that I can sustain 170+ for longer periods of time. That would better allow me to stay closer to the front in order to avoid these crashes.

 

[Tex]

Leading the pack: