Fiesta Beat Down

Hi All. Well last night I made the trip down to Fiesta Island for the Thursday night workout. As I mentioned in my last post, it was my first time doing this. I arrived just before 5pm, unloaded, geared up, found some teammates and began riding laps around the island to warm-up. Just before 6pm we rolled over to the parking lot in the center of the island and awaited the 6pm start time. I'd say around 100-150 riders showed up, and when you see the likes of Neil Shirley, Iggy Silva, and the full Ca Pools team you know you're in for some serious work! The first lap was mild, but after that the attacks began and all hell broke loose. I was able to sit in comfortably for the first thirty minutes of the hour-long ride, but noticed I was exposing myself to the wind far too much. Just after the thirty minute mark I decided to put in a big effort to get to the front of the group. It worked, but that was a HUGE mistake on my part! At that point my heart rate was high and the pace of the group only picked up. I was only able to hang on for two more laps before losing contact. I sat up and rode a couple of easy laps around the island to recover and then jumped back in for the last lap. Overall, a great workout and something I need to do more often. I figure if I can hang in with that group for the full hour, a Cat 4, 40-minute crit should feel easy after that. Talk to ya soon!