Learning how to draft

This morning I watched last few qualifying attempts at the Brickyard. Now I have to make my decision about who to run tomorrow. Here is how the fantasy league standings appear going into the race:


As you can see, BBuck is catching up to me. This is the week he stands a very good chance of not only catching me, but passing me in the standings. He goes against the freebie this week. Unless he completely collapses, he will get a win this week. Me? I go up against Super_D who is running a close third in the standings.

So, how do we match up? I'm going to be running Mark Martin (6th in the standings and rolling off 19th tomorrow), Jimmie Johnson (leading the points and starting 5th in the grid), and Jeff Gordon (9th in points and sitting in 16th for the Brickyard where he has won 4 times before). Super_D starts Kurt Busch (13th in points and starting 3rd), Matt Kenseth (right behind Johnson in points and taking the green in 20th place), and Ryan Newman (18th in the standings and rolling off 8th at Indy).

What can I say? It is going to be tough and close. I really think Gordon will run better than he qualified. He ran very late in the order and the track temperature was nearly 20 degrees hotter at that point. The speeds tend to go down - though Robby Gordon and Kasey Kahne turned in impressive laps in the heat.

What do NASCAR and road bikes have in common? Drafting is important in both sports. You just can't know what a difference it makes to get drafting help on a bike until you've been there. This morning I needed all the drafting help I could get! After riding over 50 combined miles on Thursday and Friday evenings, I went out with the Sunshine guys this morning. My lungs and heart were all ready to go, but my legs just would not respond.

Thankfully it was a group ride and I was able to get pulled a little bit of the way. Even with the "bad" day, I am pretty happy. I really think I'll be able to handle this metric century. I'm also glad to report that counting my warm up rides, I have logged over 120 miles on the bike this week (which was my target). They say that is what it takes, "base miles" - and I'm getting them (my butt bones are reminding me)!

Today's Training Line:

Distance: 25.19 miles / Average Speed: 15.1 mph / Time: 1:39:10
Average Heart Rate: 152 bpm / Level 5: 0:22:41* / Work: 1911**

* Level 5 is the time heart beats between 163 and 182 bpm
** Comparative number to measure exertion during different sessions
Data collected by Sports Instruments ECG Pro 7 heart rate monitor and Cat Eye Astrale 8 cyclocomputer