Pendrel bumps Georgia and grinds to her first U.S. Cup win!
US ProXCT #3 and Kenda Cup East #2 - Bump and Grind - 3
Pelham, Alabama, USA, May 31, 2009
At some point you have to call anl an Ace an Ace!
To be successful in mtb requires optimally conditioned physiological systems, also a level of technical skills "moving in & out of balance" not seen or required of a road cyclists and put it together for training and competition. Note tracking the physiological demands is also difficult.
XC requires unique technical skills, correct pacing and race tactics, to better the ability to maintain a high work rate. Then one has to tolerate adverse environmental conditions i.e. temps, elevation, mud, etc..., resist the effects of mental and physical fatigue i.e. 24 hour, 12 hour, 2.5 hour physical fatigue due to the energy depletion & dehydration. One tough game!
Georgia Gould (Luna) leads the ProXCT series and she is an ACE! This is not the first time we have seen her lead! Georgia uses our systems because it works and so do many of the other racers.
It’s all about the cyclist that can generate high power outputs for both long & short durations. That's why our CAD, addressing the bare bones of the skeletal system, allows the muscular system to meet the primary requirement for high performance cycling. This capacity is relative to the body mass of the individual, the bike setup and their cycling potential.
XC requires power outputs that exceed 300 watts or more. No question a relationship between power output and aerobic capacity. Maximum heart rate in the relative exercise intensities of mtb is mostly unknown. We know the % of heart rate is high beats/min or about 90% or more. The oxygen cost of XC racing or riding where the course includes ascending, descending, false flats, etc... has not been determined.
Perhaps more the reason our CAD works so well, is the fact that the demands of mtb is not placed by the laboratory-measured power output! Climbing sections on the course has power outputs in excess of the lab! If you set your bike up for only a % of something it will slow you down in this game. Large fluctuations in average power output are more on a minute by minute and not some steady rate like most road fits.
The demands placed on contracting muscles are quite different from a road bike fit, particularly during the uphill. Therefore, average power outputs recorded during a lab trial (common test by physiologists for predictions) are not very accurate indicators of the power demands under real-world circumstances.
Perhaps that is why we have such a rich history of winning the mtb events? In uphill cycling, the cyclist with the higher or the best (power-to-weight ratio) will likely be the most successful.
Providing measurement in estimating mtb cycling performance appears to be limited. Measuring blood lactate (or attempting to determine blood lactate threshold) has little usefulness for estimating cycling performance, since blood lactate concentrations can be maintained by highly trained endurance cyclists exercising at 85% to 90% VO2peak for about an hour or longer.
Just ask Pua Swaicki or Sue Bulter how hard it is to go hard from the gun! Even in the 24, 12 or 4 hour races, you go hard (you against the course) and that means you need to be able to stay on course and go!
Effective training should not be based on a particular blood lactate for mtb or some arbitrary threshold. Replicating the intensities will more effectively prepare the mtb cyclist for competition than a hypothetical threshold.
Catherine Pendrel is the number one ranked International Cycling Union (UCI) rider in the world. She just hung in there on her team-mate Georgia Gould wheel to the very last second, comes around to the finish and got her first U.S. Cup win today in steamy Oak Mountain Park, Alabama. Katerina Nash made it a clean sweep for the Luna squad by finishing 3rd, while Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) and Kelli Emmette (Giant) claimed fourth and fifth respectively.
Today in XC, they all know how important the hole shot is, so a lead group formed with the 3 Luna women and United States of America Cyclo-cross Champion Katie Compton (Team Sho-Air) from the gun.
The lead changed frequently due to the pace at the front until Nash was dropped from the group. "I had a little accident and lost the group," said Nash. "On the road stretches I just couldn't close it so the gap kept getting bigger and bigger." Georgia knows how to make the top end speed; she has learned a few things regarding the pedal stroke. Her stroke has really improved through the years.
"Georgia and I were off the front," she added. "That's where we really started to work like a team. The two drove the pace as hard as they could. I don't win many sprints, so I knew if I could jump on Georgia at the last corner I might win…and that's what I did."
Pendrel fought hard and smart on the final run to the finish line, according to Gould. "I pulled the whole way down the pavement," said Gould. "I probably should have gone a little bit more inside on the corner because she kind of chopped me on the corner. But that's racing. I'll get to chop her in the next race."
The race for 4th between Sawicki (WN & Myo-facts sEMG/Dartfish) and Emmett developed nearly immediately. "I had a really bad start so I had to chase a bit and settle in," Sawicki said. "We were right there with each other. I didn't want it to come down to a sprint because I thought she would probably out-sprint me. So luckily on the climb I was able to get a gap and keep it." We have been working on her hole shots, but understand she is very use to racing 24 hours, so a sprint has not been in her soup.
The weather had a temperature near 90 degrees and it’s in Dixie, so relatively high humidity had the riders feeling the effects as the afternoon wore on.
There was a large crowd and they enthusiastically cheered the riders. Many of the racers commented after the race about all the support they got from fans on the course.
Gould retained the U.S. Cup leader's jersey, despite finishing 2nd. The next U.S. Cup race will be in Colorado Springs on June 13-14. That will test the lungs!
Two racers in the top 5, what more can we want!
Results
Elite Women 1 Catherine Pendrel (Luna Women's MTB)
2 Georgia Gould (Luna WN & Myo-facts sEMG/Dartfish)
3 Katerina Nash (Luna Women's MTB)
4 Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth WN & Myo-facts sEMG/Dartfish)
5 Kelli Emmett (Giant)
At this level, knowing where your hands are in space are key for handling and reducing the
neck tension! We measure this range of motion with every fit!
No comments:
Post a Comment