Endurance

This is looking to be my training or possibly mental issue. I can competently sprint, climb, position myself, corner, read a race, draft, etc. The biggest problem is hanging on long enough to be able to put those skills to use when it counts. After maybe 20 minutes I suffer and fall off the back. This won't do. This fall I'll be doing the B races in cyclocross, which are 45 minutes. The longer crits such as Northfield are showing that I won't be able to ride strong for that long. It's late in the season to be realizing this. Or maybe I'm just lazy and, unlike others, I don't have the mental fortitude to suffer long enough. In any event, I need to get out and tempo for longer periods of time. Last Saturday helped show me that, although getting dropped by the powerhouses I was riding with is maybe not a fair barometer of my fitness as a new Cat 4. Nevertheless, long tempo will be good training, and hopefully rescue my cyclocross season. I'm hoping some long hilly miles in Colorado next week will help as well.