Race Against Time TT
Interesting day out at the TT. My plan was to set a baseline for the 20k using just clip-on bars and alloy wheels on my road bike. It was really cold and a bit windy when I first got there around 730. Hopped on the trainer for half an hour to stay warm and keep myself from getting bored waiting for my 9:18 start time. I rolled around the frontage road for a bit and chatted with Mike and Liz about the ride. Mike gave me some great advice not to go too hard on the way out, even pushing for just 1mph faster would be too much. I did a few laps on the frontage road of 5sec sprints and easy spinning to keep my legs fresh and warm. I was able to launch off the line and spin up to 29mph at 110rpm, and slowly brought that back down to 25mph and 95-105rpm. Fortunately the wind subsided by the time I started, as the return side was nearly as fast as the outgoing. I finished 6th of 22 in the Cat5, 31:15 @ 23.8mph. Next stop, Oracle Road Race.
-Brandon
————————-
Following through on a promise to myself to record my thoughts after each race this year. Figured I would share them with anyone interested.
Race #1 The RAT.
It’s cold, I hate riding in the cold, I guess I am a spoiled Arizona rider, give me a choice of 90+ degrees or a cold 40 deg morning and I’m riding in the warmth. But it is Jan and the race is today so lets go. I got to the staging area about 45 mins before my start time, stood around and talked in an effort to put off the inevitable stripping down to my skinsuit and starting to turn the cranks. Eventually did a 10 min spin on the trainer after setting it up on a sidewalk that was not level, which almost led to my first crash of the season. Ciasca watched the whole thing and simply laughed as the “king of the indoor trainer” almost tumbled over trying to get on the thing. After the spin, another 5 mins up and down the road waiting to start, I’m ready, lets do this. Lost track of time and distracted by the man with the bullhorn constantly announcing that one “Gus Amado, please report to the start line”. I figured I would take one more quick spin up and back just to stay warm, after all McLaren starts before me. While riding back to the start line I think that’s funny Jonathan’s number (34) is 2 after me, then I hear “32 your late, just go”! So a rolling start probably equalled out for the 10-15 seconds I was late. I settled in to the tailwind, downhill outbound leg, turning avg cadence of 98 rpm, 291 watts and 30.2 mph. I knew several teamates were in front of me, the first was Rick Ellwanger he gave me something to focus one for the first half of the route. I think I spotted Doug Perry as he passed Rick, so next up was to try and catch Doug. First though was negotiating the first TT turn of the year, executed under the watchful eye of one Don M standing at the turn around, floppy hat on, orange flag in hand (funny the things that stick in your mind when you are suffering). Immediately after the turn I was greeted by the same wind that had helped me on the way out. Now a headwind uphill slog to the finish. Three goals I focused on… catch Doug and stay areo, keep pedaling. Inbound 94 rpm, 299 watts, 20.8 mph, ugh…. somewhere I caught Doug, who’d just passed someone himself. Next up… just finish, stupid wind. Wait there is someone else up the road, if… I… just… work… a little harder, you can do it Shane! Is that a blue jersey? Orange flames middle of the back… yup. Holy heck, Gus! Fancy meeting you here, let’s suffer together these last 500 meters. DONE!
4th place masters 45+
30.49, 24.2 mph
1 second behind Kurt Garbe’s time from last year.
Good day, fun times, good conversation with fantastic teammates.
I look forward to next weekends festivities.
2015 season is here!
-Shane
———————
Aggressors:
This was likely my most pathetic effort to conduct myself credibly at a race event, ever! I spent a fair amount of time trying to shave my legs after I got up so I was behind the curve at that point and stayed behind. I was about to get on my rollers to begin my warmup when I happened to look at the time on my Garmin and realized something was wrong but I couldn’t figure out what initially. It finally sank in that I was due on the start line in about 1 minute, so there would be no warmup today. I donned my helmet and rolled to the start line with 5 seconds to spare. Toward the end of the trip outbound I actually started to warm up a bit but that was dashed when I reached the turnabout and immediately felt the chill wind in my face. Interestingly, and in spite of my pathetic management of this TT, I posted my best time for this course and finished 2nd in my group. The chill remained and I had to hop in the hot tub when I got back home for a few minutes to get rid of it. Given the weather, I needed a good warmup, 30-40 minutes, in order to be comfortable and did not get it. On the other hand, given the outcome, I kind of think the leg shaving made some difference. Hopefully, I’ll do better administratively for the Oracle race.
Rick E.
