Posted by Paul on Tuesday, June 08, 2004 at 10:10 PM
District TT Championships, June 6, 2004
Description:
This is a mostly flat fast course, not so much as Moriarty, but still a great course for fast times. But not so on this day, as there was a little wind. In a TT, a little wind feels like a tornado. We previewed the course the day before and it was really windy, so at least we knew how bad it could be. Riders started at 30 second intervals.
How it Went:
Had a good warm up with the Pegasus girls. I rode the TT Land Shark with Zipp front 440 and a rear 404. I was 2 minutes behind Vaughn, but started 30 seconds in front of Hutchinson. Ouch!
I had a good start and quickly hit a good rhythm - my HR was good and I was feeling pretty comfy. My average speed was probably in the high 27's (mph). After 10K no one has caught me, and although I've caught one person, I can't see my 30 second man anymore. Hmmm. At about 12K Hutchinson passes me. Darn. But, it's a good thing, as I increase my effort and match his speed. On the last hill going out, in fact, I very nearly catch him back.
At 15K we come up on Vaughn. I pass Vaughn going 29 mph, probably a little adrenaline burst since I'm still pretty close to Mr H. But shortly thereafter the wheels come off - figuratively, of course. I start to wither. I can barely see Mr H as he makes his turn. I make my turn - not a pretty site, but at least I didn't crash it, and start the second half. My split was around 27:40 which is a little slower than I had hoped for.
The wind is kicking up some, and I'm not up to the task. For the next 10K I was awful - for parts of it I was down to 22 mph. Not pretty. H is completely out of my sight now.
I come up to the 10K to go sign, which has a smallish hill (which feels like Mount Hamilton now) but there's a downhill after to pick up some momentum for the final push. I wind it up and get maybe close to 28 mph for a short time, but then am able to just waver between 24 and maybe 27. I'm not comfortable, my crotch hurts, my left shoulder aches, my right hand is falling asleep. I'm just trying to save some dignity and finish strong.
56:49 was the official time (I think). Not too impressive, but it was windy. I ended up third in the Master 35+ Open category. Not too bad, I guess, but I'm motivated to do better next year.
Avg hr: 167 bpm
Avg speed: 26.2 mph
0 Comments:
