Sunday, June 13, 2010

Nebraska State Time Trial Championship: Race Report



Ok, I'm finally getting back to this race report. I know have 2 other races that I also need to write up from this weekend so I am playing major catch-up.

Last Saturday June 12th was my first time trial. I was actually looking forward to it. I had never done an individual TT before and wasn't sure what to expect. I did learn that TT are kind of uneventful but I really enjoyed it and think I may focus on them more in the future.

After we got to the race site running a little late and slugging through the muddy parking lot of this little club in the middle of basically nowhere I got changed and was off to warm up a bit with what I thought was about 10 minutes. I figured out that I would go out for about 7 minutes and have a few minutes to make sure I was on the start line on time. As I was riding back towards the line I heard them call my name on the mic saying I had 40 seconds. I looked down at my Garmin and it said that I had 3 minutes. So I was all of the sudden on the line and ready to go. I had about enough time to get my computer reset and clipped in and then I was off.

After I got going I was feeling ok but wasn't quite comfortable on the bike. I didn't have time to make all of the adjustments that were necessary to get the fit right and I was paying for it. My shoulders were aching and caused me to sit up a few times to give them a break. I kept looking down at me clock and realized I was making good time. My goal was to finish the 24+ mile course in under a hour. The course had hills at the beginning and was out and back so they would be there on the finish as well.

I hit the turnaround point at 26 minutes and was feeling really good about my time until I realized that I had had a tailwind the whole time and was now going directly into the wind. I watched my speed drop by about 4 miles per hour and realized that I will have to push it to make it under an hour. I kept pushing and pulled back both the rider the rider that started 1 and 2 minutes in front of me. I was working on the 3 minute man but when I would try to get out of the saddle and really push up the hills I would hit me knees on the end of the aero bars that were sticking to far back. I ended up finishing in 59:02. I was happy to make my goal of finishing under an hour but I know I can do better. I finished 5th overall with less than 2 minutes behind the leader which I know that I can get 2 minutes off my time pretty easy. I

3 comments:

Ryan said...

Nice helmet. Looks like you came close to third place for state title.

Harp said...

It was a learning experience. I could have pushed harder. I'm looking forward to seeing how I do on the same course for the cornhusker state games.

Bluenoser said...

Looks like TT may be your thing Harp.

-B