Against the clock

Yesterday, July 2, 2010, I did my first time trial since my 7th place finish in the PA State Championship Time Trial... in 1997. It's been thirteen years and I was a little nervous about it.

For those who don't know, a time trial is a race where it's just you against the clock. There is no pack of other racers to hide in and take cover from the wind. You're out there alone, exposed. It's not who crosses the line first like every other race, but it's who has the fastest time on the course that wins. The bike are different too. They are designed to cheat the wind. Same with the helmets if one chooses to wear one of that kind. In this race they sent a rider off every thirty seconds and every thirty seconds I moved a bike length closer to the start line. Then it was my turn, three... two... one... GO!

One thing about time trials is that you have to pace yourself, you don't want to start off too fast or you'll tire out quicker... which is exactly what I did. Too fast at first. Nerves got the better of me.  After a few laps into the 30 lap (15 mile) race, my legs were aching bad with lactic acid, forcing me to back off a little and recover. Okay, got through that, legs were coming around. Then my right knee started to hurt a lot. Grrr... but I kept pedaling and eventually that went away too (tho it seems I need to do some adjusting on my borrowed bike). About half way thru the race I was wanting to throw up, finding that fine line between pushing too hard and yet not hard enough. I was right at that line, good.

At lap thirty, my last lap, I stomped around the course and crossed the finish line. Whew... over. Whoops! Apparently there were some cones set up that I had to cross the finish line on the other side of so they can record my time, which I didn't do. But I was watching the timer on my bike computer so I was able to give them that time, which was probably close to what they were going to record, I hope.

So I finished the 15 mile time trial with a time of 36:34, my time, not theirs. That's an average speed of 24.6 MPH. I don't know where I placed yet. I'm waiting for the results to be posted online. Eh... I'll take that given that was my first time trial in thirteen years, I went too hard at first and blew up having to ease a little to recover, and finding I still need to make some adjustments to the bike to be more efficient (and less painful). I also found that my upper body, specifically my shoulders, need better conditioning to be in that "aerodynamic tuck" position for an extended time. After a while during the race my shoulders were getting sore and tired. The next time trial race is in two weeks, another Friday night race, and it's a 20 mile race. I have two weeks to train, tweak, and try again. I would love to break the 25 MPH mark. On another note, my teammate Brian Hopkins crushed the 15 mile course record. That was great to see. Much respect.