I'd bet not too many people can say that they've ridden their bike inside a plane, let alone out the back of one.
Today was the C-130 time trial in Dover, DE. It starts in the cargo bay of a C-130 cargo plane. I roll down the ramp, through a few tight turns, then I'm off the airfield and onto a very flat, straight road. It was 11 miles out and 10 miles back with pretty strong (15 mph) winds against me the whole way out and with me the whole way back.
In other words, it was a blast!
The way out was definitely a challenge. I had to keep reminding myself not to go too hard. With a strong wind and only seeing about a 22 mph average, it was all I could do to restrain myself. Especially once someone passed me.
Part of the fun was playing cat and mouse with a guy who had passed me about 7 miles out. I caught him before the turnaround and pulled ahead. We went through the turn almost together, then he pulled ahead of me again right after.... for now...
The turnaround was among the coolest I've ever done. Instead of just a cone in the road that you have to slow down to a crawl to get around, the turnaround was at the split of a fork in the road. We went slightly past the split (maybe 50 yards) then turned left onto a very short road, then left again to go back the way we were coming.
Once out of the turnaround, I picked up the pace just a little. I still had 10 miles to go and didn't want to burn out. With the tail wind, the speed was much higher, seeing speeds consistently around 26 to 28 mph. I kept the guy who had passed me in my sights, about 15 seconds in front of me.
With six miles to go, I decided to go for it. I shifted up two gears, accelerated, and roared past the guy in front of me. I never saw him again. My cadence was a little slow, but I always loved mashing a big gear like that. With the tail wind's help, I held around 30 mph.
With just a mile to go, I was hurting. Almost 50 minutes in, my legs and lungs were just on fire. I pushed a little harder, trying to get just a little more speed as we came around a curve and the wind turned against me. It was in my face but I still kept on going.
I crossed the line, 52:09.
Some numbers:
Total time: 52:09
Total Distance: 21 miles
Avg Speed: 24.1 mph
Avg Power: 245 watts
Avg Speed out: 22.1 mph
Avg Power out: 240 watts
Avg Speed back: 27.1 mph
Avg Power back: 252 watts
Rather interestingly, my speed and power were identical to the West River Time Trial last weekend, where I also averaged 24.1 mph and 245 watts, but for only 8.35 miles. I need to pick up the pace a little there!
P.S.: I placed 12 out of 22. I'm not a great time trialist, so I'm happy with that result. The guy I was alternating got a time only 3 seconds better than mine in the end (remember, he started 30 seconds behind me, so I pulled ahead of him by 27 seconds in 6 miles). If only I'd gone just a bit harder!
