I've done a lot of time trials in my life. Most of them are the 8.3 mile West River Time Trial in Philly, which I've done several times a year since 2004. I've done a few 20Ks (12.4 miles) and a couple random distances here and there. But there's nothing like a 40K (24.8 miles).
For most people, that's between 50 minutes (for the elite) and and 1 hour 10 minutes (for the normal people). In order to do well, you need to keep the pace high, but not so high that you burn out part way through. You also don't want to hold back too much and finish feeling like you could have gone harder. Done right, you should hit the finish line and almost collapse.
This course in Cambridge, MD is dead flat. It's kind of a deformed square with 3 turns and no turnaround to worry about. That region is known for its high winds, but the forecast was not calling for anything too bad.
Given my recent training numbers, I was aiming for a time of 1:04:00 and an average power of about 235 to 240 watts.
I'd been watching the weather all week. There was a 50% chance of rain, which would made the race even less fun. What I should have been watching out for was the temperature.
The adventure began the day before, when Shelli and I drove down. A really dark set of clouds rolled in just as we were leaving, giving us the last moment of dryness for the entire trip. It poured almost the whole time.
Making things worse, my GPS unit decided that the best way to go was to go about 30 miles out of our way to the east. I thought the estimated time was a lot higher than what Google Maps had said, but I thought maybe it was just a difference in the anticipated speed settings. Nope. What should have been about a 3 hour drive (without traffic) was more of a 4 hour drive. In the pouring rain.
Race morning was better. Sort of. It was sunny with light winds. It was also hot and humid. It was 80 when I got on the trainer to start warming up. Luckily, I'd planned ahead a little. I drank two bottles of Cytomax before I had even gotten there and had another one while I was on the trainer. I did not want to dehydrate out there. I knew it was going to be rough in the heat just watching my heart rate climb.
I set up my power meter to show me current power, average power, heart rate, and distance. I wanted to know where I was in the race and how my pacing was going. I didn't have time showing.
The race itself is a bit of a blur. I remember that the first 4 or 5 miles were brand new pavement with a touch of a tailwind. It was beautiful. I probably went a little too hard in this section since it was so nice. After turn 1, we had 3 or 4 miles of really bumpy pavement, which had my aero bars vibrating in my hands. After turn 2, the winds started kicking up, just as the heat started really getting to me. I think the winds kept me cooler, even though they made me work harder. After turn 3, I was really hurting. My heart rate was brushing into the 170's and all I could think was "keep pedaling." A few times I got out of the saddle and pushed it hard for a few strokes just to try to keep my legs moving.
Usually you'll give it whatever you've got for the last few miles of a time trial. I was already there. I tried accelerating, tried picking it up, it was all I had already. The last 500 meters, I think I was able to give it just a tiny bit more, but not a lot. I had given it absolutely all that I had. I hit the line, shifted to a lighter gear, coasted, let out a huge sigh, and dropped my head to relax my neck a bit... then I remembered to hit the button on the computer. When I looked down, I saw it say 1:03:05. Even missing several seconds, I was still a minute better than my goal.
My power numbers were not so great. I was aiming for 235 to 240 watts. My average was 231. It's still not a bad number, I just wanted to do better. I think the heat took a little bit of a toll on me.
After the race, I could barely move. It kept riding to cool down a little, but that was at about 5 mph. My legs were cooked and I was sweating like crazy. Luckily Shelli was right there to let me in the car so we could crank up the air conditioning and get me another bottle of Cytomax.
The numbers from the download:
Total Distance: 40K (24.8 miles)
Time: 1:02:49 (I was coasting longer than I thought before I hit the button!)
Average Speed: 23.7 mph
Average Power: 231 watts
Average Heart Rate: 168 BPM
On an equipment note, this was the first race with my Rudy Project Wingspan helmet and my new Oakley Jawbone sunglasses with polarized vented lenses.
The helmet was great. For a hot day like this, you can open up the vent in the front and open the underside of the rail, sacrificing a little aerodynamics in the name of better ventilation. It worked great.
The glasses performed great as well. Even though it was pretty humid, they didn't fog up once. When I was riding almost straight into the sun, I could still see perfectly.
I still have two more time trials to go, both of them 20K. They will be shorter, but that just means I can go faster :-)
My morning weight today was 181.4. I've only lost 1.4 pounds in the last three weeks, but at least I'm moving in the right direction!
