With the PA State TT just 3 weeks away, the last thing I wanted to do was take a week off the bike but I really didn't have much choice.
I woke up last Sunday with a seriously sore throat and my nose was running constantly. At the time I thought it was just allergies, but by the end of the day I knew it was something more. I went to work Monday and tried riding but I felt really terrible.
Tuesday I took a turn for the worse and I called out of work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I spent three days pretty much doing nothing but sleeping, watching TV, reading, and eating everything in sight.
I barely got on the trainer Friday just to see if I had any energy yet and I really didn't. My power was really low and my heart rate really high. I cut it short and went into work, which was not fun but at least it got me out of the house.
I'm still kind of congested but I don't have the serious fatigue that I did earlier in the week. I was able to get in a short ride yesterday and didn't feel too terrible. Hopefully today will go a little better.
While I'm sure my body enjoyed the rest, I'd like to get back to training with another 40K coming up!
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Full Speed Success
After several events in a row where I did well but felt I could do better, I can only call yesterday the best I've ever done.
When the year started, my major goal was to do a 40K time trial in under an hour. 59:59 would be good enough, I just wanted under an hour. That would require an average speed of 24.8 mph for an hour, which is pretty fast.
Yesterday at the Church Creek Time Trial in Cambridge, MD, well.... I did a little better than an hour.
After losing a lot of time in the heat three weeks ago at the NJ State Time Trial, I was worried about doing that same thing again. To help keep me cool, I opted for short sleeves this week and didn't wear gloves. I carried one bottle with me on the seat tube, which I had practiced removing and drinking without coming up from the aero bars so I did not lose as much speed while drinking.
There were light winds on this very flat course which seemed to hit me the most in the first and last stretches of the race.
Mentally I had broken the course into four 10K (6.2 mile) quarter. I set my bike computer to automatically set a new lap every 6.2 miles so that I could see my average power for that quarter, making sure that I was pacing correctly.
The first quarter was into the wind and a bit slower than I would have liked. I kept calm, knowing that at some point I would get a tailwind and be able to make up the speed I was losing. I paced it well, hitting the 10K marker just 2 watts above my target power. I had the guy who started 30 seconds in front of me in my sights the whole time, but did not seem to be gaining much.
The second quarter had 2 miles of really bumpy pavement that practically vibrated my aero bars out of my hands. I was all over the lane trying to find smooth pavement, but there was none to be found. I just had to grit my teeth and deal with it. At the end of the quarter, again I was 2 watts above target power, seemed a little closer to my 30-second man and passed one other guy.
The third quarter is always the hardest. I'd been going full speed for a half hour and it was starting to hurt. I had a tailwind now and was going noticeably faster than I was before. I was definitely gaining on my 30-second man and I passed another guy. With the tailwind I was putting out a little less power, and was 1 watt below target this time.
The fourth quarter was sheer agony. My legs and lungs were on fire. My helmet visor was coated in sweat and all I could think was "keep pedaling, you're almost there." I finally caught and passed my 30-second man. That gave me a little mental boost.
In the last 5K, they give you a sign each kilometer telling you how far to go. 5K... 4K... 3K... with 3K to go, I knew I was inside the last 5 minutes and gave it everything I had left. I think I went up about 2 watts, which is almost no difference at all. I had nothing extra left... and suddenly I came around a corner into a headwind. I fought hard to keep my speed up as much as I could, but I really had nothing left.
So far, I had not looked at my overall time. I was watching my average power each quarter and my average power for the overall ride, but not my time. I knew my quarters were pretty fast because I'd happened to glance down to see one turn around 14:30. With 1K to go, I just had to know. I took one had off the aero bar and flicked my finger across the touch screen on my computer... with 1K to go, the computer read 55:55. At that speed, I was going to cover a kilometer in about a minute and 45 seconds. Oh my God!!!
I switched the computer back and dug as deep as I could. Seeing how close I was to a massive personal best, I wanted it to be as fast as possible. My legs screamed in protest but I was so close to the finish I didn't care.
I hit the line, switched to a lighter gear, hit the button on my computer, and suddenly everything hurt. The massive effort hit me all at once, my legs started shaking, my balance was off, and the slightly-out-of-alignment pad in my skinsuit hurt like someone was stabbing me. I managed a wobbly half-standing position over to the start area where they had a jug of water and a bathroom.
A few minutes later, I finally got my time: 57:44, an average speed of 25.8 mph (I posted the wrong time on Facebook by a few seconds). When I was planning the event, I thought I could do 58:45. Maybe if everything went miraculously well, I thought I could hit 58:00. I never dreamed I would come in below that, let alone by 22 seconds.
For comparison, in 2011 I did this course in 1:03:05. Pretty big difference... 5:21.
I finished 7th place. The winner put in a time of 54:23, a speed of 27.4 mph. Now I have a potential target for next year :-)
What went well:
Pretty much everything. My planning, pacing, and equipment choices we dead-on.
I can't remember a race where everything went as perfectly as it did yesterday.
What to work on:
Picking the right outfit to wear so I'm not changing skinsuits in my car halfway through my warmup when I'm soaked with sweat.
Remember that short sleeves and no gloves means sunblock. I got sunburned on the tops of my forearms and hands.
The numbers:
Distance: 40K (24.8 miles)
Time:57:44
Avg Speed: 25.8 mph
Avg Power: 260 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 166 bpm
When the year started, my major goal was to do a 40K time trial in under an hour. 59:59 would be good enough, I just wanted under an hour. That would require an average speed of 24.8 mph for an hour, which is pretty fast.
Yesterday at the Church Creek Time Trial in Cambridge, MD, well.... I did a little better than an hour.
After losing a lot of time in the heat three weeks ago at the NJ State Time Trial, I was worried about doing that same thing again. To help keep me cool, I opted for short sleeves this week and didn't wear gloves. I carried one bottle with me on the seat tube, which I had practiced removing and drinking without coming up from the aero bars so I did not lose as much speed while drinking.
There were light winds on this very flat course which seemed to hit me the most in the first and last stretches of the race.
Mentally I had broken the course into four 10K (6.2 mile) quarter. I set my bike computer to automatically set a new lap every 6.2 miles so that I could see my average power for that quarter, making sure that I was pacing correctly.
The first quarter was into the wind and a bit slower than I would have liked. I kept calm, knowing that at some point I would get a tailwind and be able to make up the speed I was losing. I paced it well, hitting the 10K marker just 2 watts above my target power. I had the guy who started 30 seconds in front of me in my sights the whole time, but did not seem to be gaining much.
The second quarter had 2 miles of really bumpy pavement that practically vibrated my aero bars out of my hands. I was all over the lane trying to find smooth pavement, but there was none to be found. I just had to grit my teeth and deal with it. At the end of the quarter, again I was 2 watts above target power, seemed a little closer to my 30-second man and passed one other guy.
The third quarter is always the hardest. I'd been going full speed for a half hour and it was starting to hurt. I had a tailwind now and was going noticeably faster than I was before. I was definitely gaining on my 30-second man and I passed another guy. With the tailwind I was putting out a little less power, and was 1 watt below target this time.
The fourth quarter was sheer agony. My legs and lungs were on fire. My helmet visor was coated in sweat and all I could think was "keep pedaling, you're almost there." I finally caught and passed my 30-second man. That gave me a little mental boost.
In the last 5K, they give you a sign each kilometer telling you how far to go. 5K... 4K... 3K... with 3K to go, I knew I was inside the last 5 minutes and gave it everything I had left. I think I went up about 2 watts, which is almost no difference at all. I had nothing extra left... and suddenly I came around a corner into a headwind. I fought hard to keep my speed up as much as I could, but I really had nothing left.
So far, I had not looked at my overall time. I was watching my average power each quarter and my average power for the overall ride, but not my time. I knew my quarters were pretty fast because I'd happened to glance down to see one turn around 14:30. With 1K to go, I just had to know. I took one had off the aero bar and flicked my finger across the touch screen on my computer... with 1K to go, the computer read 55:55. At that speed, I was going to cover a kilometer in about a minute and 45 seconds. Oh my God!!!
I switched the computer back and dug as deep as I could. Seeing how close I was to a massive personal best, I wanted it to be as fast as possible. My legs screamed in protest but I was so close to the finish I didn't care.
I hit the line, switched to a lighter gear, hit the button on my computer, and suddenly everything hurt. The massive effort hit me all at once, my legs started shaking, my balance was off, and the slightly-out-of-alignment pad in my skinsuit hurt like someone was stabbing me. I managed a wobbly half-standing position over to the start area where they had a jug of water and a bathroom.
A few minutes later, I finally got my time: 57:44, an average speed of 25.8 mph (I posted the wrong time on Facebook by a few seconds). When I was planning the event, I thought I could do 58:45. Maybe if everything went miraculously well, I thought I could hit 58:00. I never dreamed I would come in below that, let alone by 22 seconds.
For comparison, in 2011 I did this course in 1:03:05. Pretty big difference... 5:21.
I finished 7th place. The winner put in a time of 54:23, a speed of 27.4 mph. Now I have a potential target for next year :-)
What went well:
Pretty much everything. My planning, pacing, and equipment choices we dead-on.
I can't remember a race where everything went as perfectly as it did yesterday.
What to work on:
Picking the right outfit to wear so I'm not changing skinsuits in my car halfway through my warmup when I'm soaked with sweat.
Remember that short sleeves and no gloves means sunblock. I got sunburned on the tops of my forearms and hands.
The numbers:
Distance: 40K (24.8 miles)
Time:57:44
Avg Speed: 25.8 mph
Avg Power: 260 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 166 bpm
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Another Record with an Asterisk
By now, it's no secret that I'm faster on the bike than I've ever been in my life. I've done well in every race and broken every personal best that I've ever had.
The problem that I am having mentally is that very few of those records are over courses I am familiar with. Sure, I just broke my 40K record, but my previous record was not on that same course. Maybe it was easier than the one I had done before.
Yesterday, I was excited to finally be able to do the normal West River Time Trial, held every Saturday through the summer over an 8.2 mile course that I've ridden hundreds of times in my life. Between my racing schedule and the random rainy day, I have not been able to do this yet this year. Yes, the race two weeks ago was on this course but used a different start/end. I was finally about to get the comparison I wanted.... except for one problem.
The road which we use is closed to cars from 6AM to 5PM. The first mile and a half is re-opened to cars at noon, which are blocked by a pair of gates across the road (which are chained and padlocked in place). Whoever closed the road to traffic that morning closed those gates as well, blocking the road for us.
Our solution was to go around them. Once on the way out and once on the way back, each rider would have to drop from racing speed enough to make it onto the sidewalk/path beside the road (which has a very narrow curb cut to get to the trail), travel about 50 yards, then get back onto the road and get back up to racing speed. Looking at my download, I'd guess that I lost about 20 seconds going each way for 40 seconds total.
Other than that, it was a perfect morning. Sunny, light winds, temperatures in the low 60's, not too humid.
My previous best time on this course was 19:42, set back in 2006. Yesterday I did it in 19:32. Let me reiterate this for those of you who missed it: I was 10 seconds faster despite having to go around the gates each way.
I probably would have been under 19:00 otherwise. Of course, I have a race next weekend and won't be able to try again then. I just hope I get another good shot at it this year!!
The problem that I am having mentally is that very few of those records are over courses I am familiar with. Sure, I just broke my 40K record, but my previous record was not on that same course. Maybe it was easier than the one I had done before.
Yesterday, I was excited to finally be able to do the normal West River Time Trial, held every Saturday through the summer over an 8.2 mile course that I've ridden hundreds of times in my life. Between my racing schedule and the random rainy day, I have not been able to do this yet this year. Yes, the race two weeks ago was on this course but used a different start/end. I was finally about to get the comparison I wanted.... except for one problem.
The road which we use is closed to cars from 6AM to 5PM. The first mile and a half is re-opened to cars at noon, which are blocked by a pair of gates across the road (which are chained and padlocked in place). Whoever closed the road to traffic that morning closed those gates as well, blocking the road for us.
Our solution was to go around them. Once on the way out and once on the way back, each rider would have to drop from racing speed enough to make it onto the sidewalk/path beside the road (which has a very narrow curb cut to get to the trail), travel about 50 yards, then get back onto the road and get back up to racing speed. Looking at my download, I'd guess that I lost about 20 seconds going each way for 40 seconds total.
Other than that, it was a perfect morning. Sunny, light winds, temperatures in the low 60's, not too humid.
My previous best time on this course was 19:42, set back in 2006. Yesterday I did it in 19:32. Let me reiterate this for those of you who missed it: I was 10 seconds faster despite having to go around the gates each way.
I probably would have been under 19:00 otherwise. Of course, I have a race next weekend and won't be able to try again then. I just hope I get another good shot at it this year!!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Burning Under the Sun
It's been over a week since I set a lifelong accomplishment and it's way past due for me to write about it.... but the fact is I didn't have a very good day so it does not feel like such a great thing.
I've had a long standing goal of doing a 40 kilometer (24.8 mile) time trial in under an hour. Maintaining 24.8+ mph for an hour is not easy. I've tried several times, with my previous best was in 2011 at 1:02:50.
The New Jersey State Time Trial Championships was held last weekend. It's a gently rolling course that is more downhill on the way our and more uphill on the way back, but it's not that much of a climb really. The biggest challenges came from the weather: 85 degree heat and 15 mph gusting crosswinds that did nothing to make the heat feel any better. They just made it dramatically harder to ride in a straight line.
It was so warm before the race that I had a hard time warming up. I had my trainer set up in the shade and the winds were not enough to even remotely help me keep cool. It got me thinking about things I've seen other riders do, like wearing ice vests as they warm up and maybe finding some way to run a fan off my car. It was brutal.
I rolled up to the start pouring sweat, but not really feeling like my legs and lungs were warmed up enough to race. The long sleeved speed suit and aero helmet with very few vents did not help.
At the start, the guy behind me was giving me grief about having two water bottles on my bike. He kept telling me that I should throw one away and that it would not get me anything in a race like this. I resisted the urge to tell him to mind his own business and an even stronger urge to challenge him to beat me if he thought they were such a detriment to me. Over the course of the race I drank both bottles... and beat that guy by almost 3 minutes.
Mentally, I try to break races into quarters. For a race this length, I did them in 15-minute quarters for easier math on the road.
The first 15 minutes were both the best and the worst. It was the best in the sense that it's the only time during the entire race that I was putting out the kind of power I wanted, about 255 watts. It was the worst in the sense that I felt so awful that I was not sure I'd even finish the race. There was no shade, I was constantly fighting with the winds for control of the bike, and my heart rate was sky high. I was trying to drink only every 15 minutes, but it was so hot that I drank three times in the first 15 minutes. I was not even thinking about pacing my intake so the drinks lasted me the whole hour. I was just drinking all I wanted.
In the second 15 minutes, my power dropped a lot, only averaging about 225. I was still fighting the winds, but dropping my power made me feel a lot better. I was not longer worried about heat stroke and just tried to keep on going. The course curved slightly, putting the winds more at my back... which was only good until I turned around and headed back into them. I hit the turnaround pretty smoothly at 30:32.... not terrible really. I figured that if I could hold the same pace on the way back, I'd finish around 1:01:00 or so, which was still way faster than my previous best. At the turnaround, I was already starting my second bottle.
The third quarter was just hell. My heart rate was back up again and the course was both slightly uphill and into the wind. I still kept my power around 225. I tried keeping my head down as low as I could to cut down my wind resistance all that I could. The winds did not feel as bad as I'd expected. In fact, they seemed to be helping me now. On the way back there was a little more shade, which made it a little more tolerable.
The last 15 minutes was just beyond description. My legs were sore, which I couldn't explain since I was way below my target power. My hips and back were not used to being in this position for so long and were really aching. With about 10 minutes to go, I drank the last of my second bottle. But I had a suspicion... The winds were helping me a lot more than I'd expected. I saw the 1K to go sign at about 58 minutes. As awful as I felt, I knew that I had only about a minute and a half to go and that I would almost certainly reach my goal.
I hit the line at 59:35, immediately switched to a lighter gear, sat up, and unzipped my suit. I pedaled softly for several minutes until I caught my breath. I never really stopped pouring sweat until I'd been back in the car with the air conditioning on for a really long time.
I reached the goal... but it felt a bit hollow. Going into the race, I had expected to hold about 250 to 260 watts for the race. I only averaged 237. My whole season has been focused on hitting a target power for a set duration. To me, missing my target power (even with the heat) was a huge failure. It means that if I had been able to cope with the heat, I would have been a lot faster.
I also look at my new equipment. With the new bike and the rented disc wheel, I am inherently faster than I was before. It's true that the new gear leveled the playing field with the competition, but in comparison to my own goals, I really wanted to break an hour by more than just a few seconds to really feel like it was me that did it and not the bike.
It's a couple more weeks until my next 40K and I am working on being ready for the heat and a much better time.
I've had a long standing goal of doing a 40 kilometer (24.8 mile) time trial in under an hour. Maintaining 24.8+ mph for an hour is not easy. I've tried several times, with my previous best was in 2011 at 1:02:50.
The New Jersey State Time Trial Championships was held last weekend. It's a gently rolling course that is more downhill on the way our and more uphill on the way back, but it's not that much of a climb really. The biggest challenges came from the weather: 85 degree heat and 15 mph gusting crosswinds that did nothing to make the heat feel any better. They just made it dramatically harder to ride in a straight line.
It was so warm before the race that I had a hard time warming up. I had my trainer set up in the shade and the winds were not enough to even remotely help me keep cool. It got me thinking about things I've seen other riders do, like wearing ice vests as they warm up and maybe finding some way to run a fan off my car. It was brutal.
I rolled up to the start pouring sweat, but not really feeling like my legs and lungs were warmed up enough to race. The long sleeved speed suit and aero helmet with very few vents did not help.
At the start, the guy behind me was giving me grief about having two water bottles on my bike. He kept telling me that I should throw one away and that it would not get me anything in a race like this. I resisted the urge to tell him to mind his own business and an even stronger urge to challenge him to beat me if he thought they were such a detriment to me. Over the course of the race I drank both bottles... and beat that guy by almost 3 minutes.
Mentally, I try to break races into quarters. For a race this length, I did them in 15-minute quarters for easier math on the road.
The first 15 minutes were both the best and the worst. It was the best in the sense that it's the only time during the entire race that I was putting out the kind of power I wanted, about 255 watts. It was the worst in the sense that I felt so awful that I was not sure I'd even finish the race. There was no shade, I was constantly fighting with the winds for control of the bike, and my heart rate was sky high. I was trying to drink only every 15 minutes, but it was so hot that I drank three times in the first 15 minutes. I was not even thinking about pacing my intake so the drinks lasted me the whole hour. I was just drinking all I wanted.
In the second 15 minutes, my power dropped a lot, only averaging about 225. I was still fighting the winds, but dropping my power made me feel a lot better. I was not longer worried about heat stroke and just tried to keep on going. The course curved slightly, putting the winds more at my back... which was only good until I turned around and headed back into them. I hit the turnaround pretty smoothly at 30:32.... not terrible really. I figured that if I could hold the same pace on the way back, I'd finish around 1:01:00 or so, which was still way faster than my previous best. At the turnaround, I was already starting my second bottle.
The third quarter was just hell. My heart rate was back up again and the course was both slightly uphill and into the wind. I still kept my power around 225. I tried keeping my head down as low as I could to cut down my wind resistance all that I could. The winds did not feel as bad as I'd expected. In fact, they seemed to be helping me now. On the way back there was a little more shade, which made it a little more tolerable.
The last 15 minutes was just beyond description. My legs were sore, which I couldn't explain since I was way below my target power. My hips and back were not used to being in this position for so long and were really aching. With about 10 minutes to go, I drank the last of my second bottle. But I had a suspicion... The winds were helping me a lot more than I'd expected. I saw the 1K to go sign at about 58 minutes. As awful as I felt, I knew that I had only about a minute and a half to go and that I would almost certainly reach my goal.
I hit the line at 59:35, immediately switched to a lighter gear, sat up, and unzipped my suit. I pedaled softly for several minutes until I caught my breath. I never really stopped pouring sweat until I'd been back in the car with the air conditioning on for a really long time.
I reached the goal... but it felt a bit hollow. Going into the race, I had expected to hold about 250 to 260 watts for the race. I only averaged 237. My whole season has been focused on hitting a target power for a set duration. To me, missing my target power (even with the heat) was a huge failure. It means that if I had been able to cope with the heat, I would have been a lot faster.
I also look at my new equipment. With the new bike and the rented disc wheel, I am inherently faster than I was before. It's true that the new gear leveled the playing field with the competition, but in comparison to my own goals, I really wanted to break an hour by more than just a few seconds to really feel like it was me that did it and not the bike.
It's a couple more weeks until my next 40K and I am working on being ready for the heat and a much better time.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Coming Home
Some races just feel like home. You've ridden the course so many times that you feel a sense of belonging and being home just being on it and that you should have some sort of advantage because of it.
Of course, usually courses like those also come loaded with a lot of memories of races that did not go as well as you'd wanted. Today was one of those courses.
It was the first race this year that I've ever done before. All the races so far this year were new courses that I'd never ridden before, so I had to put a lot more planning into how I'd ride the course. I've ridden today's West River Drive course so many times I probably could have done it with my eyes closed.
I've also got a lot of memories of not getting the time I wanted here. I've always wanted to do times under 20:00 and I've only done it a handful of times in my life. 19:00 was a far off dream.
This year I was really trying not to put a lot of pressure on myself. It's not a priority race for me; I just really wanted to do well here just out of my own history here.
It was a warm morning, with about 72 degrees and high humidity at the start. There was a light wind from the south, so there would be a tailwind on the way out and a headwind on the way back. Considering my speeds in past races, I was aiming for a time of 18:35 and a power of 280 watts. I expected to be slightly ahead of pace and below the power on the way out to allow for the wind and keep a little gas in the tank for the way back.
Of course, for the longest time, this was my only held start of the year and I used to panic over that. Now I've done several and been practicing whenever I could. I didn't even think about the start; it's almost reflex now.
On the way out, I was FLYING. I kept my power up, starting fast off the line and getting up to speed quickly. I was routinely seeing speeds of 27 to 28 mph. I was actually a bit paranoid seeing speeds that high, watching to make sure my power was not too high. I was worried about burning out.
I was also focusing on my position, keeping my head down and trying to be as aero as I could.
I hit the turnaround at 8:55. WAY ahead of pace, but I knew I'd have to fight the wind on the way back... In a rare moment, I was happy with my turnaround. I waited until the last minute to slow down, dove into the turn, and came back out accelerating quickly.
I was probably a mile back before the though went through my head: what wind? I was not really noticing any wind. Then the road slightly bends... ah, there it is! Strong wind right in my face, but I kept enough in reserve that I could increase my power to keep the speed up.
With just a mile to go, I dug as deep as I could, trying to get just a little more power. I was going as hard as I could already and could barely get any more power out of my legs.
I hit the line with nothing left. I don't think I could have done anything more. I looked down at my computer and saw the time... I was stunned. 18:09 and 284 watts. Way faster than what I wanted with exactly the power I wanted. Very nice!
It was good enough for 4th place. I've never even cracked the top 20 in this race before, so I am absolutely ecstatic about that result.
The Numbers:
Distance: 8.1 miles
Time: 18:09
Avg Speed: 26.8 mph
Avg Power: 284 watts
Of course, usually courses like those also come loaded with a lot of memories of races that did not go as well as you'd wanted. Today was one of those courses.
It was the first race this year that I've ever done before. All the races so far this year were new courses that I'd never ridden before, so I had to put a lot more planning into how I'd ride the course. I've ridden today's West River Drive course so many times I probably could have done it with my eyes closed.
I've also got a lot of memories of not getting the time I wanted here. I've always wanted to do times under 20:00 and I've only done it a handful of times in my life. 19:00 was a far off dream.
This year I was really trying not to put a lot of pressure on myself. It's not a priority race for me; I just really wanted to do well here just out of my own history here.
It was a warm morning, with about 72 degrees and high humidity at the start. There was a light wind from the south, so there would be a tailwind on the way out and a headwind on the way back. Considering my speeds in past races, I was aiming for a time of 18:35 and a power of 280 watts. I expected to be slightly ahead of pace and below the power on the way out to allow for the wind and keep a little gas in the tank for the way back.
Of course, for the longest time, this was my only held start of the year and I used to panic over that. Now I've done several and been practicing whenever I could. I didn't even think about the start; it's almost reflex now.
On the way out, I was FLYING. I kept my power up, starting fast off the line and getting up to speed quickly. I was routinely seeing speeds of 27 to 28 mph. I was actually a bit paranoid seeing speeds that high, watching to make sure my power was not too high. I was worried about burning out.
I was also focusing on my position, keeping my head down and trying to be as aero as I could.
I hit the turnaround at 8:55. WAY ahead of pace, but I knew I'd have to fight the wind on the way back... In a rare moment, I was happy with my turnaround. I waited until the last minute to slow down, dove into the turn, and came back out accelerating quickly.
I was probably a mile back before the though went through my head: what wind? I was not really noticing any wind. Then the road slightly bends... ah, there it is! Strong wind right in my face, but I kept enough in reserve that I could increase my power to keep the speed up.
With just a mile to go, I dug as deep as I could, trying to get just a little more power. I was going as hard as I could already and could barely get any more power out of my legs.
I hit the line with nothing left. I don't think I could have done anything more. I looked down at my computer and saw the time... I was stunned. 18:09 and 284 watts. Way faster than what I wanted with exactly the power I wanted. Very nice!
It was good enough for 4th place. I've never even cracked the top 20 in this race before, so I am absolutely ecstatic about that result.
The Numbers:
Distance: 8.1 miles
Time: 18:09
Avg Speed: 26.8 mph
Avg Power: 284 watts
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