Two in a Row

This weekend I had to choose between two races: one on a really hilly course (Lake Nockamixon) and one on a very flat course (Blueberry). I waffled back and forth for the last two weeks.

At the last minute, I chose Blueberry. I had done Nockamixon twice before and it's just not a course that I enjoy. It's a beautiful course and a well-run event, but it's almost constant climbing and descending for just a couple minutes at a time with no chance to get into a rhythm on the road.

I had never done Blueberry before, so it would be a new experience. Most of the guys I had been racing all season would be there. Perhaps most importantly, it's part of the NJ time trial series that I want to compete in next year and I wanted to do the course to gain the experience. Oh yeah, and it had a start ramp :-)

The course was more or less a triangle. We start in the middle of one leg and then have three sharp right-hand turns on the course. One leg of the triangle had some rolling hills, just enough to slow you down a bit but not enough to really consider them climbs.

We got there on time, got in a good warmup, and got to the start ramp just a minute before my start.

I thought the ramp would be exciting, but I was more worried about the road at the bottom. We would roll down the ramp at an angle to the road and then have to ride in a 2 foot wide section of road that was blocked off by cones. It was going to be a bit tight.

I was so nervous that I messed up my normal routine. In the final countdown, I usually hit the Start button on my computer with 2 seconds to go. I messed up and hit the wrong button. I made it through the cones without incident, when I noticed the alert on my computer telling me that motion was detected and did I want to start the clock. I had probably been rolling for 5 or 10 seconds, but I would not know my exact finish time when I finished.

Like most of these flat, straight time trials, I could see my 30-second man almost the whole time. As I settled into my target power, I started keeping an eye on him. I was a bit worried because going into the first turn about two miles into the course, he was about 35 seconds ahead of me. He was pulling away!

The turn was really sharp and I had to slow down from 27 mph to about 18 mph to make it through without running over the volunteer manning the corner. I sprinted out of the corner, maybe a little too hard, and settled back into my target power.

Once I was comfortably back in my rhythm, I started watching my 30-second man again. When he'd go past a sign, I'd look at my bike computer and see how long it took me to get there. The first one was 25 seconds. Then 20 seconds, then 10... I was not just gaining, I was accelerating in relation to him. I was careful to keep my power right on target and not overdo it. I caught him at about mile 8.

By then, he was the 4th person I'd caught and no one else was in sight. It's very motivating to have people in front of you to chase and now it was just me and my power meter.

I was really looking for the next turn. I finally saw two guys in orange vests standing a little off to the side, just talking to each other. At first I thought they were blocking traffic on a cross street, but then I saw the train tracks ahead that I was pretty sure we were not supposed to cross. I yelled out "Where do I go??" They look annoyed that they had to respond, but they both pointed into the turn. By then I was almost on top of them and had to jam on the brakes and take the turn in WAY too big of a gear. I probably lost a few seconds there since it's really hard to get back up to speed in a huge gear like that. (on a side note, I talked to several other people at the finish who had completely missed the turn because of those two volunteers not doing their job)

The third leg was really nice because it was almost all in the shade and, most of all, I knew the finish line was about a half mile from the end of it. I spotted another rider in the distance and was gradually gaining on him.

Going into the last turn, I was just about on top of that other rider. I decided not to risk passing him in the turn so I slowed down. Then he slowed down a LOT to take the turn. I was really annoyed at how much time I lost in that turn waiting for him to go through. As soon as I was through, I sprinted past him.

In just a few seconds, I saw the 500-meter-to-go sign.... or perhaps I should say, forest of signs. There were signs every 50 meters to the finish line telling you how far to go. 500, 450, 400... I hit the line at about 35:03 according to my computer... but remember that I didn't start right away.

It was not until after I got back to the car, got changed, got something to eat, and wandered over to the award ceremony that I would find out my actual time... when the announcer called it out as the winning time and I got to take the top step of the podium.

That makes two wins in two weeks! My next race is in two weeks with a much harder course. We'll see how I do there.

What went well:
Pretty much everything.

What to work on:
Tight turns at high speed
Passing people before a turn

The Numbers:
Distance: 15.5 miles
Time: 35:18
Avg. Speed: 26.35 mph
Avg Power: 265 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 165 bpm

A Different Result

This week I had to choose between two races: The PA State Time Trial Championship and the Sandrino's Sacrifice TT. The PA State TT was a 40K (25 miles) over hilly terrain, almost three hours away, and required a hotel (or to leave at 4 AM).

Sandrino's Sacrifice TT was 7.7 miles over pretty flat terrain (with no turnaround) and less than an hour away. It was also part of a series to which most of my races this year belonged, so I'd be racing against people I knew. Shelli is still on crutches from her knee surgery. It also seemed like a better idea to have a shorter drive and a race with a parking lot right at the start line. It seemed like more fun and less hassle, so that's what I did.


This race was the culmination of the season's lessons so far: I had a new time trial helmet, which is the best one yet. It's sleek and aerodynamic but comfortable and surprisingly well vented. I knew that I had to worry about overheating in the humidity while warming up, so I got a DC converter for the car so I could have a fan blowing on me. I also wore an ice vest while warming up to make sure my core temperature stayed down. I kept my drinks in a cooler with ice packs to keep them cold. Since it was warm and humid, I wore the shirtsleeve suit.

I rolled up to the start line feeling well-warmed up but not overheated, even though it was almost 80 degrees and pretty high humidity. I was also surprisingly calm considering my goal was to win today.

I started out strong... a little too strong, actually. At the end of the first 5 minutes, after two slight climbs, my power was about 15 watts higher than my target. I should have slowed down, but I made a rookie mistake and kept the power up, thinking I was just having a magical day and that I could maintain it. Um.... no.

I caught several people on the road. It was kind of a pain to pass on this course. There was a nice shoulder for riding, but there was not enough room to pass in the shoulder. I had to go out into the traffic lane on a road with a 45 mph speed limit and a fair number of cars, so I had to time my passes just right so I didn't get run over.

At 10 minutes, I knew I was in trouble. I could feel the humidity and breathing a lot heavier than I wanted to be. My power was dropping. I was 15 watts above target before, now I was struggling to stay 10 watts below. Not good.

They told us at the start that at about 1K to go, there was a 4-way intersection with state police. I had passed that quite a while back, it seemed, so I was looking for another one. There is usually a sign with 1K to go. If there was, I did not see it. I was really hurting and looking for the finish.

As I came around a slight curve, I could see the finish cones and tent ahead. Relieved it was almost over, I dug deep and pulled my power up just a couple of watts.

I hit the finish, shifted to an easier gear, hit the lap button on my computer, and then pulled into the gas station parking lot to wait... I waited to see how close the guys behind me were. My biggest competitors started 30 seconds and 1 minute 30 seconds behind me. The first one arrived... I think at 36 seconds. The second arrived at 2 minutes. I was pretty sure that I had won.

We rode back to the start, chatting about gear and racing. I got changed, put all my stuff away, and wandered over to the start just in time to see the results.

I was right: I had won. After three second-places this year, I had finally won my first bike race :-)

What I did right:
Kept cool while warming up
Picked a race I really wanted to do
I took a bottle with me to drink on the ride back from the finish line

What could have been better:
My pacing

The Numbers:
Distance: 7.7 miles
Time: 17:29
Avg Speed: 26.4 mph
Avg Power: 282 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm