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
