In an Instant

The short story is that I won for the second week in a row and I'm now in the lead for the TT series. I'm very happy that even though each week the race has gotten just a tiny bit longer (growing from 7 miles to 10 miles),  my average speed has gone up every week (going from 25.4 mph to 26.2 mph).

The bigger story was what happened right behind me in 2nd through 4th place. People talk about time trials being very close and every second counts. You have to go as hard as you can from the start to the finish and pace it perfectly in the middle.

The times for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place this week:
     23:15.65
     23:16.13
     23:16.94

That's 3 people finishing in 1.29 seconds (probably less time than it took to read that sentence).

An extra half watt through the whole race, a slightly smoother turnaround, a slightly faster start, taking just a slightly straighter line around a pothole, getting back up to speed just an instant earlier after the turnaround... there's almost an endless list of ways that someone could have made up that difference.

It's the kind of things that can drive you nuts when it's you. These are the kinds of things that I look for each week in this blog, trying to track what things I did right and what I could have done better. Believe me, it's really hard to do a time trial without any mistakes. There's a lot to pay attention to and you have to do it all while pushing as hard as you can (which of course, takes some knowledge of your own abilities and limits going into the race).

Nick, Glen, and Anthony all deserve kudos for a blazing fast race.

Next week everything changes. The High Point Hill Climb is 5.5 miles with a total of 1200 feet of climbing. It claims an average of 4% grade but that's a lie since there are a couple of short descents. It's really more like 5 or 6% average with a couple of places near 20%.

I have no delusions that I'll win next week. I know a few guys with the same power output that I have but they are 20 to 30 pounds lighter, so they should beat me by a minute or more up a climb that steep and that long. All I can do is my best and try to earn a few more points for the series.

What I did right:
Planning the course
Pacing the course
Position

What could have been better:
I was way too worried about this race all week (I was really worried about my series score in this race)
Lost a few seconds taking the turn too tight (I almost hit a cone)

The Numbers:
Distance: 9.95 miles
Time: 22:51
Speed: 26.2 mph
Avg Power: 283 watts
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm