In preparation for this weekend’s cycling activities, Goose Bump ride leader David Roberts noted that “The weather is looking pretty good for March.“
I normally like to take pictures for the blog, but it was coffee shop weather, 47 degrees and drippy, and I was shivering so much I couldn’t hold the camera steady. Under normal circumstances I would have stayed in bed, but Tom Mage and I convinced one another that a Saturday morning time trial would somehow be a good idea.
This was Tom’s first bike race, and as the instigator I didn’t want to look like a wimp. The results list quite a number of DNFs, which is the list of those smart enough to stay home and sip another cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. Some of the women finishers looked hypothermic as they rolled back into the staging area at Tolt Middle School.
The course was a 14.5 mile loop from Carnation, with 2 hard climbs. I think about 6 riders with disc wheels passed me, but I lost count because my glasses were so fogged and wet I was barely able to do much more than stare at the road ahead.
My standard metrics for whether I’ve had a “good” time trial are my average heart rate and the amount of post-race retching. During Saturday’s race I discovered another indicator: Crossed eyes.
Maybe 45 minutes of gasping puts abnormal pressure on the eye sockets and makes them go wonky?
Copyright © Steve Harshbarger. Not sure whether the high-speed special effect was intentional, but this image conveys what it feels like to ride a time trial.
