I was on the fence about Sunday’s ride. I was leaning heavily in favor of joining the Randonneurs’ 100K Urban Populaire, but I woke up humming “take me home country roads,” so I packed the car and headed for Flaming Geyser State Park instead.
The Course:
10 miles out and back on a country road complete with an unending monster truck parade. It was virtually flat, although some of the incoming racers, in what I believe to be an altered state of consciousness, warned of a “slight uphill on the return trip.” By the time I got on course, which was almost 11 AM, there was a slight breeze from the south-southeast. My speed data looked relatively even the entire race, so I don’t think elevation change or wind were significant.
Report:
Weather conditions were cool and clear, and there was a record breaking turnout of 220 finishers. Results. Check out cat 4 Robin Secrist in amongst the top women finishers. Looks like the cat 1 and 2 women have a new playmate.
The video below shows blastoff for the first 40 racers or so. The first clips were taken about .25 miles from the start, so everyone was really revved up by this point. I slowly worked my way towards the start so you gradually see riders in wind-up mode, then just starting.
For perspective, the fastest riders came in with times around 21 minutes, which pencils out to an average speed of about 28 mph, while the slower riders came in under 30 minutes and an average speed of about 21 mph.
For those of you who raced, sorry, I didn’t edit names into the video but most of the time you can see enough team markings to identify yourselves. (Totally bad shot of Mick or Martha Walsh, unfortunately.)
For the rest of us, take a look at the gear and aero positioning of the different riders, and…check out the blazing youngsters! Note the distinctive rumble of the disc wheels. Definitely impressive when coupled with the doppler effect as one of them passes.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I think time trials are a great entry point for recreational cyclists interested in racing, or for riders looking for a way to explore the outer limits of their fitness.
For the recreational cyclist, the time trial experience goes something like this:
1. When you sign up, you get a start time. Depending on the site and situation, allow enough time to get to the race and to warm up. Since this race was so short, most folks pedaled their wind trainers or on the road for as much as an hour before their races.
When your start time approaches, head for the start area and listen for your name or number and line up as directed.
2. A race official is usually on hand to hold your bike in place so you can lock into the pedals and get into a ready position.
1. Aero equipment? Don’t worry about it. This week, for example, I used a standard road bike with heavy-duty 25c tires left over from a previous adventure. I made one aero modification, which was to remove the front water bottle cage. Rumor has it that leaving the rear one in with a partially filled bottle helps streamline a bit. I remember seeing this feature on Floyd Landis’ time trial bike in the 2006 Tour de France.
2. Goof ups will probably happen. My racing number was not well-attached, and in the starting area a helpful spectator advised that it looked like I was wearing a wind sock. I actually did this on purpose to counteract the aero modification described above, and to increase the intensity of the workout.
3. The starter gives you a countdown, and you are off! Pedal like hell until it’s over. There is usually an initial shock of strong pain in the legs and lungs, but it dulls after a few minutes and you carry on.
4. The whole point is to push as hard as you can over the given distance. Personally, I find it difficult to use perceived exertion to judge how hard I’m going. I use a heart rate monitor, but friends advise throwing it away and getting a power meter.
The advantage of a heart rate monitor and/or power meter is that these tools provide objective data about what is going on with your body, and give a way to determine whether you can push yourself even a bit harder. (Though the real benefit is that these enable you to fine-tune your training program.) In race or competitive conditions most folks I know turn off the speedometer and just look at heart rate and power.
5. After the finish, if you have really pushed yourself, you may lapse into a fit of retching that borders on puking. Some riders report seeing stars or black spots during the race. You may not want to mention this during your next doctor visit…
6. Although the race scene is intimidating for the non-racer, my experience has been that folks at time trials are supportive of everyone, even middle-aged geeks wearing their race bibs like wind socks.
Get after it:
Cycle University continues to host weekly indoor time trials on their computraniers through the end of March.
It looks like the next outdoor time trial in the region is Carnation Time Trial #1 on Sunday April 6th.
Have fun, get fit, play hard.
