I was about as valuable as a 50 cent bag of chips this weekend. As the sun rose Saturday morning I was setting up barricades and hay bales for the day's races. After watching the first race I headed home for a little rest before gathering up a few more items and driving back to the race. This weekend's 60 minute races were longer than the typical Cat 3 races so I was not too concerned about showing up to the line a little late and not getting a great starting spot. I was patient and gradually moved up at times and felt pretty good going up the hill. Then, about halfway through the race, there was a little pile up on the final little sweeping bend before the line. Much like the Tilles Park race, I got tangled up, rolled onto a downed riders wheel and had to unclip from the pedals but never hit the pavement. That was the good news. The bad news is that I was "arriere de la course' when they put us back into the race, and frankly, I am just not that great and working my way through a pack. I did okay though and still felt I had a chance to execute my planned late race effort. But, as we approached two laps to go, there was another big use of brakes that put me right at the back of the pack again. Game over for any meaningful contribution.
Saturday evening was the new time trial course at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri. Conditions were a little cool but pleasant. The only glitch was that the start times were about 20 minutes behind schedule. Nothing wrong with a little extra time to warm up or get accustomed to the bike, though. After the crit, I slapped on some new aerobars on the road bike and my warmup served as my 'learn to ride aerobars again' lesson. The different position definitely took some getting used to after not having done a TT in several years. The clock ticked past 7pm and it was time to get in line for my start. The rider that was scheduled to start before me did not show up. Instead Andrew Chocha moved up eight minutes into the vacant slot ahead of me. The guy is one of the faster time trialists in the state was not the kind of rider I would have liked starting in front of me. Like most people, I guess, I would prefer having someone that serves as a carrot. A person that you may not catch but the mere sight of them ahead drives you to dig a little deeper. This was not the case with Chocha in front of me. He was off and out of sight, leaving me with nothing to stare at but black, winding pavement.
All things considered, I did okay. Judging how hard to go in a time trial is always a little dicey, especially without any kind of power meter, HRM or even a computer to give feedback on how fast you are going. On that front, I think my effort was dosed pretty well. The course was very nice for a time trial with smooth pavement and little traffic. As nice as the course was, I wish I had done a reconnaissance ride in the weeks leading up to the race. The turns were all sweeping and gentle but there was that little hesitation in the back of my mind about what lay ahead. The only time that came into play, however, was at the turnaround point. There were a number of cones across the road and two people there, one with a waving flag, indicating that this was the turnaround. But, my oxygen deprived brain cells were not comprehending the situation very well. The way the flag was being waved it appeared that we were supposed to go through cones and loop around. That makes no sense, and made no sense at the time either, but it truly seemed that way and I was following through with the .
I have read that the proper way to handle a TT turnaround is to brake as late as possible, and then sprint out of the turn. Thanks to my confusion, I stumbled into this strategy by accident. My brain synapses began firing properly at the last moment and I squeezed the brakes hard with a little rear wheel fishtailing for extra effect, then turning left around the small circle and out of the saddle to get back up to speed. My heartrate didn't need to beat any faster but that escapade tacked on a few extra thump-thumps, I am sure.
The turnaround provided me with an idea about how I was doing. The guy behind seemed to be a little closer than a minute and not far behind him was a guy from Mizzou that seemed to be going really well. Sure enough, the Mizzou guy caught me on the return trip. Not sure who guy was but he must have had a pretty good time. Probably a little over 19 minutes. I finished in 21:54, I think. Not great, but not bad for first time effort. With better wheels and some practice, the times should get better.
Sunday's race in Forest Park... happened. That is about it. My legs felt sluggish before the race and they never did get much better as I spent most of the race at the very back of the pack. I made some efforts to move up on the backstretch but would slide backward again. That was my whole day. Move up a little then move back and repeat the process. The only positive is that I finished and last year I lost contact with two laps to go. That's not much consolation and I have been kind of grumpy about how I rode this weekend, mentally beating myself up working up a little anger. My chance for a little redemption is next Sunday in Washington. I sucked at the circuit race last year and can only hope that the new crit course treats me better.
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Saturday evening was the new time trial course at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri. Conditions were a little cool but pleasant. The only glitch was that the start times were about 20 minutes behind schedule. Nothing wrong with a little extra time to warm up or get accustomed to the bike, though. After the crit, I slapped on some new aerobars on the road bike and my warmup served as my 'learn to ride aerobars again' lesson. The different position definitely took some getting used to after not having done a TT in several years. The clock ticked past 7pm and it was time to get in line for my start. The rider that was scheduled to start before me did not show up. Instead Andrew Chocha moved up eight minutes into the vacant slot ahead of me. The guy is one of the faster time trialists in the state was not the kind of rider I would have liked starting in front of me. Like most people, I guess, I would prefer having someone that serves as a carrot. A person that you may not catch but the mere sight of them ahead drives you to dig a little deeper. This was not the case with Chocha in front of me. He was off and out of sight, leaving me with nothing to stare at but black, winding pavement.
All things considered, I did okay. Judging how hard to go in a time trial is always a little dicey, especially without any kind of power meter, HRM or even a computer to give feedback on how fast you are going. On that front, I think my effort was dosed pretty well. The course was very nice for a time trial with smooth pavement and little traffic. As nice as the course was, I wish I had done a reconnaissance ride in the weeks leading up to the race. The turns were all sweeping and gentle but there was that little hesitation in the back of my mind about what lay ahead. The only time that came into play, however, was at the turnaround point. There were a number of cones across the road and two people there, one with a waving flag, indicating that this was the turnaround. But, my oxygen deprived brain cells were not comprehending the situation very well. The way the flag was being waved it appeared that we were supposed to go through cones and loop around. That makes no sense, and made no sense at the time either, but it truly seemed that way and I was following through with the .
I have read that the proper way to handle a TT turnaround is to brake as late as possible, and then sprint out of the turn. Thanks to my confusion, I stumbled into this strategy by accident. My brain synapses began firing properly at the last moment and I squeezed the brakes hard with a little rear wheel fishtailing for extra effect, then turning left around the small circle and out of the saddle to get back up to speed. My heartrate didn't need to beat any faster but that escapade tacked on a few extra thump-thumps, I am sure.
The turnaround provided me with an idea about how I was doing. The guy behind seemed to be a little closer than a minute and not far behind him was a guy from Mizzou that seemed to be going really well. Sure enough, the Mizzou guy caught me on the return trip. Not sure who guy was but he must have had a pretty good time. Probably a little over 19 minutes. I finished in 21:54, I think. Not great, but not bad for first time effort. With better wheels and some practice, the times should get better.
Sunday's race in Forest Park... happened. That is about it. My legs felt sluggish before the race and they never did get much better as I spent most of the race at the very back of the pack. I made some efforts to move up on the backstretch but would slide backward again. That was my whole day. Move up a little then move back and repeat the process. The only positive is that I finished and last year I lost contact with two laps to go. That's not much consolation and I have been kind of grumpy about how I rode this weekend, mentally beating myself up working up a little anger. My chance for a little redemption is next Sunday in Washington. I sucked at the circuit race last year and can only hope that the new crit course treats me better.
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