So, those of you on SLC have already read my race report, but today sucked. Winds were strong out of the east and temperatures were cold...like low 30s. Did not make for a wonderful day of time trialing.
There were quite a lot of people there that I knew. Tony, Mr. Wieczorek, Zach McBride, Taylor Birmann and Taylor's Dad. I jumped on the trainer earlier than normal, just to stay warm. Then McBride and Birmann went to pre-ride the course, I decided too as well. I met up with them while they were on their way back. As I turned around to catch up with them, I hit a wall of wind. That is when I knew it would not be a good day of racing. Tony and his Dad had been on their trainers this whole time and seemed ready to go. We all wanted to improve our time from last year. I was the only one who wouldnt make that goal.
Before long it was time to head to the start and by before long, I mean it came up quicker than I thought it would, so I had to rush to get everything set to race. In the rushing, I realized I forgot to put my heart rate monitor on. I had that realization as Zach McBride was taking off down the hill, 30 seconds before my start. Needless to say, I rode without it. Despite the wind, I really like this course. It's somewhat technical with two 180-degree turns, and four other 90-degree turns. It also has some nice rolling roads.
For the most part the course was dry, no ice and no big holes. The volenteers need a little work though. They assumed the riders knew where they were going and did not bother to direct them. Not such a problem, but I assume it messed a few people up. Also, the workers at the first and last corner need a LOT of work. They let a car go as I was approaching the first turn. This caused me to swing wide to avoid hitting it. On my way back, the same people were standing in the middle of the intersection, in the middle of my line. One of them was a Sherriff. I ended up yelling at them to move and came within inches of running over the officer and one of the volenteers....and still ended up on the shoulder.
When I got to the top of the knob, trying hard to keep the bike moving, I knew I knew I had not put in a great time. I felt strong on the way out, but not so much on the way back. Mentally I was pushing as hard as I could, but physically my legs would not respond. My final time was 45:33 a 22.9mph average which was 2 seconds slower than last year.
Despite my poor time, it was good enough for me to grab 2nd in the Men's 20-24 catagory. I actually beat Steven Howard from Bissell, who is a Cat I/II.
I hope to put in a good time at Willow, to show that I really am a decent time trialist haha.
4 comments:
You should have done the STS.
Don't sweat the times - they can vary a lot from year to year if the conditions are different. Even if your time was a bit slower, I bet your overall placing was higher. And beating Sven Howard is no mean feat.
Yeah James, I should have. But there aren't many time trials in the state, and I would like to do as many as possible.
DMO, yeah I think my overall was better this year, but I will check. And beating Howard might not be special, but it made me feel good lol
With the wind, that 2 seconds slower just means you were faster.
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