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Church Creek TimeTrial - CycleTime Trial


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Cambridge, Maryland
United States
Annapolis Bike Racing Team
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 17m 32s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Masters 35+
Age Group Rank = 4/4
Pre-race routine:

We got there early, as my husband left at 9:50, to my 10:40 departure. Parking was at a school, where we said "hello" to friends we saw there, checked in and pinned our numbers to our jerseys, and used facilities before heading to the race start.
This was the first time my husband and I ever tried a time trial.
Had a bagel before we left the house (2 hour drive to the start)...2 hard boiled eggs about 1.5 hours before the gun, and a PowerBar Gel 20 minutes before. Water to drink....Gu Brew on the bike.
Event warmup:

About 25 minutes before Tom's start time, we rode the 5.5 miles from the school to the starting tent. This was our warm-up. The starting tent was literally that - a tent on the side of the road with a clock and a few race officials hanging around with clip boards. One guy held your bike while another counted you down to "go."
Tom went first, and for the 50 minutes I had until my start, I found a shady spot in a park-n-ride lot and hung out with other racers, my bike leaning against a tree.
Bike
  • 1h 17m 32s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 19.23 mile/hr
Comments:

I had a plan. The woman who was 30-seconds behind me is a known entity. "You can beat her" my husband told me. With only four in my group, and knowing what one woman did last year (this was my first event and the woman I know, too), I felt I had a good chance of coming in first or second place.
The woman behind me caught me within 3 miles. She pulled ahead, but couldn't drop me. I felt she blew her wad early on and if I could just keep the pressure on her, I could drop her on the final leg and at least beat her. My ploy was working. I reeled her in and got just a bit ahead of her. We paced each other for the next 7 miles. Then, at mile 11, disaster struck. Two course marshal cars were on the road - clearing debris. Don't know what it was or what happened. They blocked the road and I swung wide to go around them. My co-rider was behind and outside me, so she swung wider. I think she had the better line, because I must have struck whatever they were clearing and I flatted. The air slowly leaked out and for a while, I believed it was the exhaust of the car in front of me, and not my bike at all. But soon, it was obvious. "Are you all right" she asked. "I flatted" I replied as I pulled over and she charged on without me. For 5 frantic minutes, I swatted hordes of mosquitoes and changed my flat. Fortunately, (1) it was my front tire. My bike has rear-facing drop outs in the back, and if it were my back tire, I don't think I could remove the wheel. I had never dealt with those before. And (2) I went nerdly and attached my saddle bag to the back of the TT bike. So, I had a spare and CO2 with me. But I lost 5 minutes and she bested me by 3. Had I not flatted, I would have finished in 1:12 (what my bike computer said - which had the auto-stop so it measured RIDE time...not clock time). I certainly would have beaten her 1:14, and gotten my second place, to boot. Oh well, they run this again in August, the week after my Tri. Guess where I'll be then? :)
What would you do differently?:

NOT FLAT!!!
Post race
Warm down:

My husband was a hurting puppy after his event (on a road bike -- pushing for all he was worth to a 1:06 finish). I ended up riding the 5.5 miles back to the school and driving the truck back to the start/finish area to pick him up. Drank Gatorade and had a Honey Stinger energy bar. Afterwards, we stopped at Subway for some subs for the ride home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

A flat tire definitely throws a monkey wrench into the race plan.
Otherwise, I think everything pretty much was going as I expected/hoped it would.
Gads, I'm sooo frustrated. It's been so long since I've had a flat - and certainly ages since I've had one at any event.

Event comments:

Not a lot of "festivities". This is a show-up, do your thing, and (as far as I can tell), go home. No big to-do, but it's a personal challenge for the rider.




Last updated: 2011-06-21 12:00 AM
Biking
01:17:32 | 24.85 miles | 19.23 mile/hr
Age Group: 4/4
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
I wanted to keep my HR around 145 for the first 5 miles, but right from the gun I was high 150s, so I gave up on that plan. Instead, I talked to myself - out loud - to make sure I didn't push so hard initially that my HR red-lined and I'd blow up too early.
Wind: Some
Course: There was a 13-minute break between my start and the last racer before me, so I had no rabbits on course to chase. Course is essentially a box route. Very simple...all right turns...course marshals at the turns and marking on the pavement. The roads were wide, quiet, and pancake-flat. It wound around a wildlife refuge, so it was quite pretty. The smell of salt air, osprey and eagles around (and loads of red-winged blackbirds), and I saw a (dead) snake and a live (turtle...not sure what kind) on the road.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2011-06-26 4:57 PM

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