General Discussion Race Reports! » 2015 Tantalus TT Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

2015 Tantalus TT - Cycle


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Honolulu, Hawaii
United States
Tradewinds Cycling Team
72F / 22C
Overcast
Total Time = 22m 28s
Overall Rank = 12/73
Age Group = Cat 4/5 M18-34
Age Group Rank = 4/17
Pre-race routine:

Legs felt crappy the weekend before, but maybe just recovering from earlier volume. Tues/Wed I went out to Tantalus to do some test runs and felt a lot better. The week before I had done a 95% test at 23:38 on 298 watts, but with normal training gear and 1.5 bottles. So I figured a few more watts and 6-8 less pounds of bike should get me close to 21:30, or about 30 seconds faster than last year.

Wednesday I did a first half test for 11 minutes on 307 watts and still felt good. My HR avg was only 170 and drifted past 180 only in the last few minutes. Normally my avg HR for this race is around 182, so it seemed like a good indicator that wattage was very doable for the first half...then let my HR drift up as well as the avg on the second half...hopefully with a few more watts bringing the avg to around 310.
Event warmup:

Rode up once with Joe. Nothing crazy...a few efforts around race pace, but roughly 30 minutes at 225 avg. Got into a nice sweat, went to use the bathroom, and only had to wait 4 minutes for my start time.
Bike
  • 22m 28s
  • 4.4 miles
  • 11.75 mile/hr
Comments:

This year's focus was to not start too hard and build up my power. Get my power down from the start to 295 asap, then slowly build up to 300 by the nature center, 305 by after the stop sign, then to 310 by the end of the first half...ease off a bit on the flats, then finish strong bringing the avg back up to 310 the last mile.

It was a good plan, and I was following it pretty closely except the effort and HR were not cooperating. I was a couple of watts over early on...but only at 306 just before the stop sign. My HR was already at 182, where it was closer to 175 during my last test run. Adrenaline maybe? I backed off a tad and let my power come back down to 300. I was still making good time on my checkpoints, so I wasn't overly concerned. Maybe my 202's were making that much of a difference???

Anyway, as I approached the middle section my power was still at around 300 and my HR up to 186. This is too early for that type of HR for me and I backed down even more, letting my watts drop down to 295. I'm almost 12 watts below my goal, but I hit the halfway point at 10:30...ahead of my 21:30 goal...so something was fishy. Problem was...the blow up was already in progress and I couldn't recover. Power kept dropping. 290...285...then all the way down to 280.

By the time I got up tot he bridge, I knew a PR was out the door, and I my FD wasn't getting into the big ring for the last 2 minutes where it flattens out a bit. Oh well.


What would you do differently?:

I might have to start doing this race more by feel. I'm not sure my power numbers were right and could have caused a blow up. Either way, this is yet another reminder I need to lose weight. I know I am capable of 300-310 watts for this duration on a hill climb, and that's what the winner and second place did. Problem is that I'm 30 pounds heavier. I probably don't ever want to be 130 pounds, but I can at least contend if I lose 15-20. Of the 11 people that finished ahead of me overall...only one was near my weight, and finished 11 seconds ahead of me. I had a minimum of 20 pounds on everyone else.
Post race



Last updated: 2015-04-13 12:00 AM
Biking
00:22:28 | 04.4 miles | 11.75 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 0/73
Performance: Below average
183 bpm, 280 watts
Wind: Some
Course: 4.4 miles climbing 1340 feet.
Road:   Cadence: 80
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

{postbutton}
2015-04-13 2:19 PM

User image

Subject: 2015 Tantalus TT


2015-04-13 6:41 PM
in reply to: #5107745

User image

Veteran
2842
200050010010010025
Austin, Texas
Subject: RE: 2015 Tantalus TT

Even with the race not going the way you planned, I'm still amazed by the ride.

Bummer on the power (sucks to have something like that lead to a blowup).  Have you raced other TT's by feel?

And as for the 15 pound thing, I'm right in that (low-riding) boat with you - but life is short! 

Very solid ride, no question. 

Matt

 

2015-04-14 12:54 PM
in reply to: #5107745

User image

Elite
3779
20001000500100100252525
Ontario
Subject: RE: 2015 Tantalus TT

Time to drop some weight Tubby!!  

Nice power numbers (at any weight), but too bad they seemed off a touch early on - tough when your targets are so narrow.

2015-04-14 4:52 PM
in reply to: #5107745

User image

Elite
7783
50002000500100100252525
PEI, Canada
Subject: RE: 2015 Tantalus TT

Pretty solid result Jason!  It's tough when you get questionable PM data like that.

General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » 2015 Tantalus TT Rss Feed  
RELATED POSTS

2015 Castle to Hanauma TT

Started by Jason N
Views: 1225 Posts: 4

2015-03-26 8:19 AM axteraa

OWS series 2014/2015 - round 4

Started by kingsley.bugarin
Views: 815 Posts: 1

2014-12-16 7:14 AM kingsley.bugarin

OWS series 2014/2015 - round 3

Started by kingsley.bugarin
Views: 789 Posts: 1

2014-12-01 10:48 PM kingsley.bugarin

OWS series 2014/2015 - round 2

Started by kingsley.bugarin
Views: 937 Posts: 2

2014-11-30 4:03 PM laffinrock

OWS series 2014/2015 - round 1

Started by kingsley.bugarin
Views: 829 Posts: 1

2014-11-02 3:46 AM kingsley.bugarin
RELATED ARTICLES
date : August 11, 2011
author : FitWerx
comments : 1
Dean from Fitwerx answers a BT member question about what kind of bike should be the "next bike."
 
date : April 12, 2011
author : FitWerx
comments : 0
How should I be shifting gears on the front chainring and the rear cogs to cope with hills?
date : November 27, 2005
author : KevinKonczak
comments : 0
Discussion including HIM's, heart-rate monitors, water running, TT's, high kicks, hi vs low volume training and nutrition for weight loss.