tl;dr version: started out well for the first 15 minutes, started to fall apart, hit turn around and renewed my desire to push hard and try do well, completely fell apart, got a flat and was unable to finish


Last year, I did this race on 181W and was extremely happy with the effort. I felt like my training for this race had gone reasonably well, but I still didn't feel like my power was coming back as much as it should, so I knew shooting for 180+ W was not realistic.

Starting the race, they had someone hold you up and a ramp to ride down to gain momentum. I quickly settled into the power that I thought I could hold. I was going to aim for about 170W and then if that turned out to be conservative, bump it up on the return leg. The first 15 minutes were going well and I was averaging just over 170W....and then something in my brain turned on and I realized that I was only about a quarter of the way done and that it was going to hurt REALLY badly if I kept at this power output.

Next thing I know, my power is down in the 160's....and moments later it's in the 150's....and shortly after that, I'm coasting and/or doing recovery-type power output. I try to have a pep talk with myself, but I can't seem to get myself to WANT to hurt. Then a girl that I passed earlier passes me back....that helps briefly and I start putting down some decent-ish power (somewhere in the 150's, which is not great, but it's better than being in the 120's). I pass her back, hit the turn around, hit the lap button, and have resolved to get my shit together and actually ride like I care again.

For about a minute after the turn around, I'm putting down good power again, but it's short lived and starts dropping down into the 160's and 150's. I'm feeling really bummed out and frustrated at this point and start thinking that maybe I'll just limp it in.

All this time, I'm noticing that my bike is making a weird noise and feeling sorta sluggish. I start wondering if maybe the gods are being kind and I have a flat -- yay, an excuse as to why I suck and am not moving quickly at all! But, of course, a flat doesn't change my ability to put down decent power....just for that power to translate into being fast, so I know it's not a valid excuse. Anyways, I did eventually pull off to the shoulder and reached back to feel my rear tire -- it is, indeed, very soft. It wasn't a catastrophic flat or anything, but I still had nine miles left to go and I knew it wasn't going to make it all the way in without just riding on the rim....and given that it was a TT, I opted to remove my flat kit, so I now have three choices: wait for someone to pick me up, ride it in and risk damaging the rim, or walking nine miles to the start/finish line.

So I stand on the side of the road hoping that a SAG vehicle or any form of race support is going to come by. Over 20 minutes pass, and I'm still standing there. A number of riders have gone by and asked if I was okay, and one even said he'd tell the next person he saw that I had a flat, but no one else had a flat kit either. Finally I get fed up enough and figured I'd try to ride it in some (because god knows I'm not walking nine miles in bike shoes!). Not more than a couple minutes after getting back on my bike and hoping for the best, an official on a motorcycle comes by and I flag him down. He tries to call someone to pick me up, but can't get a hold of anyone. He said he was going to ride and find someone, and I told him I'd walk my bike over to the shady area ahead....a minute later, a SAG vehicle finally shows up and we get my bike on the rack and head back in.

The driver joked with me and said he wasn't sure what to do about crossing the finish line because he didn't want me to inadvertently win my category. I told him not to worry -- I'd been out there for over 30 minutes....if I crossed the finish line, it would look like I'd ridden at like a 12 mph pace -- very impressive ;)


Honestly, I probably should not have raced at all, given that I had basically written it off with the PM issues I was having

Standing on the side of the road, waiting to get picked up?? ;)


Poor decision to do a run focus and not ride over the winter (my running did NOT get better and my riding definitely got worse!), probably need someone more experienced than me to build a training plan to get my power back to where it used to be (working on this part), nearly writing the race off altogether....but the biggest limiters probably are:

Confidence that I could actually hold my estimated FTP for an hour, and

Mental strength to allow myself to hurt that badly for an hour