My plan was to break the race down into thirds, and increase intensity between each third. So my goal HR ranges were 135-140/140-145/>150. That went out the window within about the first 100 ft. I was pretty keyed up, and we started with a tailwind, so I was rolling right from the start. I was 24-25mph for the first mile or so, looked down at my HRM, saw 156, then said, "To heck with it, lets see what we've got." So, Plan B was just to ride hard the whole way, but leave a little for the end. As with most time trials, I'm sure, it was pretty uneventful. I got passed at about 2.7 mi like I was standing still "Good grief". Rt 335 was fun, but then we turned onto rougher roads and into the wind. Speed and fun simultaneously decreased. During this stretch I passed a guy riding a Soloist (2' ahead), and he passed me right back. I hung with him, then passed him again. I was pushing pretty hard to stay ahead of him, and I dropped my head for a second and, because of the sun being from behind, caught sight of his shadow under my foot. "You wheel-sucking SOB!!" I swerved to the left, and he pulled up along side me. We rode neck and neck for a while. I noticed we were at mile 15, so I said to him, "We gonna be able to keep this up for 10 more miles?" He muttered something, but evidently his answer was, "No." I pulled away and he dropped out of sight. Finally got back to Rt16 and turned East. Smooth road and the wind was now cross to favoring, so speed picked up again. I kept counting down the miles and was able to hold the intensity up. Dave waiting for me on his way to Bobby's. Nice pick-me-up coming down the stretch. I was hammering toward the finish, but an official was standing in the middle of the finish chute. I yelled and he moved enough to get out of my way. I could care less about the second or two he cost me, but what was he thinking? Along the way, I got passed by 4 riders and passed 3 myself. Getting passed was actually a good thing. Time trials are as much mental as physical. I could feel myself getting comfortable from time to time, not pushing as hard, not staying on the edge. When I got passed, I'd try to hang with the other rider as long as I could. So, it made me up the intensity, at least for a time.
Overall, pretty pleased with the effort.
Had I registered as a Cat-5, I would have been 6/21 instead of 14/18. I'm actually quite happy that I was a couple rungs off the bottom in the 40+.

Register in the right category. Other than that, not much. My first time trial, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Would I have done better had I taken it easier in the beginning? I need to try out different pacing schemes and study what strategy good TTers employ.
I didn't take any water or fuel with me. I counted on being on the course for a little over an hour, and made sure I was topped off before I started. Figure I'd save a few seconds lightening the load and not slowing down to drink. Would a few calories/liquid have helped my performance?

Rode back to C-SD HS. DQ on the way back home.


Ability.


This race, like last week's OWS, added a nice dose of diversity to the race schedule.
A few post-race munchies would have been nice, but for $20, you can't beat the price. I suppose the time trial format doesn't lend itself to good post-race activities, either, since riders are scattered out in time from 8:00 to after 12:00