8 mile

TT night. I got to meet Michigan Man Gewilli too. Under threatening skies, a surprisingly good crowd of around twenty riders lined up to race against the clock. Unlike the big dance earlier in the day up in Fitchburg, we scrubs did not get wet. The wind blew fairly strong from the south, but at worst is was a straight crosswind at some points, and probably a helpful 3/4 tailwind at others.

This week my warmup was more complete, with at least 10 minutes of easy spinning, followed by 5 minutes sub-LT, more spinning, and then a 2 minute super-LT effort. I also had time to do some high cadence, some low rpm lugging, and even a bit of one-legged pedaling. I was seeded about six riders from last, two spots behind Gewilli. Starting a bit easier than last week, I settled in nicely and felt good. Briefly I got stuck behind a car, even tapping the brakes, as the elderly driver was hesitant to pass three recreational riders who were carelessly road hogging the course. A bit later, the rumble of my disc wheel startled two ducks at the side of the road, and for a minute I thought they were going to fly into me. So not even five minutes into this thing, I'd already had two incidents. Thankfully, that was the last of it.

Where the course opens up with a wide shoulder, the wind started feeling like a hindrance, and I wasn't able to hold my 45 kph pace. Through this section, I was at 42-44 kph most of the time, holding my HR right around 166, which is a few beats over LT. Just past halfway, the course's only small rises slowed me even further, and I sank to 36 kph at one point. For the second rise, I took it out of the 13 cog (which I had been in from the start) and used the 14 for about 500 meters. The last section of the course gets bumpy from crack sealer (huh-huh), but as my Polar later revealed, runs very slightly downhill. Expecting the finish to come up much sooner than it did, I got the speed up to 51 kph at one point, and mostly stayed around 48 kph, flying by GeWilli and another rider, almost catching a third.

"The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!"

There was the finish and the "8.0 mile" painted on the road, 16:59 from the start. That's 44.6 kph average (27+ mph). I'm not sure, but that might be my fastest TT ever. Later analysis of the Polar data revealed an average HR of 168, which is perfect. I may have even moved my LT up a few clicks this season. The graph also revealed that the finish sits at roughly 30 meters less elevation than the start. While imperceptible on the bike, this -0.2% grade provides some explanation for the incredible times posted on this course. Best of the night was Graham ??? who rode a 16:09. Curley and another guy rode a tandem, which this course is perfect for, and posted a 16:30 something. GeWilli rode his stylish "form follows function" Klein with just Rolf wheels and Spinnacis to a 19:30, over 40 kph. Zoe rode a low 18, so GeW must have had his hands full on the ride back to Providence. :o)

There you have it, the complete report. I'm feeling good right now, but this weekend, other than working the feed and spectating at the Longsjo, I'll be trying to top off my training block with a few more torture sessions. I won't spoil KL and Zoo's right to tell their own tales of how things went up in so-pro stage racer land. Speaking of which, yeah, there is a little race starting over in France tommorow. The excitement has me (and some riders) on pins and needles. Thanks for reading.