Today was the time trial about 50 miles west of Phoenix. The weather was beautiful with blue skies and warm temps. There was a slight wind but that seems to always be the case out here in Buckeye. Since Heather and I knew that we both wouldn’t be able to use the Javelin today, we had brought a second disk wheel and clip-on aerobars for her road bike. What’s odd was that the start order was alphabetical for only some categories, while others seemed random. The Category 2 men were alphabetical, but based on first name!? If they based it on last name, we would have had plenty of time to use the same bike, but as it was, Heather had to use her road bike. With a disk and clip-ons, it wouldn’t be too much of a disadvantage, but her position won’t be as low as it would be on the Javelin.
We also brought two trainers since we knew we’d be warming up at the same time. We found a good parking spot near the registration booth and port-o-potties. I warmed up on the TT bike with a normal wheel, then switched to the disk for the time trial. I didn’t have a PowerTap and just did my usual warm-up by feel. I felt pretty good but my legs weren’t feeling as great as I thought they’d be after the taper I did. Probably from all the sitting in a car the last couple days.
I got to the start ramp with plenty of time…wouldn’t want to miss my start! I rode a good race and it felt fast. It’s been a while since I rode the TT bike will all the aero goodies and I forgot how much faster you can go. As usual, I only used cadence and perceived exertion for my race. Without a power meter, it’s hard to tell, but I think I paced fairly well during my ride, with the exception of probably slacking a little for a period after the turnaround. I pushed it through to the line and had a decent ride. When the results were posted I was 10th with a time of 31:12. Not as good as I was hoping, but decent.
Heather was out on the course when I finished so I ran to get the camera and waited for her to come in. I could tell she was coming from far away because of her slow cadence. She still has a tendency to TT at around 80-85 RPM. I’m usually at 102-104 RPM. She ended up 12th with a time of 34:41.
Full results can be found here:
http://wmrc.org/events.htm