This morning I drove out to the Blacks Creek exit to pre-ride the time trial course for Sunday…or so I thought!? I warmed up for twenty minutes on the trainer before driving out. It was only in the 40’s when I got out there but it was sunny which made it feel warmer. I decided to get on my bike and just start a practice TT, without any more warm-up. Man was that a mistake! The first 5 minutes were torture…and it was not because I went out too hard. I was very careful to only sprint for a few seconds to get on top of the gear, then sit down and keep it below threshold for the next 5 minutes.

Even though my legs hurt, the bike felt good and it felt fast even without aero wheels. Since I had my PowerTap, I worked on pacing on the rollers. I would go above threshold on the uphills and below on the downhills. I did kick it up for the last 4 minutes and pushed it to the line. I wasn’t trying to go all out today so my average wattage for that effort was only 301 watts. I practiced the start again, then headed home.

When I got home, I was talking to a friend of mine about the course and the description given to him seemed a little off from mine. On the George’s Spring Series web page, it just says Exit 71. It doesn’t give the name of the exit (who remembers numbers to local exits!) and it doesn’t say anything about a new course. So I assumed it was the same course used for the past three years. But during our conversation, that assumption went out the window! So I called George’s Cycles & Fitness and found out that Exit 71 is not the Blacks Creek exit; it’s the Mayfield/Orchard exit! The next exit east of Blacks Creek. So I rode the wrong course! Oh well, it was still a good workout. But it looks like I’ll be heading back out to the desert once more!