4th place: I'm almost good enough

Last summer I rode in two individual cycling time trials in the attempt to qualify for the 2009 National Senior Games in California. Except that I got 4th place in the 5k time trial and 4th place in the 10k time trial, and only the top two finishers qualifed for the Games. So (even though I did qualify to compete in triathlon at the Games) I scrapped that idea and concentrated on other things (like another iron-distance triathlon in November).

Well, now it turns out that they are increasing the rolldown and allowing 3rd-place and 4th-place finishers to attend the Games - I suppose due to the economy they're not getting as many entries as they expected.

Which did give me a moment of temptation. Maybe I could go out to Stanford for a few days after all and give it a go, just for fun. Even though nearly everyone else in the event would have had five more months of event-specific training than I have had.

But then I read that the 4th-place rolldown applied (inexplicably) to everyone except tennis players and cyclists. Go figure.

So it's out of my hands. I'm not going to travel all the way across the country just to do a sprint-distance triathlon (heck, I haven't done any sprint tris since 2005!

If I want to work really hard on my time trialing this year and challenge myself, there's always the USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, June 28 – July 4. I'll think about it. But first I'll have to wait and watch the calendar to see when some earlier ITTs are held locally to try my luck and test my training.

My first ITT

That's Individual Time Trial in cycling.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

I had an unexpectedly strong ride - 19.5 mph average over 24.5 miles (approx. ~1:16:27 time on course)!! Woot!!! That's 2.0 mph faster than any triathlon I've done. It should be towards the last 1/3 of the times in my class, but I'm still super-pleased with it for my first time out. I'm pretty sure I could do better in the shorter time trials, also, because part of what slowed me down was saddle discomfort and having to stretch now and then. It did help that it was held on part of the Eagleman course that I'm quite familiar with.

I really enjoyed it, too! I was able to focus and really turn my legs up to the "dark toast" setting without having to be concerned if I would be able to run, or even walk, afterwards!!

Differences from triathlon:

• There are a whole array of rider classes, quite mysterious to the uninitiated. I rode in "Women's Category 4" which means rank beginner female of any age. "Unlicensed riders need to purchase a one-day license (available at event for $10). One-day licensees can enter only the Men’s cat 5 and Women’s cat 4 races." So even though I'm AARP-eligible I couldn't ride in an age group class in my first event.


• Checking in just means signing a waiver and picking up your chip and number on the day of the race. People above cat 4 women or cat 5 men had to present their official cycling license card, too. We were given water bottles.


• Jerseys with sleeves are required, no sleeveless.


• Everyone put their number on sideways on the back right side of the torso so it can be read from the right roadside.


• You put the chip on your bike front fork with a computer tie, not on you.


• You start under a little tent on the roadside, and just past it are wires duct-taped to the roadway for the timing chips - you just ride down the road real hard until you go over the second set of wires. Starts were every 30 seconds. I had an assigned time that they emailed to me about 2 days in advance. It would have been helpful if they had a big "official time" clock running for everyone to see, but they didn't at this event. They just gathered the riders in my class and had us line up our bikes in start order, then sent us off one by one. (I got passed en route by ~6 women behind me, but re-passed one).


• Aerobottles are apparently legal (I asked three officials) but I was the only one I saw who had one. It helped. :-) I drank from the aerobottle and used the bottle in the cage to douse myself with water just before the halfway point.


• They gave me the option of starting clipped-in and holding my bike, or clipping in myself. I chose the latter, since I hadn't practiced it and was afraid of wobbling and crashing. I wobbled anyway, but didn't crash.


• Lots of people wear shoe covers, skinsuits, and aero helmets. The array of bikes was pretty similar to what you'd see at any triathlon.


• There were no aid stations nor water bottle pickups.


• Nobody uses seatpacks full of tools or bento boxes. I left mine in my minivan and felt like I was riding naked.


• Nobody says encouraging things when they pass you. Nobody said a thing unless I did first.


• There's very little hanging around and socializing, unless you have clubmates at the event to do it with. (But it's possible that was because the start was 5 miles from the parking area). I didn't see any families on roadsides like you always see at triathlons. Maybe at the awards, which I didn't stay for.

I'm psyched!! Every triathlete should do a cycling time trial at least once, I think - just to find out how much you're holding yourself back during triathlons!

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Update: Here's my Garmin track on the clockwise loop course:

My heart rate (red) and speed (blue line). I'm pleased with my overall effort - my heart rate didn't get below 155 and my speed didn't go below 17.0 mph anywhere on the course.

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Interested in finding cycling time trials in your area of the US?

See
http://www.bikereg.com/
or
http://www.usacycling.org/

You can ride nearly any bike that's not a recumbent, as far as I can tell. If you've ridden it in a triathlon, it's probably fine.

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Update: They didn't post the results for months afterwards, at least not that I could find, but they're up now!

My official time for 40 km was 1:16:40.60 (19.44 mph).
15th/21 in women's category 4 in my first cycling time trial (71%), 37/46 overall women (80%).

That time would have put me 2nd/3 in women's age 50+. Maybe I'll have to actually join USA Cycling and compete in age groups in 2009!

Buttercup is rarin' to go

My bike Buttercup is ready to begin her race season at the 40 km road race on Saturday! (Yes, they are permitting tri-bikes to race in this non-sanctioned event, I called in advance and checked). I took off her bento box so now she's hungry, which is a good thing for a racing bike. I also removed the behind-the-seat bottle cages and put on the sleek black rear skewer so now she feels fast.

I'll leave on the seatpack with the flat-fixing supplies until I determine that they will have an adequate sag wagon on the course, but probably that will stay in the car on race day.

I did two little 5k time trials on the painted course which happened to appear out on the highway near here last week. 5k with a tailwind on the outbound leg = 10:01 (18.6 mph). Return 5k leg with a headwind = 10:58 (17.0 mph).

Maybe I would have shaved off a second or two if I had taken off the water bottle cages before I rode instead of after. . . . but I still think I'm leaving the new aero helmet at home Saturday. I'll save that for the Columbia Triathlon and a course I've raced on before.

I'll have my work cut out for me making 40k in 82 minutes to make it a 18.0 mph average on Saturday. That's a good aspirational goal for me, but it will only happen if everything comes together and I get a great ride.

Spring is here!

Today it got up to 68*F here! It was gorgeous!

I should have run, but instead I just took a lovely walk down to enjoy the peaceful water views in our harbor.

Life is good.

Same for tomorrow - hurrah! Maybe I'll take a nice long bike ride again. We're marking out a flat flat flat and fast 40 km Individual Time Trial cycling course along the highway near here and hopefully I'll have enough time to ride the whole thing and double-check the turnaround.

Tour of California Prologue

Did you catch the TofC Prologue on TV today? Here's the PEZ summary with photos.

And did you get a load of that FELT that Jason Donald of Slipstream rode to his amazing 2nd-place finish?

That's a distant cousin of my bike Buttercup. Go FELT!

Which begs the question, why does his Felt go fast and mine doesn't? It must be those fancy race wheels he has and I don't. No doubt about it.