Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/88829376
It was nice to finally make it out to the Fiesta Island Time Trials since it's been one I've wanted to do for a while now. I heard a lot of good things about it (flat, fast, etc.) and since it was fairly local, I couldn't wait to try it out. Shannon ended up signing up for it as well, so it was nice to have a teammate along...I guess suffering together is always better than suffering alone. Craig Runallis, a mutual friend and someone who we ride with on occasion, also signed up as he was anxious to try out his recently acquired TT bike, a nice Specialized Shiv. What we didn't know when we signed up was that we would be lined up behind one another with Craig going first followed by me then Shannon with 30 seconds between us.
When we arrived there, the weather was a little cool and in the low 60s. There was a slight wind, but nothing that would raise any concerns with running disc covers. We parked in the dirt parking lot just at the entrance to the island, and they already had tables ready for check in upon our arrival. What was odd was that the lot was filled with more elliptigo's than actual TT or race bikes. They have an elliptigo class also, so they seem to come out in good numbers to race those things. How interesting would it be to see us get into that and take those things out for our lunch rides? I think one of the questions I overheard Shannon ask someone was do they come in carbon? :)
It was still dark when we got there, but after we checked in and got our bibs, it started to get light enough where we weren't stumbling around while unloading and trying to get ready. We probably could have gotten there just a little later, but I think our arrival time just before 6 a.m. was ideal given it made for less stressful preparation. The only hiccup I had was when I realized I brought two gloves, both for the right hand. The funny thing was no one noticed (or at least said anything) with me wearing an inverted glove on my left hand.
Craig and I had a stationary trainer to warm up on, but Shannon's trainer required power and didn't work with a power inverter. Thus, he got ready by riding around just outside of the island since the race course was closed. Although time moved rather quickly, it seemed we all had a pretty good warm up just before the race. We did spin up and down the road that leads to the course start just before in order to stay warm though.
Our race time started at 7:37, and it wasn't long before Craig was off and running. When I pulled up, I saw how they have an electronic timer under the pop-up that they monitor who's supposed to go and when they're supposed to take off. The nice thing about the start was that we got to start with someone holding us up, which reduced the need to worry about clipping in and just let you get going once your start time begins. I didn't have any trouble getting my Garmin started as a result. HAHA.
When I was getting ready to go, I knew Shannon was right behind me and this is always a scary thing. Shannon's a beast who can drop mad power, so I would never be surprised when he does pass me on a race. In fact, I expect it. Coming to terms with this helps me to prevent from getting overanxious and going too hard too soon and then blowing up sometime before the end of the race. Today's plan...just do what I do and be mindful of my power output.
When I got going, I thought I could have started in a shorter gear to spin up a little faster, but I managed to get going fast enough. Looking down once I was on the aeros, I saw that my power was already in the 300-350s, so I knew right away this was something I just couldn't sustain. There is definitely something to be said about racing with a power meter. I was able to get down to a reasonable power output (sub-300 W) and started to settle into a pace that I could hold for a while.
It wasn't long before I passed one guy, but that was followed sometime after with someone passing me. When he passed me, I decided to kick it up a little more and was able to almost hold the pace of the guy who passed being that he wasn't pulling ahead too fast after. We both were able to get past Craig toward the return side of the loop and passed a couple other guys as well, but I was never able to reel the guy back in as he seemed to have exited for his last lap by the time I got to the start/finish to complete my first.
From this point on, I was on my own just trying to reel in every rider in who was ahead of me. I still kept thinking Shannon would be coming up on me at any point, but chasing others definitely was more of what I focused on. The 2nd lap ended up being a little faster than the first lap, but I'm sure momentum has something to do with that. For my third and final lap, it was more of the same and I just kept thinking to myself...just finish this thing and get it done. The sooner I finish, the less I'll have to endure the pain. This worked well for me, and it wasn't long before I came upon the exit chute. I was just glad no one else was in the narrow exit chute to slow me down, but I checked up just a little before going by the table just to keep it fairly safe. In the end, I was able to finish the race with an official time of 27:55.
As I was cooling down on the road leading into the island, I saw Shannon coming in and going through the exit chute too. He was not far behind me at all, and got a 28:35 official time for his run. I know his time will only go up from here and next time will be downright scary to be in front of him. Believe me, if you know Shannon like I do, he'll definitely hit it even harder next time.
For me, I had a good run and definitely benefited from the rest I took from all the training through Friday. I ended getting 4th in the CAT 4/5 class, but some of the guys ahead of me had better times than the CAT 3 class. I may need to consider the 45+ class next time as I could have gotten 2nd there. :) I, too, hope to get a better time on our next outing here. I gave it all I had today, which should be obvious with my 172 bpm average heart rate, so I'll need to figure out how I can improve between now and then. At least we have course familiarity for the next run, so that should help.
Craig had a great first TT race on his new bike and had a solid run with a 31:24 finish. I'm sure once he gets more seat time on his bike and get it fully dialed in, he'll be a force out there for sure.
To finish off our rides, there is still nothing better than a cold refreshing beer despite it being before 9 a.m. Shannon brought the goods, including some of his own home brew, and they were definitely top drawer stuff. Thanks for the brew, Shannon!
Let's do it again in November! Who's in?
It was nice to finally make it out to the Fiesta Island Time Trials since it's been one I've wanted to do for a while now. I heard a lot of good things about it (flat, fast, etc.) and since it was fairly local, I couldn't wait to try it out. Shannon ended up signing up for it as well, so it was nice to have a teammate along...I guess suffering together is always better than suffering alone. Craig Runallis, a mutual friend and someone who we ride with on occasion, also signed up as he was anxious to try out his recently acquired TT bike, a nice Specialized Shiv. What we didn't know when we signed up was that we would be lined up behind one another with Craig going first followed by me then Shannon with 30 seconds between us.
When we arrived there, the weather was a little cool and in the low 60s. There was a slight wind, but nothing that would raise any concerns with running disc covers. We parked in the dirt parking lot just at the entrance to the island, and they already had tables ready for check in upon our arrival. What was odd was that the lot was filled with more elliptigo's than actual TT or race bikes. They have an elliptigo class also, so they seem to come out in good numbers to race those things. How interesting would it be to see us get into that and take those things out for our lunch rides? I think one of the questions I overheard Shannon ask someone was do they come in carbon? :)
It was still dark when we got there, but after we checked in and got our bibs, it started to get light enough where we weren't stumbling around while unloading and trying to get ready. We probably could have gotten there just a little later, but I think our arrival time just before 6 a.m. was ideal given it made for less stressful preparation. The only hiccup I had was when I realized I brought two gloves, both for the right hand. The funny thing was no one noticed (or at least said anything) with me wearing an inverted glove on my left hand.
Craig and I had a stationary trainer to warm up on, but Shannon's trainer required power and didn't work with a power inverter. Thus, he got ready by riding around just outside of the island since the race course was closed. Although time moved rather quickly, it seemed we all had a pretty good warm up just before the race. We did spin up and down the road that leads to the course start just before in order to stay warm though.
Our race time started at 7:37, and it wasn't long before Craig was off and running. When I pulled up, I saw how they have an electronic timer under the pop-up that they monitor who's supposed to go and when they're supposed to take off. The nice thing about the start was that we got to start with someone holding us up, which reduced the need to worry about clipping in and just let you get going once your start time begins. I didn't have any trouble getting my Garmin started as a result. HAHA.
When I was getting ready to go, I knew Shannon was right behind me and this is always a scary thing. Shannon's a beast who can drop mad power, so I would never be surprised when he does pass me on a race. In fact, I expect it. Coming to terms with this helps me to prevent from getting overanxious and going too hard too soon and then blowing up sometime before the end of the race. Today's plan...just do what I do and be mindful of my power output.
When I got going, I thought I could have started in a shorter gear to spin up a little faster, but I managed to get going fast enough. Looking down once I was on the aeros, I saw that my power was already in the 300-350s, so I knew right away this was something I just couldn't sustain. There is definitely something to be said about racing with a power meter. I was able to get down to a reasonable power output (sub-300 W) and started to settle into a pace that I could hold for a while.
It wasn't long before I passed one guy, but that was followed sometime after with someone passing me. When he passed me, I decided to kick it up a little more and was able to almost hold the pace of the guy who passed being that he wasn't pulling ahead too fast after. We both were able to get past Craig toward the return side of the loop and passed a couple other guys as well, but I was never able to reel the guy back in as he seemed to have exited for his last lap by the time I got to the start/finish to complete my first.
From this point on, I was on my own just trying to reel in every rider in who was ahead of me. I still kept thinking Shannon would be coming up on me at any point, but chasing others definitely was more of what I focused on. The 2nd lap ended up being a little faster than the first lap, but I'm sure momentum has something to do with that. For my third and final lap, it was more of the same and I just kept thinking to myself...just finish this thing and get it done. The sooner I finish, the less I'll have to endure the pain. This worked well for me, and it wasn't long before I came upon the exit chute. I was just glad no one else was in the narrow exit chute to slow me down, but I checked up just a little before going by the table just to keep it fairly safe. In the end, I was able to finish the race with an official time of 27:55.
As I was cooling down on the road leading into the island, I saw Shannon coming in and going through the exit chute too. He was not far behind me at all, and got a 28:35 official time for his run. I know his time will only go up from here and next time will be downright scary to be in front of him. Believe me, if you know Shannon like I do, he'll definitely hit it even harder next time.
For me, I had a good run and definitely benefited from the rest I took from all the training through Friday. I ended getting 4th in the CAT 4/5 class, but some of the guys ahead of me had better times than the CAT 3 class. I may need to consider the 45+ class next time as I could have gotten 2nd there. :) I, too, hope to get a better time on our next outing here. I gave it all I had today, which should be obvious with my 172 bpm average heart rate, so I'll need to figure out how I can improve between now and then. At least we have course familiarity for the next run, so that should help.
Craig had a great first TT race on his new bike and had a solid run with a 31:24 finish. I'm sure once he gets more seat time on his bike and get it fully dialed in, he'll be a force out there for sure.
To finish off our rides, there is still nothing better than a cold refreshing beer despite it being before 9 a.m. Shannon brought the goods, including some of his own home brew, and they were definitely top drawer stuff. Thanks for the brew, Shannon!
Let's do it again in November! Who's in?
No comments:
Post a Comment