And we're off! Literally today was the first race of the season with a short little time trial at Vancouver Lake Park. This thing goes off every year where everyone brushes off the cobwebs from their TT bike, puts air in the tires, drives out to the middle of nowhere (which is basically anywhere in Vancouver, Washington) pays $15 to sit on a trainer for an hour. While you're sitting there with sweat dripping off your nose, you begin to look around and judge EVERYONE that isn't you, constantly making comparisons about your fitness, their fitness, your bike, their bike, how skinny they are (or on the opposite end) all relative to you. When anyone does look at you, immediately your focus shifts to whatever point in space is directly in front of you and we act like it's the prologue for the biggest race of your life (hey, this just might be). 10 minutes and 8,000 bathroom brakes later it's about time for you to start so you get off the trainer, change wheels, put on your one-piece-spandex-superman-speed-look-really-skinny-suit and roll up to the start line like you freaking own the place. (keep in mind we thought to be extra "pro" and fast to only wear our aforementioned skinsuit while everyone standing around is wearing hats and gloves because it's 40 something degrees outside). You roll up underneath the start tent, one official volunteer puts his hands under your butt and grabs your saddle to hold you upright while another gives you a countdown. You release from the gate like a lightning bolt out of hell, ready to eat and crush anything in your path, any poor soul in your wake will feel the ripple effect of your thunder as you blow their legs off and make them beg for mercy. Have fun and good luck, see you back at the car!
So here's how it really happened in all it's glory: I do everything as listed above and as soon as the man holding my butt lets go I feel my rear wheel slip in its dropout and rub agains the frame, I'm 15 meters from the start line and I can't go anywhere. I believe my phrase of choice was something along the lines of "well I'll be darned, that's most unfortunate. It appears as though I must dismount from my bicycle and fix the problem." It most certainly wasn't this: "F*&K! GOD D$#N IT, OH S*%TTTTT!!!!!!!!!" Soooooo, yeah the guy starting 30 seconds behind me flies past me and shouts, "Sorry man!" as if that's going to help the situation. I realign my wheel, get my life back in order and I'm off....again... Turns out my computer didn't start either so my mileage and time is off. Oh boy, first race of the season jitters I suppose. Anyhoo, I digress; I kept my 30 second man in my crosshairs until I caught him about a mile before the turnaround, then I proceeded to catch the guy 1 minute ahead of me and group of triathletes who were pacing off each other, I throughly enjoyed shouting "LEFT!!!!" as tore their tiny little legs off going about 1,000 mph faster than their top speed. I came across the line at a pretty decent clip and ended with 3rd place with a time of 28:01, definitely slower than my time last year but I also didn't have to get off my bike and fix my rear wheel. Overall I would say that's a pretty successful TT, considering everything.
So here's how it really happened in all it's glory: I do everything as listed above and as soon as the man holding my butt lets go I feel my rear wheel slip in its dropout and rub agains the frame, I'm 15 meters from the start line and I can't go anywhere. I believe my phrase of choice was something along the lines of "well I'll be darned, that's most unfortunate. It appears as though I must dismount from my bicycle and fix the problem." It most certainly wasn't this: "F*&K! GOD D$#N IT, OH S*%TTTTT!!!!!!!!!" Soooooo, yeah the guy starting 30 seconds behind me flies past me and shouts, "Sorry man!" as if that's going to help the situation. I realign my wheel, get my life back in order and I'm off....again... Turns out my computer didn't start either so my mileage and time is off. Oh boy, first race of the season jitters I suppose. Anyhoo, I digress; I kept my 30 second man in my crosshairs until I caught him about a mile before the turnaround, then I proceeded to catch the guy 1 minute ahead of me and group of triathletes who were pacing off each other, I throughly enjoyed shouting "LEFT!!!!" as tore their tiny little legs off going about 1,000 mph faster than their top speed. I came across the line at a pretty decent clip and ended with 3rd place with a time of 28:01, definitely slower than my time last year but I also didn't have to get off my bike and fix my rear wheel. Overall I would say that's a pretty successful TT, considering everything.
My goal was to train right through this race, yesterday I did a nice 5 hr ride, today was an hour warmup, 30 min TT, followed by an hour spin on the trainer in the evening. My training week is right at 16 hrs, I'm feeling pretty good and ready for Dirty Circles next week. It would appear that all this training hasn't been for nothing and that's some nice piece of mind. Thanks to my great coach, amazing soigneur, and all my family/friends who support my cycling dependency ! Looking forward to this 2014 season and I'm going to get that upgrade!
Until next time! Same bike time... you know the rest.
Cheers,
-Andrew-
Apologies if there's a few more grammar and spelling errors than usual on this one. I'm tired, it's late and I'm going to bed.
Until next time! Same bike time... you know the rest.
Cheers,
-Andrew-
Apologies if there's a few more grammar and spelling errors than usual on this one. I'm tired, it's late and I'm going to bed.