SCNCA State ITT Championships 2009

[Duane]

Greetings,

I'm back home after an extremely long drive through LA, I choose very poorly in
deciding to return that way, oh well!

My morning started at 5 a.m. due to my roommates at the hotel having an early
start time. After they left I got my stuff ready for an 8:53:30 start time and
figured I'd be out on the course which is 30 minutes of driving away from the
hotel.

I arrived at the race site with 2+ hours before I had to start and was faced
with an extremely long line to register and get my bib, very poor planning on
the hosts part for sure.

By the time I got my bib, took care of business and pinned on my number I had
roughly 45 minutes to do my warm up and be at the starting area within three
minutes of start, their policy!

Unlike yesterday, the wind was absent, dead calm, go figure! So, I had to alter
my race plan, no biggie. Once I get on my bike and find a real long road out of
the way to warm up, the wind kicks up from the worst possible place, ENE. What
that means is the hardest part of the course which is two lengths of leg 1 are
going to be into a headwind and it's mostly up hill.

O.K., no panic just stay focused and get the job done, I road this course three
years ago when I first started TTing and rode a 62 min for 38 KM. So, I had an
initial goal of beating that and I wanted to ride the first half of the course
slower than the second half.

Number 225 takes of, I'm 227, so I start my HRM so I have an minuted to deduct
from my actual time and see where I'm at along the course. I start in the 54x16
and the jerk who was holding me that it was cute to point out the excessive
number of pins I used to keep my bib from flapping and almost dropped me.

Then I come back to reality and hear 5, 4, 3 (I take a huge inhalation) 2, (I
begin to learn forward and shot out of the gate like a rocket on 1, boom I'm
gone.

I set my Power Tap on to Cadence and started out with avg KM. I kept thinking
about my last Fiesta Island and how I got bogged down trying to push a huge gear
under 80 cadence. So, with the wind in my face and climbing up a gradual ascent
I kept my cadence at 90+ and spun all the way through leg 1, came around the
corner to leg two and took a drink. Leg 2 didn't have the wind, just the road
was very uneven and you really had to watch for the smoothest spot. My nemesis,
Mike Quigley was 30 seconds behind me and he's beat me every time at Fiesta, I
wanted to make him really work for the privilege. By now, I'm focusing on
keeping my breath in check, my cadence at 90 and working smoothly and
efficiently. On to leg 3 which should have been the worst leg was actually the
best, I was avg 43,44 kph and after the short incline topped out at 50 kph.

By now the desert has dried you out and I was hitting my bottle just to keep my
inner mouth moist so I could breath better. I passed a few riders who were
ahead of me and yes Bernard, I approached right up their 6 and shot past them
like thew were standing still.

Approaching leg 4, make the turn, get another drink, stand up, gain momentum and
sit down and shift into a bigger gear, flying down the road thinking about
negotiating the turn where all the lookie loos are walking all over the race
course and hoping that I can navigate through there safely on the way to 9 more
KM into the first leg which is now leg 5.

By now the wind has picked up and as I came around the corner, the tandems where launching. I was about mid way down the last leg and a rider passes me from behind, guy looked like a friggin cheetah and he was moving, then I'm overtaken by a couple of tandems that just started, O.K., no worries, stay focused!

Then my mind starting playing tricks on me and I felt like a wounded fish
telling every shark that I was experiencing difficulties, i.e. blood in the
water. And then here comes Mike Quigley and passes me, damn!

Then I get pissed off and stopped feeling sorry for myself and went after him.
With about 2 km left we started playing tit for tat, I'd overtake him and then
he'd come back. With 1 mile to go, their sign that was posted, we had a pretty
good incline to crest before the finish which was about 250m to the end. As we
crested Mike took it to another notch that I didn't have or I couldn't find to
counter and he beat me.

I have my time at about 57:30, not a fantastic time but a PR non the less. I hit
the mid point roughly 19km at 29 minutes and barley rode faster on the last leg
by seconds.

Keeping in mind that I was trying to keep my cadence high, I know for sure that
I used the 54x19,18,17,16 and maybe the 15 but not for long. My avg cadence was
around 85 and I did regroup quite a bit during the first 4 legs, the last leg I
was hammered and hanging on for dear life.

I feel that the hills did me in and I didn't have an answer in my toolbox to
counter that. I'm happy with my effort and with every TT I race in, I learn a
bit more.

I suffered, but I could have suffered more. My real battle is with my mind and
getting past the inner voice that controls us all.

I hope this report didn't confuse anyone and if the info helps, more power to
you.

Remember, "If the 'Race of truth' was easy, everybody would be doing it,"

Time for some sleep,

[Kam]

Good report DTrain.

I'm always amazed at the wind conditions out there...the first time I raced there in 2003, we had 25-30mph winds blowing west to east and I spun out of my 55X11 then barely held 19mph coming back into the wind.

Your report also further confirms my belief that starting a proper warm-up is critical and we must anticipate worst-case scenario of stuff that can go wrong before starting your warm up.

Don't get me wrong...there is no excuse for huge lines at a championship race but it could have easily been getting lost on the way there or traffic accidents, etc.

On the upside, taking close to 5min off your previous time is AHHHMAZING!

Congratulations!

[Kam]

By the way, I am under the suspicion that there was a wind anomaly that day. some of the times posted by some of the people make absolutely no sense. but that's bike racing!

[Duane]

Thanks Kam, you always see the good in everything and that's what I love about your brother! After our brunch this morning and the wonderful conversation, I started to think about my goals for the rest of the year and I have to say on my long ass ride today, I had an Epiphany! I think the Track idea is brilliant and it would tie in with my So Cal goals.

Insane in the membrane, without no pain there is no gain, I'm just sayyyyying!

[Orion]

Crazy-Duane (think Ozzy),
Epic race and Epic race report. Love it. Keep up the good work!