This was only my second ever Time Trial.
I spent the day prepping for it as well as I could. I did a yoga session in the morning and made sure I ate a decent lunch.
I checked over the TT bike and removed the aero water bottle. It was certainly a contributor to the crosswind problems I had at Peterhead and I am not going to be stopping for a drink during such a short TT. In fact the only 2 races this year where I might drink are my two standard races so I am inclined to leave the bottle off all year and try and find a better hydration solution for those two races.
I put on my heart rate monitor and the most aero outfit that I can still cycle in. Then added jacket because it was too cold for just lycra. I put my garmin on the bike rather than on my arm, just so I could get some sort of information as I was pedalling. I thought about switching it from the usual "time / ave speed / distance" settings to showing something that might be more useful but I don't actually have enough data for heart rate or cadence to be particularly useful so I just left it alone.
My registered start time was 18:47. I headed out in time to register and then realised that I had signed up to be second starter while all the serious boys had put themselves down for going as late as possible. I suspect I have made a tactical error here but the temperature was forecast to be 2 degrees colder for them and the wind wasn't going to drop for them until after the rain had started so I was happy enough with my choice to get out and get it over with. I also knew none of the five riders behind me were likely to make up their time gaps on me. A couple might do similar times, times but they shouldn't be able to make back whole minutes. I didn't recognise the name of the one guy in front.
What the list of names did give me though was an idea of who to check off after the turn to see the time gaps. So I knew each of the 4 riders behind me and the guys at 10, 17, 22 and 38 minutes. So I could work out roughly how things were going from what the clock said as I passed them on my return trip.
I arrived quite tight for time so by the time I got ready I didn't have much hanging about to do. I pedalled out to the start just to get a short warm-up.
The drizzly rain was off again by the time I started and the breeze didn't seem as bad. I set up, started my garmin as the timekeeper gave me my 10 second warning. And then I was off. The first mile was ok, but it was clear that the headwind was actually fairly strong. I tried to ignore it and just keep my head down and push on. And that worked fine as long as I kept my eyes off the clock. But every time I looked down the times got scarier. Over 9 minutes and only at 2.5 miles.
Through to mile 5 it was all I could do to just keep tucked in and pedalling, then at 5 miles there is an uphill. I hadn't realised quite how tough it would be. I felt like I was going backwards as I sat up and tried to grind over my lowest gear into the headwind.
A mile before the half way it levels over but by this point I felt terrible. I passed cyclist number 1 and realised he must be 6 minutes ahead of me, meaning he had made 5 mins on me in 7.5 miles! Surely it was a matter of time till the chasers started to pass me. I got to the turn and the watch said 28 mins. That meant if I did the same on the return leg I was going to be nearly 56 minutes!
The inward trip was a completely different story though. From the first pedal turn the following wind was obvious. I was actually spending a lot of time spinning my legs without actually adding any extra speed. Pretty much the first 3 miles after the turn were coasting downhill with the wind and trying to hold safe but fast lines through the corners.
After the turn it was only 30 seconds until I passed the cyclist who started 2 mins behind me. That meant she had made up half her gap. Then one of the super serious guys was behind her, he must have come from about 8th. But the rest of the people who started close behind me were at least where they should be if not further back and now I was properly motoring. At the 10-mile mark it flattens out, so now I was having to keep my legs turning to keep things moving but I had been getting such a good rest from 7-10 that now I was able to really open up and pour on the speed with the wind still pushing me along nicely.
I was flying through the miles at this point so much faster that I was having to concentrate totally on the road. I couldn't check the watch and I wasn't even managing to make out which riders were coming the other way on their outbound journey. As I passed registration I knew there was a mile to go from there to the finish line and I tried to keep pushing but I was struggling to add any more pace. It was only at this point that I realised no-one had actually caught up to me on the return leg and I was still the second finisher.
So a 16:30-ish inbound trip. That was more like what I had expected.
I think I am really happy with the race as a whole. If my garmin ever syncs I will get a chance to look at the underlying numbers and see how happy I should actually be.Total time 44 mins 20.
What the list of names did give me though was an idea of who to check off after the turn to see the time gaps. So I knew each of the 4 riders behind me and the guys at 10, 17, 22 and 38 minutes. So I could work out roughly how things were going from what the clock said as I passed them on my return trip.
I arrived quite tight for time so by the time I got ready I didn't have much hanging about to do. I pedalled out to the start just to get a short warm-up.
The drizzly rain was off again by the time I started and the breeze didn't seem as bad. I set up, started my garmin as the timekeeper gave me my 10 second warning. And then I was off. The first mile was ok, but it was clear that the headwind was actually fairly strong. I tried to ignore it and just keep my head down and push on. And that worked fine as long as I kept my eyes off the clock. But every time I looked down the times got scarier. Over 9 minutes and only at 2.5 miles.
Through to mile 5 it was all I could do to just keep tucked in and pedalling, then at 5 miles there is an uphill. I hadn't realised quite how tough it would be. I felt like I was going backwards as I sat up and tried to grind over my lowest gear into the headwind.
A mile before the half way it levels over but by this point I felt terrible. I passed cyclist number 1 and realised he must be 6 minutes ahead of me, meaning he had made 5 mins on me in 7.5 miles! Surely it was a matter of time till the chasers started to pass me. I got to the turn and the watch said 28 mins. That meant if I did the same on the return leg I was going to be nearly 56 minutes!
The inward trip was a completely different story though. From the first pedal turn the following wind was obvious. I was actually spending a lot of time spinning my legs without actually adding any extra speed. Pretty much the first 3 miles after the turn were coasting downhill with the wind and trying to hold safe but fast lines through the corners.
After the turn it was only 30 seconds until I passed the cyclist who started 2 mins behind me. That meant she had made up half her gap. Then one of the super serious guys was behind her, he must have come from about 8th. But the rest of the people who started close behind me were at least where they should be if not further back and now I was properly motoring. At the 10-mile mark it flattens out, so now I was having to keep my legs turning to keep things moving but I had been getting such a good rest from 7-10 that now I was able to really open up and pour on the speed with the wind still pushing me along nicely.
I was flying through the miles at this point so much faster that I was having to concentrate totally on the road. I couldn't check the watch and I wasn't even managing to make out which riders were coming the other way on their outbound journey. As I passed registration I knew there was a mile to go from there to the finish line and I tried to keep pushing but I was struggling to add any more pace. It was only at this point that I realised no-one had actually caught up to me on the return leg and I was still the second finisher.
So a 16:30-ish inbound trip. That was more like what I had expected.
I think I am really happy with the race as a whole. If my garmin ever syncs I will get a chance to look at the underlying numbers and see how happy I should actually be.Total time 44 mins 20.
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