Last year this race was my first ever Time Trial. Here is the report on that effort.
So this year my, very simple, target was to go better than that.
I prepared much better this time. Remembering my orthotics for a start. I also managed about a 6 minute warm-up ride. I don't like to warm up too much before bike races. It doesn't seem to help much. I arrived at the start as number 4 rolled out. I was off at number 10, so I had a 6-minute wait.
At number 9 was the same guy from last week. I caught him at the 5-mile mark last week. Gives me something to aim for again this week. Behind me 11 was missing and 12 was a guy I have caught a few times this year, so no danger of being caught this year.
Having raced 6 TT's this year, and had one go at pushing off myself, I am now quite confident about the stability of the pusher-off at the start. I also remember to start my garmin when I get the 30-second countdown. Then when I am doing maths in my head later I always forget about subtracting the 30 seconds again. More on that later.
As with all the Garlogie TT events the first mile is downhill. Today it was also wind assisted. It was fast to that first turn but without being quite as much of an effort overdose as normal. I turned onto the first climb still able to breath sensibly, and still able to stay in my TT position for a lot of the climb. I was much more aware of the course this year. I made it to the next turn off and tried to carry as much speed as I could into the turn. It is slightly blind because of the building position so I slowed more than I really should have. From here there is a twisty section and I could see No.9 on the straights. I figures I had made over half the gap by this point.
At the halfway turn there was a computer system for the tracker chips so I might get a halfway time check from this point. I was passed here last year but this year but today I was the one doing the passing. I caught No.9 going into the slight headwind. The garmin track shows I lost almost a minute through this 1.5 miles section compared to last year. It may also be because I knew the hill was coming and was being a tiny bit more cautious about doing too much damage this year.
Through 5 miles Garmin buzzed and said 14:02. Dammit I thought I was going faster than that. I forgot about the 30 seconds and for some reason I thought 15 mins equated to 15mph instead of 20mph.
I had to do a dead-stop at the tight turn again this year. This meant No.9 caught right up to me and had to slow behind me to avoid a crash. This was partly because my bike handling skills on the TT bike are still not up to a 150 degree bend on gravel, but also because a Land Rover Discovery was passing the junction. I tried to get out of the turn and get a little motor-pacing effect from him but he was too quick over the little bridge.
7 miles and Garmin says 19:27. Forgetting about the 30 seconds again, but my brain does register that 20 minutes to 5 miles would be 15mph. Although it fails to register that under 20 minutes to 7 miles means over 21mph. I am also still forgetting the 30 seconds. I think at this point that to get my 26 minute target that gives me 6:33 for 2 miles with a big chunk of uphill to come.
I was feeling much better at this point than I did last year. As I came into the climb I could see No.4 and aimed to pass her quickly. About two-thirds of the way up the hill there is an incoming junction from the left and another Deesider, just out for an evening ride was waiting at the junction. He pulled out behind me and then rode easily past on the uphill as I tried to stay in my TT position and dug as deep as I could. He did give me some encouraging chat as he climbed past.
The crest of the hill came sooner than I expected. Last year all I could do from here was sit on the bike and trust to gravity as other riders screamed past. This year I was still able to shift through the gears and keep adding power on the downhill. I took a good line round the corner and then flew past the roadie Deesider as I drove to the line.
Through the line and the watch says 25:20. Under target and I am happy with that. And I am still forgetting that I have another 30 seconds to come off that. EDIT - Official time 25:07.
I sat up to pedal back to the start and the Deesider roadie rolled up beside me and rode back to the car with me. This was enough to distract me from the requirement to throw up this year. I packed the bike, changed shoes and did a quick 10 minute jog to cool down.
Still waiting for the official time to come out but I know it will be faster than last year. Garmin suggests more than a minute inside last year, over 21 mph average, over 219 Watts.
I felt a lot better riding today than I have in the last few weeks. The fatigue seems to have been cured by a light week last week and this and Westhill have both been really great races.
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