Place: 26th out of 31 (4th place of all Cat 3, 4, 5)
Distance: 25K
Time: 38:33.280
Ave Speed: 24.2 mph
Power: 301w ave (3.6 w/kg), 323w normalized (3.9 w/kg)
HR: 167 bmp ave
Elevation Gain: 1028ft
Weight: 186lbs
Course Profile: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sr/RDCACK52BPOIOJSYX7DS4UOYVE
My Strava file: http://app.strava.com/rides/1454044#23004291
Full results: https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2011&id=177&info_id=41024
Going in, I knew I wasn’t on great form. It’s been a long season and I’m in need of a break. In my training leading up to this event I’ve struggled to maintain my 20 min threshold for 15 min, and have been experiencing hip pain while in my aero tuck.
Add to this the fact that the 25k course has over 1000ft of climbing and sharp technical sections that favor the punchy riders over diesel engines like me, and you’ve got the making of some pretty damn good excuses for a crap result. Well, I won’t disappoint on the result, but I have no excuses. Okay, no good excuses.
Barring a bear getting on course (note: a coyote did run right in front of me on the descent) and taking out half the field, I have zero shot of winning, much less sneaking onto the podium this year. For example, we had the defending 40-44 World Masters Champion TT in his rainbow skinsuit and former national champion Chris Lyman… along with tons of other Cat 1 racers from across the nation.
So why drive 9 hours there to just suffer for 25k? Well, I am going to shoot for 2012 as my year to try and reach a top 5, so knowing the course is critical. And, why not? How many times will you compete in a National Championship event?
I’m not going to go into the details of the effort – I was off my average power output by 32w. In prime form I could have been upwards of 2 minutes faster. This year, I did what I could do.
Looking back, I left too much in my tank on the first 5 miles where you climb up close to 700 feet. By the time I reached the 5k to go sign, I felt WAY too fresh. With 5k to go in all the other time trials I’ve done, I’m suffering like a stuck pig. I recovered really well on the descent as I was close to spinning out. But, I was keeping my power in the 300 range whenever my pedal digs could gain purchase.
I had a fun time taking in the “nationals” atmosphere and will be back next year to kill it.
Congrats to everyone who raced and to Jason and Dan for podium efforts in their categories.
What I learned:
The way to ride this course is to attack it, not settle into a steady threshold effort like you would for most TTs. The climb out isn’t super steep and the return leg you get moments of some recovery as it’s very difficult to stay at full out threshold without spinning out slightly – even with a 54t or 55t setup. So, you should kill yourself in the first climb to keep you time fast, once you make the turn and head back down you will settle back in and have some moments to recover and prepare for the technical section where it’s all about keep momentum into short punchy climbs and sharp turns.
