Truly Treacherous Time Trial

I had high hopes for this weekend. I was scheduled to complete two back-to-back 20.6 mile races.

Well, I arrived at the race and looked around to see a handful of fellow racers, all of whom looked pretty legit - expensive bikes, race wheels, aero-helmets. I was very overwhelmed, but the best part of TTs is that they truly are your own race. As I got ready, I heard a few people muttering about the wind, but isn't that always the case on flat open roads?

I didn't have a ton of time to warm up, but I hoped to get in a little quality spinning. I ended up starting 10 min later than my preliminary start time, but I suppose that's why it's called "preliminary." While waiting in line I heard number 18 (two in front of me) mention that the first two and last two miles would be covered with pot holes. I mentally envisioned Sheridan Road, where I bike all the time... which is pretty choppy. As I started, I didn't noticed too many pot holes, but I did notice a seam in the road every 25 yards or so. I was clunking along when I saw orange cones lining the left side of the road... there was no one there, but I assumed it meant to take a left turn... which I did.

There were no cyclists ahead of me. I looked back: none behind. I kept glancing back to see if number 21 would make the turn. He didn't. AWESOME. Took the wrong course about 1 min in. Good job.

I turned around, got back on course - a little bummed that I messed up in my first race. I continued on, waiting for the seams in the road to stop. They didn't. The whole way I went over a bump every 25 yards, which KILLED my wrists in my aero position. I tried to not even hold on to my bars and just sort of let my hands dangle there to be sure I wasn't pulling up on the bars or putting too much pressure on my hands. Didn't matter. With every bump, my wrist jostled and killed. There was a cross wind and my speed was kind of low, but I thought back to Memphis  - it would probably be to my advantage on the way back, so I gave it all the strength I had, hoping it would pay off when I turned around.

When not focusing on my wrists, the bumps, or the wind, I was also focusing on how badly I had to pee. I thought it was just a nerves thing.... apparently not as it lasted all 22 miles.

After a long straight stretch, the course became a series of left turns, each turning harder into the wind, each making my speed a little slower and my hurt a little worse. I hoped we would finally make enough lefts that I would be heading away with the wind at my back. It never really happened and for about 75% of the ride I was really fighting the wind.

As I began the straight shot back to the finish, I kept looking out for when I knew I was almost done. There were about 4 times in which I was totally convinced it was almost over. I ramped up my power and pushed harder... only to realize there was more. It was incredibly difficult to have 4 hard "finish" effort moments in succession. Not to mention, drinking water from my aero bottle was incredibly difficult, because every time I'd dip down to get the straw in my mouth, I'd hit a bump that sent the straw into my gum. ouch.

Once I finally shot through the finish line, 5 minutes over my goal finish time, I just kept biking. I wasn't kidding when I said I needed to pee. I biked straight back to the car, trying to remember to spin-out my legs on the way there, then ran to the bathroom. All the while, debating whether or not I wanted to go through that again.

As I walked back to my bike I saw I was 3 minutes away from my next start time, but I needed water and fuel. I took my time eating a banana and some sports beans as well as drinking some water. Then I got myself together and got back on my bike... My quads were in excruciating pain. I biked to the end of the parking lot before realizing I had forgot to put my helmet back on. WOW. Maybe I shouldn't do this again...

I got back to the start and heard the man managing the start line say "and that was 199" (which was my second number). I said "oh, that was me..." He asked if I wanted to go again, I said no thanks, and pedaled back to the lot.

When talking to my teammate Nick, he reminded me that experiences like these are what we can call on later to remember that, this moment we are racing through may suck, but at least it isn't as bad as that one time I raced a tt into the wind, feeling like I might die, and made the course longer than it had to be.