[Race Report] KHMTT #2 - a pretty successful TT

I left home yesterday feeling a little cold, trying to remember how to ride a TT bike (after not having been on it since March 12), and kind of nervous that I was going to have a pretty crappy day.

I got to the race early and hung out with Drew and Sue of Inspired Training Center (which is awesome if you are a Colorado cyclist and haven't been - great coaching and facility). As usual, they were awesome and gave me some chain lube and let me warm up a little more on their trainers. I talked to Drew about racing and numerous other subjects, but I think it got me in a good mindset to go.

I started feeling pretty good, the initial road after the start felt slow and I was nervous - back to thinking about my lack of time on the TT bike, but I turned and immediately started screaming down the hill. As I was going through the long, flat, straights, I realized I was averaging 21.5 mph which is way faster than I had done on the course. After the first few miles, I realized a new personal record was within my grasp but I could slow down on the hilly second half of the course, so I wasn't positive.

I came up the first sizeable hill a full minute or so under what I remembered was my time goal for hitting the top of that hill last year. Coming through the straight and down the next hill, I thought about some records on Strava for that leg thinking "people here stand up and lay down power to gain speed" so I did just that. Geared out, I came down the back side to the lollipop loop. I had handled the lollipop loop well last week because I was on my road bike where I feel more confident on handling. The TT bike in turns kind of feels like driving a truck, so I was definitely more tentative.

I came up the last hill doubting how far I was from my old personal record, but towards the top of the hill, I saw the finish line close and knew I would make it - but by how much? I shifted again to lay down more power and pulled through almost 2 min faster than my previous record.

I still only finished 5th (out of 11 and one DNF) but TTs can be hard with that because sometimes very good triathletes come in to the bottom category. I was happy to beat my old time by such a great margin. It was nice and reassuring to see such a large gain this early in the season, especially after some rough races this year.