First Time Trial ... kinda (long)

Psycholist

I just had to write about this. An acquaintance asked me to
do the bike leg for a relay team he was putting together for
a local Olympic-distance triathlon. He wanted to win, so I
don't know why he asked me. I'm 48 and a dedicated roadie,
but I've only done one TT previously in my life and that was
years ago on a standard road bike. The result wasn't
impressive.

But I said yes. I borrowed a friend's Cervelo PK3 early in
the week and put about 120 miles on it over the course of
several days ... to get used to the feel and the gears.
Those little DA shifters at the end of the aerobars are
just awesome. I always thought they were friction shifters,
but they click into each gear very precisely, or you can
just hammer on it and shift all the way across the
cassette. Very cool.

I got used to the bike far easier than I thought I would.
Yesterday I drove to the course and did a preview ride on
the bike with the race wheels (Zipps ... disc in back). It
was sweltering and humid. The course turned out to be rather
technical. Lots of turns. A couple of jaunts down roads
where you just turn around at a driveway and go back the way
you came. Two passes through this small town. Lots of
rolling hills. But the worst feature was the start. It was 7
miles of gradual uphill and it was all dead into a headwind.
By the time I finished that 7 mile stretch of the preview
ride, I thought I was really in for a sufferfest. I just
rolled on through the course making note of everything and
got around in about 1:11.

So today was race day. The swimmer on my team started in the
second wave and, by the time he reached the transition zone,
about 25 people were out on the road ahead of me. Of course,
almost all of those folks had already swum and would do a 6
mile run after they rode, so they were holding something in
reserve. Not me. I went out blazing. The wind was 180
degrees opposite of yesterday. It was a tailwind up that 7
mile rise. I managed to pass all but about 7 riders (guys
who got out several minutes ahead of me). It was just the
coolest feeling to bomb down the road on one of these tricked-
out time trial machines (and believe me ... it doesn't get
much better than a Cervelo PK3 with Zipps). I never really
thought I'd have that opportunity and I was almost tempted
to revert to my road bike. But once I got out there ...
well, I hate to say it ... I was Lance. "He's coming down
the finishing straight like a grand prix motorcar!"

As I passed the 15 mile mark I glance at my computer and saw
2 hours and 3 minutes. Hmmmm. Forgot to reset my computer.
So I don't know my split yet. I think it was about 1:05 for
40K. Given my age and the technical nature of the course, I
was quite happy. I woulda made the the podium for my age
group at the state TT championships last week. I think any
attempt on my part to go harder would have been offset at
some later point by dead legs. I wasn't dead at the end, but
I don't know how I could have gone much harder. But the hour
seemed like it lasted 10 minutes. I couldn't believe how
much fun it was.

I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever
get the chance to try something like this ... go for it.
I'm really glad I did. Oh ... and we won the relay
division. Our runner did a 34 minute 10K which was quite
impressive. Still, one individual beat our relay time by
one minute. WOW!

Bob C.

Badger_south

On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 20:54:35 -0400, "psycholist" <technico@wctel.net>
wrote:

>
>I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever
>get the chance to try something like this ... go for it.
>I'm really glad I did. Oh ... and we won the relay
>division. Our runner did a 34 minute 10K which was quite
>impressive. Still, one individual beat our relay time by
>one minute. WOW!
>
>Bob C.
>

Whoo-hoo, Bob. Uh, well, if you could just repost this but
make it like three times as long and more detailed, I'm sure
I could have just as much a rush as I did the first time,
maybe even two. <g>

Bet ya don't wanna give -that- bike back to your friend, eh?

-Badger (that was gr-r-reat, man. good job for any age)

Psycholist

"Badger_South" <Badger@South.net> wrote in message
news:g6dcd0dbnj2ehnsjgea1t559aea031519k@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 20:54:35 -0400, "psycholist"
> <technico@wctel.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever
> >get the chance
to
> >try something like this ... go for it. I'm really glad I
> >did. Oh ...
and
> >we won the relay division. Our runner did a 34 minute 10K
> >which was
quite
> >impressive. Still, one individual beat our relay time by
> >one minute.
WOW!
> >
> >Bob C.
> >
>
> Whoo-hoo, Bob. Uh, well, if you could just repost this but
> make it like three times as long and more detailed, I'm
> sure I could have just as much
a
> rush as I did the first time, maybe even two. <g>
>
> Bet ya don't wanna give -that- bike back to your
> friend, eh?
>
> -Badger (that was gr-r-reat, man. good job for any age)
>

I'm kinda pumped ... can ya tell?

Andrew Price

"psycholist" <technico@wctel.net> wrote >
>
> I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever
> get the chance
to
> try something like this ... go for it. I'm really
> glad I did.

Bob -

if you thought that was fun, try a team time trial in your
age group.

getting 4 riders of similar ability down the road all
working well together - that's a feeling that needs to be
experienced.

fun for one, much more with four...

best, Andrew

(remove the .x1 to reply)

Roger Zoul

psycholist wrote:
:: I just had to write about this. An acquaintance asked me
:: to do the bike leg for a relay team he was putting
:: together for a local Olympic-distance triathlon. He
:: wanted to win, so I don't know why he asked me. I'm 48
:: and a dedicated roadie, but I've only done one TT
:: previously in my life and that was years ago on a
:: standard road bike. The result wasn't impressive.
::
:: But I said yes. I borrowed a friend's Cervelo PK3 early
:: in the week and put about 120 miles on it over the course
:: of several days ... to get used to the feel and the
:: gears. Those little DA shifters at the end of the
:: aerobars are just awesome. I always thought they were
:: friction shifters, but they click into each gear very
:: precisely, or you can just hammer on it and shift all the
:: way across the cassette. Very cool.
::
:: I got used to the bike far easier than I thought I would.
:: Yesterday I drove to the course and did a preview ride on
:: the bike with the race wheels (Zipps ... disc in back).
:: It was sweltering and humid. The course turned out to be
:: rather technical. Lots of turns. A couple of jaunts down
:: roads where you just turn around at a driveway and go
:: back the way you came. Two passes through this small
:: town. Lots of rolling hills. But the worst feature was
:: the start. It was 7 miles of gradual uphill and it was
:: all dead into a headwind. By the time I finished that 7
:: mile stretch of the preview ride, I thought I was really
:: in for a sufferfest. I just rolled on through the course
:: making note of everything and got around in about 1:11.
::
:: So today was race day. The swimmer on my team started in
:: the second wave and, by the time he reached the
:: transition zone, about 25 people were out on the road
:: ahead of me. Of course, almost all of those folks had
:: already swum and would do a 6 mile run after they rode,
:: so they were holding something in reserve. Not me. I went
:: out blazing. The wind was 180 degrees opposite of
:: yesterday. It was a tailwind up that 7 mile rise. I
:: managed to pass all but about 7 riders (guys who got out
:: several minutes ahead of me). It was just the coolest
:: feeling to bomb down the road on one of these tricked-out
:: time trial machines (and believe me ... it doesn't get
:: much better than a Cervelo PK3 with Zipps). I never
:: really thought I'd have that opportunity and I was almost
:: tempted to revert to my road bike. But once I got out
:: there ... well, I hate to say it ... I was Lance. "He's
:: coming down the finishing straight like a grand prix
:: motorcar!"
::
:: As I passed the 15 mile mark I glance at my computer and
:: saw 2 hours and 3 minutes. Hmmmm. Forgot to reset my
:: computer. So I don't know my split yet. I think it was
:: about 1:05 for 40K. Given my age and the technical nature
:: of the course, I was quite happy. I woulda made the the
:: podium for my age group at the state TT championships
:: last week. I think any attempt on my part to go harder
:: would have been offset at some later point by dead legs.
:: I wasn't dead at the end, but I don't know how I could
:: have gone much harder. But the hour seemed like it lasted
:: 10 minutes. I couldn't believe how much fun it was.
::
:: I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever
:: get the chance to try something like this ... go for it.
:: I'm really glad I
:: did. Oh ... and we won the relay division. Our runner
:: did a 34 minute 10K which was quite impressive.
:: Still, one individual beat our relay time by one
:: minute. WOW!

Sounds cool, Lance!

.O0 0o.

I used to live in a town with quite a few tri-atheltes. On
Tuesday and Thursday I would go with the hardcore roadies
and get 30-40 miles of hard riding in. But on Wednesday
there were time trials. Usually 10 miles but I was one of
the few pure roadies that would show up. And I would show up
on my standard road bike. No disc wheels, no aero bars, just
me in the drops for 10 miles. This was on the coast so it
was dead flat except for the start/finish which was about a
15ft descent over 1/8 mile at the start and opposite for the
finish. And it WAS FUN! Going like crazy giving it all I had
for 10 miles. Passing the slower riders and trying to keep
up with the faster ones. It felt much more like a race than
any other day of the week. I was at those time trials every
week. You brought back some good memories!