Race Report: Elkhorn Stages 2/3

Stage 2 Time Trial:

Losing 20 minutes on the first day made it very difficult to get motivated for the TT but I got out there, warmed up, and was pretty excited at the line. The first half was almost entirely downhill with a tailwind. I went much too hard and when I turned around to go back up I was pretty much toast. I had nothing left in the tank and ended up putting in a pretty dismal time.

Stage 3 Criterium:

Cancelled due to rain after a few laps.

Time Trial Stuff

I’ve pretty much always convinced myself that my body type isn’t well suited for time trialing and that I don’t need to really train for it because I’ll never be any good at it.  In the past couple weeks I’ve stepped back and looked at what I’ve been saying… and it just doesn’t make any sense.  Regardless of what type of racing you’re doing — road races, crits, or time trials themselves — you need to be able to put out a sustained solo effort.

I will now be putting a fair amount of effort into TT training… I’ll try to be on my TT bike at least once a week (Yes, I got a really good deal on a used one and I figure, at the very least, it will help motivate me to train).  I’ll be regularly testing myself using the local 10mi course.  Yesterday I timed myself on the course (pretty much my first real ride on the bike)  and I did it in 26:38 — within 10 seconds of my fastest time last year.  I’m not particularly happy with the time but it could be a lot worse.  I think with some dedicated effort it will come down.

We’ll see what happens.