Act 1 of 4: The Time Trial

I have been a very busy boy the past few days.  I am over-run with adventures, memories, and maybe a little fatigue.  I competed in a bunch of races back to back and need a few separate "acts" to write up all the adventures.

*Before I made one pedal stroke I had already won the competition...for the best coordinated outfit.

Act 1 was the "race of truth," the time trial.  For those unfamiliar, a time trial is a bike race in which each rider races the clock directly (and the other riders indirectly) by riding a pre-determined course as fast as possible.  Each rider is separated by a time interval, usually a minute, to ensure each rider will ride the entire course under their own power.  It's every man, woman, and crazy person for themselves.  No drafting, no paceline, no break away, no resting, no mercy. :)

*The race was in the middle of nowhere

*The community center didn't even have indoor plumbing...

*Downtown had one store, and it was abandoned.

*The racers parked in a hay field.

This time trial was a moderately flat, but windy, 8 mile course.  The wind and heat added a little pressure to the riders, overall though I think everyone had fun.  This time trial (TT) was about 12 hours before I was to defend my 2011 triathlon title, so I wanted to ride hard at the TT, but I wasn't going to go full power and crack my legs wide open by giving everything I had.  I planned to ride hard, let's face it this is a very hard discipline of cycling.  You basically have to suffer through a TT from the first few seconds of the opening sprint up to speed, all the way to the finish line.  It's attack, attack, attack, and I love it.

*Mentally preparing for the "ouch"

I knew that riding a hard race like this 12 hours before my triathlon could have somewhat of a negative effect on the tri the next morning, but I love to race and will make that sacrifice. I told myself "It's in your head, not your muscles."  At the end of the day, I love to race, be with my friends, and have adventures so I never second guessed a hard effort.  I train very hard for multiple race efforts just like this.

*Montana Cycling did a great job with the event

After receiving our final athlete instructions, we all lined up.  For nearly an hour riders left successively on each minute.  I had a somewhat disadvantaged  position of starting third, which only left me two riders ahead to try and catch.  The later you start in the TT the more information you have as to the current best times.  When you ride first you just have to ride as fast as you can, wait, and hope.  Which is pretty much what I did.

*All lined up and ready to start, one by one.

When the starter let me go I went into my aero bars and fought the wind and rolling hills for about 13 minutes to the turnaround point.  The hot pavement radiating up heat made the ride into the head wind tough.  My legs burned, sweat dripped down my face, and my sunscreen covered legs glistened under the hot sun. I was melting. I took a check to the guy who started one minute ahead of me (my "minute man") and thought the gap was fairly stable at the original minute stagger. This meant we were essentially tied.

*My buddy, Kevin Livingston, mashing some gears.

*My lil' buddy, Tarje Grover, about to show the big boys how it's done.

*Clip in and mount up...

*...It's Brodacious Time. :)

After briefly coming out of the aero bars to squeeze the brakes and make the u-turn, I was relieved to feel the wind ease a little for the ride back to the finish line.  By the way, I only touched my brakes twice, once at the turnaround and again after the finish.  The race is not a true out and back so we didn't get to enjoy the full benefit of the tailwind.  We road about 5 miles into the wind and then back tracked 3 miles to the finish.  The two-mile stretch from the finish to the cars was the cool down and chit-chat area.

*Have you ever ridden your bike in a vivid landscape painting?  Can you see me in the distance, I'm the dot.

*We started and finished in the middle of nowhere

I pedaled my burning legs at about 85-90 percent of my full TT power until I crossed the finish line.  That was fun, but I was glad to be done.  I finished 7th overall in the field after all the dust had settled.  Overall, it was a great night of hard racing, sweet kits, and fun with my cycling friends.

A HUGE thank you to Chris Seivers who graciously took the time trial photos.  Without her graciousness and pictures, all I would have is my words and my memories, those two alone are rarely enough for a high quality race report.

Thanks for visiting!