F-L TT Report

6.55 mile Time Trial
Masters 35+
27th/93

No pictures other than this one I snapped for my boy Fenix en-route to the race.
Who would have thought there would be a skidder in Fitchburg? Reminds me of home!


Arrived in Boston late last night and had a difficult time sleeping in anticipation of starting the weekend off right. Never had a chance to ride yesterday to get the legs going, so I was curious to know what kind of performance I would turn in. My plan was to get in a good warm up of at least 30 minutes and hit the line raring to go. Well, the best-laid plans always go to waste! Once again, I arrived in plenty of time to get ready. But somehow the time just flies! I got in less than 20 minutes and hit the road as the start was over a mile away from parking.
I drove the course last night, and was pleased to discover it was a climber, gaining 600' in 5 miles. I debated momentarily whether to use the Aegis TT bike or not, but rationalized the descents were fast enough where aerodynamics would play a role. Today was a warm one and there was a majority headwind, but everyone has to ride it so no reason to stress about it. The timer gave me the go and I went, trying to lay off full throttle for the beginning so as to find a groove and cruise later. There was a quick hill, so it was difficult to stay in the low zone. My heart rate was quickly in the 180's where it would remain. I rode my pace until the guy who started 30 seconds behind came up one me! Doh! Was I really going that slowly despite my heart rate?! I buckled down and was determined to at least keep him in sight, assuming he was probably a fast rider. The plan worked and I passed a couple of guys who started ahead of me, but I could never close the gap on the guy who passed me. I finished as strong as I could and glanced at my time which was 19 minutes and change based on my computer. When I looked at the preliminary results already posted, I thought I was in real trouble. There were sub-18 minute times and even a 17.09 (this was eventually the winning time thankfully). There were many other riders to go so I was not too optimistic I would improve upon last year’s 38th place. Needless to say, I was pleased to see my placing which means I don’t have as far to go to make up time.
I really don’t know what I could have done differently, but I have huge respect for TT specialists like Matt Moore. These events are an act of self-abuse!
Tomorrow is the circuit race where it’s unlikely there will be much change in the overall unless there were TT specialists in there who can’t ride in a pack.