Beat the Clock #3 TT, Canada Road, Woodside CA
So, my goal was to go sub 30 minutes. Then I woke up and realized that the REAL goal needs to be "improvement", and incremental. A two minute chunk is a big ask. So, I adjusted my goal to 31 minutes. Unofficially, I did a 31:18. Pretty. Darned. Close.
I had two days of TT openers, and I was careful to follow the protocol during them. I was a little concerned with how sore my legs felt on the opener yesterday, but we and I ALL know this is a day by day sport. Today, during the warmup, I felt soreness again early, but as the warmup progressed, I got loose and things felt fine.
I arrived very early, got the bike set up on the trainer, got my number, did my usual suspect pinning job, visited the Blue Room, and then settled in on the bike for the warmup, timing the warmup to give me a few minutes on the road to finish it off and then arrive at the start house with little time to spare. It worked. Conditions were ideal. 68 degrees, and no wind.
I did a held start this time, and got going quickly. The course is downhill outbound, and I knew to be careful not to go too hard. Adrenaline was well in check, and I was much more relaxed than the last time I rode here. As I progressed along the course, I realized I was feeling pretty good. I was steady on the power, keeping the target plus or minus 10%, as was the plan. I hit the outbound leg climb, which is about halfway, and settled in to a smooth cadence and power delivery. I knew that the last time I rode here, I was sort of dying over the tops of these little climbs, and I had worked diligently during my training rides to put that behavior to bed. I rolled over the top of the climb power on, and I didn't sag at all. On the way up, I was passed by my two minute person, who happened to be a 23 year old phenom who has the course record for the women, around 23 minutes (she did that again today). No one else went by me.
My target split for the turnaround was 13 minutes. I didn't see the exact time when I made the turn, but I saw it was 13 and change. On schedule! My turn was a little slow, so I hit it fairly hard off the turn and got back up to speed quickly. The return leg is mostly uphill, and the last 1/4 is relatively steep. Pacing is important, so I was managing my power carefully, but I was below target by around ten watts. I'd work to ease it back up, but it would droop back down. I decided to key on cadence and keep things smooth. I was definitely motoring along faster than the last time I rode here, and I still felt good. My one minute behind starter, my teammate Yvonne, passed me around 1/3 of the way back. I was pleased, that was an indication to me that I was indeed going quicker.
At around the 3/4 point, I caught and passed my one minute rider, and I did it firmly. I was careful not to "go after her", lest I pop, so I held power and drove around her. That was a new thing for me, I've never caught my one minute or thirty second rider before. Another good sign!
Then the course got quite steep. There is a sharp punchy pitch just prior to the road passing underneath the 280 freeway, and I decided to stay in the big ring and stay aero. That was a mistake, and that one cost me some time, probably around 6 to 10 seconds. On that pitch, my one minute rider passed me back (she later told me that me coming around her spurred her on - good on her!). I didn't allow that to get into my head, I stayed in the power and worked to get up and over the pitch and then back up to speed.
It's around 1K to go at the freeway overpass, and I worked to ramp up the power. I settled at FTP plus 20 and then went higher, but I couldn't hold it. I started to droop, and much as I willed my legs to go (and drooled!), I was loosing time and not increasing speed. I wasn't gaining on my one minute woman, either.
I hit the line OTS trying to sprint, but folks, I was rubbery at that point!
I'd beaten my previous time by over a minute, and I was pleased with that. I had finished off the climbs, and I was smoother - much smoother - than I had been on this hard course before. I'm happy, but not satisfied, There is more to gain on this course.
I'm feeling confident going in to the District TT on the 12th. The Race Predictor has me ranked
#1 in my age category. No pressure there!!! I know how that thing works, but still, I feel a little in the way of expectation and I'm going to really go for it at Districts.
Monday, Memorial Day, is a 3/4 crit. I'll be heads up and stay safe!
I salute all of you vets out there - thank you all for your service!!