36Oly_Rider

Well, I did my first time trial today...a 40k at the Hawaii State TT championship...It was my first competitive ride of any sorts, and boy, was it ever a humbling experience.

I don't own a TT bike, so I did it on my Tarmac SL3 with clip on bars (which I will never use again). I took off, nervous as heck, and immediately went anaerobic (though when I uploaded it it doesn't show). I felt as if I was hyperventilating looked down and my HR was 187-190 for about the first mile. I thought to myself "I still have 24 miles of this!" So I backed off a bit.

It seemed to take forever to get back down to my threshold (about 160) and comfortable, but I did, and so began the battle with the headwinds for the next 10 miles.

Weighing in at roughly 140, give or take a couple pounds, the winds here in HI pose a challenge for me at times, and today was one of those times. I think I would rather climb hills. After about 5 miles of this, I wanted to cry, haha. Guys and gals on their TT bikes were passing me up in a blink of an eye and I started an internal war with myself. I wanted to quit, but then I saw a cone marker...I was 1 mile away from the turn around...A little motivation.

After I turned around, I had a nice breezy tail wind...for roughly 2 miles. I was happy...Then it happened. The winds shifted and the battle began, again...I was suffering once more, but had a lot more confidence to actually finish the run.

Well, overall, 1 hour and 20 minutes passed. I crossed the finish line and dismounted my bike, and dropped to my knees and flat on my face. My friend says "Good job! You finished." I replied, still face down in the grass "THANKS!" and lifted my arm in acknowledgement...For about 10 minutes I had to crawl before I regained strength enough to stand up.

Really, I can say I was proud that I actually finished. It was an experience that I can build on and take what I have learned and challenge myself even more. I think that rather than a Time Trial, this event became more of a confidence builder for me. Through all the agony and suffering I went through today, the time doesn't even bother me any more. Knowing I finished probably the biggest athletic challenge I have faced in my 42 years of life is satisfaction enough. A 40, 50, 60 mile bike ride is one thing, but today was an honest to goodness test of willpower...

oespinoza83

Why will you never use clip on aeros again? Was this your first time riding (not racing) with them? I only do about 3 TT a year and refuse to buy a TT bike, so clip-ons have worked fine with me.

johnybutts

Congrats! I'm idiotically looking forwards to our state TT in another few weeks. It's always hard. Gotta callous that taint up and put in the effort!

36Oly_Rider

I think it is more the type that I was using. They were small, and the pads weren't adjustable. I had the bars in a comfortable position, but the pads were useless at that angle. Instead of riding flat, my wrists were on the edge and after about 2-3 minutes, would start to cut into my wrist...I will probably try something more ergo and adjustable next time. These were loaners, and was my first TT and using them

And, thanks johnnybutts. Taint nothing...I think the next level is getting more training in with the team I ride with...Start doing the more competitive training rides on Saturdays as well as the 40 miler on Sunday. Get more serious with the hill climbing and riding in the headwinds...

Racer Ex 

Getting your TT position to be both comfortable and efficient both mechanically and aerodynamically requires that you ride in that position a lot more than just the "day of". Good TT folks spend at minimum 1-2 days a week on their TT bikes, sometimes doing all their training on them coming up to an event.

Pretty cheap ($300 or less) to build something that will have you in the TT position vs. taking clip ons on and off, adjusting your saddle, Etc. Doesn't have to be a TT specific frame, or anything fancy. Waterrockets converted his old Ritchey road frame into a TT rig with a few bits and pieces. Worth considering if you want to pursue this.

waterrockets 

Specifically, Profile Fast Forward seatpost, Profile T2+ aero bars. Some used brake levers and used shift levers. Cut the drops off a pair of bars to make bullhorns. The only thing I bought new was the Vision saddle, on Ex's recommendation (that helped immensely for comfort).

It was ugly, but we did win the 35+ state TTT champs with me on it (and Ex's extra wheels, borrowed helmet, skinsuit, and shoe covers -- I just brought my lungs, frame pump, and bike). Someone on bf once commented that Tom Ritchey would punch me in the face if he saw this:

EmilRosenberg

Interessting post, I can recognize my own experience so well with this! The first time I crossed the finish line to a TT race I had a mental joy-breakdown haha. From that moment, I knew that I was going to do a lot of time trials.

I don't think you can get many other mental challenges that are as tough as time trialing, I hope you get to like it as much as I do!

merlinextraligh

I think that frame pump is an illegal fairing.

waterrockets 

shh

Hida Yanra

obviously, the secret is to hide WR's gruber-assist-motor in the shaft of the frame pump.

You could have gotten away with it had you only put the frame pump where it goes under the top tube... but no, you gave it away by having the end terminate down by the rear hub.

Racer Ex 

There was a whole thread about frame pump placement over on ST a while back.

waterrockets 

lol

Did anyone say "I put it there because it's easier to handle the bike when not riding it." ??

oh, and thanks again for the wheels

Jandro 

I absolutely love how frankenbike that thing is. And winning on it? Icing on the ugly cake.

caloso

Having ridden a couple of times on Maui, I want to say kudos for fighting that onshore wind.

36Oly_Rider

Yeah, I thought about doing it to my Allez. However, I was looking at other clip-ons. Feel way better than the ones I was using. I do like the 1-2 times a week thing though. I may give it a whirl in the near future with the different set.

I like what Waterrockets did with the Ritchey. We had a guy do the TT on a vintage '79 Colnago with clip ons and pretty much destroyed a majority of the newer bikes out there.