Win!
Can't find a good side pic yet of riding on course, but had a good regional TT champ day. I won 4/5 and time was good for 8th fastest overall. A couple masters and a couple 1/2 guys really really ripped it at 29 to 31mph. Rest of us in the 10 best times of the day were all 26 to 28mph. I did 26.6mph.
I was well prepped and did my plan, but the day really did toss a pair of issues. In warmup the hub on the disc wheel wanted to toss the chain. There's something wrong going on there. Since it was in the slowest gear for me slowing to a u-turn in warmup, it went off inside. Just a little rub on the sticker in there. But still. Crap. I wound up taking the turns a lot slower than normal so that I could pedal through them to avoid any possible chain issue. You can't really rip corners with an inside pedal down, so lost some time for that.
Then on the line my meter went to sleep and wouldn't wake up. So had to do the whole thing by HR and RPE. That cost me a smoother start. So overcooked the start, settled down, then ripped home. HR avg and taper up over time tells me likely a power pr, maybe 265w for the 55min. If I had to guess.
A couple triathlete ringers did show up in 4/5 but I barely beat them despite the issues. Some of them didn't pay or do their one-day license right, so my riding buddy on the team got a bump from 5th or 6th to getting a 3rd sent to him in the mailbox.
I still had fun. Easy course, great organizer. Officials were a good balance of diligent but also understanding. I couldn't get my number perfect in the pouch but they were fine with it when I asked. But, they weren't happy with a few folks showing up with triathlete "fairing" hydration systems like I run in training. I took that off on purpose knowing it's bad manners for a TT. I just hydrate then don't drink.
Gives me a lot to work on for next year. I'm happy with 26.6 mph for a 40k given where I was a year ago, but I still feel it's slower than I could be or should be on a course that fast. Even with the u-turn tossed in there. I really want to gain a mph before next year. Gain some watts in training/pacing and a few in position. I'm not 100% happy on the front end yet. It's really good for decent amateur stuff, but needs some work.
I'm dying to see on-course pics from one guy who should have gotten side-on pictures.
Arms ain't going any higher than that after shrugging the shoulders to hold the position for an hour nonstop.....
