Time trialing used to be my specialty. I've always been big and powerful. But over the years I've lost my mojo for solitary suffering. I can dig much deeper when I'm competing directly with a human instead of the clock. It also has a lot to do with the way that I train now. In the old days I was pretty strict about doing regular intervals. I used to do 3X20's every week - usually on the trainer. I remember sitting on the couch in my chamois psyching myself into climbing on the bike because I knew it was going to hurt so bad. But that is exactly what it takes to be a good time trialist. That, and spending time on your TT bike. My Trek Speed Concept has been hanging on the wall since 2015 TBC.
But with all that said, I felt really great yesterday. Extraordinary actually. I was kind of shocked when my time was 8:30. That's :30 slower than my best at TBC. Here are the numbers
And speaking of :02. That's exactly how far back I found myself on the GC after Stage 1. I was sitting in 2nd with a good plan for the Road Race.
TBC Stage 2
Max Thompson from Thirsty Bear San Anselmo, CA was wearing the yellow jersey and he had 2 additional teammates in the field to ride tempo. And they executed very well, with one of them on the front keeping the tempo high at all times.
On lap 1 a Tucson Master's guy went up the road and they let him dangle. I bridged up and we started rotating but were caught within a few miles. That's when things went south.
Riding at tempo just before the turn into the start/finish line I flatted. The wheel truck assisted with a quick wheel change but I was way back and the peloton was drilling it up the long hill.
The driver of the wheel truck did a world class job of motor pacing me back to the group but I was gassed by the time I got back on. Luckily I had a few miles to recover before the finish.
Master's racing is predictably unpredictable. Often times the field is full of guys who really don't understand tactics, as illustrated by what happened next.
On lap 2, two guys, including one from the yellow jersey's team rolled off the front just ahead of the long (8 mile) decent. I went to the front and started to chase along with Andy Hosterman from Landis. And then, instead of rotating, several other guys started to attack and then sit up. Of course this resulted in the group never getting organized, leaving the two escapees to put time on us.
I will never know if I/we could have caught them (or bridged across) because the next thing I know, my rear tire goes flat AGAIN! And my day was done.
At the time of this blog post, I am exchanging email with the Chief Referee to see if I can start tomorrow.
This was one of four target races this year. The first was Valley of the Sun. I was registered and got sick 2 days before the start. Now this. I'm 0 for 2.
This turning into an interesting year. I either win, DNS or DNF. Nothing in between.
Next up San Dimas Stage Race in Cali-Forn-Ia. Another target race. We shall see.
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