Was it a race, or was it just a training ride?
Maybe the paying a fee and getting a number makes it a race, although originally I was assigned to do a Peak Power test on a trainer last weekend…but the weather looked to be pretty good, and Coach Yuki suggested that I do this time trial instead. Who am I to argue?
The time trial was hosted by Metro State College Cycling, as part of the collegiate race series in Colorado – so a bunch of college kids from the Colorado schools (CU, CSU, Metro, Fort Lewis, AFA, Mesa State College, etc.) travel around and compete on each others’ home courses. There were also some racers from afar (saw one kid in Middlebury College gear), and then regular Joe’s like me can show up and race too. Its a good time, pretty mellow environment, and the entry fees go to support the schools’ cycling programs, which is money well spent.
The race was at Bear Creek Lake Park – on nearly 9 miles of pavement. A fun loop, for sure, but if you have not experienced the pain of a time trial, it is a new thing – I had never done a time trial, so it was totally different than other racing I had done, and a good fitness check for the first week of March.
My goal was 24 minutes – I came in under that by about 20 seconds, which is good. My power was good, and overall I ran a pretty good race. My placing was not so hot, but given that there were some college kids in my division, it was not broken out by age group, and some people had TT bikes (I did not), I consider it to be pretty successful…Oh, and it was fun too!
