Thursday, February 3, 2011

I Came...I Saw...I Practiced


















Let me just say right off the bat that I am no longer concerned about my potential performance in the upcoming Tundra Time Trial. Though I have always known my limitations riding a classic, drop-bar race bike on on a rolling, 19.4k TT course against eight thousand dollar speed machines, after today's practice run in race conditions I'm feeling pretty good that I'll be respectable.

Did I mention that the temperature never got much above freezing and that there was pretty much no warm-up after I realized quickly that my first "practice" run was going to be my "only" run?

Mongo was out there today with Cat 5 sandbagger podium hunter, "I'm Coming For You Jason G...Yeah, I Said It !" Tom, who was in full TT regalia, including an expensive bike and an aero helmet. The original plan was to do two runs. The first to practice and get to know the course, and the second to go as hard as possible. Tom did A and B...Mongo only did A.

But in my defense, about a third of the way in I was so cold that I kicked up my effort to about 85% and rode the rest of the course at that pace...12 miles exactly in 34:40. On race day, I am convinced that with proper doping nutrition, a proper warm-up, and the adrenaline of the competition, I will knock 1-3 minutes off of today's run. That's going to put Mongo right in the thick of things in the middle of the Smyrna Bicycles TT peloton. Remember my mantra..."I'm going to beat someone I shouldn't".

No comments: