Wednesday, May 12, 2010

TNT - A Chilly Evening in Medina

40 degrees and rain are never a good combination for bike racing. Add in a moderate ENE wind, and longer than normal course, and you get some slower than expected times.

Jordan and I got there early and setup our tent for warm-up. Casper and Timmer joined us. Participants were noticeably down as expected. I started 30 seconds in front of Jordan, to provide him a rabbit. I also told him to hold back a bit for the first minute or so, to let his perceived exertion match his actual exertion.

I could tell right after my start, it was going to be a tough night. I struggled to get my HR above 160bpm, where in years past, that hasn't been a problem. About half way to the turn around, I expected Jordan to come blazing by me. The turnaround was placed further out than normal, and by the time I got there, Jordan was still 15-20secs behind me.

The tailwind on the way back was a relief, and I spun away at 90+ rpm. All of a sudden, Jordan rockets past me! I couldn't even come close to matching his pace. By the finish, he put another 20 secs into me. Nice effort!

Turns out Jordan misinterpreted my advice, and held back all the way to the turn around, rather than just the first half mile or so. Nonetheless, he set a good benchmark for himself.

Toftoy, back from his huge win at the Tour or Gila, smoked everyone. Casper was the bridesmaid, and Tyler Olson rode to an impressive 3rd. Timmer had a less than spectacular night thanks to his bike skipping gears for most of his ride. Shishilla was sporting his brand new Cervelo P4, and Merrill Lutsky put up a fast time, besting me by 10 secs. Kostik got a flat during warm-up, resulting in a DNS.

Toftoy: 24:02
Casper: 24:44
Olson: 25:33
Jordan: 25:59
Mulrooney: 26:07
Shishilla: 26:17
Lutsky: 26:40
Jimmer: 26:49

Results Posted

Looking forward to better weather...

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