One of my favorite movie quotes come from "The Terminator". It goes something like this:
All day long I monitored the conditions. Early on it looked like a dream come true - strong southerly winds mean fast rides. Sure, the results would be tainted, but it sure would be fun! Look, the wind was going to blow anyway... might as well be in our favor, right?
In our dreams. Of course by afternoon the winds shifted and became more west than anything. This changes everything on a time trial course that runs SE to NW. This meant strong resistance all the way, and to make matters worse, the gusting nature of the winds guaranteed turbulence as well. No matter what, a time trial would be challenging.
I wondered what the other 7 riders would want to do. To my slight surprise they opted for the time trial. I didn't want to make the call, personally. The wind would expose the weaker riders, wearing them down prematurely. I didn't want the responsibility for it. It had to be a call made by each individual.
With that decision made, the only thing left was to order our start. John T., ever the proponent of self-seeding, finally got his way. Everyone lined up according to their belief in their own fitness. Jimmy, Rand, Allen, Roy, Miller, John T., IronBill, and James was how it shook out. One minute intervals between riders was the arrangement, and the hope was there would be a minimum of waiting at the finish.
To that end we were successful. As far as the self-seeding, we did okay. It was close enough we only have to make minor adjustments for next time. Let's look at the order of finish:
1. James - 23:31 - 25.5 mph
2. IronBill - 23:48 - 25.2 mph
3. Miller - 25:25 - 23.6 mph
4.John T. - 26:22 - 22.8 mph
5. Rand - 27:22 - 21.9 mph
6. Roy - 27:44 - 21.6 mph
7. Jimmy - 28:48 - 20.8 mph
8. Allen - 29:34 - 20.3 mph
First, I think everyone should be commended for doing the ride - it wasn't an easy one. Consider this time on the low end of your ability, because there was plenty of resistance and turbulence out there the whole way. In places it was a dead-on headwind, others a very strong quartering headwind. Wind speed was a steady 15-20 with gusts of over 25. That's not a small amount of wind.
Personally, I had only one goal - to not let James catch me. I figured he would be much stronger in the wind based on the bulk of training he's done, but if I could hold some speed for as long as possible I had a chance. Surprisingly I did okay. I had my aero helmet, which hurt visibility but did make me more aero. Of course I felt the wind, it was everywhere, but I wasn't going to let it keep me from trying.
I caught John T. just west of Bromer. We were heading into the first hill as I drew into him, and I passed him just over the top. From there I started looking for Miller.
I saw no one for a while. It was beginning to look as if I wouldn't catch Miller, as I couldn't even see him. The helmet blocked my view enough that I couldn't see far anyway. I just kept pushing.
Soon I came into view of a rider. Was it Miller? I had to look for an orange jersey, but all I could see was white. Who had on white? Was I seeing the color correctly? I'd have to get closer. Going up Lost River hill I finally ID'd the rider as Allen. I passed him near the top, and skipped on.
The next rider up was easy to pick out - Rand's blue jersey was unique on this ride. I figured I'd get him before the end, and I did, catching him near the base of the final climb. I passed him as the hill began it's slow rise. After topping, I drifted to the center of the road due to helmet visibility, and I could swear I heard Rand shouting at me to get to the right. Granted, there was a great deal of wind in my ears, so it was hard to make anything out, but I definitely heard the car horn as the car went by. That was my bad for sure.
I hit the final stretch, finished the course, then quickly turned around. I wanted to see the gap between James and me. I narrowed it a bit, down to 17 seconds (from 21 last week). We both held over 25 mph, which I am quite happy about given how bad the conditions were for the event.
We did a 3-mile jaunt after the ride, then a late dinner Wendy's. The manager was earnest but barely ept. We did eventually get our food, and it was a good meal. The hour was late, and we all sped home to our families.
Great workout, boys!
"That thing is out there. It doesn't eat. It doesn't sleep. You can't reason with it, you can't bargain with it. It doesn't feel pain, or pity, or remorse, and it absolutely will not stop - EVER! - until you are dead."Tonight, that thing was the wind.
All day long I monitored the conditions. Early on it looked like a dream come true - strong southerly winds mean fast rides. Sure, the results would be tainted, but it sure would be fun! Look, the wind was going to blow anyway... might as well be in our favor, right?
In our dreams. Of course by afternoon the winds shifted and became more west than anything. This changes everything on a time trial course that runs SE to NW. This meant strong resistance all the way, and to make matters worse, the gusting nature of the winds guaranteed turbulence as well. No matter what, a time trial would be challenging.
I wondered what the other 7 riders would want to do. To my slight surprise they opted for the time trial. I didn't want to make the call, personally. The wind would expose the weaker riders, wearing them down prematurely. I didn't want the responsibility for it. It had to be a call made by each individual.
With that decision made, the only thing left was to order our start. John T., ever the proponent of self-seeding, finally got his way. Everyone lined up according to their belief in their own fitness. Jimmy, Rand, Allen, Roy, Miller, John T., IronBill, and James was how it shook out. One minute intervals between riders was the arrangement, and the hope was there would be a minimum of waiting at the finish.
To that end we were successful. As far as the self-seeding, we did okay. It was close enough we only have to make minor adjustments for next time. Let's look at the order of finish:
1. James - 23:31 - 25.5 mph
2. IronBill - 23:48 - 25.2 mph
3. Miller - 25:25 - 23.6 mph
4.John T. - 26:22 - 22.8 mph
5. Rand - 27:22 - 21.9 mph
6. Roy - 27:44 - 21.6 mph
7. Jimmy - 28:48 - 20.8 mph
8. Allen - 29:34 - 20.3 mph
First, I think everyone should be commended for doing the ride - it wasn't an easy one. Consider this time on the low end of your ability, because there was plenty of resistance and turbulence out there the whole way. In places it was a dead-on headwind, others a very strong quartering headwind. Wind speed was a steady 15-20 with gusts of over 25. That's not a small amount of wind.
Personally, I had only one goal - to not let James catch me. I figured he would be much stronger in the wind based on the bulk of training he's done, but if I could hold some speed for as long as possible I had a chance. Surprisingly I did okay. I had my aero helmet, which hurt visibility but did make me more aero. Of course I felt the wind, it was everywhere, but I wasn't going to let it keep me from trying.
I caught John T. just west of Bromer. We were heading into the first hill as I drew into him, and I passed him just over the top. From there I started looking for Miller.
I saw no one for a while. It was beginning to look as if I wouldn't catch Miller, as I couldn't even see him. The helmet blocked my view enough that I couldn't see far anyway. I just kept pushing.
Soon I came into view of a rider. Was it Miller? I had to look for an orange jersey, but all I could see was white. Who had on white? Was I seeing the color correctly? I'd have to get closer. Going up Lost River hill I finally ID'd the rider as Allen. I passed him near the top, and skipped on.
The next rider up was easy to pick out - Rand's blue jersey was unique on this ride. I figured I'd get him before the end, and I did, catching him near the base of the final climb. I passed him as the hill began it's slow rise. After topping, I drifted to the center of the road due to helmet visibility, and I could swear I heard Rand shouting at me to get to the right. Granted, there was a great deal of wind in my ears, so it was hard to make anything out, but I definitely heard the car horn as the car went by. That was my bad for sure.
I hit the final stretch, finished the course, then quickly turned around. I wanted to see the gap between James and me. I narrowed it a bit, down to 17 seconds (from 21 last week). We both held over 25 mph, which I am quite happy about given how bad the conditions were for the event.
We did a 3-mile jaunt after the ride, then a late dinner Wendy's. The manager was earnest but barely ept. We did eventually get our food, and it was a good meal. The hour was late, and we all sped home to our families.
Great workout, boys!
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