Long Story Short
- Finished with a time of 1:06:29,
- Averaged 36.2km/h and 184 Watts,
- I ranked 3rd out of 12 in the Limit Classification,
- And 26th out of 38 overall.
Short Story Long
Build-up
I got my Specialized Evade from Base2Race. I got the last White size Medium from their suppliers, so I was pretty happy about that. It's pretty good when you're going fast. But when you're going slow, the helmet sits low on the forehead and the sweat builds on the forehead then keeps leaking down your nose and into your mouth. But it keeps your head dry in the wet. I think it will be good in the Autumn and Winter.
I took a run at the course on the Saturday beforehand. I had planned to do two runs at it, but ended up only doing one, as it was fairly hard going and I just wanted to go home and do some drinking as my buddies from Athlone were up. I also took the opportunity to get a car wash from a guy past Batterstown. But I felt that the practice run was good input into the plan for the day. Keith on Strava, who recorded a sub-60 on the course, said to drill it on the way out and minimise losses on the way back.
I had been using the TT bars a lot in the build-up. Muscle adaptations need time to form to enable going fast in the TT position.
I took a run at the course on the Saturday beforehand. I had planned to do two runs at it, but ended up only doing one, as it was fairly hard going and I just wanted to go home and do some drinking as my buddies from Athlone were up. I also took the opportunity to get a car wash from a guy past Batterstown. But I felt that the practice run was good input into the plan for the day. Keith on Strava, who recorded a sub-60 on the course, said to drill it on the way out and minimise losses on the way back.
I had been using the TT bars a lot in the build-up. Muscle adaptations need time to form to enable going fast in the TT position.
Pre-Race
The posts here, have been very helpful in allowing me to discern what works, and what doesn't in the day of the race.
I weighed in at 68kg that morning. I had been eating well that week, Green Drinks and Vegetarian options at lunch in work. At 16:30, I started eating my regular John West Tuna Steampot and two Bananas. The guys on my team were playing Table Tennis, so no one was having a period about the smell of the food. I watched the end of the Tour de France on CyclingHub, it was the third day in a row that I had to watch the stream in Italian. I got changed into my kit and was on the road at 17:20.
I got up to Black Bull very early, at 17:45. I got everything ready. The main point of today was to avoid the mistakes of the previous 10M TT. Namely not knowing the distance remaining and taking a piss just before my start time. I had a nightmare, regarding pissing time and TT start time, at the 10M TT in the weeks prior.
I created a new page on my Garmin for the TT. It displayed Power Zone, Cadence, Lap Time, Lap Distance and Lap Average Speed. I don't know that the Average Speed reading was doing on there, as average speed means fuck all at the end of the day.
I went for a ride to the train tracks and back to the car. Started my stretching routine. I rode up the road and did five one minute intervals, and then a three and a five minute interval. I got my number and ate a third banana just before the five minute interval. Warm-up on Strava. I didn't notice any wind on the road.
I went back to the car to drop off some stuff. Swap over to my 500ml bottle. I had a Caffeine gel. I antagonised about removing the arm warmers, I ended up doing so, despite the rain. With the helmet, gloves and zipped up jersey, I'd be baking. Plus the rain in the east side of the country is basically just a drizzle. In the 54 weeks I'd lived up here, it's only rained hard twice.
I hadn't seen Barry so far the evening, I wondered if he would not show up. The car was parked under a flight path, and there was a familiar tunneling drone being registered in my eardrums. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was Barry's disk wheel passing me. Best case scenario, second place for me tonight.
I arrived at the start line with ten minutes to spare. I took this time to take my third slash of the evening, safety in numbers. I had another gel, dried my forehead and I was ready to rock. Younger Luke was released, Diarmuid followed. My minute man didn't show up. I ensured my bike was in the 50-21, so I could drill it off the line. I was much more confident in the guy holding me this week. The fingers on the hand in front of me disappeared.
I got up to Black Bull very early, at 17:45. I got everything ready. The main point of today was to avoid the mistakes of the previous 10M TT. Namely not knowing the distance remaining and taking a piss just before my start time. I had a nightmare, regarding pissing time and TT start time, at the 10M TT in the weeks prior.
I created a new page on my Garmin for the TT. It displayed Power Zone, Cadence, Lap Time, Lap Distance and Lap Average Speed. I don't know that the Average Speed reading was doing on there, as average speed means fuck all at the end of the day.
I went for a ride to the train tracks and back to the car. Started my stretching routine. I rode up the road and did five one minute intervals, and then a three and a five minute interval. I got my number and ate a third banana just before the five minute interval. Warm-up on Strava. I didn't notice any wind on the road.
I went back to the car to drop off some stuff. Swap over to my 500ml bottle. I had a Caffeine gel. I antagonised about removing the arm warmers, I ended up doing so, despite the rain. With the helmet, gloves and zipped up jersey, I'd be baking. Plus the rain in the east side of the country is basically just a drizzle. In the 54 weeks I'd lived up here, it's only rained hard twice.
I hadn't seen Barry so far the evening, I wondered if he would not show up. The car was parked under a flight path, and there was a familiar tunneling drone being registered in my eardrums. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was Barry's disk wheel passing me. Best case scenario, second place for me tonight.
I arrived at the start line with ten minutes to spare. I took this time to take my third slash of the evening, safety in numbers. I had another gel, dried my forehead and I was ready to rock. Younger Luke was released, Diarmuid followed. My minute man didn't show up. I ensured my bike was in the 50-21, so I could drill it off the line. I was much more confident in the guy holding me this week. The fingers on the hand in front of me disappeared.
Race
Outward Leg
I was off. Out of the saddle, I sprinted hard to get my speed up. Very quickly, I was up to 40km/h. I sat in the saddle and got onto the areobars. BEEP! My Garmin was telling me that my power had dipped out of Zone 4. Pedal hard and gear up. I spent a lot of time in the last three cogs at the bottom of the block. My legs didn't go weak, like the last time.
I don't remember all the that much. It felt like three minutes. Lots of my Garmin beeping at me and me shifting gears. I started to wonder when I would see the guys in front of me, and the people on the return leg. At the first roundabout, I didn't slow that much. I stayed in the aerobars and kept pedaling.
On a long straight I caught sight of Diarmuid. The other participants started to appear as they made their way back from Trim. The helmet was not absorbing the sweat anymore, and it was drizzling, which added to the stream of sweat flowing into my right eyeball and mouth. My glasses were starting to fog a bit too. Of the people coming towards me, I could make out Helen's orange lenses and Ann's Yellow-y Neon frames. They had passed their cousin and Ann was about to lay the law down in the sibling rivalry.
Maybe my depth perception was effected, due to the sweat in my right eye, but Diarmuid was getting closer. As we approached the second roundabout, I could see him take an absolute shocker of a line through the 360 degree turn. When I got onto the roundabout, I discovered why his line was so bad. It hadn't rained in Dublin for a long few days, so the surface was really slippery. The marshals were saying "turn". I was 270 degrees around the roundabout and I was shouting "turn, turn, turn". I'm pretty sure that my subconscious was already picking a nice area to land, if I clipped the kerb.
I averaged 39.0km/h on the outward leg.
I don't remember all the that much. It felt like three minutes. Lots of my Garmin beeping at me and me shifting gears. I started to wonder when I would see the guys in front of me, and the people on the return leg. At the first roundabout, I didn't slow that much. I stayed in the aerobars and kept pedaling.
On a long straight I caught sight of Diarmuid. The other participants started to appear as they made their way back from Trim. The helmet was not absorbing the sweat anymore, and it was drizzling, which added to the stream of sweat flowing into my right eyeball and mouth. My glasses were starting to fog a bit too. Of the people coming towards me, I could make out Helen's orange lenses and Ann's Yellow-y Neon frames. They had passed their cousin and Ann was about to lay the law down in the sibling rivalry.
Maybe my depth perception was effected, due to the sweat in my right eye, but Diarmuid was getting closer. As we approached the second roundabout, I could see him take an absolute shocker of a line through the 360 degree turn. When I got onto the roundabout, I discovered why his line was so bad. It hadn't rained in Dublin for a long few days, so the surface was really slippery. The marshals were saying "turn". I was 270 degrees around the roundabout and I was shouting "turn, turn, turn". I'm pretty sure that my subconscious was already picking a nice area to land, if I clipped the kerb.
I averaged 39.0km/h on the outward leg.
Return Leg
I pulled the bike around just in time to see Barry entering the roundabout. I shouted "Slow down Barry", hoping that he would listen. I sprinted out of the corner. Diarmuid firmly in my sights. I was now noticing a slight head wind. Barry jetted past me, then he passed Diarmuid quickly after that. After a small battle, where I passed him, and he passed me (whilst riding on the hoods), Diarmuid accepted my advances. I gained two mintues on him.
Next on the radar was Younger Luke. I could see him in the distance. Climbing a hill out of the saddle. He, unlike Diarmuid went quietly. Just before the roundabout. Plus Three minutes. The roundabout was clear again. Luke destroyed me on the Sally Gap race, by about eleven minutes.
I was noticing the kilometers ticking upwards to 40.1km. My under-carriage was going painfully numb, so I got out of the saddle to crest the three bumps on the run from the third roundabout to the line. I was unable to get the power into Z4 for the run from Batterstown to the finish. I passed the dead fox, and tried to keep going hard to the line. I shouted out my number as I crossed the line.
I averaged 34.4km/h on the return leg.
Next on the radar was Younger Luke. I could see him in the distance. Climbing a hill out of the saddle. He, unlike Diarmuid went quietly. Just before the roundabout. Plus Three minutes. The roundabout was clear again. Luke destroyed me on the Sally Gap race, by about eleven minutes.
I was noticing the kilometers ticking upwards to 40.1km. My under-carriage was going painfully numb, so I got out of the saddle to crest the three bumps on the run from the third roundabout to the line. I was unable to get the power into Z4 for the run from Batterstown to the finish. I passed the dead fox, and tried to keep going hard to the line. I shouted out my number as I crossed the line.
I averaged 34.4km/h on the return leg.
Post Race
There was a gathering of people on the grassy area beside the line. I rolled over. Everyone was slowly discussing what times they got. Colin, who I was marshaling with last week, rolled over the line very soon after I did. He was very close to catching me.Stephen coasted over to the grassy area, asking for help to get off his bike. I held him upright. His new Tarmac felt really light. He looked like he needed a priest. Stay away from the light Stephen, I though.
There was some more chat. I recovered pretty quickly from the effort. Evidently I had not gone hard enough. I went back to the car and did some stretching. After the last TT, I didn't stretch. I had a very difficult few hours the next morning.
After looking at the data on Strava, I was not as happy as I might have been. 186 Watts was nowhere near my Z4 starting Wattage (206 W).
The results were posted on the forum, I had finished 3rd of 12 in Limit, and 26th of 38 overall.
1st Roger 1:04:28.05
2nd Barry + 0:00.74
3rd Luke + 2:01
4th Stephen H + 2:20
5th Ann + 3:14
6th Brianne + 4:04
Barry had beaten me in the 10M TT by 30 seconds, and I had beaten Rodger by 5 seconds. I'm still leading Limit classification by one point from Barry. Sickener for Barry, missing out on first place. But in reality Fergal (Limit 25M TT winner last two years) and Sean (winner of the 10M TT) were missing from the event, so I'm not going on an open top bus tour to celebrate my 3rd place.
I drank another two liters of water and ate a pack of graphes before I went to sleep. My post-race pizza was not on the menu this week.
What was Learned
- I need to lower the nose of my saddle for TT efforts.
- I need to do another FTP test and not be afraid of the numbers being lower than February. British cycling have some training plans on their site that I should follow.
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