I had a great 45 minute warm up with some HR efforts starting at 150, 155, 160, 165, 170 and finally 175 about 10 minutes before the start time. I was nicely warmed up but the legs were still sore from the really hard racing over the past 4 weeks. I'd done Copperopolis, 2 stage races and 2 fast Crits in 4 weeks so it wasn't surprising things were sore.
I got to the start line with about 5 minutes to spare and just rolled around until it was my minute. One guy rolled to the line and discovered he'd missed his start by 8 minutes. He was in disbelieve and wasted more time trying to figure out what went wrong. Apparently his watch had 2 separate times and he was looking at the wrong one.
When my minute came I rolled into the start tent and got ready to start. The start marshals were a lot of fun and wished me luck as I pushed off the line.
As I settled into the aero position the course went slightly downhill with twisting banked corners. I remember thinking that this was better than a roller coaster, it was such a blast to ride. After the first half mile the course started climbing and I was glad I had the 27 cog on the back as it offset the 55 chainring nicely and I didn't have to drop into the little ring at all on the course.
I knew the guy starting a minute behind me was fast and I hoped I could stay away from him. I'd passed a couple of people on the way out to the turnaround but they were not in my category. As I made the turn for home I could see that Chris was about 20 seconds behind. He would probably catch me before the line.
With the return leg being downhill I was absolutely flying in the 55 x 11, trying to keep my speed up on the small rollers. As I got to the 2 mile to go marker I could see the rider ahead of me who had missed his start. I caught him at a bend in the road and was trying to overtake him on the outside when he started to move over on me. We bumped elbows as I tried to avoid crossing the yellow line. I flew by him and just kept going. About 20 seconds later I was passed by Chris and we also came very close to bumping.
I crossed the line in 26:44, good enough for 5 place in the 2/3.
I knew there weren't many racers showing up for this TT so I decided it would be some easy points if I just rolled the Pro/1/2 field as well. I signed up for the second time and just managed to pin on another number and grab a drink before hitting the line again. This time there was no bumping and I had a great time doing the roller coaster again without any real pressure. Funny thing is I was only 15 seconds slower the second time around and that was good enough for 5th in the Pro/1/2 field. Both my times would have given me the same position in either field. I definitely felt a lot weaker the second time around but 15 seconds doesn't seem like a lot.
This was a fun event on a great course. I look forward to going back again.
Breakfast: Egg Sandwich, Cytosport Monster Amino.
Pre Race: Two gels and 1 bottle of Cytomax.
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