Flat course with some very gently rolling sections.
Field: Cat 4
Place: 7/18
Would have been 5/36 in the 35+ 4/5's. On the other hand, about half the Cat 4's were within one minute of me and the wind picked up a bit after I finished.
Used 51x15 gearing with Vittoria clincher/HED 60 in front with Michelin Pro Race 2, ghetto CH aero disk wheel in the back. At the half way point some of the electrical tape holding the rear wheel cover together came loose but it never came off fully. A few times it felt like the chain was trying to derail itself so will have to tension up the chain a bit more next time I use the bike as there is no way it's going back on during the race with a fixie.
Almost a minute faster than last year with a bit less wind this year than last year, but at least ten degrees hotter this year at 10:00 am. Did not ride the fixed gear nearly as much prior to this event as last year, went with the theory that time trial fitness is mainly aerobic fitness and only rode the fixed gear time trial bike once a week on recovery days as prep, doing most of the FTP type work on hills. Seemed to work OK. I'm not sure anything would prepare one for sitting an hour on the tip of the saddle, this started to hurt so much towards the end I found myself shifting back and forth to relieve the pressure.
Started last of eighteen riders. Caught the two folks who started in front of me but it took a really long time as our paces were pretty close, the first catch was after about twenty minutes ( and I could see him when I started) and the second one was in the last ten minutes, unfortunately at a corner so I had to slow significantly in order to not draft as we both went wide out of the corner. My pacing was a little off as I think I still had something left in the tank at the end, on the other hand, once I saw the 1 KM sign I kept thinking I'm almost done, almost done, the next sign should say 200 meters but it said 500 meters... Looking at the different sections of the course I went a bit too easy when I had the tailwind and just about right into a headwind except for the last section where I may have begun to fatigue.
Not sure how much of the improvement in time is due to the slightly higher power, which is within the precision of the measuring instrument and could be a wash, or slightly improved equipment. Used an aero LG Rocket helmet and a skinsuit this year versus the helmet with tape and the short sleeve jersey and shorts last year. The interesting thing about the Rocket is that (at least on me) it starts to whistle when I was going over 45kph. I think the only equipment improvements I can make at this point are shoe covers and a front wheel deeper than 60mm and a $1000 for a fitting session in a wind tunnel so I am going to have to work on fitness instead. :0
T: 50:41
D: 33.3 KM
C: 92
S: 39.5
H: 180
AP: 245
NP: 247
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