Extreme Momentum

Illinois State TT Championships
August 30, 2008 – Harvard, IL
Masters 30-34 – 2nd – 47:44.42
266 watts – 25.6 MPH

One of my old teammates asked me before the race, “Aren’t you defending?” I replied that I wasn’t.  He looked confused.  “Didn’t you win last year?” he asked.  “Well, yeah, I did, so yeah, well, uh, I guess I’m officially defending my title from last year. ” After a couple of more seconds, I added, “Well, I’m the defending champ, but I’m not defending my title”  Yep, I was just happy to have made it to the race.

I won’t go into a long frustrating story involving ComEd, contractors, and being president of my condo association. Let’s just say that Friday full of stress and a sleepless night didn’t really encourage me to get up at 7 AM on Saturday to drive out to Harvard, IL for a race. In fact, if it had been any race BUT the Illinois State TT championships, I would have killed the alarm and gone back to bed. That championship jersey was begging me to defend it.

Like last year, the state TT championships were held on the familiar Harvard 30K course. Conditions were great with temperatures in the 70s, clear skies, and a slight SW wind. With my hectic day before the race, I was taking a fairly laid back approach.  I had plenty of time to warm up and also chatted with other racers in the parking lot. I really just wanted to chill and enjoy the weatehr, but I had a race to do. Thankfully, I got a little more focused during the warm up, but not much.

My start went fairly well. I got into a good rhythm until I ran into an idiot on his cool down biking in the middle of the right lane.  He was completely ignorant of traffic trying to pass him on the left and other riders trying to pass him on the right. He didn’t respond to verbal yells and he nearly hit another rider who tried to pass on the inside.  I ended up dropping a quick sprint in order to get around him.  Note to other riders.  Don’t cool down on the course while a race is in progress.  I know you can’t do this is crits and road races, and am pretty sure you can’t do so in TTs. Considering he won his category, he should have known better.

After that encounter, my race started to go downhill. And, I don’t mean in elevation.  Super genius here decided he didn’t need water, because the race was only 30K.  Great idea considering that I was wearing a black, long sleeve skinsuit and I barely had any water before the race. Let’s just say the final 15 miles of the race weren’t pretty. I felt like dropping out and noodling the rest of the way, but I knew that I would be POed with myself later. I got into my normal, thirst-induced momentum thought in my mind–the trunk full of Gatorade awaiting me in the parking lot.

I was pretty sure I was out of the running for a podium spot after my finish, but was pleasantly surprised with a 25.6 MPH average over the 32K distance.  Ironically, my one good decision of the day probably saved me a podium spot.  I had only raced on it once before (and I broke my collar bone in that TT), but I still opted to try the “hundo”, the Blackwell Research 100, in front.  Good idea. Had I chosen another front wheel, I wouldn’t have placed.  Thank goodness for aerodynamics!

Rather than heading home to beat traffic, I wanted to wait for results since this was the state championships. Besides, the weather was great and I had a chance to chat with other racers and meet new XXXer, Chris Kinonen.  Chris had a phenomenal race that day, coming in right behind me despite not having a ton of aero equipment. We finished 4th and 5th in Masters 30-34, but went 2-3 in the state championship placings. A great XXX showing!

So, until next year…:)

The complete results are on the Chicago TT series website here, plus there are photos on the ICA website here.

While cleaning my cyclocross bike off after our trip to Acadia, I discovered a neat little trick using compressed air.  I had taken the crank off because I’m still trying to get it adjusted right in the bottom bracket.  Without the crank in, I decided to use a can of compressed air to blow a bunch of sand and grit out of the seat tube. Woohoo!  Look at what happened.  Pretty cool, huh?  It totally reminds me of a steam engine. Yes, I’m easily entertained.

Willow Springs 30K TT
August 24, 2008 – Willow Springs, IL
Masters 30-39 – 6th – 45:20.58
276 watts – 25.6 MPH

Venues for road racing in the Chicago area tend to be pretty cookie cutter. Office parks for crits and cornfields for time trials. We racers tend to get overexcited even if a course differs just slightly from the norm. Taking that into mind, the course for the Willow Springs TT was like a surprise birthday party. Not only did it have real hills, but lots of trees! Huh? Trees and hills on TT course in the Chicago area. Yep, and less than 30 minutes from downtown. That’s right, I’ve got a new favorite TT course.

The Willow Springs TT on August 21 was staged near the Palos Forest Preserve. Mountain bikers are very familiar with this Cook County gem and its heavily wooded areas, challenging hills (for Chicago), and sense that you’re no longer in the city. The course started near the corner of Willow Springs Road and Archer. Riders immediately faced a 1.5 km uphill that averaged a 6% gradient. The hill climbs were timed for a KOM competition. After this uphill section, the course followed a nice fast descent to 107th street. The course west on 107th was flat with a slight downhill near the turn onto Archer. The remaining stretch on Archer was also flat and heavily wooded, thus protected from the wind. This loop was 15K, so the racers would do 2 laps for a full 30K. Traffic was also courteous to riders and I was usually given plenty of room when cars were passing.

The race shared parking with I&M trail users, but this wasn’t really an issue on a Sunday AM. In fact, the path provided a great traffic-free spot to warm-up. I had arrived an hour early which was more than enough time to pick up my packet and warm-up. I ended up spending most of my time, while stretching, explaining the race and my TT bike to inquisitive recreational cyclists on their hybrids.
I was a little nervous at the start because I didn’t know how I would handle the downhill speeds and some tight corners. Yep, I chickened out. However, I cruised uphill and really dropped the hammer on the flats for a respectable speed of 25.6 MPH for 6th in Masters 30-39. Ironically, my time would have been first in Cat 4.

I got lucky having some nice carrots in front of me to help push the pace. Druber passed me on his second lap just when I had started my first. Sure, he’s a lot faster but I could at least minimize the amount he gained on me. I kept him in range up until about a mile or so before his finish. Then, just as I started my second lap. Voytek started his first lap. He started fairly fast, but I knew Voytek wasn’t that much different from me in speed. That provided good motivation and he soon backed off his pace and I caught him just before my finish. It’s amazing how important psychology and having something to chase is in TTing!

I’m hoping the new Chicago TT series continues next year and we get to use the Willow Springs course again. A lot of effort went into this inaugural series and even though it had a few hiccups and bad luck this year, it would be nice to have a regular USA Cycling based TT series in the Chicago area. Thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers who helped make it happen!