Extreme Momentum

Dr. Craig Schultz Memorial 40K TT
July 19, 2009 – Cordova, IL
Masters 30+ – 2nd – 56:48:19
284 watts – 26.2 MPH

So, here are some important things to remember on your way to the next race: 1) Stay on the same side of the river, 2) never trust locals with directions, and 3) detours often lead to more detours.  Otherwise, a 15 minute trip will turn into 60 minute trip. However, these detours might actually help you go faster! That’s what I found out when I headed west for the Dr. Craig Schultz Memorial 40K TT.

Why would anyone want to travel to Iowa for time trial? How about one of the flattest and fastest (if the conditions are right) courses in the Midwest.  Donnie’s Indoor Cycling Experience (DICE) and the Quad City Bike Club (QCBC) host this TT every July in Cordova, IL. It’s part of the MATTS series, so it draws a good number of racers from the Chicago area, as well folks from Iowa.  It features an L-shaped course, which is completely flat with one corner and turnaround.  The roads are in awesome shape and have markers every 5K to help with pacing.

I first did this race in 2007 and broke the hour mark in the 40K for the first time then. This year, I decided to stay across the river in Le Claire, IA, like I did  in 2007.  I should have gotten a hint from eastbound lanes on I-80 bridge over the Mississippi River being closed for repairs when I got into town.  Hmmm.  I asked the hotel staff if this would be an issue and they said to follow detour signs since it would only be about 10-15 minutes extra travel time. Ha! I should have checked the route myself.  I left Sunday AM leaving what I thought would be enough time to get there.  It turns out that the marked detour had its own detours, which resulted in me going through several of the Quad Cities just to get across the river.  Thankfully, I had was able to get a later start time.  I was pretty miffed with the delay, but I think this ultimately helped my focus.

I headed to my start POed and ready to get going. My plan was just to focus on my wattage values and use this as a workout. Well, it turns out this probably was a good idea.  There was a slight wind from the NW, which keep speeds close to 29-30 MPH on the way out.  I then had about 12K north into a slight headwind.  This is where I really focused on maintaining my power at threshold levels.  As I passed the 20K mark, I looked at my Garmin.  Holy schnikes!  With an out-and-back course, I knew I had a chance to break 57 minutes and possibly 56 minutes.  This provided good motivation for the return, especially with the 5 miles into a headwind.

I ended up finishing in 56:48, which shattered my previous 40K PR.  I was pretty excited, especially since my legs were completely shot.  My power was right at threshold levels and I kept myself hydrated throughout the race with small sips from my Camelbak.  The race conditions were also good with mostly cloudy skies with temps in the upper-60s and a slight, 5 MPH wind.  All of those things helped, but I think I finally got it mentally. This race was a huge confidence booster, and in a bit of a breakthrough race for me.

As fast as my time was, there were several guys in the 53-55 min range.  It was fast day for some of us, but I was surprised not everyone set a PR. I highly recommend this race if you’re looking for a fast 40K TT.  DICE and QCBC put on a great event, and there’s nothing like watching the corn grow while you race!

BTW, here are the links for the IL and IA DOTs if you ever need construction or detour info…;)

http://www.iowadot.gov/

http://www.dot.state.il.us/

Wolfgang Freitag Memorial 2-Man 50K TT
July 12, 2009 – Herscher, IL
Masters 30+ – 2nd – 1:13:53
252 watts – 25.3 MPH

You can tell you’ve had a good race by the amount of salt and snot on your jersey.  And let me tell you, Brian Morrissey and I sure looked like a handsome pair after the Wolfgang Freitag Memorial 2-Man 50K TT.  We were covered with enough salt  to supply Frito Lay for a month and our snot-encrusted shoulders begged for a case of Kleenex. Thankfully, we weren’t there to pick up chicks…just medals. And we scored (a silver)!

Brian had stepped up earlier in the week to help me in the 2-man TT, despite having a rigorous Superweek schedule.  In fact, he did two races at Blue Island the day before the TT.  And, this wasn’t a short TT, it was 50K.  The course was beautiful.  A 25K loop with just 4 corners and relatively good road surfaces.  Plus, there was only about 5-10 MPH wind from the north.  Talk about ideal conditions for going fast.

Nothing that exciting about warming up or getting to the race, except it’s nice when there’s no traffic early in the morning.  Our start time was right behind pro racer (and former XXX member) Reid Mumford and fellow pro Bryce Mead).  We joked with them about how soon we would catch them and then pleaded with them not to lap us.  It’s amazing at how much better these guys are compared with us mere mortals.  Reid and Bryce scorched at the course at an average speed of nearly 30 MPH.  Yikes!

Despite being caught in Reid and Bryce’s exhaust fumes, Brian and I’s plan was to go out steady, build a rhythm and try, and hammer the last 10K.  OK, easier said then done.  We were very strong the first lap, but Brian’s racing from the day before began to show about halfway through.  Brian never let up, but you could hear the pain in the sound of his breathing.  Thankfully, we kept communicating, took the right length of pulls, so we were able to keep our pace nice and high. It was amazing how fast the 50K goes despite the pain.

My goal for us was to be a hair over 1:12:00, since this would put us in a good spot for a podium finish. We ended up crossing the finish line in sub-1:14 and I was jacked.  I knew that was a contending time.  We stuck around for the results, which were gradually posted at the village park.  We had the fastest time for Masters 30+ and one of the top ten fastest times overall. We were getting pretty excited only to find out we were nipped for first by one of the final teams.  Oh, well, second place was a nice showing. This made our trip home nicer except for our quest for Culver’s, which is another story AND doesn’t involve Neil Patrick Harris.

I know the 2-Man TT is held around Superweek, but I highly recommend checking it out.  The folks at Midwest Masters put on an incredible race and you often don’t get a chance to race this distance with this little traffic let alone as a team.

UW Whitewater 20K TT
July 5, 2009 –Whiterwater, IL
Masters 4/5 – 3rd – 29:11.02
281 watts – 25.0 MPH

Ah, the Fourth of July weekend.  Time for family, friends, BBQs, fireworks, and time trials.  Time trials?  That’s right, no holiday weekend is complete without a TT!

Uh, right.  I was expecting a small crowd for the UW Whitewater TT. While crits are spectator-friendly races where you can bring the whole family, TTs pretty much are a bore unless you’re racing. I thought there might be 40-50 riders, but was shocked when we pulled into the parking lot on Sunday AM. The registration line along had about 50 people in it! Gee, don’t these people have anything better to do? Apparently not when you need WI Cup point.  Aha! Now the crowds make sense.

I don’t think anyone was complaining, since the start times began at noon and it was beautiful, sunny day with temps in the low 80s.   The long registration line reminded of one of the most important things for cyclists to do…fill out your waiver BEFORE the race! Rose and I got start times next to each other and gave us about an hour before our race to warm-up.

Oh, yeah, Rose.  One of the reasons for doing this race was to give Rose some TT practice before her first duathlon.  The course was only 20K and a good way to experience threshold pacing on the bike. I knew she was nervous since it was her first bike race, but I think I was even more nervous for her.  I only got about 3-4 hours of sleep the night before because I was so anxious. Ironically, it was nice to a change to focus my energy on someone’s race, rather than my own. I was in more of coach mode going over the nuances of cycling TTs, the rules, and how to warm-up with her.

Our start times came and we were soon off. The roads were in great shape, but the number of corners made it technically challenging. With 23 corners, I almost felt as if I were in a crit.  A few had lots of gravel, but the organizers had at least made a good effort to clear them.  There were also marshals and police at all of the key corners. I was actually amazed at how fast the race went.  There was stronger wind then I had expected (picked the wrong Hed wheel again), but I was too focused on the turns to really notice.  I caught lots of folks on the way out and just hammered it with the tailwind in the return.

The biggest surprise of the race were a couple of short, 10% grade hills less than 800 m from the finish.  Oh, those weren’t fun to ride (but it was fun to watch others finish up there later). I had registered for a second race later, but decided one was enough since this was supposed to be more of a workout, rather than a race.

I ended up finishing 3rd in Masters 4/5 beyond two other usual suspects from the Chicago TT scene, Reed Oliff and Brian Akers. Our IL contingent actually swept the podium ahead of the WI racers. That’s always a good feeling, especially when this was a critical race for many of the WI riders. I thought my speed was OK, but I put out much higher power than I had my past couple races (my wheel selection and corners slowed me down).

Still, a very fun race, especially since it was only 20K!