The Triple

Last sunday was a pretty crazy day of bike racin'. It started out with an early morning drive down to fiesta island where I pedalled the new Trek TT bike (which, according to Damon at trek, turned out to be a limited run version -> dubbed the "lance" version), for around 10 minutes on the trainer prior to rollin' to the line and givin' it full stick.

Super fast day down on the island - nearly dead calm and really warm (especially compared to last year). I didn't really know what to expect from the new TT bike, especially after having ridden to my fastest times down there on a non-conforming (according to the UCI) softride.

I was pleasantly surprised to come within 30 seconds of my fastest time on the new bike with 20 fewer watts. I went the 20k in 29:13 and averaged 261 watts on the SRM, FWIW, and measured a density altitude of around 280 meters - so yeah, pretty fast conditions. Similar air density and calm conditions have netted me similar times with 15ish more watts - yeah, partially anecdotal, but it seems as if the Trek is FAST! And I'm pleased with how things went.

Last year, I did the double on this same race weekend. Fiesta TT in the morning, then 35+ at the Roger Millikan in the afternoon. This year, I decided to give the triple a go - fiesta, 35+, then the 3's race. Full day of bikin'!

Felt good in the 35+ race, crazy, but I can't really remember many details of either of the pm races - field was sold out - lots of dudes out there!. My general perception was that I felt really good in the 35+ race, and was slotted in really good position for the finale - but got hung up and had to touch the brakes from about the 10th wheel position on the second to last corner... Not going to make that lost momentum up in the last little bit. Wound up top 20 or so, but a wee-bit disappointed with how it shook out.

The 3's race was a bit sketchy for me - lots of slowing down in the corners and general sense of nervousness on my part. It makes me really appreciate the 35+ stuff. basically hung out for awhile and went hard once trying to mix it up a bit... then, recovered and slotted my way into a little group that formed after a prime with 6 to go or so. whoa, I spent all my fun tickets gettin' into the move, and then couldn't take a single pull with those guys - sorry fellas. I just sat on the break as my legs began to seize (actually had to modulate the effort to prevent full-on cramps) and we were eventually reeled in with a couple laps to go. I went straight to the back and actually recovered quickly (like less than a lap), but when i tried to move back up, I could see it wasn't going to happen - so I decided to sit out the finale...

I got in something like 1800KJ on the day and covered 60k or so during the crits at 40+ kph. combine that with the mornings effort, and crap, it looked like I racked up 80k of some serious speed on the day. Dang - it's only february...