MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB
NOLA LENDING
RACING TEAM
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Jason Miller's Time Trial Palooza Race Report
Jay and Robert ready for the time trial complete with "kit-matching"
bikes
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I often think the hardest thing about racing a four man time
trial is to field a team. The Time Trial Palooza event in Baton
Rouge would include a four man time trial in the morning and then a two man time
trial in the afternoon. The next day would be an individual time trial.
A few weeks ago, it looked like we were going to have enough riders for a 45+
team as well as a 35+ team with someone having to sit out plus Rosanne racing on
one of the women's team. Fast forward to a few days before the race and
between nicks and pains, illness, and work it was just Robert, Rusty and
me. Jay agreed to jump back in the day before the race so we would
at least be able to field one team. The course is slightly more than a ten mile loop and for the four man race we would be doing three laps. Warming up it was apparent that the wind was going to be a factor in the races. We would be starting out to a strong head wind for a short section but for the most part, the rest of the course will be mostly crosswinds. We figure out our order and get ready for the start. We had a less than impressive start. Jay, Rusty and me take off in unison leaving Robert on the line trying to clip in for what seems like forever. When he finally does get clipped in, he is riding right into a headwind and takes a while to get on. Jay is wearing number "13" glued up-side-down of course so the bad luck runs out. He completed over ten miles of warmup on the course with no problems but suddenly right when the starter says "go", the number is peeling off and flapping. It doesn't make it through the first lap before it is gone. We keep the pulls in the front short with ~30 - 40 second rotations. Things move pretty much uneventful as we keep ticking along. As we start into the last few miles of the first lap, the cross winds get a little stronger making it harder to pull on the front. I shortened my pulls to something closer to 20 seconds. I heard Jay say something like "cut the rotations even shorter" but he actually is saying that we are loosing Rusty. I look back and the gap to Rusty looks too large to wait. Jay agrees as he pulls off the front and the three of us proceed on. Jay starts taking longer pulls into the crosswind as we finish the first lap. The second lap moves along as we continue our rotation. As we get into the stiffer crosswinds near the end of the lap, I can see that Jay is starting to feel bad. He shortened his rotations and is having to work pretty hard to catch on after his pull. He starts to sit in a few pulls to try to recover. He takes some pulls during the third lap but by this time he is feeling worse even getting a little sick to his stomach. His legs start cramping as we get within the last five miles. We are all getting pretty tired as we push to the finish. We end up finishing in second place at 1:15 with right under a 26mph average which was too bad. Rusty kept riding and finished the race as well. Rosanne was on the winning women's team which finished without a rider who was walking a flat when we passed.
My left leg is sore when I finish and it gets even tighter as me and Robert eat lunch before the two man race. The wind is every bit as strong for the afternoon event as it was for the morning's but now it is warm out. I spin to try to loosen my left leg and by the time we are ready to start it is feeling OK. Robert didn't mention much about his legs but they are no doubt tired. Robert was borrowing my spare pedals for his bike and I had the tension set high. This was causing him some problems getting clipped in at the start so I adjust them before we began the next race. I back out the tension screw to the just short of the "princess" setting for Robert who seems able to clip in a little easier now. We start the two man race and I look back to make sure Robert is clip in as I pick up the speed into the headwind. I look back again and can see that Robert is a little behind me so slow a bit for him to catch on then begin to ramp up the pace. I hear a whistle and look back across the gap to Robert. He catches on and we begin the rotation.
There really wasn't anything interesting during the race. Our times were about the same on the both laps. I think the cross wind on the section before the end of the lap was a little stronger and one time I had to even pop out of my aero bars to avoid getting blown into Robert who was riding on my side to stay out of the wind. Jorge Perera and Randy Legeai were two minutes behind us and passed us with probably about five miles left. They looked strong and would end up putting 3 minutes into me and Robert to win the 2 man race. We finished in fourth place at 51:14 averaging right over 25mph. I was more than happy with that time and with the time trial work I was able to get in. I would need to skip the Sunday's individual time trial for church as well as kid's baseball and soccer but wasn't too disappointed.
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