Leadout Racing

Sunday June 7, Duck Lake State Park, near Whitehall, MI

58:16 for 40 KM – 2nd place in age group (20-29), and 5th place overall

I have to start out by saying that at first, I was not exactly thrilled at the prospect of getting up early on a Sunday and driving to Whitehall for a 40 KM time trial – about an hour of intense effort.  However, I rode a decent race, and the West Michigan Coast Riders put on a solid event on a nice course, including some quality schwag for the top finishers, whom I was fortunate to be a part of.  It was disappointing to not have the Cedar Creek Race (my first-ever race win in 2003) on the calendar, but really this event makes sense with its spot on the calendar, for those of us into time trialing

So my presence at Duck Lake goes back to the fact that I am serious about time trialing, and pretty decent at it too.  With the Wolverine State TT coming up on June 21 in Dearborn, I figured testing my legs out for a 40 KM effort was the responsible step to take for my training!

It was cloudy and threatening rain throughout much of the morning – but luckily all racers stayed dry.  Conditions were a bit humid, but temps were comfortable in the low to mid-60s.  The course was essentially a 20 KM (12.4 mi) rectangle that we completed twice.  The north-south sections were maybe about 2 miles each, with the east-west roads a little over 4 miles in length.

The eastbound 4 miles (the back side of the course) seemed to have a very slight 0.5 to 1% uphill false flat, accompanied by about a 10-12 mph headwind.  The first lap, I couldn’t find my rythym on this stretch, and fluctuated between 22-24 mph, usually at the lower end of that range.  On the 2nd lap, I felt better, having saved my legs for the longer distance, and was able to “stay on top” of my gearing, feeling like I was turning the gear over smoothly, rather than fighting my bike – going about 25-26 mph steadily.  I told myself at the beginning of this stretch that it would be hard, but I had to follow the rule of time trialing – that going hard when conditions are hard earns you more time than going hard on the easier sections.  Time trialing is very much a mental discipline.  Despite the fact that your quads, hamstrings, calves, triceps all ache to different degrees, experience tells you that the pain is managable and pushing even harder is still possible.  With this thought, I’m happy to have nailed that stretch, and still had plenty left to finish up the last few miles strongly.

Knowing David Williams, a former collegiate national champion was also racing, I knew I would not win, but I honestly expected to place 2nd overall.  However, there were a few other guys (luckily outside my age group) who rode strong times to bump me down to 5th.  But the race still gave me plenty of confidence for the State TT, where I hope to do a sub-57-minute time.  As a bonus for my race, I received a silver medal for my age group, and a nice pair of Specialized Mondo Pro tires for my 5th place overall.

In the end, I was happy that Duck Lake made it onto my racing schedule.  I plan to be back in 2010.