2009 State TT Championship - Dealing with disappointment

When I reconned the course for this year's time trial championship a few weeks ago, I realized it was going to be a challenge and that conditions would play a big part. As I arrived at the race site this past sunday, a stiff wind was blowing and it was clearly going to be a big headwind for the return leg of the race. The course also featured a sizable hill to climb over within a mile or so of the turnaround point. This was going to be a day where correct pacing would be critical. I felt good warming up and although I didn't expect to set the world on fire, I felt I was ready and capable of doing a good ride and turning in a solid time.

I rolled off the start line quickly and settled in to a slightly reserved pace. The small roller a half mile into the race passed easily and with a strong tailwind, I was flying right along. Knowing I had a big hill to get over twice and a strong headwind to battle on the return trip, I tried to hold back just a bit on the way out and not give into the temptation to ride like a wind-aided hero only to half nothing left for the second half. At mile 10, the kilometer long climb began, and I got up it fairly quickly and down the other side without being blown off the road at 45mph in the buffeting winds. The climb broke my rhythm a bit, but I found it again just before the turnaround.

The turnaround was uneventful. Usually, I wouldn't even mention the turn, but this course was on a highway that had "rumble strips" on the centerline. I hadn't even thought about them until the manmade potholes appeared before me as I rounded the cone. The wind was immediately apparent as I headed back towards the hill. The return side of the hill was a little steeper and featured the headwind as well. I struggled a little on it and probably lost a fair amount of time. Over the hill and down the other side, all that was left was to fight as hard as possible into the wind back to the finish. I struggled at times to keep my speed above 20mph and dropped as low as 17mph at times. I got back to the finish with a time on my stopwatch of about 1:02. I knew it wasn't a great time, but given the conditions, I thought it might place me mid-field or so.

I went and cooled down and then back to the car to change clothes and have a snack. An hour had passed since I crossed the finish so I headed over to check out the results. To my shock, I was listed in last place with a time of over 1:24, worse yet the results had been posted a half hour earlier, so by rule, it was too late to protest them. I asked a volunteer if the officials were still around, but was informed that they had left. My correct time was only going to move me up a couple places, it really was a poor ride, but I at least wanted to know what my actual time was. I sent an e-mail to the results company when I got home pointing out the error and they were able to get my correct time to me the next day, 1:02:12. It was only good enough for 15th out of 18 riders in the masters C field.

After getting home that evening, showering, and eating some dinner, it struck me that I really didn't feel all that tired. I definitely did not "leave it all on the course". For whatever reason, I had a bad day and couldn't or didn't push myself hard enough. This event had been a main priority for my season so I am pretty bummed, but life goes on. My next race is the state masters omnium championships in Bellingham next weekend. At the very least, I'll try to get back on track in the TT.