Back to Tenino

The first Sunday of June found me in Tenino again for this year’s Washington State Time Trial Championships.  It was held on my favorite course and one I had ridden many times before with my most recent foray being four weeks earlier.  I was hoping for improvement over that recent time, but was realistic in my expectations for the day as my season has been hampered by a lack of training volume caused by that pesky thing called “life”.  Conditions were pretty good, although a little windy.  When riding a long time trial, this one was 40 kilometers (24.5 miles), pacing is always critical.  Go out too fast and you’ll pay for it later in the race and struggle.  Given the reality of my training and my form, I was faced with the choice of being conservative and easing into my pace over the first several miles, or ride the race as if I had good form and hope for the best.  I chose the latter figuring if I went into it conservatively, I was surrendering any hope of a good result right away.  I started strongly and settled into my rhythm quickly.

After around five miles, I had already passed the two riders who had started in front of me (unfortunately, I had also been passed by the rider who started immediately behind me.)  The race went very well for me and I must say it was the most focused and “in the moment” I have been at any race thus far this year.  I managed to take about 40 seconds of my time of a month earlier and earn an 8^th place finish in my group.  I could not have gone any harder or ridden any better on that day and that is all you can ever ask for.

State Warm-up TT

This past weekend saw my teammate Karla and I headed to Tenino for the final event in the Cascade Time Trial Series, a 40-kilometer test on one of my favorite courses.  This course has been used in the past and will be used again this year for the State Time Trial Championship.  It has great variety with changes in direction and terrain and really maintains your interest as you ride it.

We both had done enough in the previous events of the series to secure podium places for the series, the only question was what step would they be on.  I needed a second place finish on the day to secure second place in the series.  With that in mind, I fired off the start line and got to work.  Within 5 miles, I’d caught the two riders who started 30 seconds and one minute ahead of me and had closed to within 30 seconds of the rider who started a minute thirty seconds ahead of me.  I felt pretty good the whole ride and it was definitely the best I’ve felt on the bike yet this year.  To my annoyance, I never did quite catch that other rider, but he made a very good “carrot” to keep me motivated and focused throughout the race.

When the finish finally came, I had posted a time under an hour and good enough for second place on the day.  The day’s finish enabled me to secure second place for the series by a single point.  Now my focus will shift a bit with the next event for me being the Enumclaw Stage Race in a couple weeks, then it will be back to Tenino for the State Time Trial Championships.

Five days to go and ready to rock!

Just five more days until the 2008 Washington State Time Trial Championships and I am ready to go and fired up about my chances to achieve my goal of medalling in the Masters C field. Last night I averaged over 25 mph for a 15 mile training time trial on a slightly hillier course than the championships course in Tenino. I'm definitely feeling on form and riding fast. I've got a sexy and fast new Ritchey WCS deep section carbon front wheel to go with my rear disc so the bike is flying too.

These last few days before a targeted event for me are like waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus. I'm sure I'll be jumping out of my skin by Sunday morning. I'll do a couple of easy rides this week, try and get enough rest, and keep focusing on positive thoughts for this weekend's race. I'll let you know how it all works out.