Yesterday the Wangaratta Cycling Club held a 36km (by my bike computer) Individual Time Trial or as the title of this post suggests , The Race of Truth. I have very limited experience in these and I reckon this was only the 3 rd ITT I've ever ridden,competitively at least. This was certainly the longest as I reckon the other 2 were 14km and 10km.
I had just purchased a new TT bike during the week leading up to the event and had managed to ride it twice during the week.
I don't mind admitting to being a little nervous before the start, I had not ridden that well in the previous TT's before this one and was a little worried that with the new bike and the bloody aero helmet things may not change. When I arrived at West End Bike Hub to ride out with Wes his comment of "you'll have to ride fast now with the aero helmet too" didn't help. But at least I wasn't riding a Synapse with aero bars bolted on.
When we arrived at the Start area I was wondering what sort of equipment the other riders would have? Quite a mixture really but I was relieved to see at least a couple of aero helmets and plenty of TT bikes. As always there is plenty of friendly banter going on and people interested in checking out new bikes etc. Tully Lyster had also just bought a brand new Oppy TT bike during the week and we had exchanged some messages on our purchases. We also had a special guest rider competing on the day, Shane Miller , Shane has won just about every ITT in Masters1 including being the Australian and Victorian champion in this discipline. Check out his blog to see his amazing achievements.
I had just purchased a new TT bike during the week leading up to the event and had managed to ride it twice during the week.
I don't mind admitting to being a little nervous before the start, I had not ridden that well in the previous TT's before this one and was a little worried that with the new bike and the bloody aero helmet things may not change. When I arrived at West End Bike Hub to ride out with Wes his comment of "you'll have to ride fast now with the aero helmet too" didn't help. But at least I wasn't riding a Synapse with aero bars bolted on.
When we arrived at the Start area I was wondering what sort of equipment the other riders would have? Quite a mixture really but I was relieved to see at least a couple of aero helmets and plenty of TT bikes. As always there is plenty of friendly banter going on and people interested in checking out new bikes etc. Tully Lyster had also just bought a brand new Oppy TT bike during the week and we had exchanged some messages on our purchases. We also had a special guest rider competing on the day, Shane Miller , Shane has won just about every ITT in Masters1 including being the Australian and Victorian champion in this discipline. Check out his blog to see his amazing achievements.
Tully looking very pleased with his new bike pictured with Shane Miller who had the fastest time of the day.
It seems like the tactics are pretty simple for a race like this, go as fast as you can from start to finish. I read somewhere it's important not to start too hard but I always manage to get this bit wrong and after a couple of kilometers was seriously valve bouncing (to coin a phrase from my petrol head days) luckily the Boweya road magpie whacked me on the back of the new aero helmet to bring me back into the now. I reckon that magpie had the most fun out of everyone during the day but I wouldn't have been surprised if he couldn't catch Shane.
Not the Boweya Road magpie but one I prepared earlier. You may have seen it in last years calendar.
The is no doubt that the ITT demands you dig deep into "your suitcase of courage" and explore every corner of it leaving nothing to chance that you might have missed a secret compartment somewhere.
The alleged suitcase, looking a little the worse for wear after yesterday
I appear to have become a little sidetracked from the race but I couldn't resist dragging the suitcase out again.
After the visit from the magpie it was on with the business of settling down and riding the rest of the distance without exploding. Over the first rise before the Taminck turn off I managed to have a drink which is easier said than done on a TT bike. Also at this point I was beginning to wonder if my pre race pasta was such a good idea as there seemed like a competition going on between breathing and vomiting,luckily breathing won this time. To make the race of truth that little bit tougher there was a very strong blustery side wind ranging from being a head /tail wind and trying to blow you sideways off the road. By the turn around point I'd managed to pass a couple of riders that started in front of me whilst avoided being overtaken myself, however this was about to change as I now could see the riders coming and they we getting close, not that I mind being passed by the quicker guys but the longer you can hang out the front the better.
The way back was pretty much the same,battling the wind,keeping the speed and heart rate as high as possible. I was gradually passed by several of the faster riders who started behind me and I also managed to pass a couple more myself.
I was very happy to be able to keep the pace up all the way to the finish as there were more than a few times I thought maybe I hade gone too hard on the way out. It seems that in this sort of a race half the battle is with your mind and the other half your legs. Everyone who competes in a race like this deserves to be congratulated no matter what level they are as it really is a race against yourself and the clock. Even the magpie was sicking of swooping riders on the return leg or I was to delirious to notice. Seeing the cars parked at the finish line in the distance was a beautiful sight and a motivation to push as hard as possible as the pain would soon be over. Some things you do because they are fun at the time and others are more something to look back on with a sense of achievement. ITT's fall into the latter category for me although I'm already wondering how I can go faster. I think it is a little addictive but you could be addicted to much worse than wanting to ride your bike as fast as possible over a certain distance.
My Sigma Rox bike computer had a bit of a spasm or maybe it was operator error who knows but after analysis I've come up with the figures of 36.18km at an average speed of 36.4kmh,av heart rate 170 bpm and ride time of 59 mins 45 secs and no idea what cadence was. I thought to myself before the start if I could average 36 kmh I would be content and I'm happy to have achieved that goal in the conditions. I do have to admit that whilst content with yesterdays ride I want to go faster next time :)
Many thanks to everyone involved in the organising the race and to all those who competed. Thanks to Allan Thrum for emailing the results through so I can add them to this post. Some really impressive times were recorded in really tough conditions.
After the visit from the magpie it was on with the business of settling down and riding the rest of the distance without exploding. Over the first rise before the Taminck turn off I managed to have a drink which is easier said than done on a TT bike. Also at this point I was beginning to wonder if my pre race pasta was such a good idea as there seemed like a competition going on between breathing and vomiting,luckily breathing won this time. To make the race of truth that little bit tougher there was a very strong blustery side wind ranging from being a head /tail wind and trying to blow you sideways off the road. By the turn around point I'd managed to pass a couple of riders that started in front of me whilst avoided being overtaken myself, however this was about to change as I now could see the riders coming and they we getting close, not that I mind being passed by the quicker guys but the longer you can hang out the front the better.
The way back was pretty much the same,battling the wind,keeping the speed and heart rate as high as possible. I was gradually passed by several of the faster riders who started behind me and I also managed to pass a couple more myself.
I was very happy to be able to keep the pace up all the way to the finish as there were more than a few times I thought maybe I hade gone too hard on the way out. It seems that in this sort of a race half the battle is with your mind and the other half your legs. Everyone who competes in a race like this deserves to be congratulated no matter what level they are as it really is a race against yourself and the clock. Even the magpie was sicking of swooping riders on the return leg or I was to delirious to notice. Seeing the cars parked at the finish line in the distance was a beautiful sight and a motivation to push as hard as possible as the pain would soon be over. Some things you do because they are fun at the time and others are more something to look back on with a sense of achievement. ITT's fall into the latter category for me although I'm already wondering how I can go faster. I think it is a little addictive but you could be addicted to much worse than wanting to ride your bike as fast as possible over a certain distance.
My Sigma Rox bike computer had a bit of a spasm or maybe it was operator error who knows but after analysis I've come up with the figures of 36.18km at an average speed of 36.4kmh,av heart rate 170 bpm and ride time of 59 mins 45 secs and no idea what cadence was. I thought to myself before the start if I could average 36 kmh I would be content and I'm happy to have achieved that goal in the conditions. I do have to admit that whilst content with yesterdays ride I want to go faster next time :)
Many thanks to everyone involved in the organising the race and to all those who competed. Thanks to Allan Thrum for emailing the results through so I can add them to this post. Some really impressive times were recorded in really tough conditions.
Rider Time Average Placing
Speed
kmh
Shane Miller 47min 18sec 46.47 1st
Tully Lyster 49min 18sec 44.57 2nd
James Boal 50min 27sec 43.68 3rd
Rhys Lyster 51min 12sec 42.82 4th
Christian McDonald 52min 16sec 42.00 5th
Ray Jarrett 53min 07sec 41.21 6th
Jake Morgan 55min 35sec 39.71 7th
Tony Reeckman 59min 18sec 37.02 8th
Laurie Lyster 59min 21sec 37.02 9th
Zane Douglas 1h 1min 05sec 35.80 10th
Bernie Grealy 1h 03min 53sec 34.67 11th
Than Dempster 1h 04min 02sec 34.13 12th
Norm Gray 1h 08min 49sec 32.12 13th
Paul Lane 1h 09min 33sec 31.65 14th
Wes Samson (20 km) 34min 02 sec 35.29
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