Victorian State Time Trial Champs

I went to Geelong on Thursday to race the Victorian State Time Trial Champs - a 28.2km open time trial event and my first real open time trial - other than the ones in tours that I have raced. As support I took my father in law Bill who has a great knowledge on all things cycling....so a second challenge was set - have a pleasant 24 hours away with the father in law!

On Friday, everything went well, I set up my trainer near the car which was parked next to my coaches car and I had everything all organised except I was very very nervous...a little bit too nervous and I set Bill a job to take some pictures to get the atmosphere captured....He didnt really see the point in that (what but you wont be in them??..."Yes I know Bill, but I just want some stuff to remember the day and show my friends")....still no pictures" He did take three pics after some nagging from me - this one is in Shanes skinsuit! a friends bootie covers - love the red!

Warm up went well and I started to relax a bit (in the comfort zone now). The course was 8km out (mainly downhill - speeds up to 60kph) and then u-turn back (mainly uphill at first) and keep going along the road for 20 km. The course was undulating and ended with about 3km of much bigger up and down hills. The last 2km was a tough uphill.

I knew that Kathy Watt who is an excellent time triallist and Olympic Gold Medallist was 4 minutes behind me and expected to see her somewhere after 25kms. 43 women were entered so it was a big event.

I got on the ramp with 45seconds to spare, the ramp was quite steep and a bit spooky, but once down the ramp, I was off and the going well. Bill followed me in the car (can I just add, that I have been in a car with Bill for one reason or another at bike races and to cut a long story short - knowing he was behind me in my manual car -not an automatic like he usually drives, and that he is 80 years old ...was just a bit unnerving in itself...)

The actual Time Trial - My max HR is 165 so I am usually around 150-160 in TT and I was there for most of it and I used my legs as a guide (and speedo.) My race plan went well and I was overtaken at the 25km mark (but not by Kathy Watt, but young rider Rebecca Borthwick who is part of the Talent ID programme) I stayed with her (legal distance etc), until a big descent where I was a bit spooked and the gap opened up, then a killer climb, another descent and the final climb and the finishing banner. My final time was 46:23 which placed me 28th and average speed of just over 36.5kph. Special mention here to Steph Frawley who at 50yo, finished 6th and is a major inspiration and she is not into the fancy teams and everythings, she is an honest rider who trains very hard and gives me hope for bigger and better things. The winner was around 41:30 and a minute faster than second place.

So my goal was initially
1. To enter
2. To ride well
3. Average over 37kph
4. Finish in the top half of the field.

In review I missed 3 and 4. I failed to meet 3 and 4. On mindtools.com

Where you have failed to reach a goal, ensure that you learn the lessons of the failure. These may be:
1. that you didn't try hard enough
2. that your technique was faulty and needs to be adjusted
3. that the goal you set was unrealistic
Use this information to adjust the goal if it was set too high, or to set goals to acquire new skills or build stamina. Feeding back like this turns everything into a positive learning experience - even failing to meet a goal is a step forward towards perfect technique!

Remember that the fact of trying something, even if it does not work, often opens doors that would otherwise have remained closed.

I know I tried hard and I rode well, I felt good, I was breathing hard and my HR maxed out at 159. The only complaint I have with my ride is my lack of practice on the TT bike on hills and I was definitely unnerved with the steep descents. On each downhill I tossed up between riding on the wide bars vs TT bars and on uphills debated between climbing out of the seat vs climbing in the seat on the TT bars, I wasnt sure what would be quicker (take into consideration very tired legs here....) So other than the hills, I did try hard enough, my goal was probably a bit stretching but I love the quote about opening doors and I had a go and was not disappointed.

I have some new training focusses and number one is when training to believe in myself and just enjoy the journey as it makes the destination so much better. As a footnote to this I rode club race today, yes just the day after a big day and my plan was to ride at the back of C grade as a recovery ride, but ended up entering B grade for the 50km race (with hills) and coming third...so my form is not so bad...tomorrow my legs may hate me but that is tomorrow.

Full time trial results can be found here - (scroll down and there is a link to the PDF)