Esparto Time Trial: I borrowed an oh-eight Orbea Ora TT bike; picked it up Thursday, Chris helped me fit it and we had a short ride. Friday I took it out on last year's Dunlap TT route, about 34 miles. I felt good, although new muscles hurt due to the aggressive position.
So conditions were similar to last year's TT, and I felt strong and ready. Around the first corner and bam! Hello, headwind. Ugh. I pushed but admit to feeling defeated by the wind and some of the rollers. Couldn't maintain my speed like I did in practice, either.
After the turnaround I felt renewed and picked up the pace. I was so focussed that my peripheral vision kind of faded away -- I knew there was stuff to look at, but couldn't be distracted. At the 1 KM sign I kicked it up and hammered. At the 100 meter sign I really hit it hard and continued past the finish. Kept going back toward town, standing and stretching to cool down.
I finished 4th (2 places above last year), and shaved 30 seconds off last year's time. I finished 2+ min. behind the 1st place racer. Argh.
Proof that I rode my you-know-what off: I was toast for the rest of the day. And there was walking involved. And sitting. And walking up the stairs from BART to the street level was painful. I should have been doing this 20 years ago.
While eating a bleu cheese burger and sweet potato fries at Taylor's Refresher on Sat. night my nephew and I were joking about my training regimen. Today after the results were posted we joked that maybe half that burger would have been sufficient.
When I can afford a professional coach I'll expect the results that the 1st-place finisher got today. Meanwhile, I'll celebrate my victories.
Now for the road race...stay tuned...
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